The Houses Competition - Round 7 - Drabble
Slytherin, Charms
Prompt: [Emotion] Regret
Word Count: 998 (in both Scrivener and MS Word)
Betas: VanillaAshes, Aya Diefair, Glowstar826, Fires of Eden Red Rose Aurora (I can't tell you all how much you helped make this piece better. Thank you.)
Plans and Ambition and Magic
Minerva couldn't remember the walk home. One minute she was in the field with Dougal – saying yes to his proposal – the next minute she was already home. She sighed, trying to find a way to release all the emotions coursing through her before entering her family home.
"Och, Robbie! You were meant to be watching Malcolm!" Minerva heard her mother shout. Her mother, Isobel, looked up at Minerva's appearance. "Quick! Your father will be home any moment and your brother's gone and made his hair blue." Isobel pointed to Malcolm, sitting in the corner, grinning at Minerva as she took in the vibrant blue curls that should've been black.
Suppressing her sigh, this time out of weariness, Minerva reached deep into the pocket she'd hidden in her skirt and pulled out her wand. "You're going to Hogwarts in a few weeks," she started firmly, tapping the top of Malcom's head gently. "You can do all the magic you want there."
"I didn't mean to," he griped. "Robbie jumped out at me when I thought he was gone. It's his fault."
Minerva gave Malcolm a hard stare that he wilted under. He muttered an apology to her and then to his mother. Isobel sighed heavily, telling him and Robbie to wash up before dinner. They ran off, whispering angrily at each other for causing trouble.
"You've been out with that McGregor boy again?" Isobel asked but didn't wait for an answer. She gave Minerva's wand a pointed look. "Put it away."
Minerva jammed it back into the pocket she'd created for it, feeling a flush of annoyance go through her. She didn't bother telling her mother the exciting news of her engagement. She quietly helped her set the table for dinner, watching her mother move around the kitchen, everything done the Muggle way. After all these years of her father knowing about Isobel's magical abilities, she still wouldn't use them. Her wand would always remain neatly tucked away, never to be gotten at easily.
"Do you think if you'd told Da about it all when you married, that things would've been different?" Minerva asked tentatively. She chose her words carefully, having never brought the subject up with her before. However, with Dougal's proposal, it had sharpened her perception of what life might have in store for her.
Isobel, who was currently stirring the stew, froze for the briefest of moments. Her back to Minerva, she answered in a quiet, accusatory tone, "You say it like your father is a bad person."
"That's not what I was saying, Ma. I meant for you. Would you have used your magic if you hadn't felt like you'd broken his trust so much?" Minerva sat down at the kitchen table, watching her mother add a sprinkle of salt to the stew. "Why do you hide it even though he knows?"
"The less he sees, the less he can slip up to the villagers," Isobel replied tersely. Minerva saw her shoulders creeping up to her neck as she continued moving around the kitchen. "Why are you asking these things?"
Minerva pushed her lips tightly together. Like that one small action would stop her spilling her secret. She focused on straightening the cutlery, even though they already were. "Do you regret marrying a Muggle?" she finally asked, her voice low.
Isobel dropped the metal ladle into the pot, the clang loud in the small room. She turned to face Minerva, her features angry, but her eyes held something else…
"Why would you ask such a thing?" Isobel demanded. "I love your father very much! I have never regretted marrying him."
"That wasn't my question, Ma," Minerva pointed out.
Isobel opened her mouth, but no words came. Minerva watched as her mother frowned for a moment. Finally, Isobel threw her hands up in a defeated gesture and turned back to the pot.
It wasn't until after dinner – when Minerva had watched her family closely, imagining this life she would have with Dougal – that her mother finally answered the question. Isobel stood by Minerva as the latter washed the dishes. She glanced over her shoulder, as if to check they were alone in the kitchen, and started helping Minerva by drying the dishes with an old rag.
"It would've been easier," Isobel whispered brokenly. She took a sharp breath, tears in her eyes, and didn't continue until she had her emotions under control. "I chose love over magic and plans. It gave me you and your brothers, and I cannot regret that."
Minerva quietly washed the next dish. She could see it in the way her mother never quite let go of her emotions that she wasn't being entirely honest with herself or Minerva. She had chosen love, but at what cost to herself? To her self-worth?
Lying in bed that night, Minerva realised she'd made a mistake in saying yes to Dougal. She loved her father dearly, he was a good man who loved and cared for his family, but Minerva knew that would never be enough for her. It was barely enough for her mother. She hadn't realised it until today, after nearly following the same path as her own parents. She couldn't be the wife Dougal deserved. He would end up with half a wife, while the other half of her withered away.
With a deep pain in her heart, the next morning, Minerva told Dougal she couldn't marry him; she'd changed her mind. He didn't understand and he begged for a reason – a reason she couldn't give.
"I just can't," she said firmly.
She walked away, holding her breath for as long as she could, and didn't cry until she was back in her room, packing up for her move to London. It was better to have a regret in love than hide who you were – suppress who you were. No, she would learn from Isobel's regret. She had plans and ambition and magic.
Love, however alluring it was, would never be enough.
Prompts used for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (challenges & assignments)
Spring Seasonal
- Children's Book Day - 12. (plot point) Accidental magic in a child
- National Teacher's Day - 3. Minerva McGonagall
Yearly
- Fantastic Beasts - 128. Matagot - (character) Minerva McGonagall
- 365 - 156. (character) Minerva McGonagall