A/N: I am the queen of suspense, and it's truly evil of me. Still, only two more chapters to go. Thank you to everyone who is reviewing. This chapter is kind of a bit of filler. It discusses a bit of what had happened in between Grindelwald and Voldemort's second rise. It also covers a bit of what happened during Grindelwald's rise and it shows what those nightmares I mentioned in chapter 9.

A/N 2: McGonagall's password, "Baselira" comes from the first two letters of the animals in the circle spell Ba-Badger, Se-Serpent, Li-Lion, Ra- Raven.

Chapter 11

            Minerva was standing in the garden behind her house. She looked up at the moon, but it wasn't there. There weren't any stars either. But there was laughter. Cold laughter. Laughter a part of her recognized even though she realized she'd never heard it before.  There was a bright flash in the sky and her heat seized. The sky lit up as her house caught on fire. "Mama! Da! Noooo!" She tried to run toward the blazes, towards the screams, but she was held back. There was a hand around her shoulders, holding her still. "Going somewhere girlie?" Hissed Grindelwald.

            "Give her to me!" Commanded a strong voice. She turned to see an eighteen year old Tom Riddle, his wand pointed at the older wizards head. He flicked his eyes over to her and they softened. This was no monster, this was her friend, the only ex she still adored and talked to. "You okay Minnie?"

            She nodded and Grindelwald faded. Tom grew and twisted and sneering down at her with eyes that seemed like endless black pits, a sneer on his face, was Lord Voldemort. "Good. Wouldn't want my Queen damaged." He snarled as he pulled her to him.

            She fought. "I won't marry you! I WON'T!"

            "You will." He hissed in her ear. "Because you have nothing left to return to." He turned her around. Lily and James sat tied to chairs, their eyes pleading. "Save us Professor!" Cried a frightened Lily.

            "Avada Kedavra." Voldemort spoke and they both fell dead.

            "I'm sorry." She whispered to the corpses. "I'm sorry I didn't save you."

            "Still think you can resist me." It was the Dark Lord's voice again, but now he was like a white husk with red eyes that glowed with an unholy fire. "I still have more to do my dearest. And I want to thank you for you're wedding gift." He stepped aside. Frozen, standing in a line was her rescue party. Sirius, Severus, Remus, Ron, Hermione, Poppy, Helena, Serena, Harry, and Albus. First Sirius received the death curse. His eyes flashed with regret. Then Severus. She could see the accusation in his eyes. Remus, who simply closed his eyes, resigned to his fate. Ron. He smiled at her, trying to ease her pain. Hermione. She held her head up high, proud till the end. Poppy, Helena, Serena. All whispering comfort and forgiveness to her. Harry. "I'm sorry." She wanted to laugh. He was apologizing to her. Albus. "NO!" She screamed. She tugged on Voldemort's arm, trying to make him miss. She ignored the tears blurring her eyes and broke out of the spell that had held her still as they had all fell. But Albus… "NO!" She cried out. She heard a thud. His body falling. She couldn't look.

Harry and Hermione were doing the nightly prefect rounds together when they heard the scream from McGonagall's room. They ran over to the portrait that covered her chambers and yelled for her, asking if she was alright, but she didn't answer, she kept screaming. "Go get the headmaster Hermione!" Harry instructed his fellow Gryffindor prefect as he pulled out his wand. "I'm going to try and get in there."

Hermione nodded and ran off. Harry tried every unlocking spell he knew. Nothing was working. He'd just exhausted his list of  spells and was about to start trying to invent some when Hermione ran up with Dumbledore and Snape on her heels. Snape was carrying a vial. "Baselira!" Dumbledore yelled. The portrait swung open and the four of them hurried in. They ran through the sitting room and into the bedroom itself. Minerva was sitting up in bed, her eyes wide, her skin as pale as her night dress,  her black hair falling out of it's braid and sticking to her face. She gave a great cry as they entered and flew out of her bed and into Dumbledore's arms.

Harry and Hermione looked on in shock. Even Snape seemed concerned. McGonagall's arms were clenched around the headmaster's neck. They could hear her sobbing despite the fact that her face was buried in Dumbledore's robes. And she was shaking.

Finally her shaking slowed and she pulled her face out of his robes. She loosed her grip, but didn't let go. "It was awful Albus. I saw the house, it was on fire and I could hear them screaming. I tried to go get them but Grindelwald was there, and he had me like…like that night. Then Tom made him let go. And then Tom grew older and told me I had to marry him and…he killed Lily and James in front of me and I couldn't save them. Lily asked me to…" Her speech had started out hysterical, rambling quickly, as if she were panicked. But then her voice dropped. She sounded grief stricken, and Harry could tell she seemed to be blaming herself. "He…turned into the way Harry explained he looked after he came back. And then he showed me how he'd caught you all. You were all there frozen, Sirius, Remus, Severus, Ron, Hermione, Harry, Poppy, Serena, Helena. You. He killed everyone, one right after another, he made me watch…I couldn't stop him, there was a spell…I tried!" And she started crying again.

Dumbledore rubbed her back and guided her back over to her bed. He helped her in and tucked the blankets in all around her. "They're all alright Minerva. And Voldemort won't get any of us. Now, Severus brought you a dreamless sleep potion..."

"NO!" She snarled.

He smiled at her and smoothed the hair away from her face. "You need to sleep my dear. I will stay in the sitting room, I won't leave you alone."

She sighed. "Alright." He took the vial out of the potion master's hands and helped her to drink. Then he tucked the blankets back around her, kissed her forehead and whispered, "Goodnight." He motioned the other three to follow him out of the room.

When the door to her bedroom was closed, Dumbledore sat in one of the two wing back chairs in the sitting room. Snape sat in the other and Harry and Hermione sat on the couch.

"What was wrong with Professor McGonagall?" Harry asked softly.

"A nightmare Potter. I would think that would be fairly obvious." Snape hissed.

Dumbledore held up his hand to stop Snape's derisive comments. "At the end of Minerva's sixth year a letter came to her from the Ministry. The night before Grindelwald had laid siege to her home and burned it. Her family all died. Two years later she and three of her friends came to rescue me from Grindelwald and he nearly killed her. On top of which Voldemort was her boyfriend right after they got out of school. He has since sent very threatening letters to try and get her to join him." He leveled a very serious look at Harry, Hermione, and Snape. "She's had some very traumatic experiences. And that, Severus, is why I don't want her to see you after one of your meetings." Snape looked sufficiently remorseful. "Now all of you, go to bed."

Clearly dismissed the two prefects and their professor left the Headmaster staring into the fire, thinking.