Disclaimer: I intend no copyright infringement by borrowing JK Rowling's work. It is merely for my own entertainment - I do not, nor will in the future, profit from it. All characters in the following are Rowling's.
4 Privet Dr
Minerva McGonagall, presently in her Animagus form as a cat, twitched her tail as she sat on the fence watching the Dursley family. She was waiting for Dumbledore and a confirmation on the news she hoped were rumors. Currently, the Dursley baby was screeching in anger. McGonagall did not care why he was screeching in particular – he had been screaming for something different every minute. If cats could rub their heads in response to an incoming headache, McGonagall would have ripped her ears off.
It was not until nightfall that she spotted Dumbledore in the distance. She managed to sit up straight after a day on the fence and stared at the form as the lights flicked out one by one. When Dumbledore glanced her way sharply, she jumped off the fence, neatly transforming back into a human.
"Is it true, Dumbledore? That Lily and James are dead, and Harry has defeated You-Know-Who?"
Dumbledore gazed at her sadly before turning to look up in the sky, seeming to scrutinize it as if the sky held answers to life.
"Yes, Voldemort is gone," Dumbledore replied calmly, ignoring the shudder McGonagall gave in response to the name 'Voldemort'. "Hagrid will be here with Harry."
McGonagall near pouted but managed to hold it back. It would not do for a seventy year old professor pouting like an adolescent. "I still do not think the Dursleys are the best for Harry. You should watch them, Dumbledore! They are positively hideous towards their own son." She wanted to glare at Dumbledore, but his world-weary expression stopped her.
"Harry must be kept here. He will be safe from Voldemort's followers without all the nonsense of being a hero the wizarding world will bombard him with."
McGonagall was about to reply when Hagrid roared down on a motorbike. He hopped off, knocking down a vase of flowers on the Dursley porch, before taking out Harry from under his arm. McGonagall peered over the blankets and tucked his hair to the side. She took Harry from Hagrid's arm and bounced Harry slightly.
"The scar on his forehead – that is where –" Dumbledore nodded in response as he watched McGonagall stare at the boy wistfully.
"Now my dear, it would not do to become too attached to little Harry. You know you cannot take him." McGonagall watched as Harry yawned, his arm reaching out with chubby fists grabbing in the air. She stuck a finger in the fist and smiled softly as Harry grabbed it.
"Minerva." McGonagall looked up to see Dumbledore looking at her in reprimand. "Harry must be left here now. We must return to Hogwarts." She reluctantly gave Harry over and sniffed softly.
"He will be safe, won't he?"
"He will be. Mrs. Figg will be watching over him carefully."
McGonagall nodded slowly as she watched Dumbledore place Harry in a basket with a letter before leaving. She could not but help think he would grow up unhappy. She turned to return to Hogwarts, hoping that leaving Harry with the Dursleys would be the right thing to do.
A/N: reviews not necessary but welcomed nonetheless.