"Alright, you know the plan?" Harry asked for the third time in the last twenty minutes as he and Minerva prepared for their mission in her office Friday night. Dumbledore had discussed the plan with them and then left an hour ago. Though Harry knew that he was an idiot for being so nervous and also overprotective of her, he really couldn't help it.
"Harry, don't force me to hex you." Minerva hissed at him while putting on her boots. He did as he was told and shut up. He heard a chuckle behind him and glared at Aurora over his shoulder, who sat in Minerva's chair and had her legs on her friend's desk. Harry then turned his eyes back on Minerva, who just stood, and admired her looks, even in boots, dark trousers and a simple black jacket over which she threw her cloak she still looked stunning to him.
But what fascinated him even more about her was that they had found out they could rudimentarily communicate with each other in their animal forms. They had to touch their foreheads, so it worked, and more than a few times wasn't possible, but it was still more than incredible they could do it. Even Dumbledore had been surprised. One of them had to concentrate on a thing, and then the thought would appear in the other one's mind. It wasn't like they could talk with each other it was more like they would exchange their thoughts.
He was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't realise Minerva had caught him staring and now stood in front of him. "Stop staring at me and let's go," she said seriously but then couldn't help the smile that laid on her lips.
"Then stop looking beautiful." it wasn't the woman he fell in love with who answered him.
"Oh come on, that was way too cheesy, even for you!" Aurora said as she pulled a disgusted face at them.
"You're just jealous," Harry told her, grinning.
"Of you? Ha, like I need a-"
"Ro! Behave!" Minerva growled at her best friend then turned to Harry, who saw how Aurora stuck her tongue out at him.
"Let's go before you two start a duel, and I have to hex some sense into both of you," she said, and Harry gave her a peck on her lips while flipping Aurora off behind Minerva's back, who then turned to her best friend. Aurora got up from her chair and hugged Minerva.
"Stay safe and come back in one piece, okay?" the dark-skinned witch said, and Minerva smiled.
"Of course I will."
"Oi shitty glasses, take care of yourself, okay?"
"No problem, Astro fraud, you won't get rid of me that fast," he answered, using his nickname for her as she hated it more than anything when someone didn't take her astronomy seriously. With a last wave from Minerva and a wink from Harry, the two flooed to the Hogshead Pub to apparate into the forest near the Avery Mansion.
The two arrived in the pouring rain. As they had to be very careful not to be seen or worse caught, they had to hike up the hill the Avery Mansion stood upon. With their hoods pulled deep into their faces, they walked until they reached the top of the hill and the beginning of the wards.
"We'll have to test if they have Anti Animagus charm," Harry said, following Minerva's eyes towards the Mansion one could barely see between the trees.
"That's a complicated and barely unknown spell. You really think they use it?" she asked back just so loud Harry could hear her over the still pouring rain.
"Better safe than sorry. If they use it, give them hell until I'm back." before she could answer, he had handed her his wand, and the black fox stood beside her. He jumped over the root of the tree and ran towards the house. Minerva watched the Mansion and its surroundings intently. But nothing happened, and then she saw Harry returning. Once he was back in his human form, he shook his head.
"I was at the house. They don't use it; we're save to transform," he said quietly. The two of them then hid their wands by the tree as planned before turning into their respective animal. They had agreed not to take any risk to be caught, and as wards could be detected, they decided to stay in their Animagus forms the whole mission.
They watched the Mansion almost the whole night. If they tried something, they would use the night's natural cover for it, but not much happened. Orlando Avery checking the wards three times had been the only thing happening. Still, it hadn't been useless because of their watch they now knew they could get inside through a window on the second floor. It was perfect because it laid at a dead angle, and if somebody wasn't looking straight up, nobody would see them enter.
Deep in his thoughts, Harry was a little startled when he sensed the movement next to him, but just a moment later, he relaxed when he saw it was only Minerva who had curled up into a ball on the forest floor. Now his thoughts wandered to her. Harry never had the chance to get a closer look at her cat from in his old time, so, to him, the only thing different was the missing marks from the spectacles she had used then. He had never noticed the unique and beautiful fur pattern she had, the only exception to this being her belly that was of a pure white, nor the eyes that practically screamed Minerva at him. Even in her animal form, she managed to enchant him.
Harry couldn't believe his luck in finding her. Every day he found something new about her, from the way she loved to sleep in on Sundays, how she found even the tiniest strand of her hair to twirl in her fingers when she was deep in thoughts, or how she curled up on her couch and was lost to the world when she read a book. And every single one of these little things Harry learned about Minerva made him fall for her even more.
Looking at her as she tried to fall asleep, he had insisted on taking a watch; Harry saw how her body trembled. Even their Animagus forms couldn't help them entirely against the cold weather, even though they were already less affected by it than humans, the big raindrops that were falling down on them and the cold wind made things only worse. For Minerva beside him, it must have been even colder than for him, as his fur was thicker than hers.
He had decided and laid next to her in the next moment, so she was huddled against him. Harry's larger form allowed him to shield Minerva of most of the wind and his tail came around her to give her even more warmth. Slightly pleased with himself, he felt how Minerva moved even closer, so their bodies were pressed together and purred softly. In response, Harry ever so gently bumped his snout against the side of her face, meaning it like a good night kiss. He would continue to take watch the whole night to make sure nothing would happen and only fell asleep when the sun had come up.
When Harry awoke, the sun was already high up in the sky, suggesting it was still before noon. As the rain had stopped in the morning, the temperatures had gone up a little but were still far from pleasant. The second thing Harry noticed was the warm body pressed against his own; looking down, he saw the tabby cat form of his beloved. He leaned down to brush his snout against the side of her face, waking her up. Minerva moved a little to wake her limbs and then slid her body against his, purring softly again. He answered with burying his face in the fur on her neck.
The two of them were indeed quite a sight to see; if anybody found them now, a cat and a fox cuddling in a forest, they wouldn't believe their eyes. It sounded like an old tale. Harry then used their connection and put his forehead against Minerva's before thinking of 'food'. Only a moment later came her answer, 'no'. Nodding slightly, Harry got up and stretched his limbs before the two started their mission, observing the people inside the home once more and patrolling around the house so nothing would happen without them not knowing.
Until nightfall and the beginning of the dangerous part of their mission, nothing happened besides Harry seeing how Orlando hid several dark objects. One of them looking a lot like the Hand of Glory he had seen in Borgin and Burke's, which would later be purchased by Draco Malfoy. At least now, when they wouldn't find out anything useful in the meeting, he could leave an anonymous tip at the Auror office to search the house and still send Avery to Azkaban and ruin his reputation.
Still, at the moment, Harry had more significant problems. With every minute the meeting got closer, he grew more nervous. They had agreed that it would be less suspicious if a stray cat was seen in the house than a rare black fox, so it would be Minerva's job to go inside and actually spy. Even though he knew she was one of, if not the, most powerful witch of their age, it still didn't mean he liked that the woman he loved was putting herself in such great danger. After all, she wouldn't have her wand with her. If she was caught and had to escape fast, her wand could get in her way, and if she lost it, it would be even worse.
Minerva would go to the tree by the house and climb on it. From there, she would get inside the house and hide. Harry was going to stay with their wands, and if things took for a worse, he would turn back and attack from the woods, hopefully distracting the meeting Death Eaters long enough from Minerva so she could get out and to where he was. Then, if necessary, they would fight them together until they could apparate back to Hogsmeade.
As the two met by the tree they had slept underneath, Minerva once again slid her body against his and began to purr; Harry laid his head over her shoulder and pulled her against him like in a hug, for a moment, neither of them moved, simply enjoying the contact. Then his beloved gently pressed her forehead against his, and Harry concentrated on the one thing he wanted her to be, 'Careful,' he thought and almost immediately got an answer. 'Always' with that Minerva turned around and disappeared behind the trees, when Harry reached the end of the trees he just saw her climbing up the tree, amazed how she made it look elegant even now. Before Harry could think anything else, he saw how she turned her head, and their eyes met for a short moment before she jumped and landed on the small windowsill, seconds later she had vanished inside the house.
Upon her entrance, Minerva did not move one muscle as she scanned the room she was in. It was a dark, cold hallway; thanks to her feline senses, she knew that she was alone at the moment. Looking up and down the hallway, she saw doors leading to rooms, and to her left, there was the staircase, approaching it; she made extra sure not to make any sound. Even though she had fought Death Eaters before, she had never been in such a dangerous situation and had not even her wand with her. Truth be told, this was what had been the only thing she had a bad feeling about.
Minerva arrived downstairs, where old chandeliers sent out a dark light. This house was just like every child imagined the place of a dark wizard, old, dark, with strange old paintings and the unmistakeable evil lingering in the air. Scanning the area, she quickly slipped through a door that was slightly ajar and turned out to be leading to the salon; sensing movement behind her, she promptly hid under the old drawer next to the door, only a few moments later, the feet of a house-elf walked past her.
"The drink Master Avery wished for." the elf said in a high yet hoarse voice.
"Prepare the dining room and tell me when the others arrive, Gibly." Orlando Avery simply answered as he probably took the offered drink and return to whatever he had been doing, not acknowledging the elf further.
"Of course, Master!" the elf answered and walked back out of the room while Avery took a sip of his drink before putting it aside rather carelessly. Minerva took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself down a little. All she had to do was listen and get out of that blasted house once the Death Eaters had left.
The sound of heels clicking on the ground filled the room as a woman moved from one of the windows towards Orlando and Minerva's heart started to beat faster. She hadn't even noticed the woman until she moved.
"Laurine, go upstairs and get Francis."
"Don't you think he is too young to" Laurine Avery tried to argue the attending of her only son at a Death Eater meeting but was harshly silenced by her husband.
"He is of age and with that old enough, so do as I say, Laurine. And if you're not able to sit there and stay silent as you're supposed to be, then don't bother with returning downstairs with Francis." Orlando growled at her. His wife did not answer and simply left the room. Minerva saw this as her chance to get to the dining room, where she hoped she still had enough time to search for a proper hiding place. She slid out of the room a moment after Laurine when she had made sure Orlando was still looking away. Minerva just saw her vanish up the stairs, but she didn't give the witch a second thought as she searched for the dining hall.
She found it after she had followed another short hallway and went through an open door to her left. If Minerva had remembered the manor's layout, and she was sure she had, she was now in the room left from the front door. Luckily for her, the house-elf was so busy he took no notice of her entrance, and Minerva was able to hide once more under a drawer. Sooner than expected, fast scurrying footsteps hurried past her, and she knew that the elf had left to inform its master of the arrival of his fellow Death Eaters.
What felt like only seconds later, Avery entered the dining room with his elf, his polished dragon hide shoes walked into her view, and Minerva wished for nothing more than her wand so she could end the life of this horrible man.
"Let them in, and when everyone is here, you will stay away from this room until I call you, or you will get severely punished."
"Yes! Master Avery, of course, Master Avery." with that, the elf disappeared again but. The door was opened only seconds later, and several wizards entered, all clad in long black robes.
"Welcome, my confederates, have a seat!" Avery said as more and more Death Eaters arrived. Unknown to them Minerva listened closely, already trying to identify some of them. Still, they were all talking simultaneously, so it was hard for her to make out any particular voice.
"Please, gentlemen, take a seat and let's begin, I know some still have to arrive, but we can't wait for them all night long." Avery's voice boomed through the dining room, and the Death Eaters all walked to the table to take a seat.
"Let's begin, Jones. Did you complete your mission?" Avery said in a demanding voice.
"It was easier than expected, and everything is working like we planned. I already know more than we thought I would. Thanks to the stupidity of those blood traitors and Mudbloods, I can manipulate the Floo Network to our benefits." Jones answered quickly, and a pleasing murmur spread through the room. 'Jones; Floo Network Office Death Eater.' Minerva thought.
"Beck," Orlando said.
"My news are not that good. Potter has accepted the post as the new DADA teacher. We tried to get him in his flat, but it was already empty when we got there that filthy Mudblood lover got away for now. But he won't stay at that school forever. We'll be there when he leaves."
"The Dark Lord won't be pleased to hear you didn't kill him, make sure that this changes; Potter will curse the day he didn't join our ranks." 'They are after Harry. He needs to be careful.'
Then suddenly, the door opened once more, and two other figures walked inside. "Ahh, Dawling and Fenrir, how nice that you also decided to join us. I thought you wouldn't honour us with your presence." Avery said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He didn't seem too happy about them being here.
"Thank you for your kind words. It's not like my pack has been doing most of the dirty work for you." one of the newcomers said in a deep rasping voice.
"Watch your tongue; just because you're a werewolf doesn't mean I can't or won't make you sit on the ground like a common dog." upon hearing this fear spread in Minerva's body. Her heart threatened to jump out of her chest. They had never expected a werewolf under You Know Who's followers.
"Do that, and I'll eat your damn cat as an appetiser Avery." 'No, he can't mean-'
"What in Merlin's beard are you talking about? I don't have a cat."
"Then what's a cat doing under your drawer?" the werewolf said, and for a moment, nobody spoke, nobody even moved. 'I have to get out of here just when she thought this, a non-verbal spell sent the drawer flying away and exposed her to the eyes of over a dozen Death Eaters. Minerva ran for the door, but she was too late as someone had already locked it, and without her wand, she had no chance to flee.
Minerva pressed herself against the door, her eyes darting to everyone standing in front of her. Closest to her was the werewolf Fenrir, who was tall and scarily looked like a wolf even in his human form and a young wizard, probably Dawling, whose hand reached out to grab her, but she hissed and clawed at him. As her claws scratched his hand, he cursed and pulled it back.
"Bloody hell- I'll!" the wizard already pulled his wand, but the gruesome voice of Fenrir held him back.
"Wait...something is off about that cat." the werewolf said and sniffed the air. Minerva had never been that scared in her life; she knew he could smell that she wasn't an ordinary cat! Hadn't Harry heard or seen the commotion? Did he know that the mission had taken a deadly turn? She begged at everything and anyone that he was already planning to get her out.
Minerva flinched when Fenrir started to laugh, a laugh that sent shivers of fear through Minerva's whole body. "Ha, I'm supposed to be the stupid one here? Who had an Animagus in his house for who knows how long and didn't even know about it?"
"What?" heads turned to the owner of the Mansion, who was furious. 'Oh Merlin Harry, where are you? I need your help!' Minerva thought desperately.
"Hold it over the table, and let's see who...dared to sneak inside my home," Orlando said, and everyone who knew him knew that even though his voice was calm that he was beyond angry. If Harry wouldn't do something, she would undoubtedly die today, but not before they had tortured every last bit of information out of her.
"Revelio Animagi!" Avery hissed when Fenrir held Minerva over the dining table, and immediately she felt how she was forced out of her cat and back into her human form. In an instant, she tried to roll off the table, but several hands grabbed her and pinned her to the table's wooden surface.
"Well, well, well, look what we have here...I don't think that you were invited, Professor McGonagall." Avery said with a sinister smile on his thin lips as he stared down at her. "So tell us what you were doing here and why you didn't send word of you attending our, I must say, private meeting?" but the witch didn't answer; she didn't even move one muscle. It was pointless anyway; even though she was an excellent duellist, she wouldn't stand a chance against fourteen Death Eaters without a wand.
"No? You won't answer on your own? Then be my guest; let's do it the hard way. Crucio!" he pointed his wand at her, and only a second later, Minerva's screams filled the dining room. It felt like she was skinned alive with a knife made of acid. After visibly enjoying her screams of pain, he lifted the curse from her.
"Let's try again. What did you hear?" breathing heavily, Minerva still didn't speak one word.
"Tell me!" Avery yelled and once again put her under the torture curse, this time even longer.
"Why don't we just summon the Dark Lord?" a Death Eater asked, but Avery shook his head at this.
"This won't end good for me or any of you, neither of us notice of her, and he would punish us no matter what. But what if she didn't hear anything? I'd rather not contact the Dark Lord for nothing!" Orlando answered the question; his own fear of his master's revenge shone in his eyes for a moment before turning his eyes back on the caught witch.
"Just give up already when can play this game all night long and believe me, you'll eventually break...everyone does and when you break... let's say it'll be most joyous to watch for us," he said, and for the third time, Minerva was living though the greatest pain imaginable.
"Nothing! I heard nothing," she said while gasping for air and flinched when Avery pointed his wand at her again.
"You better don't lie to me!"
"No, I only-"
"Liar." he raised his wand once more.
"No! Plea- Ahhh." Minerva writhed in pain on the table. She wanted it to stop, no matter how but she just begged for the pain to end. This time she was so long under the curse that Minerva thought she would lose her mind because of the pain. When finally, what felt like hours to her, he stopped the curse, Minerva curled as much into a ball as she could, and tears ran down her face. Now the pain didn't immediately subside once the curse was removed but lingered on her and only faded slowly.
"Hm...you know what? I guess it won't matter what you heard anyway. You won't live to tell anyone. But more importantly, what do you know about Dumbledore's plans? Tell me." he growled the last words at her and grabbed her throat.
"I can't...I don't know his plans." Minerva said, which was partly true, she didn't know much of Dumbledore's plans because of possible situations like this. The only thing she could tell was the names of members of the Order.
"And here I thought you were a clever witch. You'll tell me everything you know and who is with you!"
"No." Minerva gasped once more her horrible screams echoed through the room, and for the first time, she wished she would die, right here, right now just so the pain would end. This went on and on. 'Oh Harry, please help me...' the black-haired witch thought as the last curse had been finally stopped, and she could catch her breath again, not knowing how long she could endure before she would actually break.
"Hm, it seems we won't come far this way; let's try something else." he didn't even ask her a question when he once again raised his wand, Minerva flinched, already expecting the pain, but what happened was that with a quick mumble he had cut of her cloak and jacket leaving her in her red shirt. Weakly Minerva raised her arms and tried to fight off his hands that had grabbed her shirt, but she just as well could have stroked over his hands, so weak was her attempt.
"Don't! No-" Minerva tried, but Avery already ripped it open, causing the others around them to hoot and making obscene gestures and comments as she lay before them, her bra being the only clothing on her upper body. Where was Harry? What had they done to him? Why wasn't he helping her? The mere thought that maybe he was deadly injured or already dead made her heart clench in pain even worse than the torture.
"If you don't speak now, I will every one of them have their way with you." Minerva knew he wasn't bluffing. He would let them rape her, she couldn't help but feel even greater fear, and against all her will, she felt tears sliding down her cheeks. Minerva couldn't betray everyone she knew, people who were her friends, her family and then she thought once more of Harry. No, no matter what they did to her, she wouldn't betray them!
Taking her silence as an answer, Avery turned away.
"Fenrir." Minerva had no time to react when the massive form of Fenrir was above her, and calloused hands grabbed her. One laid on her throat and pressed her head on the table and made it nearly impossible to breathe, the other roamed over her chest, and besides fear, disgust began to well inside her.
Another pair of hands opened her pants and pulled them down her legs, together with her shoes, leaving her in her underwear. Against her will, she began to tremble under Fenrir's hands and flinched as he leaned down and licked over her neck, the hand on her throat tightened, and his long nails nearly cut into her skin.
"Mmm, you taste so good. I'll highly enjoy drinking your blood tonight." He growled in her ear, and Minerva closed her eyes. She finally gave in to the exhaustion of the torture. Minerva even embraced it as everything was better than what was about to happen to her. Her last thought was of Harry, Minerva hoped he was alive, she didn't dare to hope he would come and save her, but she hoped that, if only in an illusion created by her exhaustion, she could be with the man she loved with all her heart.
Before her world turned completely black, a deafening blast send her flying through the air, Fenrir was flung off of her, but before Minerva hit the ground, she was already surrounded by comforting darkness and silence.
Hello, again my dear readers!
I hoped you liked the chapter, even if it was delayed!
So what happened that Harry didn't help Minerva? Was he already hurt before they caught Minerva? Is there maybe someone under the Death Eaters who isn't all loyal to Voldemort?
You will find out in the next chapter!
I apologise for the chapter's delay, but there was much going on, and I got a puppy, and whoa, they are a little bit more work than expected, but I'm super happy, and the next chapter won't take so long!
Please leave a review and a big thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, favourite and followed the story! :)
Until next time
Patti