A/N: This story depicts the aftermath of trauma and abuse, so please read at your own discretion. If you've read my other stories, know that this isn't going to be as fluffy of warm. Two-shot. I own nothing.
All the lights were on in the courtroom, and they would have blinded her if she were able to see.
Darkness, that's all that's left of her, in her. The dark, the scared, the stupid parts of her soul were pierced and cracked by none other than Minerva McGonagall. She stared up at the Wizengamot between thick locks of her curly brown hair, hiding her from the blazing lights and stares. She was the strong once, but that was before everything happened. She would have stared at them right back and looked them straight in the eyes, but all she could see were the fuzzy, blurry words on the pages of documents in front of her, floating around in her teardrops. Her lawyer tried to put a reassuring hand on her shoulder to calm her down, yet all it did was knock her back off balance and she recoiled from the touch, slumping further into her chair.
A neutral party, trained somewhere in North America, presided over the Wizengamot. She always did her research ahead of time, but that was not the case on this occasion. She wishes she too were anonymous.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, today we will continue day four of the trial of Minerva McGonagall."
Hermione tuned out the next ten minutes. It was already getting to be too much, and it wasn't even ten in the morning. Ron and Harry were there too, she knew, but each bead of sweat she produced reeked of the shame she felt for what happened to her. She looked up at where Minerva was seated. Of course, she was calm now, pristine looking and…was she almost smirking? Nothing like what the nights of her apprenticeship were like after the war. Nothing like the night her hair was a mess as she violently shook Hermione's, yelling at her for failing again at producing an animagus because the light inside her was already out by that point. She didn't even have a half good enough memory for a patronus and her otter sure must have missed her. Minerva's wand was at her neck and Hermione was only able to fight her off with some quick-thinking wandless magic and running away as fast as possible. It was summer and they were all but alone, leaving her to fend for herself in the castle.
The memories didn't come to her, like her they were shattered like a mirror. All she could see were flashes of the fine freckles on Minerva's face, only visible just in the moment her teeth were so close they threatened to pierce her skin, her cat animagus threatening to take full control over her.
It was Minerva's turn to explain what happened and her first day actually appearing in court. At Hermione's request, they would coincide as little as possible. If she weren't feeling so vulnerable, she would laugh right now. Not so powerful in broad daylight, are you McGonagall?
Back at the start of her apprenticeship, after she had already finished a Muggle degree in biology with a focus on mammals to prepare her for further work in transfiguration and a potential animagus transformation, they had been friends. Nothing had been amiss except for her failed relationship with Ron and a lot wallet after a night in Muggle London.
As Minerva carefully maneuvered herself to the stand, Hermione thought of the irony of the moment. Back when she was a muggle born just starting out at Hogwarts, she had always seen McGonagall as her protector, the brilliant and poised professor and her Head of House. She admired her and cared for her fiercely and the pair seemed perfectly suited for working together after the war. As a student, Professor McGonagall, and later Minerva, would be the person she would go to if she were worried about something or if something bad happened. Too bad the one person she once saw as a protector was the one she needed protecting from the most.
The scar on her arm itched again. It wasn't a war relic like she told everybody, it was a mark of shame, of Minerva's uncontrollable predator feline rage. She only agreed to show the judge and her legal team the scar in private. One day, at least that part of her would soon heal.
If convicted, Minerva McGonagall faced an unnumerable number of years in Azkaban for berating and belittling Hermione, causing her physical and emotional harm and for performing the cruciatus curse on her on multiple occasions and obliviating Hermione afterwards. Hermione only found out from the pain and multiple fractures these encounters cause that Minerva lied and said were from the animagus transformation. If Minerva McGonagall was convicted, Hermione Granger would both sigh with relief but cry in private, glad she wouldn't have to keep looking behind her in case Minerva appeared. If Minerva McGongagall was convicted, Hermione's parents would allow her to stay in the magical world instead of helping run their dental practice. If Minerva McGongagall was convicted, Ron and Harry would be there to bandage the broken parts of her soul and gingerly lead her out of the courtroom.
Minerva McGonagall was ready for questioning. Hermione would never be ready for what was about to begin unfolding.
The judge asked her a series of standard questions regarding her role as the Hogwarts staff member overseeing Hermione's apprenticeship. Minerva lied through her teeth, but she did so in a way that was believable. Nobody ever saw the side of McGonagall she did, and she hoped nobody ever would.
"Miss Granger was a pupil under my care for some time, why would I abuse that power? She and her friends Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley are three of the students I have cared about and helped the most during my time working at Hogwarts."
An hour passed and they weren't getting anywhere.
"Professor McGonagall, can you confirm for the court that you are not currently under the influence of Polyjuice potion, are a metamorphmagus, or are currently or ever been under the imperius curse during the past three years? Do you have any reason to believe you are not yourself at this time?" The American wizard presiding over the Wizengamot had a harshness to his words that clapped like thunder through the courtroom.
The first stumble.
"That is preposterous, none of those things are true! I am Minerva McGonagall, deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts and transfiguration mistress." She then jumped into her cat animagus as further proof of her identity.
"Very well, Professor McGonagall. Since we have found many inconsistencies between your story and that of Miss Granger, I am afraid that we must sequester you for twenty-four hours. During this time, we will continue questioning you and carefully monitor your food, water, and potion intake in order to determine no such Polyjuice potions are affecting you and place you within a specially prepared room that will negate the effects of any imperius curse." He concluded, dismissing the court and leaving Hermione, Harry, and Ron perplexed.
