AN: Yes it has been a while. Finishing up work, starting classes, and trialing a new medicine has taken up much of my time. There are probably typos and mistakes. If you find anything that doesn't line up for the timeline please let me know. I am going to be writing more, but I still don't have a schedule. Hope you all still enjoy.

-L

Chapter 2

Minerva had to head back to the school and wanted to let Harry know that she was leaving, she also wanted to introduce him to her brother Malcolm so that he won't panic when he couldn't find her. However, as Minerva cooed a, "It's time to wake up Harry, before she witnessed sheer terror after he was roused from is sleep. Harry woke in a deep panic, he believed that he woke up too late to get breakfast made and and the warden came to throttle him again. He tries to jump out of bed while saying, "Sorry, I'm sorry I will make it right away," but he was quickly swept up into a warm embrace which thoroughly confused him. The night before started coming back to him as he heard soft sobs from the person holding him.

"Oh Harry, it's okay, you don't need to do that again, ever again. You're safe from those horrible people. Everything is alright." Minerva said in a manner quite opposite of what she normally portrayed. "I have already made breakfast for you my sweet, I didn't know what you would like so I made everything I could think of, I hope you can find something you enjoy."

After hearing the nice lady speak to him with such care, he embraced her back and mumbled a thank you into her chest that was not discernible for Minerva. He didn't mean to make her cry, so he backed away from her embrace to apologize. "I'm very sorry for making you cry Mrs. McGonagall; I didn't mean to. I swear." Harry said in a small, far-away type voice. He then saw her show a small grin that he could only barely notice.

"You have nothing to apologize for Harry, I am just so amazed at how polite you can be, how you manage to be so sweet after living in such turmoil for so long." Minerva gave to Harry in response. Harry looked a bit confused at what she said so, Minerva asked him what was wrong and he started looking sheepish right after.

"Nothings wrong, really, I just… I just don't know what turmoil means." He puts his head down to hide himself away.

Minerva looked at this sweet boy and marveled at how he could come out of that horrible home and still be sheepish towards her. She loved the tint of pink that covered his little cheeks as he was trying to hide his face. "Turmoil Harry, means that you were living in a bad place, the way those people treated you put you in turmoil." Again, Minerva witnessed a sheepish expression and decided to just look at him, so that he could come out and say what he was thinking.

Harry quickly realized that she was waiting for him to say something, so he tried his best to show he was grateful for the explanation by giving a smile before he went on to ask the real question he had before he got confused. As he was trying to hide all the excitement he was holding, he asked, "I was just wondering what you meant by saying that you made everything. I only know of a few things, I only just started cooking…" He was still quite sheepish as he finished. He was only ever aloud a piece of toast for breakfast, but he learned how to make a full English for, 'those people,' as Mrs. McGonagall has been calling them. He wondered just how much everything, really meant. He really wanted to try something new, something with more flavor than a toasted piece of bread with nothing else on it.

Minerva recognized the excitement in the young boy's eyes, she knew he was in for a big surprise. "Well, why don't we go have a look. There's plenty, so you might try a bunch of new things, you'll have to if you want to find your favorite." She said this in a way that was sure to pick at the excitement he was showing. Before even thinking about it, she picked Harry up to carry him to the kitchen. She noticed him tense but, he seemed to gradually get more comfortable. He brought himself closer to her before they even made it into the kitchen.

Harry was hit by the overwhelming smell as he grew closer to the kitchen. The conglomeration of smells was new and exciting for him, he began absentmindedly tugging on Minerva's robe in his excitement. This brought a smile to Minerva's face; she was getting quite excited herself. She realized that she had to buy some vials for memory storage, she expected many pleasant memories of Harry, if her current elation was any indication. As they finally walk their way into the kitchen, Harry was stunned, while he was getting used to the smell that captured him before, he was ill prepared for the sight that accompanied it. The entire table was full of different foods and beverages, most of which Harry did not know. He saw a kettle, everything needed for a full English, a small jar of something called 'Marmite,' among many other things he just couldn't recognize. Minerva walked with him over towards the table with a silly grin on her face, his giddiness was contagious, and Minerva was glad to know that she had something to do with his happiness.

When they reached the table, it was obvious that Harry wouldn't be able to see the full assortment of breakfast items in front of him. Before either of them really noticed, Minerva had Harry on her hip, watching Harry's eyes darting all over the table so that he could see every different thing. Harry took his time before deciding what he was going to eat, he asked Minerva about every item he was unaware of, listening with rapt attention and not once interrupting. This reminded her of how the first years looked while Albus gave his welcoming speech each September 1st. When each an every unknown item had been explained, Harry's cheerful mood soured which immediately alarmed Minerva that something was troubling him.

In the softest voice the stern transfiguration professor was capable of, she asked, "Is something bothering you Harry?" He tensed up in Minerva's hold, nervous about asking the question on his mind. He shifted slightly to face her, head down, he whispered,

"I was never allowed so much" he paused. "I don't want you to be upset with me if I don't finish everything." His shoulders fell dejectedly, his worry evident in his body language. He expected to be reprimanded, punished even, he was in no way expecting a short laugh and a beaming smile directed towards him.

"Harry, I knew you could not eat so much, I do not even think a hippogr… hippopotamus, I don't think a hippopotamus could eat this much food." Minerva caught herself, she was not prepared to give an explanation on what a hippogriff is this early in their new situation. While Harry looked at her in confusion, Minerva continued in order to relieve Harry of his guilty mood. "You can eat as much or as little as you like Harry, anything you cannot finish can be saved for you to eat it later. You can have whatever you like Harry!" Harry was glad that his worries were unjust, but he felt his face light up in embarrassment at her response. He knew that Mrs. McGonagall was a nice lady, he just wasn't capable of acting accordingly to his new environment just yet.

ooooooo

As Harry finished his breakfast, which was a small bit of everything on the table, a knock came from the front door. Harry tensed, he was worried it was all too good to be true, but he was relieved that Mrs. McGonagall knew the person at the door.

"Malcolm, you are right on time." Minerva said as she let her younger brother through the door.

"Well, I wanted to make a good first impression." Malcolm said smiling, part of him still wanting to do good for his elder sister. Malcom spotted Harry trying to hide in his chair when he entered the family room proper. Malcolm was curious why the boy was hiding, but he was more curious about how Min came to taking care of the Harry Potter. He looked at his sister with a raised eyebrow.

Minerva knew what her brother was asking her, but she also didn't have much time before she needed to get to Hogwarts. "I know I have a lot of explaining to do, but I just haven't had time. All you need to know for today is, Harry had a rough upbringing. He is going to be shy and scared of you at first but all you need to do is show him that you're kind and caring. He's a wonderful boy once he opens up." Minerva whispered. She was smiling by the end of it, and it made her brother chortle in response.

"Well Min, how about you introduce the two of us?" Malcolm said somewhat loudly, he was trying to come off friendly for the boy, but it seemed to make Harry become even smaller. The siblings walk to the kitchen smiling, Minerva walked up to Harry laying a comforting hand on his shoulder. Harry stiffened at first, but he came to realize that Mrs. McGonagall was just trying to be nice.

Trying not to lecture, Minerva gave her best for a quick introduction. She was going to be late for her morning lessons if she did not hurry. "Harry, this is my brother Malcom, he is going to look after you for times when I have to be at work. He is a good man, and you will have a good time with him once you're comfortable. I wish I could explain more to you, but I really am going to be late, I will be back around dinner time so you both should have some fun until then." Minerva was not used to being very motherly, she had been a stern teacher of children for many years before yesterday. She saw the boy listening intently and it made her heart swell, before she knew what she was doing, she kissed the boy on the forehead.

"I'm off you two, remember to eat lunch" Minerva said while she was leaving down the hallway. She stopped and turned after her brother however as she said, "remember to have fun." While this was meant for both of them, she wanted her brother to know that it was okay to enjoy his time with Harry.

"Alright Min, have a good day at work, will try not to make too much of a mess." Malcolm said smiling after his sister. He was glad to be of use to his sister, even though the task wasn't going to be the easiest he has done for her.

After a long few seconds, Malcolm turned towards Harry, who was back to hiding behind the chair, and tried to give him a comfortable smile. It was difficult because he was definitely not comfortable.

Wanting to end the silence, Malcolm greeted Harry as politely as he could. "Hello Harry, my names Malcolm, how are you doing?" Malcolm sighed inwardly, he knew he was being too formal with such a young boy, but the situation felt like it called for it. Harry took a while to respond, but he eventually did, in much of the same formal manner that Malcolm started before.

"Hi Mr. Malcom, I am doing alright. It's nice to meet you." Harry managed to squeak out, he was not able to meet the man's eyes.

"Harry, you don't need to be so formal," Malcolm said chuckling, he knew that he was the one who started it, but he couldn't help himself when such a young boy spoke that way. "And you don't have to call me Mr. Malcom, you can call me just Malcolm, Mac, Uncle Mac if you want, but we're going to be around each other for a while so it's okay if we become friends. And friends don't call each other Misters."

Harry looked at the man questioningly. He has never had a friend before and wasn't sure if he is really allowed to not call him mister. He responded as quiet as possible while still being heard.

"Okay Mac…" He paused in case it was all a joke, the man didn't say anything though, so Harry pushed on. "I would… would… I would like to be friends!" Harry ended with a rush; he was scared that he was just waiting to tell him that he didn't mean it.

Malcolm responded quickly to not make the little boy more worried than he already looked. "Sounds great Harry, I'm sure we will become good friends."

Both Harry and Malcolm really couldn't believe it, for Harry to never had a friend before and Malcolm not having as hard a time as he thought he would. It became quite the welcome surprise for the two of them.

They were quiet for a moment until Malcolm said, "Well Harry, looks like we have some breakfast to put away. I must admit it looks quite tasty, maybe we could have some for lunch too." Harry's eyes lit up, he really enjoyed the sweetness of the pancakes and wanted to try more.

"And after why don't we find something fun for us to do, I'm sure Minnie left some stuff for us to play with somewhere." Malcolm smiled at the boy. He thought that maybe it wasn't going to be so hard after all.

ooooooo

Minerva was late. She was only about a minute late, but when she is routinely at her desk when her students start arriving to her class, it was noticed. When she overheard two Ravenclaws wondering why she was late, she knew that Albus was sure to know by lunch. She wasn't happy about this but she but she wouldn't let it affect her teaching. So, Minerva conducted her double transfiguration class as business as usual.

The class seemed to go on forever. Her class was usually setup so it was first half lecture, second half practical. Today however, was mostly lecture, this would be the last topic they would cover before exams, so she wanted to give good examples and information for the students' notes. Towards the end of the lecture, a 4th year Hufflepuff seemed to just fall off her chair. Minerva halted her lecture; she was a little stunned. She was in full on lecture mode and the interruption disrupted her. When she spotted who it was, she was not surprised. Ms. Tonks was well known in the school for her clumsiness and it showed.

"Ms. Tonks are you alright?" This caused the rest of the class to giggle even more.

"Yup, Yup, I'm alright professor, all good here!" Tonks said rather quickly as her was switching colors like mad. This was the norm when she was embarrassed, imagine her hair when William Weasley says something to her, it is quite a show.

Minerva had to hide her smile in order to keep appearances when she said, "Well, if you would the Ms. Tonks," She regarded the young metamorphmagus so that she could continue the lecture. As Minerva resumed, she had a thought come to her, Ms. Tonks' mother was Andromeda Tonks née Black. She knew that Sirius Black was Harry's Godfather… HARRY'S GODFATHER. He couldn't betray the Potter's; magic would not have allowed it. Oh, Minerva thought she was so stupid, why hadn't she thought of that. Why hasn't anybody thought of that. Her thoughts became too distracting and she knew she was going to have to dismiss her class. She needed to talk Andromeda Tonks; she would talk to her daughter to said up a meeting first though.

"I'm sorry class, I seem to have lost myself during the interruption. Class dismissed. Ms. Tonks if you would stay back, please." The class was confused, transfiguration never got let go early. They also snickered at Ms. Tonks, her hair was changed into all different colors, it was so fast that you could barely tell those multiple colors were swapping at all, it looks a blur. Minerva felt bad for the young Hufflepuff, it was not her intention to embarrass her more than she already was.

When Minerva locked and silenced the door, she turned to Tonks and said. "I am sorry for embarrassing you Ms. Tonks, I promise that you are not in trouble." This slowed the color changing down some but it didn't stop yet. "Ms. Tonks, I find myself in need of talking to your mother and it is rather urgent. Do you think she would be able to take her lunch a bit early to speak with me?" Tonks' hair stilled on yellow, this was the color her hair became when she was confused. Tonks wondered why Ms. McGonagall needed to speak with her mother when she wasn't in trouble, but she did not see anything in the teachers face misleading her.

"Uh… Sure, I think she would professor. I will warn you though she may not be the nicest…" Tonks said this carefully, she knew that her mother did not like the professors very much. She never said why she didn't but she still wanted to warn the professor. Tonks got even more confused after Minerva's response.

"Yes, I imagine she would be. I have become quite upset with myself for what I think is the same reason your mother is angry with us. I want her to know that I want to start fixing this and I think she is the best person to help." Minerva spoke in a tone that was mixed between her normal stern self and her disappointed tone she gives some of her students. "Would you follow me to my office so that we can get ahold of her?" Tonks agreed and the two walked out of the transfiguration room and left in the direction of her office. Minerva knew this conversation was not going to go very well, but she admits that she kind of deserves it.

ooooooo

Minerva and the Tonks' just sat down in Minerva's office and the atmosphere already seemed tense. Andromeda really did not want to have this meeting, but the younger Tonks was able to convince her, even though she still didn't know why Ms. McGonagall needed to speak with her mother.

"Mrs. Tonks" Minerva said as calm as possible, she was embarrassed how nervous she was and hoped that it did not show. "Young Ms. Tonks has informed me that you are not quite happy with the professors here at Hogwarts and I think I have realized why that is."

"Yeah? And what do you happened to think that is?" Andromeda snapped. She did not want to be here and she didn't think any of Dumbledore's people would know what she was angry about at all. So, she was surprised when his Deputy Headmistress knew exactly why.

"It's about Sirius Black… and how he could not have betrayed the Potters." Minerva deserved the scorn she was being shown, it has been a long six years and they would be even longer spent in Askaban. "I want to bring his situation up with the Wizengamot, magic would never let him betray them as he happened to be young Harry Potter's Godfather.

The younger Tonks was blown away, she would have thought this conversation would be about her becoming a potions master before this. She looked back at the two of them, it was obvious that Ms. McGonagall was nervous, it showed so easily on her face. Her mother was staring the professor down with the same stern expression she had when she first entered through the floo. She wanted to know why this was now being brought up, her mother also seemed to wonder why.

"Why do you care now? Did the great Albus Dumbledore finally realize how oaths in our world work? Does the Chief Warlock want something from me? Is that why he put you up to this?" The elder Tonks' was furious, she knew that the headmaster played his group like a chess game and she would not let herself to be part of this game. She was staring at the deputy headmistress with even more anger than before, she could feel the muscles in her face stretching at her great frown. She waited for whatever crafted response that Minerva was given by Albus Dumbledore, the tosser.

"Mrs. Tonks, I know why you may think that Albus has put me up to this, but I promise you I am no longer going to be one of his pawns. I rather forcefully declared that to him just yesterday." Andromeda was quite surprised but she did not let it show on her face, she waited for the professor to explain why.

"You see, every Halloween, I go and keep watch over young Harry Potter. I knew from when Albus first placed him with these horrible people that I wanted to take him from them. It took me until I watched this beast of a man slap the child before I had the guts to stand up to Albus." Minerva finished with tears in her eyes, so much more has been taken from the boy that even she realized. She wants to make everything up to him. "Harry is just so small, they had to have starved the boy, they locked him in a bloody cupboard for Merlin's sake. How could people be so cruel to someone that is a part of their family. I just feel so terrible that I let it happen for so many years." Tears were steadily flowing down Minerva's face now, but she stayed looking the elder Tonks in the eyes. She wanted her to see that she was serious about this.

Both Tonks' jaws figuratively dropped, well for the younger, it literally dropped, Harry Potter, the hero of the wizarding world was being abused while everyone thought he was just growing up in secret with a wizarding family. Both Tonks' eyes watered as well, she now believed Minerva was being truthful, this was not setup by Albus Dumbledore.

"Minerva… we had no idea, nobody would even think… Nobody would think this was what was happening to him, Nymphadora was young enough to be told great stories of boy, I just can't believe this…" The room lost its tense manner and dropped into a room full with grief. "I believe you Minerva, I believe you want to help Sirius. I… Thank you, nobody has ever listened to me and since I was cast out of the House of Black, nobody would let Ted and I onto the Wizengamot floor. I think that you will be able to help us push this. Harry deserves the family he has left." Andromeda reached to rest her hand over the elder woman, she feels bad for acting so rude to her earlier.

"Thank you, Andromeda, I think so too. I will do everything I can to assist you with this, I want to make everything up to Harry. He is the sweetest little boy and he deserves the world." The atmosphere turned into one of hope, they sat silently until the youngest and the room spoke up.

"Would we… I mean… Be able to meet him? We are technically his family; it may be good for him." Minerva watched the younger Tonks' hair slowly change colors again, Minerva however did not know the best way to answer this.

"I as well would like you Harry to meet more of his family, the problem is, I was only allowed through the wards that Albus setup to protect Harry by agreeing to raise the boy as a muggle."

This again was quite the shocker for the Tonks'. Andromeda noticed that her lunch would be coming to an end, but this was too big to just leave. It took her about 10 minutes to find a replacement for her at work and get her husband to come through the floo. When everybody was situated, the conversation started again.

"So, you have to raise him as a muggle? Well, I'm sure that we could manage to be full muggle while around him, I have learned a lot over the years thanks to my Ted." Andromeda did not see the issue, but Ted was quick to realize what Minerva was worried about.

"You are worried about Sirius if we manage to get him out of Askaban." Ted Tonks watched his daughter's professor nod then continued. "Sirius has never lived as a muggle and he also is going to be sick for a while after he is released. I can see how that would cause a problem."

Ted Tonks was a quick and logical thinker, this helped him a lot in his family. With Nymphadora always seeming to be in her own world and Andromeda losing her temper quite quickly it became a necessity. Minerva was nodding her head while she looked onto the three Tonks'. She knew that Harry deserved a family, but she did not want to mess up when it came to raising him. Ted Tonks showed why he is the voice of reason of his family when he came up with the perfect solution.

"I think I know how we could manage; I imagine that you will be spending the weekend with the boy?" Minerva nodded again. "Well, maybe you could bring Nymphadora with you every so often, then Harry would be able to have somewhat of a sister, I'm sure Nymphadora would like that." His daughter nodded excitedly; her father noticed that there might be a problem. "Dora, you cannot do this until you can control your morphing. This is sure to expose young Harry to magic." Ted finished with a chuckle. Minerva spoke up offering a solution of her own.

"Maybe Ms. Tonks would be willing to spend some extra time with me during lunches, I would be able to assist her in controlling her problem here. Morphing is not much different than the animagus transformation, and I am in fact an animagus." Minerva quickly changed into her cat form to show that she is quite capable of assisting. "It could also help your daughter earn the points back that she loses in potions." Minerva looked fondly at the embarrassed Hufflepuff who was trying her hardest to control her hair.

The impromptu meeting went on through lunch. The four of them discussing how they would help Sirius and what they would do once he is released. Ted was confident that they couldn't deny the evidence., especially if the goblins can prove that Sirius is in fact Harry's Godfather by oath. The mood was quite pleasant as the meeting adjourned; Minerva was quite happy that she was able to start making things up to Harry. Young Ms. Tonks left determined to reign in her abilities, she loved the thought of being a big sister.

Their absence from lunch did not go unnoticed. While the students were laughing as they heard what happened in the transfiguration lesson, Albus Dumbledore was not able to believe that this was all it was. He was going to figure out just what went on with the long meeting Minerva had decided to have. He was hoping to have Harry back at the Dursley's before Yule.

ooooooo

The rest of Minerva's day went as smoothly as it could, it was obvious that the students were distracted in her class. She was of course aware of why, she just had to continue on without any further incidents. After her last class, she sent a message to Poppy saying that she was going to be out for the day but would need to setup an appointment for her soon. Minerva didn't need one, but she just wasn't ready to go to a muggle hospital just yet. It would be all to much.

Minerva arrived home and quickly changed into her muggle attire, she missed Harry a lot and was excited to see him. She saw that the light was dim in his room so she decided to peak in quietly. What she saw melted her heart. Malcolm brought in one of the chairs from the family room and was reading to Harry. Harry happened to be on her brothers lap, curled up in a little ball. The book Malcolm was reading to him was laying on top of of Harry's back. Malcolm was also asleep, and was rather loud while doing it. Harry must have gotten used to the noise because it didn't seem to bother him. Minerva silently levitated him onto his bed before she went to wake up her brother.

"Hmmm… wuh… Oh hey there Min, we were just reading a book and I guess we dosed off. Must have been a boring book I guess." Malcolm said drearily. He was getting up to hug his sister, the sister being somewhat confused as to why she was being given the hug.

"Malcolm? Is everything alright?" Minerva asked while still being gripped in a hug. Eventually her brother let go and answered her question.

"Yeah Min everything's good. Thank you for this. It's… Nice. I'm glad to do it. "

Minerva looked at her brother with such emotion that her eyes started watering. She was so happy that he was okay with watching over Harry, more than okay with it, it seems. She knew that he was the right choice and this showed that.

"I'm so happy for you Malcolm. I think this is just what you needed." Minerva said this while she silently led her brother out of the room. They made there way to her office space before speaking again.

"So tell me about it, what all did you two do?"

"Well we ate all the breakfast you made for one." Malcolm said chuckling. "Harry was quite proud that we managed that. It was a little trying at the start but once we both opened up everything went great. We played with toys, read, talked about school. Which he missed by the way. It was great Min. I think we both really enjoyed it." He finished off smiling, he was already attached to the boy. He found out that the boy was as wonderful as Minerva said he was and was happy he could be part of the boys little family. Minerva was belated, she just couldn't stop any of her happiness from showing over.

"Malcolm I'm beyond happy, thank you so much for agreeing to watching him. He is going to become a good young man with you around" Minerva said.

The siblings discussed more details about the events of their days and Minerva realized she hadn't thought all so far ahead. She didn't know how much Harry enjoyed school. Minerva used the muggle phone to call the operator, she quickly found an option that sounded great for Harry. She didn't know much about muggle schools, but Malcolm explained to her. They said their goodbyes after Malcolm said he would get ahold of the school in the morning. Winter break was coming for the students, but it would be better for Harry to get introduced to his class before hand. Minerva could not imagine things going any better. She was look forward to spending the weekend at home with Harry.