A/N: Thanks to everyone for all the encouragement! I'm glad you all are enjoying the story! I hope you like how it progresses! Disclaimer (cause I forgot to put it up in Ch1)- I own nothing.
Thanks to Lucero for beta reading this… Thanks a million for being my "real life" motivation to keep writing!
Without further ado- Here's Chapter Three!
Xxxxxxx
Minerva apparated back to the front gate and stormed into Hogwarts.
Morphing into her Animagus, she bolted down the hallway and up the stairs to her office.
Moving to her desk, she sent a note to Filius and Rolanda asking them to come to her office immediately.
Next she wrote a letter to Tessa and Percival. Percival's letter was short; she simply asked him to come to Hogwarts immediately. Tessa's, however, she knew would have to be very persuasive and sincere in order for her to listen.
Tessa,
I know we haven't been on the best of terms. I blame myself for it completely.
You know I would not ask anything of you unless it was of the up most importance.
Forty years ago, I testified against a man who aided Grindelwald in the war.
He was sentenced to Azkaban for life, but he has escaped.
I don't know this for sure, but I believe he has located you and your siblings, and I believe you are in danger.
Your sister is missing. I am going today to look for her.
I know your husband is a skilled wizard and you are an amazing witch, but I beg you, please come to Hogwarts where I know you will be protected.
Please, please come home.
Love,
Mathair
She signed the letter with the Gaelic word for mother, hoping that it would show Tessa how serious she was.
Banishing the notes to the professors and to the owlry, she moved behind her bookcase to her vault. Inside laid two spare wands, one of them an ornate and elaborate gift from Albus with Gaelic inscriptions, the other a sturdy, rigid one she had purchased during her first war.
She grabbed the latter wand and shut the vault. She went up to her private chambers to change her outfit. She was currently wearing her Hogwarts' robes- the standard yet intricate emerald outer and inner robe. They were comfortable, but heavy, and certainly not what she needed to be wearing if she were to face Donal in a duel.
She took off her inner and outer robes and tossed them onto her bed. Opening her wardrobe, she selected a thin black turtle neck and black, loose slacks. She had never understood why some witches would wear dresses in battle. She had to be able to move. Maybe it came from being a tomboy as a young child…
She then grabbed her outer robe, also black. She laughed at her reflection- she looked like a classic Muggle's view of a witch.
She took off her heeled ankle boots for a flat pair that went up past her calves. They were standard riding boots, but Minerva found they were much better for walking and moving about swiftly.
She tucked her spare wand into her boot. She didn't know if she would need it, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
Moving to her bathroom, she opened her jewelry box and withdrew a small coin with a depiction of St. Mungo's on it. The coin was a portkey- Albus' idea during the first war with Voldemort- and it would allow Minerva to transport herself to the trauma ward if something were to happen.
She then grabbed her wedding ring. Stupid, really, to feel like she needed it. But if she were to die, she wanted a part of Albus there with her.
She walked downstairs to her office and opened her potions stores. She grabbed a pepper up potion and a healing potion and tucked them away in her pockets and magically sealed them up.
Hearing the Gargoyle move, she turned around to see the door opening, and Rolanda and Filius stepped into the office.
"What's going on?" Rolanda asked, not waiting for Minerva to speak.
"Donal Bregger has escaped from Azkaban." She said without pretext.
Rolanda's jaw dropped opened. Filius looked like he was going to pass out.
"Esmerele is also missing. I have a feeling about where she is, so I'm going to Scotland to find her."
"Esmerele?" Filius asked.
"A close friend." Minerva answered ambiguously.
Rolanda shook her head. "No, Minerva. This is foolish! Do not go find this psycho yourself! Let the Unspeakable Division take care of it!"
"Really, Minerva, what would happen if you got hurt too? You'd be no use to anyone!"
Minerva took a deep breath. "I know the risks. But I'm still going."
Rolanda looked hard at her best friend. "Nothing we say is going to matter, is it?"
Minerva gave Rolanda a sad look, but a firm one. "No, it isn't."
"And what should we do here?" Her deputy asked.
"If anyone asks, tell them I am taking time off at the manor and would like to be left alone."
They both nodded. Rolanda rushed forward and hugged Minerva. "Be careful."
"I will."
With that, Minerva pulled the wards toward her and apparated to the front gate.
With one last look back at her castle, she apparated, floating above the sky, landing in Edinburgh in front of the International Transfiguration Society.
Xxxxx
Tessa heard a faint tapping at her window. Outside sat a small black owl, one that she hadn't seen before.
She grabbed a small biscuit from the table and opened the window, rewarding the small bird and grabbing the letter.
She instantly felt her ire rise as the unmistakable hand and stamp: extremely curvy and precise script handwriting and a double M stamp.
Her mother.
Groaning, she slit open the letter and began to read...
… I know your husband is a skilled wizard and you are an amazing witch, but I beg you, please come to Hogwarts where I know you will be protected.
Please, please come home.
Love,
Mathair
Tessa felt two arms wrap around her waist and a gentle kiss on her neck.
"Who's the letter from?" her husband Jacques asked.
"My mother." Tessa said bitterly.
"And what does she say?"
"To come to Hogwarts because we're in danger and Esmerele's missing."
"Don't you think we should?"
"No. Most likely Mom is over reacting and Esmerele has simply left of her own free will. I doubt that she would be kidnapped anyway, she's as good at evading as Mom is."
Jacques thought for a minute. "Why are we in danger?"
"Some man Mom testified against has escaped from Azkaban."
"And she thinks he's after us? Why?"
"I have no idea. The wizarding world doesn't even know she has children, so how could some convict know that?"
Jacques moved his hands down her waist to her hips, his lips gently kissing her ears and down her neck. "Then I think we need to do something else."
Tessa moaned and leaned into her husband, feeling him through her cotton dress. "What do you have in mind?" She whispered.
He spun her around and kissed her roughly. She jumped into his arms and wrapped her legs around his hips, grinding in sync with their kisses.
They moved upstairs to the bedroom, throwing their clothes off with abandon. Their sounds of pleasure filled the house.
In their frenzied passion, neither of them heard the sound of glass shattering downstairs, or the splintering wood from the doorframe.
They didn't hear the heavy footfalls on the winding staircase.
They didn't hear the labored breathing as Donal walked down the hall towards their bedroom.
They didn't hear anything until it was too late. And in a green flash, Donal sent the killing curse rippling through Jacques' body.
Tessa tried to scream, but in another blinding flash, her consciousness slipped away, falling into the black hole of some deserted, hopeless plane.
Xxxxx
Minerva strode into the Society's front lobby. Immediately the receptionist rose. "Headmistress,"
"I need to speak to Grace O'Malley." Grace was the head of the Society- she was the master Minerva studied under.
"I'm sorry, but…"
"No. Now." Minerva demanded. "I must see her NOW."
The receptionist backed away, for Minerva's eyes had turned dark and the air around them grew cold.
"Upstairs, third door on the right."
She had barely finished her sentence before Minerva darted up the stairs, all but running down the hall towards the door.
Without knocking, she opened the door and entered. Grace was sitting at her desk, quill moving slowly across parchment.
"Minerva? What in the wor…"
"Where did Esmerele Brian live?"
Grace looked taken aback. "You and I both know I can't give out information…"
"She's missing, Grace! And I need to know where she lived so I can find out where she might be now!"
Grace stood up. "She isn't at her house, Minerva, they have already searched it for clues!"
"Not like I can!" Minerva argued, meeting Grace's hard gaze.
Grace folded her arms. "I'm not telling you, Minerva. You know that's against the Society's…"
"Screw the Society and your goddamn rules!" Minerva cried.
"Why is she so important to you! Why should you care?"
Minerva clenched her wand. "I can't tell you, but you have to believe me!"
Grace shook her head. "I can't just go on your word."
Minerva felt like crying. This was getting no where. "I know who has taken her! His name is Donal Bregger,"
Minerva had no more said his name when Grace whipped around and scribbled something down on parchment.
"What are you writing, Grace, I'm trying to tell you,"
"And I'm giving you her address. If Donal's behind this, I want him stopped. Here. That's where she lives."
Minerva exhaled and grabbed the letter. "Thank you."
"Be careful, Minerva."
Minerva read the address. 146 Rose Street. Minerva smiled- that had been where she lived too.
Without hesitating, she apparated to Rose Street. It was a street lined with apartment buildings. Once a high end district, it now gave way to middle income families and different small shops and cafes.
It hadn't changed much since Minerva had been here.
Minerva hurried across the street to the door labeled 146. With a flick of her wrist, the door unlocked and she walked inside.
In front of her was a flight of stairs, and she carefully moved upwards.
At the top of the stairs there was another door that was already opened. Minerva went inside and surveyed the damage.
It was ransacked, alright. The furniture was upturned, the paintings were torn off the walls, and the floor was littered with debris. Minerva looked along the wall and saw scorch marks from spells.
It wasn't hard to tell which marks came from Esmerele and which came from Donal.
Esmerele's marks were perfect, precise lines with distinct magical markings. Donal's were jagged and uneven, obviously fueled by anger.
Minerva inhaled deeply. She picked up her daughter's distinct smell- lilac and ginger. The other was foul, obviously from years spent in Azkaban.
She then moved to the wall where one of Donal's curses had gone astray.
Minerva moved her wand in a broad arc, pulling out the section of wall scorched by the spell. She then cast another spell, pulling apart the wood from the magical signature left by Donal's wand.
It wasn't easy- the signature had been left days ago, and the trace, if there was any left, would be faint and hard to discern.
Still, she took apart every piece, peeling the wood layer by layer.
She was growing impatient.
"Where is it, goddamn it?" She cried.
Ten minutes had past and she still found nothing.
Finally, in the last few sections, she found a small trace of magic.
With another flick, she raised the signature into the air. Another flick and she sent it sailing into her own wand.
"Dutractum." Minerva said, raising her wand.
She felt her wand shake and pull- it was taking the magical signature and tracking it- and suddenly she felt herself being pulled, landing in the clearing she had seen before.
She glanced around, but she didn't see the house. She morphed into her animagus and took off in a sprint, running down the road at break-neck speed, desperate to find the house.
She rounded a curve and up a small hill. At the top, she stopped and looked below. There was a small side street at the bottom, and at the end of the gravel road there sat the house.
Heart pounding, she took off again, cutting through the clearing to reach it faster.
When the house was but a few yards away, she morphed back, withdrawing her wand and cautiously stepping forward.
From behind her, she heard a faint rustling. Whipping around, she felt more than saw a curse fly toward her. Reflex more than conscious action jerked her body to the side, dodging the spell as it flew past her body.
Instantly she was firing back, at first casting shield charms on the defensive.
She couldn't see who exactly she was aiming towards. There was a cloud of smoke and sand blocking her vision.
Still, she continued defensive spells, pushing whoever her assailant was backwards.
Her opponent fired back, sending hexes her way. Still her feline reflexes kept her moving about; dodging spells this way and that.
Switching to the offensive, Minerva arched her wand, rising up the ground. Another flick, and the dirt and grass transfigured into steel daggers, making a firing line easily 30 feet wide.
Another flick, and she sent them hurdling forward towards her opponent.
She heard a yell- clearly they had been hit.
She then arched her wand again, sending a gust of wind forward, clearing out the air and her line of vision.
Before her was Donal, and she felt herself grow hot with anger, but pleased at the sight of his leg- it was torn apart, blood running out of an open gash, a fragment of bone shining through his nasty trousers.
Donal was raising his wand again, but Minerva moved faster, pulling up rocks from the ground and hurling them in his direction.
He countered, sending them shooting back to Minerva.
She flicked her wrist again, and they were moving backwards, this time on fire, morphing together into a ball of heat.
Again Donal flicked his wrist, but only to push the fire away.
Minerva then pulled up the ground around his feet, turning it into sulfuric acid.
Donal screamed, his feet and wounded leg now soaked in the corrosive liquid.
He flicked his wand, changing the acid back to water, but Minerva had already cast another curse, sending him flying backwards, fire bindings wrapping around his limbs, pinning him to the cold ground.
Minerva strode forward, and with a flick she sent his wand sprawling into her hands.
She stood in front of him, glaring down at Donal Bregger.
He looked ragged, still tall and massive as always, but haggard. His cheeks were sunken in, his teeth were rotten and cracked, his arms covered in faded prison tattoos, his clothes torn and soiled.
And he smelled like death.
He laughed, that same cold laugh that had plagued Minerva's mind.
"Here to kill me, Minerva?" He snarled.
Minerva snapped his wand in half. "I'm here to give you back to the dementors. I'm sure they'd love a kiss from you."
Donal laughed, not in the least bit worried. "Really? You would give me up so easily?" He laughed again.
Minerva grew angrier by the minute. "I think I've won, Donal. You seem to be… we'll let's just say your injuries are quite worrisome."
Donal sneered. "I'm not worried, Minerva. Because I know where your children are. Do you?"
Minerva hesitated, but Donal lurched on. "No, I suppose you don't know where they are. But in a few minutes, this wound on my leg will exsanguinate, and I will die of blood loss. Now, here are your choices. Kill me now or let me die and you will never know where your children are. Or, let me live another day, and there is a better chance that your children survive another day. You choose Minerva. Tick tock tick tock tick tock."
Minerva yelled out in frustration. She knew she had to let him go. Because in truth, she didn't know where any of her children were.
She flicked her wrist and released his bonds, and with a haunting laugh, Donal apparated away.
Minerva stared at the ground for a minute, wondering if she had made the right choice.
But, unable to think any longer, she turned around and ran into the house, bounding up the stairs.
It was pitch black, but she moved around from memory. She could smell Esmerele in the house. Was she too late?
The last door was bolted shut. Minerva raised her wand and burst the door open with a deafening crash.
"Esmerele!" Minerva cried out in agony.
There on the cot lay her daughter. She looked worse than she had in the dream. Her bindings were released, but still she lay there, unmoving, unflinching.
She looked thin and emaciated. When was the last time she had eaten?
The burns on her arms, legs, and stomach were easily third degree, and there was a distinct smell of burnt flesh in the room.
Her gashes were still leaking blood, some had only faintly began to clot.
Minerva ran forward and pressed her fingers to Esmerele's throat, terrified that she wouldn't feel a pulse of life underneath.
She held her breath. She didn't feel anything.
She wouldn't give up; she pressed her head against her daughter's chest, getting blood on her face and clothes.
At first, silence. Then she heard it, the faint strum of a heartbeat.
Minerva exhaled with relief. Reaching into her inner robes, she withdrew the portkey.
Xxxxx
Minerva held her daughter in her arms, walking into the trauma ward. "Help! Someone! I need a healer!"
Minerva could feel her arms and legs growing weak. "Please! Someone!"
A healer rounded the corner, freezing at the sight of Esmerele's naked, beaten body and the iconic Headmistress holding her.
"Don't just stare! Help me!" She cried.
The healer flicked her wrist and an alarm went off, summoning those in the vicinity to the trauma ward.
The healer grabbed a gurney from a nearby room, and Minerva rushed forward and gently placed Esmerele on it. Instantly, four other healers appeared, and they began running down the hallway, rushing Esmerele into the nearest trauma room.
"Condition?"
"She's been beaten, cut, and the Cruciatus curse has been used on her. Blood loss, contusions, loss of consciousness. There is barely a pulse."
"Does she have family?"
"Yes."
"She will need a transfusion."
Minerva nodded. "Yes."
"Name?"
"Esmerele Brian."
"Thank you Headmistress, we'll take her from here."
The healers rushed Esmerele through a large double door, and Minerva stood there staring.
Have I saved her in time? Would she survive her injuries?
Was there permanent damage? Would she ever recover?
And what was to happen to my other children? Will I be too late for them?
What good is magic if I can't even save my own children?
Minerva sank to the floor and broke down into sobs, her tears mingling with her daughter's blood, making ruby red lines fall down her face and onto the white tile floor.
Xxxxx
A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed! Shall I keep writing?