Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine.
A/N Thank you for the flood of Amazing Reviews!! I shall try to be more prompt with updates from now on. I am excited about this chapter! Here you go! Oh, by the way… when you get done there's this little button at the bottom that say "SUBMIT REVIEW" it would be lovely if you would just hit that and drop me a note telling me what you think, I will try to apply any suggestions.
So far, the world had not ended. It was just past lunch time, which meant that Minerva had made it through over five hours with the Prewett twins. She hadn't lost her temper, and in return, Fabian and Gideon hadn't blown up the Burrow…yet. Albus had suggested that she make a brief visit to Hogwarts to check that everything was in order. Minerva was becoming rather fed up with his overwhelming paranoia about Voldemort attacking over the holidays. Personally, Minerva saw this quiet spell as a sort of gift from the better side of the universe, a time to collect herself and enjoy life. However, she had agreed to inspect the castle's perimeter. The professor decided that she could make a party out of it by bringing a sled along that the twins could use to pull Bill around the grounds. As soon as Bill woke up, everybody was going to get bundled up in winter gear and get outside for some exercise. It was McGonagall's plan to wear the Prewetts out with dragging Bill on the sled, then they would be slightly more mellow on their return to the house. Years of teaching had provided Minerva McGonagall with a sharp, keenly focused mind, and now that mind was focused solely on keeping Molly's brothers too busy to plan mischief.
Minerva sighed as she allowed herself to relax into the bed. Pulling her book, a Muggle novel called Christmas Carol which she and Albus read every Christmas, before her eyes, she began to read. Before she had reached the entrance of Scrooge's Nephew, Minerva was interrupted by a terrible banging sound downstairs. Leaping up so fast her glasses flew halfway down her nose, the seasoned teacher dashed down the stairs to the kitchen, where she discovered two slightly awed wizards, their red hair on end, staring at a little pile of ash down at the other end of the table.
"What on earth?!" Minerva took off for a wonderful lecture, completely forgetting that these boys were no longer her students. Apparently they had forgotten too, for at the sight of the terribly powerful Minerva McGonagall gliding down on them, Gideon and Fabian nervously quaked in their seats.
As if in a cliché script, Bill picked that moment to let the world know he was tired of being in his crib. With a parting glare, Minerva ascended to the sobbing face of the littlest Weasley. She located Bill's winter clothes, and set about dressing him. Two very sheepish uncles peered in, and, seeing this as their chance to amend, instantaneously tackled their nephew, feigning exceptional skill in the dressing of toddlers. The professor snickered to herself at the thought of those two handling a baby, but decided to let them do their part, while going around collecting her winter gear and looking for a suitable trinket to change into a sled.
Within the hour, they were ready to depart. Gideon and Fabian had both donned their precious, hand knitted gifts, and Bill looked like a great, blue balloon with all the layers of cloaks, hats and mitten they had stuffed him into. Minerva had her wand, and as the Prewetts were Aurors they always carried theirs. Swooping up Bill, Minerva left the newly converted sled for the boys to handle as she aparrated to Hogwarts. Muttering the enchantment to let her through, the Deputy Headmistress allowed the twins to pass behind her as she surveyed the area.
It was that time of the year when the sun decides to take his leave a little earlier than is conducive to outdoor activities. The air was frigid, as if sensing the imminent blackness that was about to engulf it. The wind clipped through hedges, whispering a hasty warning of the coming night. Minerva saw all this and decided to pick up the pace. They had worked their way around past the Quidditch pitch, the castle and the greenhouses, and were moving down to inspect the vegetable patch. Minerva sighed in relief. Subconsciously, the skittish, silence of their patrol, Albus's apprehension and the stress of the recent Ministry decree, had all had their effect on her nerves. The professor caught herself jumping at the smallest movement.
As she rounded the corner of the last green house, all of Minerva's worst fears congealed. A group of five death eaters hovered around the wall outside the vegetable plot. Even though the wall was of waist high stone, it marked the edge of the powerful enchantments that protected the castle. The air was lit with the spells each death eater tried to cast to disarm the protection. Even a purple light flashed among the rest. Every muscle in Minerva's body prepared itself for intense action. She had been an Auror, after all, she had developed these responses from years of meticulous training. Fortunately, they had not been spotted yet, and fell unnoticed back behind the greenhouse.
Sizing up the dark group's actions, Gideon whispered, "They must be testing Hogwart's defenses, trying to find a weak point!"
"Albus was right! Voldemort is planning something! We've got to put a stop to this! If they get into Hogwarts… We have to do something!" Minerva declared as she made to march for the sortie.
Before she could move, Fabian put a hand on her shoulder and whispered quickly, "Take Bill inside, make sure he's safe. Gideon and I can hold things down till you get back."
"But that's Anton Dolohov out there! He's all ready killed at least four others with that internal-damage spell! That's not even including the other four wizards with him!" Minerva hissed back.
"Please, Minerva! Protect our nephew! He deserves the chance to grow up!" there was a momentary flash of something wistful in Gideon's eyes, and suddenly, Minerva realized just how mature and brave these men were. "Now go!" he finished, pushing the dazed toddler into his professor's arms, "And we'll try not to wipe all of them out before you get back." He grinned, throwing his humorous guise back on as he and his brother stepped around the corner.
Minerva gave them one last, admiring look, before dashing like mad back to the castle. Leaping with a grace only a feline animagus could master, the transfigurations teacher bounded up flights of stairs till she reached her room. Placing Bill gently on the bed, she muttered, "Petrificus totalus" and ran to her desk. Minerva dashed off an explanation, before reversing her steps to the sight of the fully pitched battle.
The twins stood back-to-back, sending jinxes, counter jinxes and shields faster than the eye could work. They were surrounded by a glow of magic and a ring of death. All ready, the Deputy could see that the aurors had taken a hit from Dolohov. Fabian's legs were giving out, forcing him to lean against his brother. Two of the death eaters were down, both knocked unconscious and showing no signs of ever waking again. But the twins were lagging. Dolohov was still standing, and the other two death eaters were powerful fighters by the looks of things.
Minerva used the element of surprise to distract her target. She had all ready decided that she would tackle Dolohov. With him gone, the Prewetts could fight the remaining Death Eaters one on one. At this point, Fabian and Gideon looked haggard, on their last burst of energy. McGonagall fired a jinx straight at Dolohov's back. This caught him off guard momentarily. Minerva set herself up in a good fighting stance. Dolohov lunged at her, but Minerva was ready. Back and forth the curses flew, each skillfully deflected. Minerva was getting pushed away from the twins and into the forest. She was worried about them. Fabian had looked ready to collapse. Dolohov read this weakness in an instant and pushed her farther into the wood. He fired a curse at her as she tired to regain sight of the battle. It gashed just below her shoulder, falling just above her heart. When the inevitable final scream came from the battle behind, he was ready. The professor froze at the sound of someone's last agony, this was a fatal mistake. Her steal-hearted attacker fired his infamous purple curse straight to her stomach, and Minerva crumpled to the ground, senseless with pain. Dolohov ran from the scene, going to finish up the remains of the battle.
Just before she blacked out completely, Minerva heard the sound of horses' hooves nearby, and felt a strong pair of arms lift her from the ground. The pain seared through her body again, stealing all consciousness.
Minerva was in trouble. Albus knew that. He had known it for an hour now. He had summoned Fawkes to find her, but no one had been at the Burrow. That meant she was at Hogwarts. Albus felt a lead ball drop to the pit of his stomach. This was exactly what he had feared. It had been his hope that sending Minerva inside Hogwarts' protective walls would prevent an attack. Now, as he reunited with the Weasleys at Hogwarts' front gate, he knew that his fears were realized.
"I'll search by the caretaker's hut and the forbidden forest," Albus dictated, "Arthur, you search around the Quidditch pitch. Molly, you search the castle. Both of you have your wands ready. Send up red sparks if you see anything. I don't know what will find. I only know Minerva is in trouble."
Each of them pursued their search. Desperately hoping to find nothing, or better yet, see a smiling familiar face assuring them that Dumbledore was wrong. But Dumbledore was never wrong.
Albus found the battle scene first. He immediately sent up red sparks, At the sight of the twins, his heart broke. Gideon lay next to Fabian, his hand reaching out for his brother's, just short of its goal. A few feet away lay the bodies of two Death Eaters. Albus looked and discovered two more lay some distance beyond that. He began to breathe again when he had confirmed that Minerva was not strewn among the cadavers.
He found footprints in the snow that led away from the battle. There were two sets of shoes, one Minerva's (he knew her step anywhere) and the other that of a tall man. He dashed along the trail, never hesitating. Arthur caught up with him, a look of horror on his face.
"Who?" was all he could manage before turning to wretch into the nearest bush.
"Four death eaters, and Gideon and Fabian. I'm sorry, Arthur." Albus slowed to comfort the shocked wizard.
"Four? Gideon and Fabian? Dead? Minerva?" each of these questions was made in a hasty, breathless whisper, as they returned to their pursuit.
"I don't know. I'm hoping that I'll know at the end of …." He stopped. The tracks became muddled. There was blood in the snow. Suddenly, Albus felt like wretching too. But where was Minerva? Her attacker's footprints had turned away there, but there was no body… nothing.
"Wait, Dumbledore! Over here" Arthur said from the other side of the sanguine scene. Albus perused the area. Horses' hoof-prints.
"Centaurs!" Albus whispered. Immediately, Albus called out, "Firenze! Bane! Where are you?" Albus felt dizzy. Was Minerva dead? Was he too late? After he had promised her he would always be there, had he failed her?
There was a sound of hooves. Dumbledore whirled to face them. Bane stepped out of the terrible darkness. He looked morosely solemn.
"Where is Minerva?" Albus beseeched the centaur's marble visage.
"She is with Firenze. He is bringing her now." Bane merely answered.
Another set of hoof beats, slightly heavier, more leaden than the first, sounded. Albus faced them with a feeling of morbid determination.
There, swept in the Centaur's muscle ridden arms, was a limp bundle of tartan. There was a gash of bright red which, as Albus stepped closer, appeared to be on his wife's shoulder. As he beheld her face, Albus noticed the trickle of blood at the corner of her sweet lips. Horrified, Dumbledore stumbled back to look imploringly at the centaur.
"Do not worry, Dumbledore, she will live," Firenze intoned, "However, whether or not the child she carries will survive this attack is beyond my skill to determine."
A/N I hate to do this to you folks, but that's all for now. It's way, way, way past my bedtime. Now remember our little deal about the lovely little REVIEW button (wink, wink, nudge, nudge.) Thanks for reading, and yes… I promise to update soon!!!! (Really, really soon.)