Disclaimer: Nothing you recognize belongs to me. The cover isn't mine, either, but I couldn't track down the artist/photographer. Credit goes to whoever took it, and for the one-shot to JK Rowling.

A/N 1: (completely skippable) Written for:

Wizard Sweets challenge: Bertie Bott's: write about the beans; delirium comp: medium: reference Icarus, 950-1050 words, Oliver quote; Element Song quotes challenge: water- AFI quote: Under the summer rain, you turned away; Ffn Terms comp: !: write about someone stuck in the middle; Scrabble bonuses comp: jinx, awkward, Zonko's, year; Thinks you Can comp: Grinch: write about someone who feels alone; Tien Len comp: round 1: King of Hearts: Robert McGonagall Sr, key, Pascal quote; Chp. 3 Title Acrostics: N: dialogue prompt- "Nothing will make me change my mind, you know";

You always admire what you really don't understand. - Blaise Pascal

Nothing Changes, I Promise

Not a minute after she returned from Hogwarts for her third year holiday, Minerva McGonagall's excited voice rang throughout the house, drowning out the rain pounding on the windows. "Dad! Malcolm, Bobby, you've got to see this!"

Robert McGonagall raised an eyebrow as his daughter rammed into him, throwing her arms around him with a smile that could outshine the stars. "Yes, dear?" Robert asked with a laugh, wrapping his arms tight around Minnie and stroking her hair.

"Hi, Daddy," she said breathlessly.

Robert breathed a sigh of relief. Everytime she went off to that school there was a small part of him that thought she would forget about him, forget where she came from. He didn't know how to deal with the School, or the magic that she possessed. He knew his sons would too, but there was no use denying it: he always had a soft spot for Minnie, for his girl. Because she was extraordinary, and he was not. The thought made him feel lonely, and forgotten. It was as if he was the middleman, between her real life and the life she wanted. Robert wanted to be her only life. That was, indeed, why he hated with a passion that his daughter was magical, why he never wanted to hear the amazing things she could do; because he could never do that, and someday, she would realize it. "Hello, sweetheart," he told her, "how was term?"

"Great! Professor Dumbledore told me I'm fantastic at Transfiguration, where we turn things into other, more complex things, you know?" she began in that voice, wise beyond her years. "He said he'd tutor me privately, because I'm more advanced than the others. I made the Quidditch team, too! But you know about that, of course, it was in my letters. I lost the first match, stupid Slytherins," she muttered, "but I got the next one! Ravenclaw took the Cup, though, it was a real shame. You should see this one thing I can do, Dad, I-" and suddenly, Minnie stopped rambling because she had realized how many times she had mentioned magic, and how much her father disliked it, and Robert hated that, that he could not share in her joy because everytime she spoke of it, he felt a little worse.

An awkward silence overtook the pair, as if Minerva had jinxed the room, and feeling her father go quiet, she retreated into her shell. "I..." she said tentatively, and at her father's nod of approval, after he calmed down, she continued, "I got these great sweets, at Zonko- no, no! Sorry," she stuttered, and Robert crumbled just a little more. He made her feel this way, and yet he could not truly regret the many words he had spoken to her over the years, because all of them were true. He did not want a magical family, he wanted a normal family; a normal daughter, who would love him forevermore. That was the key: forever. "I," she continued, "I meant Honeyduke's, they're Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean. Sometimes they're delicious, but sometimes they're awful," she spoke a little louder and made a face at this part, and Robert laughed. "Want to try?" she asked.

"Why not?" he said, because he could not bear to make her feel bad anymore. She handed him a bean, a bright blue colour, and he put it in his mouth with a wink. It tasted like blueberries, and Robert thanked god. "Delicious," he told her with a smile, and she returned it and Robert's heart soared.

After a few moments of silence, he wrapped her up in a hug and she sighed, and when she pulled away, she sat beside him and leaned into her father's warmth. He took Minnie's hand. "So, tell me," she raised an eyebrow, "this town that you go to, did you have a few dates?" At his daughter's blush, Robert laughed.

"No, no, no. That- that didn't happen-"

"Relax, darling, it was just a joke," Robert told her when she stammered, and Minnie sighed. Looking at his daughter, there, Robert was overcome with a sense of joy, and pride, because she was blossoming into a brilliant, beautiful girl; and right then, he knew he couldn't restrain her magic anymore. Because one day, she would hate him for it, and that was the day Robert's world would fall apart. "Tell me more about Trans- transfiguration?"

Minerva looked up at him, startled and nervous and once again Robert hated himself for making her feel like this and for not being able to regret any of it. But he'd be damned if he didn't try. "Tell me about school, please."

The child he knew she was inside came out; as much as Minerva is mature, it was moments like these when her innocence bloomed, when she was with her father, really. "I- I thought you hated the school, my- my magic." To his horror, tears appeared in her eyes. She began to hastily wipe them away, ashamed of being seen crying in front of her father.

Robert stopped her frantic movements and touched a hand to her cheek, wiping the tears away. He cupped her face and kissed her forehead. "Minnie, I could never hate anything that makes you so happy. Do you understand that?"

Tentatively, she nodded. "Nothing will make me change my mind, you know. About- school, and my life. I want that."

"I find that comforting," he assured her. "Remember when we used to learn the myths, and stay up reading them at night? Daedalus was a brilliant man, but he held his son-"

"Icarus?" she questioned, and Robert nodded.

"He told his son to be careful, and he wasn't because all Icarus wanted to do was take risks, and fly away. He flew too close to the son, and he fell. You, my extraordinary girl, are going to fly. You're going to be big and brilliant and when you forget all about me-"

"Never, Dad. Never," she said firmly. "I'll always be here. Nothing is going to change."

"I won't hold you back anymore. I love you, sweetheart. I always will."

"I love you too, Dad." Minnie took his hand, and Robert smiled.

He who leaps for the sky may fall, it's true. But he may also fly. - Lauren Oliver

A/N 2: young Minerva was so fun to write, I hope you like how that turned out. Please let me know your thoughts!

Lara