A/N: I'm far to impatient to wait any longer on this one, I thoroughly enjoyed writing this chapter, and I hope you enjoy it too. Please let me know what you think!
Oh and please note, Póg mo thóin is Gaelic and pronounced Pogue Mahone (Or Pogue Mai Mahone if you ask my Dad...).
Smooth leather fingertips moved softly against her stomach, trailing up her sides and lightly skimming her bra, causing her to purr softly in response, "I thought you weren't interested in Quidditch players?" a voice laughed as lips traveled up her neck, delighting in each hiss that her ministrations provoked.
"I'm not," Hermione sighed breathily, "You're the exception."
Minerva laughed as her tongue flicked over her ear, "And you like my Quidditch uniform."
"Perhaps."
"You like the gloves," Minerva observed, punctuating this fact by running a covered hand up her thigh, fingers toying with a red silk waistband, and grinning from the uninhibited moan she elicited.
"I do," Hermione gasped, her own hands fumbling with the clasps of the thick scarlet robes which covered her lover. With an elated laugh she managed to get them undone, pushing them from the taller girl's shoulders and quickly ridding her of the uniform jersey she wore. One hand slid delicately under the hem of the light weight shirt she was left in, delighted by the expanse of smooth skin it found, while the other buried itself in her auburn hair, her thumb trailing slowly down Minerva's face. "For the most part, I just like you."
Giving in to her desires she pulled Minerva flush against her, meeting her lips in a desperate display of the passion she had been hiding for weeks. Minerva smirked lightly against her lips, undoubtedly aware of the younger girl's struggle and thoroughly enjoying this response. Soft sighs escaped as limbs tangled together and supple lips fought for blissful dominance.
Minerva's fingers teased endlessly, running slim fingers over her pulsating sex, refusing to delve deeper or even completely unclothe her, and smiling at the gasping reaction which she earned.
"Hermione?" she whispered, causing the girl beneath her to hum in response. "Can I have you?"
Hermione grinned widely and bucked her hips, "As if I would let you leave after such torturous teasing."
Minerva smiled softly down at the beautiful brunette, gently brushing back the untamable curls, "I'm in love with you," she whispered, causing a beaming smile to bloom on her lover.
"The feeling is mutual."
Hermione woke with tears in her eyes. This seemed to be the newest form of subconscious torture, dreams of moments which had never happened—moments which she feared could never happen.
Frustrating teasing touches and overpowering emotions, those were Hermione's nights. She supposed she shouldn't complain. It was far better than the nightmares which tended to plague her before—but it still hurt.
She buried her head further into her pillow, willing back the emotions which were threatening to overflow. She had cried far too much recently—she wouldn't do it again this morning.
It was Saturday morning, and she was relieved that she wouldn't have to deal with class again. Harry insisted she go, and she was sure she would find it in her to appreciate that later on, but at the moment she just wanted to stay in bed.
It had been five days since she sent the letter to Malcolm, 21 days since she had last heard from Minerva, and he had yet to respond. She could only conclude that he wouldn't help, and if that was the case, she saw no reason to continue delaying things. She had tried to wait the week—but she didn't think she was going to last that long. Besides, planning a rescue for a weekday just didn't make sense. That's when the Ministry was bound to be the busiest.
If they rescued her now, they would have the entire Easter Holiday to hide away, and hope things could be resolved without all of them being hauled off to Azkaban. Hermione shut her eyes tightly, this wasn't a very good idea—but what other options did they have?
Flipping onto her back she glared at the ceiling. Tomorrow then.
They had a basic plan worked out. It wasn't as foolproof as she would have preferred, but it sounded like their best option. Ironically, she was going to be smuggling the same group of students into the Ministry that Harry had several years ago—adding in Fred and George. They were just waiting on her patronus.
She could only hope that two years and a war had left them all better prepared for such an adventure—either way, they couldn't just leave Minerva there.
Hermione sat up determinately. If she was going to pull this off, she would need to start contacting people now. Stepping out of bed, she quickly changed into a pair of loose fitting jeans and a t-shirt before opening the curtains.
As she pulled the curtains from the window she jumped back in surprise. A Bard Owl sat impatiently glaring from outside the window. "Malcolm?" She asked with surprise.
The owl just rolled its eyes and tapped the window.
Shaking her head slightly, she opened it, allowing the bird to swoop into the middle of the room. Transforming quickly she found Malcolm standing before her and a wave of nerves took her over. What if he was here to stop them? What if he thought she was a ridiculous child? What if he decided he hated her?
Glancing back towards him she found that he was laughing slightly, "You and Min are ridiculously alike sometimes. She tends to think loudly as well."
"I've been told I do that—a time or two," she replied weekly.
He quickly appraised her and she found herself twitching nervously, what was he looking for? "You look like hell," he said finally, causing her to growl slightly.
"I'm sorry that I'm not more put together. You see, I wasn't expecting visitors—again."
"I hope I'm not unwelcome."
She sighed heavily, "No, I'm glad you're here Malcolm. I had just thought you would reply to my letter—I'm a bit shocked to see you in person."
"Obviously," he laughed, sitting down on Minerva's bed this time. "Now really, Hermione, how are you fairing? You look like you haven't slept in days—nor showered. Are you sure you're up for an adventure of this sort?"
Hermione shook her head, "I'm not going to be sleeping soundly until this adventure, as you call it, is finished. Until I know Minerva is safe."
He watched her carefully for another moment, before apparently deciding that she would be alright. He nodded quickly, "Then what is the plan, Miss. Granger?"
"You're not going to try and talk me out of this?"
He laughed loudly, "For one, I know how little that would do. I've heard all about the Golden Trio's exploits, you'll be going to the Ministry whether I like it or not. I may as well join in. Second of all—I like it. I'm not fond of letting my only sister rot away in some Ministry cell. Someone has to do something; it may as well be us."
Hermione smiled slightly, her face uncomfortably tight after the previous weeks, "Your sister wouldn't approve of this at all."
He rolled his eyes, "She would now. She'd just gotten too used to following orders. She trusts Albus too explicitly. She used to be a regular hellion you know?"
Hermione laughed, "I'm not surprised."
"So," he said, turning serious, "When do we leave?"
"Early morning," Hermione said quickly, "Five a.m. It's when they have the fewest guards on patrol—both at the Ministry and here."
He nodded, "And who all is taking part?"
"Harry, Ron, and I. As well as Fred and George Weasely, Ginny Weasely, Neville Longbottom, and Luna Lovegood."
He grinned to himself, "So the entire junior Order, eh? Sounds lovely."
"They're more capable than they sound, and they sure as hell did more than you in the last war." Hermione said bluntly.
He held his hands up defensively, "I don't doubt it for a minute, lass. I wasn't mocking."
She nodded briefly, "Sorry," she huffed, "I guess I'm a bit on edge."
Malcolm just waived her off, seemingly untouched by her attitude, "Ron Weasely—he hasn't been overly fond of Minerva in the past, and I'm confident that he wouldn't fully approve of your relationship. Is he reliable for something like this?"
"Ron is a complete arse the majority of the time, but he's the essential good guy when it counts. He wants to help; I'm not going to deny him that."
Malcolm nodded, apparently trusting her judgment on the matter. He reminded her so much of Minerva in that moment that Hermione nearly lost control of her emotions again. He seemed to follow Minerva's philosophy regarding the sharing of opinions. She always made her thoughts known, but then she trusted you to make the correct decision—apparently Malcolm was the same way.
"How are you getting there?" he asked next.
"Apparition. We're all legal at this point."
"And your plan to get out of the school at that time of night?"
"There's a tunnel to Hogsmeade on the third floor. As long as we scatter ourselves and use disillusionment charms we should be alright—goodness knows most of us have snuck around this school enough in the past. We can apparate from Hogsmeade."
Malcolm nodded again, thinking things through carefully. "They'll have confiscated her wand, and she'll need that."
Hermione frowned, not having thought of that. "I have no idea where they would have put that."
"That's why I'm here—I did work for the Ministry for a while. Dealt with wand confiscation on more than one occasion." he laughed. "Assuming they haven't moved the office, I know how to get there."
Hermione's eyebrows furrowed as she thought. He would be able to get to Minerva's wand, but that would mean extra time in the Department. Hermione wanted to work this as quickly as possible. Sighing deeply she asked, "What are the chances you could do that alone?"
"Does an owl fly silently at night?" he laughed. "I think I can handle getting in and out, and it will be easiest on my own. Then I can meet you at the cell."
"Do you know where they keep prisoners?" she asked hopefully, but he shook his head.
"In my day the Unspeakables didn't take prisoners, I don't know when they started doing that. Still, a simple locating spell should do the trick for the both of us. Boost the power with a bit of her hair; I'm assuming her hairbrush is still here."
"I don't know if that will work, the last time we were in the department we ended up horribly turned around, and locating spells didn't seem to do much."
"Ah the room of spinning doors, yes. Locating spells don't work there; the wards confuse your wand. Luckily, you don't need to go in there; they won't have their prisoners in that sector."
"Then where are we going?"
"That's just a portion of the department, Hermione. That area is practically just used for storage. They can't have people finding the experiments housed there, so the whole area is a maze. They don't do their everyday business there though, it would be illogical. Once you get to the ninth floor cast the locator spell. The entire floor is the Department of Mysteries and you should be lead straight to her."
Hermione nodded, "That certainly makes things easier."
"Hermione," He said cautiously, "Don't be over-confidant. This won't be a simple rescue—I know that you and your friends are more than capable—but you're all of age now, and what we're doing is highly illegal. This isn't something which will cause you to merely lose house points."
Hermione closed her eyes, sighing lightly, "I know," she said softly, "But we really don't have any other options. My only hope is that we can get far away and let Dumbledore handle things from there."
Malcolm nodded, "Now assuming you can get to her, it will be exceptionally more difficult to get her out."
Hermione nodded, "I hadn't come up with a suitable plan for that yet." She admitted. "It was on my list for today. So far all I can think of is 'Run' and I somehow doubt that is a thorough enough plan."
His face only showed the slightest hint of humor as he nodded, "I had anticipated that, which is why I brought you this." He handed her a small bronze medallion on a piece of cord. "Wear it around your neck. It's a portkey straight to our family home. Once you have Minerva, touch it and say 'portus'. It will bring you straight there, and the entire property is under a fidelis charm, so no one will be able to find you there. Make sure that everyone is touching; otherwise someone will be left behind. They don't have to all be touching the necklace, but they must have a firm hold on each other. From the manor they can apparate to their homes if they please, and you and Minerva can stay for the Easter Holiday."
Hermione nodded quickly, absorbing all of the information. "Malcolm, this is brilliant. I had considered something of this sort, but I wasn't confidant I could make a portkey without drawing the attention of the Ministry. I also don't have a safe house to go to—hence my difficulty in coming up with an escape plan."
He nodded solemnly, "I thought that may be the case."
"Is there anything else we should be thinking of?" Hermione asked nervously, "This all sounds far too simple."
"Good plans are usually simple," he said honestly, "It's the unexpected surprises which make them complicated. Unfortunately, they're unexpected. I think you can do this, Hermione. You aren't called the cleverest witch of your age without cause."
Hermione took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, "Alright. I'll tell everyone where to meet. You'll be here?"
Malcolm nodded, "If you need anything, just let me know."
Hermione surprised him by giving him an enthusiastic hug, "Thank you so much for coming, Malcolm. I've found very few people to be truly reliable, and I'm glad that I can count you as one of them."
Minerva paced her room anxiously. She gnawed at her fingernails and tugged endlessly at her hair. Where was Albus?
When they had taken her in she had been confident that he would have her out before morning. After the first full day she assumed that she would be back in her room with Hermione before the week was out.
It had been much longer than that.
Minerva had finally lost track of time. 20 days? No, 23 days. Minerva shook her head violently, she couldn't remember. She couldn't even figure out how long it had been since she had last seen Mellasandre. After Derek had accompanied her to her room, they had found that all of the lights were off. He had gone off in search of answers, and promised to come back.
He hadn't come back.
It had been dark ever sense. A tiny dark box with no windows. That's when time had stopped.
She knew that they would be returning for her soon, Mel had promised that much. And that promise had been the final straw, breaking Minerva's well-kept mask of courage. At some point they would come for her, and force her into the worst nightmares which she could imagine—meanwhile they would read her mind, and discover her secrets.
Fred & George. Hermione. Everything.
She shook her head again, trying to rid it of the poisonous thoughts. It wouldn't do her any good to think about that, not now. It would just upset her more, and she didn't need that. She was strong. She was Minerva McGonagall, she could survive this. She could beat this.
A key sounded in the door and Minerva found herself automatically backing into a corner, hiding herself from immediate view.
"Minerva?" a voice called from the doorway, a familiar voice.
"Derek?"
"Hi," he said simply, opening the door wider and coming towards her cautiously.
"You veered from the script," she whispered, loathing the obvious weakness in her voice.
He smiled carefully at her, "I thought it may be alright, just this once."
"Do I have to go with you now?"
He nodded, his eyes full of painful regret. "I'm sorry I didn't come back, Minerva. I tried—you may have guessed—there wasn't anything wrong with the lights."
She nodded this time, "I had figured that out."
"I'm sorry for how they've treated you," he said, voicing the emotions she had known he held for some time. He wasn't the enemy. "I would stop them—I would. But it wouldn't help you, and I would lose my job, and then you would be completely alone," he explained carefully.
"I know," she croaked.
"Unfortunately, we really do have to go now."
Minerva stood up from the corner and followed him quietly to the door. He offered her an arm, and she could nearly cry from the courtesy. If she ever got out of this place, she was going to make sure he got any job he could dream of. She took his arm, "Thank you."
He just nodded, leading them along the hallway again, "Stay strong," he mouthed, opening the door for her, and she offered him a tight smile.
Entering the small room she was blinded by the bright fluorescents which assaulted her senses. She cringed and blinked awkwardly, feeling her way towards her chair. Sitting down carefully, she finally began to adjust to the bright light. In front of her sat Mellasandre, smirking at her obviously broken character. "Good Morning, Minerva."
Minerva didn't speak. She didn't have it in her to draw out her usual quips. Her strength was focused on keeping it all together. Mellasandre grinned all the more widely at Minerva's silence.
"Well Minerva, silence or no, today is a big big day!"
Minerva glared at the young woman.
"It is very rare that we at the Ministry get to test our experiments, and even rarer to be chosen as a subject. You should be very proud." Mellasandre placed a cup of tea in front of Minerva, "Now dear, I'm sure you've missed tea over the last stretch of time. Make things easier for all of us, and drink your tea."
"Póg mo thóin," Minerva snapped harshly, causing Mellasandre to raise her eyebrows.
"In English please?"
"Kiss. My. Ass." Minerva spit.
"Ah, so you won't be cooperating then. Unfortunate." Mellasandre shook her head lightly before pulling her wand from her sleeve and waiving it gently towards the door.
A moment later Derek entered the room, glancing confusedly between Minerva and Mellasandre, "Ma'am?" he asked.
"Derek, I require your assistance. Minerva is being—difficult. She refuses to drink her potion."
Derek's eyebrows furrowed, "Sorry Ma'am, what are you looking for from me?"
"Well I'm certainly not in any position to force her to take it," Mellasandre laughed.
"If you touch me, I will tear out your esophagus with my teeth," Minerva said plainly.
"See?" Mellasandre said with a wave towards Minerva. "If you could just…"
Derek shook his head, not quite understanding what was being suggested.
"Oh for the love of Merlin, just force her to take the damned potion Derek!"
He stepped back slightly, eyes wide, "What?"
Minerva watched him as he paled considerably, his hands shaking slightly, and she closed her eyes. "He doesn't have to do that," Minerva said softly.
Mel looked at her in surprise, "You're suddenly willing to cooperate?"
Minerva opened her eyes again, staring brightly into Mel's, "I shan't have you forcing unwilling subordinates to do your dirty work Mellasandre. I'll take the potion."
"Minerva," Derek said quietly, but she shook her head.
"Thank you Derek, but I don't think your services are required any longer. Please return to your regular duties," Minerva said severely, a touch of her old self flickering to life.
He nodded slightly, an apology in his eyes as he backed out of the room.
Mellasandre glared at Minerva, obviously displeased by the hijacking of her employee. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could utter a word Minerva stared her fiercely in the eyes and picked up the teacup.
She downed the cup of tea in a single shot.
Hermione paced at the bottom of the slide, casting a tempus charm every few moments, and muttering to herself nervously. Beside her Malcolm lounged against the wall, glancing around himself curiously.
"Calm down, lass. They'll be here soon," he sighed.
Hermione just shook her head quickly, "Harry and Ron were supposed to be here three minutes ago; they've been caught!"
Malcolm rolled his eyes, "It's only been three minutes. It's slow moving through a castle in the middle of the night.
Just as he finished his sentence Harry came sliding into view with Ron right behind him. They tripped over each other for a moment before finding their feet and looking towards Hermione, "Sorry, Mione," Ron said sheepishly.
"We got delayed by Filch on the fourth floor," Harry said apologetically.
Hermione gave Harry a hug, "I'm just glad you're both okay."
As she finished speaking Ginny came into view, "Wotcher!" she grinned dusting herself off, "Neville should be right behind me, he just gets nervous coming down the tunnel."
Just as she said it Neville tumbled into view, "Hi all," he greeted with a wave, glancing around he noted the singular absence, "Where's Luna?" he asked.
"Wasn't she supposed to arrive before us?" Ginny asked worriedly.
"You were a tad early," Harry explained.
"She was excited," Neville grinned, wrapping an arm around Ginny's shoulders and causing her to blush darkly.
"You two are very well suited," called an airy voice from behind them, causing several of them to jump.
"Hi Luna," Harry grinned, "You sure do know how to make an entrance."
She tilted her head, mildly reminiscent of a confused puppy, "What do you mean, Harry? I've been here for ages. I arrived before Hermione and her friend. I just didn't want to get in the way, so I stayed over there until everyone arrived," she explained, pointing to a darkened spot in the tunnel.
Hermione just shook her head, laughing slightly, "Alright then, now that we're all here—this is Malcolm McGonagall," she introduced, the intimidating man waved slightly from his place against the wall. "Do you all understand the plan?"
The group nodded, "A few things to remember then," Hermione said quickly, "Once we're in the Ministry, we stay together. No excuses. If you do get split from the group, meet back by the elevators—disillusion yourself until the rest of us show up, alright?"
"We've got it," Harry said, squeezing Hermione's hand comfortingly.
She smiled at him briefly before snapping her fingers, "Alright, let's go meet up with the twins, and get this catastrophe started."
The effects of the tea were almost immediate. She had a moment of smirking pleasure, enjoying the surprise on Mellasandre's face, and then she was gone.
Wispy grass blew uncontrollably on the top of the hill as Minerva looked down on the home below, her home. She smiled happily, spinning around in the wind and enjoying the pure freedom which this place allowed her.
Dancing down the hill she sang to herself, pleasantly remembering her father's fine voice and her mother's skill with the fiddle, wondering if they may be interested in playing this evening after dinner.
She sped up at the thought; it felt like years since they had enjoyed the music that way. Approaching the house she found the gate unlocked and swinging haphazardly in the wind. 'Odd' she thought to herself as she shut it carefully behind her.
That is when the screaming began.
Terror filled screams echoed across the hills, and suddenly they were pressing in around her, forcing her to her knees. Fighting back to her feet, she sprinted to the doorway, trying desperately to open it, but the door was stuck—that door always seemed to be stuck. "Mum?" she called out fearfully, hoping and praying that it wasn't her screams she was hearing.
The screams continued, and Minerva knew that they were her mothers. The sound echoed at her from every direction and she tried desperately to pound down the door. She kicked and punched, relishing in the splintering of the door and her bones, sure that the pain would eventually lead to her mother. And yet no matter how hard she hit, and how much the wood splinted, the door didn't open and her Mother's screams echoed on.
Suddenly Minerva was tumbling through the door as if she had been thrown, and she could see her mother crumpled on the floor, blood surrounding her and large portions of her skin flayed from her body. "Minerva," she moaned, "Go Minerva! Go!"
But Minerva didn't leave and she didn't turn away. She tried to run forward, tried to scoop up the fragile figure of her mother, but she couldn't. She was contained in some sort of bubble, unable to reach the fragmented woman.
As the dark haired wizard stepped out of the darkness Minerva screamed in agonizing torment, "No!" she shouted, "Leave her alone! Take me!"
But the wizard ignored her entirely, casting the cruciatus curse on her mother's already fragile body, and laughing cruelly at his handiwork.
The torture seemed to last for hours before finally ending—her mother left shattered in the middle of their living room carpet, empty eyes staring up at her unhelpful daughter.
Minerva lurched out of the dream state, emptying the contents of her stomach on the floor. She then lunged across the table, wrapping her strong slim fingers around the other woman's throat, "How dare you!" she screamed as they toppled to the floor, "You psychotic bitch! How dare you play with someone that way!" Her fists hit their target desperately as tears fell torrentially from her eyes.
Mellasandre cried out as Minerva's fist hit her jaw with a sickening crack.
Suddenly strong arms were pulling Minerva away from her target as she screamed and kicked hysterically. "I'll kill you!"
"Minerva, you need to calm down," a voice said firmly from behind her—her captor. Glancing behind her she found Derek holding her arms tightly.
"Let me go," she begged, but he just shook his head.
"Minerva if you don't stop I'll have to bind you, I'll have to."
Minerva shook for a moment, trying desperately to reclaim her control. "I'll stop," she said, choking painfully on the words.
He let her go, leading her back to her chair and setting the table upright again.
Mellasandre was slowly getting to her feet, holding a quickly swelling jaw, "Derek, if you would," she asked pointing to her jaw.
"Sorry Ma'am," he said innocently, "I never learned any healing spells, my apologies; I didn't expect to need them for this job. Perhaps Joel, in the office?" She groaned loudly as she limped from the room, forgetting Derek entirely. He looked back over towards her, "Are you alright?"
"Not even mildly," Minerva bit out. "You should have let me kill her."
"I did take my time entering the room," he said defensively, causing Minerva to sigh heavily.
"Thank you."
"Are you going to take it again?" He asked carefully.
"I don't seem to have much of a choice," she said, her left eye twitching slightly.
He nodded, "What—what did you see?"
Minerva stared blankly towards the wall, "My Mother's torture and murder."
Derek flinched, "I'm sorry."
"It wasn't a memory—I had heard about everything, even seen pictures from the Auror's files—but I wasn't actually there. The serum used my imagination, and my knowledge. It made me see it all," she said her whole body quivering; "They never even caught the bastard."
"Minerva, I am so sorry, please know that. But—"
"But?"
"But you can't do that again," he said stiffly. "If you do that again, I will have to restrain you—it'll make it worse, you know that. You can hold it in, Minerva."
She shook her head, tears coming to her eyes again, "I can't."
He took her face, tilting it so she was looking directly into his eyes, "You can."
She took a deep breath, "Okay—okay."
He squeezed her shoulder lightly before moving closer to the door, "I'll stay till she comes back."
Minerva nodded; appreciative of the support, however short lived. Wiping her eyes she took several more deep breaths. This was going to get worse before it got any better—but she could do it. She could.
Black smoke swirled through her mind before landing her in a darkened room, stone walls surrounding her. She shivered unconsciously, wherever she was, it was cold and quiet—too quiet. There must be a silencing charm in place—no point in screaming then.
She stood slowly, her bones protesting loudly as she stretched. She glanced around the barren room as she tried to recall how she had ended up here. A mission for Albus, she thought. Yes, definitely. She had been watching the Malfoy home for Death Eater activity and any sign of the Prewetts—they had gone missing the previous week, and had yet to be found.
All she had seen was a newly pregnant Narcissa pacing the drawing room. What had happened next?
Well obviously she had been captured, that's the only possibility, right?
The walls were old, and she could feel the magic pulsating within them. "Damn," she swore out loud. She was probably still at Malfoy Manor, and that was not a good place for her to be.
If she were to guess from the headache she was sporting, she had been stupefied. Meaning that if they left her until she woke up naturally, she would have been here for several hours at least, depending on the power behind the spell. Knowing Lucius Malfoy, she had probably been here overnight.
At least Albus knew where she was.
The door rattled slightly before someone carefully unlocked it. She scowled at the intruder, "Mr. Dolohov," she spat.
"Professor," he replied automatically, and she almost laughed. He had been her student not so long ago, and was obviously yet to rid himself of the habit. Still, it was funny—terrifying death eater, calling her professor. She stifled a laugh, but he caught her nonetheless. "You think you're so clever, don't you?"
"Well, I do have several Masteries—and I managed to avoid becoming a Death Eater—so yes, fairly clever seems accurate." He spit on her, causing her groan in disgust, "Really? Must you be so crude?"
"You want to see crude?" he snapped, "Crucio!"
Her head snapped back against the wall as she felt the overwhelming sensation engulf her entire body—but she did not scream. She felt every horrid sensation, but didn't so much as squeak. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction.
When he stopped the spell, she breathed heavily, "That's the best you can do? You always were a fool of a student," she taunted.
His eyes darkened at that, and Minerva could tell she had crossed some unspoken line. "Oh, I'll make you scream," he whispered menacingly, and Minerva felt herself backing up instinctively as he stepped towards her. "I'm supposed to find out what you were doing here—but I imagine we can have a nice long chat later, can't we?"
Bile rose into the back of her throat as he ran a sweaty hand down the side of her face and clawed at her hair, pulling it out of its customary bun. Her eyes showed none of the humiliation she felt, nor the agonizing pain which screamed inside of her mind. They showed nothing but contempt and disgust as he ran his filth covered hand over her body, his wand slowly banishing her clothing.
Minerva shook slightly as she resurfaced from that particular hallucination, but firmly refused to scream. Just as she had in the hallucination, she refused to offer the satisfaction to her tormentor.
Realistically, she knew that the incident had ended there. The Order had shown up only moments after, breaking her and several other prisoners out of Malfoy Manor. She had been lucky—humiliated and disgusted—but she had still understood just what she had escaped from.
But in the vision—in the vision they hadn't come in time. They hadn't come at all.
Unfortunately for her tormentors, that particular nightmare had visited her semi-regularly over the years, and as much as she wanted to cry and scream and rage over the inhumane treatment, she could handle that particular fear. She had mastered it.
Looking into Mellasandre's eyes Minerva spit, "Did you enjoy the show?"
The Ministry witch had conscious enough to look down this time, and Minerva couldn't help but snort in response. It seemed that even the worst witches were uncomfortable with that particular idea—hits a bit too close to home.
She shook her head slightly, "Out of curiosity," Minerva asked quietly, "Have you had any luck accessing my other memories?"
"So far we've only been able to focus in on the memories you are projecting, and vague recollections—but I'm sure that with time we will access all we need. We at the ministry are very patient."
Minerva took some comfort in the fact that they hadn't found anything yet, but she somehow doubted that she would continue to be that lucky.
Mellasandre pushed another tea towards Minerva, and she cringed lightly, unable to hide the look of disgust came over her. "Are we going to need to call Derek after all?"
Minerva shot an icy glare in her direction, "Certainly not. I was simply curious if I could drink the potion straight—rather than deluding it with tea? I'm rather sick of drinking tea."
With a wave of her wand a shot glass full of a tar-like substance appeared in front of Minerva, "Enjoy."
Hours passed, of that much Minerva had been sure. It had been before dawn when Minerva had been brought in, if the scent of coffee wafting through the Hallways was anything to judge by. She could only guess that the strange timing of her interrogations was another attempt at throwing her off.
She was fairly confident that last week they had pulled her out of her room sometime after midnight, but she had no way to be sure.
Still, she had taken four different potions at this point, and while each memory seemed to last for hours, in reality it was only several minutes. As Mel pushed another tar-like potion in her direction she swallowed it without question, the shaking in her wrist the only indicator that her entire being was petrified to be drawn back into another waking nightmare.
Minerva woke up slowly, blinking the incoming sunlight from her eyes and stretching slightly. She hummed blissfully as she felt the warmth of the person snuggled up next to her. She smiled at the woman wrapped in her arms, though she had spent most of yesterday in the arms of her partner, it felt like months since she had seen last seen her. She curled herself around the beautiful brunette, wrapping her arms around her and allowing her fingers to trail the outside of her naked hip. She watched as her lover smiled softly and blew a stray curl out of her face.
"Goodmorning, Sunshine," Hermione whispered.
"Goodmorning, Darling," Minerva smiled, kissing the back of Hermione's shoulder softly. "I missed you."
Hermione chuckled lowly, "During the four hours we've been asleep? You know, some people would call that 'clingy'."
"Certainly," Minerva affirmed, pulling the smaller girl ever so slightly tighter against her, "But if some people had a lovely witch like you sharing their bed, they would cling as well."
Hermione smiled blissfully, "I love you so much, Min. So much."
"And I you."
Hermione gently turned over, her beauty on display as she grinned cheekily, "Are you just going to stare? Or are you going to do something about it?"
Minerva laughed lightly as she rolled over onto the lovely witch, straddling her carefully, "Oh I plan on doing quite a few something's about it," she grinned. She leaned down the kiss Hermione, but suddenly felt a chill engulf her.
Something was wrong—something was very wrong. Looking around quickly, she stepped from the bed, covering Hermione behind her. "Min? What's the matter?" Hermione asked quietly.
Minerva shook her head as she pulled a robe around her, "I don't know, Mione. I just—something's not right here."
Just as the statement left her mouth the door of their room shot off of its hinges, splintering against the wall on impact. In its wake stood Bellatrix LeStrange, twirling her wand happily as she glanced between the two witches. "Well isn't this a lovely, and unexpected site," she crooned. "Big bad McGonagall decided to bed a student? How terrible!"
Hermione inched slowly towards her wand, stored in her bedside drawer. Minerva shook her head desperately, that move was far too risky. Hermione stopped momentarily as Bellatrix cackled, "Now what shall I do about these two?"
She pointed her wand towards Minerva just as Hermione shot her hand into her drawer—but she was too slow. The green jet of light hit Hermione firmly between her breasts, her wand clattering to the floor as she collapsed lifeless on the bed.
"No!" Minerva screeched, running for Hermione. "No, no, no, no, no, no!"
She cradled Hermione in her arms as the tears flowed from her eyes and Bellatrix approached her from behind, laying a falsely comforting hand on her back, "Oh, poor Minerva. Finally finding love, only to have her die in such a tragic accident."
Minerva didn't move, she was frozen in place, incapable of exacting the revenge she so desperately craved. Bellatrix shook her head and tutted softly, "Well, I'm not completely inhumane," she hummed, "I wouldn't do such an awful thing and then kill you as well. That would just be far too tragic for my tastes. I think I'll leave you be, give you a good long while to grieve.
Minerva choked on the sobs that were caught in her throat as she watched Bellatrix disappear in a puff of smoke. Hermione was dead, and Bellatrix hadn't even had the courtesy to send Minerva with her."
Black smoke billowed out of the lift as it came to a stop on the ninth floor, and Hermione slid silently from the lift, glancing around her before beckoning to her friends.
"Well that was a waist of some perfectly wonderful Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder," Fred complained.
"Really, you'd think they weren't expecting us at all!" George complained.
"Will you two kindly shut up?" Hermione snapped glancing around. "There's no one here."
"No one that you can see," Malcolm corrected, "I'm going for the wand, I'll meet you there."
Hermione nodded quickly as he transformed into his owl, flying silently away. "Alright," Hermione breathed, "Locator charm, right—Invenio."
As quickly as the word was spoken a thin ribbon of silver smoke began pouring out of her wand and drifting down the hallway in front of her. "Okay everyone, wands out."
As they moved down the hallways they heard the confused voices of several Unspeakables, "What's that?" one said confusedly, obviously having seen the long ribbon of silver smoke drifting past their office.
"Intruders, must be!" exclaimed a voice.
"Looks like Minerva's cavalry has finally arrived, it's about time," the final one grumbled. They heard a swift pair of "Stupefy!"
Hermione's eyebrows rose comically as she listened, but she darted around the corner nonetheless, "Freeze!" she snapped, her wand at his throat.
"Whoa, whoa! Take it easy!" He shouted, jumping slightly. "I just stupefied these two; do you want me to show you how to get to Minerva?"
Hermione blinked owlishly at the young Unspeakable, "What? But—you work for them?"
"I'm Derek," he introduced, "I've been with Minerva daily, but I didn't have a way to help her without getting us both locked up. I've just been waiting for her rescue team. Took you long enough, by the way."
Hermione growled slightly as Harry pushed in front of her, lowering her wand, "Hermione, he can help—let him."
"Hermione, eh?" Derek said with a smile, "And you'd be Harry Potter."
"Look, can you help us find Minerva, or not?" Harry asked stiffly, clearly uncomfortable with being recognized.
"Follow me," he said pointing them down the hall. "Joel did alert security, but you should still have a few minutes—the Ministry has never been accused of being fast, have they?"
Ginny snorted slightly, causing Derek to smile. "So you're telling us that we can just walk in and out with her?"
Derek frowned deeply, "It won't be that easy, she—she's not had an easy day. If only you had gotten here yesterday. I don't know if she'll be able to walk, and she's currently in interrogation."
"Why wouldn't she be able to walk?" Hermione squeaked, panic obvious in her voice.
"She hasn't eaten in three days, and she's had a very tough day. I'm leaving it to her to explain."
"And you didn't do anything to help?" Ron said, disgust obvious in his voice.
"He couldn't," Luna said quietly from the back of their troop, "Isn't that obvious? If he had stood up for her, they would have failed—obviously. And then she would have been all alone. He didn't make a move because he didn't want her to be completely alone."
Derek gave a small smiled of gratitude in Luna's direction, "Exactly. She needed someone on her side. Security will probably find you before you fully escape, but this time of day—you'll outnumber them."
Hearing about how much time Derek had spent with Min, Hermione tried to stifle the small stab of irrational jealousy as they hurried down another hallway. As they entered the last hallway they could here an outraged scream, "You will leave her alone!" Minerva screamed hysterically, and you could hear the clattering of a chair falling to the floor.
"Bugger," Derek swore, "She's lost her temper again."
Hermione started to take off running, but Derek stopped her. "Let me—she'll be expecting me to come in and get control of Minerva anyways, I can stupefy her without drawing any extra attention."
Hermione found herself about to argue, but Harry held her back, "It's what's most logical Hermione, let him." Hermione nodded stiffly.
Derek opened the door silently, and they could hear a nasally voice exclaiming, "Oh that is interesting information, Miss. McGonagall, very interesting information. Certainly not what I was looking for, but it could prove useful—profitable if nothing else."
A deafening slap echoed from the room and the nasally voice silenced, "I won't let you go near her."
Derek's voice cut through the room, "Stupefy."
To say Minerva was surprised would be a severe understatement. She nearly collapsed in shock as she watched Mellasandre crumple to the floor.
"Derek!" Minerva squeaked, "What about staying under the radar? Not leaving me alone?" She shook her head quickly, "I'm going to be alone here—they're going to keep me forever and I won't have a single friendly person to speak with! How could you be so imbecilic!?" Minerva rambled, on the verge of hyperventilation.
"Don't think that's going to be so much of a problem now," Derek muttered, smiling lightly.
From the doorway Hermione came bounding in, throwing herself at Minerva, "You're alive!" She cried.
Minerva felt herself stumbling, but Hermione held her up, suddenly remembering their situation, "You came," Minerva whispered, voice in complete shock. "You came for me."
"I'll always come for you," Hermione whispered, holding on to Minerva desperately.
A snort came from the doorway, and then the sound of someone being smacked, "What, are you going to say that you didn't think the same thing?" George snickered.
"That's beside the point!" Ginny whispered, "They're being romantic."
"And talking about coming," Fred grinned.
"You'd think they'd at least wait until they escaped…" George said, shaking his head in pseudo disappointment.
"Shut up!" Ginny squeaked.
"Well I suppose if we all turned away…"
"No, Luna. Just—no," Neville said, choking desperately.
Harry glared at all of them, "You're disgusting, the whole lot of you."
Ron rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "I hate to be that person, but we should probably get out of here."
As the words tumbled from his mouth, Malcolm swooped in through the doorway, transforming instantly. "Security is on the way, we've got to run for it. That medallion won't work unless you get to the Ministry Atrium. Get moving!"
He started shooing the teenagers from the room, taking a brief moment to give Minerva a hug. "Never do that to me again, big sister." She smiled weakly at him, "Will you be able to make it to the Atrium?"
She nodded quickly, "I'll be okay, Malcolm. Get up in the front and help them deal with security—I'm useless in a fight right now."
Malcolm grinned and handed her the fir wand from his sleeve, "Not quite useless, Minnie."
She smiled widely, "Thank you."
They hurried through the door, and Hermione kept a firm hand around Minerva, taking some of her weight. As they turned out of the second hallway beams of light began surrounding them, Luna was briefly stupefied, but Neville was able to reneverate her immediately.
Hermione let go of Minerva briefly, hurrying forwards to stun three different wizards, while Harry took care of another two. Luna surprised everyone by petrifying an Auror, and Malcolm finished off the final four. "Come on," he snapped, taking charge of the operation. "There'll be more coming soon enough!"
Fred let loose another batch of darkness powder, as they turned the corner, blinding the Aurors who were moving through that hallway. As the powder faded away the group moved quickly into the Lift, just barely squeezing the ten of them in.
The lift moved slowly to the top floor, and Hermione savored the brief moment of peace, allowing Minerva to lean against her entirely, and kissing her temple. "I'm so glad we found you," she whispered.
"I thought I was going to be here forever," Minerva answered.
"Never," Hermione promised. "I'm just sorry it took me so long."
The doors opened, and as they poured out into the Atrium Hermione could hear footsteps quickly approaching. She wrapped an arm around tightly around Minerva before proclaiming loudly, "IF you're riding with me, you better grab ahold of each other quickly."
She waited just a moment, before depending on her friends to have worked quickly, and placing her wand against the medallion, "Portus." She proclaimed, and felt herself sigh in relief as the familiar tugging sensation began at her naval.
They had made it.
I very much hope you enjoyed this chapter, I know I did. It'll be a few more days before I have another chapter for you-mostly because I was impatient in sharing this one. But hopefully it'll hold you off until then!
(PS: I'm glad you all hate Mel as much as I do. What started off as just your basic condesending Ministry employee turned into something much worse, and I felt a keen sense of satisfaction when Minerva launched herself over the table and broke her jaw... and face... and tried to choke her to death. Oh, Muggle justice!)