Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far! I'm sorry I took a while to update but I will be adding a few new chapters now and trying to update more regularly now I've sorted out all of the details in my mind.
Please please keep reading and reviewing :-)
Minerva held the memory for a second, seeing the astonished look on the faces of some of her audience.
"Your family were all in Slytherin?" demanded Ron.
"Yes," McGonagall sighed, "The McGonagalls were in Slytherin for generations, I was the first to be sorted into a different house since the 16th century."
"What about your family now, Professor?" Hermione asked shyly, "Do you still have relatives in Slytherin."
McGonagall shook her head, "No, Hermione," she answered honestly, "I have no relatives at all," she paused briefly, "I am the last of the McGonagalls."
"What happened to them all?" asked Ron eagerly, ignoring the pointed looks he received from both his mother and Hermione.
"They chose to join the darkest wizards," she answered emotionlessly, "And they were all killed eventually."
Nobody knew how to answer that and, in an attempt to break the silence, McGonagall turned to a thoughtful looking Harry beside her.
"Is everything okay, Harry?" she asked, more gently than her usual tone.
He nodded, "Its just," he took a deep breath, "Well, when I first – when I was sorted I asked the hat not to put me in Slytherin and it didn't. But then in the second year I thought…after everything and being able to talk to snakes maybe it should have; but Dumbledore, Dumbledore said something like what the hat told him, about our choices making us who we are."
McGonagall nodded, "Dumbledore and the Sorting hat are good friends, and he is always happy to follow its advice. The hat is very wise, as is Dumbledore. And, well," her mouth twitched slightly, "Both of them fail to demonstrate their wisdom much of the time and instead behave like complete children! It is little wonder that they enjoy each others company."
Many occupants of the room smirked at this and the Weasley twins grinned thoughtfully at each other, wondering how difficult it would be to get an interview with the apparently mischievous Sorting hat.
It was Mrs Weasley who brought the focus back to the story.
"It must have been very difficult for you, Minerva," she said gently, "Being sorted so – so differently from your family."
McGonagall sighed, "Well, my parents were furious, they made that clear with the correspondence they sent me."
"And at school?" Molly Weasley pressed kindly.
"It was as Headmaster Dippet predicted at the start," McGonagall said, with a hint of sadness in her voice. "The Gryffindors considered me a Slytherin, and Slytherins considered me a Gryffindor."
"You must have been lonely."
"For a time," she sighed, "But I had Albus watching over me at least."
"Watching over you?" queried Molly.
McGonagall nodded and prodded the depths of the pensieve once more.