A/N: I bet you all thought I'd forgotten this story didn't you! Well, I haven't, I just had to reread it so that I knew what I was writing about. I'd apologise for the long absence, but I seem to do that alot so maybe I won't this time. Things get in the way of other things, until you realise that quite frankly if you leave it any longer you might never get it done! Thank you for all the reviews everyone left me through the gap. I promise I read them all...actually most I should have replied to, but I am very forgetful.
As always, I'm not sure what I would do without the wonderful Spin, who managed to do this AND watch Happy Valley at the same time. (If you haven't caught the show on BBC One yet, you REALLY should. I have to get up super early to stream it, but it is SOOOO worth it. Talk about gritty police drama!) Anyway. Back to it. Here is more Age of Healing and hopefully I shall see you back here sooner than I did last time, or something. Anyone reading the new Of something something something series. Hopefully that won't be too long either!
Love you all!
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In her long life, Minerva had observed that before anything of note took place, there was a moment of calm. As it happened, today she welcomed it with open arms, needing that calm to re-establish her bond with Álainn and making sure she was once again secure in the knowledge that Minerva would never let anything happen to her again.
Draco had owled and told her the next potion would be ready in two days, something that Minerva was both sad and excited about. She'd had a lot of time to think about Hermione being older, being more inquisitive and able to hold proper conversations - no matter how cute toddler Hermione was. In the meantime, she spent many hours reading to her baby and playing with her and making sure that at this point in her life, Hermione would remember only the good things about this experience, rather than the bad.
They were on their way to breakfast, with Álainn skipping happily down the halls while clinging to Minerva's hand. She'd returned to Hogwarts four days and had bounced back to her old self almost immediately. There were still a few murmurs at night when she was asleep, but Minerva was happy with where she was.
"Hi!" she called to the students as she skipped around them and scurried up the steps to the head table.
"Good Morning Álainn," Aurora Sinistra said happily, waving as Álainn stopped to greet her.
"G'd mornin' Unc'a Fill'us!" Álainn continued, throwing herself onto the seat of Minerva's chair and scrabbling with her feet until she was up.
"Excuse me young lady, what do you think you're doing?" Minerva asked with a smile as she stood beside her.
"I p'etending to be Mama, Mama," she giggled. "No 'ouncements today. Le's eat!" she yelled, her arms flung wide.
The entire hall cheered as the food appeared before them and Minerva could only shake her head at the little one.
"You my dear, are far too cheeky for your own good," Minerva said, picking her up with a kiss and placing her in her own chair.
"Lub you Mama," Álainn said happily when she was given some toast.
"As I love you, Álainn," Minerva said, scooping porridge into her bowl and pouring herself a coffee.
"Awlin have some?" Álainn said, peering into Minerva's cup.
"This is something you can't have until you are much older my darling, it's not for little girls."
"H'ione big girl?" Álainn grinned cheekily. "She has some?"
"She may have some when she is grown up," MInerva said, tweaking the little girl's nose and making her giggle.
It warmed her heart to see the little girl so carefree. She was more than alright with Minerva leaving her with either Pomona or Poppy, or if she was really lucky Harry. She still crept into bed with her in the morning and demanded her bottle at night, not happy until Minerva was rocking her to sleep, stroking her tummy as she drifted off.
"I take it the little one is quite recovered?" Aurora asked gently from beside Filius.
"She is indeed," Minerva said, glancing at Álainn, who was washing her toast in her water. Minerva grimaced and took the water away, but Álainn seemed quite content to eat that piece as if nothing had happened. "There are still a few moments through the night where she gets upset, but she is also experiencing some residual memories from her time before that is also disturbing her sleep as well. However," she said with a smile, "we're coping."
"That's wonderful," Aurora said. "I was only talking to Sarah the other day, telling her how much Álainn reminds me of Hermione, even at such a young age."
An alarm bell went off in the back of Minerva's mind as she thought about Miss Sarah Roberts and her behaviour after the Christmas break. She didn't want to think ill of the woman, but if it turned out that she had been the one to tell Annabelle Proctor about Álainn, then there would be hell to pay.
"She does indeed. More and more every day," Filius agreed. "Tempered with just a hint of Minerva in her mannerisms."
They all chuckled and went back to their breakfasts, talking quietly amongst themselves.
The first clue that something must have happened was that the owls were late. Hagrid had just stood up to check what was going on with them when Minerva heard the front entrance doors creak on their hinges, as if they were being opened forcefully, and then the hall doors smashed open against the brickwork.
"HEADMISTRESS MCGONAGALL!"
Minerva stood up, her magic suddenly raring to go, crackling all around her as she stared at the intruder.
"Mama, don't wanna go -" Álainn whimpered forlornly, pulling on her sleeve.
"You'll not be going anywhere lass," Minerva said, turning for just a moment to pick up her little girl before facing the woman who was standing behind the table glaring at her.
"That is not your child," Proctor said forcefully.
"She is as much mine as anyone else's," Minerva said, desperately hoping that the owls which had somehow been waylaid would appear before them. Her own owl should be carrying the very paperwork she needed to shove in this awful woman's face before making her eat her own words.
"You will hand over that child and then you will be placed under arrest for two counts of kidnapping, child endangerment and refusal to follow Ministry law."
"What kind of charges are those?" Rolanda scoffed. "You'll have to do better than that you little upstart!"
There was a murmuring of ascension from the teachers around her, and Minerva was reminded yet again that her colleagues were among her closest friends.
"This is a warrant from the Department of Wizarding Child Safety that says all that and more."
"You can't take A'lin from her," Hagrid boomed. "Littl'n's not go' anywhere else t'be."
"She will go back to the home that she was stolen from."
"The home," Minerva spat, her voice laced with malice. "The home." She shook her head. "My baby has a home; it's here at Hogwarts, where she belongs. She has a mother, and aunts and uncles and four hundred and seventy five cousins that would do anything for her. How is that not better than your supposed home you dumped her in last time, to be teased mercilessly by the other children and staff?"
"I assure you, the home where we placed the child -"
"Have you ever even been inside?" Minerva asked, catching the twitch in the woman's eyebrow. "You haven't, have you? You've never seen the six children that are all sleeping in one room. Those children are not cared for, they are clothed and fed and have shelter, but they are not loved as I love this child, not by a long shot."
"This is not up for discussion, hand over the babe and I will leave."
"No," Draco said, getting up from his place at the quiet corner of the Slytherin table and standing directly in front of Minerva and Álainn.
Minerva's throat caught at how much admiration she had for the young man at that moment.
"A Malfoy," Proctor sneered, looking up and down the boy as if he was filth.
"I'll have you not take that tone with one my best and brightest students!" Minerva said venomously, glaring daggers at the woman as she walked slowly towards the back of the hall.
"You can't have her," Neville echoed, getting up and standing beside Draco. "We won't let you take her."
Lavender followed and slipped her hand in Neville's, making Minerva smile a little.
"You think three students will stop my associates from removing the child from your custody Headmistress? If so, you are sorely mistaken."
Minerva didn't know where to look as the entire hall filled with the noise of moving chairs and benches as her colleagues - her greatest friends - all moved around the table and stood in a line, wands drawn but not aggressively so, and the entire student body stood before the them, stretching from wall to wall.
"Mama?" Álainn whispered, silent until then no doubt due to fear.
"I promised you," Minerva said, kissing her hair. "I will not let anyone take you from me."
"You are all resisting Ministry Law!" Proctor screamed.
"And yet, here we all are," Minerva said, from the spot where she hadn't moved. "I believe that, somehow, you are stalling the owls. If you would kindly allow them in, I will show you a rather interesting piece of paper."
Annabelle Proctor glared for another minute before waving her wand above her head and all the owls began flying into the hall, dropping letters and packages for their owners. As most of them flew back out, Minerva's own owl flew in. He was such a majestic bird - a present from Albus many years ago. He landed haughtily on the table and held out his leg, glaring at the woman who was bristling at the interruption.
"Miss Proctor, if you would join me in my office? There is something I'd like to discuss with you. You may leave your dogs at the front gate," she paused, glaring at the two henchmen, "no harm shall befall you in this castle."
Minerva turned and walked from the room, using the back exit rather than the big doors that would require her to pass by the woman who was so intent on removing Álainn from her custody.
She walked up the staircase and into her room, only then allowing her rigid exterior to drop as she hugged Álainn to her chest.
"I will not let her win," she muttered.
"Mama? Lub you," Álainn whispered, her hands gripping onto Minerva's collar desperately.
"Min?"
She looked up to where a concerned Albus and Severus were watching and she recounted what had happened at breakfast.
"But the paperwork is certain, there can be no disagreement."
"I should hope not," Minerva nodded, looking down at the letter. "I think I shall make a few copies, just in case."
"How very Slytherin of you," Severus said.
She placed Álainn in the chair behind her desk and duplicated the paperwork thrice over before she was happy. She tucked the originals behind Severus' portrait, smiling slyly as he blushed and stammered at the honour.
"No better place for them," she said running her thumb along the embossing of his frame.
"Thank you," he said quietly.
"Mama?" Álainn said, drawing her focus from the immediate problem.
"Yes sweetheart?" she asked, trying to sound happy.
"You gonna shouts again? Am I going to Anti Pop Pop's?"
"Not today baby, I thought perhaps you would like to go with Ginny, Neville and Lavender?"
"Yey!" she cried, wriggling down from the chair and running around the room.
As Álainn was rushing around, trying to decide on a book to take with her, the Floo activated and Pomona stepped through.
"I'll take her if you like?" she suggested, accepting the cuddle she got from the little girl.
"I have deduced that other teacher's quarters are exactly where Miss Proctor believes I would send her. So I think perhaps the Gryffindor common room for now with young Ginevra. If you could take Álainn to her, I have no doubt that they will end up in the Room of Requirement. I'm sure Winky will keep an eye on them."
"Excellent," Pomona said, groaning as she lifted Álainn onto her hip and took the backpack from Minerva. "You're getting heavy, little one."
"And she's having a potion in a few days," Minerva said with a sigh. "I just wish this woman would leave us alone. I'm sure there are far more people out there with less reputable backgrounds than mine harbouring children that do not belong to them.
"People who are obsessed with power, seek to destroy the people who stand better than themselves, if only to ensure their rise to the top unchallenged."
"Well she can just -"
There was a knock at the door, which reminded Minerva that the things she was about to say probably shouldn't be spoken aloud with small ears in the room.
"We'll see you later."
"Bye Mama," Álainn called. "See-ya later!"
"Bye darling."
She watched the Floo return to it's natural colour before allowing the Gargoyle to open, letting Miss Annabelle Proctor into her office.
"Where is she?" she said immediately, looking around the room. "You are harbouring a child that you have kidnapped, you need to be held accountable."
"Oh pipe down you insipid woman," Severus growled. "There is nothing that the world hates more than someone who is self-important."
"Why you -"
"Miss Proctor, if you don't mind I would like to draw your attention to these documents that have been signed by my lawyer and that are legally recognised in both the Muggle world and the Wizarding one."
She brandished the documents with a flourish of triumph, allowing the woman a moment to read through what they were saying. After seeing how tenacious the woman was, Minerva changed her plan just a little at the last minute.
"As you can see, Mr and Mrs Wilkins are both wards of the Ministry, having suffered extensive damage after a memory spell went awry. They have agreed to sign over custody to me, so that she will be properly cared for until she is old enough to attend Hogwarts."
"And if this documentation is so real, why have you not produced it before?" the woman sneered.
"As the letter included from the Head of the Spell Damages ward states, it took time for Monica and Wendell to find a semblance of lucidity."
"And how do I know you didn't force them to sign this?"
"HOW dare you!" Minerva said, standing suddenly and startling the woman sitting before her, much to her satisfaction. "You may be extremely new to this part of the world Miss Proctor, but I would remind you of the tactics used in the last three Wizarding wars. And I absolutely refute your hateful suggestion that I would ever stoop so low as to use those very same tactics for my own personal gain. Shame on you!" she hissed.
"These shall have to be verified," she said eventually, as if the previous conversation had never happened. "But I warn you Ms McGonagall, should I find anything untoward I will be back here with an entire Auror department to take you into custody and the child to a new home."
"You may bring whomever you wish Miss Proctor," Minerva grinned coldly, "but you will never take my child from me, and I don't care how important you think you are. And it's Headmistress McGonagall." She leaned forward, so she was right in the woman's face. "And don't you forget it."
Before Minerva's could blink, Annabelle Proctor had disappeared from her office with nary a word, leaving her staring at the spot where she had been just a moment before.
"What on earth?"
Minerva looked around the room, before going over to the window where she gaped at what she saw.
"Min? What is happening?" Severus asked, on the wrong wall to look out of the window.
"She, she is outside the gates with her two goons," Minerva said, astounded. "I, Albus, how did this happen?"
"Hogwarts will always protect the things that it loves the most: her students and her staff," Albus smiled, as if a huge secret had just been spilled.
"Have you ever seen it do that before?"
"I read about it once, in a diary that was very old, but no. Nobody I know, or have had dealings with has been ejected quite in that way."
"Thank you," Minerva whispered, running her hand over the stonework walls.
"I suggest you go and tell your cubs the good news. And perhaps then take your daughter out for ice cream."
"You are hopeless," Minerva said, shaking her head. "She doesn't even like ice cream."
"She's a child Minerva," Severus said, rolling his eyes. "They all like ice cream. It is you who does not. Go and ask in Fortescue's, I'm sure he'll procure you some sardine flavoured."
"Oh ha ha," she said, unable to stop herself from grinning. "You should watch it Mr Snape. I might be tempted to ask someone to paint a santa hat on you. You know, to brighten the place up a bit."
Severus muttered something under his breath but she just laughed, stepping through the Floo into the Gryffindor common room. She nodded to a few students before leaving, turning right and alighting the stairs to the fifth floor corridor, recognising it as the same corridor where she first found Álainn.
She knocked on the stones where she knew the door to be and stood back, waiting anxiously as they slid back to reveal a rather nondescript door.
"McG!" Ginny said, meeting her at the door and pulling her inside. "How did it go, has she gone? She's not going to do an Umbridge and blast down the door is she?"
"Settle down Ginny," Minerva laughed as she was pulled along further into the room. "Oh my!"
It was every small child's dream to have a room such as this. The floor was littered with multicoloured plastic balls, similar to the ones she'd seen inside those strange restaurants that did not sell any Scottish looking food, despite their name. She looked around, seeing Neville and Lavender in the ball pit but no sign of Álainn.
"Where is -"
"Just wait," Ginny said, with a giggle.
It was then that Minerva really understood what she was seeing. A huge maze of tunnels and steps and slides, one of which was rocking just a little before a scream rang out. Minerva's heart stilled in her chest as she heard her baby's scream, but then out she popped from a pipe in the wall, landing feet first with a almighty whoop into the balls next to Neville.
"You might have trouble getting her out of here," Ginny said awkwardly. "But, you know, you could stay here for a while. Neville and Lav have to go to Care of Magical Creatures, but I only have History of Magic. Draco said he might pop by later as well."
"He did, did he?" Minerva said, looking sideways at Ginny.
"Not like that," Ginny said quickly, blushing as her brothers had always done. "I love Harry desperately, but Draco needed a friend, and he's alright when he's not being a git."
"Ginny -"
"Really Professor, we're just friends," Ginny reiterated, fiddling with her hand. "See?"
Minerva's eyes welled up with tears at the sparkling ring on Ginny's finger.
"Oh Ginevra!" She pulled her forward into a hug, wondering if she would ever get over just how free and easy it was to be affectionate with people now she had Álainn. "I'm so happy for you."
"I haven't told Mum yet. It's not that I don't want to, I just, she'll cry and then I'll cry and I don't want to. We probably won't get married for ages. Harry's enjoying having his own place, and I have to finish school and then I'm thinking of trying out for some of the Quidditch teams, but we'll get there. We're just not in a rush anymore."
"I'm so proud of both of you," Minerva said, kissing her forehead and turning as Álainn let out a scream.
"MAMA!"
Minerva caught Álainn in her arms and swung her around, laughing as the little girl squealed and cheered.
"Hi Mama," she said cheekily, placing a sloppy kiss on Min's cheek.
"Hello precious girl," she replied, nuzzling Álainn's cheek. "I hear you've been having fun."
"You come on Mama. You have a go."
"Oh no, I don't think so. It's for little girls like you. You can go on again sweetheart, but when it is lunchtime, we must go."
"Can we comes back?" Álainn asked, looking horrified at the thought of leaving this wondrous place.
"We can try," Minerva promised. "But the room is not always open to us, nor is it always going to be like this."
"Fine," she said, hands on hips like she'd no doubt seen Minerva do. Neville and Lavender chuckled as they climbed out of the pit and stood beside her.
"We have to go now Álainn, but we'll see you later okay?"
"Bye bye Nev-Nev, Bye Lav'der."
"If either of you need excuses for where you were this morning, tell them to talk to me," Minerva said kindly, patting Neville's arm, but catching Lavender's on her way out. "If you are free later Miss Brown, perhaps you would join me for tea in my quarters at about quarter past eight? The little one should be sound asleep by then, but I would love to discuss something with you about where you will go after your graduation."
"Um, sure. Thanks Professor," Lavender said, glancing at Neville.
"It is nothing bad Lavender, just something I think you would enjoy immensely as a career."
"Oh, okay then. Thanks," she said again, waving at Álainn as they left.
"Now, I believe you were going back to climbing, whilst I sit here and talk with Ginny."
"'Kay," Álainn said, running off, but stopping before she got to the steps that would lead her into the maze. "Wait Mama!" She turned and ran back, wrapping her arms around Minerva's thighs and squeezing hard. "Lub you Mama."
"And I love you little one," Minerva smiled, kissing her hair. "Now off you go."