Sorry, I forgot to post last week!

Anyway, this may or may not have happened. But it does seem unlikely that an event that could have killed someone had absolutely no health consequences afterwards. Harry did describe Minerva as looking fine when he saw her again but I believe Minerva was most likely putting on a show. Also, Harry isn't the most observant of people. He probably saw what he wanted/expected to see.


28 June 1996

"Oh!" Minerva jumped and put her hand to her chest as her heart began to beat wildly behind her ribcage. She turned abruptly around to see who had put a hand on her shoulder. "Remus, goodness, I was not expecting..." she trailed away and shook her head, regaining her breath as Remus winced apologetically.

"Sorry," he apologised. "I should have given you more of a warning."

Minerva dropped her hand so that it was resting on her walking stick again. She still felt a little flustered, though decidedly less so than she had been only a moment ago. "Indeed," she said, with a nod.

Remus managed another apologetic look before his eyebrows knit together worriedly. "I thought you had been discharged from St Mungo's?" he said, the touch of concern in his voice making Minerva uncomfortable - she had hoped to come to the hospital without meeting anyone she knew. If Poppy, or Pomona, or even Albus got a whiff that she had been to St Mungo's, they would no doubt rain down upon her a ton of questions that she had no real inclination to answer.

"I have," she said politely, though did not give any more detail on the nature of her current visit to the hospital.

Possibly realising that his question had been rather personal and sensitive, Remus blushed. "I'm glad you're feeling better," he said, and despite the fact that he had more or less mumbled these words due to his previous embarrassment, Minerva knew that he meant it.

She smiled slightly, trying to put him at ease, and nodded. "Thank you."

Remus answered her smile, though somewhat weakly. His hands clenching a small bouquet of flowers betrayed the calm exterior he was trying to maintain. Noticing Minerva's eyes on the flowers, he cleared his throat and shuffled on the spot.

"Visiting Tonks," he said, by way of explanation. "She's still recovering from what happened at the Ministry. She had a bit of a fall—Bellatrix—erm," he stopped, inhaled sharply, and passed his hand through his greying hair. "But she's feeling much better," he added, seemingly shaking off his clear unease.

"I am glad to hear it, Remus," Minerva said. "Do send her my best."

He nodded. "Of course." He cleared his throat. "Visiting hours end soon—I'll let you get on, Minerva. It was nice to see you."

Minerva nodde and Remus gave her another weak smile before leaving her alone in the corridor. Thinking about it, Minerva realised that this was the first time she had met Remus since the incident at Hogwarts and then at the Ministry. The news of Sirius' death had been a blow to Minerva - Pomona had been the one to tell her. But, Minerva could hardly imagine what Remus was going through, knowing that the last of his best friend from school had been needlessly killed.

Minerva took a deep breath as she heard the sound of a siren ringing in the distance. She shook herself, and resumed her walk to the small office at the end of the hallway. She had been sent for by a Healer who had detailed in a letter, rather ominously, that the results of certain tests that had been done during her stay at St Mungo's, had finally come back. The fact that the Healer wanted to discuss these results with her face-to-face only made Minerva worried that something serious was the matter. Of course, she had not spoken a word of this meeting to anyone, least of all to Malcolm and Helen.

Minerva walked to the room and sat patiently outside the door, waiting for her name to be called. It only took 5 minutes before the Healer, a certain Warren, stepped out. He looked left then right before spotting her and smiling, though Minerva noticed that it did not quite reach his eyes.

"I'm glad you could make it Professor McGonagall. If you could follow me," he said, holding the door open for Minerva so that she could enter the small but tidy office.

"I gathered from your letter that it was fairly urgent business," Minerva said, taking a seat opposite the Healer. She crossed her legs, placed her clasped hands on top of her knees, and looked expectantly at Healer Warren.

"Well, first of all, I would just like to say that you have made quite an excellent recovery given the circumstances," Warren began, and Minerva internally sighed. The fact that he was not getting to the point only raised her suspicions more. "It looks likely that the cane will not be permanent either."

Minerva nodded, relieved at least for this news - the cane had been causing her much frustration over the last few weeks. "But," she prodded, knowing full well that there was always a but in these situations.

Warren sighed and briefly looked at his desk before looking back at her. "Professor McGonagall you suffered a lot of internal injuries when you came to us. Your colleague did much to help, and things could have ended quite differently if she had not acted so quickly and we had not managed to offer you care when you arrived."

Minerva nodded, bracing herself for the blow she knew was to come.

"But," he added, "we do have reason to believe that certain injuries may cause you grievances in the future. Your heart, particularly, suffered quite badly. I am afraid to say that, based on some tests we did while you were with us, it has been left in a permanently weakened state which may prove problematic."

"Problematic how?" Minerva questioned - the composed and calm-mannered tone in which she said this surprising even herself.

Warren tilted his head from side to side. "We are not sure as of yet," he said. "Unfortunately, in this case, only time will tell," he added. "But given that your heart is one of the most important organs..." he trailed away when Minerva nodded several times.

"I understand," she said.

"Have you been experiencing heart palpitations?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Clearly, Minerva's face said it all because he nodded wearily. "Often?"

"Only at times," Minerva conceded.

"Since you are still recovering that is to be expected," he said. "But if it continues, then it is something that we will have to monitor."

Minerva folded her hands on top of each other as the Healer paused.

"Have you been experiencing anything else that may be considered unusual?"

Minerva hesitated.

"Dizziness, fainting?" he prodded. Minerva looked down at her hands briefly, which was all that was needed for Warren to sigh. "Again, this is not ideal, however, it is probable that it will pass for now."

"There is no need for sugarcoating, Healer Warren," Minerva said. "If it does not, is there anything that can be done?"

Warren hesitated. "Just keep us informed if things do start to feel strange, or if anything gets worse."

Minerva nodded. "Very well," she said. "Is there anything else?"

"Not that I can think of."

Minerva pressed her lips together briefly, her eyebrows slightly furrowed. "Thank you, Mr Warren, for your help," she finally said, picking up her carpetbag again. "I will keep you informed, should there be any further—developments," she added.

Warren nodded, and Minerva got up and left the room rather swiftly. She had feared he would say something of the sort. Now, she could only hope that the complications he was referring to would not bother her for quite some time yet - or at all, in fact. Yet, deep down Minerva knew this was not realistic, and much less helpful than if she just admitted the truth.

Perhaps a break in Caithness was just what she needed - perhaps a little rest would do her some good.