THC March Challenge
Oppenheimer:
Write a story about someone who has to make hard decisions
Write a story about loss.
Prompts:
(character) Minerva Mcgonagall
Word count:1490
Beta'ed by: Amelia Pilliams
Summary: Due to Minerva childhood trauma she makes a decision that changes two lives forever.
Title: The Ones That Got Away
Young love, it was everything. It was what made your stomach fill with butterflies and made your blood run warm like melted butter; it was what made the earth stop spinning and made you feel like you were the only one in the world. You were consumed by a rapturous passion, an intense drug-like high that overrides any reason or logic. Minerva wasn't the type of girl that fell head over heels for a guy but Dougal McGregor was different. He made her feel like she was the only girl in the entire universe.
Once she'd graduated from Hogwarts Minerva returned home to enjoy one last summer with her family before setting out for London, where she had accepted a position at the Ministry of Magic, in the Department of Magical LawEnforcement. That was when she had met Dougal, a muggle boy who worked at his family farm to save money so he could go to school to be a muggle healer or the word that he used, a doctor. It was the first and only time in Minerva McGonagall's life that she lost her head and it was all because of a boy. One boy that made her feel like she was special, the boy that made her heart stop beating every time she saw him. There was something about him that made Minerva feel like she could do anything.
Dougal McGregor was a handsome young man who was clever and funny and could make Minerva laugh without breaking a sweat. Dougal and Minerva shared a sense of humor, Dougal could make Minerva laugh but Minerva could always make Dougal smile even when he had a hard day working at his fathers farm. She was the one thing that he looked forward to at the end of every day, knowing that he got to see that smile of hers, hear her laugh; it kept him going. It reminded him as to why he was putting in such hard hours at the farm.
They argued fiercely but it was never out of hate. They both had things that there were passionate about and wanted to share with each other. They explored the mysterious depths of each other and before either of them knew it, Dougal was on one knee in a plowed field at sunset, proposing, and Minerva was accepting.
Minerva went home that night, intending to tell her mother of her engagement, yet she found herself unable to. She laid awake that night, thinking about her future and what it might hold for her. Dougal didn't know what she truly was anymore then her father knew what her mother was. Minerva's father did not know that his wife, Isoel, was a witch when he married her and ever since she turned eleven and her Hogwarts letter came, Minerva witnessed in close quarters the kind of marriage she might have with Dougal. It would be the end of all her ambitions, it would mean a wand locked away, children taught to lie, even to their father. It meant hiding who she truly was for the rest of her life.
Minerva remembered hiding in her bedroom closet as her father screamed at her mother as he had too much to drink during the nights, calling her unnatural, that she was the work of the devil and that she should be burned at the stake for her sins. Minerva heard every part her father would yell in his drunken state. She even heard the time that he wished that he never had a freak for a daughter. The more Minerva thought about her life, what she had to go though the more she started to regret saying yes to Dougal, she regretted ever allowing herself to fall in love with a Muggle. There was no way for her to know that Dougal would accept her once he knew what she really was and she couldn't have the same life she had while growing up, she wouldn't put her children though the same pain that she went though. She couldn't have the same life that her mother did. All that pain and suffering, she couldn't go though it again, she wouldn't.
Early the next moring, Minerva slipped from her parents' house and went to tell Dougal that she had changed her mind about the marriage. Her heart was already breaking but she needed to do what was best. Dougal should marry a Muggle girl, someone he would be able to have a proper family with. A family that he wouldn't have to lie about or hide away from the rest of the world.
Minerva made her way to the little bakery that her and Dougall went to every morning before he started work at his fathers farm. As Minerva entered the cute little barkery, she didn't even have a chance to smell the freshly backed bread before seeing Dougal sitting at their usually spot by the window. She twisted the engagement ring on her finger as she went over what she was going to say in her head. She wanted to make this as painless as possible but she knew she was about to break Dougal heart…along with hers.
She slowly made her way over, offering up a small smile as she sat down across from him. She felt her stomach twist uncomfortably, she knew that she should of taken something for her nerves but she didn't want to numb the pain with a potion. If Dougal was going to be in pain then so was see, she didn't get to run away from it just because she was magical.
"Morning beautiful" Dougal greeted as he passed her the coffee mug that was sitting next to his. "I got you your favorit, almond with a hint of vanilla" Dougal said proudly "So…I was thinking after work I take out for dinner. Theres this small place that I know" Dougal explained, quickly sensing that something was wrong. "What's wro…" But before Dougle could finish his sentence Minerva interrupted.
"I…I can't" Minerva couldn't help but to stater as she forced back her emotions "I'm sorry but I can't marry you." Minerva said, thinking it would be better to get it out in the open as soon as possible but if anything it only made it hurt more. "I'm so sorry but I can't" Minerva held back her tears as she slide of the ring and passed it back to Dougal.
Dougal didn't know what to say or how to feel as he took the ring in between his fingers "I…I don't understand? I thought things were great between us? Last night you seemed so happy?" Dougle explained as he felt his heart breaking.
"I was, I love you with everything I have but there's things that you can't understand…things about me that you won't understand," Minerva explained.
Dougal only got more confused at Minerva explanation at her sudden change of mind "Then help me to understand. Minerva, Theres nothing you can tell me that will ever make me stop loving you. I promise, I will always love you, no matter what," Dougal explained as he reached out to take Minerva's hand.
Minerva pulled her hand away before Dougal had a chance to take it as she shook her head "I'm sorry but it's not that simple, I wish it was. I love you and I want nothing more then to be with you…"
"Then be with me!" Dougal interrupted. "Is it your family? Because say the word and I can take you away from here. I can take you anyway were you want. I can keep you safe," Dougal said.
Minerva couldn't stop the tear that slide down her cheek and into her coffee. She wanted nothing more than to accept Dougal's offer but the memories of her childhood prevented her from doing so. "I'm sorry, I just can't. This will be the last time you see me." Minerva informed him before getting up and leaving. She didn't look back, knowing if she did she would never be able to leave at all
Minerva spent the rest of her life wondering what could of been. She went out on many dates but no one ever compared to Dougal. She ended up never getting married or having children. She never had a family of her own because her heart always belonged to Dougal. She always played back that morning, wondering what could of been if she broke the international statute of secrecy and allowed herself to take a chance to love Dougal. Would her life been better if she didn't allow her fears to control her?
Unknown to Minerva, Dougle spent the rest of his life in search for her. In search for the one that got away but no matter how hard he tried he could never find her unaware that she escaped to the magical world, a place where he could never go to.