Author's Note: Hey, y'all, new chapter! I hope you like this one!

Taking care of Harry was a change Minerva struggled with for the first couple of months. After Dumbledore followed through with the Fidelius Charm, Minerva sat Harry down on a recliner and explained the rules she had. "Now, the first thing we must discuss is that we cannot have anyone seeing you."

Harry thought what she said was absurd. "How can I even do that?"

"I know it will be a difficult task, however you must know that there are dangerous people that could hurt both of us if they find out you live here. That skin Dumbledore put on your scar will be a good camouflage for now, but even so, rumors spread however rumors spread quickly here."

With a frown, Harry nodded, accepting that he had no choice.

Noticing the sadness on Harry's face, Minerva sat on the couch next to him. "However, that only applies to here. We'll go anywhere else you'd like, just not here."

"Why?" Harry asked.

"There are rarely any wizards outside of villages like the one we are in. In the city, it is perfect for you to be out in the open. That's why Dumbledore chose to have you stay with your aunt," Minerva explained. "Among other reasons,"

"So no going outside here but anywhere else is okay," Harry repeated.

Minerva nodded. "And for your own protection, you must not go anywhere without me. I am also a teacher in a school nearby. I would have to leave you alone for most of the day sometimes, so you have to be responsible during those days."

"By myself… but what can I do if I can't go outside?"

"I'm sure we can find something. You went to school, yes?" After Harry nodded in response, Minerva continued. "I have a few things here I can use to help you continue learning."

Raising herself from the couch, Minerva went into the room she used to occupy back when she lived in the cottage. Her magic had managed to clean the room by the time she came back with Dumbledore, and she sought out a trunk she kept underneath her bed. In it were a few books she kept for when she had to babysit her youngest nieces and nephews. It seemed as if they'd continue to be used, after all. Harry followed her into the room; he looked over Minerva's shoulder and stared at the books in her possession.

"I know children should be outside playing, but I think it's best for you to read these." She handed him many storybooks that wizards have created. They reminded Harry of when he and the rest of his class were read to by the teacher. "I think this one is especially wonderful." Minerva gave Harry a book titled The Tales of Beedle the Bard, "Of course, there are some muggle books I remember loving as a young girl."

"Muggle? What's a muggle?" asked Harry.

"Right. A muggle is someone who isn't magical. For example, your aunt is a muggle," Minerva explained. "We could go to a library one day, if you'd like."

Harry smiled at Minerva. His family never did anything together with him and he hadn't been able to make any friends at school, so he enjoyed the idea of not being alone anymore.

The rest of the day involved putting Harry to bed. After he finished taking a shower, Harry realized he had no real pajamas to wear yet, so he had to wear the clothes he had been given by the Dursleys. Once he was dressed, he got in his brand new bed, enjoying the soft feeling both it and the new blankets had. After a few more minutes, Minerva entered his bedroom with one of the books from her trunk.

"How's your new bed?"

"It feels amazing!" exclaimed Harry.

Minerva fondly looked at Harry wrapped in his blankets. "I was hoping they were better than what your aunt and uncle gave you."

Harry did not respond. All he ever had was the cupboard and a mattress Uncle Vernon put in there. When Minerva sat on the edge of his bed, he began to wonder what was about to happen.

"Ready for a story?" she asked him.

"A… story?"

"Yes," Minerva opened a book named The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and began to read to Harry. He wondered if any of this was supposed to happen or if it was real. He didn't pay attention to Minerva reading to him and when Minerva said goodnight to him, he began to feel scared.

What if this was all a dream?

Harry tried his best to stay awake, but eventually passed out. He awoke the next day in a panic, scared that it really was all something he made up in his head. But when he concentrated on how the pillows, mattress, and blankets all felt, how the air was clean and there were no signs of cobwebs anywhere, Harry finally laid back down on his bed.

After Minerva left for Hogwarts, Harry spent most of the day reading the books Minerva had given him. It only occupied him for a couple of hours until he grew restless enough to not be able to concentrate on them anymore. Looking for more things to do, he went into the room Minerva occupied and searched inside the trunk she kept. While he found more fictional stories, he also found a small blue book, the same kind a young child would have taken to school to write in.

"New Transfi… transfiguray…tion." Harry said to himself. What he found was unlike anything he had ever seen; there were pages upon pages of handwritten notes, detailing multiple ways to transform objects into living things. The first thirty or so pages were written in neat cursive handwriting, then it slowly devolved into pages that contained very few words and drawings of human bodies. Harry could barely understand any of it, relying on the pictures for any context. Anything resembling coherency stopped in the middle of the journal, and afterwards were blank pages.

Feeling slightly tensed, Harry returned back to the beginning of the book, and found an entry about creating animals from inanimate objects. It was at that moment when an idea popped into Harry's small mind: he had magic, so he could just make himself a friend to play with. Taking the book with him, Harry moved to his bedroom and searched through the garbage bag he brought with him. In it was a stuffed rabbit, the only toy he ever had in his life, and took it with him to the living room.

Remembering what he read in the book, Harry placed his rabbit on the table and glared at it; incredible things had happened whenever he locked eyes on something and stayed focused. He continued an hour, ignoring his rumbling stomach and every itch he felt on his nose, making sure his progress was never reset. Harry continued staring until Minerva entered through the fireplace with a plate of food in her hands.

"Harry, what are you doing?"

Her sudden appearance in front of Harry broke his 'concentration'. "I'm trying to change it," he said, slightly agitated. He had believed all of that hard work had gone to nothing.

"That's not how magic works, Harry."

"How does it work then?" he asked, committing to another attempt at a staring contest with his rabbit.

Minerva sat on her knees next to Harry and took out her wand. "Magic is particularly difficult to achieve without a wand," she pointed at Harry's rabbit, circling its head with the wand. The rabbit's floppy body then jumped up. It turned its badly-stitched head around to examine the room. "And it's even more difficult to do without saying the incantation."

"But you just did it right now, Miss Minerva."

"And that took many years to practice. However, transfiguration, which was what you were trying to do, is even more tricky."

Minerva waved her wand at the rabbit again, making it fall flat on the table. "What were you trying to do to your rabbit?"

"I saw something in one of the small books you had in your room. It said you can make something into a real animal!" He passed her the book from her trunk.

"I see," said Minerva. "I am writing this one, actually. Well, I was writing in it. It was a project of mine. The spell to make an object into an actual living being has already been thoroughly documented, however I was simply testing the boundaries with something else."

"What were you trying to make, Miss Minerva?" Harry asked innocently.

But Minerva didn't answer him. "Do you want a rabbit, Harry?"

Harry nodded his head vigorously. The Dursleys had never given him a pet, and he was absolutely terrified of dogs. "Can we have a bunny? Pretty please?"

"I will make you a promise," she said to him, "lend me your rabbit, and for Christmas I will give you one."

Harry's mouth grew into the biggest smile his face could manage to make. He lent out his pinky and made Minerva swear on her promise. Minerva hooked her own pinky with his, shaking it with gusto, "Now then, time for lunch. Go wash your hands."

As Harry went to prepare for his lunch, Minerva quickly opened a cupboard near the staircase. She threw her journal in there, not caring if it became damaged. After everything that had happened, the last thing Minerva wanted was to deal with another death in her life.

After Harry was fully fed, Minerva returned to Hogwarts. She wondered how parents did it; when she was a little girl, she had her mother to take care of her and her two brothers, while her father was the one making the money. She's seen that Petunia Dursley stayed at home to take care of her son and Harry. She knew that even wizards worked while witches stayed home with their children. But as she walked from her office to her classroom, Minerva couldn't fathom giving up her job, even though she could and was most likely expected to at some point. But she couldn't imagine giving Harry to someone else, either.

Minerva's class began minutes later. Her lesson for her sixth-year students involved creating life with inanimate objects. Her students paid close attention to her detailing the ability to bring a form of life. She demonstrated it on Harry's rabbit, placing it on the table.

"I want all of you to understand that creating life is not something to do as you please! Life is sacred, and to bring life into the world without understanding the consequences is not only reckless but will also affect your future for decades!"

She then pointed her wand at the rabbit. "Now then, like this!" As she called out the incantation, the stuffed rabbit jumped up but landed as a real rabbit. It sniffed the air and moved its head around the room, terrified of the new life it had been given. But just as it began realizing what had happened, Minerva reversed the rabbit back to its original form, taking the life away.

"Now then…" Minerva said, realizing the horror she committed, "I assume you have all brought in an object of your own?"

After Harry had spent almost half an hour looking for the journal Minerva took, he eventually gave up and went back to reading his books. Minerva came back home while Harry was in the middle of finishing the last of Beedle's adventures.

"Well? How was it?" asked Minerva. She was carrying two bags in her left hand, both filled with a hefty amount of colorful material that wizards used to make their own clothes, all from a store in Diagon Alley. Minerva took off the hat she wore at Hogwarts and put it on a coat hanger.

"Um…" Harry had no idea how to tell Minerva he was scared of the last story: The Tale of the Three Brothers. He found the story incredibly morbid, more so than the other stories in the collection. "It was scary." He put the book aside and stretched his arms. "Are we going to have dinner today?"

"Right, before that, you need new clothes."

Harry's eyes widened. "New clothes?"

"Indeed. You can't just go and wear those big ones, now can you? Although, I suppose we could keep them until you grow them out."

Harry immediately shook his head, "I definitely want new clothes." He didn't think he could go another day wearing Dudley's shirts. They somehow felt constricting and too big at the same time.

Minerva went into the kitchen and put all of the materials she gathered onto their dining table.

"How does this feel? It's polyester. And this one? Wool would be useful for when fall finally sets in." Minerva continued to communicate with Harry, taking into consideration what he wanted.

The same oddity Harry felt when Minerva had read to him last night came back again. She listened thoroughly when Harry mentioned that some cotton fabrics felt too itchy against his skin, Minerva paid attention to when Harry became silent or when he agreed too much with her, making sure that everything that Harry said was the truth.

"You shouldn't need to lie about your satisfaction. You have your words, and I expect you to use them," she said to him. "You cannot get through this world without standing up for yourself, understood?"

"Yes, ma'am." Harry said quickly. He repeated her words over and over again until he could remember each word. Minerva smiled every time he did so correctly. In the back of his mind, Harry tried to remember if Aunt Petunia had ever taught him anything.

As they continued making clothes, Minerva used her magic to begin dinner. Both of them worked as food was being prepared, shedding tears when onions were cut, their heads turning to the smell of lasagna heating in the oven. Minerva hummed a song she remembered back when she was a girl in Hogwarts, and told Harry stories of things that had happened when she was his age.

"By the time I was six, my brothers were already getting into brawls with each other. The amount of times I accidentally bound their arms to their sides was, well, my mother grew tired of it eventually."

"How come your brothers fought so much? That doesn't seem very nice." Harry thought of the small and petty fights Dudley dragged him into whenever he wouldn't give him the TV remote.

Minerva shrugged, having not given it any thought before. "We are childish when we are young. It's our parents' responsibility to teach us to do better."

Harry looked down at his knees. The jumper Minerva was magically sewing began to fit itself around his right arm. "Was Aunt Petunia supposed to teach me things?"

"Yes, she was." Minerva felt herself tread into dangerous territory. "Now it's my responsibility to do so."

"Responsi…bill…city," Harry attempted to say.

"Responsibil-ity. There's no c," Minerva corrected.

Harry nodded and attempted to say the word again, succeeding this time.

"Did you know my parents, Miss Minerva?" Harry asked innocently.

"Yes. They were my students for seven years. Your mother in particular was my favorite student."

"Really? What was mummy like?"

Minerva sighed, reminiscing of when her days were easier. "Hardworking, for one. She was incredibly kind to everyone she met, even if they really didn't deserve it. That little girl would argue with everyone in the school if they teased her best friends."

"And my dad?"

"He was…" A troublemaker, a delinquent, someone who would break every rule just because he felt like it. Opinionated. "He was quite a handful," Minerva chose to say, "But in the end he was a good man." And she knew it was true, although Minerva did regret not setting him on the right path from the very beginning.

After they finished eating their dinner, the clothes were finally ready to wear. All that was left was which color to choose. Harry had gotten used to the bright colored blues and neon reds that Dudley passed onto him, but now he had the chance to create his own identity, separate from anything the Dursleys had put on him.

"How about… purple?"

Harry shook his head. "I don't like it very much."

Minerva was shocked at his claim. "Purple is the color of royalty!"

"But I'm not a royal… right?" he asked genuinely.

After Minerva clarified he wasn't, they continued to go through a list of colors.

Not blue.

Not red.

Not green, which made Minerva feel as though she was shot through the heart.

Not black, which Minerva was relieved about.

Not brown, which she was also relieved about.

"Can it be pink?"

"...pink?" asked MInerva.

Harry nodded. "But not the really bright pink. The one that looks like white but with a little bit of pink in it."

"Harry, pink is-" but Minerva cut herself off. Wizards and witches wore robes of any color. The minute she'd say pink is for girls would be the same minute she'd call Dumbledore's lilac and periwinkle robes ugly. "Pink is a wonderful choice." She aimed her wand at the wool jumper she had made for Harry and it immediately changed to a soft pink color. While pink wasn't her favorite color, in the end, Minerva realized it looked quite nice. She handed the jumper to Harry, who happily put it on.

"I love it!" he said proudly. He moved his hands all over his new jumper, enjoying how soft it was. He was proud to finally have something that was his. Minerva smiled at how happy Harry was. It was the happiest she has been so far, perhaps the happiest she's been in months.

Once Minerva finished reading to Harry, she went into her bedroom and laid in her own bed. After speaking to Dumbledore, they both agreed it would be best for Harry if she took some days off to help resume his own education. Instead of taking a Sleeping Draught, Minerva sat at her desk and decided to make the most of her time and started making lesson plans for Harry. Minerva couldn't fathom letting Harry attend Hogwarts if he wasn't proficient in reading and writing. Planning out lesson plans for him was more difficult than what she always did for her Transfiguration classes. Minerva had to remember what her mother did for her; she had to step into her muggle father's shoes and think like he did.

Then there was a knock at her door. "Is that you, Harry?"

"Yes, ma'am." he said behind the door.

"You can come in." Harry walked into Minerva's bedroom wearing his new pajamas and clutching his stuffed rabbit.. "What on Earth are you doing up this late, young man?"

"Can I have my bunny back?" he said politely.

Minerva couldn't believe she forgot about such a thing. She snapped her fingers and in a few seconds, Harry's rabbit came in through the window. After handing it back to him, Harry frowned as he noticed the stitching was starting to wear out, and the head was about to come completely off. "Can you patch him up for me, please?"

Minerva nodded. She snapped her fingers again and this time a needle and grey thread flew onto her hand. She laid Harry's rabbit on the table and carefully started to stitch it back together.

"Why don't you use magic?" asked Harry, standing over Minerva.

"There are things I prefer to do by hand, and it's important to practice your skills so that you don't forget them. Does he have a name?"

"He doesn't. I just call him Bunny in my head," answered Harry.

Once she finished her stitching, Minerva retrieved her wand and pointed it at the rabbit. Its texture became softer and the dirt and grime it had accumulated washed away, returning it to a pale white. "It's important to give the things you love names. That way, they stay closer to your heart," Minerva put her hand in the middle of Harry's chest.

Harry looked at his rabbit and started to brainstorm names. "I'm not sure what's a good name," he said after a few seconds.

"Then… how about Bobby. Bobby Bunny the Rabbit."

With a smile and a nod, Harry agreed to the name. "I like Bobby."

"Right…" Minerva experienced a tinge of sadness that began to usurp her brain. "Now then, off to bed."

The two wished each other goodnight, and Minerva searched through her desk drawers, trying to find something she had hidden away. She eventually found it: an old family photo that consisted of her parents, her two brothers, and herself. Her parents looked at each other's eyes with love, a love that persevered through the arguments they had with one another. On her mother's side was Minerva's younger brother, Malcolm, who noticed Minerva, and started to wave at her. Minerva waved back, and then looked at the boy with their father. The youngest McGonagall stared at her, smiling.

Minerva's tears streamed down her cheeks, going past her own smile.

Author's Note: I should've probably clarified whether or not this was going to be a "rewrite" of sorts. I haven't decided on whether or not I'd rewrite the entire series (that'll definitely take years), so right now I'm just focusing on Harry, Minerva, and another character's lives before they start Hogwarts. Any guesses on who else Minerva's going to take under her wing? (Or paw? Probably paw.)

Update: FFN's been having some problems with stats not being shown, so hopefully it'll fix itself soon.