Okay, so I had a random thought about Sirius Black when I was writing this. Isn't it weird that a funeral wasn't organised for him? Obviously not a public one because he was still considered a mass murderer by most of the country, but you would have thought a small gathering would have been organised to pay respects to him at least? And to help Harry get some closure too. Literally one minute he has a godfather, and then the next minute his godfather is gone. But then there's nothing afterwards to commemorate this man who sacrificed his life to protect his godson! I think that's really sad.

Anyway, on that happy note on to the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it :) There will definitely be a double post this week just because it's Christmas and I'm feeling quite positive. Apologies for not posting twice last week :/ It's been a bit hectic.

Updates will be Tuesday and Thursday this week :)

20 June

Minerva had been in St Mungo's for almost three days now and in her mind, this was three days too much. Indeed, Minerva hated hospitals. Even the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts she tended to avoid as best as she could. Perhaps she had always been somewhat afraid of hospitals. Or, perhaps it was due to her past experiences.

For the last two days, the memory of Elphinstone's last hours kept resurfacing in her mind. It did not help either that she was in a private room not dissimilar to the one Finn had been put in before. The only little comfort she had was the promise that she was going to be leaving on Friday and finally, she would be able to return home.

With this last thought, Minerva closed her eyes. She was sitting up, quite an achievement considering her fractured hip, broken ribs, cracked skull, punctured lungs and general weakness that had plagued her body since she had arrived. Currently, it was her chest that was bothering her. The space behind her ribs tingled uncomfortably and her hands, each folded on top of the hospital bedsheets, were shaking very slightly. Minerva softly rubbed her right hand with her left to stop the tremor. Slowly it subsided and she opened her eyes just as the door to her room squeaked open.

"Happy for visitors?" asked Healer Thomspon who had just popped her head in. "I can tell them to come back later if you are not up for it?"

Assuming it was Malcolm, Minerva shook her head. "No, it's all right," she said, her voice sounding tired even to her ears.

Mariette Thompson smiled and backed out of the room. A second later and another person came into the room. However, it was not Malcolm McGonagall.

Minerva raised her eyebrows in surprise. She tried to sit up straighter and look a little less tired and ruffled. "Albus," she said. "Goodness, I wasn't expecting—what are you doing here?"

"Coming to see you," he replied. "May I come in?"

Minerva, still a little shocked, stared at him for a moment before clearing her throat and nodding. "Y—yes, of course," she stammered.

He smiled and pulled up a chair to sit beside her. Although, not before magicking a plush cushion to cover the seat of the hard plastic chair. "How are you feeling, my dear?" he asked, once he was comfortable.

Minerva swallowed and closed her eyes briefly as memories of Hagrid, Umbridge and everything that had come after, surfaced in her mind. "Foolish," she replied quietly. "I only have myself to blame."

Albus sighed. "That isn't what I was referring to."

"I know," she cut in quietly. She sighed. "Pomona came yesterday and told me what happened," she added gently. "That evening at the—" she broke off and Albus nodded.

"Department of Mysteries."

Minera shook her head and closed her eyes. "I don't know what I was thinking," she said. "To go out like that—and then the students—" she broke off as she became short of breath, and massaged her chest. "It should never have happened—Sirius—it wouldn't have if I had been there to reassure Potter that Sirius was safe"

"You cannot blame yourself for what happened, my dear," Albus said.

"But I can, Albus. And I do, greatly. I won't take the entirety of the blame as it was a combination of events that led Potter and the rest of them to the Ministry," she conceded. "But, if I had been there things might have gone differently. Not even you can disagree with that, Albus," she said.

Albus was silent and Minerva nodded softly, leaning her head back against the headboard.

"How are they?" she asked, after a moment.

"Madam Pomfrey will be discharging them this week," he reassured her. "There will be no lasting physical damage."

Minerva nodded silently; noting how Albus had specified physical damage. It would take much longer for the emotional scars to heal, she thought, thinking of Harry in particular.

"I will be returning to the castle the day after tomorrow," she said quietly. "I would like to see them for myself," she added, by way of explanation. "I will try to make it before lunchtime."

Albus looked uneasy about this, though he knew better than to disagree with her. "If you are certain, my dear," was all he said.

Minerva nodded. "I am," she replied just as the door to the ward opened. Minerva's great-niece, Meg, came running in followed by her mother, Chloe, who was telling her to slow down. Meg skidded to a stop when she spotted Albus and looked wide-eyed at him. Albus smiled and Meg smiled back, though uncertainly.

"Hi," she said nervously, lifting a hand to wave tentatively at the white-bearded man sitting in the chair opposite her great-aunt. "I'm Meg."

"Good afternoon, Meg," Albus said kindly. His eyes flicked up briefly to Chloe who had paused in the doorway. She smiled back at her previous Headmaster, then motioned with one hand for her daughter to come to her. Meg obediently hurried back to her mother and Albus then returned his attention to his friend. "It seems that you are high in demand, my dear. I will leave you with your family, now, and I will see you soon."

He began to get up and was about to leave when Minerva suddenly reached out to grab his wrist. He stopped and turned, and they held their gaze for a moment. Minerva swallowed.

"I am sorry, Albus," she said seriously, "for what happened that night."

Albus took her hand in his. "Minerva, it is I who should be sorry," he said, seriously. "We are all very much looking forward to your safe return," he added.

Minerva smiled weakly. "As am I."

They locked eyes and Albus then leaned in and gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek. He then straightened, bowed his head respectfully, and gave Chloe and Meg, who had been waiting by the doorway, a smile before leaving the room. Minerva watched him go.

"We would have come later if we'd known you had a visitor," Chloe said as she came to give her aunt a kiss on the cheek. "How are you feeling?"

Minerva pulled her eyes away from where Albus had last been. "Well rested, I should think," she replied.

"Yes, I heard you've been trying to get discharged," Chloe said, looking at Minerva knowingly. "Dad wanted us to check up on you," she added. "He thought maybe you would try to escape with no supervision."

Minerva rolled her eyes. "Well, tell your father that he needn't worry. I am doing exactly as I am told," she said, before pausing slightly. "I hope that is not the only reason you came to see me?"

Chloe smiled. "Of course not, silly. I came because we miss you terribly. And also to pass on a few gifts, actually. Mainly, some letters, flowers and one or two copies of Transfiguration Today," she added, taking a shopping bag out of her handbag. "Also, Meg has something to show you," she whispered, catching Minerva's eye. "She's worked really hard on it so..." she trailed away and turned to her daughter. "Are you going to show Aunt Minerva what you made, poppet?"

Meg nodded eagerly and tried to scramble up the hospital bed. Despite it being a little sore, Minerva masked her emotions and smiled as the little girl joined her.

"I have a surprise for you, Auntie," Meg said chirpily. "It's a drawing. I did it without any help," she added.

"Goodness, what a clever little girl you are," Minerva said, causing Meg to smile. "May I see this masterpiece?"

Meg nodded eagerly and retrieved a piece of folded card from her pocket. She handed it to Minerva who couldn't help but smile again as she looked at the picture. Meg had drawn the whole McGonagall family, quite extensive at this point. Each stick figure was standing in a row holding hands with the person next to them. Minerva was in the middle with a smile on her face. Above the people was the message Get Well Soon written in the wobbly scrawl of a five-year-old.

"This is absolutely beautiful, Meg," Minerva said, giving the girl a kiss on the head. "I think we have an artist in the making," she added, though she winced slightly as her chest gave a painful twinge.

Chloe, who had noticed this, smiled but leaned forward to pick up her daughter and give Minerva some more room. "But you made quite a mess in the kitchen didn't you, darling?" she said, ruffling Meg's hair. "We lost the lids of about 5 felt tip pens," she added, turning to Minerva who smiled weakly.

Chloe's smile faded slightly as she noticed the paleness of her Aunt's skin and the general air of tiredness on her features. She cleared her throat and put Meg back down. "I think we'll leave you to rest, now. Dad is going to come tomorrow, I think."

"Lovely," Minerva said, however even getting a word out now had been hard. Truth be told her head was starting to hurt again and the effort of speaking, even for only 10 minutes, had been enough to drain her energy. Clearly, Chloe was aware of this, and Minerva was internally grateful that her niece was observant enough.

"See you soon, Minerva," Chloe said, giving Minerva one last kiss on the cheek. "What do you say, Meg?"

"Bye-bye, auntie," Meg said. "Mummy said we're going to the bookshop after this."

"How delightful," Minerva replied, as the little girl kissed her on the cheek too. "Do enjoy it."

Meg smiled and Chloe, after one last wave, ushered her daughter out of the room. Once the two had gone, Minerva closed her eyes tightly and took a few deep breaths to try and ease the pain in her constricting chest.