Chapter Six

Minerva McGonagall entered her office looking years older even though little more than 48 hours had passed since the world shattering news of Harry Potter. Since news broke of Harry's attack, rumors spread like wildfire, but nothing had been confirmed. No word from his wife Ginny or the other two members of the 'Golden Trio' which made Minerva and everyone else fear the worst.

Those living were not the only ones who feared for the savior of the wizarding world. From the moment the headmistress broke word of Harry's attack, Albus Dumbledore became uncharacteristically inconsolable. Dumbledore immediatley left his portrait at Hogwarts after the departure of Ginny Potter and their children and went to his adjoining portrait in Grimmauld Place where he did nothing more than sit and cry. From the moment of Harry's birth, he became one of if not the most important person in Albus's long life. The young man lived a life full of horrors and such agony that almost no one could understand or grasp, and yet ... he remained. Harry Potter stayed strong and lead and fought until the end. The thought of his death at such a young age, layered with the thought of Harry's children was a heartache Albus Dumbledore couldn't bear.

Severus Snape dealt with his own grief for Harry Potter in the same way he dealt with the losses of everyone else in his life. With passiveness. No one needed to know the pain and guilt he felt. Even though he was recognized as a war hero to all who mattered, the details of his relationship with Lily Potter and the sacrifice of his life for her son were not released to anyone who wasn't directly related to the matter. Severus couldn't honestly say that he regretted his treatment of Harry. Harry had so much of James in his personality and appearance that caused a reaction in Severus he couldn't control. However, the thought of Lily seeing the way he treated her only son caused a sharp pain in the middle of Severus's chest. If he was being completley honest, Severus knew that Harry Potter would be the one to save them all from early on and he had an immense amount of respect at the fact that even from a young age, Harry was determined to fight until his last breath and made the sacrifices that needed to be made, but Severus's sacrifices were not for him. They were not even for the world, they were always for her. The love of his life and his greatest friend.

Minerva sat down at her large desk, and leaned back against the chair, exhausted. The exertion from constant worry was finally getting to her. The moment Minerva allowed her eyes to close - she saw movement behind them. She opened her eyes in a panic and saw a wispy, white silver, orb enter her office. Minerva got to her feet and walked around her desk until she was standing before it. Before her eyes, the orb transformed into a playful otter which could only be the patronus of Hermione Weasley.

"Harry's alive. They were sure he wouldn't make it, but somehow he pulled through. He's in the recovery unit now, surrounded by his family. We'll be keeping the children here until he wakes. which should be anytime now according to the healers. Please inform everyone of the good news."

As soon as Hermione stopped speaking, the otter dissipated. Before she could stop herself, Minerva let a few tears of joy slip from her eyes and a loud cheer escaped her lips.

Minerva reared suddenly to the wall opposite her desk to the portrait of Phineas Nigellus Black.

"Phineas!" she shouted, waking the old man.

'W-What is it?" he slurred drowsily.

"Phineas! It's Harry Potter! He lives! You must go to your portrait at Grimmauld and inform Dumbledore. Once he's told, I want you to come back and tell everyone else. You must tell Dumbledore!"

Before he could reply, Minerva grabbed her cloak off the hook, tied it around her and bounded out the door. Minerva walked extraordinarily quickly to the hut of Rubeus Hagrid. Once she reached his overly large door, she knocked quickly against his door.

It was several moments before the door swung open and revealed a very distressed half giant.

"Oh. Headmistress!" he exclaimed in surprise. "I'm sorry. I - I ... wassn expectin' any company."

Minerva was simply too ecstatic to be concerned over the chaos that was Hagrid's home. When the news first broke about Harry's attack, peril entered the hearts of everyone, but Minerva was sure that no one was more distraught than Hagrid. For the past two days, Hagrid had been inconsolable - hulled up in his hut where everyone could hear his loud drunken sobs.

"It's no matter, Hagrid." She said dismissively as she sat down into a one of his enormous kitchen chairs while the door slammed behind him. "I have news."

Hagrid went completely still as he turned to her with his eyes wide. Before Minerva could tell him the good news, Hagrid's wail reverberated off the walls of his hut.

"NO!" he roared, thrashing back against a wall. "No, NO! He - He can't be dead! Not 'im! Not Harry! Where is 'e? The bastard who killed Harry - I'll kill 'im myself!"

Minerva stood immediately to try to interrupt him but staggered back as Hagrid charged toward the opposite end of the hut sobbing violently.

"Hagrid. Hagrid! Harry is alive! He's going to be fine! I just received the message from Hermione!" shouted Minerva over Hagrid's wails.

Hagrid's desperate cries ceased immediately. Hagrid looked at McGonagall with a completely blank, shocked expression for a moment before he bounded across the floor in joy and gathered her into one of his infamous bone crushing hugs.

"I KNEW IT!" he shouted ecstatically. "I knew he'd make it! Tha's My Boy Harry!"

Under normal circumstances, Minerva most likely would've been appalled at Hagrid's unprofessional behavior - but the happiness of the occasion allowed her the ability not to care. Minerva was squeezing Hagrid back as tight as she could.

After a few moments, they released each other only to smile widely.

"Is he awake? Has he said anything? How're the kids? You tell Ginny, she needs me for anything an I'll be there."

"He's not awake yet, but he should be anytime. The children will be staying by his side until he does wake up. And yes, I'll pass the message along"

"Thank you headmistress, and thanks fer comin down and tellin me. I've been awful worried you see."

"As were we all." Minerva said, understandingly. "Though, if you'll excuse me, I must return to the castle. You have my word that should I hear anything more, I'll let you know. Excuse me."

With a wave at Hagrid and a bounce in her step, McGonagall left the hut and walked back up to the castle. In the very short time she had been gone, the atmosphere changed dramatically. Laughter and shouts of 'He's Alive!" filled with halls and replaced the deafening silence. Smiles lit up the faces of students and professors alike, replacing the looks of nervousness and dread. As she passed by the charms room she saw Professors Flitwick and Sprout engaged in a tight hug.

When she finally made it back to her office, Minerva was sure more wrinkles had formed on her face by smiling.

"Is it true Minerva? Harry Potter is alive?" Inquired a very excited Dumbledore.

"Yes, Albus. It's true. He's expected to recover fully." she replied.

Loud sighs of relief and chuckles of delight echoed throughout her office as the portraits of all the previous headmasters cheered and whooped.

"Harry Potter is alive!"

Hi everyone,

I'm very sorry for the lateness of this update.

I want to thank all of you for your continued support of this story.

I hope you guys enjoyed this - I missed Hagrid.

Please Read and Review.

xoxo

-If you guys are fans of James/Lily I would love it if you guys check out my new story "Into the Past". Its all about their Hogwarts days and the beginning of their romance