This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Word Count: 1813

Title: Take Him

Note: AU! The adoption everyone is wanting to happen in the first book. Of course changing many canon events. Could also maybe turn this into a Multi Chapter, let me know in reviews how you feel about it.

Warnings: Temporary abandonment at train station

Beta: Aya

Hogwarts

Assignment 9: Bonus: Charms: The Patronus Charm: Task #5: Sirius Black / Dog - Write a story about someone becoming an Animagus for the first time.

Yearly:

Prompt 669 [Quote] No one is sent by accident to anyone. Unknown

Liza's Hufflepuff Challenge: Prompt: Write about a character getting adopted.

Minerva soon found out that Harry Potter was getting mistreated by his aunt and uncle. She was furious that the headmaster had decided to leave him in their care. She had watched the disinterest of the Dursleys in the precious boy that had been given to them.

She wasn't sure what to expect when she filled out her application for the adoption papers. The process would be long, and in the meantime, she wasn't sure what to do. One day she sat outside the house, disguised in her animagus form, and heard Harry crying. She had told the headmaster that she intended to adopt Harry, and as much as Dumbledore argued against it, she wouldn't budge. Harry would be so much safer and a lot better taken care of in Hogwarts, no matter his past.

So that day, she walked over to the door of number Four Privet Drive and knocked on the door. As Petunia opened the door her mouth dropped open.

"Can I come in?" Minerva asked. Petunia stepped back and nodded, aware that any of the neighbours could spot the strange woman in her purple cloak. Harry was still crying upstairs, and without saying another word to the woman, Minerva walked over and picked up the crying toddler. She rocked him in her arms. "Its okay, Harry," she whispered.

"Why don't you just take him?" she heard Petunia's voice behind her.

"I intend to," Minerva replied, furious at the callous attitude this woman had towards her own flesh and blood. She needed to calm herself; it wouldn't do to upset the woman before she signed Harry over to her.

"Then take him," Petunia insisted, "I never wanted him here, he is a freak, just like her."

Minerva managed to school her features into a scowl.

"Fine, I will bring you the paperwork then," she insisted, wrapping the small boy in the blanket that he had been lying in. There was a cold wind blowing outside, and she didn't want poor Harry catching a cold on the way to the castle.

"Paperwork?" Petunia asked incredulously.

"Yes, the legal adoption papers, making me his guardian," she said, resisting the temptation to roll her eyes at the common woman.

As she spoke, Vernon came into the room, having heard that Harry had stopped crying. "Petunia, I told you—who is this?" he spotted Minerva, and his face went red. Neither of the Dursley's had ever been a fan of anyone who wasn't normal.

"A lady that wants to take him." Petunia nodded in the direction of the bundle.

"Oh wonderful," Vernon said, his expression suddenly changing. "He will be much better off with his own kind."

"I quite agree, Mr Dursley," Minerva replied. She was frowning at him from over her glasses.

It wasn't long after that when Minerva received the owl she had been waiting for, something made her want to make it official as soon as possible, all she needed was for Harry's family to change their mind about making her his guardian.

She went over to the house in person, letting Dumbledore watch Harry for a while. She was sure he would be fine with him for a little while. She knocked on the door firmly, she was dressed in Muggle clothing this time, and as Petunia spied through the peephole Minerva saw she didn't know who it was.

"Who are you?" Petunia said, opening the door.

She simply handed Petunia the yellow envelope with the adoption papers.

"Oh, it's you," Petunia said in her high pitched voice.

"Indeed it is," Minerva said, she was smiling. She was so happy that this was going to be over and then she never had to see these awful Muggles ever again.

Petunia didn't bother to read any of the documents, all she did was take a pen off the cabinet that they kept in a glass bowl and signed away her rights as guardian of Harry James Potter.

"Pleasure doing business with you," Minerva said. "Hope I never need to see you again."

"Likewise," Petunia muttered, slamming the door behind her as soon as Minerva was outside.

"Finally," Minerva said, and left for the castle.

She saw Dumbledore sitting on the floor with Harry and she couldn't help but laugh, he was busy making Harry's toy cars race each other around the room. The toddler was rolling around on his stomach, laughing as he watched the cars go round and round the room.

"Minerva," Professor Dumbledore said when she returned.

"Yes, Albus?"

"If I could take it back...take it all back...I would."

"You would?" Minerva asked, delighted that the headmaster had seen the light.

Minerva smiled as she watched Harry's interest in the cars, and she went over and said, "Hello, Harry."

Harry muttered something she couldn't make out yet, but she suspected it could have been something like "mommy."

She wasn't intending to let those Muggles keep the boy from growing up knowing all the love she could give him. Of course, the situation was a bit odd, growing up in a school. He giggled when the ghosts came floating into his nursery, and his first words were "mommy," which was not long after he turned two years old.

Once Harry was a little bit older, he followed her around like a shadow. He told her everything. One day she spotted Harry, at only eight years old, reading a book on how to become an animagus.

"Harry, dear, what are you doing?" she asked curiously.

"I want to learn to become an animagus, like you, Mum," Harry said with a grin. She smiled at him, passing him a biscuit from the table.

"My boy, you are too young for that," she said sternly.

"I know, but I want to be just like you when I grow up," Harry said.

"Oh, are you going to be a professor as well?" she asked, curious as to what an eight year old would think of teaching for a living.

"Yes, but not transfiguration, I like defense against the dark arts," he said solemnly. Minerva was curious about his response. She had spoken to him a little on what happened to his parents and why she wasn't his biological mother. Yet this was the first time that he seemed to mention the fact that everything in their little world wasn't always going to be alright. What if something bad happened? She was proud he wanted to know how to defend himself.

"Why is that?" she asked, not sure she wanted the answer.

"So I can help people learn how to defend themselves against bad people," he said, his hand reached towards his lighting scar, and she knew some of the memories were starting to come back to him of what happened that night.

"We will talk about it, Harry," she said. She wasn't going to keep him in the dark. Lying to him would do nothing but cause problems later on.

"I know, when I'm older," he said softly. She nodded, and pulled the boy into her arms.

"I love you," she said, holding him close.

"I love you too, Mum," he said with a grin.

"I have an idea," she said suddenly. She closed the book he was looking at with the complex diagrams of the transformation of an animagus. "What if I let you come out on patrol with me to make sure all the students are in bed?" she asked.

Harry nodded in excitement. "Could I really?"

"Of course, and I can even transform you into a cat, then you can get a feeling for what being an animagus is like," she said. She often worried she spoiled the child too much, but she knew he was the most well-behaved child she had ever seen at Hogwarts.

She transfigured Harry into a small kitten and transforming into her animagus form, she led the way and the two of them were off on patrol.

When Harry turned eleven, Minerva suggested that he not tell everyone she was his mother. She knew it was difficult, but it would just cause so much fuss if everyone knew a professor had taken Harry in because his own blood didn't care about him. At least he knew who he was and was prepared to make friends with all the other students.

They went as far as Minerva taking him to the train station, she didn't want him missing out on even a single new adventure. He had a trunk with him, and his snowy owl Hedwig that Hagrid had given him for his eleventh birthday. In the rush to get everything ready, Minerva had forgotten to tell Harry how to get onto the platform. She had dropped him off in a Muggle station without knowing how to get to platform Nine and ¾. He spotted a kind, plump lady muttering about Muggles, and she had lots of children with her.

"Excuse me," Harry said.

Minerva felt so guilty when she found out, but luckily the Weasley's had helped Harry onto the platform. She couldn't imagine how difficult it would have been for him if he had missed the train.

Harry had taken his time to make sure he learnt everything about becoming an animagus. Of course meeting Sirius and Remus helped confirm that he wanted to become an animagus himself.

After all this time, his friends knew that Professor McGonagall had adopted him. All of them were very supportive, and Sirius felt a lot more comfortable leaving knowing that Harry had someone looking out for him.

Minerva's birthday was coming up, and Harry had been practicing the charm for transformation. He was going to do it as a birthday present for his mother.

With the support of Hermione and Ron, he finally knew the incantation and the wrist movement off by heart, all that was left was the actual moment of transformation. On his mother's birthday, he planned everything; he organizes a birthday cake with Dobby in the Hogwarts kitchen, and invited all the teachers to attend. Harry was grinning while he sang "Happy birthday to you," and Minerva blushed as Harry and the rest of the guests cheered.

"Now it's time for my present," Harry said.

"Oh dear you didn't need to get me anything," she said with a smile.

"I wanted to do this for you," Harry said then he did the incantation, feeling his bones seem to bend into the new form that he had chosen for himself—a black cat, to represent both his mother and his godfather, Sirius.

"My sweet boy!" Minerva exclaimed as she saw her son transform into a cat for the very first time. "I am so proud of you."

Harry transformed back into himself, and she pulled him in for a hug in front of all the teachers, ignoring his pleas that he was too old for this.