The greatest of these remain

Chapter one:

Confusion

She was being pulled away, but besides that she couldn't feel anything. Her body was weightless. She was traveling through space and time. Around her in the black she saw the shimmer of translucent colors stream by. Her memories were being stripped from her.

"NO! I won't lose them!" she screamed "I can't lose them!"

She was filled with anger. Every part of her body started to glow a soft golden color. She was enraged but her mind was holding on. Whatever wanted her life wasn't going to get it without a fight

"God help me!" She begged, the rage causing tears to stream down her face.

Suddenly the tunnel turned, heading off in another direction. Faster and faster she traveled down the corridor of light, glowing more and more golden. She could see the end of the tunnel and the basking radiance of pink light was shining through.

The other side of that tunnel was much more peaceful. The pink light of the sunrise covered Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in a warm hue. The buildings and trees made black silhouettes in the vibrant color. The sun would rise soon and another day would begin. It was beautiful. Anyone could tell that. Almost anyone. Standing in the teachers lounge window was the Potion's master, Severus Snape, glaring at the new day.

"What is it worth anymore?" he sighed. His thoughts turned to the pink light. Pink, almost red,…red like her hair. "Oh Lily" Severus sniffed just a bit but composed himself quickly. This was his lot in life. He had made his choices which resulted in the death of the only person that ever loved him, or better yet that he ever loved. He looked in the mirror at himself, glaring at the long greasy black hair that framed his pale face, and forced the glint of emotion out of his dark eyes.

"Much better" he thought. Better to have no heart than one that was aching.

It was then that he heard the noise, like something electrical ripping a hole through fabric but so big you could fit the world through it. He turned quickly to the sky; the pink glow had a spot which glowed blue as spider-like fingers of light hugged where the sky met this tear.

"Merlin, what is that?" Snape gasped, taken aback. He looked around the grounds, seeing Dumbledore heading out the gate towards the strange light.

Snape hid behind the window a bit and watched. He wasn't afraid, but the cunningness of his nature made him want to gather as much information as he could before joining them.

As Snape watched, most of the staff of Hogwarts was on the front lawn looking up, wands drawn. He could hear mutters of speculation and fear.

"Could it be 'You-Know-Who'?"

"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?"

Snape scoffed a bit "No it can't be the dark lord," he said, rubbing the mark under his robe. "But that doesn't mean anything good will come out of that tear."

In the center of blue tear a small ball of golden light could be seen getting larger and larger. Dumbledore looked up as static charges emanated from the chasm in the sky. Something was coming though. He couldn't tell what it was, but he was on guard.

Back in the tear, the traveler felt on fire. She could feel some aspect of her mind, her body, changing. Transforming somehow, though she couldn't understand what it was. She still felt something trying to strip her of her mind, her thoughts, her feelings. Her hazel eyes became fixated on the opening.

"NO! I won't give in!" Her breathing quickened. She was fighting so hard to keep herself here, to keep herself from being erased into oblivion. The golden glow hugged her tighter, almost covering her in protection. She broke free from the tunnel and hurled down to earth. Her last sight being a castle bathed in pink light.

As the golden ball grew larger, it escaped the rip in the sky and raced towards the road at breaking speeds.

"Stand back!" Dumbledore exclaimed.

The crowd, which was now somewhat larger from the students that ran out from the commotion, stepped back towards the front gate and cowered a bit to shield themselves from the impact. The object collided with the ground, throwing dirt and dust everywhere.

With the dust settling, the golden glow pulsated as a heartbeat and started to fade. As the dazzlingness of the glow subsided, Dumbledore got his first look at what this object was and he was shocked. In the center of a small crater lay a girl. No not a girl, a woman, but with the aura of girl. She was naked and curled onto her side hugging the ground.

"Someone hand me a robe!" Dumbledore exclaimed.

A tall older woman with black hair took off her green cape and handed it to Dumbledore.

"Here you are sir" McGonagall spoke up.

"Thank you Minerva" he replied as he walked towards the young lady bent down and carefully covered her up.

He saw her looking up at him; her hazel eyes had fear in them.

"What's your name, child?" he questioned her tenderly.

Tabatha looked up. Standing there was man, a very old man, with white hair and a beard that seemed to go on forever. He was dressed in a way she had only read about in stories. He looked like Merlin. She was afraid, but his blue eyes seemed kind. Her mouth was dry but she tried to make the sounds.

"T…T..Tabatha" she shivered.

"And where, my dear, did you come from?" He looked deep in her eyes. There was no magic in there. She was a muggle.

Tabatha could tell someone was entering her thoughts and panicked. She didn't know where she was and who these strange people were, nor did she have any idea how the old man could be probing her mind.

"NO!" She thought mentally, and in an instant Dumbledore was shut out of her mind.

The old man stepped back. Where once he felt no magic was now full of it. He tried again to look into her mind, but saw nothing. Her power was too strong. He looked back towards the castle. He could see a dark figure standing in a window watching the interaction.

"Dammit!" Snape scowled "He saw me." Snape was watching the interaction go on from the distance of the castle and was totally perplexed. He, too, felt no magic coming from this...this creature until Dumbledore tried to enter her mind. Then like an explosion, she filled with magic. "How can a muggle have magic? It's not possible. She must be hiding something." Snape looked down again and saw that Dumbledore must be thinking the same thing.

"Professor Snape, would you care to come down here please?" Dumbledore called.

Snape knew this was coming. Dumbledore knew how skilled he was at Legilimency and evidently he thought Snape could pull something out of this creature that he himself could not.

"Coming sir" Snape replied coolly and turned from the window and headed out.

Turning back to Tabatha, Dumbledore kneeled down and examined her with warmth and concern in his eyes.

"We just want to help you" he soothed.

Tabatha looked up at him. She could feel that he was being sincere, but she also could feel fear.

"He's apprehensive of me" she thought. With that she gasped. "How the hell do I know that? I could feel it? I can feel his emotions!" She started to shiver, shock was covering her body. She attempted to stand up but her legs were weak. A very large man with kind eyes caught her as she lunged forward, almost falling on her face. She looked at the old man.

"Why can I feel what you're feeling?" she pleaded with Dumbledore.

Before Dumbledore could answer there was a rush of air. Tabatha looked up and coming down the stone path was a figure in black. His stride was determined. He was not happy and that unhappiness at this moment was directed at her. Her eyes locked with his for a moment, she felt fear and started to shake even more.

Snape felt her enter his mind for a second.

"How can that thing do that?" he exclaimed completely caught off guard. Quickly he used his talent in Occlumency to push her out of his mind. However, he was sure she must have seen something.

Approaching Tabatha who still hung on to the giants arm, Snape leered.

"Who are you? Where are you from? What do you want? Don't play stupid with me, I have ways of making you talk!" His voice flowed out like a dagger cutting at her with every word. Tabatha raised her head again and stared into his black eyes.

"I wish I was dead."

The world poured out of her mouth like hot wax pooling around his feet. He remembered saying those exact words once before, a life time ago. Did she know? Did she know about him? About Lily? Did she know what he's done? Tabatha's eyes started to roll back in her head. She was passing out. Snape again tried to look into her mind, but there was nothing. He could not read this creature. This...woman.

Snape's quizzical sense was lit. Who is she? What does she want? Where did she come from? He walked over to her slowly, noticing that her eyes were glazing over. He reached out and moved her brown hair out of her eyes and saw nothing. He felt a twinge of fear.

"Sh…shes fading!" he looked up to Dumbledore "We have to get her into the castle."

Dumbledore rushed over and touched the giants arm "Hagrid, take her to the infirmary and quickly! Professor Snape and I will follow!" Hagrid scooped up Tabatha and ran up the stone path with only one goal in mind - get her to Madam Pomfrey.

Dumbledore turned to the crowd of onlookers an calmly spoke, "There is nothing to see here now. I believe we should all go inside and prepare for the day ahead. If there is any news, I assure you I will share it with you all!"

He turned to Snape, "Come, we must follow. I fear that girl is in danger." Snape looked at him sideways as they rushed up the path.

"Girl, sir? She didn't seem old, but she was far from a school girl, wouldn't you agree?"

Dumbledore thought for a moment. "Yes, Severus, perhaps to you she is not a girl but to me she appears to be. I'm sure you can understand the perspective of an old man, my boy?" Severus understood his headmaster's point of view but then was quite startled on why he should have been so keen to know she wasn't a girl, nor a creature for that matter. She was a woman.

He thought about her as they raced up the corridor toward the hospital wing. She wasn't small he recalled. Hanging on to Hagrid you could tell this was no dainty creature. She was tall and sturdy and she had quite a bit of weight to her as well. She would quite possibly be very intimidating if you saw her in her full stature. Her body was not of a Venus that was for sure. However, he then recalled her face. She was pale from her ordeal, but he could see she normally had fair skin. Almost porcelain, he would wager. Her shortish brown hair gave a contrast to her face which made her features stand out. She had hazel eyes framed by long eye lashes. In a way, it did give her a school girl look. Her nose...well it was much better than his own hooked monstrosity. Her nose fit her face well and complemented her in every way. Then there were her lips, full and pink, on a mouth he felt would look lovely in a smile. She was not perfect; she was heavy and tall, but her face, her face made her rather stunning.

As soon as that thought crossed his mind he was appalled and extremely glad when, from somewhere, he heard Dumbledore's voice.

"Severus.. Severus.. Are you listening to me?"

Severus shot back to reality as the old headmaster touched his shoulder. "Yes sir. Sorry, I was just trying to…" He paused, looking for the right words to say so not to let his true thoughts be known. "I was just trying to figure out how a muggle turned into a witch before our eyes."

"Yes I agree with you Severus. I, too, am completely perplexed." Dumbledore responded at they turned into the hospital wing. Looking up, Hagrid was running toward them.

"Dumbledore, sir… that girl, sir, she's not doin' good. Madam Pomfrey's afraid she ain't gonna make it. Please, sir, hurry."

Snape and Dumbledore sped up and raced to the side of Tabatha's bed, wands out. She was leaving them. Snape could see it in her eyes, they were open but the life was draining from them. He thought of Lily, his sweet Lily, how cold her eyes were when he found her. No, another woman with warm eyes would not die in front of him again.

"Megali Episkey!" Snape held out his wand and magic poured out. The force of his concentration was causing him to shake and sweat. Dumbledore, looking at the effort, was taken aback, but quickly also held out his wand

"Megali Episky!" his voice boomed. As his magic joined Snape's, Tabatha's body glowed gold again. Her back arched off the bed and she inhaled deeply. They did it. She was back. Tabatha opened her eyes and looked at both the old man and the peculiar man in black and mouthed "thank you" before her eyes fluttered shut and she was off into a dreamless sleep.

Snape looked down at her sleeping form. "Well," he said coolly, "at least she's not dead now we can-"

"Tabatha." Dumbledore cut him off.

"W-what?" Snape turned to the old wizard.

"Tabatha. Her name is Tabatha." Dumbledore replied, eyes towards Snape.

Snape looked at Dumbledore and then looked back down at Tabatha. "Tabatha." he said to himself "not bad for a muggle, or whatever you are." Her hair was covering half her face, but he could see the outline of her features as she breathed softly. She had a pleasant aire about her he did not normally see in people, especially women. A small smile pursed his lips, but he quickly caught himself and made his demeanor harsh once again.

"Well, whatever her name is, at least now we can find out what going on" he spat.

"Yes that is true, my boy. But let us now go. It is almost breakfast and we have to assure the staff and the students that all is well. She will be fine here till she wakes and then we will talk to her." Dumbledore turned to walk out.

Severus Snape peered again at the sleeping woman. "This is going to be interesting" he mused. He loved a good riddle. Again, a small smile crossed his face. Catching himself and washing it off, he turned and with a whoosh of his long black robe, he followed the headmaster out to the Great Hall.