CHAPTER 1
A lonely solitary black figure in a dusty frock coat lies dismally quietly making slight gurgling noises and bleeding out onto the floor….. Harry Potter had left him to die after collecting his memories through his tears. He regretted many things in his life, as it so colorlessly passed through his memories. He completed the task of telling what Dumbledore had thought necessary, through his tears. He was sure Harry would see them all in the pensieve. His neck is throbbing at a level of pain he had never known. His life's blood flowing and soaking his black clothes, while seeping into the floor in a pool of death.
He remembers his last words to himself, "No, don't kill me." before the strikes of the enormous snake. Drifting and floating from pain so excruciating that numbness sets in from his brain shutting down. He was waiting for that critical moment when the last beat of his heart ends and death takes over. No masters to serve, no manipulations, no more debts left to pay and no more loneliness. A peaceful rest of silence……
A bright flash occurred in front of him. His eyes were only opened to tiny slits. A woman appeared in his view. She knelt before him in a lovely gossamer white toga. She poured a vial down his throat. She examined his neck, blotting his wound with a cloth she made appear in her hand. The burning kept him conscious. After a small moment of time, she placed her hand on his neck and chanted words he did not understand and a bright light filled his vision radiating from his neck where her hand was. He felt a deep warmth and a tingling feeling the knitting of flesh under her hand.
He looked into the eyes of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life like a dark haired angel to his numbing mind. Her long dark wavy hair and her large violet blue eyes that he could drown in and feel safe. An ethereal beauty that spoke of compassion, tenderness and warmth. She said in a lyrical voice, "You're going to be ok, my dear man. I stopped the venom, restored the loss of blood and returned you to your life. You must live it, you have sacrificed enough. This is the greatest gift of a second chance that I bestow on you. Don't waste it. In this life, the greatest thing you'll ever learn is to love and to be loved in return. Sleep now and all is well." She smiled beautifully and disappeared, fading from view in front of him. It was like she was never there, only in a dream. He was so drained and exhausted he fell asleep on that dirty floor of the shack.
The same woman appeared in a few locations that day. In the Great Hall, or what was left of it, she walked up and knelt on the opposite side beside the body of a red haired young man. His mother and brothers were grieving at his right side. She leaned over and whispered in his ear loud enough for his mother to hear. She heard and watched, to hear her say, "Young man awaken from your rest. You're frightening your mother and family who miss and love you. It's time to no longer sleep."
Molly had never seen such an incredibly beautiful woman it was astonishing. The woman put her hand on her son's chest and cupped the top of his head. She chanted in a language she never heard before. She kissed his forehead and smiled at Molly, then stood up and walked away.
She walked over to Remus Lupin and Tonks. She did the same for them both saying, "Your son needs you to awaken from slumber. The time to rest is over." She left them both still holding hands. Molly screams at a distance in excitement when her son, Fred, opens his eyes.
She heals a few people through the crowd with the rubble around them on her way out the door through a mere touch. She resurrected a few students lying broken on the grounds, in the hallways, the debris of the castle, before she disappeared from sight, never to be seen.
--
She appears in a beautiful garden and sits on a bench of white marble. An older handsome man approaches and sits next to her by the scrying pond. He says, "Is it done?" She nodded her head.
"I restored health and healed the worthy. I resurrected some of the children. The ones that did not perpetrate or promote this evil. I passed through the wards of the injured and touched the ailing bodies. The healers were overwhelmed so I eased their burden. I healed many on my journey through the battlefield. Father, one of the worthy bothers me. He did not ever know of peace or love in his whole life. He is the one I gave the elixir of life too. He was weary from his greatest self sacrifice for the good of them all. It was so very sad to watch magic die in the eyes of a hero, in such a brutal and terrible way." She told her father.
"The mortals must find their balance in the aftermath. They have such great potential. By them allowing such evil to breed and grow among them, causes such as this. It inflicts upon them pain and conflict. They create division in their society, only to see differences, instead of similarity. They rely on the drifting of fate, instead of taking the control to balance that which has tipped out of sync." Her father said.
"I wish to go help the man, and the others to heal their magical community. Alas, I have no resources in their world to do so, even if I went there. As I am your daughter Poseidon, my magical abilities are not as advanced to create an identity, their materialism and intersocietal connections. I am only a demigodess of peace." She said, scrying and watching the mortals through the pond of lilies pads and koi fish. A tear slipped from her eyes in sympathy for their plight.
Her father contemplated her thoughts. He said, "Eirene, you always were the daughter with the most giving and tender of hearts, like your mother Melantheia. You are a true guardian watcher of mankind. One of your sisters can observe the mortals for you, while you are gone. It will not be easy witnessing the painful devastation, fear, rancor and chaos they create? I will create that which you lack for your comfort. Are you prepared to bear that much responsibility for this man and the magical people? Eirene you are always my beloved daughter, but you will appear human to them all. You will always retain your immorality. You will be vulnerable in some ways to pregnancy, poison, aging and magic like they are, but your soul always will be returned to me when you are done. I love you my child, take care of yourself and I will be watching to see how my "little love is fairing as a mortal."
She wiped the tears from her eyes. "Oh father, I will miss you and love you so. Who shall I be, on this journey?"
He kissed her hand and said,"You will be Lady Marina Eirene Myrddin, an ancestor of Merlin in their records. You will come from Wales and France. You will have lived in the Loire Valley, in Château Mer de Paix(Sea of Peace). Your family inheritance will be in the vaults of their bank in gold galleons. Your knowledge will be refined in their magic, but your divine powers will be very limited. You will retain your memories. You will have a manor in Carmarthen in the south of Wales. Your wand will be powerful and inset with the Aquamarine and sea green Chrysoberyl stones of Poseidon. You will go for an interview for the new Transfiguration Professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The rest is up to you."
"Thank you father for your help and wish me well." She kissed his cheek.
"Good luck, my little Eirene. I love you." He said as she faded into the ethereal mists.
--
Severus Snape was placed in St Mungo's in a coma. He had no idea how he got there. He had been found in the Shrieking Shack by Poppy Pomfrey as she was searching for survivors after the conflict. She had him sent to St Mungo's in a coma covered in a pool of blood.
The authorities inquired of his status a few days after his admission. They wanted him on trial as soon as he was conscious. They placed an auror on guard at his room's door. A few days later, Harry Potter went to the Ministry of Magic, Department of Magical Law Enforcement upon finding out he was still alive and presented evidence of Severus Snape's involvement in the war as a hero and double spy. He showed the only part of the memory he was given, the pertainet ones to his innocence. It showed him doing all things under the orders of Dumbledore, including the reason for Dumbledore's execution.
The Ministry took several days deliberating and issued a public statement:
'Severus Snape was to be exonerated of all crimes due to evidence submitted to the court. He was to receive The Order of Merlin, First Class for his sacrifice and valor during The Second War of Voldemort.'
Draco Malfoy, and Narcissa Malfoy were fined heavily, due to lack of evidence of any murders committed, but under suspicion of conspiracy to commit bodily harm. They did not receive prison time.
Lucius Malfoy was charged with conspiring with Voldemort on multiple counts, committing acts of bodily harm with malice to others. He was sentenced to twenty five years in Azkaban.
An extensive list of trials was keeping the Wizengamot very busy after the chaos settled. As for the death eaters captured and children of death eaters that conspired and participated in causing deaths and bodily harm with intent and malice, they were systematically being tried over time. Other death eaters were being hunted and retained or killed in trying to retain them.
--
It was the third week of July, and he was finishing up reading a new book he had purchased in Spinner's End in his living room. Severus Snape had been out of the coma in St. Mungo's Hospital for about a month. He received a letter by owl from Minerva asking for him to come discuss what his plans were for the upcoming school year after the complete reconstruction of the school. She asked him to come at 2:30 pm.
He knew she was going to ask him to teach again, but he would only concede to DADA. He was through with teaching Potions to dunderheaded children. He wanted to do something different this time around now that he was getting a second chance at life without living under a master's burdened yoke.
--
In a beautiful manor in southern Wales a young woman appeared. She went looking in every room to familiarize herself with every nuance of her new home. On the dining room table were two letters. She opened the first one from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, from the Headmaster Minerva McGonagall, requesting her presence today at 2 pm. The other was from her father telling her to go to the wizard bank Gringotts in Diagon Alley in London to establish her account before being able to retrieve money. The appointment was 2 hrs from now, according to the clock on the living room mantel, that she was due to be at Hogwarts.
Marina took a shower in the main bedroom suite and got dressed again transfiguring her clothes and styled her hair in a braided chignon and light makeup. Her violet blue dress that came to just below the knee was paired with silk under clothes and thigh high stockings. Her high heel shoes and purse matched perfectly. She looked in her purse and had a full set of muggle identification. She needed cash money from the wizard and muggle world. She would go to Gringott's Bank afterwards. She was ready and cast strong wards around her manor before she apparated to the gates of Hogwarts.
A haggard older man with long stringy hair was waiting for her at the gates. He said gruffly, "What's your name?"
She said, "Lady Marina Eirene Myrddin". He grunted and opened the gate. He led her through the large entry door, through the castle. She looked at all the art and objects around her. She saw a couple areas that had people doing reconstruction. She thought it was such a shame to have such destruction she witnessed first hand, but it looked so much better than before. He led her up the stairs to the end of a corridor where a large statue of a gargoyle. He said, "lemon shortbread" and the statue rotated and stairs went up. She followed him up as he knocked on the door and opened it to go in.