There are many elicit spells and potions kept hidden away within the wizarding world and all of them will lead the user to a path of darkness, pain and isolation, some even with a one way trip to Azkaban. However, in the mists of the final battle one healer tipped her potion vial to bring life back into one of the lifeless, all in a rash attempt to boost morale and forgetting the problems the restricted action would cause…

Chapter One.

Cold dark stone walls, dimly lit by several sporadically placed torches, and isle upon isle of benches rising from the floor to tower up near the ceiling, curved into an oval in the dungeon of the Ministry of Magic to form the structure deemed specifically for the Wizengamot's court room. The higher benches, located directly across from the large double door entrance, were filled to the brim with witches and wizards of all ages from the recently graduated to elders of the community, adorned in plum-colored cloaks embellished with the signature silver W stitched into their traditional garb, showed their superiority over the general populace when it comes to the transactions of this room.

Another portion of the seating was currently being occupied by a surprisingly small group of persons, huddled close to one another as if they were a makeshift family or rather close friends, each either baring flaming red hair and or a scar from the battle fought not but a few years prior. This small group obviously were some of the war heroes from the battle of Hogwarts, come to see what was to be the outcome for one of the last, supposedly, accused from the night of chaos, death, sorrow and victory. Apart from the mismatched family-like group, and stationed farthest from anyone else, with the best view of all accounted for in the court, sat three witches each with quills and paper ready to accurately document every word that was soon to be spoken, so their work, embellished or not, could be published in their respective papers the next morning. All of these eyes, belonging to an estimated seventy or so witches and wizards, stared down to the dead center of the room, some with expressions of anger, more with indifference, and the smallest of few with pity and hope, though it was apparent that each witch and wizard was expressing signs of nervousness.

Placed in the center directly facing the wizarding court was one singular chair, rather old and worn from years of use, with chains attached to the front legs, arm rests and a shiny new pair to fit around the head rest, these silver shackles had held a multitude of death eaters, traitors to the Ministry and others for questionable actions made on the night the dark lord was forever silenced. Many, if not most, of these were open and shut cases, requiring only one or two witnesses to ultimately sentence the defendant guilty or innocent of the charges they had accused, not one had needed more than a single hearing to deem an outcome. This one particular case however, was to be different, all persons accounted for, interrogators, reporters and witnesses, knew this to be true. The tension in the room was only rising and the sound of individuals shifting uncomfortably in their seats was becoming more frequent as each awaited the Minister of Magic to walk through the doors and sit among the council, followed by the witch this hearing was to be in session for.

With a loud opening of both doors, a tall dark skinned gentleman briskly walked to his place in the middle of the Wizengamot, silencing all nervous shifting that had previously been filling the room, "I apologize for the delay seems there is still a few dementors that believe Azkaban is their place of employment." With the man's calming deep toned statement a few of the members of the court chuckled, temporarily easing the tension, that is until not more than a moment later the doors once again opened to reveal a young witch being escorted in by an even younger wizard.

The wizard of course was the now auror, and still famous Harry Potter, the boy who defeated Voldemort not once, but twice. The witch however, was normally no one of real importance, and in all honesty had gone through the majority of her life barely recognized, which was as she preferred, that is until today. Head held high and with a physical height barely reaching the renowned male's chin she walked with an allure of pride to the chair, she did not even gasp as the chains attached to the seat wrapped their way around her wrists, ankles and neck. Though she felt the last was unnecessary, the young woman still did not complain while Harry went to sit with the group of witnesses and as Kingsley Shacklebolt began to read from a piece of parchment.

"This hearing by the members of the Wizengamot is held today on the fifth of May, in question of suspicious actions taken by Alanna Oriana Shaen: former healer and apprentice of Madam Poppy Pomfrey at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, daughter to the convicted death eaters Drusilla Caitlan Shaen and Caelan Emmott Shaen, resident of the shack on the outskirts of Hogsmeade-no formal address provided, on the date of the second of May in the year nineteen ninety eight during the Battle of Hogwarts, and in the presence of a greater majority of the Order of the Phoenix and Hogwarts students. Interrogators: Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt, Elders Elphias Doge, Griselda Marchbanks and Tiberius Ogden."

The sound of quills scratching on parchment filled the room from the reporters and court scribe as the trial officially began.

Alanna kept her gaze directly on the Minister, paying no mind to any of the other members of the court, or those facing her right and left side, though she could feel all eyes on her slender frame it was not their attention she wished for. In all honesty, she would have preferred that none of the public would be allowed to witness her trial but, then again, that was beyond her control. She knew she had performed an act two years prior that would lead herself in this very chair, and she felt no regret or guilt. Would others see it the same way as she…well that would be a question answered within the few months to follow, after all of the trials, witness speeches, and articles in the paper until ultimately the jury chooses what they deem a proper verdict. Even she, the one under questioning, knew this trial would be nothing but simple, and though she thought of herself as innocent with her intention she was still wary, if it would not be for the years under a strict pureblood home her whole form would undoubtedly be trembling in the fear of her uncertain fate, this was the one teaching she took gratefully from an otherwise scorned upbringing.

The Minister looked away from the paper before him and linked his fingers together in front of himself as he met Alanna's carefully emotionless blue-eyed stare and began to speak in his usual calm manner, "Miss. Shaen, I would first like to start off with a series of simple questions, as we all know this will take several sessions of hearings in order to properly make a verdict. Your answers will decide on if the shackles remain and a number of other outcomes for this and all hearings here in out on the subject, is this clear?"

Alanna did not hesitate to answer in a monotone, "Yes, Sir."

"Now, for the record, you requested and willingly ingested a dose of Veritaserum, made by Professor Horace Slughorn under my own supervision before entering the court room, did you not?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Could you tell us why you requested said potion?"

"I knew this trial would not be simple, and wished to aid in easing questionable doubt from the jury and all others minds when it came to my answers." As if the mention of a potent truth serum wasn't enough to cause confused whispers to echo off of the oval walls, Alanna's response caused the trio of reporters to make more auditable talk amongst one another to the point that Kingsley had to clear his throat rather loudly in order to silence the mutterings and gain attention once more.

"Do you understand why you are under question from the Ministry?"

"Yes, I do."

The sounds of nervous shuffling began to fill the room from many of the jury and witnesses once more.

"Please, Miss. Shaen, explain to us the action in which you believe to be the cause of this hearing."

Alanna's throat tightened momentarily, but with the aid of the Veritaserum words began to form from her lips, "I successfully brewed and without guilt gave a potion to the, at the time, deceased Fred Weasley, which caused him to breathe again."

Murmurs bounced off of the walls once more, this time louder than before, causing the Minister's hands to raise, "Silence, please. Now I would like to remind the court that until now, such a feat has never occurred to the Ministry's recorded knowledge, and there is also no known proof aside from Miss. Shaen's words and that of future listed witnesses, including myself, that these occurrences transpired. Witnesses will be brought forward at a later time to give their statements on the subject, and at the moment we are questioning the defendant only." Keeping his brown eyes locked with Alanna's stare, his questions began once more. "Was this the first time you have performed such as feat?"

"Yes."

"Have you brewed, distributed or given this potion to any creature, human or other, since?"

"No."

"Under your apprenticeship with Madam Pomfrey and employment with Hogwarts, did anyone tell you of this potion?"

"No."

"What of that when you were a student?"

"No, Sir."

"So, no one told you, or hinted at such a feat? And you did not come upon it via literature or other outside source?"

"Not entirely Sir."

"Please, explain."

Alanna chewed on the inside of her cheek momentarily as the effects of the truth serum helped her word her response, "No one told me it was possible, or was thought of Sir. However, during my personal studies before the war, after my graduation and while employed with Hogwarts, I was searching for a way to help aid the students when it came to the injuries that were being inflicted upon them by Dolores Umbridge-"

"You are speaking of the engravings they received on their skin from using her cursed quill, correct?"

Nodding her head in reply, the cold metal of the chains around her neck, pinched tightly in objection towards her movements causing an uncontrollable wince from the young witch. "Yes, that is the one. I knew it was pointless, considering it was a curse and such things cannot be cured however, I could not just sit idly and not at least attempt to find some way to help the students. Poppy and the other healers were also trying to do the same thing, which was difficult with the toad constantly breathing down our necks." Several chuckles came from a few of the witnesses to her left in response to her usage of the former headmistress' nickname, causing a flush of heat to fill her cheeks as words continued to fall from her mouth, "I-I mean Dolores, she made it clear that we were not to interfere. Well, when I was in the library's restricted section I came across a very old and worn book, most of the words were fading from the pages, it seemed handwritten, and there was no title that I could find. From what I could make out from what was readable, it spoke of all of the potential there was in healing, possible ways to help ease pain caused by curses, and how healers could do the opposite of their intended purpose to actually cause injuries to worsen…It was honestly a very horrid read, made me vomit actually."

Alanna could feel her cheeks grow warmer as murmurs rose once more until Kingsley spoke, "Continue, please."

Catching herself from nodding again, Alanna continued with her recollection. "The book mentioned something to do with also how if a corpse is restored to its normal state, proper amount of blood and original working organs, it might be possible to bring them back from the dead." Ignoring the now constant mutters and whispers from jury members, she did not hesitate to go on. "At first I thought it nothing more than a mad wizard healer's theories, which I still think he or she was madder than a bloody hatter, but the last pages recorded experiments on the dead and living with the results and what not. None of it worked, obviously, but there was one line that was very faint on the last page, saying something along the lines of, 'Success, by normal standard, was not made.' There wasn't any other legible words for a page or two before it so at the time I didn't think anything of it, but I snuck the book out of the library none the less, along with several others."

"Did this journal list ingredients and instructions needed for the task to raise the dead?"

"Oh, yes. It had pages and pages of possible ingredients that could work, but nothing as far as an actual how to instruction guide on how to bring the dead to life or for any of the other nonsense theories."

"Clearly it wasn't nonsense seeing as you were able to successfully complete one of the theories."

"Well, when it was announced that Vold-Voldemort was spotted at the end of the same year, I knew a battle of some sorts would occur, and many would die and be injured so along with constantly brewing potions like Skele-Gro, Oculus, Essence of Dittany and other necessities I worked on attempting a potion that could possibly bring someone back to life, though at the time I kept fighting with myself over it being a waste of ingredients and something that could help."

"You are able to brew Skele-Gro by yourself?"

"Yes, Sir. I'm absolutely horrible when it comes to hexes and spells for dueling, but potions are easier than toasting bread for me. It is why I was able to get an apprenticeship with Poppy when I was a fifth year." Now the back of Alanna's neck felt warm, talking about herself in such a manner was something she never did, 'Thank the truth serum for so much embarrassment.'

"Hmm interesting, what did you test the theorized potion on?"

"Birds and frogs. It took a year and a half but finally one of the toads responded and ended up hopping from the table onto my face, chucked it against the wall and accidentally killed the poor thing due to that but it responded none the less, so I bottled what was left and kept it in my robes at all time."

"Where is the journal from the library now? Did you make any notes yourself on your own work? And was anyone else aware of what you were attempting?"

"I burned the journal and no I didn't make any notes, that would have been too risky, when the death eaters took over I was under constant watch for being a blood traitor, I don't want to know what they would've done if they knew I was working on something that powerful. Of course I didn't tell anyone, not even Poppy, about what I was doing, they would've thought I had gone mad…I obliviated my memory of creating the potion too, to be safe and make sure it wouldn't be made again."

"If you did not want it to be made again then why did you make it in the first place?"

"In case Mister Potter were to die."

Silence befell on the court room, the sound of quills on parchment even halted momentarily.

Clearing his throat the Minister spoke, breaking the sudden silence. "It was your original intention to give this potion to Mister Harry Potter if he were to die?"

"Yes. As a student he was constantly in and out of the hospital wing, always getting into trouble and getting injured in the process, yet he was the one we were all placing our hopes on towards the end, so I figured I should prepare for the worst considering his typical bad luck. See how well that worked out though, bastard died and came back all on his own."

"So you did not have anyone aside from Mister Potter in mind?"

"No, hell I didn't even know if it would work on a human, let alone if it had any side effects or what have you, but I figured he would be worth the risk, you know?"

"That is indeed understandable and if it were the case I'm sure this trial would be much different however, it was not given to Mister Potter. Please, explain to us then why you used it on Mister Weasley instead, why not any of the others that died that day?"

Alanna's throat tightened, this was the question she knew that most of the mothers and fathers, daughters and sons of the wizarding world would want to know the answer and reasoning behind. Now she was grateful for taking the Veritaserum as memories of the battle began to flash through her head, if it were not for the serum she would have lost herself and not answered, thankfully that wasn't the case. "I wanted to use it on so many of the students, young Colin Creevey, Lavender Brown…so many, however I couldn't. Their deaths were terrible, I will never forget any of them, but when their bodies were brought into the Great Hall during the hour of amnesty there was no change in the majority of those injured and alive, upon seeing the dead bodies… For some reason however, the moment Mister Weasley was brought in, it was well…it was as if the entire mood of hope and eagerness turned sour. I was working on a fifth year's broken arm when they brought him in, and I saw her eyes lose their gleam of determination, and walking from one end of the room to the other I saw not just students speaking of us not having a chance, but teachers as well. Horace Slughorn for instance, a professor who was not even around for the boy's time in the school, people that were just moments ago speaking of how we were doing so well in the fight… Even my fellow healers began to falter in their works."

"Everyone please note that our next session we will begin questioning those known to be in the Great Hall during the time of amnesty, over Miss. Shaen's reasoning. Excluding those related to Mister Weasley, those in the Wizengamot and myself." During all of this, Alanna and Kingsley remained staring at one another, paying no mind to those surrounding them, the defendant and the single juror who could tip the scale over a sentence to Azkaban and freedom, one was as equally focused on the other. "Miss. Shaen, do you have any affiliation with the Weasley family, any reason whatsoever that would show a favoritism?"

Alanna uncontrollably gave a chortle of a laugh in reply causing the chains to dig deeper into her neck and a groan of pain to overcome the harsh laughter from her throat. "I was raised under the impression that the Weasleys were a 'disgrace to the wizarding name' and was forbidden to make contact with Percy, Charlie and Bill when I started school, I was a Ravenclaw as well so I hardly saw the Weasleys. It wasn't until I was beginning my apprenticeship that I spoke to any of them, and that was only when they would mysteriously get burns, rashes and the likes and stumble into the hospital wing. I aided in Ron's recovery over the poison he ingested, and was hugged by Mrs. Weasley, and helped young Ginny with her injuries from the Carrows, aside from that I have no contact with them. And personally I found the twins to be complete annoyances, Percy was a stuck up prat thinking he had the power of a god with that prefect badge, Bill and Charlie were on the Quidditch team and that is all I still know of the two, and Ron was a misfit. The only one you could say I bonded with was young Ginny, but the same could be said with myself and the rest of students of the resistance."

"What about after the battle of Hogwarts, any contact?"

"No, I quit my job, and stayed the most part out of site from society, my home is close enough to the Shrieking Shack that no one comes near me. Arthur Weasley was however, the one who personally delivered my summons, we spoke briefly about how things were going after the war and such, but that is it."

"So you are barely acquaintances with the family is that correct?"

"Yes, Sir."

Kingsley took this moment to break the eye contact with Alanna, to quickly jot something down for his own form of notes, and as quick as he broke the stare he rejoined it once more. "On the matter over family affiliation with death eaters and the now convicted Caelan and Drusilla Shaen: you have spoken of being deemed a 'blood traitor' giving us the impression that you have not spoken to either of the convicted in several years, is this correct?"

"Yes."

"So you were not a part of death eaters, initiated or otherwise?"

"No, I was not."

"Were you aware of your parents association with Voldemort and his followers?"

"Officially no. I assumed that they were, since they were the pompous stereotype of purebloods but the subject was never spoken in front of me."

"Why then did you quit your job at Hogwarts and practically go into hiding."

"I knew my actions from the battle would become a questionable act by the Ministry and those of the public, also I did not want any parents feeling as if their children were being healed by someone with questionable judgment, and Minerva did not need that sort of pile of complaints. I also needed time away from the memories of those who had passed, those we could not save. I do not regret my actions, however I still can morn the dead and wish I could have prevented so much of it. All of this I wanted to do in silence, away from the scrutiny of my actions, thought I never did attempt to completely hide my where-a-bouts, if that were the case Arthur Weasley would not have been able to deliver the summons and I would not willingly be sitting here before you today."

Kingsley nodded his head and no sooner than he did, the shackles around Alanna's neck, wrists and ankles were removed. Whispering began to fill the room once more as Alanna reached up to rub her neck and felt the traces of blood on her fingertips. 'Teach me to laugh with chains around my throat again.'

"I apologize for the injury however, I hope you understand the reasons as to why it was necessary."

Continuing to massage her sore skin Alanna gave the weakest hints of a grin, "No, it's quite alright, I completely understand, nothing that cannot be fixed in under a minute."

Kingsley, otherwise keeping an emotionless expression throughout the trial, gave a small smirk, noticed only by the woman under questioning, all other eyes were on herself, as if she were a wild animal loose on society, capable of who knows what.

"All those in favor of dropping the questioning over traitor activities against the Ministry."

Alanna broke her gaze with the Minister to watch as the hands rose into the air from the jury. All were raised.

"Then let it be known that the defendant is cleared of all possibilities of traitor activities, now and during the war."

A small wave of relief filled Alanna, though this was not the true purpose of her being called to the Ministry, it was in fact something to still worry about, however with a unanimous vote in her favor for this, the possibility of being convicted to Azkaban seemed to dwindle only just the slightest. Now to just finish and hear the results of the first trial.