Chapter one

Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger were exhausted, hungry and needed healing, but the three friends sat outside on the steps leading to the castle. The fighting might not have been as long as they thought it would be, but it had been hard, intense, and painful. Now though, the war with Voldemort was over.

'Hard to believe he's dead,' Ron said absentmindedly as he stared around at the bits of castle spread all over the grounds.

'It's unbelievable to think that it's over,' Hermione said sounding weary.

'All I want to do is sleep and I'll probably sleep for days, but I can't, not yet.'

'Why don't you head to one of the house rooms Harry, McGonagall mentioned that earlier,' Ron said.

'No, my body is still to tense. I just want to relax for a while, to make myself believe that it's really over. I had the dream of it being over so often that it's hard to really believe it's over and he's dead.'

'Well I'm hungry, don't say anything,' Ron grinned as he got up making Harry laugh.

'I'll come with you, I would like a cup of tea. Why don't you come eat Harry?' Hermione asked.

'Soon, I'm just going to stretch a bit. You two go, I'll be fine.'

'Alright, but come in soon or we'll come back to find you,' Ron took Hermione's hand and headed inside.

Harry stood, raised his arms over his head, stretched his body then stepped down onto the grass. He got nods or smiles from people who were helping, either cleaning up the rubble or searching for the wounded. Harry kept walking until he ended near the black lake.

'If you are watching Sirius, then you know it's over, he's dead, but even that doesn't help with how much I miss you,' Harry closed his eyes and he remembered seeing Sirius only a couple of hours earlier, along with his parents and Remus, 'I hope this means you can all rest in peace now, I'm not sure how it works where you are.'

'You're about to find out.'

Harry whirled around, wand in his hand to see three death eaters, one was Rodolphus Lestrange. The three death eaters and Harry went straight into fighting, spells were flying, some were dodging, rolling and flinging themselves behind trees. Harry knew he'd been hit, his face and neck stung and he could feel blood running down his cheeks and down into his shirt.

Harry just missed being hit by the killing curse as he dodged behind a tree, then he sent another stunning spell at Lestrange. As the death eaters moved behind a nearby tree, Harry thought he was seeing things. His eyes blurred as blood ran into them as he slowly sank to the ground. But just before he passed out, he saw the three death eaters bodies fall unconscious to the ground.

Hermione, Ron and Ginny ran into the hospital wing and over to McGonagall. She had sent word that Harry had been injured by three death eaters hiding on the grounds. They stopped beside McGonagall who was standing near a curtained covered bed.

'What happened?' Hermione asked anxiously.

'He was near the black lake when three death eaters saw him. Harry's been badly hurt, but it was thanks to Severus who came up behind them, he stunned them, bound them, then raced Harry here to Poppy.'

'But we saw Snape die in the shrieking shack,' Ron said.

'He told me he passed out right after speaking with Harry. He had already taken some anti-venom he kept on him. When he woke he took some blood replenishing potion. Harry had already explained to Kingsley and I how Severus was helping and that he only killed Albus because he was asked to. We weren't sure if that was true or if Harry had been confunded, but he gave us Severus' memory, we saw proof.

'Has Madame Pomfrey said how Harry is?' Ginny asked.

'No, I'm still waiting to hear.'

Severus stepped beside Minerva, 'Has Poppy said anything Minerva?'

'No, we're waiting to hear Severus, but you should be resting.'

'I will rest after I know Potter is fine because he did lose a lot of blood.'

'We're sorry professor, we thought you died, then Voldemort called for Harry to surrender.' Hermione said.

'You had more important things to concern yourself with than my wellbeing Miss Granger.'

'Can you explain why you gave Harry some of your memories?' Ron asked.

'With the damage done to my neck, I was unable to speak, it was the only way to give Potter the information Albus asked me to pass on.'

'What information?' Hermione asked.

'That is something I cannot speak about, so I suggest you ask Mr. Potter. It may be information he does not want anyone to know.'

Poppy stepped out from behind the curtain, 'He's going to be alright, but he will be badly scarred. His lucky to have his right eye. Part of his nose is gone, one cut runs right down his neck to his chest. His legs also were badly cut, he has nerve damage to his right leg. I'm hoping with potions and time he will be able to walk normally, but it will take a lot of healing before I will know if that will happen.'

'You got to him quickly so can't they be healed?' Ginny asked.

'They were done with dark magic Miss Weasley, the cuts can be healed, but always leaves scars, similar to Mr. Potter's forehead,' Severus said.

'Is he conscious Poppy?'

'No, I've placed him in a suspended sleep so the potions have time to work. The pain he would be feeling would make it hard on him to stay still and rest. He will remain asleep for at least three days. I will see how he is then, maybe he will need to stay asleep for an extra day or two, I will decide that in three days.'

'Can we see him Madame Pomfrey?' Hermione asked in a hoarse voice.

'Yes, but please keep it quiet.'

Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Minerva and Severus stepped behind the curtain. Hermione burst into tears, Ginny gasped as they caught sight of Harry. His face, neck and chest were covered in bandages, only a small part of Harry's face was showing, his left eye and mouth. A sheet covered his private parts but his legs were also bandaged.

'It was Rodolphus Lestrange that did the most damage. He said it was payback for Molly killing his wife. All the death eaters knew Potter is close to the Weasley family,' Severus said as he stared down at Harry Potter.

'Will the scars be really noticeable?' Ginny asked softly.

'Yes, very, as Severus explained, being done by dark magic will always leave scarring.'

'Does Neville and the others know?' Ron asked.

'No, I will do that now,' Minerva looked once more at Harry before leaving. She was going to see some of Harry's other friends, but thought it would be wise to speak with Kingsley first. She found the minister in the classroom she turned over for him to use until he went to the ministry, 'Kingsley.'

Kingsley looked from the two men he was speaking to, 'Minerva, is something wrong?'

'Yes, Harry was attacked by three death eaters that were hiding on the ground. Severus stunned them and took Harry to the hospital, his badly hurt.'

'How bad?'

'His face, neck and chest were hit, with dark magic. Poppy said it's lucky he still has his right eye, part of his nose is gone. He has nerve damage to his right leg, but both were badly cut. She's put him in a suspended sleep for healing and the pain. Three to five days before he will wake.'

'I've had people checking, but they never found anyone. Where are the death eaters now?'

'Severus bound them to the large beech tree near the lake,' she pulled out three wands, 'He took these, then made sure they would remain unconscious.'

'Andrew, Brandon, take care of them.'

'Yes minister,' Brandon said then the two aurors left the room, leaving Kingsley and Minerva alone both wondering how Harry would deal with a badly scarred face. He had learned to live with the scar on his forehead, they hoped he could learn to live with these new scars.