Propriety: Chapter 35

As promised. ;)

PLEASE SEE WARNINGS

Warnings: See chapter 1

Disclaimer: I think we all know at this point that no one other than JK Rowling owns these beloved characters. I just own this plot line. ;)

Please Enjoy!

Legilimency

Snape and Draco landed in the Hospital Wing and both nearly collapsed to the floor. It wasn't from pain or exhaustion. Harry's magic suddenly stopped levitating him and they had to catch Harry before he hit the floor.

"Merlin's beard! Severus, what has happened!?" Madame Pomfrey rushed over with the Headmistress close behind. Snape payed the women no mind until he saw Harry's eyes.

"Stay back!" The two witches froze, trusting Severus when it came to his ward. "Draco, help me get him on the bed." The young man nodded and gathered Harry's legs in his arms and assisted his godfather. As soon as that was done, Snape pointed out Harry's eyes to Pomfrey and Minerva. "When we found him, his magic had entirely taken over and knocked all of his attackers unconscious. It would only allow Draco and me to touch Harry and apparate him here. It appears to still have a hold of him despite being in a safe environment."

As Severus spoke, Draco only had eyes for his Intended. He gently pushed the hair back that had fallen into Harry's eyes. Oh how he wanted to see Harry's vibrant green eyes back and not those soulless, glowing white orbs!

"Uncle Sev, how do we get him back?" Snape met his godson's distressed eyes and could only shrug.

"I don't know, Draco. Perhaps…his magic will eventually realize Harry is safe and release him from this trance." Minerva huffed and scowled.

"I refuse to accept that. I'm assuming Miss Granger is waiting outside in the hall. I heard quite a commotion out there earlier." Snape and Draco nodded. "Good. I'll escort her to the my private library and we shall return with a solution soon." With that she walked swiftly out of the room. When she opened the door, those still in the Wing heard everyone scrambling to get in or talk to McGonagal before the door closed again.

"Well," Madame Pomfrey started, "since you two are the only ones allowed near my patient at the moment, can you tell me if he has any injuries?" Draco looked startled at the thought and immediately started twitching his hands over Harry. Snape shooed the boy away and started a systematic, helpful examination of his ward.

He winced at the size of the bump on the back of Harry's head. Luckily, other than the head trauma and a few cuts, the boy seemed fine. Snape let out the breath he hadn't known he'd been holding and summoned a chair to collapse in. With his head resting in his hand and his eyes closed, Severus made a request of the Matron.

"Poppy, would you toss me a Head Trauma potion? I'm going to hope his magic will accept a potion. Any additional magic might cause more harm than good, especially after we apparated him here." Pomfrey retrieved the potion then stopped a few feet from the hospital bed, already feeling the pressure of Harry's magic.

"Toss it, Severus? I thought you would be more protective of your precious work," the nurse teased. The Potions Master rolled his eyes and sat up to catch the potion easier.

"I work in a school with incompetent children running around near volatile potions. I use shatter-proof glass, Poppy. Besides, you and I both know that potion can handle getting shaken up." Draco didn't watch the exchange, though his eyes instinctively watched the potions flask fly through the air and land in his godfather's hand. Instead, Draco's attention was focused on Harry. He had grabbed a nearby chair instead of summoning one and had taken up running his fingers through his Intended's hair.

The young Slytherin pulled back enough to let Severus feed Harry the potion and then resumed his previous position. After a few minutes of silence, Snape checked Harry's head injury again and found it satisfactorily diminished.

"He'll come back…won't he, Uncle Sev?" Severus looked over at his godson and his heart clenched at the sight. The pale blond boy was staring down mournfully at his Intended and his grey-blue eyes shown with tears he valiantly fought back. Snape reached across his ward and grabbed Draco's hand. They were now holding on to each other over Harry.

"He will, Draco. He will. Or I will ground him indefinitely." Snape's threat got the response he was hoping for as Draco snorted and smiled a bit. They fell back into silence; all they could do was wait.

Not even half an hour later, the doors to the Infirmary burst open and a flood of people came in. Hermione and the Headmistress were at the front of the group, and Pomfrey stepped forward to try and keep the rest of the anxious wizards back.

"I found it! Professor-Whoa!" Whatever Hermione was going to say got cut off as she ran into Harry's invisible dome of magic. It nearly knocked her off of her feet, but she stayed standing. The glint in her eyes said that she wished she could study Harry's magic, but one glance at her friend and she was back on track. "Professor Snape, you have to use Legilimens and convince Harry to come back."

Snape knew Ms. Granger was not a stupid girl and was wondering where she was going with you.

"Legilimens allows one to only sift through memories or glean thoughts, Ms. Granger. How would it aid me in convincing him to come back?" Hermione held up a sure finger and then opened the book she was carrying to a specific page.

"This is the book that Luna gave Harry on Auras. I thought that since everyone seemed convinced that Harry could see them and very few have ever been able to, it might have some information on these peoples' magic. There's a chapter in here which cautions witches and wizards who have this power to 'take care not to get lost within themselves, for only strong Legilimens can retrieve them.' If I understood the rest of the passage correctly, you can use Legilimency on Harry and his magic will draw you into his mind as a sort of…" she waved her hand around fishing for the correct word. "Mmm…separate entity, if you will. You should be able to converse with him, maybe even see him as if you two were just talking in a room together. Harry, is in there, trapped inside of his mind, and you need to go in there after him. Only Harry can make his magic release him from this coma. He just needs some help; he needs to know it's okay to come back out."

Snape paced back and forth a few times before focussing back on Hermione.

"And once I convince him, we will both come back?" The young witch grimaced and pinched the corner of the page she had open.

"Well…the only detailed case they discussed…the Legilimens failed to convince the witch to come back. The witch's magic expelled the Legilimens…and the witch stayed in a coma until she died." Severus laid a hand on his godson's shoulder as Draco let out a choked sound of distress.

"Draco, I will convince him. I will bring him back." The Potions Master didn't even have to consider it. He turned to the Headmistress. "Ward the door, and make sure everyone stays outside. If…If this somehow goes wrong and his magic lashes out…I don't want Harry to blame himself if someone gets hurt." Minerva understood, and at Snape's nod, ushered the everyone except Poppy out of the Hospital Wing. Draco tried to protest.

"Uncle Sev, no! I need to be here!" Snape was torn between his ward and his godson, but after a moment's hesitation, rushed around and swooped Draco up in a hug.

"Harry would never forgive himself if something happened and you got hurt. I will bring him back. Now go. Your father will want to see you." Draco clutched the back of the Potions Master's robes for a few seconds more before letting go. He pushed past Snape and kissed Harry's forehead, before turning and hurrying out of the Hospital Wing without looking back.

Once the doors were closed it was just Severus and Madame Pomfrey. Snape took a few deep breaths before approaching his ward's bedside. He sat down in the chair Draco had abandoned and turned Harry's head so the boy's eyes met his own. The blank white orbs stared back at him and with one final push of resolve…

"Legilimens…"

Snape felt like he was falling. When he had initially pushed against Harry's mind, it felt like he was pressing against an immovable wall. He didn't see one single memory, not even a glimpse. Suddenly, something reached out and grabbed him and yanked him through the barrier.

The other side of the barrier was just as blank as what Severus had come from, however instead of being blank from being cut off, this side was blank from being completely empty. There was nothing there, hence the falling sensation. It was as if he was floating in sensory deprivation tank but was slowly sinking at the same time.

Snape's feet collided with something, and suddenly he was falling to his knees on a hard surface. There was a faint noise in the distance that sounded like crying. The Potion's Master whipped around trying to find the source of the sound.

"Harry?" There was no answer, but the crying got louder and lights came on as if someone had flipped a switch. The crying got clearer and Snape followed the sound off to his side. He called out again and started walking towards the noise.

"Harry!" The light got brighter and Snape could finally see something. The next moment, he was propelled forward by an invisible force and suddenly, Harry was curled up at his feet. Severus could now positively identify Harry as the source of the crying.

His ward was in Muggle jeans and a t-shirt, hugging his knees to his chest and crying. Snape crouched down and reached out for the boy. The Potion's Master did not expect his ward to flinch away.

"Don't touch me! I'll hurt you…" the last bit was whimpered by the distraught boy. Snape wasn't certain where this was suddenly coming from but had his suspicions.

"Harry, child, you won't hurt me." His next attempt to touch the boy was rebuffed even more violently than the last time.

"Yes I will! Just like I hurt them!" Snape's brows pulled together.

"Who-" Instantly, faces and silent scenes flashed across a wall, showing Severus images of many lost to the war: Harry's parents, Sirius Black, Cedric Diggory, Remus Lupin, Tonks… It went on. Finally, after all of the war tragedies, Severus was shown what had happened when Harry was kidnapped. He saw the boy's magic lash out and how hard Harry struggled to get a hold of it. Then he understood.

"Harry, none of those were your fault." The boy shook his head in denial.

"Yes they were! I'm turning into Voldemort, just like they said. I'm going Dark; I know it!" Snape shook his head, unconsciously mimicking his ward.

"You are not! After all you've been through, how could you? You have seen and experienced so much darkness, and yet all I have seen is a brave boy who has saved a lot of people. Harry, you didn't kill your parents or your godfather or Mr. Diggory or anyone else you take blame for. As for the people who kidnapped you, they were only knocked unconscious. Your magic was protecting you. You are not going Dark!" Harry tugged at his hair, cheeks glistening with tears.

"How do you know!? Everyone was saying I was during Fifth Year. I heard people whispering, calling me the next Dark Lord, even after I stopped Voldemort. I killed the man!" Snape finally got a hold of Harry's shoulders and shook him.

"Where is the strong young man I have been with these past years?! Harry, this is not like you. Why are you-"

"Professor." Snape tensed at hearing another voice. He turned his head to see another Harry walking towards him, calm as could be. The young Gryffindor smiled gently at him. "Sorry, Sir, but you're not going to get far with him. Believe me, many have tried, including myself." Severus looked back at the Harry he was touching and indeed, the young man was curled up and sobbing again. The Potions Master stood.

"What is this? Who.." Snape trailed off. Harry's smile turned self-deprecating and motioned for Severus to walk with him.

"The fragment of Voldemort's soul made my mind a bit…scrambled, I guess you could say. Parts of me just don't mesh the way they should. Most of the time, we're able to work together and cohabit peacefully. In extreme situations, however, whichever one of us finds the crack in the armor first takes control. Don't think this is some split personalities situation; it's not. Think of it more as the trunk of masks people put on every day. You had a mask for being a spy or a vicious teacher or a caring guardian. Some are more you than others and some take precedence in certain situations. That Harry back there," they both looked over their shoulders, "He is full of my insecurities from over the years. He is pained, broken and can't be convinced for the world that he is not to blame for every terrible thing that's happened. He is very emotional, as you can see, and unfortunately, that means he holds a stronger tie to my magic than the others."

Severus was trying to process all that he was hearing. This was something he had never expected to encounter.

"Can I assume you are the…predominant mask then, from the way you refer to yourself?" Harry shrugged as they walked, a garden path lighting up around them.

"As far as I am aware, I am the Core. There aren't many of us. There's myself, the primary Harry," Harry smirked at his rhyming while Severus rolled his eyes. "You've met my insecurities. There's also Anger and Panic. Anger…he was closest to the soul fragment, and it changed him. I feared him the most and tried to lock him away. It didn't go well, as you can imagine. Panic feeds off of and into Insecurity. They both grew strong during my time with the Dursleys and still manage to rule some areas of my life." Here they both grew quiet.

"I'm sorry." Harry looked with confusion at his guardian.

"Sir, as you tell me often, there's nothing for you to apologize for. Maybe at the beginning, when we first met, you perhaps solidified some of the insecurities the Dursleys instilled in myself. But you're actually the reason that I'm so strong: me, the primary, stable Harry. After I defeated Voldemort and was sent back to the Dursleys and faced that horrible summer, I was lost. I didn't feel solid or stable. Then you gave me a rock. You made me think about myself differently. You made me feel like I could be worth it." Snape's throat tightened and even if he could speak he wouldn't know what to say. Instead of speaking, he simply reached out and pulled his ward into a strong hug.

"I know why you're here," Harry mumbled into the man's chest. "I can help you, but it won't be easy. I want to come back to you, to Draco, to everyone, but we need to get Insecurity to release control." Severus was concerned, but knew they would figure it out.

"We can do this, Harry. We'll get back."

I honestly did not plan for this weird not-multiple personalities thing going on here. :/ Meh, whatever!

I'll see you tomorrow, faithful readers! :)

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