Hiding Under the Ninth Earth
Book 02 : A Bit Of All Right
by I Got Tired of Waiting

Part V : Together
Chapter Fifty Five: Collaboration

15 November 2003

Harry, sitting cosy in his study, was writing progress notes on his latest patient, a referral from a healer at St. Matthew's hospice in Surrey. He'd rearranged his furniture with the coming of winter to take advantage of the fire and was sitting comfortably warm. Horatio, recently arrived, was draped across his lap, his chest, and his shoulders, soaking up the heat. Cally was sprawled on the hearth; it always amazed him she never got scorched as close to the blaze as she normally got.

[What bringsss you here, Horatio?] Harry asked, putting the quill down, done for the night. Horatio normally spent the evenings with Severus.

[Massster isss letting the fire die. Isss too cold in there. Hisss lapsss isss cold alssso. He sssaysss I wasss too heavy and to goesss away. Yoursss isss much better.] Horatio was a terrible tattler. [Massster hasss a headache from all the nasssty papersss on hisss desssk.]

Harry closed the notebook and put it, the quill, and ink into the side drawer away from the fire. [Ah, thisss I can fix. You'll have to go join Cally by the fire, while I go fix Ssseverusss.]

Horatio extended his head up to regard Harry, his tongue flicking in and out, clearly agitated. [Can I eatsss her yet?]

[No, you may not! Why would you wantsss to?] Harry asked him.

Horatio groused, [Ssshe ssstole my mousssesss thisss morning.]

[Ssshe'sss a cat, ssshe hasss bad mannersss, live with it.] Harry admonished him, lightly tracing the black and white chain markings on his smooth belly scales with the tips of his fingers. Horatio was truly a beautiful snake.

[OoooOoOoooo--Ssstopsss that! It ticklesss.] the snake grumbled, slithering off of Harry and coiling on the hearth.

His head raised, he eyed the cat. [Not even a little nibblesss?] he asked hopefully.

[Not even a whissskersss.] Harry chuckled as he pushed his chair back and stood, stretching.

[Ssshucksss!] The snake turned his head away, dismissing him and his ssstricturesss.

He thought as he walked to the other study, 'You're no one until you've been ignored by a snake.'

Severus was sitting at the desk in his study, grading a recent batch of Potions essays. As Harry neared, he could hear Severus mumble to himself, "Almost four months into the new term and they have made no progress. I think each new generation of students regresses. I swear these are worse than last year." The quill almost dug a hole in the parchment as he obliterated a line of text. "Imbecile," he muttered, his hand clenching in the middle of the paper, crumpling it. His shoulders sagged and he let go of the foolscap, putting his head in his hands, the long fingers rubbing his eyes as if trying to erase the words of the offending paper out of his sight.

Harry saw that indeed, as Horatio had reported, the fire was dying, the room was cold, and judging by the grimace on Severus' face he had one of his monster headaches, the ones he refused to go see Madame Pomfrey about, but Harry suspected was due to his needing spectacles and his unwillingness to either get some, use a vision charm, or let Harry fix it so he didn't need to. 'Stubborn man.'

He knew Severus had seen him, knew he was trying to ignore him, and knew he knew what he was about. He shrugged, 'All that knowing and Severus still has a headache.' He stood close behind him and gently placed his hands on Severus' temples. He felt him stiffen and then relax.

"You know, you don't have to do this. It will go away eventually or I can take a potion to dull the discomfort." Exasperation rasped his normally dulcet voice.

"I know, but I want to talk to you and I need you lucid. Besides, what's the point in having a Healer around if you won't use him? You're quick enough with those obnoxious potions of yours." He felt Severus chuckle and nod his head giving him the go-ahead to rid him of the pain.

Harry closed his eyes and pulled in a small amount of magic. He gently probed; the headache was massive. "I don't know how you function with something like this," he said in a dreamy voice. He continued probing and soon found the source--benign but obtrusive--a small swelling behind each eye reducing blood flow to the rest of the brain. 'Just as I thought.' He poured a tiny bit of magic into it until the tissues were the proper size. He felt Severus sag with relief beneath his fingers.

Still connected, he said quietly, "I can correct this permanently, you know. Won't take but a few moments and these headaches will stop--"

Severus sighed, resigned. "Very well. Go ahead and fix it."

Harry knew his husband was apprehensive; most people were when it came to repairing something so basic as the eyes. However, he took this as a positive sign; it was the first time Severus had consciously allowed him to Sanos heal him since he'd done it inadvertently in his sixth year and later when he'd healed the scars on his back and the night of their--well, he didn't much want to think on that. Harry wasn't exactly nervous, but he did take his time; Severus lowering his guard was not to be taken lightly. "All right then. Close your eyes, rest your head back on me, and please, relax."

Severus did as he was told, for once not arguing, and was reassured by Harry's steady heart beat and the even breathing he could feel with the back of his head. Harry sank deep into the ocular pathways and probed Severus' eyes. A light Sanos touch on the optic nerves cleared small blockages forming from age, a tweak to the muscles around both lenses improved the focus, the removal of a small cloud starting to form on the right lens improved the clarity, and a reshaping of the left one pretty much did the trick. Everything else felt healthy. He gently withdrew, his scar stopped tingling, and he was out.

"All done," he said, resting his cheek on top of Severus' head and sliding his hands down his chest. "You can open your eyes now."

"Do you always get this familiar with your patients?" Severus asked, teasing, taking Harry's hands in his.

"Only the good looking ones," he replied with a smile. He kissed the top of his head, inhaling deeply the scent that was his Severus.

"Hmmph. Amazing, simply amazing. Thank you. The colours are brighter and sharper. I hadn't realised how blurry it had become." He kissed his hand. "But I'll wager it won't make these papers any clearer."

Harry laughed, kissing his neck. "I can only cure, not work bloody miracles."

"Well, yes, but I'm not sure even a miracle would do. These are abysmal." He pushed them aside. "You said you wanted to talk to me? I think I've seen all I can stand tonight of these. I'd much rather have an adult conversation with you than read the sophomoric ramblings of clueless First Years on the uses of a simple shrinking potion."

Straightening, Harry said, "Sounds fine to me, let's go sit by the fire in the sitting room. It'll be more comfortable."

They separated and Severus stood from the desk. As Harry was turning away, Severus grabbed him about the waist and pulled him close. He gave him a serious kiss, his lips telling Harry how much he was loved and appreciated. When they ended it, he placed his forehead on Harry's saying, "I do trust you. I don't know why I wouldn't let you--before now."

Harry kissed his cheek, "I understand, Severus, and it's all right."

Severus nodded and let him go. They walked into the sitting room, Harry taking his usual seat to the right while Severus poured them each a brandy. He brought the snifters over and set them on a table between the two chairs before taking the other one. They both settled in, Harry putting his feet, in thick, mismatched woolen socks from Dobby, on a pouffe. Severus stretched his long legs out in front of him, his more conservatively socked feet roasting on the hearth next to Cally. She stretched and snuggled up to the bottom of his feet. He sighed and shook his head but took care not to move her.

When they were both comfortable and each had their brandy, Harry asked, "Um, Severus--I was wondering. If someone gives you the specifications for the end results of a potion, can you make it?"

Severus considered the question. "That depends on the breadth of the desired end goal. If someone wants World Peace, then no, it's a bit out of my range of abilities. However if it's specific and fairly narrow, like curing an in-grown toenail, then yes, it's possible. Why?" He took a sip of the liqueur and eyed Harry over the top of the glass, his black eyes intent.

"Well, when I work with multiple-injury patients, there are quite a few times I find myself wishing I'd a potion or charm for some problems the Sanos can't fix. I was able, twice, to create a new charm and once to warp the intent of the Sanos, but the results were mixed and not very promising. I suspect a potion would in the end be easier to control even if it's harder to test."

"Such as--?" he prompted.

"Well, take Bill Weasley or Kalani, for example, and why I ultimately failed with them."

Severus looked askance at him. "I would hardly call them 'failures'; you did, after all, save their lives."

"True, but I didn't completely cure them either. They both walked away with far less than what they started with."

"Hmmm. Now is not the time to argue semantics. Suffice it to say I understand your meaning even if I disagree with your choice of words." He took a sip of his brandy and sighed. "Now, as you were saying--"

Harry hesitated, "Did you ever study Sanos theory?"

"A bit. My training was primarily limited to performing and controlling the magic's accuracy in conjunction with potion usage--more the 'how' than the 'why' and certainly was never taken to the depth of study yours was. I didn't practice it all that often and as a result, my study of it was fairly limited," he replied, curious. "I taught you pretty much what I know, so take that as a starting point."

He eyed Harry thoughtfully a moment. "We've not had much chance to talk professionally--you should know from the start: I am not easily offended by my ignorance. I'm always open to enlightenment, although the deeper you go, the more time it may take me to assimilate new information. And I would hope you're not offended by questions. If I don't understand, I will ask."

Harry laughed, happy. "Fair enough." He thought about it, wondering where to start.

For objects and spells, Harry had learned early on that, like opening the cabinets in Snape's office, reading the Schema was a matter of sensing the magic and feeling how it resonated in him. Each object had a different feel and a unique identifier. He'd quickly learned to attached the identifier or name to each 'feeling' so that he could identify objects even when hidden by spells that changed their appearance.

Spells were a bit trickier and had to be repeated over and over as he cast them because one couldn't just stop a spell in the middle to examine it. Not too surprisingly, the hexes and Dark spells were easier to 'feel' than the beneficial and 'Light' spells and was why, Severus had once remarked, 'any fumble-wanded idiot can perform hexes whereas it requires finesse to perform charms.'

And while Snape had definitely been the 'master', Remus hadn't been too far behind; the sheer bulk of his lessons on the subject of the Dark Arts was surpassed only by the mammoth quantity required for Potions. His respect of the Potions Master rose when he'd found that Snape not only knew and understood the individual Schema of each potion as well as its component ingredients, he could actually see the Schema of the synergistic relationships that made the potion what it was in its transformation, something Harry to this day still had difficulty recognizing with any precision, hence his appeal for help.

As he'd progressed, he began to clearly understand why he had to create the text himself. What he felt was 'different' than what another felt even though they were talking about the same thing. Snape explained, patiently for him, that it had to do with a person's individual magic and world view as to how something was described. In reality, the feelings were the same, but the perception was different.

By the end of his Seventh Year, he'd had a stack of parchment over three metres high, some half-empty, a few Schema filling several pages. All of his professors had advised him to keep them loose in boxes until he knew the patterns of his own thoughts before he bound them, a system he still used today. Snape, he learned, never had and from him he learned how to create a filing system in Wizarding Space to house what became a huge collection--Snape's certainly was.

If he'd thought the Schema were difficult, he soon learned the Sanos made it look like child's play. The first half of his lessons with Madame Pomfrey had taken place in the Infirmary, usually with a magical golem of the human body that could be taken apart to the smallest degree or with a skeleton (affectionately named Mac). The anatomy part of her lessons were fun and easy, the Schema associated with each part clear and concise. The physiology was more difficult, but fascinating; it had been a relief to study something that had no Schema--the processes of the body. Lessons with Madame Pomfrey had been fun; the time moving quickly.

Snape's lessons were another matter. First he had to find the Schema for each person; he'd used flavours and scents when cataloguing people (and still did). McGonagall was butterscotch, Dumbledore was, not too surprisingly, light and lemony, Remus was heavy whipped cream, Hagrid was fresh-cut grass, but Snape was a 'rich dark chocolate like Honeyduke's finest'. Snape's disdainful sniff when he'd read the descriptions still brought a smile to Harry's face.

He'd then had to review all the spells and objects that affected the human body; another thing to add to his catalogue. Finally, he had to learn, when presented with several Schema at once, how to filter out those he knew, to identify each individual component, and then determine methods to catalogue those that were unfamiliar so that when he encountered them later he could add them to his collection.

Towards the end of his time at Hogwarts, he'd been able to filter the Schema with ease and discovered he'd absorbed more than he'd originally thought. He'd also found that if he knew the spell used, it was fairly easy to apply the Sanos to reverse it.

Finally knowing where to start, he said, "One of the first things you learn in deep Sanos healing is that the connectedness which allows the body to function so elegantly can also be a hindrance if one or more of these connections (or focal points) is damaged irrevocably. In order to affect a repair, in such a case, one must first create a new connection and then shift the orphaned function from the destroyed connection to the new one, which is fairly easy to do."

He took a sip and let the brandy burn down his throat. "These connections are not usually physical, per se, although some are. We're not talking about blood vessels or nerve endings here. They relate purely to our magic and are what separate us from the Muggles. Our magic is integrated into us metaphysically, something that is beyond the physical or the experiential. I'm sure you're familiar with this branch of thought as well as Ontology and Cosmology since they're all integral to Potions and other disciplines."

"I'm very familiar with Cosmology with its relational philosophy and less to Ontology's more abstract theories, but I recall enough for this point in the discussion."

Harry grinned.

"What, may I ask, is amusing you now?" Severus asked, sighing.

He chuckled, to Severus' annoyance. "You have no idea how many nights I sat studying, envisioning conversations like this with you. And the best part is it's more fun than I thought it would be."

Severus raised a brow. "You have a warped sense of amusement, Potter. But then again, so do I. Please continue; I hate being interrupted, especially when we're having fun."

Harry thought back to his many visits to Severus' lab when they'd first got together. And to what sometimes happened on any number of work tables as a result of their subsequent 'stimulating' conversations. 'Actually, this is better than foreplay in some respects, it just stimulates a different set of glands. Perhaps it's a good thing the students don't know the eroticism of just talking.'

Noting the glint in Severus' eyes, he knew he'd been thinking on similar lines. Storing away his wayward thoughts for later with a small smile, he continued. "Here's the problem: each new connection created can only accept one function, period, but many of the connection points destroyed can flex for two or more. I don't know how to make multi-functional connections and neither does anyone else. Maybe someday but not now. And I found out the hard way--two or more new connections will not substitute for one multi-functional."

He sighed, "In Bill's and Kalani's case, one of the burned out focal points controlled their sight. Because the eyes are our primary sensory learning tools they're heavily connected into portions of the brain controlling cognitive function. The connection destroyed controlled both their overall physical vision and their ability to control magic requiring line of sight. I tried, at first, making two connections and attaching each function to a new one but couldn't get both to work at once, nor can both exist separately; once one of them is used, the other atrophies. Hence the choices that have to be made.

He took a sip of the brandy, the burning down his throat relieving some of his own feelings about it. He needed to stay objective tonight. "Since blind people can sense where objects are located in space without seeing them, Bill's family decided to leave the magical control focal point and disconnect the visual, whereas Kalani's family decided the opposite. Bill's injury was due to magic--the sight portion was more damaged, so it was a good choice. Kalani's was exactly the opposite; with the blunt trauma, his magic left was weaker than his sight, again a good choice."

Severus held up a hand. Harry stopped and let Severus absorb the information. "I'm assuming it's impossible, because of the multi-function of connections across the brain, to just jump-start the cognitive functions and let the victim decide what to keep or discard? It's a terrible burden to place on a family." He inadvertently thought back to the horror on Malia's face as Kalani's magic was stripped from him one connection at a time. He quickly suppressed it, restoring his objectivity.

"I agree, it is. In some rare cases, it is possible to do just as you say, when magical ability is not involved, such as what happened to Ron--his were cognitive and physical injuries with little magic involved. Ron has some minor physical handicaps most people don't know about, his speech clarity being one, which prevent him from ever being an Auror again; however, per his choice, he has all his mental faculties. His repairs were completely cognitive.

"However, despite the simplicity of the process, the actual repair is complex; in some respects, the repairs are stronger, more permanent that the originals. Removing a new connection to place a different, more desirable one is difficult even if one created it in the first place. Removal shouldn't be done lightly; one can destroy both if not careful."

Severus stopped him. "So, if the connection is purely magical, or physical, or cognitive, then repairs are easy?" Harry nodded. "The difficulty lies when more than one of the above is dependent on the same connection?"

"Correct," Harry said, glad Severus could understand in one try. What he wanted was going to be harder to articulate.

"Are there ever any multi-functional connections that have, say, two physical links or two magical links?" he asked.

"Are there? Good question." He looked at the fire while he searched his memory. Finally, he observed, "Not in my experience. None were of a kind. They were all 'x' plus magic or 'x' plus one of the others."

"Good, that's useful to know. Now, how do you think a Potion would help?" he asked, intrigued.

Harry blew out air forcefully. Slowly, drawing the words reluctantly from deep within him, he said, "I have no proof, just a feeling, an instinct if you will, about this."

"Some of our best advances have been borne out of 'feelings'. Go on," Severus encouraged.

'Here goes nothing.' He spoke slowly, carefully forming the words from his nebulous thoughts, "When I work with Wizards or Witches, I can feel an 'attraction' between connections, especially new ones. When I use Sanos on Muggle subjects damaged by curses, I can see their connections, although they have no magic, and I can heal them but can feel no connection attraction within them. What sets them apart from us is they have NO multi-functional connections. THAT is purely a Wizarding phenomenon. What if--" he fell silent.

Severus waited him out, excited, an idea forming he quickly suppressed needing to hear Harry's thoughts first.

"What if the true evolutionary difference between Muggles and Wizards is that this attraction causes the multi-functionals in us and not them? What if our multi-functional connections are nothing more than two singles attracted and bound within us?" His speculations excited him--he could feel he was close.

"As I thought about it," Harry continued, "I realised that attraction between objects or cells within our bodies is normally either chemical, or electrical, or magical, or a combination of all. Potions are chemistry and magic. I can't shake the thought that a potion could facilitate a chemical and magical attraction between Sanos induced single connections, thus fusing them into the multi-functional focal points needed to completely heal a person."

Severus sat forward in his chair, his interest evident. "Why can't you use a spell?"

"Charms won't do it, I think because they are pure magic. As I said, I tried twice and got close but something essential was missing. I think it was the chemical part," he quickly replied.

Almost to himself, Severus mused, "Yes, quite possible. I can create electrical currents within the body with certain potions. Involves a mess of minerals, though, and has been known to throw a person's whole body chemistry out of alignment, but the purpose of such potions are to kill, so no thought has ever been given to control." He suddenly stopped, his face thoughtful. "You know, most of the potions that could potentially do what you want originate almost exclusively from the Dark Arts. We would have to be very careful how it was created."

"Tell me, Severus, what separates "Dark Magic" from "Light Magic?" Is it intent or is it source? Some Dark Magic can be used for good, some Light Magic can be used for evil. The Sanos itself is born out of the Unforgivable Curses."

"No one knows but having worked with both, I would say a little of each," Severus replied. "The primary difference is that Dark Magic can be imbued with the intent of the creator so that it can only be used for the intent for which it was made. Something we will need to keep in mind if we use them; I suspect from your description and what I recall from your thesis, removing intent from a potion is as difficult, and as risky, as removing a connection once made."

"So, you think it can be done?" Harry asked, excited again.

"The theory you put forth is sound. I would need to see your research notes from previous cases to draw any useful correlations but yes, I think it may be possible." Severus set his empty glass aside. He murmured to himself, "I sometimes forgot just how young you are." Louder, he said, "Trust your instincts and I'll trust mine. I'll see what I can dig up and we'll discuss it again."

"I can do that," Harry said optimistically. He hesitated. "I was wondering. If the situation rises again, would you be willing to collaborate with me?" he asked, hopeful.

"That would be intriguing. We would be limited by how much time I could spend on it; however, I'm sure Albus would let me take a sabbatical if he knew how important it was. I suspect, if we're successful and once we have the theory down, each person would require a custom-made potion to accommodate their Schema. We would need to devise a way to automate the process so a cure could be created quickly to minimise the risk to the patient."

Harry hadn't thought of that. His wielding of the Sanos on a custom Schema basis was so ingrained he never gave it much thought anymore. It was just something he did. He could see where Severus' greater experience was going to be an asset to this effort. "And if we're successful, maybe we could publish together?"

"Absolutely, only I'll write it," Severus said, waiting for the outcry.

"All right. I'll even let you put your name first." Harry chortled.

Floored he wasn't getting a fight, he said, "You're being awfully cooperative about this. Most researchers wouldn't dream of someone else writing their papers. Why are you so calm about it?"

"Most researchers aren't married and sleeping together, are they? Trust me, it's really not worth fighting over. Besides, there are other ways; cooperation is a multi-faceted concept. I know where you live, I know where you keep The Book, and I can talk to your snake. Seems to me we can keep this pretty even, eh?" He laughed outright at the dawning expression on Severus' face and was satisfied he'd made his point.

Severus stood from his chair, holding out his hand, his face full of mischief. As Harry took it, he stood, raising his brows. Severus wrapped long arms around him and pulling him close, he licked the sensitive place below his ear and whispered, "Come Mr. Potter. Shall we see just how well we can cooperate, hmmm?"

Harry chuckled, and as he let Severus lead him into the bedroom, he said coyly, "Oh yes, I'm always happy to collaborate."

A wicked snicker was his only answer.

TBC in Chapter 56 : Epilogue : Twenty Years Later :: Chapter One : Hiding Under the Ninth Earth