Chapter Four
The next day Draco made his way to the potion's lab instead of to lunch. McGonagall had told him his godfather wanted to see him after class and not to dally. By the time he got there, the room was empty except for Severus. He offered a liquid smile that his godfather didn't return. Instead, the older wizard gestured to the office and led the way there.
The room was small, but was fanatically organized. Every piece of paper was in its correct cubby or file. All the books were on the book shelves. Even the things on the desk itself were centered and straight. Draco draped himself on the chair in front of the desk and merely lifted a slender eyebrow when he felt seriously powerful privacy spells lift into place.
"I need your help, Draco." Severus said seriously as he sat. He put his elbows on the desk and steepled his fingers before him. "But before you can get involved, I must ask for a magically binding oath of silence."
Draco didn't ask pointless questions like 'is that necessary'. He could tell it was. He remembered his godfather shaking and moaning curled on his couch. Did he really want to be involved in something that could do that? But he knew it had to do with the Golden Boy. And he just had to know more. So he nodded and offered his hand. Severus reached for it and then with a muttered incantation stabbed his wand straight through. Draco hissed, but otherwise held still.
"You will not speak of the things you will learn from me, Dumbledore, or Harry regarding Harry Potter, until such a time as I free you."
"So I swear." Draco answered easily and a pulse of magic shot up his arm from his hand. It entered his body and it felt like he was simultaneously being slammed backward and down. But his body didn't move.
Severus nodded and pulled his wand free. There wasn't a physical mark. The binding was on Draco's magic. If Draco should try and break his vow, his own magic would stop him. Draco massaged the hand and raised his eyebrow again. This time from impatience. Severus decided to start at the easy parts and told his godson of how Harry had been found on the train, what they had witnessed in the hospital wing, and since Harry had been taken to the secret room connected to Pomfrey's office. Draco listened and never interrupted. When Severus fell silent, the blonde narrowed his eyes.
"That's…unfortunate." He said delicately. "But you're leaving something out. And what do you need my help with?"
"You have some understanding of psychology." Severus stalled.
"Yes. What you've taught me. But that's the point." Draco drawled. "You're the master in the area. Not me."
Severus stood and walked the seven steps across the office. He didn't reach for any of the books there. Instead, he just stood with his back to Draco, hands shoved in his robes to hide their shaking. Draco waited patiently.
"Harry suffers under guilt so powerful it has twisted his mind. He believes the wrongs of the Dark Lord are his fault because he has not destroyed him yet. He believes this even down to the subconscious level. So his magic didn't try and protect him from his uncle's beatings. Harry believed he deserved to be punished. But his uncle went further than that, further than punishment could be taken, and Harry finally disallowed it. His magic tried to protect him, but, unknown to him, his uncle had drugged his food. It made his body unresponsive and somehow got between him and his ability to control his magic. But his mind was left untouched. He was fully aware. As aware as you are now, sitting there."
"Just tell me." Draco snapped. He couldn't stand the build up any longer. His hands were white around his death grip on the chair's arm rests and his whole body was tense.
"His uncle…" Severus cleared his throat and tried again. "He raped him. Harry was raped by his uncle."
"Merlin." Draco whispered hoarsely. "You saw…"
Severus nodded once, sharply, and Draco didn't press for more answers. He really, really didn't want to know what his godfather had seen. He couldn't even imagine it. He didn't try. The silence dragged on until Severus thought he could face Draco again. He went back to his chair and leaned back, his head tilted up to the ceiling.
"What can I do?" Draco asked softly.
"Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley told him about the theme song charm to try and cheer him up. For some reason they thought yours was the best choice to do this. But it didn't make him laugh. Instead, it caught his attention."
"What are you saying?"
"Because of everything, Harry's will to live is non-existent. The only reason why he's still alive is because of his completely passive avoidance. That won't last long, and he'll die. Since he's woken up, he's not once asked where he was or if he could have things to do. He sits and breathes. But he doesn't participate. That changed last night.
"Without coaxing, he actively asked about your song and what could have happened to you for it to be your theme. So. I want you to tell your friends you will be leaving tonight after dinner to go home to take care of business. I want you to spend the weekend with me and Harry. Your main job is to keep him interested in life. Mine will be trying to get him to face what happened and get him to want to move past it."
"How are you going to do that?"
"Baby steps." Severus sighed and sat straight. "First, I'm going to analyze his theme song with him. See if I can get him to admit to the feelings it expresses, and then we'll move on to the why he feels that way. If he's still alive after that, we'll get into dealing with the misplaced guilt."
"And all you want me to do is keep him interested?" Draco frowned.
"It's vital." Severus said seriously, eyes boring into Draco's. "I don't care if it's for the smallest thing, but Harry has to keep a hold on his feelings of interest, otherwise he'll never reclaim a will to live. Do you understand?"
"I do." Draco nodded. "It's just, I want to do more."
"One thing at a time, remember?" Severus smiled tiredly and Draco smiled back.
"Meet you after dinner?" Draco asked as he stood.
"My rooms. We'll floo to the infirmary." Severus told him and gestured for him to leave.
Severus stood. The Great Hall was a murmur of noise that was gradually getting quieter as the students began to leave for their common rooms. He wasn't really paying attention. His thoughts were centered on what would happen when he brought Draco to Harry. It could go a thousand different ways, and he was not really thrilled with any of them.
"Severus, my boy. Come see me in my office." Dumbledore said.
The dark eyed Professor looked up and found Dumbledore standing in the way of the teacher entrance to the Great Hall. He nodded and strode past the Headmaster. Instead of turning left to go to the dungeons, he turned right. Dumbledore followed silently. It only took a few moments to reach the gargoyle guardian and reach the Headmaster's office. Dumbledore smiled as Severus remained standing.
"Lemon drop?" He asked as he sat behind his desk.
"What can I do for you, Albus?"
"How is young Harry?" He asked.
So Severus briefly and concisely explained what he had observed, the conclusions he had made, and what he planed to do to try and mitigate the damage. Dumbledore listened gravely and nodded his assent. Severus nodded and turned to leave only to come nose to nose with Ron and Hermione. Their eyes lit up on seeing him.
"Professor! Do you think we can see Harry?" Hermione asked hopefully.
"Not yet. I'll let you know." Severus snapped and stormed passed them, tired of all the questions. He had work to bloody do.
Harry's head turned slowly as he heard the door open. He watched as his Professor and Malfoy came in. He blinked slowly. Was it already time to eat again? It felt like that was all he was doing, but he couldn't imagine the Professor bringing in a tray just to leave and fetch another. He wasn't really all that hungry. He blinked again and realized that his visitors weren't standing in the doorway any longer. He moved his eyes from the shut door and found the two Slytherins by his bedside.
Draco stared impassively at the Golden Boy, but inside he was trembling. Those large empty eyes were chilling. He glanced to the side to see his godfather ordering Harry to get up and use the bathroom and to eat. He had to repeat himself often before the meaning of his words sank in, but the green orbs were slowly thawing, waking once more. Finally, Harry was done eating and sat still in the bed again.
"Hello, Potter." Draco offered and the green eyes met his. Harry didn't speak. It was then that Draco realized Harry hadn't said a word since they had entered the room.
"You wanted to hear Draco's song, didn't you, Harry?" Severus asked casually.
Harry's mind replayed the song Hermione sang and it again consumed his attention. He looked to Draco and nodded. Severus cast the charm. Piano music followed by strings filled the room. Then a woman's high pitched voice. The words soaked into him. They started slow, but picked up as drums were added. Her voice soared and thrummed with emotion.
"Winter winds have gone and faded…… I told the skies of thoughts of gray…... Tears upon my pillow laying, a child lost to pain…... I pray.. for better days…… Lift me up, lead me from this place… I'm rising up. I changed before your eyes. Heaven hope come and change me... Out of ashes make me whole… Lift me up and recreate me.. and help me overcome.. myself… Lead me from hell... I'm rising up. I'm moving on… Give me strength to carry on… I feel the light upon my face…I hear the angel's words of grace… My broken wings were meant to fly… You lift me up and justify… I'm standing up. I'm standing out… I feel the walls come crashing down…"
The song ended and the music faded away. Harry felt a soft smile touch his lips, but wasn't sure he was happy. Draco felt his cheeks heat slightly. The charm was rather personal. It touched too closely to the heart he kept hidden, but he guessed that was the point. When he saw the soft smile on the broken boy's lips, though, he knew he didn't regret it.
"Pretty. You weren't always pretty." Harry murmured and then it was his turn for his cheeks to heat. "I mean, you were once a git, not that I think you were attract…"
Before he could finish the thought, Harry's face paled dramatically. His pupils shrank to pinpricks and he began moaning deep in his throat. It was a terrified, awful noise, and made the hair stand straight on the back of Draco and Severus' necks. The Potion Master rushed forward with a calming draught, but as soon as the older man touched him, Harry panicked. He began thrashing and screaming.
Draco staggered backward. The sound was hellish. How could so much noise come from someone so small? He watched with wide, shocked eyes as Harry's small form fought his godfather. The boy's head tossed widely, his green eyes now screwed tightly shut. Arms and feet kicked and lashed out, his body arched off the bed. It looked like he was possessed.
"Help me!" Severus snarled as a second blow landed on his face.
Draco launched himself forward and pinned the boy's lower body. Severus struggled, but eventually got the potion into the teen. Harry's movements slowed and then finally stopped. His heaving chest stilled into deep even breathing and his face relaxed into sleep. Severus panted for a minute while Draco stood, shaking slightly.
"That went well." Severus finally drawled.
"I do hope you're being sarcastic." Draco sneered, violently brushing his hair from his face. "I do believe he bit you. Your hand is bleeding."
Harry got worse from there. He became unresponsive again, doing as he was told, but never responding or reacting. Draco helped as much as he could the next day, mostly fetching things, looking things up in Severus' psychology books, researching spells that affect the mind. By Saturday evening, Severus even relented to bring up the Gryffindors, but they didn't get a response either. The only thing Harry reacted to was touch and that was always a very bad reaction.
After dealing with a livid Ron Weasley, who said it was his fault Harry's condition was degenerating, Severus locked himself up all Sunday with Draco. They looked desperately for magical help. It was obvious therapy wasn't going to work. After hours of research, they hit on something that gave them hope, and they called Dumbledore down to help because they'd need to tweak the spell a bit.
Originally, it allowed one to look at their past. Like a pensive, but still in first person. The viewer would see the memory as crisply as if it were happening again. Now that wouldn't help, but combined with something they found in a psychology book, they thought it might be just what they needed.
The psychology book said that often children who suffer from abuse believe they deserve it, that it is okay to be treated like that, but once they reach a mature age they can understand that it is wrong, and thereby move on and heal. The trick was to get the child to see the abuse objectively and allow their natural morals to show them the truth.
The best way this is done was by the therapist telling the child that their friend was being abused. They would make up a detailed situation and then asked the victim if it was okay for the friend to be treated so. Nine out of ten times the victim quickly protected the friend by exclaiming that it wasn't alright at all. Thus enlightenment.
Severus' idea was to tweak the memory spell. What if they could get Harry to view his own memories, fresh and clear, but while watching feel like he was seeing someone else? Seeing a child he didn't know. Severus was sure, and Draco agreed, that Harry's hero complex would kick in instantly and protest. He'd try and protect the child, knowing it was wrong. Then they'd bring him out of it and he'd know it was himself he was trying to protect, that it was his own treatment that was wrong. Severus hoped it would show Harry once and for all that it was okay to protect himself and be angry at his abusers.
The three of them worked for hours and didn't finish until after dawn. In fact, they didn't even have time to try out their new spell. Severus had a class to teach and Draco had one to attend.
Dumbledore smiled tiredly at them; "I'll test this out."
"Are you sure? I'd like to see it happen." Severus frowned.
"We've done the calculations backward and forward. It will either work or it won't." Dumbledore waved at them. "Go on. I'll let you know."
The two Slytherins reluctantly did as they were told as the Headmaster gathered up the papers with their work and flooed back to his office. Draco wondered out loud who Dumbledore was going to use as guinea pig as he left Severus' rooms. Severus snorted, following after his godson.
"If we're lucky, he'll call over Fudge. That way if it doesn't work our disappointment will be assuaged by Fudge's incompetent head exploding."
Draco's laugh echoed through the halls.
"I just don't get it!" Ron muttered darkly at breakfast. They had spent all yesterday with Harry and their friend hadn't responded at all. "I know what happened to him was awful, but come on!"
"Shut up, Ron." Hermione glared, stabbing her sausage violently. "You have no clue what he's going through."
"It's rough. He got knocked around by his family. They were worse this summer than ever before. I get it." He glared back. "But Harry's faced You-Know-Who and come away smiling. He's stronger than this!"
"Sooo… What? You think he's faking?" Ginny threw her fork into her food, obviously a millisecond from exploding.
"You guys. We shouldn't do this here." Neville said nervously, eyeing his housemates who were now watching with curious and suspicious eyes.
"Get over yourself, Ronald." Hermione hissed and stormed from the table.
"Some friend you are." Ginny added with a murderous glare and followed the brown haired bookworm.
Ron hunched mutinously and attacked his breakfast as if it had insulted him. Neville sat beside him. He wanted to follow his girlfriend, but it would feel too much like abandoning Ron. He sighed and stayed seated, silently praying that Harry got better soon. They all needed him.
"How was business?" Pansy asked Draco.
"Fine. Though it's not set in stone. It will need my attention for a few days yet."
They entered the Transfiguration classroom and found their seats. Weasley came in a few minutes after them, but he didn't take the seat next to Granger. The girl shot him a dark glare before turning away, her nose in the air. Weasley skulked to the seat next to Finnigan. The blonde asked what was wrong, but Weasley snarled for him to mind his own business. Pansy turned and lifted her eyebrow at Draco.
"Trouble in paradise." Draco smirked.
"Think it's because of the missing third wheel?" Pansy smiled slyly. "Maybe we can rock the boat and see what falls out."
Last year, Draco would have grinned and been the first to instigate the fight. But now it just seemed petty and a waste of energy. Not only that, but he could sympathize with the Gryffindors. It was very stressful, to say the least, spending any amount of time with Potter. The boy's tortured screams filled his head again and he glared at Pansy, his silver eyes cutting into her.
"Why don't you at least try and sound intelligent? Keep your metaphors straight, at least."
"What's wrong with you?" Pansy snapped, hands going to her hips as she glared at her best friend.
Draco didn't answer. Instead he ignored her and pretended to pay attention to McGonagall. Really, all he thought about was the spell and wondering if it would work.
Draco was sitting in between Vince and Greg at lunch when a regal owl dropped a letter in his plate. Pansy was sitting with Millicent several seats away. She was still peeved with Draco and wasn't talking to him. He couldn't really bring himself to care overly much. Just another childish reaction, and he didn't really feel like dealing with it. He opened the letter. It was from Severus. The spell had worked and they were going to do it tonight after dinner. Draco was to go to bed early and then sneak to Severus rooms.
"Business," the blonde impassively explained to any who were curious and cast a burning charm on the paper.
Severus and Draco entered Harry's room with Dumbledore following. The ancient wizard assured them that it had worked, but it would take three minds. One would be the caster, while the second would be the memory provider, and a third party would be needed to link to the second's mind to make sure all went as it should and to give the impartiality the second would see through while watching their own memories. They had decided Draco would play that role and Severus would be the caster. Dumbledore was too tired, he claimed, to take either position and remain steady and would instead remain nearby in case something went wrong.
The dark eyed wizard gently levitated Harry. Dumbledore banished the bed and all the other furniture as Draco carefully drew a triangle on the ground with white light. He encircled it, making the circle touched all three points, and Severus gently laid Harry out at the base of the triangle.
He took up position at the top point of the triangle so that he was facing Harry's prone form. Draco stepped on the outline of the circle, directly across from his godfather and only a few inches from Harry's waist. Throughout all of this, Harry hadn't moved besides to blink dull eyes. Dumbledore stood in a corner, watching silently.
"Are you ready?" Severus asked and Draco nodded.
The dark eyed man raised his arms so that they were directly above and in line with the triangle's sides, palms down. He had a wand in each hand between thumb and forefinger, his own in his right and Draco's in the left. He incanted the temporary bonding spell and golden light glowed around Draco's and Harry's head. Draco's silver eyes deadened, but not quiet as dull as Harry's had been. And Harry's got glassier, a bit more alive. Smoothly without transition, Severus sailed into the memory invocation, quasi-Latin falling from his lips.
Three minutes passed, then five. One mistake would throw the magic off. The circle glowed blue, the triangle white, and the golden cloud still clung to the teenagers. With a sharp punctuation, but keeping himself absolutely still, Severus said the last word. He studied the boys before him, feeling drained as the last of his magic poured from him. Both boys' chests rose and fell at the exact same time. Even their heart beats matched perfectly.
"What do you see, Draco?"
"Nothing." Draco answered dully, slowly.
Severus glanced at the Headmaster. Dumbledore was frowning. His white bearded head shook saying that wasn't right. Draco should be seeing one of Harry's memories with the boy. But the figures were glowing with power and Severus had poured out all he had, had tapped into Draco and poured that in too. There was no way that nothing was happening, was there?
"Do you see a memory?" Severus pressed.
"No. Nothing." Draco answered.
With a very disappointed sigh, Severus spoke the incantation to end and disperse the magic worked. There was a very audible snap, like a great redwood tree breaking in half, and then a magical concussion slammed through the room. The walls dented out, the ceiling and floor cracked, spider web lines shooting off from around the drawn circle in the floor. Severus was thrown backward into a wall and he saw Dumbledore crumple bonelessly before blackness claimed him as well. It happened so fast, that he didn't even feel any pain.
Chapter end. Whatcha think? Good chapter?
