AN: Sorry for the super late update, all! Finals were so time-consuming, and I've been spending time recuperating. Forgive me. Here's the latest installment, and do check out my latest fic, Love is Blindness, as well as my other fics. Also, love me and R&R! You are all appreciated.

Chapter 5

Draco's ears rung with a fierceness that served to disorient him. Around him, shapes shifted, and he was vaguely aware of someone shaking him. His head stabbed with agony, and in his mouth was a metallic taste.

"Draco! Draco, Draco!" Astoria shouted.

Draco tried to reach towards her voice, to bring himself out of his stupor, but it took a harsh slap from Astoria to do the job. His head swung sharply to the side, and the pain in his cheek momentarily distracted him from his headache.

"Astoria," he croaked, shoving her hands off of him. He licked his lips shakily, and whispered, "She's trapped."

"What?" Astoria shouted, trying to be heard over the noise.

Draco shoved her to the side, looking for the source of the racket. He finally noticed the inordinate amount of orderlies rushing about, the beeping of machines following their movements. His eyes were drawn to the flailing, screaming figure in the bed, who was currently being tied down with magical bonds.

"What's going on?" he shouted.

"You tell me!" Astoria replied, pulling him by the arm out of the ward. Out in the relative quiet of the hall, Astoria took a deep breath and rubbed her hands over her face tiredly. "I was paged in at 3 am, when all this," she waved a nonchalant arm at the fearsome and ongoing situation "started."

"It's three in the morning? Wh- Why didn't they just wake me? You didn't have to be called in," Draco said, already fearing Astoria's reply.

"You were in a stupor. Trapped in her head." Here, she punched him. "You bloody, sodding idiot! You know medical protocol! You are never to enter a patient's mind unsupervised!"

"Get a hold of yourself, woman!" Draco rubbed his arm and contemplated what to tell her.

"Oh no, none of that. Tell me the truth." Astoria led him to her office, which was at the other end of the hall. She unlocked the door and walked around to her desk, stopping to pour Draco some pepper up potion and tea. "Well?"

"Well, like I said, she's trapped. I spoke to the Weasley girl, and it sounds like dementia. But…" Draco trailed off, knowing that Astoria understood.

She nodded, taking a sip of her drink. "Alright, well what did you see in her head?"

"War," Draco answered noncommittally. He was running over the details in his head a final time, searching for anything out of the ordinary.

"That's it?" Astoria asked, a brow quirked in disbelief.

"Well, Ginny told me that it started with bouts of amnesia," Draco began, and was momentarily sidetracked by how Astoria knew Ginny in the first place. He continued, "When I entered her mind, it was exactly like reliving the war. Except, unlike with the typical patient, she was in it."

"What do you mean?"

"It wasn't a spectre or projection of her. It seemed like she, herself, was in her mind. It was a tangible manifestation of her conscious," Draco murmured, growing increasingly confused by the phenomenon.

"Impossible," Astoria scoffed. "How could any manifestation in her mind be tangible?"

"Well, Greengrass, like I said, this case is unusual. It's as if these recreations aren't actually memories. Granger was able to reach out and touch me, for Christ's sake. Another minute and I probably would have gone crazy as well."

"She touched you?" Astroria's eyes shone curiously, and Draco recognized the look on her face. She was working out the details and attempting to take the inconsistencies in stride.

"Yes, and another thing. She was in horrendous pain. That's why she's always screaming." Draco shuddered. "It's a wonder that her mind hasn't shut down completely."

Silence as they both thought about what he had said.

"Anything else," Astoria asked.

"Yes, actually. I just recalled that she was being attacked inside her own head. She was fastidiously dodging all types of curses. I have a theory."

Astoria waited.

"It's like a huge metaphor. The battlefield is her mind, and the parts attacking her are parts of her brain, you see? And every time she hurls spells to defend herself or attack the attackers, she's hurting her own brain. It's all very intriguing. And what's more," Draco said, jumping up excitedly, his tea forgotten, "is that she knows that she's trapped. Whether or not she knows she's in her head is another thing."

Draco was starting to think she did, since she didn't hurl any spells at him on sight.

"Well? What now, then," Astoria asked.

He turned to look at her. "You have to stay out of her head. She can tell when you're in there, and for some reason, her mind has fortified itself against you, and not me. Maybe because I'm familiar."

"Do you think she would react more favorably to someone she knew and liked?"

Draco scoffed. "No one is qualified enough for the work we have to do. Hell, I had a hard enough time in there as it was. No, I guess I just have to ingratiate myself with her manifestation and allow it to give me the details I need."

Astoria stood, alarmed. "You're not seriously suggesting that you're going back in there, are you?
Draco just stared at her.

"Are you mad? You're risking your sanity! I won't let you do it!"

"Time is of the essence, Astoria!" Draco roared. He took a deep breath. "I don't need your permission to do anything. I am your superior, and it would do you well to remember that."

Astoria's face flamed at the reminder, and Draco mentally slapped himself for the low blow. He knew they were equals in almost every way.

Astoria ignored the jab and suggested another route. "Why don't you let her rest a bit and continue your interviews. You'll kill two birds with one stone, that way. Who's next on your list again?"

"Neville Longbottom," Draco replied, deciding on the spot.

"Are you flooing to his flat then?"

"No," Draco said, walking to Astoria's door and opening it. He turned to look back at her. "I'm heading to Hogwarts."