They had been at it for hours. Draco groaned shifting in his chair. It had been entertaining at first, watching Granger struggle with something that even he had managed when he was at Hogwarts. But now it was just bordering on torture.
"Miss Granger you must concentrate." Severus had his best teaching tone on full force.
"I am! You're pushing me out." She half whined.
"Then stop me."
A low growl passed her clenched teeth.
Severus reached forward again, he was pushing her to the breaking point and he knew it, but he had to see if she really had it in her to survive. Her attitude earlier that evening had eluded to something that could be very dangerous if it was allowed to fester.
Hermione couldn't understand. Why couldn't she bring herself to stand in his mind space? Every time she would be able to project herself he would elude her. His mind never formed around her. She just felt trapped in some nether space before snapping back like a taunt rubber band. He hadn't even walked her through like he had last time. She let out a low whine of frustration. She could hear him speaking but it was muddled like she was underwater.
She hissed as she felt her mind snap back again, his finger tips lightly pulled back and he let out a deep sigh. She glowered up at him from beneath her lashes. He looked completely unaffected and it was grating on her. Blinking away tears of frustration, she tried to think back to the time she had slipped into his mind without his notice.
Her eyes lost focus as she fell into her own mind. She looked around with purpose. She turned and circled the center area until she felt a small pulse. She focused on it until a small light pulled away from her chest. It was slow moving unlike the times before where it raced ahead. She followed it at a quick pace until she found herself at a broad white line. She watched the thread extend beyond the border and took a breath. She pressed her hands against the border. It was firmer than she remembered, like trying to push through drying concrete. Was this how his mind was normally? She gritted her teeth and continued. The thread pulsed slightly from her effort and she dropped her hands down to it. A sharp spark ran through her entire being but she didn't let go. She used its invisible anchor to pull her over the line. Falling to her knees as the last of the border rolled off her back, she released the thread to keep her face from hitting the floor.
She'd done it. She smiled wryly as she looked down at the smooth tile and knew. Inhaling slowly she lifted her head to look around. The space was dimly lit but it seemed to grow brighter the further away from her it got.
Carefully, she pushed herself up onto her feet. She nervously ran her palms over her jeans as she took a few steps. A ring of doors started to appear, moving lazily in their path. It was then it suddenly struck her, this was the first time she'd ever been in his mind simply because she wanted to be there. Not out of fear, or desperation.
She measured her steps, mindfully stepping around the slowly spinning doors. The thread continued to lead her where she needed to go. It didn't take her long to near the center. She saw his back between the last row and smiled softly.
She came into the center ring straightening her shoulders. "I made it."
Severus had felt her well before she reached him, he was impressed that she had found a way around his defenses and didn't allow herself to be lead by her curiosity and open any of the doors. He turned slowly on his heel, his arms lightly clasping behind his back.
"So you have." He gave her a slight inclination of his head.
Her smile widened at his show of respect. Her chest moving excitedly with pride at his praise. She came closer standing a few paces in front of him.
"Now what...?" She chewed the corner of her mouth half expecting him to push her out again. Her eyes skittered around the closest ring hoping to take in as much as she could before he expelled her.
He lifted one hand towards the inner ring, the doors slowly turned moving in and out rearranging until one pulled forward from the rest.
"Now, we test your theory."
Her eyes widened and her breath quickened. Was he really allowing her inside one of his memories? She turned toward the door an excited tremor rolling through her.
"I must warn you." He said silently coming behind her.
She could feel the warmth of his presence and resisted the urge to lean back into him.
"Once you enter you shall be completely on your own. The form you see here shall not go with you. It shall remain here, until your return."
She nodded in understanding not trusting her voice to not sound like an overzealous puppy vying for their master's attention.
He waved his hand and the sound of a lock dismantling echoed throughout the space. Hermione swallowed thickly and approached the door nervously. The last memories she had fallen into hadn't been the most pleasant and she couldn't stop from wondering what he had chosen. Her fingers lightly trailed over the ornate design, it looked new and elaborately detailed. She gave him one last backward glance and grasped the knob. As soon as her hand closed over the handle she felt herself being pulled inside.
Everything was a swirling mass of color. She closed her eyes briefly to help with the vertigo. When she felt her feet land on solid ground she peeked open one eye. The lights were bright and she blinked them into focus.
She was standing in a large hall, hundreds of children sat at large tables separated by the colors on their ties. A group of children stood before the dais and she turned her head away to find where he must have been. Her eyes spotted him instantly up on the raised platform. He looked for all the world like he'd rather be getting flogged than having to suffer through the ceremony that was taking place.
Her eyes trailed over what she assumed to be other professors, their names lost to the vault except for one. Professor McGonagall stood holding a dingy hat and a scroll.
"Hermione Granger."
Her body jerked just a little as she watched a small child separate from the crowd. Her hair was an awful rats nest and she cringed at her own image. Was that really what she looked like? She ran her hands down her own hair subconsciously. She watched her much younger-self approach the stool with great trepidation.
"Gryffindor!"
Her heart lurched as she watched her smiling face jump down from the stool taking her place among those with red ties. Her eyes shot over to Snape as the image started to swirl out.
The image warped to a long corridor, her head turned as she tried to find the man in black. Her mind took note at how clear everything was. It was so unlike her own memories that felt fuzzy around the edges. These were crisp and sharp. She was able to see every detail down to the threading on the coat of arms on the passing student's cloaks.
"Someone...may think...you're...up to something. "
Her head followed that familiar baritone and she walked a few paces forward. She could see the back of his teaching robes and was just rounding his shoulder when she caught sight of herself trying to keep her composure. She didn't have time to process as the scene started to shift again.
Large stacks of countless tomes surrounded her, it was early evening if she could believe the fading light in the high windows. She swayed, still a bit dizzy from the shift. She heard the hard click of boots and moved to follow.
She rounded the column and stopped short. She'd nearly run straight into him. His face was set in stone as he looked at something behind her shoulder.
"Oh, Severus."
She turned to McGonagall's voice covering her gasp with her hand.
"What do you make of it?"
"It would appear she's been petrified." He drawled moving closer. Hermione stayed out of his path as he moved. He drew his wand and ran it over her still form.
"Do you think your potion will work?"
He gave McGonagall an affronted look as he slowly pulled the mirror from her stiff hand.
"The ingredients will take time to cure." He slowly turned the mirror looking it over. His eyes narrowed as he tried to put the pieces together.
The image started to swirl out again. Her head was starting to throb with pain. She could hear the sound of rattling metal as a new image came into view.
"Potter!"
Hermione turned to the sound of her own gasp. Her eyes going wide as a large werewolf reared up.
"Professor!"
She watched as Severus turned to shield them all. Gasping as he took the blow sending them all backward. Her heart thumped in her ears as she watched what she believed to be a younger version of Harry run off.
"Professor? Are you alright?"
Her worried voice flittered away and she felt a lurch in her stomach. The memories were moving too quick for her to fully process. She wasn't sure if it was her stress that was making them turn but she could no longer stand. Her head felt like someone was repeatedly hitting it with a sledgehammer.
She needed to get out. She searched through her clenched eyes for the door she needed. It appeared just off to her right and she made a hasty crawl towards it. The last words to drift over her mind as she reached the handle gave her pause.
"I will do everything I can to see to her return to health, Albus."
She turned bracing herself against the door. She saw herself lying presumably unconscious in a hospital bed. A mediwitch was moving over her with earnest. She felt her eyes starting to roll back and turned the handle with her last ounce of strength.
She collapsed through the door sprawling face first against the cool stone.
"Miss Granger?"
She gave him a weak groan as she felt herself slipping away. Like rain down a gutter, she returned to her own mind space.
Severus' eyes snapped open. His hands shifting on her face tilting it up into the fire light. Her pulse was strong against his palm as he waited for her to answer. She gave him no consolation. Seconds passed before her lashes started to flutter. He held his breath before she opened her eyes.
"My head hurts..." She made to sit up but a deep throb kept her in place. Her hand gingerly made it to her head, her fingers brushing his as he pulled back. She could feel the vein at her temple pulsing furiously.
"I'll find you something."
She gave him a noncommittal groan and rest her head back. Her mind was a whirlwind of images, everything she had seen in his memory hurriedly moving about in her mind. She felt like the new memories were trying to sort themselves into the books they belonged. It was painful, the empty books refused to take the new images and new perspectives. It left her feeling disconnected from what she'd witnessed.
Draco jerked slightly as he came out of his light sleep. He hadn't meant to fall asleep in the first place. But the warmth of dinner in his stomach combined with the stress of his rough day was a bad combination. He rubbed his eyes pulling himself up. He blinked at his watch, it was nearing an hour after midnight.
He blinked again and pushed himself up a bit their voices were low but now that he was coming around he could hear them. He turned his stuff neck off to where he'd remembered them to be. They were bent over a table they had put between them pointing to a bit of paper.
"This outer ring here, that should be where the boundary starts."
"So you're suggesting that the inner ring, is where it's hiding?"
"I think so if the diagram in this book is correct, the deeper conscious lies further in."
There was a small shuffle as someone turned the pages of a book. Draco felt drunk as he continued to blink them into focus.
"The vault begins here."
"Leading to the next level."
"Exactly." There was a soft feminine sigh, "The inner circle is the easiest to get in and out of, but I don't know how we're going to get into the outer layers."
"The vault is the most direct path."
"I agree, but I also think it's damaged." There was a bit more shuffling. Draco adjusted trying to remain surreptitious. "I didn't receive any memories from my perspective. But when I was in your mind. I'm positive I heard the groan of metal." There was a slight pause and shuffling of paper, "I think that the memories are stuck inside. The door was being opened before by, it...but now it can't and the memories are stuck inside with it."
"This is a very accurate drawing."
"Thanks," There was a small pause, "When I looked at the door, this line looked to have damaged the locks. I think that's the reason it hasn't come out." Another small shift of clothing, "That's why I think it's trying to attack my subconscious. It's the only means it has now."
"Even if what you're saying is true, won't breaking more locks release it back into the outer ring?"
There was a deep pause.
"Why had it stayed dormant all those years? It clearly had enough power to affect my physical body. Why had it not just done as it had before?" Hermione's jaw worked before her eyes widened, her hand shot to her chest fingers pulling at her collar to touch the sealed curse line. "Of course!" She ripped her hand free grabbing the book from Severus' hands. The man made to chastise her rude behavior but her voice shared aloud her thoughts making him pause.
"The creatures don't just stand over their victims, like Dementors, they reach inside." She paused flipping to historical artists' drawing of some important Japanese battle. "See here?" She pointed to a fallen soldier who's chest had been ripped open, the Jinshinkin's head and upper frame were bursting from the wound. "That's how it gets in." Her eyes shone with her discovery, "It's also how we're, going to get it out." Her eyes set hard leaving no room for debate on the subject. She turned her keen and piercing eyes to his, her breathing a bit excited from her new proclamation.
Severus scowled deeply, not because the idea wasn't brilliant but because his mind had started jumping to the logistics of it. She had nearly died when the creature had split her nearly in two when it entered her in the first place. His mind skipped backward a moment, "It was dormant before because they were unable to keep your wounds closed." His head lifted a fraction, the logic of it felt off, "The curse Bellatrix had left inside you left it vulnerable after every attempt it took on your soul." He paused, "That was why it didn't attack head on until more recently."
"No, my soul wasn't broken, it couldn't have taken my soul then..."
He paused thinking back to when he first saw her inside her mind space. She was completely right, she had been fully intact. His eyes narrowed a bit. "But now it is." It wasn't a happy understanding.
"Exactly." Hermione nodded her head, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips, she could see the regret forming on his face.
"But, it can't get out if it takes your soul now, not unless it opens the wound, but if it does, it knows it's risking its own life because now you know what it is." He continued on his voice growing thick as he continued to adjust the logic.
She paused trying to put events in chronological order. "But now, the wounds are healed, and though it's managed to do what it set out to do. It can't because the wounds are closed." Hermione nodded her head again her voice trying to quell the guilt over his face, "It's also injured from our last encounter, I don't believe its too keen on a repeat performance."
Severus' eyes narrowed as the image of her crumpled body floated through his inner eye.
Her eyes softened as his went hard, she took a small breath lightly tapping his fingers with her one own, "Hey..." Her voice was like a siren's call pulling his eyes back towards her, "We'll come up with the right answer." She gave him a gentle smile. "Look at all we've accomplished in just a few hours."
Severus leaned back in his chair, he knew she was trying to comfort him but his head hurt and his eyes felt tired. He was trying to wrap his mind around the logic of the situation. They both had the right pieces they just weren't putting them together in the proper order. He looked down at the sketches they had both made, there was still so much work to do. The spell work alone was well outside of his normal venues. It was darker than even he had ever studied. He sighed heavily looking at the girl who was furiously scribbling something down on a piece of paper. It looked like a timeline of sorts. Curious, he leaned forward just a hair to see what she was writing.
1st-Attack
2nd- Coma
3rd-Severus' first visit
Snape leaned over taking her pen, he scratched out her words and rewrote: Bellatrix's curse removed
She smiled softly at him and shifted the paper to sit evenly between them, trusting him to fill in what she couldn't. They passed the pen back and forth finishing the list together. Once it was finished they both leaned over nearly hitting each other's heads. Draco had risen by that time and was looking over them, neither one had noticed his presence.
"So I'm going to guess this isn't just a curse?"
His voice jostled both of them and they actually did collide with each other. Hermione fell back into the chair holding her head with a hiss. Snape too, grimaced and leaned back rubbing his forehead. He glowered at Draco making the boy cower back just a bit holding up his hands with a muttered apology. Had they really forgotten he was there? He almost felt hurt. He glanced at the both of them before nodding his head towards the paper.
"What's this about souls and stuff?" He looked genuinely curious.
Severus lowered his tired hand running his eyes over the list. "There is a creature inside of her and it's got a certain proclivity for eating souls."
Draco's brows rose and he cursed softly under his breath glancing to Hermione who was glaring at him too. She'd probably have a bruise thanks to him.
"You uh, do know that Father's Grandmother was a soul keeper right?"
"What does that have to do with this?" Hermione asked leaning forward again.
"Just saying that he's got all sorts of dark books about soul bonds and curses and stuff." He gave a shrug of his shoulders.
Hermione looked at Severus for a translation but she could see his mind turning through their connection. It was a bit dizzying with the speed in which he processed things and it was starting to make her a bit vertiginous.
"Do you still have access to the manor?" Severus leaned back looking at Draco. He couldn't just send the boy looking for random books, even he didn't know exactly what he was looking for.
"Of course, it's still in my name."
Severus looked towards Hermione's fatigued hunched form, "How do you feel about flying?"
She let out a heavy sigh pulling her hands from her temples to rest against her forehead, "I don't know."
"I could send one of the carriages," Draco shrugged slightly, "My wife isn't due back for two days, is that enough time?" Despite it being his childhood home, Draco had no desire to spend any more time there than he had to.
"It should suffice." Severus let out a slow breath.
Hermione leaned back into her chair, her brain hurt, her mental acuity was exhausted to the point of being mush. Her entire body ached and her back felt stiff as a board, she wasn't even sure how she was going to make it up the stairs. She didn't even process that she would be going to the place were she was mercilessly tortured.
"Tomorrow?"
"Shouldn't be a problem, I'll just apparate home and send the carriage." He glanced at the two of them. He was fairly certain it would be a late morning for everyone at this rate.
Severus watched him, maybe he would be of some use after all. Languidly, he pushed himself up stretching his own stiff back and knees. It was time for rest. He offered out his hand towards the girl who seemed on the verge of falling right where she'd slumped over. Her hand fell heavily into his and he carefully pulled her up to her feet. Draco stepped back just a bit, Hermione swayed leaning her side into Severus. With all the excitement of their recent discoveries washing away, she was about as good as a candle in a rainstorm. She blinked slowly at Draco giving him a small wave good night as she allowed Severus to guide her towards the staircase.
They paused at the landing Snape waiting for her to take the first step. When she didn't he realized the girl had actually fallen asleep standing up against him. He blinked at the impossibility of it before shifting his hold. He picked her up tiredly, his body protesting as he took the stairs much slower than usual.
He placed her into bed and she let out a soft grunt and rolled onto her side pulling the pillow from the wall into her arms. He said nothing pulling the blanket up over her and trudged off to his own room. Kicking off his shoes and spelling his jacket open, he tossed both at the foot of the bed. He didn't bother with anything else as he slipped under the covers.
Draco let out a loud yawn looking at the lounge chair. He lazily pulled out his wand transfiguring it into a rather plush looking cot. He grabbed a throw and spelled it larger before curling up under it. Clothes be damned, they had kept him up way past normal human hours. He glanced at his watch before closing his eyes. 1:11am.
4:44 am saw Hermione sitting stock straight in her bed, panting heavily her eyes wide, skin cold from her most recent nightmare. She groaned as she rubbed her tired face. This was almost worse than being in a coma. At least then she could get some rest! She shivered as a tremor ran through her frame and looked around the cold dark room. Her heart ached with the detached feeling of the space. She didn't want to be alone.
She looked to the bathroom door that was still left partially open. She chewed her lip as the ache grew in her chest. He was right beyond that door, so close yet so far away. It wouldn't be the first time they had slept next to each other she rationalized. It wouldn't even be the first time she'd woken him from sleep. Her back spasmed slightly and she let out a soft hiss. She glanced back and forth a few times before she finally came to a compromise. Maybe if she just saw that he was there. Then she could go back to sleep. It was a shallow logic and even worse when she grabbed her pillow and threw her blanket around her shoulders. She swayed only slightly before making it to the doorframe. He was just through this and one more door. She clutched her linens more tightly. Just look, just check that he was okay. That's all.
She took a steadying breath, her body was still heavy from her lack of sleep and her steps dragged as she moved into the bathroom. The door was even more open than hers had been. The darkness of his room coming out from inside the white frame. She couldn't see his bed from there. It was along the same wall as the door. She bit her lip as she tried to stay quiet. Her blanket trailed lightly behind her as she stepped even more forward.
As she rounded the frame she bit her lip to keep her breathing quiet. Her eyes immediately went to the lump on the bed. He was sleeping on his side, turned away from her; near the center, his hair was splayed over the light blue pillow, blanket tucked under his arm up to his chest. Her heart thudded in her chest as if she were teasing the devil himself with her very presence. She didn't know what he was like when he slept, he'd always woken before her. Her mind did drift back to recently when they had woken together, but then again she hadn't been able to see him, so she wasn't really sure of his feelings on the matter. It felt somewhat personal watching someone else sleep. An intimacy that shouldn't be afforded to just anyone. He hadn't been as harsh to her then. Still, she felt as if she was treading very dangerously. He had known she was with him that time. This was a completely different situation. She looked back through the bathroom, it was an awfully long walk back to her bed and she could feel her legs and back already starting to protest. She turned her head slowly back towards him before all her courage left her.
Slowly, she lowered herself down to the cold floor. Her legs too tired to carry her back to her own rooms. She laid along side the frame pulling her blanket around her like a cocoon, she nuzzled her head onto her pillow. It was a close as she would dare to get, even with the frigid wood pressing up from the floor into her sleep warmed body she found comfort in listening to his soft breathing. The rhythm quickly lulled her to sleep, her own matching his tempo as she fell back into a much more quiet and restful slumber.