Senses

Chapter 26

Severus pursed his lips tighter as he walked down the darkened aisle of the restricted section. He was so deep that even the bravest student wouldn't have dared to traverse its cursed walls. He knew it had to be there. Hogwarts was much too old not to have had more information about it. Something had been bothering him quite deeply for a while, though he had constantly pushed it back for more immediate problems.

Now, with Granger able to function somewhat on her own for a few hours a day it had allowed him the time to ponder. Despite everything else going on in the world, he was still a man who couldn't let go of a puzzle. How had Marxan come into possession of something clearly outside of his magical prowess and what exactly were the long-term consequences of his more juvenile methods and the ones intricately inside the Dual Dragon?

He knew the structure of the drug the man had used to dull her mind but what did the potions inside the dragon do when combined? The original book he'd obtained had only given him the barest of information and parts of its most notable uses. Most of which dated back to the dark times well before anyone who lived that day would have been a spec in their mother's eye. It had been enough at the time but now, he needed answers.

Another more pressing question that had stumped him was how to see inside memories that were only filled with touch. She had been deaf when he'd found her though he didn't know for how long it had certainly been long enough to change everything she did when interacting with the world. How could he, an experienced legilimens, enter such a world and bring it to some sort of order? How could he learn about what had truly happened to her so that he could finally set her right again?

There was a hollowness to her eyes that burned him to the core. A former shell of what she had been with no hope of what she could be. It reminded him of the last time he saw his mother. The way she'd looked at him when she stood over her father's body. The pain he felt when she took her own life just moments after. He had begged her, pleaded for her to stay. Just one more day. One more day. His graduation day.

A sharp shock drew a hiss from his tight jaw and his hand that had been idly running along the shelf jerked back as a book pulled itself from the keep. The heavy time-worn tome fell title down with a heavy thump that echoed down the whispering stacks. A small shake of his hand dispersed the residual magic and he ran his wand over it before carefully turning it over.

"Melding of Minds, a walk through another's shoes..."

Curiosity peeked when he carefully used his wand tip to pull open the cover, the dark sun tanned pages crinkling loudly. A quick graze down the preface showed promise.

oOo

"You wished to speak with me?" McGonagall took her seat behind her desk, waving her hand to warm the kettle ever present.

"Yes, thank you, professor." Ginny took a slow seat trying to subtly catch her breath.

"Staying out of trouble?" Minerva gave her a knowing look, there was a kind understanding but also a warning as well.

While she hadn't given them the tongue lashing they'd expected when they'd expected it she had certainly warned them about their careless behavior and the consequences. She herself had been bereft to hear that the Order had received word through Harry about Hermione's death. It had hit her harder than she had expected. She had seen so much of herself in the girl when she'd first arrived and even more so after she'd gotten to know her. It had been painful to come to terms that the world would never see the true brilliance that the girl possessed.