Mind Meld

Disclaimer: The characters and places belong to JK Rowling, Warner Bros., Scholastic Books, and all the other people that make money from them. This sadly, does not include me.

After picking at his meal for an hour, only gently nudging from Draco occasionally prompting him to eat a bite or two, Harry finally pushed away his plate and made his way to the detention he was obviously assigned. Though, he felt it would have been nice to have warning, more than one hour’s worth at any rate.

Slowly, he made his way to the dungeons. His mind was split between anger at being dragged from his grief, and relief in having something to distract him. But did it have to be Occlumency? The frustration from not having answers and the reminder of the bond that he shared with Draco that would most likely drive them both insane and kill half of England just seemed like too much today.

He was driven from his thoughts by the feel of a gentle hand stroking his face. ‘You aren’t alone, remember?’ came the chiding comment.

Harry smiled slightly, his eyes drifted closed briefly as he drew in a shaky breath. ‘Thank you,’ he said simply.

Harry drew in another breath in an attempt to control himself then said, ‘Time to face the dungeon demon.’

He felt rather than heard the snort of laughter from Draco before he was being scolded, in a manner that reminded him strongly of Hermione. ‘Harry! Really, he is my Head of House and a professor. Give him some respect.’

Harry snorted, ‘Sure, as soon as he does me.’

Harry withdrew from the conversation as he realized he was now standing in front of the Lab. He straightened his shoulders and braced himself before knocking firmly on the door.

“Enter,” snapped the surly Potions Master.

No sooner had he entered the room than a spell came flying at him. He barely caught the word, ‘Legilimens’ before the spell hit him. Once again it had no effect. Not even the slightest hint of a memory flash or headache. No sign of invasion.

Snape let out a growl of frustration before stalking towards Harry. Instinctively, Harry took a step back out of nervous fear.

“Potter, I do not know how you have managed it. One of these day I will figure it out. For now, I suggest that you should learn Legilimens.” Harry’s head reeled. He didn’t want to see his professor’s memories. The ones he had viewed the year before was bad enough. He was afraid of learning more.

He shook his head, even as his professor was continuing his rant. “No one will know of these lessons, even the Headmaster. In addition, if I hear a single word of anything you may witness outside of this room, I will have you in detention until your grandchildren are attending Hogwarts. Is that clear?”

Mutely, Harry nodded his head. “Very well. You will sit there and read the chapters on Legilimency. After you have finished, you will practice the movements and incantation. After I am satisfied that you will not be turning my brain into a slug or something equally repulsive, then and only then, you will attempt the spell. Understood?”

Again Harry silently nodded his head. He made his way over to the table where the book lay and opened to the chapter that Snape had indicated. Quickly, he made contact with Draco to fill him in on what he was to be doing. He felt the shock from Draco and added his own thoughts, ‘Um, I’ll let you know when I start actually casting the spell. Don’t know if this is going to work or even how. So you might want to be alone because…’ he drifted on the thought, but knew that Draco had understood what he was trying to say.

Panic filled Harry for a moment. Snape had warned him against anyone outside the room learning of the memories. What if Draco saw the images? What if Draco accidentally said something? What if…Harry reigned in his frantic thoughts and focused on the book in front of him. It didn’t take long before he had finished the section, and using his quill instead of his wand, he began to shape the movements.

Several moments passed before Snape addressed him. “Now with the incantation if you don’t mind,” he snarled. Harry could tell that Snape was no happier than he was about this portion of the lessons. He wondered why they were doing them when it was obvious that Snape did not want to do them, and yet he had implied earlier that the Headmaster did not know or approve of this portion of the lessons.

Half an hour later, Harry had the wand movements and the incantation up to Snape’s standards, and the two men were now facing each other. Harry had given Draco warning and the blond had replied that he was currently safe in bed with a Silencing Spell up.

“Potter! Get on with it and quit wasting time!” Snape snarled.

With a nod, Harry cast the spell. He barely had time to notice that he had done it properly before he was immersed in the other man’s memories. The ease with which he slipped into the other mind startled him. He had little time to register a young Snape walking around the lake with a girl with red hair and green eyes, just as it dawned on Harry that it was his mother, the memories had shifted. A stern, dark haired man was screaming something at a child, then another shift. A flash of blond hair entered his mind when Harry felt himself being flung across the room. He felt the spell against his chest as his back crashed into the wall.

Harry slumped to the floor, gasping for breath. He could hear Draco yelling in the back of his mind, whether in fear or pain Harry couldn’t identify as he was too busy trying to draw air into his lungs. Shakily he pulled himself into a kneeling position, but was unable to move further.

Snape stood across the room, a look of fury on his face, but for once, silent as he waited for Harry to recover. Finally, Harry stood and moved in front of his professor.

“You have proven that at least you can learn something. Why don’t we see how successful you are at this when someone is Occluding?” the older man growled.

Harry nodded hesitantly. Slowly the two faced each other again, wands drawn. Harry lowered his briefly when he saw his hand shaking. He wanted to draw strength from Draco, but could sense the other boy was doing worse than he was. Harry had some experience with what was happening, this was Draco’s first.

Quickly, before Snape could yell at him, Harry again raised his hand. The spell he cast was just as quick and even more effective now that Harry knew what he was doing. What surprised him was the ease in which he entered the other man’s mind. Wasn’t he supposed to be blocking him?

Memories flew past. There were several memories of Death Eater meetings, Snape and Harry’s mom studying in the Library, Lucius and Narcissa and Snape standing over a crib. Suddenly, Harry again was flying into a wall. His head hit with a hard CRACK and Harry felt a wave of blackness go over him. His head hurt, his chest again felt like it couldn’t draw a breath from the dual impact. He struggled to remain conscious, afraid that if he lost consciousness for even a moment, Snape would give him a potion.

He lay curled on his side, part of him registering the fact that Snape was screaming something at him, Draco was in the back of his mind whimpering in pain and fear, and the rest of Harry’s attention was focused on driving back the darkness and breathing. One arm curled protectively across his chest, another around his head where he could feel a warm wetness that he assumed was blood.

For several long minutes, Harry struggled. Finally, he felt himself regaining control of his body and able to breath more easily. He winced as he slowly started moving, suspecting that he may have broken a rib. The words that Snape was ranting then began to register with Harry and he heard them as if from a distance.

Snape kept going on about how even the Dark Lord couldn’t break those shields and a snot-nosed, arrogant, brat without the sense of a flobberworm shouldn’t have a chance. He was demanding answers and Harry felt Draco’s discomfort.

‘I think we have to tell him something. This didn’t go right Draco. And any moment he is going to offer something for the damage and I don’t know what to say. We can’t take it! If I try to not take it, he will force me, or demand answers!’ Harry was getting worried and frightened.

‘Harry, calm down. I agree. Besides, we need to tell someone. And you know how I feel about the Headmaster,’ Draco soothed him slightly. Harry gave a shaky nod of his head. “Okay,” he spoke out loud.

When he realized what he had done, his eyes opened wide. Snape had fallen silent and was looking at him with suspicion.

“Er, shit?” Harry said.

“Who exactly were you speaking to Mr. Potter?” Snape asked.

“I’ll explain everything sir. Please, just, can you Disillusion yourself and meet at the statue of the One-Eyed Witch?” Harry pleaded faintly. His head still hurt, and he met the other man’s dark gaze with pain filled eyes.

Snape’s eyes narrowed with mistrust but after an endless moment, he finally nodded his agreement. Harry pulled his Invisibility Cloak over his head. Slowly he made his way to the statue and pausing occasionally as a wave of dizziness swept across him. As he approached, he saw the doorway open and knew Draco was also there. Quickly he slipped through the entrance and removed his cloak.

He felt Draco’s hand on his shoulder pressing him downward as he saw the spy wielding his wand. Quickly, Harry moved to place himself between the two Slytherins. His head pulsed in pain with the sudden movements and he felt nauseous, but still he stood his ground.

“Professor, I know this looks strange, but please, just give us a few minutes and we will try to explain everything,” Harry looked up at the angry professor. The pain radiating from both boys’ eyes made up his mind. Slowly he lowered his wand, eyes never leaving the suspicious sight in front of him.

No sooner had the wand lowered, and then Draco was once again pressing Harry downward. With a sigh of relief, Harry sat on the floor to allow Draco’s fussing. Gentle hands pushed his head forward and began sifting through his hair, pressing lightly on his head. A few whispered words and a tingling feeling brushed over Harry’s head. Harry felt the cut mend and the bump slowly fade. The headache, however, lingered.

Harry felt fingers loosening his tie and brushed them away with annoyance.

“No Draco,” he muttered.

“Please Harry, at least let me make sure the broken ones are okay,” Draco asked. “Don’t make us suffer if we don’t have to. It’s bad enough when there is nothing we can do.”

Harry smiled weakly, memories of the abuse of the summer still rather fresh in his mind. He dropped his hands, defeated in the face of that argument. “Okay, but just the broken ones, then I think Snape wants some answers,” Harry said looking up at the stunned man.

Harry sat quietly while Draco removed his tie, robe and shirt. He winced slightly when the gentle fingers brushed over a particularly sore spot. He was looking into the silver eyes of his friend when Draco whispered some healing words and the broken bones mended themselves.

With the worst of the injuries taken care off, Harry smiled slightly at Draco. “I think we have managed to do what students have been trying for years…Make him speechless.” Harry snickered with a slight gesture towards the Potions Master.

Draco laughed slightly even as he shifted himself and Harry to a more comfortable position. “Please Professor. Make a seat,” he gestured weakly.

Coming out of his shock, Snape waved his wand and transfigured a rock into a chair, before sitting down. “First,” he snarled, “Explain how you managed THAT!” he waved at Harry’s chest and head.

Harry looked at him confused. “They were just healing spells. Draco has been studying them for years.”

“Not that you imbecile! How did he do it without a wand?” Harry sat up quickly, a fresh wave of pain from his headache reminding him not to do it. He looked around and saw that Draco’s wand was still on the floor a few feet away. He twisted slightly and was looking into Draco’s eyes, reflecting the same shock back at him.

‘Spell?’ he thought.

‘I think so. I think we might need Snape now. I …We don’t know what this stupid spell is doing to us and I think Snape can help us get the information,’ Draco responded.

“Well!?” snapped Snape, the shock was rapidly wearing off and his patience was wearing thin.

“Sir,” Draco started, cautiously. “I don’t think we can answer that unless we start at the beginning.”

Snape glared at the blond before nodding curtly.

“First, can I get some questions?” Harry interjected.

‘Harry?’ queried Draco. The two boys ignored the dark look Snape gave Harry.

‘I think I trust him Draco, I just…I don’t know. I need to know before I can fully trust him,’ Harry answered.

Draco nodded and they returned their attention to the confused man who was still glowering at them.

“Sir?” Draco asked. Finally, Snape nodded.

“I saw…that was my mother wasn’t it?” Harry asked the question hesitantly.

“Yes, it was,” Snape said quietly.

“Were you friends?” Harry thought of the memory of the two walking around the lake.

“Yes.” The answer was short and offered no further insight.

Harry drew a shaky breath. His ribs, the ones that were only bruised so not healed, ached and reminded Harry that he still had to be careful.

“Please Professor, I need to know that I can trust you and you really aren’t making this easy,” Harry pleaded.

Snape stared intently at Harry, his gaze shifted slightly to the blond boy, whose arm Harry lay comfortably in, before his expression relaxed and he nodded slightly.

“Very well. Your mother was one of the few friends I had here at Hogwarts. She was easy to talk to and never cared what the opinions of others were. She saw the good where others saw evil,” Harry smiled slightly. It reminded him of what Remus had said about her.

“What happened?” he asked softly, knowing that the friendship did not last.

“Potter happened,” Snape growled. Harry flinched back into Draco. He could just imaging, the memory of Snape dangling upside down still haunting him. He felt Draco run a comforting hand up and down his arm.

“He and your mother started dating,” Snape continued. “The taunts and pranks just got worse. It got so I couldn’t even leave the dorm without something happening. Then, the Shack incident. I got detention and twenty points off for being out of bed after hours, and sworn to secrecy. Potter and Black got off with little more than a harsh lecture. Your mother never knew the truth. A week later, I drove her away for good when I called her a Mudblood.”

Harry closed his eyes and swallowed hard, past the lump in his throat. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“Harry,” Draco’s voice echoed near his ear. “Don’t apologize. You didn’t have anything to do with those events.”

“Mr. Malfoy is correct. I will not accept your apology for events that you did not partake in,” Snape said reluctantly.

“Is that why…?” Harry gestured towards the older man’s left arm.

Snape inclined his head in what was barely a nod. “It is also the reason that I came back. When I realized that your mother was to be the Dark Lord’s next target, I had to do what I could to prevent it.”

Harry nodded. “I think I understand.”

He shivered somewhat, a cool breeze having run across his still bare chest. Draco shifted slightly and grabbed the robe still lying next to them. He cast a quick warming charm on the clothing before wrapping Harry in it and pulling him back against his chest. Harry breathed a sigh of relief, his headache faded just slightly.

“Now,” Snape snapped, his surly mood returning. “It is I believe your turn. How about you start with how long the two of you have been a couple.”

“What!” they exclaimed. “We aren’t a couple!” their voices chimed in unison.

Snape raised a single eyebrow. “You are doing a very good imitation of it,” he stated simply.

Harry flushed and could sense that Draco was as well. “Er, well…This is going to take a while to explain sir.”

“Professor,” said Draco. Snape looked at him expectantly. “What do you know about soul-mates?”

Snape snorted. “That is little more than silly girls’ romantic myth. There is no evidence to support the existence of soul-mates.”

“Just as there was no evidence to support the existence of The Chamber of Secrets?” Harry asked quietly.

Snape paused. “What do you know?” he asked.

“Unfortunately, not very much,” answered Draco dryly. “Which is why we are trusting you.”

Snape gave them a hard look. “Why me? Why not the Headmaster?”

“We don’t exactly trust him,” answered Harry.

“Why not?” the response was to the point.

“Because he lies, he uses us to do what he needs, because he left me with them and never checked on me. Because this is a school, it isn’t supposed to be a battle site, or a place where politics are what decide friendships. I’m supposed to hate Draco because he made fun of Ron’s clothes and he is supposed to hate Ron because he made fun of Draco’s name. Not because Draco is a Death Eater’s child. I hated Draco honestly at first. He reminded me of Dudley, his arrogance and the way he made fun of my friends. But then, Dumbledore brought in a stone and hid it in a school. He invited Voldemort into the school by doing that,” Harry paused as both Draco and Snape shudder violently.

“Sorry,” he apologized. “I’ll try to remember.”

Snape nodded and Harry took a breath to continue. “I don’t know what would have happened between Draco and me if things went normally. I mean, we hated each other. I think that was obvious enough. But then at the end of the year last year, it changed.”

“When?” queried Snape, his curiosity aroused.

Harry closed his eyes; his headache seemed to be growing worse. “During the last potions class. The fight. Something happened.” The effort of talking seemed to be getting harder.

Draco pressed him down until he was practically lying in the other boy’s lap. His fingers gently started rubbing at his temples.

The blond took over the story while Harry relaxed into the tender touch. “We didn’t notice anything at first. It was a couple weeks into the vacation before we became aware of what was going on.”

Draco raised a hand and rubbed his own head. Snape fished through his pockets before coming up with a Headache Potion. Silently he held it out to the two boys.

Draco shook his head. “We can’t take them. They make us sick.”

Snape raised a brow. “Us?”

“Um, yeah. Getting to that,” Draco stammered slightly. He winced. Malfoys never stammer. Harry really must be rubbing off on him, and by the look on Snape’s face, it hadn’t escaped his attention either.

He resumed rubbing Harry’s temple; the headache was starting to fade slightly. “When I returned home, I refused the Dark Mark. My mother wanted me to take it to redeem ourselves to the Dark Lord. I…didn’t want to. Not yet,” he glanced down at the now sleeping brunet. “Not ever,” he whispered.

“Anyhow,” he resumed at a normal tone. “Mother had me…punished. The effects were felt by Harry. He disturbed his family with his screams. They decided to punish him by keeping him locked up. And not really feeding him,” he paused as the word sank in to his Head of House.

“I don’t know what to comment on first.” The dark eyes were flashing slightly. “I am proud of you for standing up to your mother. I assume that by what you have just said, you and Potter can feel what the other does?”

Draco nodded.

“And Potter…what are you saying about that?” Snape didn’t sound sure of himself.

“His relatives hate him. They starve him, to a slight extent, beat him. Or, more correctly, they allow his much larger cousin to beat him and don’t stop him. They laugh at his injuries and encourage Dudley to hit him. This summer was…bad. I was beaten at the beginning of summer. Then locked up. Mother made sure the house elves fed me, but it didn’t seem to matter. I was constantly hungry. At this point, we didn’t really know what was going on,” Draco shifted back into his story.

“It wasn’t until one day that the strangest thing happened. I heard Potter cursing me out and it sounded like he was in the room with me. We discovered that we could…talk to each other. With just our minds. At first we, well, fought. But we were both locked up and frankly, bored out of our minds. So before long, we just started talking. That was when we found out we felt what the other did, and we were having strange dreams. Sometimes they would be about the Dark Lord, which Harry told me were visions,” he saw Snape start at that.

“The Dark Lord is still getting in?” he questioned.

“I don’t know. WE don’t know,” Draco answered. “We are kind of hoping that you can help us figure that out.”

Snape nodded. “Continue.”

“The other dreams were odd. I remember one where I was running through a Muggle area, and I was being chased by a group of boys. When they caught me they were laughing as one of them held my arms and the others were hitting me. Harry was dreaming about going to Knockturn Alley as a little kid,” he paused.

“Shared dreams?” asked Snape.

“No, I didn’t dream any of the same things. It was more like I was learning his memories. And he, mine. We still have these dreams. At first it was several a night. Now it is just once in a while,” he thought for a moment. “Anyhow, it seemed like, as soon as we adjusted to one thing, something new happened. At first, it was feeling what the other did, and talking with our minds. Then we discovered that we could share images with each other,” Draco blushed when he remembered some of the earlier visuals.

“I do not wish to know. Please continue,” said Snape dryly.

“Right. Um, we were bored. We talked a lot. At night, it was comforting to know that we weren’t alone. He told me about…well nearly everything. And we soon discovered that we could feel each others emotions. When Harry was happy, frightened, sad…I could feel it all. And the other way around. He was so hungry. All the time. I found out that he was barely being fed. He got a half a bowl of soup, or cereal a day. And he had some candy in his trunk from when he left school that he had divided up for the summer. I think it was like six jelly beans a day. He didn’t even care when he ate the nasty ones,” Draco paused. He could sense that Harry was waking slightly.

“He is about to wake up. He doesn’t sleep much. The visions. And it’s worse now that I seem them. He hates that I have to suffer from them,” Draco explained, as he resumed he gentle rubbing of Harry’s forehead, hoping to encourage him to drift back into sleep.

Snape’s mind was racing, trying to absorb all that he was being told.

“About a week before he was to leave for the Weasleys’ his aunt started giving him fresh fruit and for his birthday she gave him a handkerchief with his initial hand stitched on it. Apparently, it was the best birthday present he ever received from them,” Draco snarled slightly. He calmed as he felt the shift in Harry.

“I can’t tell you how relieved I was when he finally went to the Weasleys’ and was fed. For the first time in over a month, my stomach stopped feeling like it was eating itself. A little while later, my mother decided to try again to convince me to join the Dark Lord. We both wound up unconscious when Harry decided to throw himself off the broom. When he woke up, Mrs. Weasley gave him a Headache Potion. Within seconds, we were really sick. Harry was throwing up. We were dizzy, and soon after Harry threw up, we passed out again. It was horrible,” Snape had a look of intense thought.

“Not much else happened that summer. When we got back, we worked out a way to meet, and to research. The first time we met, we hugged and…” he paused trying to find the words to explain. Finally he reached into his pocket and drew out a piece of cloth. He wiped his forehead and looked up at the waiting man.

“This happened,” Snape let out an exclamation of surprise, standing quickly and knocking over his seat in the process. He strode over to Draco and looked at the lighting bolt echo on the young man’s forehead. The events were enough to wake Harry who slowly opened his eyes. The headache was mostly faded.

Snape ran a finger over the flat mark on Draco’s head. “How are you keeping in masked?” he asked finally.

“It is a Muggle product for women called cover-up,” answered Harry.

“Except I am running low, and don’t know how to get more,” said Draco warily.

“Give me the bottle, I will find a way to get some more for you,” suggested Snape, moving back.

“I have…a lot of scars to cover,” whispered Draco. Harry was looking at the ground.

“How?” Draco waited for Harry, but soon became aware the other boy wasn’t going to answer.

“Er, there is the scar from the basilisk, from when Wormtail revived the Dark Lord, from where Umbridge used the Blood Quill,”

“THE WHAT!?” yelled Snape, outraged.

Harry flinched. “Blood Quill. She made me write lines. I must not tell lies.”

Snape was shaking in fury. “I will kill that bitch next time I get my hands on her,” he snarled.

Harry smiled slightly. For once the Potions Master’s ire was directed at someone other than himself.

“Anyhow…” said Draco pointedly.

“Yes Mr. Malfoy, do continue,” said Snape, resuming his seat.

“Once we were together in person, the changes started again. We have been meeting in the library to try and find answers. And we think we know what it is, but there isn’t any other information on it,” he said reluctantly.

“And are you going to fill me in, or am I going to have to guess at what is going on in your mind…minds,” he paused in confusion.

“It is called, ‘Two Become One’,” offered Harry. “There was only about a paragraph on the spell. It was banned…a long time ago. After,” he shuddered.

“What?” asked Snape softly.

“It was the cause of the destruction of Babylon,” whispered Harry. “All it says is that the participants had to be soul-mates, and that the power was shared, and grew. And the recipients frequently went mad and destroyed everything around them.”

Snape drew in a sharp breath. He collapsed back into his chair.

“How,” he cleared his throat. “How is it cast?”

“We don’t know sir,” answered Draco. “But, I think the power has grown again. I have never been able to do wandless magic before.”

Snape nodded. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard. “And you haven’t told anyone?”

“No sir. Only, well…you,” Harry answered.

“Very well. I have to think about this for a while. I need to do some research. Detention next Friday night. My office for both of you,” said Snape.

Harry smiled slightly before arguing. “We can’t talk about that there sir. The portraits, carvings, everything. They report to Dumbledore.”

Snape nodded. “I was thinking in terms of getting permission to take the two of you to gather potions ingredients.”

Harry and Draco smiled. An outing, with someone who knew about their…friendship? And no need to hide.

Snape moved to kneel in front of them. He took each boy’s chin in his hand and looked into each of their eyes.

“We will find the solution. I will not let madness take you. It has been over a thousand years since this spell was used. There has to be a solution today that was not used then,” he looked at them, his expression serious and determined.

Harry felt himself relax. The burden of the knowledge, now shared, lighted the weight pressing on him. He could feel the same thing coming from Draco. They nodded at the older man.

“I will be returning to my office and expect that the both of you will be returning to your dorms immediately. No trips to the library tonight. You need sleep to heal,” he said as he stood and cast a Disillusion spell on himself and left.