"I never took you as someone who would give up without a fight, Tobias." McGonagall's voice was stern, yet held both anger and disappointment.

"I'm not giving up," Tobias shot back, rage flashing briefly in his dark eyes as he turned his head to the side, facing the professor.

They had been sitting in the same bare room that was dim and seemingly lit from an unknown source. There were no torches or candles or florescent lights, but the room seemed to glow giving just enough light so they could see comfortably.

"I will never just ‘give up'," Tobias stated determinedly, before leaning back against the smooth surface of the brick wall with a tired sigh."All I'm saying, is that everyone is looking for us and if we stay put and keep low, at least for a while, there's a chance they will find us."

McGonagall nodded, her throat suddenly becoming tight and she swallowed hard in an attempt to loosen it. The memory she had experienced earlier was still with her and try as she might she couldn't seem to push it down again. She had a suspicion that Tobias was having the same difficultly if his unusually pale parlor was anything to go by.

Neither wanted to voice the question that lingered on both their minds. Neither wished to think of the possibility. The possibility that they would never be found.

The decision to wait gave them some control, but if they were honest, both knew there was no other option.

sssssssssss

Harry's knees made a muffled thunk as they hit the hard stone ground. His nails dug into the stone wall as he slumped to the ground. He'd covered every square inch of the room and found nothing. Leaning into the wall, Harry squeezed his eyes shut, forcing his tears back. The room he was in was still pitch black as though his eyes refused to adjust. Then again, maybe there was nothing for them to adjust to.

Turning so his back was pressed into the corner, Harry took several deep breaths. His chest rose and fell in a steady, if slightly hitched, rhythm. He didn't know what to do.

At least the voice had gone, though. It hadn't bothered him for a long time now. He wished someone was here with him. His dad or brother or his friends. Hell even Malfoy was preferable to...this.

He wondered if Professor McGonagall was in a place like this and if she had found a way out. Harry lifted a hand and rubbed his right eye underneath his glasses while his lips smushed between his teeth. He hoped she was okay, because he didn't know how to help her if he couldn't help himself.

"Don't fret young one," the voice said almost sadly and Harry's eyes instinctively opened wide, though he knew by now the voice was in his head. "You are not alone."

ssssssssssssssss

"I'm afraid I don't follow, Severus." Burbage said, his confusion obvious.

After waking the other professors currently residing in the Slytherin dormitory, Severus had led them quickly out of the dungeons to the Gryffindor common room. Upon their arrival and Severus insistence, the other professors were summoned and soon all gathered in the red and gold common room.

Severus sighed and rubbed his temples with his right hand. They were wasting precious time! If they would just listen and comprehend what he had said several times they could already have the plan underway.

Severus voice betrayed his annoyance. "Children's minds are vastly different from an adult mind. They think differently. The three students that were attacked, had no memory of the attack itself but the oldest remembers more than the youngest one. Since there is no trace of anything even resembling a memory charm, this thing is somehow still inside their heads. It was too weak to do anything more at the time. Now it has gained strength, I believe that it's using a...dark form of magic similar to Occlumency. It is using the spaces it claimed inside the minds of those it previously attacked and now that it has gain strength is virtually locking the others within their own minds and the minds of others. Using Legilimency, it may be possible to find them by breaking through the minds of one of children first attacked. Using the same skills one uses to ward of an attack with Occlumency we can push this...thing... out of their minds."

"It's not that simple, Severus," Dumbledore replied calmly, though the distant look in his eye gave the impression he was trying to work around the problem. "Occlumency and Legimency are controlled forms magic. It's illegal to perform it on an underage wizard without their parent's consent."

"Actually, Headmaster," Professor Flitwick's voice caused the headmaster to focus his ancient eyes on the charms professor. "Mr. Mallard, the sixth year who was attack, is of age."

ssssssssssssss

It felt like hours, but Minerva was sure it had only been minutes since the decision to wait for help. In her youth, she had briefly studied the art of Occulmency, but found the process tiring and basically useless. There were better ways to hide secrets. Now, however, she would give her left arm for the ability to push aside the memory that had dug its talons into her defenseless mind.

She was leaning against the wall, not far from Tobias, but not close enough to impose on his personal space. Her silver hair had fallen almost completely out of her normally tight bun and her glasses were coated with a thin layer of dirt.

"I don't understand," she said quietly, sounding more distanced and objective than she felt. "Why did we wake up to those particular memories and why haven't we seen any more?"

"Do you really want to see more?" Tobias asked, his voice oddly detached with a rather haunted tone that Minerva never imagined to hear from him.

The Transfiguration professor swallowed, keeping her gaze straight ahead. Without her consent, her reply was a soft whisper. "No."

"I've been wondering the same thing, actually."

How Tobias could keep his tone so dissociated and steady amazed and baffled Minerva.

"Perhaps that common thread lies in the memories themselves."

"Do not expect me to start spilling my secrets, Tobias," she stated defensively.

Tobias laughed darkly, and Minerva could feel his piercing black eyes turn towards her. "No worries, my dear. After all, that would mean I would have to tell you mine, and I doubt either of us would survive if I did that."

ssssssssssssss

The anger vein in Severus's temple was throbbing and he wondered how any person could survive with such jumbled thoughts whizzing by in their minds. After Filus's revelation, they had quickly summoned the 17 year old sixth year Ravenclaw student, and told him their theory. He was understandable reluctant to allow his potions master to poke around his memories, but Albus manipulated him into it.

So now, Severus stood amongst the swirling mass of memories that were a teenage male. Such fun.

Every mind is unique. But certain similarities exist. In someone who has not learned the art of Occlusion, memories and emotions are not in any specific order and there are few, if any, defenses. However, one defense every human being has is that of repression. The mind is constantly moving and growing, expanding with each new memory, but if a memory is painful, it is repressed.

Severus continued to shift through the memories: sex, homework, girls, chess, sex, girls, friends...etc. He was going to need a strong drink after this.

Anyone with the slightest grasp of Occlumency could tell you that your shield had to be flexible: something that could grow and expand with your mind. A wall was not a good shield, because it could not expand without breaking. Walls do have their uses, however. Walls can contain one specific memory. A repressed memory. First, the memory is buried deep within the mind then through years of work, walls are built around the memory, closing it off from everything else.

If Severus's suspicions were correct, he was looking for a wall, built not by a repressed memory, but by an intruder.