It seemed to Severus like they had been walking for at least an hour when, in reality, only five minutes had passed. The scenery hadn’t changed and Severus found himself growing agitated.
Normally one’s eyes grew adjusted to the dark and sought out the light, but there was hardly any light here, just the persistent black. Every so often, Severus would sense a change in the atmosphere and he was positive it was the same pulsing that had captivated him when they first arrived. While it bothered him, Lailie seemed not to notice anything.
They walked on, seemingly to nowhere. The feeling Severus sensed about the shadow grew stronger and in his mind, Severus pictured it beating harder, stronger. Soon, Lailie stretched out her hand, blocking Severus from continuing.
“What is it?” he asked.
“I think this is it.” Lailie closed her eyes, a look of concentration upon her face.
Severus felt like rolling his eyes. What ‘it’ was, he had no idea. Not that it would matter very much at this point; he might as well be walking around blindfolded. This whole affair of entering the subconscious was odd to him. Severus preferred the art of delving into the many layers of the mind and interpreting what he could.
“Now what are you doing?”
“Trying to figure out where the souls join.”
Severus looked around. Trying to find anything in this darkness was futile. There was no rift in the black, no sign pointing to a convergence.
Severus glanced at Lailie. She seemed to be getting more and more frustrated the harder she tried to focus. “What exactly are you looking for?”
“Something; anything that seems different, atypical.”
Severus looked around again, barely seeing anything, forget something unusual. A prickling sensation passed over him and that hair on the back of his neck stood up. His eyes moved to where he assumed the beating shadow was. “Would this constitute as something out of the ordinary?” It was certainly different enough.
Lailie looked to where Severus stood and then glanced back at him. “I don’t see anything there. What is it?”
“This.” Severus pointed to the wall behind him. “It’s like its pulsing.”
Lailie looked excited. “That’s good.”
“How is it good?”
“You found the rift.”
“But why are you unable to see it?”
“I was trying to feel out something different, but because I didn’t know what was normal, I didn’t know what to look for. But you can, you can feel it.”
And Severus could. The agitation he felt before, the annoyance…it must have been because of this, some influence from the Horcrux. A feeling of relief passed through him. “So this is it? This pulsing ‘thing’ is the way in to Potter’s soul?”
A look of deep concentration once again passed over Lailie’s face. “Harry’s or the Horcrux, I don’t know. Feel it out.”
Severus felt a rush of irritation that he knew wasn’t from him. What did she want him to do? Fondle the thing? He glanced at her skeptically.
“You know Harry’s signature, I don’t and I can’t even see it. Feel the wall, figure out which is which.”
Severus looked back at the darkness. If he concentrated too hard the beating seemed to be coming from inside his own skull and the darkness seemed to throb in time with his pulse. Severus let out a sigh, closing his eyes to get a better feel of the atmosphere around him. He heard Lailie behind him, whispering encouragingly. “That’s it, come on, come on…”
That spark of irritation ignited. Snapping his eyes open, Severus whipped his head around and glared at her. “I am not a two year old who needs constant encouragment. Kindly be still.”
“Sorry.” Her eyes twinkled as she shut her mouth.
Severus huffed. Let her be amused at my expense. He shut his eyes again. There was absolute quiet.
Not knowing what to feel for, Severus extended his arm slowly. The air felt thick around him. Not knowing what Potter’s soul was supposed to feel like, Severus reached out further. A sense of foreboding washed over him as he made contact with the shadows. He looked down at his hand. In the dimness, Severus could see shadowy tendrils were reaching out, licking at his hand, caressing lightly. Mesmerized, Severus did not move. Climbing higher up his arm, the tendrils barely touched him. Higher yet, they reached his forearm. The tendrils wrapped gently around his arm and then suddenly clamped down. Severus’ eyes widened and he tried to pull his arm back. The grip became tighter and Severus felt his breathing quicken. His arm started to burn and Severus cried out.
Just as suddenly, he was released. Severus fell to his knees, arm clutched to his chest.
“What happened? Are you alright?” Lailie was at his side in less than a second. “Severus?”
He held out his arm and unbuttoned his sleeve, pulling it back. There, on the inner part of his forearm stood the Dark Mark. It was jet black. A hiss of pain escaped Severus as he held his arm tightly. The burning sensation he felt slowly began to dissipate.
Severus looked at the wall in shock. This was not Potter, this throbbing, pulsing gloom. This was something dark, something sinister.
“I’m fine.” He pulled down his sleeve and re-buttoned it.
Lailie looked at him worriedly. “Are you sure?”
Severus stood up, quickly composing himself. “Positive. I was just taken by surprise.”
“That’s not Harry, is it?”
Severus shook his head. “No, it is not.”
“Alright, so the other one is. Can you show me where to go?”
Severus looked at her for a second before remembering that Lailie couldn’t feel the difference. He nodded his head and taking hold of Lailie’s arm, just around the elbow, steered her so she was standing right in front of the inert shadow.
“What are you going to do now?” Severus asked.
“We’re going to go in. When I signal to you lean on it. We should end up in Harry’s soul.”
“It’s that simple, gaining entrance to ones soul?” Severus wondered disbelievingly.
Lailie smirked. “Not quite. Many people cannot accomplish it. That’s why there are so few of us who specialize in this particular field of mind magic. Anyway, I’m going to start the spell now.”
“And all I do is lean?” Severus asked dubiously.
Lailie rolled her eyes at him. “Copy me. Do whatever you see me do.”
Monkey see, monkey do.
Severus nodded his understanding. Lailie turned to the wall and began to recite a spell. Severus caught the word “anima” and wondered if she was repeating the earlier enchantment. He didn’t think about it very long, instead waiting impatiently for Lailie to do something for him to emulate. This place was making him decidedly uncomfortable and Severus did not care to dawdle.
The moment he saw Lailie begin to lean, palms flat and wand in hand, Severus whipped out his own and braced himself against the wall.
The quicker this happened, the better. Get to Potter and get out. That was his plan but he didn’t have much hope it would be that simple.
Severus glanced at Lailie. She was in the same position, eyes locked forward. She took her wand and placed it so that the tip was facing forward. Severus copied her. At first nothing happened, and then the wall began to move. It didn’t pulse like the other parts did; rather it turned into jellylike material, seeming to grab hold of the wand.
Lailie placed her palm against the end of the wand and pushed. Slowly the wand was swallowed up in the darkness. Lailie turned around, closed her eyes and leaned backwards. Severus narrowed his eyes.
“You just gave up your wand!” He hissed. Lailie opened her eyes and glanced at him. Her body seemed to sink into the wall, just as her wand had.
“You need to as well.”
“You must be insane! There is no way I am going to give my wand to…to that!”
“Just do it!” She hissed back at him. “You’ll be left behind and I can’t come back for you.”
Severus looked at the wall in disgust. He would not relinquish his wand. No sane wizard would. Let Lailie go on her own; Severus could figure a way out on his own, he was sure of it.
Looking over at Lailie, he saw her body had begun to sink deeper and deeper. Severus glanced back at the wall in front of him. It was becoming hard again.
A seed of doubt planted itself in Severus’ gut. Could he find a way out? He barely had any idea where he was, let alone the spell that had gotten him here in the first place…
“Severus! Now!” Lailie shouted at him and then, she was gone.
For the first time in a long time, Severus felt panic begin to grab at him. No longer trusting his abilities, Severus shoved his wand the same way Lailie had and turned around quickly. Slamming his back up against the wall, Severus shut his eyes tightly, hoping he had done it fast enough.
It was like floating on water. He felt the wall rippling under his weight, and his body moved in time with the motions. It felt like the wall was molding to his form; cradling him gently and then Severus was through.