"You had no right!"

"I most certainly did!" Madame Pomfrey snapped back. "You were my patient and you needed the rest!" She jumped back when he threw the covers aside. "What are you doing?"

Severus hissed with pain as he sat up.

"Let that be a lesson to you; lie down and I'll get you some tea."

Despite the pain, Severus dragged his sore leg off the mattress and onto the floor.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Where do you think I'm going?"

"I cannot allow my patient ..."

"I do not recall asking your permission." He stood up and swayed on the spot.

"Please Severus, you're going to hurt yourself. Besides, what makes you think you can do any better than the Healers? Merlin's sake, even Dumbledore has failed."

"How is Albus?" Severus asked and braced himself against footboard to counter his lightheadedness.

"The heart attack weakened him," she said and shook her head. "He's another one who should be in bed resting. Running off to ..."

Severus ignored her and stepped away from the bed.

"You honestly think you're going to make it all the way to St. Mungos?"

"I have to try," he managed through gritted teeth.

The Mediwitch moved in front of him to block his path. "Severus," her tone was much softer now. "Harry is in a coma. Even if you could get through his shield, he won't hear you."

Severus stopped and looked hard into Poppy's pale blue eyes. "I believe that I can get through to him, and I'm going to try. Now, you can either help me or you can get out of my way."

~~~~~SH~~~~~

"Harry? Where are you? We're trying to find you."

Hermione ran out to the middle of the London Bridge and looked franticly up and down the Thames. "Please Harry; we need to find an apartment. Remember? You and Ron and I, we're going to be roommates during college. Please Harry, where are you?"

"Hey, wake up," Ron shook Hermione's shoulder.

The exhausted witch woke up with a start and stared trancelike down the bleak hallway.

"You okay?"

"Wha?" Hermione recalled her dream then leaned against Ron's broad chest. "Oh Ron, it was awful."

"What was?"

"My dream: I dreamt that you and I were trying to find Harry so we could get our apartment in London, but we couldn't find him."

Ron didn't say anything but instead wrapped his arm around his girlfriend.

"I could hear him call to us." She started to cry. "But we couldn't find him and he couldn't find us."

She was sobbing now and Ron pulled her close. "Please Mione, don't cry. He'll get better; I know he will."

As he sat there trying to comfort Hermione, something caught his attention from down the hallway.

Ron turned and stared dumbfounded at the sight of Professor Snape floating towards them in a levichair, accompanied by Madame Pomfrey. "Well would you look at that."

"At what?" Hermione asked and sniffed.

"At that."

She wiped her nose and brushed away her tears then turned to see the unusual approach of her former Potions Professor. "Professor?"

Her greeting received only a nod in acknowledgement as the duo turned and entered the room across from where the two teens sat.

"What the hell does he think he's doing?"  Ron went to stand up.

"No Ron, wait. The Professor and Harry are really close. Maybe he can help."

"Closer than us? We're his best mates!" Ron snarled in defense. "Besides, if the Headmaster couldn't get through Harry's shield, what makes Snape think he can?"

Hermione knew Ron wasn't thinking straight; he was exhausted from worry over his Father and George, both of whom had been injured in the battle. They would recover but things were far worse in Harry's case.

When his Reducto curse backfired on him because of Priory Incantatem, it had broken nearly every bone in his body and had left him in a coma. And to make matters worse, the protective shield Harry had always maintained as a defense against Voldemort was still in place and was blocking all the magical treatments the Healers traditionally used to deal with coma.

It had been over a week now since the battle and in all that time, Ron and Hermione had kept a vigil near his side. The two teens' exhaustion had worn on them, leaving Hermione on the verge of continual tears and Ron in a very foul mood.

"I don't know if he can get through to Harry or not," she sniffed. "But if he can - isn't that what matters most?"

~~~~~SH~~~~~

"Severus," Dumbledore's voice was thin and weak. "What are you doing here?"

"The same as you, my friend," answered Severus as he entered the room.

There on the bed was the young man he'd come to love as his son, battered and bruised and laying still as a corpse. The stabilizing charm that had been put in place to support his many broken bones glowed all about his body, shimmering like a lavender cloud.

Albus sat next to the bedside. He was pale with fatigue after many hours of trying to break through the young wizard's shield. "You explained Harry's situation?"

Poppy nodded with a worried expression. "Yes I did. And now that Severus is here, will you please agree to get some rest?"

The old wizard looked to the younger one, "Perhaps you of all people stand the best chance to reach him."

Severus kept his eyes on Harry's still form as he moved the chair closer. "Because of what happened the night of his transformation ..."

"And the connection you now share," Albus finished the sentence.

"Please Albus, Poppy - would you mind leaving? I think this will be easier if we are alone."

~~~~~SH~~~~~

After Albus and Poppy had left the room, Severus first reached out subtly with his magic.

He understood, perhaps more so than anyone else, the intricacies of Harry's shield.

From that first day back in fifth year, when the teen had so cavalierly run into Snape's office spouting proclamations that he'd suddenly learned Occlumency when in reality, he'd somehow developed a shield of sorts, and it was his shield that now barricaded the young hero from all those who were trying to help him.

"I'm here Harry," Severus gently laid his hand upon the limp cool one resting on the sheet. "And I'm not leaving until I find you."

He thought about all their Occlumency lessons and the night of Samhain when he, Severus, had been injured.

"You came to me that night," he said and bushed back the black fringe. "Do you remember?"

Harry lay motionless. He was ashen white except for the many dark bruises that littered his skin.

"You stayed with me ..." Severus drew a breath when he felt tears well in his eyes. "It was the first time since Rosa died ... that I felt love."

He already knew Harry's shield so well. It was beyond strong, but there was a way in and Severus knew the path; he had traveled it many times during their years of training.

He closed his eyes and reached out first with his magic and felt the now familiar burn of the outermost layer. To those unaccustomed, this would be enough of a deterrent not to proceed, but Severus knew to ignore the discomfort, for it was only in his mind.

He made it past the outer layer and on to the hard center. It was here he knew he couldn't push, for pushing would only make this part of the shield grow stronger.

He patiently toyed with it and eventually was able to slip subtly past it.

He was in; now would come the unknown. "Legilimens," he thought more than said.

~~~~~

Severus found himself once again on the fourth floor of the Fastness. All was in ruins, just as it had been the night of the battle.

Severus reached out and grasped Harry's hand. "Let's go home."

 fin