Harry ran a hand through his hair. "So... I am not really sure how I first made my mind scape. It happened when I filled my brain with magic and tried to repair damage when I was a kid." Susan noticed his hand was shaking slightly. "I am not sure how much magic I used, or the effects really. What I DO know is that much of my body has been altered or healed by my magic at one point or another."
He looked smaller than Susan was used to. Harry normally felt like a huge old tree, something that had always been there and knew why it existed... but right now he seemed unsure, far too young. She gave him a supporting smile which he was able to somewhat return.
Hermione gave him a quick hug. "Let's move onward Harry. If we can't reach our mind scape the way you did, can you help us?" Harry hesitated... could he? 'Wisdom, what do you think?'
'Well, Jim and I talked about it for a few hours since this conversation started. If you pull one of their ropes into their mind and go with them, you can probably help them get started.'
Well, that wasn't perfect but it would be better than letting anyone just wander into his friend's minds. Harry gave a subtle nod. "Well, it will have to be done one person at a time, and it will probably be much different than mine." He leaned into the table, resting his chin on his hands. "Who wants to go first?"
Hermione had barely heard the question before her arm was in the air. "OOH ME! I want an internal library."
Terry was looking at Hermione like she was nuts. He turned to Hannah. "How many libraries does she want exactly? She has our homeroom, this library, even the one in Harry's head."
Hannah shrugged. "She's a claw. What did you expect?"
Hermione had already swapped seats with Padma to sit next to Harry. "Shush you guys, I want my books."
Harry was trying not to grin, but he was honestly looking forward to seeing what Hermione would build. He knew he loved books, but she was almost married to them. He reached a rope into her, gently wrapping his threads around her orange rope and leading both toward her brain.
Oh wow, that felt... interesting. As she looked into Harry's green eyes she felt a warmth just below her neck, as if a fuzzy scarf had been heated and wrapped around her. Keeping her face as calm as possible, she felt the heat rolling up her spine, closer... As it reached her brain the world took on an orange haze before everything faded away.
She turned rapidly. She was waste deep in a deep orange ocean, one that seemed to have no floor. There was no sky, just orange fog... but she didn't feel scared. This was just how the world was.
To her left she saw a green glow build up. It grew like a crystal, layers after layer expanding and stretching. She drifted closer, watching the gem glow with a heartbeat. A sudden flash caused her to blink... Oh.
"Hey Harry. I guess we are here then?"
"Not sure really. I have a blindfold on." Oh. Yeah, it was a deep green one.
"Why?"
Harry shrugged. "When I first came to my mind I didn't think to make clothing. Took me a few months to even consider it." He heard an 'EEEP' and gave a small grin. "Yeah, anyway... anything you think of will appear here. Including clothing and tools and stuff." He tried to ignore the sounds of cloth rustling. "So... can I take off my blindfold?"
"Of... Yeah. Of course. Why shouldn't you?"
Harry pretended to not notice her massive blush or slightly ruffled clothing as he took his blindfold off.
He looked around. "Oooh, I like this." He looked into the water before his eyes got really wide and he quickly put his blindfold back on. "OOPS. Um. Ok, we need to have you make a place now."
Hermione floated near him. "Why the blindfold again?"
Harry's cheeks were blushing again. "Well, you haven't sorted or stored your memories... and this ocean is made of them." Hermione looked down... oh. There was her in a princess dress... there was a neighbor dog... a leaf she had liked when younger...
Oh my. Thank goodness Harry was fast looking away. "So... what should I build?"
He shrugged. "I built what made me happy. Imagine a place that feels important or special to you."
She relaxed, floating in the sea. Special?
Drifting through her mind was her old room, back before they had to move to a bigger house. She didn't have bookshelves yet, just piles of books on her bed, on the floor, everywhere. When she was sad from kids teasing her, she would make stacks of books and just hide in the middle, like a fort. She had even put a blanket on top. She flinched a little remembering the names kids would call her, how mean they could be when she said something too mature or used words they hadn't heard before. The stupid arguments she would have...
When she won those arguments, they didn't want to be her friend. She wasn't good at being wrong, at letting others do better or try something if she felt she could do it better. Even when she expected the kids to be impressed with what she knew, like the adults were... they were just mad that she had out argued them.
The books had been there, when her friends left her.
She felt arms wrap her in a hug. She didn't open her eyes, she didn't even know when she had started crying... she was just grateful Harry had been there, here, when she felt so alone suddenly. At some point she realized he was talking... whispering things. "...ok, you are ok, everything is safe, you are safe, just relax, nothing is wrong, everything is fine..."
She smiled through her tears and hugged him a bit tighter. Having a friend made the whole world seem brighter.
Harry rubbed her back until she stopped crying. He remembered years before his defeat of the daemon, dark years. Alone in the dark, in that hell, he had wanted someone to do this. To hug him, to tell him it would be fine. That someone cared. Not doing so now when he could feel her sadness was unthinkable.
As he felt her stop, he looked around. "Well, I must say I am still a bit surprised. You REALLY like books."
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