Legilimency

Rose and Draco arrived back at St. Mungo's early the next day. They went into the ward the back way. The same Healer met them outside.

"How is he?" Rose asked as soon as she saw the Healer.

"He is better. He remembers more than we thought, he retains memories of many places and some people, though he doesn't remember the names. Our Legilimens expert…"

"Legilimens?" Draco interrupted. "You use Legilimency on my son?"

The Healer looked surprised at this reaction. "Of course. Legilimency is the best way to assess brain injury." Draco did not look happy. In fact, Rose was concerned he was about to attack the Healer and go get his son. The Healer seemed to sense something similar, as he moved in front of the door whilst trying to appease him.

"I assure you, Mr. Malfoy, there is nothing inherently Dark or dangerous with Legilimency, when used in a Healing capacity like we do here. Like many other parts of magic, it has been misused by Dark Wizards, but in this case, it is necessary."

Draco still looked displeased, but he held his tongue. Rose wanted to get back to the matter at hand.

"You said he is doing better? Do you think he will recover then?"

"That is still too early to tell, but the odds are better than we feared. It seems your husband has a strong mind. And his determination to keep you safe also probably helped him stay strong."

"Can I see him?"

"I would not recommend that just yet. His main concern is still where you are, and if you are safe. But he doesn't remember who you are. You are a concept, something he knows is important, but he doesn't know why. He remembers young Mr. Potter in much the same way, as a boy that is important to him, but no more than that. I fear that if he sees you, it will not make him better, but he will constantly fear that you are in danger. You would not be able to leave his side."

Rose thought that she wouldn't mind not leaving, if that meant she would be able to see him.

"I mean that you would not be able to leave his view at all. Not to use the bathroom, not to sleep, nothing. Believe me, it will be very detrimental to his recovery."

"But why doesn't he remember? When he woke up the first time, he knew very well who we all were."

"Yes, you mentioned that, but now we have removed the Memory and Confundus Charms that was placed on him. That caused his mind to reset, in a way. He is now recovering pieces about himself. It is important that he gets to do that at his own pace." He looked up at Draco as he said that. "So, no visits from anyone yet. I may ask you or Albus Potter to come in a few days, but for now we should leave him to his own thoughts."

Neither Rose nor Draco was happy about this, but they had little choice but to accept it. They went down to Albus' room and he seemed to do a lot better. Most of his bruises were gone and his broken bones had been healed. He smiled when they entered.

"Rose! Draco! Good to see you! How is Scorpius? Did you get to see him?"

Rose didn't reply at first. She just studied Albus, relieved to see that he was doing better.

"I'm fine," Albus said when no one answered. "I just need to stay until tomorrow so they are sure they didn't miss something, and they will probably make me drink some more blood-replenishing Potions. That stuff tastes horrible. You'd think it tastes like blood, but it is worse."

"And how would you know what blood tastes like?" Rose asked, a little smile showing.

"There is a lot you don't know about me." Albus said with a laugh. "But please, tell me. How is Scorpius?"

"He is better," Draco replied. "But not well. We were not allowed to see him, and it was clear the Healer would prefer that we were not there at all." He proceeded to tell Albus everything the Healer had said. In the end, Albus had tears in his eyes. He reached out and grabbed Rose's hand. Rose held on to it.

"All I care about now is to make sure this doesn't happen again." She said that with the same steely determination she had shown the day before.

Albus looked at her, surprised. "What do you mean? What can you do about it?"

Before Rose had a chance to elaborate, Harry and Ginny walked into the room. Ginny smiled and gave Rose a hug before shaking Draco's hand.

Harry, however, knew where they had wanted to be. "So, no visiting Scorpius today either?"

"No." Rose said with a sad voice. "And according to the Healer, I am the last person he should see. It would apparently be very bad for his recovery. He says Albus might be allowed to see him in a few days but not me."

"I suppose that makes sense." Ginny said, "But I am still sorry to hear that." She grabbed hold of Rose's shoulders.

"They are using Legilimency." Draco added. He tried to make it sound like an innocent comment, but he didn't quite succeed.

"Yes," Harry said hesitantly. "It did give me a start the first time I heard that too. But their usage of it is benign. Hermione has studied this in detail, as she has so many other things, and she agrees. Believe me, I know how you feel, but I would advise you to not interfere with the Healers. I have seen them work miracles before, though never in as severe cases as this one. They were able to help James last year, for instance, though in his case some of the memories were unrecoverable."

Draco seemed a little mollified, but it was clear the idea bothered him. Rose wondered why. Has he had some bad experience with Legilimency? She knew Voldemort had been a skilled Legilimens, but had he ever used it on Draco? She had never asked about Draco's past. It was clearly not something he was proud of, and not something he wanted to discuss. Harry seemed to understand though.

"How is the search going? Have you found that last Death Eater?" Rose asked.

"No, he managed to give us the slip. But the word on the street is, he is getting the blame for exposing the others, and no one wants to give him shelter with the fire burning under him. So, the odds are we will find him."

Rose nodded. That was something, she supposed.

"Who is the last one still free?" Albus asked. "Is it one of the old Death Eaters, or one of the new recruits from last time?"

"Oh, it's one of the new recruits. No one even seems to know his name, as he never gave us one. At first, he claimed to be a werewolf, then, when that was shown to be false, a vampire. But he is just a normal man, though clearly a little insane. The only name he gave us was Odium."

"Odium? I can't say I remember that name" Albus said. "If you give me a picture, maybe I can identify him. Though I didn't get the names of all the new recruits, not the ones recruited after Crabbe got captured."

"I'll see if I can find his arrest picture," Harry said. He hadn't thought about Albus being able to identify them. He didn't want to think about how Albus knew these people at all.