Author's Notes:
Here's Chapter 36 for you all.
I know this chapter is very late, four days late, and I'm sorry but I will make it up to you all.
Anyway, I wanted to try something different and write from somebody elses point of view. I hope you enjoy.
As always, I dedicate this fanfiction to all my readers.
I dedicate this chapter to gotmoreissuesthanvogue, tmtcltb, Severus Regulus Dumbledore, MrsGinPotter, Eirini, alicia, Zalia, rexjdk, pgoodrichboggs, Hyper-Blossom Z, Olivia, HuffPride, SB- Potterhead Budgie Lover, MaireadsTBTS, lexluth1713, Shalena Bowie, Catmerrill, roni2010 and Guest.
P.S. Enjoy Xx
"Lisa, I want to be informed as soon as they leave." Alexander Vyner, orders the ministry official at the desk as he exits the archives.
She jumps up from her chair. "Yes, Mr Vyner. Are you leaving them alone in there?" She asks in disbelief.
Alexander narrows his eyes angrily. "Minister's orders." He scoffs before heading towards the lift. "Don't forget to check them before they leave." He barks at her as he enters the lift, pressing the button for sub-level 19.
He taps his toe against the floor of the lift as he impatiently waits for it to reach his floor. As soon as the door opens, he races down the corridor towards his office. He bursts into the room making James and Lyra jump. He vaguely wonders where Elyssa and Daniel had gone but he's too preoccupied to question their absences.
"Mr Vyner, did I do it right?" He asks, rushing over to his desk.
Alexander sits down in his large, leather seat then rummages around his desk, looking for the map.
"You redeemed yourself, James, with that phone call." He muttered, hearing the other man breathe a sigh of relief. "Where the hell is the bloody map?" He shouts.
James and Lyra both jump into action, helping to sort through the parchments scattered across his desk. After a few seconds, Alexander takes his wand out of his pocket and Accios the map. They watch as it flutters from underneath a pile of parchments on Elyssa's desk.
"Where is she?" He asks, unfolding the map on top of the now messier desk.
"Lunchbreak." James answers.
Alexander glances down at the map of the archives. It's a very simple map, showing the filing cabinets as squares and the doors as a gap in the wall but it worked. The gap in the wall is filled in with a red flashing light when someone is in the archives like it is now. With a smile on his face, he leans back in his chair to watch.
"Lyra, you are excused." He states, not taking his eyes off the map.
"Thank you, Mr Vyner." She squeaks as she nods at him then scurries away to her own desk.
"Sir?" James asks nervously, shuffling from one foot to the other.
"I'm just curious, James, as to how they knew where to find me," Alexander asks, wandering his eyes over the map, wondering where they are.
"I- I don't know, sir. I- I never told them where the archives were." James stutters.
"I already know how they found the archives but what I want to know is how they knew I was in the archives. Did I not specifically tell you on Thursday when I received the Minister's orders to call me if I was down there when they arrived?" He asks rhetorically.
"Y-yes, sir. S-sorry, sir, but Mr Malfoy said they'd be back in an hour. How was I to know he would make his own way down to the archives? I didn't know he knew where they were." He tries to explain himself.
Alexander shifts his gaze quickly from the map to James and then back again.
"As I said, you redeemed yourself with that phone call. It's a shame I had to be the one to call you and tell you they were here." He snipes. "You're excused." He adds and James all but runs back to his desk.
He smirks to himself as he stares intently at the map. Nothing happens for a few minutes as he assumes they are taking in the vastness of the archives. Then suddenly a square filing cabinet flashes red. Black writing within the square reading 'YO – ZZ'. Alexander sits up straighter, watching as the cabinet stays open for a couple of seconds before closing. He watches sharply for a minute but nothing else happens. With a sigh, he leans back in his chair, entwining his fingers behind his head.
"This map urgently needs updating." He states angrily. He hears the scratching of James and Lyra's quill stop as they presumably glance over at him but his eyes stay focused.
His eyes flitters across the map, looking for flashing red lights as he wonders what their guests are currently doing within his archives. He silently curses the Minister with every swear he can think of until a filing cabinet on the map flashes red and the name 'ZYKAN' writes itself within the square in black.
"James!" He calls urgently.
The wizards chair scraps across the wooden floor as he jumps out of his chair and runs over to Alexander's desk.
"Yes, Sir?" He questions.
"Who are the Zykan's?" He asks.
"Er…"
"Well…" Alexander raises a questioning eyebrow, still not taking his eyes off the map. "You better find out. Send a note to Darius in the Department of Magical Transportation. Ask if they have any records of anyone from the Zykan family taking the Apparition Exam. Send it on the red parchment. We need an answer as soon as possible." He orders.
James bows deeply with a "Yes, Sir," before running back to his desk to write the note to Darius.
Alexander takes his wand out and flicks it at a piece of parchment that writes the name 'Zykan' at the top. Then he waits impatiently to see what they'll do next. He didn't have to wait long as a few moments later, the Zykan's filing cabinet is closed and Alexander is left staring at the map in annoyance.
"Lyra!" He calls.
He hears her gasp slightly as she drops her quill on her desk then hurry over to him.
"Y-yes, Sir." She stutters nervously.
Alexander takes pride in how nervous most of his department are around him but Lyra seems terrified of him.
"I'd like you to stop whatever it is you're doing and focus solely on a new assignment for the next week." He tells her, trying to use a comforting voice to put her at ease.
"A-a new assignment, sir?" She asks him.
"Yes, this map is crap. I need a new one that tracks the movements of whoever is in the archives." He explains, glancing up at her for a split second.
He spots a sparkle of what he thinks is excitement in her eyes and he smirks to himself.
"Are you up to the assignment? I could always ask Elyssa when she gets back from her lunch break." He suggests.
"No, sir. I'll do it." She tells him, sounding more determined than she ever has before.
"You're dismissed. Split whatever you were doing between James, Elyssa and Daniel." He tells her. She nods then runs back to her desk.
He smirks to himself proudly. He really should have been a Slytherin with his cunningness but, alas, Ravenclaw was good enough.
Darius is napping at his desk when his deputy, Lewis, knocks on the wood.
"Hey, Darius." He knocks again.
With a yawn, he sits up, stretching his back as he refocuses on his surroundings.
"What is it?" He asks.
"You've got a red note." Lewis throws the red piece of parchment on his desk.
"Who's it from?" He questions, picking the note up.
"I don't know, it's addressed to you." He rolls his eyes before going back to his own desk.
Darius makes a mental note to sort Lewis' attitude out as he unfolds the note.
Hi Darius,
Alexander Vyner wants to know if you have any records of the Zykan family taking their Apparition Exam. He needs a reply as soon as possible because it's very important in our department.
Thanks,
James Stuart
Darius rereads the note a few times before glaring over at Lewis. He crumples the parchment up into a ball and throws it at his deputy's head.
"Oi, what you doing?" Lewis shouts, picking the parchment up, ready to throw it back.
"Am I finally losing my mind or did Alex ask some child to write me an urgent note about some family's Apparition Exam?" He sighs, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his hands tiredly.
He hears Lewis try to flatten the parchment out again before reading the note.
"James!" He mutters in disbelief. "We were friends at Hogwarts. He's very enthusiastic, not very academic but loyal to a fault. Nearly got himself killed during the war because of it. Such a Hufflepuff, he is." Lewis shakes his head with a fond smile.
"Once you stop blushing, you can go check the records for the Zylan's or whoever," Darius tells him, laying his head back down on his desk to finish his nap.
"Yeah, and you just take another nap, old man," Lewis says as he walks towards the side door leading down into their records.
Darius tries to jinx him but by the time he's got his wand out, the other man has already disappeared down the stairs.
Thanks to Mr Vyner assigning Lyra the map-making assignment, James will have to stay back late every night this week to finish his weekly workload. Elyssa won't be happy when she gets back off her lunch break. He's just finishing his third file when Mr Vyner swears loudly, making both himself and Lyra jump.
"They've gone into the bloody book vault." He announces.
"I thought only the Minister and we knew the code combination to the door," James mentions.
"Well obviously not, James." He snaps. "Lyra, add the book vault onto the new map. I want to know which books are being pulled off the shelf." He adds, a lot more calmly.
"Yes. Sir." She answers back quietly.
James is just opening another file when Mr Vyner jumps out of his chair.
"They've split up. One of them has opened the Rowle's filing cabinet." He states.
"But they're one of our high profilers." James points out.
"That fact hasn't escaped me." Mr Vyner snaps at him again. "The Minister should never have allowed this. Taking bribes from the likes of Draco Malfoy." He scoffs. "I just hope he got something worth it out of the deal."
Suddenly, there's a knock at the door, and even Mr Vyner's head glances up at the door for a split second before going back to his map.
James, wondering who bothered to make the trip down to sub-level 47 when they could have sent a note, shuffles towards the door and opens it a crack.
"Lewis!" James stares confusedly at the man on the other side of the door. "What are you doing down here." He hisses.
He hasn't seen Lewis since the party the Ministry threw last June to celebrate the end of the war, which had been an awkward exchange, to say the least.
"Nice to see you too." He smiles, glancing over his head to Lyra who's gone back to her new assignment.
When Lewis' eyes meet his again, the smile fades.
"I know I could have sent a note back," He starts, holding up a folded piece of parchment. "But… I haven't seen you since the party. It's weird, isn't it?" Lewis tries to smile again but it doesn't quite meet his eyes.
"Wait, you work in the Department of Magical Transportation?"
"Yes, since Christmas." Lewis answers, his eyes softening. "Anyway, I thought I would deliver Darius' reply in person." He says, finally getting to the point of his visit.
"Lewis, come here. Read it to me." Mr Vyner orders.
Lewis glances down at him for a seconds before shrugging and brushing past him on his way towards Mr Vyner's desk.
James takes a deep breath as he closes the door and returns back to his desk.
Lewis glances over his shoulder at James, whose head is bent over a mountain of files on his desk, before clearing his throat and reading Darius' reply to Alexander.
"Alex, why do you ask an uneducated child to write your red notes?" Lewis casts his eyes over to James who doesn't seem to be listening. "I'm not going to bother asking why the Department of REGISTRATIONS needs to ask us for records. Anyway, we only have one of the Zykan's. A Samuel Zykan II, Muggleborn who passed his Apparition Exam in 1699. I hope whatever is so important to your department is resolved by this useless piece of information. Darius Markesan." He finishes.
"Did you get that, James?" Alexander calls out, still not taking his eyes off the large piece of parchment on his desk.
Lewis tries to get a closer look at whatever is written on their but with a flick of his wand, Alexander sends the parchment flying into the air, creating a wall between himself and Lewis. Shocked, he takes a step back, bumping into James who had silently snuck up on him.
"Sorry." He apologises then chuckles. "Just like school, eh?"
James stares at him for a split second before brushing past him to Alexander's side.
"Samuel Zykan II, born around 1680, Muggleborn and probably no children." James reads from his notes.
"I want to know why he's so important by the end of the day. Split today's workload between Elyssa and Daniel. They should be back by now." He orders.
Lewis watches as James bows deeply before brushing past him on his way back to his desk.
"Are you still here, Lewis?" Alexander asks.
"Er, yes." He answers.
"Why?" He asks, obviously rhetorically.
"Sorry, I'll get going." Lewis finds himself nodding briefly to the other man.
He's heard Alexander Vyner has this effect on people but has never had the opportunity to experience it first-hand. On his way out, he stops at James' desk and knocks on the wood. He looks up curiously with a small frown.
"We should go out for drinks after work. We haven't spoken properly in over a year." He suggests hopefully.
James stares at him intensely weighing his options.
"Come on, James. What have you got to lose?"
"Fine. I finish at six o'clock. I suppose I can go out for one drink." He tells him with a deep sigh.
Lewis smiles down at his former friend. "I'll meet you on ground level, near the fountain." He tells him, then turns on his heel and walks out of the department with a smile on his face.
Alexander huffs as he leans back in his chair. There's been no change to the map in the nearly five minutes since the Rowle's family filing cabinet opened. As soon as he had received the Minister's orders on Thursday, he had gone directly to his office, storming past his secretary. He'd demanded to know why he was allowing a Malfoy into his archives.
Apparently, the pureblood wasn't satisfied that his blood was pure enough and wants to check the legality of a few relatives. Alexander knows all about the Rowle's. As one of their high profilers, Alexander had made sure to read every file in their family's filing cabinet in order to understand them better. Unfortunately for him, the last Rowle was recently sentenced to Azkaban for fifty years, so his research into the family was useless, or so he thought.
He assumes it's Malfoy in the filing cabinet but what he doesn't understand is why he didn't start with his own family's filing cabinet. He might find something interesting in there. Alexander smirks to himself as he remembers a few family members the Malfoys have tried to hide in the past. They might be able to hide them from the public but you can't hide them from the archives.
The red flashing square filing cabinet labelled 'ROWLE' on the map suddenly goes black as a draw is shut but then a few seconds later, it's flashing again. Alexander keeps his eyes on the square as it continuously flashes for a minute or so before stopping again. This repeats a few times until he realises that the book vault has stopped flashing as well. He stares at the main door to the vault, waiting for it to signal their departure. It takes them two minutes to leave.
Alexander stands ups, stretching his back and sighing when his shoulder creaks. He casts his eyes around the office. He finds Lyra staring at him but when their eye meets, she quickly goes back to her work. James is frowning down at his notes and furiously scribbling something with his quill. He wonders where the hell Elyssa and Daniel are when they both burst through the door.
He raises a questioning eyebrow at them. Daniel has the decency to duck his head and mutter an apology as he scurries to his desk. Elyssa, on the other hand, smiles innocently with a small nod as she walks towards her desk. It takes them both a few seconds of staring at their desks before they realise their workload has increased.
"Sir?
"Mr Vyner?"
They both call at the same time.
Alexander smiles as he walks around his desk to stand between both their desks.
"You are not paid two galleons an hour to take a fifty-minute-long lunch break. Lyra has been set a new week-long assignment and James has been set a new daily assignment. You've both been given their workloads and you're both going to be staying back until seven tonight." He explains with a stern stare, daring them to complain but it looks like Elyssa's braver than Daniel.
"But we were only twenty minutes late. You're making us stay back an hour and us ha- I have plans tonight." She whines, eyes wide and begging.
They've probably worked a thousand times before but not this time.
"Not anymore you don't. Get working." He orders them both.
Daniel jumps straight into organising the even larger stack of files on his desk into four different piles. Elyssa, however, sighs deeply every couple of minutes as she uninterestedly shuffles through her files.
Alexander's just wondering why he even bothers to keep her employed in his department when a note flies through the gap in the door, landing on his desk. He snatches it up, skim reading the letter.
"James, they've left." He states, walking over to the young man's desk. "I want you to bring me a copy of the Zykan files and check that everything in the book vault is how I left it. I'll check the Rowle files later." He says.
"Of course, Sir." James jumps to his feet, grabs his notes and wand, and then heads quickly out of the door.
"S-sir?" Lyra calls his attention so he walks over to her desk to find it still scattered with pieces of parchment.
Thinking she wants to run something past him, he leans over her shoulder, placing a hand on the back of her chair to steady himself. "What are these?" He questions, motioning to the parchments with his free hand, having told her to split her work between the other three.
"Oh, they're just… ideas." She mutters, trying to brush them all into a neat pile. "Sir, can I see your map?" She asks, looking down at her busy hands. "I wish to study the spells behind it." She adds as an explanation.
With a flick of his wand, the map flies off his desk, folding up mid-air, then lands neatly on Lyra's desk, next to her pile of ideas.
"Just remember to put it back." He says loud enough for Elyssa to hear also.
Lyra nods, offering him a nervous smile as he walks back to his own desk. Once James has figured out what they wanted with the Zykan file, he'll be able to inform the Minister and if he adds the fact that they entered the book vault, Kingsley may revoke their access.
After a quick chat with Lisa about the latest flavours of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean to be made, James is strolling along the corridor, eager to figure out the importance of the Zykan's. He's never been all that good a finding the answer to riddles or puzzles. Feeling determined, he types in the combination code for the archives, both curious about what he's going to discover and terrified in case he doesn't find anything and he ends up disappointing Alexander.
With a flick of the light switch, the archives burst into light and James is already making his way towards the filing cabinet that will tell him how to get to the Zykan's file. He opens the bottom drawer and starts flicking towards the back where he finds the Zykan file. He notices as he takes out the file that it's the last. The Zykan's were, alphabetically, the last family in the wizarding world. He opens the file, takes note of the code then replaces it in the filing cabinet. He making his way through the maze when the realisation hits him, stopping him dead in his tracks.
The Zykan family were, alphabetically, the last family in the wizarding world. If he'd been given access to the archives with no information on how to navigate them, he'd probably look in the first filing cabinet at the Aaronovitch file then try and figure out what the code at the bottom meant. Obviously, Mr Malfoy and Miss Granger are considerably smarter than he is, both of them receiving straight O's in their NEWTS whereas James scraped through with straight A's and one E in History of Magic. He wouldn't be surprised if they figure out the code as soon as they read it. Of course, they'd want to test out their theory which would explain why they opened the Zykan's family filing cabinet.
James makes a note of his thoughts before continuing on his way since Alexander did ask for copies of the files. Once he's made them, he carries on, further into the maze until he comes to the book vault. He doesn't know how they figured out the code since he sometimes forgot it. This times, he has to flick to the front of his notebook to where he wrote the combination code down. The book vault all looks to be in order. He enters, walking up and down each row, examining the bookshelves. He doesn't spend a lot of time in here so he can't be sure if anything's changed but it doesn't appear to have so he quickly leaves, wanting to explain his theory to Alexander.
Alexander listens intently to James' theory as he flicks through the few pages of the Zykan's family files. There's not much information about the family since there was only two of them, and he can't immediately see any connection between them and the Malfoy's, so it seems like James is correct.
"It seems as though your theory is correct." Alexander closes the files, placing it in the top drawer of his desk and tapping the handle with his wand to lock it. "I'll be back in half an hour. I'm leaving Lyra in charge." He announces to his department as he hurries out the door and towards the lift.
As soon as Alexander's gone, Elyssa lets out a sigh of relief, relaxing back into her chair and kicking her feet up onto her desk.
"I'm not sure how much longer I can put up with him." She groans aloud, stretching her arms behind her back.
"Well if you did your work and stopped pushing him, maybe he'd go easier on you," James suggests, sitting back at his own desk.
"Does he go easy on you?" She asks, raising an eyebrow.
"No, but I annoy him. I think he finds me too enthusiastic." He looks sadly down at a file.
"You annoy everyone." Elyssa rolls her eyes.
"He goes easy on Lyra," Daniel states, attempting to divert the obvious childish argument that was about to happen.
"He feels sorry for Lyra." She announces, matter-of-factly. "He knows she's terrified of him and I don't think he likes that. That's why we're stuck with your weekly workload whilst he gives her a new assignment. It's favouritism. We should complain."
"Please don't talk about me like I'm not here." Lyra's small voice stops her from carrying on. "Mr Vyner only gave me this assignment because you and Daniel weren't here." She adds, trying to focus on the map.
"Fair point." Elyssa nods in agreement. "He wouldn't exactly have given it to James." She laughs.
"Have more faith in yourself, Lyra. You're talented and Mr Vyner can see that in you." James tries to compliment her.
"I'm not terrified of him either," Lyra explains, feeling awkward from the compliment. "He just… makes me nervous." She admits.
"Oooh." Elyssa slides her feet off her desk and sitting straighter. "Does Lyra have a little crush on Mr Vyner?" She teases.
"He's my boss!" She frowns at her quickly. "That would be would be inappropriate." She blushes slightly. "And he's twelve years older than me." She adds.
"I'm hearing a lot of excuses and not a lot of denying." She chuckles, leaning back in her chair again.
"Leave her alone, Elyssa." James jumps in to defend her. "Get on with your work." He adds, making her groan again. "Maybe if you spent less time complaining about your work and more time doing it, you'd be finished in time to make those plans of yours." James narrowed his eyes at her.
"I distinctly remember Alexander leaving Lyra in charge." She smirks at him.
"Just do your work, Elyssa," Lyra tells her, cheeks still flushed red in embarrassment.
Once Alexander has copies of every file in the Rowle's family filing cabinets, he takes the lift straight up to the top floor. The Minister had ordered him to inform him when they made their first visit to the archives and he assumes he'll want to know any information he has on what they were actually doing.
When the lift doors open on the top floor, he rushes down the corridor, bursting through the doors into the office of the secretary to the Minister. She jumps slightly upon his entrance then stares nervously at him upon realising who he is. He smirks to himself. His reputation must precede him. He walks up to her desk, changing his smirk for a smile.
"Miss Ivory, I wish to see the Minister. It's regarding a previously discussed issue with the archives." He explains.
"I'm afraid he's busy all afternoon, Mr Vyner." She apologises, as she looks down at his diary.
"It'll only take a few minutes for a briefing." He tries to convince her.
"Let me ask the Minister if he has a minute to spare." She tells him before knocking on the Minister's office door and entering.
Alexander is left standing at the secretary's desk for a few minutes whilst Miss Ivory informs Kingsley that he's here. He finds it increasingly annoying that they're wasting his time when he could have been in and out of their by the time it takes them to make a decision.
In the end, feeling frustrated and annoyed, he walks over to the door, knocks a few times before letting himself in.
"Please excuse us, Miss Ivory." He says, walking over to the Minister's desk and taking a seat in the visitor's chair opposite.
He watches as Miss Ivory and the Minister have a silent conversation with their eyes before Kingsley nods and Miss Ivory leaves, closing the door behind her.
"You ask me to inform you of their visit and then leave me waiting when I'm doing as ordered to." He frowns at the Minister.
"So they've been," Kingsley says, choosing to ignore his quip.
"Yes, and I assure you'll be interested to know their actual reason for gaining access to my archives." He smirks, emphasising 'my archives', which doesn't go unnoticed by the minister. "They firstly looked inside the Zykan's family filing cabinet."
"Who are they?" Kingsley asks with a frown, probably trying to remember.
"A Muggleborn man and his son from the seventeenth century. They are also the last family in the alphabetical filing cabinets. We believe Malfoy and Granger were using the Zykan's family to figure out how to navigate the filing cabinets." Alexander explains.
"Interesting theory but I still want you to investigate the Zykan family." The Minister instructs him.
"Already done, sir. The theory proves to be correct. What I think will interest you is what they did next." He pauses for effect. "They split up. One of them, we are assuming Miss Granger, went into the book vault whilst Mr Malfoy found his way to the Rowle's family filing cabinets." He tells him.
"What's so interesting about that? I informed you that Mr Malfoy was here to investigate the legality of a few family members. It doesn't come as a surprise to me that the Malfoy's and the Rowle's have crossed bloodlines in the past. Most pureblood families have." The Minister snidely replies.
"That's true but why didn't he start with the Malfoy family filing cabinets or the Blacks like you said he was interested in. He didn't mention the Rowle's to you, did he?" He asks, knowing fair well that he hadn't.
The Minister stays quite for a while, leaning back in his chair to think. Alexander watches as his expressions change until Kingsley sits back up suddenly.
"I assume you are looking into the Rowle family to find the connection between them and Mr Malfoy." He states.
"Of course, Minister." Alexander has to resist rolling his eyes. Who does he think he is? He knows how to do his job.
"Good. Keep me informed of any other visits they make, of any other filing cabinets they open and of what you find out during your research." He orders. "I expect something by the end of the week." He adds, standing up.
Alexander stands up, nods, and then takes his leave. He doesn't know what Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger are doing in his archives but he'll get to the bottom of it soon enough and have the Minister revoke their access.
I would just like to thank you all for reviewing. I got 21 reviews for the last chapter which is the most by far we've ever gotten. So thank you so much.
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