CHAPTER 37

Deborah Arkwright's parlor transpired to be a low-slung, residential looking house, which managed to skate over an entire medley of themes that encompassed Gothic and cutting-edge all in one go. It was appropriately placed in a garden filled with cropped grass and bushes pruned into abstract shapes. The flower beds were measured out with rulers and formed a lattice of moderately colored begonias, and strange plants with dark, heart-shaped leaves. The house itself was a mass of creamy brown stone, with a pillared porch and metallic shutters. Narrow vines inched their way up the pillars, and a cross-hatched bracket of oak stood above the front door, along with a luridly colored Turkish evil eye. Hermione and Sirius exchanged glances before mounting the front steps and pressing the bell.

A calm, collected voice sounded through the buzzer.

'How may I help you?'

'My name's Hermione Gr-Black. I had an appointment for eleven?'

'Of course, Mrs. Black. Come right on up.'

The front door swung open, and Hermione and Sirius entered, careful to stow their wands out of sight. The building was dimly lit in soft, yellow light which gave it a warm ambiance. They climbed a set of stairs until they reached a narrow reception. A pale, blond witch with a sleek bob and round spectacles sat behind it. She looked up with a controlled smile as they entered the room.

'You must be Mrs Black,' she said, pleasantly. 'You're a little early for your appointment. Why don't you have a seat and I'll let you know when one of the girls is ready?'

Hermione glanced to where she gestured, and saw a low, plum-upholstered bench. Two women sat on it, thumbing through magazines that shrieked out titles like "Drive Him Crazy In The Bedroom", and "How To Find Your G-Spot." She glanced back at Sirius who subtly shook his head.

'Actually,' she began, a little hesitantly, 'Could you tell me where the restroom is? I'd like to- to powder my nose.'

The receptionist looked sympathetic. 'I thought you would,' she said, leaning forward and eyeing her nose. Hermione clapped a hand to it. 'The restroom is behind that door, straight and then left.'

Sirius positioned a hand between her shoulder blades, and steered her through the discreet door behind the desk. The corridor that faced them was narrow and lit by an oriental lamp with a pleated silk shade. Straight a head, it turned a sharp left and a little sign indicated the restroom.

'What did she mean she thought I would?' Hermione demanded, indignantly, as soon as he shut the door behind them.

Sirius rolled his eyes. 'Is that really an immediate problem?'

'There's nothing wrong with my nose!'

'Of course not, it's positively charming. Now, do you think that she was one of-'

'Powder it, indeed!'

'Hermione,' Sirius said, with exaggerated patience, 'Not that this topic doesn't delight me, but could we concentrate on how to find the portal first?'

Hermione huffed but said nothing.

'I don't think the portal would be out there,' Sirius began, 'And I highly doubt it would be in the actual salon. It needs to be someplace discreet, where people can go without getting too many suspicious glances.'

'There has to be someone here who's one of them too,' Hermione pointed out. 'The others had guards, didn't they?'

Sirius nodded. 'It could well be your nose-girl, out there. I wanted to check if she had any magical traces on her, but I couldn't do it with my wand in your bag. The cameras are okay, right?'

Hermione shrugged, and the cameras stirred within the heavy, quilted tote she carried over her shoulder. 'I guess,' she muttered, 'If you're right about the portal not being outside, how the hell are we supposed to get to any other part of the house? This corridor just leads to the bathroom.'

Sirius frowned. 'Let's check the bathroom first,' he said. They tramped down the corridor, Hermione feeling the weight of the camera dragging down on her shoulder. She pushed open the bathroom door and glanced inside. It was clean and white, with a large, silver-rimmed mirror on one wall, and a broad counter with chunky taps. Hermione walked in and idly turned on one and then off, glancing meditatively at the foamy stream of water that jetted out.

Sirius, meanwhile, was rummaging in his pocket.

'What are you doing?'

'Looking for my wand. I want to see if there are magical traces in here.'

He pulled it out and swished it contemplatively.

'Anything?' Hermione asked, anxiously.

Sirius frowned and shook his head. 'Not here,' he muttered, 'But there's a faint trace coming from somewhere... above.'

Hermione glanced up at the ceiling. It was tiled in pale gray, with frosty lights embedded in it. 'There's nothing up there.'

'There might be some other way,' Sirius said, quietly. He glanced at the mirror. 'Didn't you say the shelf in the Marriage Registrar slid out to show the staircase?'

Hermione nodded. She walked up to the mirror and began to slide her palms along its surface, inch by inch. Sirius, in the mean time, got down to his knees and began to examine the piping under the counter.

'Anything?' Hermione asked.

He shook his head. 'Not that I can- hang on a minute...'

Hermione was on her knees in an instant. 'What is it?'

He frowned and pointed to the main pipe that dropped down from the enamel basin and disappeared into the wall. A thin ring of bronze surrounded the steel pipe at one point, with a serrated edge.

'Did you just prod something in the mirror?' Sirius asked.

'No. Why?'

'This ring just moved a little bit. As in, it spun around. On its own.'

Hermione frowned and got back to her feet. 'Tell me when to stop,' she said, and went back to moving her fingertips over the mirror, trying to retrace the patterns she had been making against the glassy surface earlier.

'Is it spinning?'

'No.'

She sighed, and transferred her attention back to the mirror. At that moment, something caught her eye. As she had been leaning over the counter, she had been brushing against the tap that hung over the basin. She frowned for a moment, and then twisted it so that a stream of water began to gush down.

'It's moving!' Sirius exclaimed. 'What did you do?'

'Turned the tap,' Hermione said, dropping to her knees. Sure enough the bronze ring was rotating very slowly. As it completed a circle, it clicked softly and the entire portion of the pipe broke off, so that they could stare down the dark cross-section. Hermione winced, wondering whether the water flowing into the basin would stream out onto them, but it as dry.

'Now what?' she asked, uncertainly.

Sirius lit the tip of his wand and held it up into the pipe. 'There's something here,' he said, quietly, 'Some sort of knob. It's the same brass as the ring. Hang on a minute.'

He transferred his wand to his left hand, and reached cautiously into the pipe with his right. He twisted a finger around the knob and turned it. Immediately, they heard a low, grinding noise.

'What the fuck was that?' Hermione asked, in a harsh whisper.

'I think- Oh, god, I was right. Look at the mirror.'

Uncertainly, Hermione leaned back and glanced up. To her shock, she saw that the mirror had slid neatly back into the wall, revealing a gap beyond.

'You've got to be kidding me,' she muttered, 'If this was it, why were you getting the trace from above?'

'None of this was magic,' Sirius muttered. 'It was all mechanical. The tap, connected to the ring, and then the knob. All levers and stuff.'

Hermione bit her lip. 'Then why isn't water coming out of the broken pipe? It should have splashed all over us.'

Sirius leaned forward and shone his wand down the pipe again. 'This isn't directly connected to the drain in the basin. It reaches a dead end somewhere up ahead. I think that water's diverted off immediately underneath.'

Hermione nodded and got to her feet, bracing herself. The gap behind the mirror transpired to be a long, cemented corridor, lit by very familiar looking torches. Up ahead, she could see the corridor come to an end and a pair of what looked very much like grilled elevator doors.

'This is it,' she muttered.

Sirius nodded, and then moving back he locked the bathroom door behind him. He glanced at his watch and then at her.

'We have fifteen minutes till your appointment,' he said, quietly, 'And we can't be late or the receptionist will come looking. Come on, let's get this over with.'

Hermione nodded and then winced as Sirius cast a Disillusionment Charm first on her and then himself. She shrugged to dispel the icy feeling creeping down her back and then hoisted herself onto the counter and stepped determinedly into the corridor, turning and waiting for Sirius to follow her.

'There has to be some way to close this mirror,' Sirius muttered, as soon as he was in. The torches on the wall were throwing a faint, flickering light all around them. He turned and began to feel the wall, stopping when he came across a brass knob, identical to the one in the pipe.

'Bingo,' he muttered, twisting it. With the same, grinding noise the mirror slid back into place. Hermione blinked; the corridor was darker than ever now.

'There's an elevator up ahead,' she whispered, as she began to make her way down the corridor. 'How the hell did they managed to install an elevator in- where are we exactly? Some other part of the house?'

Sirius frowned. 'I'm pretty sure this is the bit just under that sloping roof we saw on the outside. It just about fits. The elevator's probably suspended with magic: that's why I got a trace from above.'

Hermione nodded as she cautiously pressed the button by the doors. They slid open easily, noiselessly, and as she stepped in she held her breath.

'Relax,' Sirius breathed, 'We're practically invisible right now. There's only one button on this panel, so I think that saves us a lot of confusion. Bring out the powder, will you?'

Hermione brought out the little shaker of powder as Sirius pressed the button and they began to descend downwards slowly. The elevator moved smoothly, with hardly any noise. She held her breath and began to count the seconds as the descended. She had reached thirty two, when the elevator came to a sudden halt and the doors slid open.

Even though she was disillusioned, Hermione had never been more terrified in her life.

Her eyes roamed over the city, taking in everything that was surreal and familiar all at once. This portal too opened up onto an elevated platform, and she could see the changes that had taken place since she had last been here: more buildings crowded in, a lot more people roaming the streets. A man in khaki robes and a helmet stood beside the elevator, his wand held aloft and a focused expression on his face. He had whirled around when he heard the elevator door open, and his eyes narrowed with confusion.

Before he could ponder over the phantom elevator doors too much, Hermione gripped the shaker of powder in her hand, and began to scatter it around. The powder was fine, and a pale, yellowish color. She could feel herself inhaling it: it was like minuscule pinpricks of icy water in her nostrils. As she watched, the guard's eyes unfocused slightly, and after a faint frown he settled back into his old position.

'Bravo,' Sirius whispered, 'That worked a charm.'

'Hurry up, we don't have much time,' Hermione muttered back. The sensation of the powder was irritating her nostrils despite the antidote. She opened her tote and pulled out the camera and the stand. Sirius glanced around, his sharp eyes catching on every nook and cranny that would be a suitable post for it.

'How about there?' Hermione asked, pointing to what looked like a light fixture. It was set up high on the wall to their left.

Sirius shook his head. 'It has to be somewhere that can give us a good view of the whole area. How about on this railing itself?'

He palmed the slick metal in front of them and Hermione frowned.

'It's a little risky, though, isn't it? Everyone who uses this portal would walk in and out of here. What if someone bangs an elbow against it or something?'

'Good point,' Sirius said. He checked his watch. 'Okay, we have twelve minutes, and we need a bright idea immediately.'

Hermione dropped to her knees and began to feel along the base of the platform. It was grilled, with thick, flat rods slicing up and down it. At the edge was a thickish bar with railings.

'What about if we suspend it under the platform?' she asked. 'It's elevated, so it still gives us a good view, and I highly doubt anybody would really come across it.'

Sirius grinned. 'It's brilliant,' he muttered. He dropped to his knees as well, carefully cupping the camera and its stand. 'Hang on, let's see how we can get this on...'

'Try using a Sticking Charm on the stand, and gluing it upside down to the bottom of one of these rods. Look, I can stick my hand over the edge and do it. Give me the camera.'

'Careful,' Sirius warned, as he passed it to her. Hermione leaned over the edge, bracing her feet firmly on the grilling, and withdrew her wand with her left hand. She cast a quick Sticking Charm on the stand, and carefully maneuvered it into place underneath the rods.

'It's on,' she whispered, 'Now how does the camera go on over that?'

'Pull this catch back and slip it in,' Sirius replied, showing her. 'Hurry up, that guard looks spaced out but we only have nine minutes.'

Hermione nodded and slipped the camera into the stand the way she had shone. She bent over a little more, found the red button the twins had shown her in the morning, and then pressed it.

A sharp blue light on the edge of the camera blinked to life and shone steadily.

'Bingo!' Hermione whispered, 'It's on! Hang on, let me just-'

She poked her wand over the edge and muttered a quick Disillusionment Spell, before withdrawing.

'Done,' she muttered.

'Excellent,' Sirius said, 'And now we need to hurry up and get out of here. The powder wears off in six minutes, and that guy can't see the elevator doors opening on their own again. Come on.'

He helped her to her feet and they both crossed the platform carefully, stopping when they faced the elevator. Like its replica above, it had a single button that Sirius pushed without wasting time.

'Do you think the others will be done already?' Hermione whispered, once they were back in the elevator.

Sirius shrugged. 'No clue, we've got out of there pretty quickly.' He checked his watch. 'You have two minutes left till your appointment.'

The elevator doors slid apart gently and they both raced out into the corridor beyond. Sirius turned the brass knob and the blank wall in front of them slid away. They climbed back onto the counter and then snapped shut the mirror the same way they had earlier.

'All done,' Hermione whispered, letting out a breath she hadn't known she had been holding.

Sirius nodded and groped for her hand, squeezing her fingers tightly between his. 'How do you feel?'

'Excited. How do I look?'

Sirius considered her flushed face and the fly away bits of her hair that were scattered out of the ponytail she had thrown it into.

'Like you need to get your hair done,' he said, finally. 'Come on, I know just the place.'

Author's Note: Like it? Hate it? The mirror bit too weird? Seemed to easy? Impossible to get all that schmuck done in fifteen minutes?

Yup, there's lots of things that could be wrong with this chapter. Write in and tell me what you think? =D