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Chapter Eight: Two Minutes to Midnight
Music played softly from an enchanted gramophone; the notes lost among the free-flowing chatter of the students gathered around the table. At the head of the gathering, Professor Slughorn held court like a medieval king. Large fingers smeared in venison grease; a snifter of brandy held aloft in his right hand as he presided over his hand-picked favourites. Bestowing favours and scattering praise; offering up anecdotes of the great and the good who had all, at one point or another, occupied seats at this very table. It was a scene of intimate, candlelit exclusivity that was completely lost on Lily Evans.
Under the combined weight of Peter Pettigrew's fickle nature and tonight's mission to Malfoy Manor, she had more than enough on her mind to put her off her spit-roasted capons. Regardless, she made the effort. But her laugher was forced and shrill, her smiles fixed as she desperately tried to appear transfixed by every word her fellow partygoers spoke. Moreover, she had dressed in an elegant gown of periwinkle blue and tied up her red hair in an elegant knot, with just one lazy, curling lock left framing her face – all completely at odds with her usual dress-for-comfort style. Thus, in a few days' time, when she felt certain news of a break-in at Malfoy Manor would hit the headlines; when people were bound to be asking 'and where was Lily Evans on the night of the 25th June?' she felt certain they would remember her there. Dressed to the nines and with a not a law-breaking thought in her head.
Sitting to her left, Severus had scrubbed up well, too. Incredibly well by his usual standards. He wore a crisp, cotton white shirt and his green and silver school tie tucked neatly down the front of a black waistcoat. The ensemble finished off with black trousers, neatly pressed. But she could smell the bubble bath he had used and it set her nerves on edge. If she could smell it, she felt certain the inhabitants of Malfoy Manor would too. And never mind the perfume she had doused herself in earlier. For even when under the cloak, she knew full well they could still be smelled and heard. The more she fretted about it, the more she thought of ways in which they could be detected. Problems springing up in her mind like mushrooms in the dark, her stomach squirming with nerves. To the point where she had to do something, anything, to break the cycle of her own thoughts.
"Professor Slughorn," she said, seizing upon a natural lull in the conversation. "You're knowledgeable about the finer things in life so, I think there's something you might be able to help me with."
"Of course, Lily dear," the older man beamed, snifter still aloft as he used, he free hand to remove the napkin from his shirt collar. "Although, I fear you may be over-estimating my qualities somewhat."
Slughorn's false modesty was met by a ripple of laughter. Ignoring it, Lily pressed on, "I've heard about a tiara, or rather diadem. It's in the shape of an eagle, its wings studded with diamonds and set with a blue sapphire. Along the rim, the motto of Ravenclaw is engraved. Does that sound familiar to you?"
"Ah, yes. What you're describing, Lily, can only be the lost diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw. It was said to be a most beautiful piece that, when worn, makes the wearer cleverer. Alas, as the description tells us, this piece is lost to history." Slughorn paused, his small beady eyes taking on a faraway look. "Such a pity really, it's said to be invaluable."
Given everything else that was going on, with Severus and James and minor burglary, she'd had no time to look into the diadem she found in the Room of Requirement. And now, she had to confess to herself, she was a little disappointed. "Were there replicas made, sir?"
"Undoubtedly," Slughorn answered. "But be under no illusions, child. The real diadem is long gone. Not only do we not know where it is, we don't even have a full understanding of how it went missing. Some say Rowena's daughter, Helena, had something to do with it. But nobody knows for certain. Why do you ask?"
"I saw a picture of something like it in an old book," she lied. "An artist's impression. But there was no name given."
Already she could imagine how one such forgery came to be in the Room of Requirement. Some enterprising student of Hogwarts past making fakes to sell for a chunk of change, who got found out and needed to dispose of the evidence. No doubt, there would be a score more just like it if she cared to take another look.
Finally, the students began to drift away from the table to form their own little knots. A cue to Lily that it was safe to do the same. She rose, hoisted her handbag over her shoulder, and gave Severus a nudge as she went. Together they crossed the room to a discreet alcove partially covered by a sheer, muslin drape. As they crossed the room, they passed a small group of Ravenclaw boys, noting Adrian Pucey chief among them, knocking back firewhiskey on the sly.
"You smell of mint." She rounded on Severus a little more harshly than she meant to.
"Is that, er, a problem?" he replied.
"Have you forgotten what we're doing tonight?"
"Yes. I think you might need to remind me."
She aimed a punch at his upper-arm. "It's easy for people like you, you're not even ginger."
Severus looked at her like she'd lost her mind. "What?"
"We never get away with anything," she retorted, "people always remember us. Honestly, Sev, if ever a ginger puts a toe out of line in class and someone says, 'who was being naughty?' they'll say 'her, there. The ginger one.'"
She could envision the scenario now. Her, Severus and James fleeing across the immaculately manicured laws of Malfoy Manor, the cloak flying loose in the slipstream to reveal a shock of red hair. Of old Abraxas Malfoy catching a fleeting glimpse and telling the authorities, 'Well officer, I didn't get a proper look at the two boys, but the girl was ginger which means it could only have been Lily Evans.' And now, to make things worse, Severus looked torn between incredulity and laughter. He reached for a napkin on a nearby serving trolley and tapped it with his wand, transfiguring it into a beanie hat. A second tap turned it from white to black and he held it out to her with a crooked smile on his face. "Lily, I'm shit scared too. But stop tormenting yourself. Take deep breaths and stay calm. And have a new hat."
She took the beanie tenderly in her hands, looking at incredulously for a moment before she, too, broke down and laughed. "Sorry, Sev. I'm sorry."
Beyond their little alcove, the party was growing steadily rowdier – a further sign that the night was wearing on. Severus glanced over his shoulder as the voices grew louder still, but did not seem overly concerned. Meanwhile, she folded her new hat and tucked it into her handbag. On the outside, it was tiny. On the inside, she had worked enlargement and lightening charms so she could fit in two changes of clothes for her and Severus, a quill and some ink and room for the diary, should they find it. While it was open, she double checked again, making sure everything was in place.
"Have you said anything to Potter about Pettigrew?" Severus asked, lowering his voice.
Lily shook her head. "Nothing. I wouldn't even know how to."
"It's best you don't-"
He was cut off by a dreadful caterwauling coming from the same knot of Ravenclaws she had seen sneaking strong alcohol. She choked as she noticed Adrian Pucey up on one of the tables, singing – or attempting to sing – a Celestina Warbeck song. Severus, bemused, glanced at her sidelong. "Told you."
It all seemed to kick off at once. Pucey's dormitory mates were trying to talk him down, with the man himself batting them away as his discordant voice filled the room. Slughorn was beside himself with laughter, scarlet faced and trying to pull himself together as he realised one of his students was drunk. "Now," said Severus, "quick, while they're all distracted."
Lily's heart thumped in her chest as they slipped, unnoticed, through the door of Slughorn's apartments and out into the cool, stone corridor beyond. It was time for the mission to start and her nerves ebbed away, succumbing to a rush of excitement. She checked her watch. Like the Doomsday Clock, it was two minutes to midnight.
"If Hagrid looks out of his window now, I'll never live it down." At the edge of the Forbidden Forest, but too close to the Gamekeeper's window for comfort, Severus changed in a hurry. Lily, who had already done the same, was polite enough to turn her back and was pretend to study the stars. For what it was worth, he thought her new hat was rather fetching. Meanwhile, he threw on a black jumper and black sweat pants, all the while keeping an eye out for signs of life within the hut. But only the dog could be heard, Fang's predecessor whose name Severus had forgotten.
Once done, he scooped up his formal clothes and hurried back to Lily, dumping his gear in her magically altered handbag. "Did you bring a quill and ink?"
"Yes, I've triple checked everything. Believe me." Lily turned around to face him. "And, you know, my nerves aren't so bad now that we're finally doing this."
"It's always the waiting that kills you," he said, sliding his wand into the waistband of his pants. "But everyone saw us, that's what matters. Now we just need Potter to get here."
"And here he is!" They both whipped around at the sound of the newcomer's voice, to where James emerged from beneath the invisibility cloak ten feet away. "We're still doing this tonight, right? Because I'm pumped for it."
Severus had been meaning to ask why Lily was suddenly so interested in the lost diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw. But now that James was here, he didn't wish to tarry. The moon was near full, bright enough to break the cover of darkness even inside a house. And, despite his earlier confidence, he wanted this mission over and done with. "Sure," he said, "let's go."
He led them through the gates and just beyond the perimeter fence, gripped them both and stepped forwards into a darkness that sucked all three into a compressed void. Moments later, they were spat out the other side, breathless and disorientated, in the woods beside Malfoy Manor. In the same clearing he and Lily had talked in just days before. If they looked through the trees, they could just about discern the uppermost stories of the house. The sight of it sent a thrill of nerves coursing through his body.
"Everyone gather round, then," James said, his voice low as he shook out the invisibility cloak. "Let's get this show on the road."
It was a tight squeeze. James was tall and athletically built, but Severus and Lily made it work by squeezing themselves in under his arms so Potter had them both in a sort of amicable headlock. Still, even under the best of circumstances, having his face pressed into the armpit of an old enemy was never going to be Severus's ideal way to spend an evening. But for one night only, for all that was at stake, he endured it as they began their slow, cautious journey to the gates of Malfoy Manor. As soon as they arrived, he had them both keep watch behind as he darted out from under the cloak and showed his mark to the boundary.
Seconds later, he managed to drag them both into the grounds, their feet making an unholy racket on the loose gravel driveway. All three of them paused, holding their breath and looking to the dark windows of the house, expecting a light to snap on at any moment. A face to appear at an upper window, drawn by the noise of the crunching stones beneath their clumsy feet.
"It's a Saturday night, they're probably out," Lily whispered.
At least, Severus thought to himself, Lucius hadn't got around to procuring those ridiculous peacocks yet. Still, he steered them onto the lawns, where their footsteps would not betray them, and they walked in a rapid, shuffling pace all the way up to the front door that swung open of its own accord as soon as they got within six feet of it.
"You have got to be kidding me," said James.
Where James was incredulous, Severus was perturbed. It had been the same at the Death Eater meetings he had attended, that the dark mark got him through both the gates and the door. Yet still, the fact that it also did so here make his nerves prickle unpleasantly, urging him to get this over and done with as swiftly as possible.
From the porch, they could see moonlight illuminating the wide, spacious entrance hall. Directly in front of them, a grand marble staircase swept elegantly upwards to a mezzanine floor. Over the railings of which, the entire entrance hall could be seen in panoramic view. Careful to muffle their footsteps, they inched open the first door on the right, entering a drawing room and froze at the sound of a voice.
Distant, at first, but getting closer by the second. The voice was talking to someone, keeping up a stream of quietly mutinous complaints. But no one answered. Cautiously, they backed against the drawing room, pressing themselves flat against the wall.
"It sounds like they're talking to themselves," said James, his own voice barely above a whisper. "I think it's the elf."
So long as the creature kept his voice down and didn't bring out the whole house, Severus was content. He urged them on again just as Dobby appeared at last, hoisting an empty coal bucket and chimney brush over his tiny shoulders. Slowly, the three of them moved around him, grateful that he had left the connecting door wide open so they could step through to the adjoining room with ease. Then, their good fortune continued as the sweet sound of silence emanated from the portrait gallery on the other side of the games room, dominated by a large billiards table, in which they now found themselves. But it was the portrait gallery, with talking and moving portraits, they needed to worry the most about.
Alas, it was here that their luck ran out. From the drawing room, a loud crash rent the air and the elf squealed. "Bad Dobby! Ba-ad Dobby!"
Half way across the games room, they froze once more, exchanging looks of mortified horror as the elf continued admonishing himself. Each plaintive cry of anguish punctuated by a crash as the creature banged his head off a hard surface.
"We need to do something," Lily hissed between gritted teeth; her own expression anguished beneath the cloak. "Sev, make it stop!"
But how to mollify a house elf without that house elf realising they were there at all? Severus tried to think, a process made more difficult as the once sleeping portrait subjects were now awoken and complaining bitterly about the noise. If there were any real people inside, it wouldn't be long before they too were brought out by the commotion.
"Desperate times, desperate measures, okay?" said Severus, reaching for his wand as they backed into the room where Dobby was. They found him, still beating himself up over some absurd transgression or other. For what it was worth, Severus felt a shimmer of guilt as he silently imperioed the helpless elf. Silence fell as the elf's large, black eyes glazed over and he fell still at last. Severus walked them all over to the elf and knelt close as he whispered, "Dobby, you will remain completely silent for the next hour. And you will lift all charms on your master's display rooms. Do you understand?"
If he was going to use an unforgiveable curse, he might as well make the most of it. Thus, he had Dobby lead them back out into the long, narrow portrait gallery where the subjects of numerous paintings continued mutinous muttering from within their frames. But all they could see was Dobby, walking alone as if in a trance. Regardless, Severus felt uncomfortably exposed as the three of them trod softly along the tiles, conscious of every footfall as they crept closer to the main display room. It was also Dobby those portraits saw open the display room doors and, once inside, Severus closed the door himself so they didn't see the elf lifting the enchantments guarding the cabinets.
It was done in an instant. Powerful magic, unique to elves, lifted all the charms and jinxes protecting the cabinets in the blink of an eye. "Come back in an hour," Severus instructed the elf and he was gone. A loud crack of disapparation momentarily rent the air but it was nothing out of the ordinary for any house in which an elf was kept. Finally, they could breathe freely and emerge from under the cloak.
"You two take those smaller ante-chambers," said Severus, pointing to a connecting door way to their right. "I'll take this place. We have an hour."
"And what if someone else comes before then?" asked Lily.
It was James who answered. "I have the cloak, so both of you come to me and we'll get out of here together."
"Then you take the room directly through this door," said Severus. "It has its own exit which will take us back onto the portrait gallery. But instead of going back the way we came, turn left and follow the gallery straight to the main hall."
They split, taking a room each, as Severus surveyed his surroundings. Just like in his memory, the glass display case dominated the largest of the three rooms. It emitted a dull, silver light of its own, shining off the artefacts and souvenirs within. A jagged emerald necklace, a goblet and a ruby locket. A silver dagger whose blade was infused with a lethal potion was secured in place on a black velvet cushion. Slowly, he walked a circle around the cabinet, studying every item as the muffled thumps of the other two searches reached him through the walls.
Casting a quick silencing charm to eliminate what small noise they did make, he set about his own search. Taking the first of several cabinets that lined the room. In the first, he found nothing but tat. Old books whose bindings had come loose; random items wrapped in pages of old Daily Prophets. He carefully unwrapped each one, studied the object he unearthed and put it back exactly as he found it, all the while trying to leave no trace of a disturbance. Luckily for him, the room was immaculate with not even a speck of dust to betray his presence.
Working quickly but methodically, Severus was aware of every minute rapidly ticking by. Any minute now, the Malfoys could wake up or come home, or some other inhabitant they didn't even know existed could walk through any of the two doors that led into the display rooms. Old Abraxas shuffling down the stairs for a late-night cup of warm milk, stumbling into the scene of their little raid. Severus had no desire to obliviate the old boy. So, on he went, stopping when James appeared, brandishing something definitely diary-like. But the year was wrong and the pages where lined, not blank, and already had inscriptions made by someone else.
He took out drawers, felt for false floors. False backs and sides, hoping their quarry was just out of reach. Until he finally found a cabinet with a false bottom. His fingertips hit the groove of the base, digging into the join. He paused, feeling along the edges until he was certain of what he had found. Then moved aside the stack of old books that was weighing it down. Prising up the false bottom, he felt inside the cavity until his hand grasped at a bundle of old rags.
Out in the corridor, the sound of footsteps could be heard. Hoping it was only Dobby come to replace the enchantments, he quickly inspected the item he had found. Revealing, at last, the diary they sought. The year was correct, the pages blank and unwritten in. It smelled old and dusty; the leaves stained yellow with age. He wanted to test it, to make sure, but those clipped footsteps outside sounded nothing like the fleshy slap of Dobby's bare feet against the tiles.
Severus sprang up from his kneeling position and darted through to the ante-chamber, where James was already putting the room back as he found it. He swept the cloak over them both before Lily finally appeared and they all but dragged her under it too. Outside, a gas lamp flared into life, a narrow strip of golden light appearing beneath the closed door of the main display room. With no Dobby around to let them out, they had no choice but to do it themselves and risk someone noticing.
Just as bad as a door appearing to open all by itself, the hinges whined in protest. But they didn't even hang around to find out whether the newcomer noticed. They hurried as quick as they dared, turning left from the ante-chamber, continuing down the gallery unseen, and unheard, by the Malfoy descendants captured on canvass until they reached another room.
Severus almost cursed out loud. He could have sworn this passage led to the main hall, but they found another door leading into a room he had not remembered. But with someone coming from the direction of the drawing room, they had no choice but to keep going forwards. He unlocked the door himself and all three bustled inside.
It was empty. The silhouette of a rocking horse could be seen against a casement window, an empty cot was pushed against a side wall. Severus risked lighting his wand and casting the narrow beam over what looked like an old nursey. One that was destined to remain unused for some years yet, until Draco would be born in four years' time. Extinguishing the wand with a flick of his wrist, Severus huddled closer to James and passed the diary, still wrapped in rags, to Lily who retrieved it with trembling hands and slid it into her handbag.
To Severus' relief, James was astoundingly calm. Well accustomed to sneaking around at night, often in places he ought not to be, Potter was acting like this was all just a regular Saturday night. "I don't hear anyone else; I think we might be safe."
Alas, right on cue, voices suddenly filled the main hall that lay beyond the exit door of the old nursey. Several voices. And the sound of several pairs of feet clattering over the tiles as Death Eaters greeted each other, calling out to others still out on the front lawn. A woman's voice, whom Severus instantly recognised as Bellatrix Lestrange, called shrilly above the commotion: "Barty Crouch Senior is what happens when the ventriloquist dies but the dummy keeps talking."
Her little quip was met with a peal of laughter. Laughter cut off abruptly as a man responded, "ah, Bella. The ventriloquist in question is none other than our esteemed, hard-line Minister of Magic himself, Harold Minchum. Surely, that alone strikes the fear of the gods into you?"
Bella snorted derisively. "Harold Minchum is a man like any other. And can die just as easily."
"Not out here, you two," a third voice hissed, "in the drawing room, now. The Dark Lord will be arriving any second."
Under the invisibility cloak Severus, James and Lily all looked at each other, exchanging worried looks. Meanwhile, there was another flurry of activity as coats and cloaks were thrown over hooks and the Death Eaters all made their way into the drawing room where their meeting would be held. Then, even after the door had closed behind them with an audible snap, the three remained stationary in the nursery.
"We should listen in," James murmured, "find out what they're planning."
"No, we have what we came for," said Lily.
And Severus agreed with Lily. "There's no need to take risks."
"Naturally, because it's not like breaking into this place was ever a risk-"
"Unnecessary risks, I mean."
Before they could get drawn deeper into a debate, Severus inched open the door and the three of them squeezed out into a hallway now so brightly lit it hurt their eyes. As they passed the drawing room, the Death Eaters inside were still talking loudly and animatedly, making him think that Voldemort still hadn't turned up. Thus, not wanting to hang around waiting for him, Severus led them all cautiously through the porch and back out into the open.
Outside the manor, all three of them breathed sighs of relief. But rather than cut a path over the gravel driveway again, they stuck to a paved walkway that led around the side of the house, away from the windows of the drawing room and into a shadowed area the gas lamps failed to reach. And it was there, as they approached from the west, that they almost bumped into Lucius Malfoy and Lord Voldemort as they appeared from the east. Still out of sight around a corner, their voices were clear and unmistakable. Instantly, Severus, James and Lily gripped the cloak as they pressed themselves firmly into a small recess in the wall.
"One of my informants tells me our brightest prospect at Hogwarts was recently attacked and left for dead, and also that that old fool Dumbledore did next to nothing about it. Lucius, I thought you, personally, were watching over Severus Snape … and the others."
The Dark Lord's voice was low and dangerous, yet Lucius didn't seem unduly bothered by the impending danger. His voice was a familiar lazy drawl. "You mean Severus Snape, my lord? I hear he has made a full recovery from the attack and is now safely ensconced with his fellows in the Slytherin common room."
"I must admit, it also worries me that this boy, Snape, was quite so easily overcome."
"Four against one, my lord. And the poor boy wasn't even aware that these so-called Marauders were nearby at the time. He had no hope of defending himself." Lucius sounded pleased. "I must say, these Gryffindor bully boys are rather splendidly doing our job for us. Don't you think? Alienating the most gifted Slytherins, many of whom are fine purebloods, and pushing them straight into our arms."
"Quite," Voldemort replied, "remind me, Lucius, when we achieve our final victory, to reward Sirius Black and James Potter for recruiting our finest young Death Eaters, for us. It is most generous of them."
Severus had forgotten that, before his first downfall, Voldemort liked his little jokes. Beside him, however, James Potter looked fit to explode. His face was red, his eyes bulging in horror of hearing his name on the lips of the greatest sociopath their kind had yet produced.
"Seriously, though, this feud between Slytherin and Gryffindor is such that it has driven a wedge through the school," Lucius continued. "And the more that muggle loving traitor, Dumbledore, continues to indulge his pet Gryffindors, the deeper that wedge gets. Which is, ultimately, to our benefit."
"See that it does," Voldemort replied. "Still, the summer holidays are almost upon us. I want you to summon Snape and make sure he is still on the right path, Lucius. Advise him; guide him."
"Certainly, my lord." Lucius sounded stung. "Although, please be assured, I have already taken the boy under my wing. Sadly, I cannot control everything that happens to him, and the others, while they're at Hogwarts."
The two men finally rounded the corner of the house, appearing in their line of sight. To Severus's immense relief, they had stopped talking about him and moved on to the other kids in his year they were grooming for Death Eater stardom. More to his consternation was the fact that they were still going to walk straight past them. Slowly, the two men strolled beneath the stars, in no hurry to reach the others waiting in the drawing room. It might have been romantic, had the Dark Lord not already taken on his silvery, snake-like appearance. He was shadow made flesh, his black robes covering him head to foot, with just a sliver of his pale face illuminated by the moon.
Instinctively, the three of them pushed even harder against the wall, as if they might pass right through it as the two other men drew level with them and paused once more. Lucius was looking right through them, as if he had spotted something on the wall directly behind Severus's head. Lily was visibly trembling, but standing with her back straight, looking the other man in the eye. The lord of the manor sniffed the air and then moved on, bringing the Dark Lord with him.
Once they too were inside the manor, James, Severus and Lily cast caution to the wind and ran across the lawns. Severus got them back through the gates with ease and disapparated them immediately, not caring whether anyone heard the distinctive crack. Seconds later, they were squeezed back into existence in Hogsmead.
On a rush of adrenaline and euphoria, James let out a holler so loud it carried through the sleeping streets and startled a mangy stray cat picking through a waste bin. Lily sank onto a bench that overlooked a public garden and sat with her head in her hands, breathing steadily as her heart undoubtedly raced.
"Bet you're looking forward to your date with Lucius Malfoy, eh, Snape?" James said, giving him a hearty slap on the back as he flopped down beside Lily. "So, let's see this diary."
Severus, finally with his own heartrate back under control, sat on Lily's other side. She reached into her bag and took out the bundle of rags in which the diary was kept. Severus took it, suddenly anxious that it was indeed the wrong one. That it was some other diary, a decoy one, or that it was just some random note book the Malfoy's happened to have lying around. Meanwhile, Lily had loaded the quill with ink and handed it to him.
"Be careful," she implored, as if it might bite her.
He opened it up, revealing a blank and yellowing page. At a loss for what to write, he simply wrote 'Hello' in neat print.
All three watched as the ink settled and sank into the page, leaving no trace. By the light of the gas lamp, they saw fresh writing appear as if of its own accord. 'Hello, what is your name?'
It was real. Severus breathed a sigh of relief. "Do you want me to answer?"
"Yeah, do it," said James.
"I think you should take it straight to Dumbledore," said Lily.
Nevertheless, Severus put quill to page once more. 'You tell me yours and I'll tell you mine.'
'Fair. My name is Tom Marvolo Riddle. Now, you tell me yours.'
"It'd be rude not to," James opined.
Lily rolled her eyes. "Not your real name, though!"
Severus thought for a moment, before writing back, 'my name is Harvey Wallbanger'.
The diary's reply was instantaneous. 'Liar'.
"Now that's just rude," said James.
"Sev, close the book. I mean it."
But he was still watching in fascination as the diary continued, 'your name is Severus Snape.'
"Right, that's enough." Lily reached over, snatched the book from Severus's lap and snapped it shut. "First thing in the morning, we bring it straight to Dumbledore."
Thank you for reading, reviews would be great if you have a minute to spare. I'll be back again next Thursday.
