A/N: Thank you so much for reviewing! You all get gold stars!

Oh boy. The R/Hr storyline is ruffling feathers. However, even though I know my Won-won and Hermy are very OOC, I will continue on with this thread. My apologies to those of you Gryffindor fanatics who love seeing the Golden Trio in action. The situation will…uh…rectify itself early next week. And that's the only hint you're getting…(insert evil cackling here)

Oh, and just so I don't deceive any of you further, this will NOT be slash. Ewww. I don't do slash in any shape, form or fashion. That is beyond even what I will tolerate as far as OOC-ness.

Chapter 23- Snaking a Way into the Circle

Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared. -Eddie Rickenbacker

The next few weeks were quiet around the 12 without Ron and Hermione. Draco came by about twice a week after getting Harry's letter. Often, he and Harry would end up in the drawing room, playing Exploding Snap or reading some of Harry's defense books after Draco finished reporting to Severus and Samantha on Death Eater activities. Samantha would patronus the details to Remus, who hesitantly passed them on to Arthur Weasley. Often, Severus and Samantha would have the boys running drills in the ballroom.

"Your Disillusionment is flickering when you cast that shield, James," said Samantha. "It would be the most noticeable during the daytime. At night, it's not so much of a big deal. I think your problem is that you're not casting it completely before you start shielding."

"We've done this one ten times already," whined Draco as he slumped against the wall.

"And yet, neither one of you are to the point to where you can cast the charm silently and correctly while at the same time casting high-level shields," answered Samantha. "You both have the same problem that Severus has."

"I have no trouble casting this charm and shielding," said Severus sullenly. "We can't all be perfect at flicking and swishing all the time." Harry and Draco snickered, but sobered quickly with a glare from Samantha.

"Fine. Don't come crying to me if you're spotted due to your shoddy spell work," said Samantha. She sighed. "That's it for me today. Severus, did you have anything else you wanted them to work on?"

"No, we covered everything I had planned for today," he said. "What we really need to do is some research for the destruction of our reptilian friend."

"Will you ever tell me what exactly is going on?" asked Draco. Samantha and Harry both looked at Severus, who sighed and rubbed a hand over his face.

"He may be able to help," said Harry softly. "He's a lot better with potions than either me or Sam. We may need to get into his vault anyway."

"But we won't know until we dig a little into Severus's books," said Samantha.

"Alright," said Severus wearily. "Come, Elias. We are going to be relying on you for most of the work with this one anyway." He led the way down the hall into the drawing room. Draco plopped into the armchair, while Samantha sat on the couch. Harry and Severus both stayed standing. Harry leaned against the wall as Severus spoke.

"Have you ever heard of an object called a Horcrux?" asked Severus. Draco frowned in thought.

"I've seen the word mentioned in a book before somewhere, but not anything substantial," said Draco. "All I know is that they're very Dark objects."

"Indeed," said Severus. "Then it would probably not surprise you that Voldemort has done extensive research on these objects and how to create them." He sighed and started to pace. "A Horcrux is an object in which someone can store a part of their soul by a complex process involving the caster murdering someone. If the caster is then hit with, say, a rebounded Avada Kedavra, he will have the ability to resurrect himself if the object in which his soul is hidden is still intact." Draco's eyes widened and his face paled.

"Are you saying," whispered Draco. "that He split his soul and made a bloody Horcrux?"

"Brace yourself, it gets worse," muttered Harry. Severus stopped pacing and stood directly in front of Draco.

"No, Draco, not one," said Severus morosely. "Voldemort made seven."

"Bloody hell," said Draco. He ran a hand through his platinum blond hair. "Seven? SEVEN? Who needs seven of them?"

"He's kind of an evil bastard that way," said Harry flippantly. "Makes our job of turning him into a smoking pile of goo a whole lot harder."

"That's what you and Dumbledore were doing all last year?" asked Draco, looking at Harry. "You were off looking for these damn things?"

"That and learning all about how demented Tom Riddle was," said Harry. "We've actually made quite a bit of headway on this campaign to destroy the Dark Lord."

"Harry destroyed a certain diary belonging to Tom Riddle during his second year," said Severus. "I'm sure you're familiar with what went on that year."

"The whole Heir of Slytherin thing?" asked Draco. "Of course. Father ranted about it for months. He was furious about being kicked off the Board of Governors."

"And it cost him his position in the Inner Circle once Voldemort found out what had happened to it," said Severus. "That happened just before the end of your fifth year. The mission at the Ministry was supposed to be a chance for Lucius to redeem himself."

"How in the world did you destroy it?" asked Draco. "I'm sure you can't just vanish it with Evanesco."

"We didn't try that, did we?" said Samantha with a grin. Draco looked at her in shock. "But I'm sure you're right. It probably wouldn't work."

"I can't believe you people," said Draco breathily. "You're seriously on a mission to find bits of the Dark Lord that could be scattered all over the globe AND you're doing this under the assumption that the Dark Lord will not find out about your little plan and wipe you off the planet?"

"Yeah, that pretty much covers it," said Harry. "Like I said, we're making good progress so far. I got rid of the diary with a basilisk tooth. Dumbledore destroyed the bit that was inside Slytherin's ring a year ago last summer. One was inside Slytherin's locket and another inside a cup belonging to Hufflepuff. We got rid of those about two and a half months ago."

"Albus had a good idea what the others were," said Severus. "He was confident that some of Voldemort's soul rests inside another school relic. We believe it to be a chest that was entrusted to Ravenclaw by Slytherin, handed down through generations of Ravenclaws until it ended up in the hands of your grandfather. I'm sure it was in the Manor when the Ministry assumed ownership of the house, so that it now resides inside the bowels of the Ministry."

"I'm descended from Ravenclaw?" said Draco astonished. Samantha got up and left, returning a few minutes later with two thick books. She opened Hogwarts, A History to the page containing the myth of Ravenclaw while the other, she opened to Miranda Wakefield's genealogy in Nature's Nobility and handed them both to Draco.

"We want to get rid of the other Horcrux before we go after the chest," said Severus. "This is where you come in, Elias." Draco looked up warily.

"I'm listening," he said as he handed the books back to Samantha. "Where are the others?"

"One resides inside Voldemort's body and can be vanquished with a well-placed Killing Curse or a nice, slow, horribly painful poison," said Severus with an evil smile. "The other is the one we want you to help us get rid of. You've seen Voldemort's pet snake, Nagini, before, correct?"

"Damn snake," muttered Harry under his breath.

"Yes," said Draco slowly. "He brings it to every single meeting we have."

"Excellent," said Severus. "We need you to kill it for us."

"Uh, right," said Draco, as if he were talking to an insane person. "I'll just whip out my wand during a meeting and do that for you. You can bury whatever pieces of my body you can find."

"Use that wonderful Slytherin mind, my dear Elias," said Samantha. "We cannot alert the Dark Lord to what we're doing before we get our hands on that trunk from the Ministry. But," she said as she raised a finger in the air. "You are the only one who can get close enough to kill the snake for us."

"So, we must devise a way to kill the snake so that its death takes long enough for us to break into the Ministry, steal the chest and bring it here," said Severus. "We can then do research on the chest and destroy it while the snake dies."

"And you're thinking about some kind of potion?" asked Draco. He leaned back in his chair, a hand held up to his temple. "One that would be undetectable and would not kill anyone around the Dark Lord so as to not alert the rest of the Death Eaters to your escapades after Hogwarts collectables?"

"That would be preferable," said Severus. "I have a lot of books here, but we haven't found anything yet that would serve our needs." Draco frowned slightly in deep thought.

"You're going to need something that will give you until you're ready to attack the Dark Lord himself," said Draco. "He will get really suspicious when the snake dies. He could go and make more Horcruxes before you can kill him."

"But would he be likely to use just ordinary objects?" asked Harry. "Besides the chest, all of the relics from the Founders are either in our possession or in McGonagall's office."

"Hm," said Severus. "I hadn't thought about it from that perspective. If he discovers that we've already gotten rid of his other Horcruxes, he may become desperate and arrogant enough to storm the gates of Hogwarts to get the sword or the Hat. Or both."

"Which would be disastrous," said Samantha. "We would be hard pressed to cover all the entrances and secret passageways into the castle."

"So that brings us back to the snake," said Draco. "What do we do about that?"

Severus growled in frustration and began to pace. Harry shrugged at Draco and plopped down in the chair next to him. For minutes, the only noise was the sound of Severus's shoes on the floor.

"We cannot wait until a major battle to kill the snake," said Severus finally. "Voldemort never brings it to an attack for the express purpose of protecting it. We're just going to have to go forward with our plan to poison the thing. We will have to obtain the trunk during the holidays and destroy it either right before or after the New Year."

"Where is this trunk now?" asked Draco. "I think I know the one you're talking about. It was hidden underneath the drawing room floor at the Manor at one time, but that was years ago."

"Arthur Weasley said he doesn't know what happens to items after they're handed over to the Aurors," said Samantha. "I've worked in MLE for years and haven't heard anything about a storage facility."

"But they would have to refer to the holding facility in their paperwork, would they not?" asked Severus. "Have you seen anything about it on the reports you edit?"

"No," said Samantha, shaking her head. "The part of the reports I edit are only the catalogues and descriptions of the things they find, not where the Aurors store them for further analysis, and only then it's simply for the format of the form, not the list itself. I give the reports back to the Aurors who filed them and then get them back inside closed and warded folders to file by name."

"We can't really risk asking an Auror who's in the Order," said Harry. "No one is supposed to know about these things. I think the less people who know what exactly we're doing, the better. At least for now."

"We would definitely have less interference that way," said Draco. "I would imagine most of the Order are pretty particular about abiding by the law."

"Especially since most of them are Ministry employees," said Harry. He frowned a little as he thought. "And we're positive that this thing was even confiscated when the Manor was raided?"

"No," said Severus dejectedly. "That's the caveat to the whole thing. We could get as far as inside the Ministry and find that it's not even there." Severus suddenly grinned menacingly at Draco. "However, we could go and check the Manor. Just to ascertain that it isn't there." Harry grinned at him and turned to Draco.

"You're asking to break into my house?" said Draco with a smirk. "I like it. Proceed."

"We would need your help," said Severus. "I'm not quite sure where in the drawing room that secret chamber is, and I imagine Lucius has some wonderful precautions in order to keep certain people from getting inside the Manor itself."

"Are there any other precautions around the house?" asked Samantha hesitantly. "I wouldn't want to bring down the Aurors on us. They'd have a field day, what, with a Ministry employee, two Death Eaters and Harry Potter?"

"That story would be awesome in the Prophet," said Draco wistfully.

"I get enough press as it is," muttered Harry. "I don't need anymore." He looked to Severus. "Should we go now since we're all here anyway? The sooner we know it's not there, the sooner we can work on finding it at the Ministry."

"Might as well," said Severus. "We'll wait until after supper. It'll be easier under the cover of night."

"I could also get the rest of whatever they didn't take out of there as well," said Draco. "Is it alright if I keep any stuff we get out here? I can't really keep it at my place, seeing as how I sometimes have -- visitors."

"Sure," said Harry. "There are a bunch of empty rooms up where Sam and Severus are. We can store whatever you like."

"Thanks," said Draco. His face suddenly lit up. "Say, I could get the rest of my clothes and stuff out of my room!"

"We're not going to be there for that long, Elias," said Severus sternly. Draco made a pouting face.

"It wouldn't take me all that long to pack, Severus," said Draco. "I promise to be quick." He looked up at Severus, his bottom lip quivering slightly. "Please?" Severus glared at him for a moment and then sighed.

"Fine, Elias,' said Severus tiredly. "You can get whatever you what while we're there." He looked at his watch. "It's already 7. Let's eat something and get over to the Manor." He walked out of the room towards the kitchen. Draco grinned slyly and gave Harry a wink. Harry shook his head as he stood from his chair.

"I didn't know he was such a pushover," muttered Samantha softly as they followed Severus out of the room. "I could've gotten him to do all kinds of stuff."

"It's the trembling lip," whispered Draco. "I've done that so many times since I was little. Father always hated how he got me whatever I wanted." Harry chuckled quietly as they sat down to eat.

Samantha finished eating first and rose to leave the room. She summoned Severus and Harry's two-way bracelets from their rooms and went to her room, which was now coated in a light layer of dust. She opened the closet door and got out an old, battered trunk. She opened it, digging through the stuff she had taken from her house where she grew up. She found the other two bracelets from the set her father had bought all those years ago for family vacations. She ran a thumb over the phoenix and serpent engravings as she left her room and went back to the kitchen with the four bracelets. She opened the door to find the table completely clean.

"Nice to see that Kretcher's getting some exercise," said Samantha as she placed all four bracelets on the table. She drew her wand and tapped Harry's. It glowed deep red for a few seconds. She did the same to Severus's, with his glowing a dark green. She made Draco's glow navy blue, and her own glowed bluish-green.

"These are all interconnected now," said Samantha as she handed each of them a bracelet. "When you say the middle name of the person you want to talk to, the other person's bracelet will glow with the color of the person calling them. I'm blue-green, Severus is Slytherin green, Elias is navy blue, and James is, of course, Gryffindor red. The receiver then speaks the name of whoever is calling them, and the communication is open."

"Amazing," said Draco. He put his on and held it to his mouth. "James."

Harry's bracelet glowed dark blue. Draco smiled widely.

"Now that we've had a test run, let's get going," said Severus. "Elias, you're going to have to keep your hood up. Your bright hair will be spotted miles away."

"Right," said Draco as he pulled up his hood. "We're apparating, correct?"

"Yes, but I won't be able to apparate unless someone takes me," said Samantha as they walked towards the front door. "I've never been there before."

"Me neither," said Harry.

"Severus and I can apparate you," said Draco as he turned to Severus. "There's an underground passageway next to the greenhouse that will get us into the kitchens."

The four of them left for Grimmauld Square. Once in the grove, Harry grabbed Draco's arm and the two boys disappeared. Severus and Samantha followed directly behind them. They reappeared next to a large glass building, its windows covered in ivy.

"If any alarm is triggered, apparate out or make it back here," said Severus quietly. "If you discover any strange wards, call on the bracelet. James, Elias, go and get whatever you need from the rooms upstairs. Sam and I will scope out the drawing room. Be swift and silent. We cannot linger." The two boys nodded. Draco walked quickly over to a large tree that had been planted next to the greenhouse. He felt the trunk and found a groove in the bark. He grabbed it and pulled open a door. He lit his wand and descended into the passage, with the others hot on his heels. The pathway was straight and narrow, with no side passageways leading off from it. They could feel the floor start to dip slightly, going further underground. After about ten minutes, they came to a wooden door. A pair of entwined serpents was carved into the middle of the door, surrounding a large emerald. Draco tapped the emerald three times with his wand.

"Je sera toujours un Malfoy," said Draco clearly. He tapped the emerald once more. "Draco Elias Malfoy." The door unlocked with a loud click. Draco pushed it open and held it for the others. They walked into a huge room filled with pots and pans and climbed the rickety stairs to the first floor. They walked quickly to the front foyer, where a grand staircase wound its way up to the upper floors of the mansion.

"Call us when you're done, Elias," whispered Severus. The two boys left quickly up the stairs while Samantha followed Severus down a dark hall. He pushed open the doors to a large room.

"I think the hidden chamber is in front of the fireplace," whispered Severus. They stepped gingerly over the strewn parchments and broken glass scattered all over the floor. Severus pulled back a shredded rug and lit his wand. There was a faint line that was perpendicular to the floor boards. Severus felt along the outline of the door for a handle but didn't find one.

"Elias," whispered Severus into his bracelet. It grew warm as it gave off a soft dark blue light.

"Hey, what's up?" said Draco.

"How do you open the chamber?" said Severus. "I can't find a door handle anywhere."

"There's a button in the middle of the door," said Draco. "After you push it, the door lifts slightly and slides open."

"Thanks," said Severus. He ran his lit wand over the wood, feeling with his fingers for the button. He felt a smooth bump that stood out against the rough grain of the wood. He pushed it and stepped back as the panel rose from the floor and slid to the right. Samantha lit her wand and held it down into the opening. She put her wand between her teeth and descended the ladder into the room. She kept her wand aloft for Severus to climb down. He jumped down the last three feet and lit his wand. The room was mostly empty. There were a few random glass vials along with an empty bookshelf. The floor was littered with torn parchments, yellowed with age. Samantha bent down to examine some as Severus stepped farther into the room.

"It's not here," said Severus softly. He directed his wand to the back corners of the room, revealing nothing but old scrolls. Samantha sighed and lifted her wrist.

"James," she said. Her bracelet glowed dark red.

"Did you guys find it?" asked Harry.

"No," she whispered. "Everything's gone from down here. Are you two almost done upstairs?"

"Yeah," said Harry. "Elias wants to check the library, but other than that, we're done."

"Good," said Samantha. "We'll meet you both back in the kitchens." She and Severus climbed up out of the chamber, closing the door behind them. Severus replaced the rug as Samantha walked back down the hall. Severus caught up with her just as the boys were coming back down the stairs.

"They took the rest of the library," said Draco. "But they didn't take any of the clothes. I packed all of Father and Mother's things as well as mine."

"Odd that they took everything else," said Severus. "The drawing room was a disaster. Everything was either smashed to bits or gone completely."

"Figures," muttered Draco. "All the really expensive art pieces were in there." The four of them made their way back down to the kitchens. Draco tapped the door once with his wand.

"Draco Elias Malfoy," he said. He tapped the door three more times and pulled it open. The room suddenly exploded in light. Alarms shrieked to life. Draco cursed loudly.

"GO!" yelled Severus as he pushed Samantha through the door. "Disillusionment charms now!" Draco slammed the door shut behind them. They all hit themselves with the charm, following Severus's tall blue outline. They came to the end of the passage and Severus put his ear to the door.

"Elias, does anyone else know about this passage?" asked Severus quickly.

"No," said Draco, panting slightly. "Along with the passwords, the doors are voice-activated. You'd have to be Polyjuiced to get in, even if you did have the passwords." Severus nodded curtly at him.

"I'll go first," said Severus. "I'll call Sam when the coast is clear. Come up and disapparate to the Square immediately." He pushed the door open a crack, peering out into the night. He opened the door wider and slipped out. He looked back towards the Manor. The house was lit like a Christmas tree. Aurors were already apparating in to investigate, but none of them were anywhere close to the greenhouse.

"Haydyn," said Severus softly. His wrist glowed a faint blue-green. "It's all clear. Move out."

The door opened again and shut quietly. Samantha disapparated with a soft pop, followed by two slightly louder cracks. Severus disapparated and reappeared in Grimmauld Square.

"Elias, go back to your apartment," said Severus. "We don't want to risk any visitors dropping by and you not being there. Give the stuff you packed to James." Draco pulled a handful of miniaturized trunks from his pocket and handed them to Harry.

"I probably won't be able to come back over for a few days at least," said Draco. "Once the Prophet gets a hold of this, I may have lots of unwanted company. I'll call if anything comes up." With a crack, Draco disapparated from the grove.

Draco didn't come by at all the week following the break-in at the Manor. The Daily Prophet was filled with stories and conjectures on the identity of the robber. Draco was a prime suspect, with wanted posters displaying his picture appearing alongside the ones of other dangerous Death Eaters in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. Meanwhile, Severus, Samantha and Harry researched poisons that could be used on Nagini. They were all upstairs late one night, going through the many books of Severus's library.

"Be careful with one, James," said Severus as Harry lifted another potions text off of a tall stack. "It has a tendency to bite."

"Thanks for the warning," muttered Harry as he held the book at arm's length and gingerly turned the pages. Samantha sat on the bed, with parchment everywhere and open charms books in front of her.

"I've found a couple of charms that might work," said Samantha. "I would have to modify them slightly to the potion, but they should be perfect for what we're trying to do."

"How long would they give us?" asked Severus. He looked at a calendar they had put up over the desk. "We would need at least until," he flipped up a couple of pages, "late February or March, just to be on the safe side."

"So that's what, at least four months?" mused Samantha. She looked down at her notes and back at one of the book she was perusing. "I have one that would give us almost five. I can make it so that the time component can be altered if we need to kill the snake sooner. I just need to know the potion so I can make sure it won't affect any of the ingredients."

"Here's one that might work," said Harry. "Has a hellebore and aconite base." He stood and handed the book to Severus, opened to the page he was reading. Severus read over the potion, his finger tracing the lines as he went down the page.

"Bring me One Thousand Herbs and Fungi, Harry," said Severus. Harry handed the book to him and Severus flipped to cross-reference the ingredients. He smiled slightly as he finished.

"Well done," said Severus. "This is exactly what we need." He walked over to the bed and handed the open copy of Fluid Infusions: A Complete Guide to Rare Potions to Samantha.

"Essence du Morte," muttered Samantha. She read the some of ingredients out loud. "Aconite, hellebore, puffer-fish eyes, valerian roots, wormwood." She nodded, handing the book back to Severus. "The charm should work perfectly. I can cast it when the potion was done. We would have five full months from the time of casting before it kills Nagini."

"This potion works extremely rapidly once administered," said Severus, reading. "Within a few minutes, anything in contact with the solution dies due to the liquefaction of its bodily organs." He smirked evilly.

"Disgusting," muttered Samantha. She looked at Severus's upturned mouth. "One would think you enjoyed making dangerously lethal poisons, Severus."

"They're a lot more exciting to brew," said Severus with a grin. "The solutions are much more volatile than anything I do at Hogwarts, even in N.E.W.T. classes. If you botch a potion like this, you usually end up plastered to the wall of the room you're in."

"Lovely," said Samantha sarcastically. "So, what's our method of delivery?"

"That's the tricky part," said Severus. "It needs to be inside something else, and then fed to the snake. That way, Draco won't come in contact with the poison directly. Maybe we can find a way to put inside something the snake will naturally be attracted to."

"Like a dead mouse or something?" asked Harry. "Something Elias can drop at a meeting and have the snake eat?"

"Exactly!" said Severus. "It doesn't have to be a real, just real enough to fool the beast. It can be something transfigured. I can scent it with some kind of blood on it to give it a strong odor for the snake to pick up. If Draco drops it as soon as he apparates to the meeting, no one will know the difference."

"How long will it take you to brew?" asked Samantha excitedly. "Will it take very long?"

Severus looked back at the book, reading the directions. His face broke out in a huge smile.

"Little more than a week," said Severus. "It'll be ready by Halloween." Severus stuck a scrap of parchment in the book to mark the page. "I'm going to get started and make sure we have all the ingredients we need. James, go patronus Elias. He should be at home. He was summoned two days ago, so he shouldn't be out." Harry ran out of the room and up the stairs.

Elias-


Man, have I got great news ! We've found a potion and a time-release charm for it. It should be ready by Halloween. Come by sometime next week if you can and we'll go over details.

See you soon,


James

A/N2: So I like the French language. Draco's password is "I will always be a Malfoy" (I know, kinda lame…but it sounds cool en français). "Essence du Morte"- Essence of Death…again, not so creative. But sounds menacing in French.