A/N: Thanks to those of you who reviewed! I ripped the title for this chapter from one of my fav songs by Queen, although I think they just remade it. Back to the action and a little (early?) holiday spirit…
Chapter 28- The Show Must Go On
Whenever evil befalls us, we ought to ask ourselves, after the first suffering, how we can turn it into good. So shall we take occasion, from one bitter root, to raise perhaps many flowers.- Leigh Hunt
The windows of the 12 were dusted with snow, sparkling in the day's waning sunlight. Harry sat in the window chair, rereading Guide to Advanced Transfiguration while Severus helped Samantha hang some garland along the walls. Harry suddenly got up and touched his wand to an ornament that Samantha had conjured onto the garland, muttering an incantation. He leapt back as the ornament split into shards and dropped heavily to the ground, dagger hilts swaying from the force of hitting the floor.
"Whoa," said Harry lowly. He looked into the shocked and furious face of Samantha. Severus tried to hold back a broad grin as she pounced on Harry.
"What are you doing?" she cried. "Do you know how long I've been conjuring those to hang up? You could have really hurt yourself!"
"I'm sorry, Mum," said Harry quickly. "I just wanted to see if something would work." He glanced back down to the floor and back up. "It just worked a little too well."
She groaned loudly, rubbing her eyes. She turned to Severus, who was chuckling. She rolled her eyes and flicked her wand at the destroyed ornament.
"You two could drive a woman to drink," she muttered loudly. She jabbed her wand at the wall where the ornament had been, conjuring another to take its place. "Now, off with you both or this will never get done. I've had enough of your shenanigans for one day. Go destroy some other room I haven't decorated yet."
"Sorry, Mum," repeated Harry as he and Severus walked quickly towards the door. The door slammed loudly behind them, making them both jump slightly. Severus grinned at Harry.
"Thank you," he said quietly as they walked to the drawing room. "I was sick of that damn garland." He plopped down on the couch as Harry did the same in the chair. Severus stretched out his long limbs, lying down with his arms resting on his stomach.
"Always glad to be of service," said Harry. He stared at the large Christmas tree that stood in the corner, sparkling with tiny conjured fairy lights. He sighed. Severus turned towards Harry, who was staring blankly at the tree, his eyes glazed over.
"What's wrong, James?" asked Severus. Harry blinked several times and looked back at Severus. He shook his head slowly.
"Just thinking," said Harry. He closed his eyes, shifting his body to rest his head on the arm of the chair. His legs hung off the other side. Severus closed his eyes, shaking his head.
"Thinking is a very dangerous thing," said Severus. "Especially at this time of the year." Harry scoffed quietly.
"Yeah," said Harry. "I was just thinking how every Christmas, I have fewer and fewer people to spend it with." He opened his eyes. "It's has to stop. Before everyone I love dies, Voldemort has got to be stopped." Severus tapped his fingers on his chest.
"I know, James," he said softly. "Believe me, I know." Harry swung his legs around and rose from his chair. He walked over to the desk and sat, pulling some parchment towards him. He inked a quill and began to write hastily across the page. After a few minutes, he signed it and rolled it up. He tapped it with his wand to store it in his patronus. He shot a white stag through the wall and sat back in the chair, drumming his fingers on the desk.
"We never figured out where exactly this storage facility is in the Ministry, did we?" said Harry. "Where they've got our chest?"
"No," said Severus as he sat up slowly. "It seems like a lifetime ago that we were destroying Horcruxes left and right." He ran a hand through his hair. "If only Samantha was still at work. She could probably find out for us by asking some stupid Auror trainee with loose lips."
"We're going to have to take Elias with us," said Harry. "He's the only one of us who has actually seen it before."
"Hm," mused Severus. They both sat in silence, dwelling on missing friends and antique relics. After an hour or so, Samantha walked quickly by the door. She stopped abruptly, leaning in from the hallway.
"There you two are," she said. "Dinner's ready, if you guys want it."
"Good," said Severus. "We need to have a working supper, if you don't mind." Samantha raised an eyebrow at him.
"Oh?" she said. "I assume this isn't going to be about what we're having for Christmas dinner next week."
"Not quite," said Severus. Samantha gave him a suspicious look. He grinned at her and gave her a quick kiss as they walked towards the kitchen. Suddenly, the front door burst open, blowing cold air and snow into the entryway. It shut quickly and Draco reappeared from under his Disillusionment charm. He gave Samantha and Severus a smile, his rosy cheeks standing out from his pale face.
"Am I too late for some dinner, Mum?" he asked. Harry stuck his head back out the kitchen door, licking his fingers. He smiled.
"Hey bro," said Harry. Samantha walked over to where Draco was fumbling with the clasp of his cloak. She pulled his frozen fingers away and removed his cloak for him, hanging it on the rack near the door.
"You're just in time, love," said Samantha. "Come in and get warm. You should've worn some gloves." Draco rolled his eyes at Harry, who bit his lip to keep from laughing. He held the kitchen door for Draco, who was still trying to warm his hands. Draco sat across from Harry as the other two came in the door. He closed his eyes and inhaled.
"Oh man, I'm starving," said Draco. Harry handed him a plate and they began to dig in to the chicken and vegetables on the table. Severus sat at the head of the table, helping himself to a plate and some food. Samantha walked over next to Harry, staring at the table in thought.
"Hang on just a second," she said. She tapped the empty end of the table with her wand. The table began to shorten until it had just enough room for one more person. She banished all but one of the unused chairs to the corner of the room, out of the way. Smiling, she sat down across from Severus. He raised an eyebrow at her.
"No sense in having such a huge table," she said as she served herself some potatoes and chicken. After they had all finished, Samantha got up and brought over dessert.
"Treacle tart," moaned Harry. "My favorite dessert after chocolate cake."
"Mine, too," said Draco as he served himself a huge portion. Samantha smirked at Severus's creased forehead.
"Severus isn't too fond of it," said Samantha with a grin. He glared slightly at her as he sat back in his chair, drinking his pumpkin juice.
"I'm more of a cake person," mumbled Severus. He drained his cup and set it back on the table. "Just as well. I can start our discussion on what James and I were talking about earlier. He mentioned our infamous chest that we've forgotten about."
"Oh yeah," said Draco around a mouthful of tart. He opened his mouth to say something else, but shut it quickly at the disgusted look on Samantha's face.
"Yes," she said. She looked back to Severus. "We still don't know exactly where this place that contains our chest is inside the MInistry."
"That's what I said," said Harry. "We have to find out where that is and then go from there."
"Our best bet will be to get the chest between Christmas and New Year's," said Severus. "We'll be less likely to run into anyone if we do it then, especially if we wait until late at night. But we need to find out where it is first." He thought for a moment. "Sam, where can we get access to Auror files?"
She shook her head. "They're in a locked room. You have to have Auror clearance to get in. There's no way we can -" she trailed off at Severus's smirking face.
"My dear Samantha, you're forgetting something," said Severus. He leaned his elbows on the table. "You also happen to have clearance to that room, have you not? You filed all of their folders in that room, don't you?"
"Excellent!" said Harry excitedly. "We can just go and find where it is! It'll take us, like, ten minutes."
"Whoa, whoa, hang on," said Samantha. She looked incredulously at Severus. "Are you forgetting that if we're caught, not only do I lose my job, I could be fined my entire salary for the past two years in addition to being sent to Azkaban for about a year?"
"Sam, once we're married, you won't ever have to work again if you don't want to," smirked Severus. Samantha growled at him.
"That's not the point, Severus!" she cried as she slapped her hands on the table. "Those files have all kinds of tricky protection wards on them. The last idiot who tried to open one without clearance sounded alarms and the entire department was evacuated! Even the Aurors who were on vacation apparated in! It was a nightmare."
"Hm," said Draco as he cleaned his plate. "So we'll just have to be more careful, right?" Samantha put her head in her hands, shaking it back and forth.
"Right," said Harry. "No worries, Mum." He looked at his watch. "You free for a little breaking and entering tonight, bro?" Draco's face broke out into a huge grin.
"I was born ready," he said. He looked to Severus. "What's the plan, Dad?"
"This will just be a reconnaissance mission," said Severus excitedly, a gleam in his eyes. "We'll wait to get the chest itself until after Christmas. Tonight is just for information on the location of the storage facility." He looked sternly at the boys, who were grinning madly. "You two are going to have to listen carefully and do exactly as I say, do you understand?" They nodded hurriedly at him. "If either one of you screws this up, you'll be in so deep you'll be lucky to see the light of day until next summer." The boys sobered quickly. Severus nodded once. "Right. Now, Sam, we can all apparate directly to your office, correct?"
"We should be able to," said Samantha slowly. "Unless they've put up really strange wards. The only thing we're going to have to watch for are the Aurors pulling graveyard shifts. But they're rarely in the offices until right before dawn." She chewed her nails nervously while she thought
"And we don't know exactly where we're going," said Harry, pointing to himself and Draco. "You're both going to have to Side-Apparate us."
"We can do that," said Severus. "We'll leave at midnight." The boys nodded as Samantha looked at him with an ashen face. She dropped her gaze, raising a trembling hand to her temple.
"Why don't you boys go upstairs for while?" said Severus, keeping his eyes on Samantha. Harry frowned at him, but with a look at Samantha, understood. Draco nodded and stood up, following Harry out of the room. Severus sighed softly, gazing at Samantha's white countenance.
"Sam, what's wrong?" whispered Severus. She shook her head at him, her face still deathly pale.
"Nothing," said Samantha as she avoided his gaze. "I'll be okay. Just nerves. We are breaking into the Ministry of bloody Magic, after all."
"Sam, everything will be fine," said Severus soothingly. "We'll get in and get out, just like we did at the Manor, although with no alarms." Samantha smiled a little at his joke. He stood and walked over to her, placing a kiss on her forehead. "Everything will be fine."
She moaned, putting her face in her hands. "Damn it, why does everything have to be so complicated?"
"Because we're dealing with an insane madman bent on world domination and a Ministry who is his unwitting accomplice?" said Severus, raising an eyebrow at her. Samantha chuckled and took a deep breath.
"Everything will be fine," she repeated. She closed her eyes, waiting for the clock to chime midnight.
Four hours later, the four of them stood invisible in the grove in Grimmauld Square, shivering from the cold. Severus offered his arm to Draco as Samantha did the same to Harry.
"Remember our plan," he said quietly. "The last thing we need is to be arrested."
"We know," said Harry tiredly. "Let's just go." Samantha and Severus turned and disapparated with the boys. They appeared in a dark office behind a tall cubicle wall. Samantha quickly tapped both Harry and Draco with her wand, redisillusioning them. Severus looked around the edge of the wall as he raised his own wand, recasting his charm.
"All clear. Lead the way, Sam," he whispered. She crept silently past Kingsley's office to a door at the end of the hallway, followed by Draco and Harry. Severus was a step behind the boys, glancing over his shoulders. Samantha stood before the door and raised her wand, placing her wand in the slot on the wall. It glowed blue, and the lock clicked. She pulled the door open, resheathing her wand, and ushered the boys inside. Severus took the door from her and backed into the room, watching behind them.
"Well, that was easy," muttered Harry as Severus closed the door softly. The door locked automatically. Samantha scoffed at him.
"Getting in is always the easy part," she growled. "It's the getting out that's hard." She lit her wand and moved to the corner of the room. She scanned down a huge filing cabinet, reading the names on the drawers.
"It should be in here," she whispered. She inserted her wand into the gap next to the handle. She pulled the drawer open and started rifling through the many folders. She stopped suddenly, running her fingers over the files. "Severus?"
He walked over to where she was and looked to where she was staring. He groaned at the sight of approximately thirty files, all labeled with the name 'Malfoy.'
"You've got to be kidding me," said Draco softly. Harry looked at the drawer in shock. Severus lifted the first few and handed them to Draco. He handed another handful to Harry and took the last bit, splitting it between himself and Samantha.
"Basic charm breaking to begin with," he said softly. "Then move up from there to more complicated detection spells."
He ran his wand over the first one, muttering incantations. The file flickered red for a few seconds. He cast another charm and the folder glowed red, then blue. The cover raised slightly. Severus opened it quickly, scanning the reports inside. "These are from about four years ago…investigation of the secret room…" He ran a finger down the inventory confiscated. "No chest."
"These are old, too," said Samantha. "They're from when the boys were little. Date's 1983." She resealed the folders. "The boys must have the more recent ones."
"How are you guys getting those open so fast?" said Harry. He sighed in frustration and rapped his wand hard on the folder. The cover flipped open. "Oh. Like that." He lit his wand and shuffled through the many sheets of parchment. "We're getting closer. These are from when Lucius was arrested after the Department of Mysteries battle." He handed it to Samantha as Draco opened another.
"Found it," said Draco smugly. He scanned the list, turning the page. He turned another page, and then another. "Damn, they sure don't skimp on listing things." He ran his finger across one page and read aloud. "One wooden chest, unable to open. Contains dangerous Dark object. Stored in Section 12B, fourth floor, cell number 983."
Severus groaned and rubbed his eyes. "I am such an idiot."
"What is it?" asked Samantha warily. She took the folder back from Draco, resealing it and placing it back in order with all the others.
"I know where the storage facility is," said Severus softly. "I've walked right past it on numerous occasions. There's a door towards the end of the hallway marked 'Storage' on the fourth floor. I thought it was just a cleaning closet. They must have some kind of repelling charm on the door." Samantha replaced all the files back in the drawer and shut it. She turned her wand to the right, relocking the drawer. The drawer glowed blue. Severus grabbed her arm as the sound of deep voices penetrated the room.
"I'm just gonna refile this," said a muffled voice. Severus grabbed them and pulled them towards an empty wall. He watched as the door opened and a young blond man walked in. He ambled over to a middle cabinet, opening up a drawer with his wand. He raised his head from the files and looked around. Severus held his breath as the Auror shrugged his shoulder, shutting the drawer. He walked back out and closed the door. The lock clicked. Samantha let out the breath she was holding.
"See, what did I tell you?" she whispered, turning to Harry. Severus walked quickly to the edge of the doorway. He tapped the doorframe with his wand. It glowed red once.
"There's one still out there," he whispered. "We're going to have to wait." Severus moved away from the door, standing to the left of the frame.
"You're kidding, right?" hissed Draco. "We can't stay here all night!"
"No, I'm not," said Severus softly. "We can't risk someone seeing the door open mysteriously, nevermind it being an Auror, of all people."
They waited for what seemed like an eternity. Severus tapped the frame every few minutes, surrounding the door in a red light. After half an hour, the doorframe finally glowed blue.
"It's clear," said Severus softly. "Boys, recast your charms." He tapped Samantha on her head as she inserted her wand into the slot labeled "level 3." Her wand alternated between flashing blue and green. The lock clicked open.
"Let's move," said Severus as he pulled the door open. Harry and Draco slipped out of the room, followed by Severus. Samantha pulled out her wand and shut the door. She tapped the door handle twice, hearing the lock slide back into place.
"Back to the Square," whispered Severus. "Leave your charms on until you get to the house. Go!"
The four of them disapparated with small pops, arriving back in the grove. Draco and Harry took off in a slow jog back to the house. Samantha took off after them. Severus started to jog when he heard a twig snap from somewhere behind him. He whirled around, his eyes darting back and forth. He stood perfectly still, his ears tuned to any foreign sound. Everything fell deathly silent. His insides froze when he saw the outline of two cloaked figures searching the grove a few meters away.
"I don't see anything," said one of the figures.
"Of course you can't see anything," said the other. "It's the middle of the night, you dolt. But they're here somewhere." The voice took on a menacing tone. "We just have to wait for them to slip up. Then we'll catch them."
"Well, it's too bloody cold for us to look any longer tonight," said the first figure. "We'll come back and do some more looking around later."
"Fine," said the other. "I'll owl you." The figures disapparated with two loud cracks. Severus's bracelet glowed blue-green. He lifted it up to his wrist as he walked quickly out of the park.
"Haydyn," whispered Severus.
"Where are you?" said Samantha frantically.
"I'm on my way, Sam," said Severus softly. "I'll be back at the house momentarily."
"Please hurry," said Samantha. His bracelet cooled as he walked up the path to the front door. He opened and shut the door quickly, canceling his charm in the hallway. Harry and Draco were both sitting on the bottom stair, watching Samantha pace the hall. She ran to him, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"I'm fine," said Severus softly. He pulled back from her and kissed her forehead. He looked over to the boys. "We will have to be very careful going to the park from now on. No loud apparating."
"Why?" said Harry, frowning. Severus sighed.
"Because I just saw two Death Eaters combing the Square for any signs of us," said Severus. Samantha swore under her breath as Draco stood up from the stair.
"How do they even know where to look?" cried Draco. "They can't know exactly where we are, can they?"
"No," said Severus. "Pettigrew must have told the Dark Lord that he suspects we're hiding somewhere close."
"And he's right," said Harry. He leaned against the railing, closing his eyes.
"But they can't get to us if we're in the house," said Samantha. "The Fidelius Charm is one of the most complicated Light spells that's known. As long as Severus is fine, we'll all be fine." Draco walked slowly to the rack beside the door, grabbing his cloak off the hook.
"Well, at least life isn't boring here," said Draco with a smirk. "However, I'm going back to the apartment. I'll be back by next week for Christmas." He kissed Samantha on the cheek. "Bye, Mum." He held his hand out to Severus, who shook it and walked him to the door.
"Be careful going back, Elias," he said. Draco swung his cloak around his shoulders.
"I will, Dad," said Draco. "See you next week." He tapped his head with a Disillusionment charm and left the house.