Published 18th of November, 2020
Ministry of Magic, Section of Regulation and Authorization
At the same time
"Alex Rayleigh" Hermione read aloud and looked at Severus, who reached for a chair and sat down on it. "Oh God..."
He wanted to say the same thing, however much stronger. From them all, she was the less possible person. No, she was totally improbable! Professional, serious and intelligent. He rarely admitted to himself that someone was intelligent, but in her case he had to, though he definitely didn't like her. On the other hand, Griffin was crazy about her and during last convention he dreamed so much to seduce her that he drank a glass of Fire for courage, then a second one and a third and finally fell asleep completely drunk in the armchair by the bar.
Merlin, and it was because of her that he died ?! He died in such torments ?! She killed him. And not only him! She has already murdered dozens of people! Because of her you almost lost your soul and rotted in Azkaban!
At the thought of Griffin a mad anger exploded in him and the fresh memory of Azkaban made him feel as if someone had poured oil into a living flame. Rage almost blinded him, he cursed and sprang from the table.
„Let's go! I know where!"
He yanked at the door, almost tearing it off its hinges, burst into the corridor and... stopped abruptly. Suddenly, the certainty of what he wanted to do burst and vanished like a soap bubble and only doubts left. What seemed to be within reach only a second ago, suddenly went away by miles!
It won't be that easy! BLOODY HELL!
Hermione replaced the order list quickly, followed Severus into the hallway and ran onto his back.
„What's…?!"
„Silence!" He hissed, enraged and grabbed his head.
And what now?! You know where she lives, but she must be sitting in the Lab right now and brewing! The lab is in a different dimension, not just in her house! And you don't even know where there are Passage to it! You don't know the passwords and you don't know how to get them !
OH SHIT!
They were literally one step away from her and couldn't reach her! But they couldn't stop, not now!
He stared at the wall and forced himself to think logically, coldly.
What do you have. What do you know.
You know where she lives. Start from there. Maybe there's a Passage there. Or maybe you can just get Rayleigh there!
This time, even his altered appearance couldn't hide his fury, so Hermione fell silent obediently and stared at him, tensed.
He was silent for a moment, then he nodded and looked up at her.
"Listen carefully and don't interrupt me" he said in a low voice. "Rayleigh's lab exists in another dimension. To get to it, you need to use one of the Passages, which opens with the appropriate spell, but I don't know where they are. It is quite likely that they will just open wherever the person who will cast the spell is. I know all employees know this spell and guests are given a different spell. That perhaps gives access to certain areas of the lab only.
He was silent for a moment and Hermione suppressed thousands of questions and doubts that had flooded her.
„We apparate in front of her manor. Either we find her there, or we can find some way to open the Passage. I'm not going to take any risk, so we will use polyjuce" he added and walked quickly towards the elevator.
Hermione followed him.
„Or maybe..."
"Maybe WHAT?"
"Why don't we inform Gawain Robards?"
Severus stopped abruptly in place and grabbed her by the jacket.
"We are not going to inform anybody, Granger! If you want go home, I'll finish it myself" he grunted and finished in a dangerous tone. "And don't even think about informing anyone!"
"O-Of course I'm going with you!" Hermione called, leaning back. "But tell me why!"
In response, Severus turned, entered the elevator hall and slammed his palm against the button calling the lift.
Hermione stood next to him and gave him a questioning look.
"Please. Severus..."
Why? It was easy. Aurors may have proven themselves in normal life, against normal, more or less clever thieves or murderers. They were all just tools, cogs in a huge organization, who had to submit to hierarchy, obey the law and were constantly blocked by the need to share information and wait for someone's decision.
But these principles did not work in crisis situations such as the one where decisions had to be made immediately, without any consultation and often radical solutions were sought. And one was on its own.
The war against the Dark Lord was not won by the Ministry or the Aurors, not even the Order of Phoenix, but by the three teenagers who attempted the Impossible. None of what they did would be possible in a normal organization.
He saw it all from a different perspective; he was playing his part on the other side and what he was doing was also against the law. And it had to be kept a deep secret.
The elevator had already descended several Levels when he spoke.
"Because I'm not going to risk that cause a decision of some fool or the indecision of another moron Rayleigh sneaks out and poisons half the wizards in the world in the name of her insane dreams! Because I don't want to risk your life or mine by telling someone who blurts it out to someone else who has sold everyone for a handful of Galleons! I don't trust anyone and I'm not going to. One wrong decision and not only we may be dead in a moment. So you have a choice: either accept my rules completely, or get out of my sight and remain silent."
The grille slid aside and he left, still not looking at Hermione. He managed to walk a few steps when he felt her grip his sleeve.
„I understood. I'm going with you."
Edinburgh, Rayleigh Manor
1:20 pm
The Rayleigh manor was protected in several ways. Aside from the fact that it was in the middle of a dense forest with no Muggle roads leading to it, it was also protected by Repello Mugoletum spell, so there was no fear that someone non-magical would appear. It was also protected from wizards by a six-foot-high wall, behind which various conifers grew densely, hiding the entire building from curious eyes perfectly.
Suddenly there was a loud pop and two tall, thin men appeared next to a fallen pine trunk.
Small deer, which nibbled on ground cover, froze, jerked its head up sharply and at the sight of people it sprang up and ran in the opposite direction. One could hear the hoofbeat for a while, but it quickly died in the loud trill of mockingbird, the regular tapping of a woodpecker and the rustle of leaves in the crowns of trees.
Making sure no one saw them, Hermione and Severus walked over to the brick wall.
"Tall" the girl muttered, running her hand over the mossy brick in places. "Do you know if there are any protective spells behind it?"
"I don't know, but I'd rather not check. Maybe they've cast Magicae Deprehendere on whole area" Severus replied.
Judging from what he had told her about protecting the Lab, Hermione would not have been surprised that Alex Rayleigh had used a spell that detects use of magic.
"Perhaps only for a few or a dozen yards, so as not to raise the alarm if anyone waved their wand" she guessed, "but until we know what its area is, indeed, it is better not to use magic. But how do we get over the wall then? I was thinking about levitation, but since it is impossible..."
Severus looked around and his eyes fell on the fallen trunk. It will do.
"Stand back" he showed her with a gesture where to stand and whispered "Mobiliarbus trunk!"
The enormous trunk rose slowly, floated all the way to the wall and slumped down onto the litter with soft crunch. Severus removed protruding bark with his hand and tapped his foot hard on the slightly rotten top.
"It should resist. Wait, I'll check and let you know."
He put his wand into his pocket, climbed on the trunk nimbly and grasping the top of the wall with his hands, jumped up, pulled himself over and swung his leg over.
The forest undergrowth was in deep shadow, cast by the branches of fir, hanging down to the ground or by a thick thuja, growing tightly next to each other about two yards from the wall. Severus leaned forward, waited until his eyesight adjusted to the darkness and slowly saw green shoots rising upwards, with large, thick leaves.
A bit further there was the shape of a fallen trunk, a little smaller than theirs and next to it something small moved and hid.
Shit. BLOODY SHIT
"Bad news" he growled, turning. "Devil's snares, Snargaluff and something else. I do not know what." Hermione grabbed her lips and, touching her rough chin, removed her hand even faster.
"Something else?" She tried to hide her fear, but she didn't quite succeed.
"I can't see at all what's behind these trees."
Wonderful. Great. Bloody hell. Bloody Alex Rayleigh.
The girl climbed to the top of the wall, lay down on her stomach and looked down.
"Considering what they've prepared for us here, I'm quite sure they cast Magicae Deprehendere" she said in an undertone.
Severus had to agree with her.
"I suppose they use dangerous plants rather than creatures to protect themself. A Graphorn or a bicorn cannot be forced to stay in one specific place, so they probably wouldn't take a risk."
With her stomach pressed down, Hermione couldn't sigh. She looked into the darkness and saw some small shapes, too, that started to gather near the wall.
"I think these are pogrebins" she said. "Because a lot of them came here and they are always drawn to people."
There was little they could do about the Snargaluff but avoiding them, and the Devil's Snares immediately reminded her of First Class.
She swung both legs over to the other side of the wall and looked at Severus, who had already done the same.
"We jump down, jump to our feet and run as fast as possible" she said.
"Prepare your wand so that it can be easily removed. As a last resort, we cast spells."
She nodded, tucked her wand into the long, narrow pocket of her jacket and signaled that she was ready, even though her heart was up to her throat.
"On three. One… two… Three!"
They both jumped down and suddenly the ground that seemed so close moved away from them! Hermione screamed in a choking voice, waved her arms and legs and fell and fell ... until she finally fell heavily on something soft. At almost the same moment, Severus fell down beside her.
„Come on, run!" He called, grabbing her hand and pulling her along.
They ran into the trees and fell straight onto a small trunk. Hermione lunged to the left to avoid it, but Severus failed. Immediately spiky shoots sprang up from the top of the trunk, sprang towards him, so he instinctively ducked, lost his balance and fell to the ground. He hurried to run, but something held him down and he fell again. One glance was enough to see the end of the stalk of devil's snares wrapped around his foot!
"Shit!" He kicked his foot.
Not feeling Severus' grip Hermione immediately understood that he failed. She also fell, but immediately jumped up and threw herself towards him, grabbed his arm and pulled him up a little, kicking back another stalk sliding on the ground towards his hips.
"Harder!" she screamed, dragging him while avoiding other Devil's snares that sprang towards her.
Severus struggled with all his strength and it worked! He would have fallen again, but the girl held him up and he finally regained his balance and could run!
Another Snargaluff lay a little further away, so they managed to get past it, broke through the dense trees and, panting heavily, fell out on a kind of forest path.
The trees grew much less here, the light shone through between the branches and they both stopped feeling overwhelmed. Severus leaned against the nearest tree and leaned over to catch his breath.
Hermione saw a movement near her out of the corner of her eye. She turned abruptly, but there was only a large stone next to her feet. A bit further the next one. And one more.
Pogrebis!
She couldn't use any spells, but luckily there was another simple way to get rid of Pogrebins. She kicked the nearest stone with all her force, it shot into the air and it turned into a hairy little creature with a big head!
With two more kicks she got rid of the remaining demons, surveyed the ground around her and turned to Severus.
"If you see a stone..."
He straightened up and stared intently at the road somewhere beside them. She followed him with her eyes and froze, too, bewitched.
Severus stared at the little hawk in the middle of the road, trying to walk forward, dragging a broken wing across the ground. With every move it stopped and made a soft, painful squeak. It walked a little more towards them, the wing caught a root and the bird squealed much louder and Severus twitched involuntarily as if it hurt him.
"How beautiful it is..." he heard a soft sigh next to him.
Merlin, this was not the time to help the birds! He loved large birds of prey, but there was nothing they could do for it without magic! Besides, out there, people were dying!
With difficulty he broke through and looked away from it.
„Come on, we don't have time."
The hawk swung its good wing and squealed again.
"It must be lost..." The girl protested, still staring at the bird, mesmerized.
"Maybe it fell out of the nest" he muttered, pausing reluctantly. Maybe at least we can dress it with… something…? "Come on."
Hermione stared at him, surprise on her face.
"What do you mean by "from the nest"? It's too small to climb a tree! Kitty-kitty-kitty..."
"What are you...?!" He glanced at the hawk, at the girl and again at the hawk and understood!
"It's MultAnimal!" Quick, run away!"
The sweet little kitten meowed and again clumsily walked towards them and suddenly Hermione understood. MultAnimal !
Severus lunged in the opposite direction to the hawk and tugged at the girl's jacket sleeve.
The MultAnimal was nothing but one of the monsters. Noticing its victim, it took the form of an animal that the victim liked. In the same time it cast a distracting spell and made the victim forget about everything important and only think about getting closer to it. And when the person was close enough, it would attack him or her with a wooden club to kill and devour.
They were obviously too far away for the MultAnimal spell to hit them properly and the fact that they saw two different animals certainly helped. If he was alone, he would definitely get caught...
They ran for a hundred yards down the path and out onto a wide paved road.
"Let's hide among those trees" Severus said.
They quickly crossed the road and hid between firs. Hermione pulled out her wand and checked her watch. They had another half an hour before the polyjuice stopped working. Maybe it's better to take a sip now, no one knows what will happen in a moment!
She reached into her pocket, but her fingers slipped through it and went out through a large hole.
"Dammint!" She cursed. "I had to tear my pocket open and I lost my polyjuice!"
Severus cursed under his breath.
"Then let's hurry up."
"You think we're safe here?" Hermione looked around and suddenly saw the facade of the manor between the fir branches. "Look, we're close!"
"I can see it" he snorted. "So stop yelling. Avoiding magic will be useless if you announce our arrival with your scream."
They were perhaps another two hundred yards from the palace. Halfway up the distance, the trees and shrubs ended and park began with a round pool and narrow alleys separated by ornamental hedges and mosaics of flowers.
Severus and Hermione reached the last line of trees, hid behind the trunks and studied the palace for a moment. The two-story building, not very wide to the front, split into two large wings that could be clearly seen from where they stood. In another word, thousands of places to hide!
"Maybe her Lab is here and it's something like a Room of Requirement?" Hermione asked.
„Start to think. Since it is in another dimension, it is everywhere and nowhere" Severus replied reluctantly.
"The Warehouse in Carcassonne is really in Carcassonne?"
"Don't compare our dimensions to France. It all works differently there."
"Start to think, start to think!" How should I know? The Room of Requirements is at Hogwarts and Platform 9¾ is at King's Cross!
Or maybe… Not! Just that the Passages to them there are right in those places! Maybe there are more of them and these are the next, not yet discovered, entrances to the school?!
"Anyway, here" Hermione pointed to the beautifully cut grass in front of her "Magicae Deprehendere shouldn't work anymore. Otherwise their alarm would go on every few minutes."
Severus looked around. There were less than 3 yards to the first hedge. Then they could follow it to the first bench about ten yards away. There for SURE Magicae Deprehendere didn't work anymore.
„We run to the hedge and crawl all the way to that bench and then cast Disillusionment Charm" he decided.
„Are you not afraid that someone from the palace can see us?"
Little Miss Question All?
"No, I'm not. But you will be able to start soon. One more stupid question and I'll send you home, no matter what the consequences" he growled. "Now!"
Before Hermione could even realize it, Severus jumped out from behind the tree, reached the hedge with almost one leap and fell along it. Hermione looked around, burst out from behind her tree and three steps later huddled next to Severus.
The grass was damp, so by the time they crawled to the bench their clothes were already wet. Severus reached for his wand and dried the girl's clothes and then his ones with one flick and then cast Disillusionment Charm and Muffliato.
In order not to get lost, Severus grabbed Hermione by the sleeve of her jacket and, walking across the grass, began to explain his plan.
"We don't have time to look for Alex Rayleigh, so we go inside, grab the first person we see and order to lead us to her. Or to her parents."
"Maybe you catch that someone and I will walk a few steps behind you and I will cover you? Just in case."
"And what if we have to go somewhere and close the door behind us?"
"Then let Alex or whoever pass it by, hold the door and stand back so I can slip under your hand."
He was tempted to say that someone would be surprised to see him standing in the doorway looking stupidly from side to side, but the idea was good indeed, so for once he decided to shut up.
"Just don't go too close, to not run into me."
They climbed the steps, walked to the large glass door and peered inside. A sort of hallway was visible through the glass and stairs to the left led in a gentle arch to the first floor. Nobody followed them. "We're going in" Severus muttered as he opened the door and pushed the girl before him.
Hermione tiptoed into the hall quickly and reaching behind her she found Severus and tugged at his sleeve.
"Ground or first floor?"
"Ground floor."
"Wait!" Hermione held him and pointed at their feet with her wand. "Gradus Silencio!"
She felt her feet warm, as if someone had put on fluffy socks and she stepped forward but heard nothing.
"Ok, we can go!"
They walked through small sitting room and large hall. Then they entered most likely a dining room, for apart from various elegant pieces of furniture there was a large table covered with a white cloth and finally they saw an ajar glass door to some room that looked like a porch. A few more steps and they heard a soft conversation.
"... come back, tell us more."
"It would be a wonderful opportunity to get back with interest everything we lost when Alex took over the Laboratory."
"Provided she succeeds, Anna."
"We should help her. After all, we are still co-owners."
"I would love to do it, but first Alex has to go back and say what they came up with."
"Hopefully as soon as possible."
Hermione's hand tightened on Severus' sleeve. Alex is gone! These are her parents! Are they involved, too !? They know where the Laboratory is!
„You catch them both?" She asked in a whisper, although she knew that no one would hear her with Muffliato.
"Hold on."
Severus pointed his wand at the woman's back and muttered "Imperio!" And he knew immediately that he had hit her, because she twitched slightly and froze.
"You're cold and you need to change into something warm right now! Obliviate! You won't remember that a spell hit you."
Hermione managed to control a groan with difficulty. Merlin, first Black Magic, now Unforgivable... God only... Luckily that for a good cause! After all... How was this situation different from their breaking into Gringotts?
The woman hugged herself with her arms and rubbed them hard.
„It's very cold here. I'll go put on something warm."
Her husband didn't answer, so the woman wrapped her shawl around her arms, shuddered and almost ran out of the porch. Just in case Severus stepped back from the door and pushed back Hermione and looked after her.
"Let's go" he said when the woman disappeared from view.
They walked over to the man in the armchair and Severus cast Imperius at him as well, then undo Muffliato.
"Get up" he said clearly and Mr. Rayleigh stood slowly and looked around uncertainly. "You have to obey us! Open immediately the Passage to the laboratory for us. Full access. And come with us!"
The man's face tightened and he hesitated as if he was trying to fight the spell, but Severus wasn't going to fuss with him. They had to hurry up! Someone might be here any minute, even damned Alex and she certainly shouldn't have found them here!
But he used the Imperius for a much more important reason. He was so furious in the Ministry that the most important thing was to hunt down Rayleigh! Hunt down and kill her! But before they got here, he cooled down and realized that far more important than his own harm, which was the loss of a friend and the suffering in Azkaban, were the suffering and dying people.
So the first thing was to find and get some Moon Water and brew the antidote as soon as possible. And it had to be done so as not to leave any traces behind. If he got that woman, too, would be great. If not, it will have to be delayed.
Adam Rayleigh couldn't tell his daughter about their visit, neither could his wife. Even at the cost of life sentence in Azkaban.
But he promised himself that before he got there he would find Alex and avenge Griffin. And Hermione Granger.
And everyone else.
„Hurry up!" He growled at him, grabbed his robe and shook him violently. "I do not like to repeat myself!"
Hermione squealed, or rather grunted, but the man didn't even react to it, just held out his wand.
"Aloud" Severus added in a low, menacing tone, leaning towards him.
Adam Rayleigh's eyes widened in fear, but he obediently took a breath and said loudly:
"Aut ne tenraris aut prfice. Porta ostium nunc.*" (*Albo nie próbuj, albo dokonuj)
He made a full circle with his wand in front of him and flicked it up.
For one long second nothing happened. And then...
They felt it first. The sound was so low and deep that they heard it somewhere inside. It crushed their chests and their hearts thudded. The air pressed on them from everywhere, it thickened, heated up and a moment later it shimmered and suddenly they could see it!
Colorless but existing. It converged in the middle, at first slowly, then faster and more violently and suddenly a golden sparkle sprayed at their feet, it split in two and with a soft hiss both halves raced in opposite directions in a circle.
Hermione tensed involuntarily and prepared for something to come.
The sparks met at the very top, exploded and shimmering rain floated down the circle. And when it disappeared...
Ahead of them there was a dark corridor, the end of which disappeared somewhere further. At the same time, barely perceptible scent flew in from the darkness, a scent that reminded Hermione of the lab at Severus' house, the potions class at Hogwarts and the Powell's Lab.
THEY DID IT!
Adam Rayleigh stepped forward and Severus and Hermione quickly did the same. Somewhere near them a torch was immediately lit.
"Porta prope nunc" the man said, the air simmered violently and in the next second in the yellow glow of torch they saw only the stone wall.
"Merlin..." Hermione sighed, looking around.
Severus was much more pragmatic. He removed Disillusionment Charm from them, nodded at Adam Rayleigh and showed him the corridor.
"Lead to your lab rooms. Run!"
The latter took it literally and made a quick jog down the hall, Hermione and Severus running after him.
The torches themselves lit up in front of them and passed, faded, the echo of their hurried footsteps reflected from the walls, mixed with the rustling of their robes and was gradually replaced by louder with every step, harsh breaths.
Adam Rayleigh slowed suddenly and Severus was about to pass next to him when he spotted a large wooden gate. As soon as Adam approached it, the black iron bars began to pop off by themselves. A moment later, the door opened and they were allowed to go inside.
The room was large and looked like Powell's labs. Rows of shelves lined the walls with a variety of ingredients, brewing equipment and books and in the center there was a large, long table, now completely empty. Bubbles of light moved above it and the exhaust of air switched on almost immediately.
"Why is it so far?" Hermione gasped as she stood next to Adam.
"You wanted laboratory rooms, then you have..."
Severus grabbed him by the robes, pushed him against the wall and pressed him with his whole body.
„Bastard!" He hissed and pressed his wand to his throat. "One more time and you'll regret you were born!"
Adam Rayleigh grunted and climbed on his toes to move as far as possible.
"What was there behind the walls we passed?!"
"Wa… ware-houses!"
Severus snorted furiously and withdrew his wand a little.
"Warehouses, you say. That sounds perfect. Where are you keeping Moon Water?"
"Moon Water? We do not have."
Hermione gasped. Oh Merlin ...! Impossible! He is lying!
"Do not lie!" Severus said in the same time.
"We don't use it!"
"DO-NOT-LIE-TO-ME!" He tweaked him hard again.
Adam Rayleigh pressed himself into the wall again.
„I'm not lying! He exclaimed, squinting at Severus' wand. "We do not brew anything it is used for!"
Severus gritted his teeth furiously. He knew it! To sell potions containing Moon Water, apart from the Fourth Drop, a certificate was needed that allowed the trade in hazardous substances and, from what he had heard, no one but Powell had one.
"You keep nothing for private use?"
"No! Really! Leave me!"
Severus released him and pulled away so abruptly that the man lost his balance and fell to the ground. "Silencio! Stupefy!"
Hermione watched the whole scene clenching her fists tightly and not even daring to take a deep breath, but now she felt she had had enough of it. Forcing to help was one thing, violence was another!
„Severus!" She tugged at his sleeve. "Leave him! We will look for it ourselves!"
"And we have to let him go out and lock us here?!" Severus yanked his arm. "What would you do at his place?!"
The girl froze. Shit! Of course I would run away! Or I would sent a Patronus ... Or activate some kind of alarm... It's obvious!
"Go!" He snorted at her and, without waiting, walked along the shelves.
"What are we looking for? She asked softly as she walked over to the shelves on the other side. Severus shook his head and flicked his wand.
"Accio Aquae Lunares!"
Nothing happened.
"Accio Moon Water!"
Still nothing. Not a single bottle moved, not a single vial budged. The silence in the room was palpable and he found himself holding his breath.
Impossible! It must be here!
"Look for big black bottles with sealed corks" he ordered, rolling up his sleeves as he walked down the shelves. "And look for the antidote, too. If they wanted it to keep its properties longer, they should wrap it in magic paper. If not, the potion will be thick, with a slightly pearly color and a sweet smell. And don't pay attention at names."
It looked like the ingredients were on one side and the ready-made potions and bases for them on the other, so theoretically they could just skim the shelves on the left for big black bottles, but they couldn't be sure the antidote was hidden between ingredients.
A careful scrutiny to find the antidote took much longer and, not knowing the name of the poison, they could not summon it in any way. So they started going through all the bottles and flasks, bigger and smaller fioles and jars, picked up the racks of vials and checked the contents of each one. Often the bottles were dark, so they shook them softly, looked at the consistency of the liquid and sometimes took the cap off and smelled it.
Hermione was terribly afraid that she can not recognizing the antidote, so that she showed some of the vials and bottles to Severus. He looked at them carefully, sometimes peeking in and just shaking his head. But he did not criticize her, nor did he complain.
Twice the girl thought she had found. There were twenty vials in one rack, wrapped in magic paper and at the sight of it her heart stopped for a moment, then started to gallop. However, when the paper was removed, she saw a purple thin liquid and immediately the familiar weight settled on her shoulders again. The second time she found a full large bottle with a thick, pearly liquid, after removing the stopper, the scent of candyfloss spread in the air, so strong that she thought she was going to sneeze.
„Severus ?!" She exclaimed, suddenly relived. „I think I have!"
Severus almost ripped the bottle from her hands, checked the density and color of the potion and summoned the pipette to take out some thick mass. He smeared it between his fingers and immediately sensed tiny lumps that could not be in the antidote.
"Mole potion" he said and heard his own voice – flat and blank.
He raised his head and looked at the girl. Or the man in front of him. Shoulder-length blonde hair lengthened, began to darken, turned chestnut and became bushy, the pale blue round eyes became almond-shaped and took color of chocolate, the chin disappeared, the face began to thin and a few seconds later turned into the tiny face of Hermione Granger. Who touched her cheek and bit her lips in a familiar way.
"We're back in our own form" she moaned and quickly grabbed her trousers as it started to slip over her hips.
"Better hurry up" he urged her.
Hermione put on her shirt and jacket inside her trousers and quickly went back to checking the rest of the ingredients and potions.
On one hand, she wanted to finish as soon as possible, but on the other hand she wanted to delay this moment as far as possible. As long as she had something else to check, there was hope. And she was terrified of losing it. Reason whispered that it was completely irrational, but she couldn't help but feel that way!
Judging by the size of the lab, Alex could have had at least another one, but no more. Which meant they would know in a moment. It will turn out in a moment.
The number of vials to be checked diminished with each second, as well as her hope, replaced by growing her.
After finishing his side, Severus moved on to Potions and a few moments later they met at a carton of small bottles of white liquid. Hermione set the last vial down with a sigh, the glass rattled softly and with dying hope something else died in her.
Severus undo Silencio and Stupefy from Adam Rayleigh and the man immediately sprang awkwardly and took a step back, studying each of them closely.
"Snape? G-granger? What ... What are you doing here? What's happening? Why…" He looked at Severus and understanding dawned on his face. "Powell sent you here? For you to brew the antidote? You mean... you couldn't find a substitute for Moon Water?"
Hermione took a deep breath and Severus gave her a discreet sign with his hand, ordering silence. "Why are you trying to tell me you don't have one when your daughter told us she found a few gallon bottles in the warehouse?" He asked, taking a step forward.
„Impossible! We don't have Moon Water! We wouldn't be spending thousands of Galleons buying something we can't use anyway!"
Severus raised an eyebrow. "Then why Alex sells the Fertility Potion to the Clinic?"
Adam's face suddenly changed to even big surprise.
"Alex? How come? After all, I've never seen them brew it! In add..."
Severus walked around the table and walked slowly towards him.
"You know very well that Carpenter can turn a blind eye to licenses sometimes. Maybe in exchange for the lack of certification, Alex lowered the price a bit?"
Adam considered it for a moment. He was still standing against the wall, but he no longer pressed into it in fear, but simply leaned against it.
„Listen to me, Snape. I don't know why Alex said we had Moon Water. Maybe she's invented a way and doesn't want to share it with you. It's a bit like her. Maybe ... Even if she brewed anything... Antidote ... No, impossible! Alex would never have brewed a fake potion and sold it as real! After being denied membership of the Potion Makers Council because she is a woman, she is constantly trying to prove to others that she is as gifted as you are. But I'm sure there is no Moon Water. And she wasn't selling the Fertility Potion! I would see it on the invoices!"
Severus didn't answer and Rayleigh felt more confident.
"And, as I can see, you can't really be trusted! You were supposed to brew together! But as soon as Leoncius realized he could do a small business, he sends you here to steal the missing ingredient! This is your honesty?" He snorted in disdain.
"And you wouldn't disconnect from the others if you could earn mountains of gold on it? And the Sixth Drop?"
They looked each other straight in the eye and Adam didn't look away.
"You know you can't try it. You are the Master of Legilimency, but I also know it quite well. Occlumency too." He smirked. "But in this case you don't even have to try. WE HAVE NO MOON WATER. Nor any antidote. I see you're looking for it, probably to sell it under the Powell Potions Lab's sign, but let Leoncius stop dreaming!"
Hermione was even afraid to breathe. She did not keep up with them completely, she did not understand anything until a few sentences later. Severus, on the other hand, seemed to be in perfect control of this conversation; hesitation, surprise, various allusions and lies in his voice sounded absolutely true. She couldn't see his face, but she could guess that whatever he was feeling was hided behind a mask and for Rayleigh he kept stone face.
"Leoncius allowed me to play it my way" he said, as if he was a bit reluctant. "How about partnership?"
"Five thousand galleons?" Adam laughed with disdain and waved his hand dismissively. "I eat five thousand Galleons for breakfast, my friend."
"The Sixth Drop."
Adam pouted and glanced briefly at Hermione.
"That sounds more interesting. But I'm not going to share it with you."
"Leoncius won't go for anything else. But…" Severus hesitated and ran a narrow finger across his mouth.
"... But?"
„I know how to brew the antidote."
„Everyone knows."
„Nobody knows. You will run out of the last ingredient."
„How would you know?"
„Because I brewed it. That's why I know what it looks like."
Adam straightened up slowly; he looked as if he had woken up. He frowned and looked back at Hermione, who was doing her best to look like someone who knew the situation very well.
„Did you? You have Moon Water ?!"
„I had only a little."
„Then why don't you give it to Shacklebolt? Man, he'll cover you in gold for it! This is..."
Severus shrugged.
"Call it security. Sooner or later, each of us will be poisoned. The difference between us is that you will die and I will live."
Adam looked at Hermione once more, then at Severus again.
"What is SHE doing in this?"
"She's my assistant."
"An assistant ?! "Adam's eyes widened, then he froze, then burst out laughing. "Assistant! It's called that now? Nice, Snape. I see that you can always fall on your feet!"
This time Hermione understood immediately what they were talking about and immediately something inside her twitched.
"Shut up!" She growled and raised her wand.
"Silence!" Severus raised his voice and the girl froze again. What the hell is he playing? !
Adam laughed again.
"You taught her quite well. But back to our lovely business. As interesting as it might be, I HAVE NO Moon Water. I can't give you what I don't have."
"Are you absolutely sure?"
"Of course! And now..." Adam only had time to tighten his fingers on the wand when Severus snarled: "Give me your wand. Now! And don't try any tricks or I'll break it".
The man immediately handed him his wand, holding it on the other end. Severus took it and put it in his pocket in one smooth movement.
"How many more labs do you have?"
"One more, right next to it. But small. Still don't believe me?"
"I just want to hear the answers to the questions. Warehouse? How much and where?"
"One on each side of the corridor we were walking down."
"Show it. Something else" Severus raised hand and Adam, who had already turned to the door, froze obediently. "Do you keep potions and ingredients elsewhere?"
"We also have a shipment warehouse, where we keep prepared orders. That's all."
"At home?"
"No."
It was quite logical. There was no point in keeping anything in the house and having to go through the whole palace for one vial, since they could enter the Laboratory from anywhere.
"Lead us" Severus barked and Adam swiftly opened the door and went out into the corridor.
Suppressing emotions that swirled in her, Hermione followed. She didn't want to look one or the other in the face and it probably was better if they didn't look at her. The impatience, a surprising mixture of fear and hope and uncertainty was joined by a growing rage. How dare they ...! How dare HE ...! about something like this ...!
Focus! Focus on the Water and the Antidote! THEN you will talk to him!
However, they found nothing in the tiny lab a bit further, or in any of the warehouses.
Nothing at all.
It seemed Adam Rayleigh was right and there was neither Moon Water nor antidote here. They stepped out into the corridor and looked at each other, clearly lost.
Rayleigh Manor
Left wing
1:45 pm
Alex stood by the window and looked at the park surrounding their manor. It had recently started to rain and the wet grass and flowers took on color and the surface of the pond was covered with thousands of wavelets and splatters as it was lashed by a sudden gust of wind and rain.
But Alex didn't seem to see it at all. Her mind was far away.
How lucky that the full lunar eclipse is due in a few days! Now! Luck, coincidence, never mind! The most important thing is that it will help you do it! You will do it!
YOU will succeed!
Before that, she hadn't thought about it at all. It wasn't until her meeting in Rufus Heahner's manor that she had this idea!
Amont all of them, only she can brew the antidote. No one else will succeed. And she will get the promised reward for it!
When she read Shacklebolt's statement about the poison in the Prophet, she was terrified. The Critical State was of course very welcome, but she had no idea how to deal with it. How to get out of this situation.
This was the day everything turned upside down. Everything started to get complicated.
IT IS NOT HOW IT SUPPOSED TO BE! THIS IS NOT WHAT IT WAS ABOUT !
At the same time, she was almost mad with rage. She had no idea what to do. Maybe she should wait a little while for everything to quiet down? On the other hand, the longer she waited, the worse it got. She was aware that in a month and a half there would be a new dose of Moon Water and then just anyone could brew an antidote.
When she came to Peterson with an extremely lucrative contract, he was penniless. And he had a lot of debts. She explained her plan and they reached an agreement almost immediately. He needed the money and she needed his Potions skills.
The plan was simple and so brilliant! He was supposed to create an potion that would make people sick and brew a kind of antidote that they would put on the market as the only medicine and will thousands of galleons on it. They were to share the profits in half and all the fame for inventing the saving potion will be his.
Peterson felt for it.
But she wasn't interested by thousand of galleons. She imagined herself being hailed as the smartest woman in the history of potion making. She will become famous, the most famous in the world. The most powerful witch ever!
It will eliminate all competition. The fact that she doesn't have Fifth Drop will not matter anymore.
And all those who have mocked her so far, mocked her for being woman, will come to her on their knees and will beg for the privilege to even talk to her! Will beg for her to want to work with them! Tylor... Powell... Albert Legrand...
And Snape. Bloody Snape.
Who had always mocked her at every Potion Makers meeting, made poisonous remarks whenever she made a proposal and ignored her completely.
At the mention of his icy, low voice dripping with sarcasm, she trembled violently.
Those goddamn black eyes, that goddamned crooked nose, that twisted lip...
She recall a memory of Snape at the first Convention she attended. Someone asked him something, he considered the answer for a long time, running his long, narrow finger over his parted lips...
It was certainly the moment when she was crazy about him. She lost her minds for him. SHE GOT MAD. His slow hand movement hypnotized her and she couldn't tear her eyes away from his lips, his hooked nose, his masculine face and shapely fingers. She imagined those fingers sliding into her hair, holding her tight and his lips crushing against hers...
She was standing right next to him and he must have sensed her emotions, because he slowly looked up, looked at her and when she drowned in his deep, black eyes, he scowled with obvious disdain, turned and walked away.
That time she couldn't stop dreaming about him. Everything lost importance, only he mattered. She did what she could to earn his appreciation. Quite probably that she must have read every possible potion making textbook, learned advanced brewing theories, experimented with various ingredients, made potions pills just so that she could talk about it in public. With hope HE would admire it.
It wasn't her fault he was the one and only one man she wanted! More than once she had the feeling that if she didn't seduce him, she would just die!
But he avoided her and ignored her more and more, so she tried to give him amortentia on one occasion. They were all sitting at the large, round table and she made sure that his place was next to hers. As soon as they were seated, the photographer invited them to come together for a photo, so she took the opportunity and, after everyone had left, she discreetly slipped a small pill imbued with amortentia into Snape's glass. But when they returned, some stupid idiot from Greece mistook the chairs, sat down on the neighboring one, they automatically all changed places and a fat, bald moron drank it! And when he fell on his knees in front of her, confessed his undying love and begged her to reciprocate his feelings, Snape looked at him carefully, looked at the table, then into her eyes and entered her minds!
She has never felt so humiliated before!
From that moment on, her love turned to hate. Equally strong. Fierce, implacable!
If she couldn't have him, let him die!
Suddenly, the dark sky outside the window was rent by a blinding flash and moments later a dull, ominous thunder rolled.
This time I will triumph !
She pulled back the curtain with an impatient tug and walked over to the desk, unlocked the secret drawer with a spell and pulled out an envelope with a handful of human hair. There weren't many of them, but with a bit of luck she wouldn't have to look for them anymore.
"Accio Clothes!"
Men's trousers, a jacket, a shirt and rather large shoes burst out of the closet.
The time has come to tell Peterson to start brewing a healing potion.
Though ... it would be good to tell her parents beforehand what they had agreed with Rufus Heahner to avoid any suspicion.
Rayleigh Manor
Another Dimension - Laboratory / Spinner's End
1:48 pm.
"What is this little lab for?" Severus asked Adam Rayleigh.
"This is Alex's private lab. None of the employees are allowed to enter."
"If this is her private lab, why do you have the right?"
"Because that's how it was defined in the contract when Alex took over the Laboratory. That with Anna we have a lifelong right to oversee everything she does."
What caring parents! Lifelong right?!
Hermione looked confused at Severus. Lifelong right to oversee everything she does? But that means he sure knows what his daughter is doing. So since he's sure there is neither Moon Water nor antidote here ...
"Severus?" She said softly. "So maybe... Maybe it's not her?"
He gave her an angry look.
"You saw for yourself that she ordered Moon Water! Five big orders!"
"Maybe someone impersonated her? I was a man a moment ago."
"You know the verification procedure when receiving orders! Among other things, you need to show a wand for inspection. There is no two the same..."
Hermione nodded and ran her finger along Adam's wand in Severus' pocket.
"Exactly. Imperius and Polyjuice. And Obliviate."
They stared at each other for a moment, confused. In this situation, they went back to the beginning. It could be anyone.
In dull silence they heard a cough - Adam Rayleigh watched them, but since Severus only allowed him to answer questions, he remained silent.
"We're going back" he decided. "We'll eat something and check each of them. And we'll start with Powell, because it will be the simplest."
"And he?"
"Rayleigh" Severus said, turning to face the man. "How do you get out of here?"
"Exactly as we got in" the man explained immediately. "Aut ne tenraris aut prfice" password, Porta ostium nunc spell to open the Passage and Porta prope nunc to close. And you have to say where you want to go."
"Perfect" Severus muttered and without thinking he cast Stupefy upon him, then nodded at Hermione. "Cast a Memory Charm on him and hold him so that I can check with Legilimency if he forgot everything."
Hermione took a deep breath, focused and pointed her wand at Adam.
"Obliviate" she said clearly, his eyes became glassy and his face completely blank.
She thought about everything the man was about to forget. When she got to the present moment, she kept the spell and nodded to Severus.
He entered his mind and found the last memories. How he is eating dinner with his wife, how they get up and go out on the porch and talk... His wife got up, wrapped a shawl around her arms and left, and he plunged into reading...
„Done!" He muttered and told to Adam. "Now go to an empty room in the house, go back to the porch and if anyone asks where you were, say you went to the bathroom."
The man shuddered and mechanically clenched his empty hand.
"Give him back his wand!" Hermione whispered.
Shit! Severus slipped his wand into his hand, Adam opened the Passage and a moment later he disappeared into it and the Passage closed.
"Now it's time for us."
They quickly opened the Passage to Spinner's End and left in a familiar living room a few seconds later.
"Can you tell me why you just didn't tell him to tell the truth and ask about the goddamn Moon Water, but made stupid suggestions?" She asked from the entrance, sat on the couch and gave him a bitter look.
Severus raised an eyebrow questioningly, so she added:
"It was... awful."
"I know" he admitted reluctantly. "But it was the easiest way."
"He was already under the Imperius!"
"At some point people begin to fight the spell. He could be lying. This way at least he felt like he felt confident and thought he could talk to us."
"You think so?!"
What the hell is that? Since when Granger allows herself such answers ?! And you, like a pathetic idiot, explain yourself to her ?!
Perhaps he was getting tired.
"Watch your words" he said through clenched teeth. "And the tone, Granger! I never let you talk to me this way!"
„If I want…!"
"IF you want to be useful, go to the kitchen and prepare something to eat!" He said, then turned abruptly and quickly went down to the basement.
Since they had to check all potion makers, they needed a lot of polyjuice and somebody's hair, preferably different people. He took the whole large bottle on the table and began to look through the envelopes with brief descriptions of the appearance of the people whose hair it contained, when suddenly he heard a terrible scream from above.
„NO! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! God NO! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! "
His heart stopped and then started to pound frantically, all the hairs on his neck stand on end! He immediately pushed the envelopes away and lunged upstairs. He burst into the living room and saw the girl leaning over the floor and howling terribly aloud, so without hesitation he pushed her to the ground, covered with his body and looked around in panic.
Somebody is here?! Someone hit her with a Cruciatus ?! He hurt her ?!
But he didn't see anyone and the girl beneath him moved and burst into tears!
"NO...! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! "
He moved back, picked her up gently and looked carefully, but there was no blood, no torn clothing, no other marks.
"Hermione ... what's wrong ?! Has something happened to you? Something hurts you..." he asked in a trembling voice. Merlin, don't let it be THIS. Not the poison, not the poison, please…
The girl was shaking terribly and sobbing, but he must have known!
"Tell me what's wrong with you!" He shook her slightly.
Hermione looked up, opened her mouth and tried to say something, but clearly couldn't. She wasn't able.
Merlin, please, not THIS!
"Hermione, tell me what's wrong with you! PLEASE!"
She shook her head with a piercing groan and moved her hand and only now he saw that she was clutching something. A piece of parchment.
He pulled it out of her clenched fingers and read the short letter.
Hermione,
Very bad news. Harry and Ginny are ill. They are in our ward.
I said goodbye to them from you.
Be brave, Mathias
OH MERLIN !
Harry and Ginny are ill. I said goodbye to them from you. Harry and Ginny are ill. Harry Potter.
Cursed Harry Potter, the same one who saved him. He decided to end his entire career, risked his life and did everything to get him out of prison. Only a few people in the world could do that! So different from him and so similar in the same time! Someone whom he hated and who at the same time... was not indifferent to him ! Merlin, what was he going to do now ?!
Why this goddamn world can't end here and now ?! Let everyone die. Problems will die with people, and there will be peace! And no one will get hurt anymore. There will be no goddamn wars, no pain, no blood and no suffering.
You won't have to fight again.
Harry and Ginny are ill. I said goodbye to them from you.
They are ill...
The sobbing next to him faded a bit and was mixed with the smell he had recently associated with safety and peace. With care and protection.
THEY ARE ill ...
This was supposed to be a vial for Hermione. For no one else. But that's what he told himself as he wrapped it in protective paper and locked it in a jar and cast an unbreakable spell on it. When he wasn't thinking about Harry Potter.
They are ill. ARE.
Slowly, as he was in a trance, he laid the girl down on the floor and went down to the basement for the greatest treasure that was there. And what could be offered to someone. Life. As carefully as possible, he took it off the shelf, pressed it against him and just as slowly entered the living room and set it on the table. Then he sat down on the ground next to Hermione.
He could not comfort. He didn't know how to do it. He had never done it before, but he had seen often enough to try.
She let herself get up, so he took her in his arms and began to clumsily stroke her hair and to whisper something. Anything. Even he didn't know what. He leaned against the edge of the chair and rocked her steadily.
And all he could think about was that more than twenty years ago, he too was sitting on the ground with another woman in his arms. A woman with long brown hair.
That one was dead, but this one was still alive.
As the crying faded and became whimpers, he pushed her gently away, took her chin and lifted her head towards him.
"Hermione..."
She opened her puffy eyes and stared blankly, but through the tears she didn't seem to see him.
"We have an antidote."
She jerked violently and blinked her eyes.
"But .. on…only... one. Vial" she whispered shakily.
He hugged her tightly so as not to see her face.
"There are times when you have to make a difficult decision."