A/N: MarkDarcy, this chapter is dedicated to you. Thanks for your beta reading, your feedback and your reviews!
Samara could not take her eyes off the clock that hung over her office door for more than a few seconds. It was futile trying to go over the patient records for the appointments later in the day. Nervousness and apprehension had wrapped their tentacles too tightly around her to let her concentrate on her work. Instead, her mind went over the instructions Severus had given her yet again.
"You and I, if we act with care and courage, have the opportunity to stop a horrible crime," his words echoed in her head.
Horrible indeed. Two patients were to be murdered. Two patients who, Merlin knows, had already suffered enough. As Samara worked mainly in Potions and Plant Poisoning, and rarely went up to the department for Spell Damage, she did not see them often. But since she had started to work on a cure for Cruciatus syndrome, she was only too aware of their case. In her mind, she replayed the conversation she had with Severus the day before, while standing in the abandoned house in Knockturn Alley.
Severus had placed his hands on her shoulders, and looked at her seriously as he explained.
"Tomorrow afternoon, a certain Bellatrix Lestrange will show up at St. Mungo's. She will have a letter stating that she is acting on behalf of the Ministry. She will claim that the Department for Magical Maladies has obtained a new healing potion for Cruciatus victims, which is to be administered to Frank and Alice Longbottom. Are you aware of their condition?"
Samara nodded quietly.
"She will request to see the patients to administer the potion herself. Then, if you do not intervene, the Longbottoms will die about a week later from what will seem like a natural death of unidentifiable cause."
"She will poison them? But why? They are no danger to anyone!"
Severus shrugged. "I suppose she does not like to leave unfinished business."
"What do you mean?"
She was the ringleader of the group, along with her husband, brother-in-law, and Barty Crouch, who tortured the Longbottoms into oblivion. The Dark Lord still teases her occasionally about not seeing it through to the end."
"Merlin! I will call the Aurors!" she exclaimed in outrage.
"You will do no such thing. Not unless you fancy a slow and painful death yourself."
"But – We can't let her murder them!"
"And we won't. But we have to be more subtle than that. It is essential that Bellatrix is left to believe she succeeded. Here -"
He handed her a small paper envelope. Samara peeked inside at the white powder it contained.
"What is this?"
"Sulphide of Antimony. You will sprinkle a little into a goblet and then make sure Bellatrix uses that to administer the potion. It will neutralise the poison."
"How can you be so sure that it will work?"
"I had to prepare the potion for her, and I tried it myself. Trust me, it works, or I wouldn't be standing here." His voice was heavy with sarcasm.
Samara's mouth fell wide open, and she stared at him in shock.
"What – How- You – You didn't!"
"It was the only way. I could not give her an ineffective potion as I was sure she would test it on something. She has always mistrusted me."
Her head was spinning. How could he be so brash and take such a risk! It was typical of his arrogance, of how he regarded himself infallible, never considering the possibility that he might make a mistake. And thankfully, he hadn't!
"With the added antimony," he continued to explain, "Instead of causing death, the potion will only induce a coma, lasting about a day. During that time, you need to ensure that the Longbottoms are declared dead, and their bodies consigned to their family. They will then need to stay in hiding until the day the Dark Lord is vanquished, something that should pose no problem given their condition."
"That woman, she is a Death Eater, isn't she?"
Severus nodded. Seeing the fear in Samaras eyes, he tried to reassure her.
"She does not know you, and, as long as you comply with her wishes, has no reason to harm you. You have nothing to fear from her."
It was easier said than done. Samara couldn't deny that she was scared by the prospect of having to face the Death Eater. She would have to pretend that she knew nothing of the woman's true intentions, that she believed her to be acting in the patients' best interest, and she worried that something in her face or her eyes might betray her.
At least she was well-prepared. She had spoken to the welcome witch, and asked her to call her rather than someone from Spell Damage to deal with Lestrange. As it was a Potions issue of sorts, there was a case to be made that Samara should be the one to attend. She had also prepared two goblets by sprinkling the powder around the inside so finely and evenly, it could hardly be noticed, even if you looked for it. She was going to drop by the Janus Thickey Ward during her lunch break to place the goblets on a shelf, where they would be close at hand. That was all she could do for the time being, there was no benefit in pondering on it further. She tried hard to focus on the notes in front of her, but again failed miserably.
The morning seemed to drag on, and Samara was glad that she had no challenging cases to attend to. There was a teenage boy who claimed he had overindulged on his mother's mince pies, but obviously had been experimenting with some recreational potions. A few cases of love potion abuse, upset stomachs, and a woman who had an enchanted Christmas bauble in a place it should never have gone - the usual pre-Christmas mishaps. She usually gave her patients her full attention, but today her brain was somewhere else, and so she was relieved when she had seen the last one out, and was left to her paperwork again.
It was in the early afternoon, the snow had finally stopped falling, and her office was filled with the grey light reflected by the cloudy sky and fresh snow outside her window, when the receptionist knocked on her door.
"Miss Ravenhood, they are here," she whispered.
They? Samara was only expecting one person. She took another sip of Calming Draught, before following Myopina back to the entrance area to meet her visitors. When she got there, her heart skipped a beat before going into overdrive. There, next to a beautiful witch with long black curls and bright red lipstick, stood none other than Lucius Malfoy.
It cost her some effort to control her face and her emotions. She told herself to calm down, she had to see this through. She was in a public hospital with plenty of people around, and it was not possible to Apparate or Disapparate from within the walls of St. Mungo's. She would be safe. Malfoy's cold eyes glared at her, and he had an unnaturally pleasant smile on his face as she greeted them, but he seemed to play along with her pretending not to know him. She studied the letter from the Ministry carefully, examining the official seal, and wondering who in the Department for Magical Maladies they had put under the Imperius curse. She would have to be more careful in her future dealings with them.
Then Samara took them up the four flights of stairs, and down several long corridors to the Janus Thickey Ward, a walk that had never seemed so long. She had to lead the way, and felt highly uncomfortable with the two Death Eaters following close behind her. Once they were standing besides the beds of Frank and Alice Longbottom, Samara took the goblets prepared with the antimony powder, and handed them to the Death Eater woman, watching intently as she poured an ominous dark liquid from an elaborately labelled bottle.
Samara was asked to administer the medicine to Mrs. Longbottom, something she welcomed, as this way there was no chance of Lestrange reusing the first goblet. Her hands were shaking ever so slightly as she brought the goblet to Alice's lips, but she just looked at Samara with empty eyes. It was for patients like these that Samara most wished to find a cure for Cruciatus syndrome. She knew the Longbottom's had a son who was raised by his grandmother, and it broke her heart to think of the family life they had been denied. Then Mr. Longbottom received his dose, and Samara put the goblets away.
"How long do you expect it will take, until we will see the effect of the medicine?" she asked innocently.
"Oh, we don't know. It may have no effect at all, it is only a trial after all," Bellatrix replied with a devilish smile.
"I understand. We will notify you as soon as we see any change. I suppose we are done here then?" Samara replied, anxious to get the Death Eaters out of the door.
"Not quite, Miss Ravenhood," said Malfoy, leering at her. "I somehow have the feeling that we have met before…"
"I don't think so, Mr. Malfoy," she replied coldly.
"Oh, I'm certain of it. Ravenhood… Your name rings a bell. Was your father not a well-known blood-traitor?"
Samara's face went bright red, but she said nothing. Bellatrix seemed to enjoy seeing her scared, and let out a fiendish snicker.
"I wonder if you would come with us, Miss Ravenhood, there is some Ministry business I would like to discuss with you," Malfoy said sweetly.
"I'm busy this afternoon, but you are welcome to make an appointment at reception, Mr. Malfoy," Samara replied.
"An appointment! Have you any idea who you are talking to?" Bellatrix hissed, fixing Samara with a threatening stare. "Mr. Malfoy here does not need an appointment, you will do as he wishes!"
"Right, just give me a moment, I need to use the toilet," was the only thing Samara could come up with, and it caused Bellatrix to laugh out hysterically.
"Why do you argue with this woman, Lucius? There is a much better way. Imperio!"
For a moment Samara felt the urge to follow the Death Eaters towards the door, but then suddenly the curse seemed to have lifted, as she regained control over her body again. She wondered whether she should reach into her robes for her wand, but did not dare to. They would disarm her in a heartbeat, and it was better to let them believe she didn't have her wand with her. Instead, she continued to follow them, pretending she was still under the Imperius curse.
Once they had just walked through the door, Samara jumped back into the room, and tried to slam the door shut between her and the two Death Eaters, so that she could lock herself in. But Lucius' booted foot was quickly pushed into the doorway.
"Your Imperius curse is abysmal, Bella, it will get you into trouble one day," she could hear him say, before he pushed the door open, and roughly grabbed Samara by the arm. She struggled, but stopped when she felt the tip of his wand pushed against her neck. That was it - her only hope now was that someone would stop them on the way out.
"Oho, this is hardly the right way to impress a lady."
Three heads turned to where the voice had come from.
"You should take a leaf out of my book, my dear friend; I have five times been winner of Witch Weekly's Most-Charming- Smile Award."
The Healer and the two Death Eaters stared open-mouthed at the bed, which was surrounded by smiling images, all of the same wizard, pinned against the wall and scribbled all over. The living counterpart of the wizard now climbed out of it and walked towards them, gathering up his long lavender robes as he did so. He had deep blue eyes, and his long, golden hair fell over his shoulder in perfectly coiffed waves.
"Allow me to introduce myself," he beamed, revealing a row of perfect, sparkling white teeth, "Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League…And you would be?"
"That's none of your business, you crackpot!" Bellatrix hissed.
"Ah, not in a good mood today, are we, my dear?" he asked unperturbed by her hostility, while giving her his most charming smile. "I must say, your hair looks fabulous. May I ask what you use to get those curls into such a lovely shape?"
"Shut up, you idiot, or you will regret it!" she shrieked angrily. Meanwhile, Lucius had taken out his wand, and pointed it at Lockhart, slightly loosening his grip on Samara's wrist in the process.
"Get back into bed and leave us alone, and no harm shall come to you," he said to Lockhart, trying to sound friendly.
"Ah, a duel, how wonderful! They are always so much fun!" Lockhart exclaimed in delight, as he looked at the wand pointed at him. He reached into his robes, and pulled out a wand himself. "Let's battle it out for the pretty Healer, shall we?"
Samara couldn't believe her eyes. How was it possible that a patient on a closed ward was allowed to carry a wand? At the same time, she was extremely grateful for the distraction he provided, and wondered if it would be a good idea to try to break free from Lucius' grip and run for the door.
Lucius' eyes glittered angrily. Without warning, a red flash of light shot out from the tip of his wand, but, to Samara's surprise, Lockhart deflected it neatly.
"A stunning spell… Nice try, but it was all too obvious what you were going to do." Lockhart smiled. "If you had read my work 'Magical Me', you would know about the importance of surprise when it comes to dueling. Why don't you try something else?"
Now Bellatrix had drawn her wand as well, and, shooting a quick glance at Lucius, she cried, "Crucio!"
Again, Lockhart parried the spell. It hit one of his posters at the wall, which burst into flames.
"Tut, tut, tut, I must tell you that the use of Unforgivables is normally against the rules, as is two against one. But since the two of you seem to be beginners, I shall overlook it. Did you read about how I banished the Bandon Banshee? I was a beginner myself then…"
His voice died away as he saw the furious look on the Death Eaters' faces. Samara felt the tension in the air, things were about to get serious. Lockhart stared at Bellatrix intently, seemingly calculating his options, as the two raised their wands against him. Then everything happened very quickly. Lockhart lunged at Samara, throwing her to the floor, and shielding her with his body, as two curses flew over them. Bellatrix and Lucius were thrown back against the wall with a stroke of Lockhart's wand, and crashed to the floor, while he grabbed Samara's hand, and pulled her up with him.
"Quick, let's get out," he told her, his hair in disarray now.
The two of them made a run for the door and down the corridor. But, within moments, the Death Eaters had taken up the chase, and green flashes of light shot dangerously close past them. Lockhart pulled her down again, and they took refuge behind a massive Christmas tree.
"Do you have a wand? Now would be the time to put that Shield Charm practice to good use," he whispered at her, while not taking his eyes off their persecutors, deflecting the curses that were being shot at them without respite.
Samara pulled out her wand from under her robes, wondering how Lockhart could possibly know about her practice session with Severus. Her eyes fell on his wand. It was ebony, and then she realised. Polyjuice Potion - it was Severus, he had been there all along protecting her.
With the surge of joy and confidence she felt at his presence, her Shield Charm came out perfectly, and allowed Severus to actually fire back. One of his hexes hit Bellatrix, who seemed stunned for a moment, and looked as if she was going to vomit. Then she retched, bringing up a gush of slime and big fat slugs. The look on her face was one of pure horror.
"Lucius," she whimpered, "What is this?"
But Lucius ignored her, and instead continued his attack with added fervour. One of his curses hit the Christmas tree, which immediately turned brown and shed all its needles, depriving them of their shelter. Bellatrix, on the other hand, was too preoccupied now belching up slugs to be any danger to them. Then, suddenly, Samara noticed a strand of black hair that had appeared amongst the golden locks.
"Se – Lockhart, your hair, you're transforming!" she whispered in his ear. Severus turned around briefly, and, for the first time ever, Samara could see fear in his eyes.
"When I say 'now', we run towards the door over there," he whispered back.
He lifted his wand, and the dead needles of the Christmas tree transformed into a swarm of angry wasps, which he sent towards Lucius and Bellatrix. Lucius let out an anguished scream as he tried to shield himself from the attacking insects.
"Now!" Severus whispered, and they used the moment of distraction to run through the door at the end of the corridor, and locked it behind them, warding it with a powerful spell.
They were inside a small store room with a single window. Samara looked at Severus, who had completely transformed now.
"That was close, if they had seen you…" she whispered. "How could you let that happen?"
"The potion should have lasted at least another half hour; it must have been too old."
"Anyway, I'm glad you're here," she sighed. "Do you have more Polyjuice Potion?"
"On Lockhart's bedside table…Is there a way out from this room?"
Samara shook her head. On the other side of the door, they could hear Lucius cursing. Apparently, he had been stung by several wasps. Bellatrix was still burping up slugs every few seconds.
"Lucius, this is disgusting, do something!" she shrieked.
Lucius tried 'Finite Incantatem', but it didn't seem to work. Despite their precarious situation, Samara couldn't suppress a grin. Then there were footsteps shuffling down the corridor.
"Excuse me, what exactly are you two doing on my ward?" Samara heard the resonant voice of Miriam Strout ask. "Got lost, eh? Merlin, look at your faces, they're all swollen! How did that happen?"
"Wasps…" Lucius whimpered, sounding as if he was in tears.
"Oh dear, you need to be seen urgently. First floor, Creature-Induced Injuries."
At that moment there was another burp and splashy sound.
"Look at the mess you're making, this is a hospital for Goodness' sake! I understand your condition is most unfortunate, but you could at least have brought a bag to vomit into. Here, use this. Now off with you to the first floor. I would take you, but I have to check on my patients. I'll send my patronus down to let them know you're coming."
They could hear Lucius' and Bellatix's footsteps and the hiccupping sound die away as they were ushered out by the Healer. Then Miriam's shuffling steps were coming back.
"Gilderoy, you're out of bed again, you naughty boy," she lilted. They could hear her walk about, opening and closing doors.
"Gilderoy, where are you? Are you lost again?"
"Where is the real Lockhart?" Samara whispered to Severus.
"I locked him in the bathroom, he was quite happy playing with the toilet flush," he answered with a smirk.
"Oh, in that case she should be able to find him."
Then there was a knock and rattle on their door.
"Gilderoy, you haven't locked yourself in have you, sweetie?" the voice on the other side called. "Don't you worry. I'll get someone to open the door."
Samara looked at Severus. "We need to get you out, quickly."
After a moment's consideration, she Summoned her cloak. Within seconds, it came flying around the corner of the building, and she opened the window to catch it. Then she took her wand and, drawing it along the seams, cut out the lining.
"Give me your cloak," she told him.
He pulled the ridiculous lavender robe over his head, revealing his own clothes underneath, and shrugged off his cloak.
Samara took it, and, using her wand again, replaced the lining with the shimmering black fabric she had just removed from her own, magically stretching it for a perfect fit.
"I think you know what this does… You'll need it more than I do," she said handing the garment back to him, and watching him put it on.
"You have to jump," she explained, pointing down the dizzying depth beyond their fourth-floor window. "You can Disapparate once you're a few yards away from the building."
She reached out a hand and caressed his cheek. "Look out for yourself, will you?" she whispered.
His dark eyes looked back at her with incredible softness, while his hand stroked briefly over her hair. A simple gesture, yet Samara sensed it was the expression of deep affection. To her disappointment, they were interrupted by the sound of someone approaching. Without a moment of hesitation, Severus turned away, climbed up on the window sill in one elastic motion and jumped. She glanced down briefly, watching him Disapparate, before taking a bright green bundle from one of the shelves, removing the wards on the door, and stepping outside. There she met Miriam who had returned with the caretaker.
"Oh, you managed to open it?" the plump Healer asked in surprise.
"Yes, I needed to get a fresh robe," Samara replied.
"Did you see a patient in there?"
"No, there is nobody there. Why, are you missing one?"
"Lockhart, he appears to have wandered off again," the other woman sighed.
"Have you checked the bathroom?"
"No, good idea. I'll have a look."
Samara sighed with relief when she finally reached the safety of her own office, and locked the door behind her, her knees still slightly wobbly from the earlier adrenaline rush.