Chapter 164. The Plan.
London.
In the basement of a Muggle house, buried under piles of clutter, five figures in dark cloaks sat on three sofas. Several were asleep. One, trying to alleviate his boredom, was rummaging through the junk around him. The last, a blonde woman, was going through a set of folders she had received that morning, chewing her nails grimly.
Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. Why does everything always go sideways at the worst possible moment? How could something so straightforward end with us losing two people, including that old pervert obsessed with corpses? And how am I supposed to go back now? They'll tear me apart at headquarters for this. It's not like we lost some recruits. We lost a captain and a rare specialist in defensive magic. Yet when she recalled how effortlessly that monster had torn through the barrier, all she wanted to do was spit in the face of the arrogant man who had always been so smug about the barrier.
"Boss, maybe we should report to headquarters first and pass on what we have before we do anything else?" asked the man who had been rifling through the basement clutter, fatigue evident in his voice. "That thing is dangerous. If we try going back in there, we will definitely lose more people." But he caught the dangerous look she gave him, flinched, smiled awkwardly, and turned back to what he had been doing.
Idiot. Amelia snorted in irritation and returned her gaze to the dossier on Severus that the spies had provided. It was roughly one-third the size of what Black Star had compiled on him, but it was enough to form a reasonable picture of who "Severus Prince" was and who stood behind him. If I fail this mission, I won't just be punished as a leader. I'll be demoted, and I'll never have a shot at a captain's post after this. I have to at least complete the mission. Flipping through the pages, she stopped at a set of photographs: Shafiq, the Macmillans, the Blacks. When her gaze landed on a photograph of a woman with long dark hair, her thin lips curved into an unpleasant smile.
The man watching her, seeing that smile on his commander's face, felt cold sweat break out down his spine. He knew exactly what it meant when she looked like that, and whatever she was planning could very well end with their deaths. He had known Amelia for ten years, and that was long enough. The last thing he wanted was to go on a suicide run with this lunatic, who had earned her position by sleeping her way through half the headquarters. He could still feel the fear that creature on Severus's property had instilled in him, and who was to say Severus didn't carry it inside some artifact with an Undetectable Extension Charm? And then there was Ihiros to think about.
He understood that failing the mission had consequences. But a punishment, however bad, was better than dying pointlessly for someone who couldn't bear to lose her rank. He wasn't the only one who felt this way. The men had talked it over the previous evening while Amelia was gone, and they had already sent word through their spies. All that remained was to hope the reply arrived before she made her move.
But their hopes would go unanswered.
"Up. I have a plan to take that little bastard."
At that same moment, a pair of eyes with vertical pupils, narrowed and intent, watched them from the street through a small window.
---
Severus walked out of the manor and caught John's gaze immediately: anxious and impatient, braced for the worst yet clinging to a thin thread of hope. When John saw the smile on Severus's face and the small nod that accompanied it, his heart stopped for a moment, then hammered against his ribs. His lips trembled. His throat went dry. For the first time in fifteen years, tears formed in his eyes.
My teacher has an idea for how to help him, but some memories will most likely be lost. I don't think I need to explain how difficult it is to work with a person's mind.
As soon as John finished reading, the words vanished and new ones appeared in their place.
The chance of success is eighty-five percent, so be prepared for the possibility that it may not work.
And don't say anything to your sister yet.
Don't give her hope before anything is certain.
John swallowed, a faint tremor running through him, and gave the smallest nod. Severus's words had cooled his rush of emotion somewhat, but that eighty-five percent, set against the zero every other healer had offered, was nothing short of a miracle to him.
I'll come in two days. My teacher will have returned to the country by then. He will be able to help.
With that final line written in fire, Severus disappeared, leaving John alone with his thoughts.
The smile never left his face, because his father could still be helped, and he had no doubt that Severus would manage it.
---
Knockturn Alley. The Half-Blood Prince's Shop.
Severus stood before the half-ruined building, cordoned off with tape, and let out a weary sigh at the sight of it. The dark clouds pressing low overhead only made the grim mood worse.
"Severus, you said he couldn't be helped." Nagini looked at him with a puzzled expression, unable to understand why he had told John that his father could be healed.
"He can't. But..." He turned slightly and glanced out of the corner of his eye at the two Aurors standing near the building, then walked on at an easy pace down the sparsely populated alley. "I think Faust would be happy, even in this form, to be near his children. To help them. To watch over them."
"In what form? What do you mean?"
"You'll see soon enough." He smiled gently, which only puzzled her more.
A few minutes later they reached an ordinary two-story shop with a sign reading: "Temporarily Closed." It was here, nearly two years ago, that Severus had received the pendant without which Nagini might have simply slipped away that day, and they might never have grown close at all. That was one of the main reasons he felt so strongly about this family. Because of the elder Macmillan, he had found someone he could genuinely call his own, someone he could truly call family.
He touched the door handle, deactivated the protective charms without difficulty, and stepped into the half darkness. He didn't look for a light switch. He simply moved toward the counter, walked around it, opened a small door behind it, and started down the stairs into the basement.
Nagini knew the history of this place and felt genuine gratitude toward the Macmillans, but she still didn't understand what he meant. Severus spoke as though he could hear her thoughts, because he could. "It's no longer possible to bring back the old Faust. He is gone beyond any reach. The personality built from his memories was destroyed too brutally. But..." Turning at the next corner, Severus entered a room that resembled a storeroom, filled with books, various artifacts, and much else. His gaze settled on a painting covered with a white cloth. "I will create the illusion that he is truly alive, and only the two of us will ever know." He pulled the cloth away. A portrait of the elder Macmillan came into view, his gaze steady and assured. "My mother wasn't the only one who thought about a living portrait. He even started channeling magic into this one. I noticed it the first time I came here, but the amount hasn't increased much since then. He must have been too occupied to continue."
"You want to do for him what you did for Eileen?"
"Not quite. Simply put, I intend to take what remains of the magic, infuse it with Faust's true personality and emotions, and place it back into his body, in a sense bringing him back to life. It won't be the same person, but he'll be almost indistinguishable from the man he was," Severus explained with a bitter smile, pulling out a small vial and raising his hand toward the portrait. A moment later, white vapor began to rise from it, drifting slowly toward the container and gradually filling it. "I know no other way to bring him back. And as my teacher used to say, sometimes it's better to live without knowing than to learn a bitter truth."
"I... I don't know what to say." Nagini's voice was quiet and sad as she looked on. "I've always believed it's better to know the truth, however bitter it is. But in this situation, I agree with you, and I'll support whatever you decide."
"I'm glad to hear it. I was genuinely afraid you'd call me inhumane for it, or worse." He smiled awkwardly and received a sharp look and a firm nudge in the ribs for it. "Sorry, sorry. That was a stupid thing to say. Pretend I didn't say that."
"Hmph." She turned away with a dissatisfied huff, but a few seconds later looked back at him. "Tell me, you're not planning to go after them right now, are you?" She glanced toward the room where Faust lay and asked carefully.
"I'd like to. But I can't. My core hasn't recovered in the slightest yet. Two days will be enough to get most of my strength back, and I won't be going alone, so don't worry." The last drop of vapor drifted into the vial. He sealed it and tucked it into his coin pouch. "Time to go home and get started on a few potions. I hope two days will be enough to brew them." He caught Nagini's narrowed gaze and couldn't hold back a genuine laugh. Her serious little face always managed to cheer him up. "Yes, yes, you're coming with me, without question." Only then did she give a satisfied nod. A moment later, they vanished from the shop's basement, and the cloth settled back over the portrait.
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