Day 6

Evelyn took a gulp of tea, trying desperately to wake up. Across from her, Severus too was trying not to fall back asleep. It was six in the morning, the time they had been rising for digging for the past few days. Evelyn could feel the tension in her back from stress and digging, and it only increased as she glanced at Severus, wondering why he looked as though he hadn't slept a wink. Evelyn knew that he had had to get up in the night to write back to Harry when he returned, but surely he had gotten some sleep after that? Dark shadows were beneath Severus's eyes, and he looked paler than ever. He seemed to notice her staring, and so he spoke, clearly working himself up to voicing something that had been bothering him for some time.

"Evelyn?" he asked quietly, voice scratchy from the early morning.

"Yes?" she muttered, giving him a small smile and trying to guess what he was going to say. This seemed to encourage him.

"Besides McTavish, do you know who is involved in the potion? You did say you do, correct?"

"Yes, I think that the ones that were at his little meetings were probably the only ones that knew about it," Evelyn said, wondering where Severus was going with this. She was also rather puzzled by the small amount of panic evident in his eyes. "At least, that was how it sounded when I was eavesdropping on him when he left the Society for his meetings. I know what they look like, and their names, if that's what you mean."

"So, it is not imperative that Harry tries to figure out who McTavish has been associating with?"

"No, I think we know as well as we can who has been told of the potion, and even if we are missing someone, when we've cornered McTavish we can figure it out if we are. There are plenty of means to find out information, even if they aren't all very ... very nice."

Evelyn didn't like thinking about what they might have to do to get that kind of knowledge out of McTavish.

"Why do you ask?" she continued.

"I want to go get Harry, immediately," said Severus in a rush of words. "Tonight, in fact. He can sneak out one last time, and I will wait for him at the gates."

"Why? Is something wrong?" Evelyn asked, suddenly terrified. She didn't like how much her voice showed it.

"He said everything was fine, but after he went into the catacombs, he sounded strange, or at least what he wrote did. It was like he had seen something down there. Well, I have no doubt he was scared by all the bodies, but I am starting to think he was not telling me everything. I have an awful feeling about all of this. I know that we have not gotten a signalling device to him yet, but I do not think there will be way to get one to Harry, and I refuse to put him at any more risk. Right now, I just want to know that he is here with us, and safe. I ... I couldn't live with myself if something happened ..."

She knew that the plan would become harder than it had been before with nobody to plant the device, but Evelyn took only a moment's glance at Severus, and knew that there was only one decision to make. And in her heart, that decision would have been the same had he not looked so worried.

"Okay," she whispered. "Shall we write him now?"

"I will," said Severus, getting up to grab the parchment.

"You're really worried, aren't you?" Evelyn said, a little bit surprised. It was strange, for the aloof Severus she had been presented with upon their very first meeting had slowly disappeared to be replaced with this man before her. This Severus was vulnerable, questioning, unsure sometimes. It comforted her a little to know that she was not the only one that did not have all the answers - that he too was trying to keep this from falling apart.

Severus swallowed, and nodded.

Evelyn watched him as he wrote, staring at his hand sliding across the paper and leaving behind his cramped writing. He had surprised her. She had had no idea he was so worried. She remained silent for a while, reading the writing as it formed on the page.

Potter, it has been decided that there is nothing more for you to find out for us. You are to sneak out of the Potioneer's Society tonight and slide through the bars in the gate. They are wider than those that make up the fence and you should be able to go through, considering you size. I do not believe there are any enchantments on them to detect you sliding through. They will not have considered someone so small would be a problem. Wear your robes, for they are dark in colour and will be difficult to see in the night. I will be waiting for you, watching. You will not see me, but I will make myself visible when you come out. Make sure that you are out of the Society for one-thirty am, at which time you are to meet me. By that time everyone should be asleep.

Severus tapped the parchment with his wand, and sat, staring at its blankness.

"It may take him a while to respond," said Evelyn. "We should start digging, in the meantime."

"I agree," muttered Severus.

Evelyn descended first into the gaping blackness of the tunnel, for it was her turn to dig. Severus took her hand and helped to steady her as her feet went down the grimy ladder. Soon after he descended as well, and followed her into the darkness. Evelyn ahead of him, she filled each little jar with flames as she went, settling them carefully in the tunnel walls. She put her hand on her heart when she lit the very last, for at her feet sat a tiny mouse, its jewel bright eyes looking up at her curiously from the tunnel floor. Severus peered over her shoulder, and he let out a sharp breath, but it was not of surprise.

"Accio mouse," he said, and it gave a high pitch squeak as it zoomed over Evelyn's shoulder and into Severus' palm. He waved his wand silently, and it went limp.

Evelyn, who had mashed herself against the tunnel wall to avoid the flying mouse, gaped at him as he made a duplicate of the jar and put the unmoving mouse in it.

"What on earth are you doing?" she asked a little breathlessly as she recovered from the shock. "What use is a dead mouse?"

"I had an idea," he said. "What if a mouse can get into the Potioneer's Society? It could pass under the fence with the tracking device."

"But if it's dead ..."

"It is not dead," said Severus impatiently. "I have put it in an enchanted sleep until we need it."

"Alright, it's sleeping, but how are you going to get it to the Potioneer's Society?" she asked, dumbfounded as Severus conjured a lid for the jar and screwed it on, punching a few little holes in it with magic.

"The imperius curse," he said simply.

Evelyn shook her head in amazement and muttered, "I would never have thought of that."

"Well, if I had not seen the mouse down here, I would not have either," said Severus quickly, his left arm twitching slightly. Evelyn wondered if it was stiff from all the digging. "We will have to find a place to keep it."

When they returned from safely stowing the mouse in a cupboard, they dug as swiftly as they could, straight until lunch. When they emerged to wolf down a few bites of food, panting and tired, they found a message on the parchment from Harry.

If you say my job is done, then it is. I will do as you said. I can't wait to get out of here.

Evelyn and Severus exchanged relieved glances, but neither could speak for the worry that it would all go wrong. This worry was not spoken aloud however as they drained their glasses of water and slid back into the gloom, the darkness seeming more natural than the light after so many days spent in its depths. By the time they wrapped up digging for the day Evelyn felt as though she had lived her whole life down in the tunnel.

"Four hundred and ten feet," she muttered finally, crouched at the end of the tunnel with her wand raised.

Severus glanced wearily around, "So that leaves ... what, a little under eight hundred feet to go?"

"That sounds about right," she said with a sigh. "But, we did end a little earlier today."

They blinked in the sudden light of the house as they emerged from tunnel, showering dirt everywhere. Evelyn felt like she would collapse any moment, but Severus looked a thousand times worse than she did. And to think they had wrapped up early.

Both of them ate a hasty dinner and then changed out of their digging clothes, the curtain between them. After this they quickly got washed up.

"I can go and get bread, Severus," said Evelyn, taking her turn with the water basin and flannel as Severus rested his head on the table. "You look like you need some rest. Sleep a little bit. I'll wake you up when I get home. Besides, you need the rest if you're going to go get Harry tonight."

It was a clear indicator of how tired he was that he said yes.

"I'll be gone a while," said Evelyn rather tiredly as she hoped silently that she would be able to get to the little bakery before it closed for the night. "After I get us bread I'm going to take a detour to the field out on the edge of the city where I buried Ellery. Nobody knows where that is but me."

"Make sure to put a disillusionment charm on anyway, just in case someone does know and is watching."

"Don't worry, I will be careful. And you should keep the parchment near you so you can hear if Harry writes, although I think he should be fine. And you can sleep on my bed for now. It's more comfortable than the floor."

Severus nodded gratefully as she gathered the last of the coins, and then he flopped down on the straw tick, the parchment lying on the lumpy pillow beside his head. He was asleep as soon his head hit the pillow. His robes would be wrinkled when he awoke, the way they were laying beneath him. It was with a shake of her head that Evelyn noticed he had not lined the buttons up properly in his fatigue. When she had finished gathering her things and was ready to leave, Evelyn smiled tiredly down at him, and grabbed his quilt from where it had been stored, folded in a corner. With one fluid motion she unfolded it and settled it on top of him. She knelt down beside Severus, and for a second he awoke, blinking dazedly up at her. After a moment's hesitation, she put her hand on his cheek. He leaned into its warmth, asleep once more. She could have sat like that forever. Yet, she forced herself to stand, and with one final glance at him she swept out the door. Evelyn had to remind herself she would only be gone a little while.

     Yet, she did not know what she would do when he went back to his own time. And at that moment, to Evelyn, her way forward was so suddenly clear. Damn this society, this life, this time. She wouldn't look back on any of these things. The only thing left for her to do was find the words to tell Severus that she would indeed go with him.