Labyrinth

Chapter 1

It only feels this raw right now

Lost in the labyrinth of my mind

Break up, break free, break through, break down

You would break your back to make me break a smile

The lift slowed as it approached her level, and a cool female voice announced, "Department of Mysteries." She paused, waiting for the golden grilles to slide open to allow her entry. It was rare she was requested to work from the department itself. Her job as an Unspeakable typically pulled her to far corners of the world, not a desk on Level 9 of the Ministry of Magic.

She walked down the corridor to the plain black door that once haunted her best friend's memories. It was too familiar now. As authorised personnel, she was privy to many of the secrets the department held. Her specialisation focused on the division of thought; given her time in this position, she was now widely recognised as the most accomplished Legilimens of her time. At least, she was within the department. Her friends and acquaintances had no idea what she did for the department.

That was how she preferred it. She still associated with Harry now and then, but ten years had passed since the end of the war. She and Ron were finally on speaking terms but far from friends, given the necessary end to their relationship. It had been one of convenience and familiarity but not one of love.

Her life had become one of many secrets she kept to herself most of the time. Her desire for knowledge had led her to this position, and she wouldn't have traded it for the world.

As she finally approached the door to the Head Unspeakable's office, she smoothed her grey robes before knocking.

"Come in."

She pushed the door open, studying her boss carefully. Erin Lockwood was a portrait of composure, with no indication given as to why Hermione was summoned there. They nodded at the empty chairs before them, and Hermione sat.

"Thank you for coming in today. I know you were not expecting to be in until the end of the month," Erin shifted in their seat, apparently crossing their legs. Hermione surveyed their green eyes, which revealed nothing. Erin was always the most difficult to read; she supposed that was why they were the boss.

Hermione could appear composed, but she was genuinely curious. Being called off the field in the middle of a recovery was a rarity.

"It's fine. I have made progress. A day off will not change anything." She exuded confidence in her response, knowing she was the best in her field.

"Unfortunately, you will be off a bit longer than that. We plan on sending Unspeakable Corsertre to pick up where you left off. I am sure he will fill in nicely," Erin had taken their eyes off her now and was lifting up the manila folder Hermione knew held all her research for her most recent mission.

She leaned back in her seat now, slightly confused. Had she mishandled something recently?

"I apologise if I don't understand, Lockwood. Has something been amiss in my work?"

Erin raised her brow slightly as if surprised that Hermione would admit the potential for a mistake. She would not usually say it, but this was her supervisor.

"Quite the opposite, actually. I would like to assign you a special task for the time being. A restricted piece of research has been reserved for only the highest-qualified personnel. I would like you to step in. We are at an impasse and do not know where to go from here. We were hoping a fresh, young perspective would help."

Hermione processed this for a moment and quickly responded, "Of course. What is the nature of the research?"

Erin reached for another manila folder; this one was thick and marked as highly classified. Hermione had only worked on one other case, as restricted as this appeared to be, and she preferred not to think long about it. It had been... difficult.

"The research here combines a few separate divisions: death, time, thought, and, interestingly, love. It involves a comatose patient who has been on the brink of death for many years now, but their consciousness sits just beyond the veil we think. No one has been able to push or pull their consciousness as it is heavily guarded."

Hermione watched as Erin circled their desk, leaning against it as they looked down at her. The folder did not have a name on it; she knew they rarely did. Erin handed the folder down to her and crossed their arms after Hermione took it.

"Walk and talk with me. I'll give you the rundown, and you can get straight to work with the patient."

Erin brusquely walked to the door, waving their wand, which she assumed would ward off listening ears; Hermione jumped up quickly, gripping the folder tightly to keep it all together as she followed.

"Patient was initially admitted to St. Mungo's Dai Llellewyn ward for life-threatening injuries and severe poisoning, was stabilised there but did not wake up. We took over when it became apparent there was no medical reason for the patient not waking up. The time division began their work at putting the patient into stasis," Erin paused briefly to use their thumbprint to open a door.

Hermione kept up, processing everything she was told as they made their way down the prophecy corridor.

"Once they finished their work, the Death Division took over. It became clear that the patient's life was somewhere just beyond the veil, but their consciousness was not. The Unspeakables of Death were unable to make contact with the patient in their consciousness through any known means that wouldn't have drastic effects on their own persons. We let the Love Division try a few things, and they found strong traces of its effects in the patient's consciousness but couldn't dampen anything enough to allow movement of their consciousness forward or backward. The thought division has been intervening in the last couple of years and made minor headway. Once, many walls were raised around the patient's mind; one large one remains, but we have stagnated in progress in the last several months."

Hermione nodded to show she was following, but given what had already been said, she wondered how she had not encountered this patient while working here. It seemed they were well-known across nearly every division in the department.

They finally came to the end of the corridor, and Erin turned to face them as they stopped in front of a door. Hermione sensed a significant number of wards placed on the door behind Erin.

"I do have to warn you, Granger. You will recognise this patient. I know you guard secrets daily, but this one will require you to lock down your mental facilities now more than ever. No one can know what you are working on, no matter how close of a friend they may be."

Hermione squinted in confusion. She would know who this person was... She glanced down at the folder again, but it offered no indication of what information was contained within.

"I am always guarded. You have my word," she said after a second. Erin seemed to take her at her word and turned, pulling their wand out, and dropped the wards surrounding the door.

They pulled the door open and stepped out of the way to allow Hermione entry.

Hermione stepped in and took in the room.

Shelves filled with numerous empty vials sat on one side of the room, and a beautiful Pensieve sat in front of it. It was reminiscent of one she had seen in India once; the extravagant carvings perfectly encapsulated the beauty of the piece. On another side of the room, various cauldrons for brewing sat, made of every material required for any brew. There were ingredients of all kinds spread across a wooden shelf behind the cauldrons.

At the very centre of the room sat an enlarged claw-foot tub raised to waist height. She could not determine who was in it. From where she stood, she could tell it was filled with a viscous dark blue liquid that she presumed was holding the body into stasis. As she went further into the room and rounded one edge of the tub, she spied dark hair but still could not make out the face.

Finally, she took another step to stand directly next to the tub and subsequently dropped the large folder.

As the papers flew about the room, she stood agape.

None other than Severus Snape lay before her.