Chapter 1

Terri sat outside the coffeeshop with a book and a cup of coffee at her side. She sighed filled with contentment. She couldn't believe she found this place! It was exactly the type of place everyone dreamed of finding in Paris. It was a small coffeeshop/bookstore. The selection of books was small, but impressive. There was even a small collection of English translated books by French literary heavyweights such as Alexander Dumas and Victor Hugo.

Tragedy had forced Terri to leave America and build a life for herself overseas. She was doing well for herself. She hadn't found a job yet, which was okay since she was independently wealthy. The first few months had been hard, but she was slowly rebuilding herself and her life. She was even writing again. When she was little she had always dreamed of Paris! Her aunt had told her all about the Harlem Renaissance and how all of the greatest black American writers had gone to Paris. How they fell in love with the city and how a lot of them never came back to America. That was how it was going to be for her, she was going to have her own private Renaissance and it was going to start in Paris!

There was only one problem with Terri's plan. She didn't speak French. Not even a little bit. If she was going to live in Paris that was going to be a major problem. She hired a private tutor instead of taking a class. She didn't like being surrounded by people. Armand was perfect. He was an linguistics major at _ University. He spoke French, English and Spanish, the latter two almost fluently. And he was blessedly level headed. If there was one thing that annoyed Terri to no end it was emotions. The problem was that school was in session, so that he was only available once a week. He assigned as much work as he thought she could handle and he usually called her sometime during the middle of the week to see how she was getting along, but it still wasn't enough. At least not for Terri, but it was all that could be done at present.

Terri looked up from her book and out at the city landscape before her. Terri realized that the countless people that say that there is nothing like Paris in the spring are absolutely right. That's when they walked past her, rapidly speaking English with their cloaks flowing behind them. Honestly, she was a bit annoyed at the sight of them. "Hey, Red!" Terri yelled. They all stopped and turned to look at her. "Put your wand away. There are children around." They stared each other down for a moment before he put his wand inside his cloak and she turned her attention back to Edmund's escape from prison and her coffee. They were making enough noise in HER coffeeshop to wake the dead, but she did her best to ignore it. She was thoroughly engrossed in her book when Armand showed up.

"How's your French?"He asked taking the seat opposite of her.

"Just as bad as it was last week," she replied not looking up from The Count of Monte Cristo. Edmund had just been tossed into a watery grave!

"It's not going to get any better unless you start talking to people," Armand retorted while taking out last week's graded assignments.

"You know I don't like people!" she said in mock offense, even though it was kind of true.

"Yes, that's why your French sounds like bad Spanish. In addition to this week's assignment, you will have a conversation with three people in French and write a report on them. And don't just make them up," Armand stated.

"Come on! Isn't that what I pay you for?" She retorted.

"You pay me for my expertise and my advice. Now, take my advice," Armand answered finally looking up from the cluster of papers that surrounded him." I'm going to get a cup of coffee. I'll be right back."

At that moment, the five cloaked figures exited the coffeeshop. From the look on their faces, they didn't find what they were looking for. Terri had finally folded down her page in The Count of Monte Cristo and was taking out her French notebook along with that week's assignment, when she felt someone's intense gaze on her. She looked up to find two blue eyes bearing down on her.

"Excuse me Miss, may I have a word?" The red haired man in the cloak asked.

At that moment, Armand had returned and taken his seat. "Of course, lead the way. Armand would you excuse me for a moment?" She asked. Armand raised an eyebrow at the man's strange attire, but that's all. She was lead over to the entrance of an alleyway where the other cloaked figures stood.

"Now Miss, we're looking for a man—"The red haired man began in a crisp tone before she cut him off.

"Sir, where I come from it's considered rude to start interrogating someone before you've introduced yourself," she stated.

A look of impatience crossed his faced before he said, "Right. My name is Ronald Weasley. I'm an auror with the Ministry of Magic in the United Kingdom. These are my constituents."

Cops. She figured as much. She could always tell, magical or run-of-the-mill. It was a good skill to have especially when she was in college.

"We are looking for a war criminal by the name of Draco Malfoy. He's wanted for questioning…." It wasn't what he was saying that caught Terri's attention it was how he said the name, Draco Malfoy. His voice changed it was full of animosity when he said it. Terri could feel the years of rivalry and hatred as if they were taking place before her, right then and there. Whoever, this Draco Malfoy was Ronald Weasley was the wrong man to send after him. This is why Terri didn't like people, because she would come across something like this and she wouldn't be able to help herself she had to get involved. That's when she noticed how young they all were. None of them looked even a year her senior.

"Does this Ministry of Magic of yours, usually send pups straight out of the academy after war criminals?" Terri asked eyeing them suspiciously. Ron turned beat red with anger and a bit of confusion. Before he could say anything; however, one of his colleagues stepped forward. She had thick wavy brown hair that was pulled back out of her face.

"Miss, my name is Hermione Granger and I can assure you that we are quite capable of our job. We are veterans in the War against the Dark Forces and now we are trying to rebuild our society, but we can't do that until certain people are held accountable."

"Times of peace are not time times of war and you shouldn't send warriors to do the jobs of diplomats," Terri started, but Ron jumped in again.

"Look, have you seen him or not?" He asked his patience clearly at an end.

Terri couldn't help herself; she had to mess with him. Is this guy you're looking for tall? Just under six feet? With blond, almost white hair. A bit pretentious?"

"Yes! Yes!" Ron yelled with a hungry look in his eyes.

"Haven't seen him," Terri replied with a shrug.

"We can make you tell us," Ron stated taking a threatening step forward. He had gone too far and soon realized it. His companions silenced weighed on him.

"Do I look scared, Mr. Weasley?" Terri asked. She didn't really expect an answer, but he surprised her, when he shook his head no. "A wise man would ask himself why that is," She stated before she turned and walked back to her table.

The race was on. She had to find this Draco Malfoy before they did. In hindsight, she probably should have resisted teasing him. Now, they think she knows where he is, but hindsight in this case was useless.