"You're sure the Lethifold we're tracking is here, right?" James asked his companion.
"Yeah, Prongs, I'm sure," Sirius shot back dryly.
The two, along with their friend, Remus Lupin, ran a magical creature hunting business, dedicated to hunting XXXXX rated creatures that were on the loose and posing a realistic threat to magical and mundane lives. Their current assignment had them tracking down a Lethifold that had made its way through London. A string of seemingly traceless disappearances in both the Muggle and Magical sectors of the city did not appear to point to much, but to niche professionals such as the Marauders, the feeding path was quite apparent and the added benefit of having a canine animagus and a werewolf on 'staff' allowed them to actually track the beast.
The two friends entered the Muggle apartment building after Sirius quickly transformed back into his canine form, James warily slipping a leash around his best friend for appearance's sake. He fished around the rucksack he had and pulled out a sleek black wallet, opened it and gave the blank card a subtle tap of his wand, the card transforming into an identification card for a local police detective. The Marauders found it easier to pose as local law enforcement when investigating in Muggle sectors.
He strode into the lobby and up to the receptionist's desk. The young blonde girl at the desk looked up from her paperwork and smiled brightly at the handsome man approaching her station.
"Hi there, Charles Prince, City of London Police," he greeted, showing her the transfigured ID card. "We're looking into a string of disappearances throughout the city and the trail seems to lead to this area. I've been designated to check this particular building out," he explained, flashing her a winning smile.
"I'd have to call and confirm that, if that's alright," she conceded reluctantly.
"That's fine," James shrugged.
She picked up the phone beside her and punched in the number for the City's Police office.
"London Police, Remy speaking," Remus Lupin greeted as he picked up the telephone in the booth across the street from the apartment building.
"Hi there, my name's Rebecca, I'm the receptionist at the apartment complex at 1800 Young Street. I've got a detective in here, a… Charles Prince. He says he's in investigating a string of appearances?" a young female voice greeted on the other end.
"Uh… let me see here," Remus responded and waited a few beats. "Ah yes, here it is. Yup, Charles Prince has been designated to look into a stretch of houses and buildings on that portion of Young Street with regards to the disappearances. We've tracked these disappearances in a pattern leading in the general neighbourhood of your building, ma'am, so we've felt it only best to check."
"Okay, thank you so much!" the receptionist chirped back.
"Not a problem, miss! Be safe and please don't hesitate to report anything abnormal you see! We appreciate your co-operation with this on-going investigation! Take care," Remus replied, before hanging up.
"So, it seems you check out, Mr. Prince," the receptionist concluded brightly. "I'm sorry if I've interfered with your investigation in any way," she apologized.
"Not to worry, it's understandable, you're just doing your job," James brushed off.
They crossed the lobby to the stairs Rebecca indicated. Sirius craned his canine head around to keep the receptionist in sight, panting heavily.
"Oh, quit being such a dog," James muttered, prompting a serious of short barks that sounded like laughter.
Sirius sniffed and shook his head when they reached the first floor and did the same for the second floor. Once they reached the third, he nodded and barked, tugging James down the hall. He finally stopped in front of a door at the end of the hall and scratched at the bottom of the door. James straightened his jacket and knocked authoritatively at the door.
"London Police, please open up!" he called out.
He waited several moment and no sound was heard from the other side, and Sirius began growling. James took a step back and gave the door an almighty kick, causing it to fly open and Sirius galloped forward through the apartment, James at his side as they rushed towards the bedroom. James shouldered that door open brusquely, unsheathing his wand in record timing and casting a Patronus charm at the sight of a Lethifold about to prey on a sleeping victim.
The charm scored a direct on the living fabric, causing it to seize up before going limp and sliding down to the floor of the bedroom. James quickly made to gather it up and stuff it into a specialized storage bag for Lethifolds they'd developed, so as to contain them while they transported them to the Department of Magical Creatures for transfer.
Sirius began barking as James was occupied.
"What is it, you flea-bitten git?"James growled as he finally managed to jam the Lethifold into the bag.
"James Potter?" came a tired feminine voice from the bed.
"Lily?"