a/n: This is the prologue to a new project I'm working on. So far I have four chapters, counting this one. I'm editing them to make them all pretty for you guys, but for now here's the prologue. Hope you enjoy.

A man's breath was heavy in the cold dead of a winter's night. A dense forest was the battlefield for him and his opponent. His long black robes billowed behind him with every step he took. He bumped a tree in his haste. He cursed under his breath and pulled a wand from within his robes, "Lumos," He muttered. The tip of his wand glowed a brilliant white. He halted and glanced around. He was the one doing the chasing; he would not be the chased.

He spun around, his robes dancing as he moved. Something had caught his attention, "Bombarda!" There was a squeal as a rat exploded at the base of a tree. The man scoffed, "Stupid vermin."

His voice was hoarse, as though he had a cold he couldn't shake. He moved forward at a brisk walk, holding his lit wand high above his head. His dead eyes scanned as far as his light would let him see. A noise behind him made him jump. He spun around and blasted the tree behind him apart.

"A little jumpy," A younger man's voice laughed from within the darkness, "aren't we?"

"Come forth and fight me then!" The man in black robes growled, "Rather than hiding like a coward!"

"Isn't this how you stalk your prey?" The young man asked, his voice magically bouncing all around the forest, "Lurking in the shadows until the most opportune moment arrives?"

The man in the black robes sauntered forward slowly, "Can you prove that?" He asked.

"Oh," The young boy chortled, "of course I can. That's my job. I gather the proof to put you away, and the love of my life makes sure you stay locked up in Azkaban prison."

"The love of your life?" The man in black robes grinned, "Is she some sort of judge? Where exactly is it that you intend to try me?"

"Yes, my love is a judge," The young man mused, "In fact, one of the top judges in California."

"California?" The man replied, "I haven't been to California in decades."

"Oh I know," The young man laughed, "I was a child, still in school when you came to America. By the time you arrived in California, I was in my last year at Ambego's School, taking my N.E.W.T.S. You left just as I joined the Defense Department in the Government. I worked my way up through the ranks, and I just became a detective in the Californian Auror Society."

"Are you expecting congratulations?" The man in the black cloak huffed as he swung around, looking for the boy.

"Nah," The young man said, "I was just sharing my back story. I'm rather proud of how far I've come. My point was the detective bit there. I've only been a detective for a few weeks, so I'm new to these rules. When I was just an Auror, all I had to do was protect the detectives."

"What?"

"Oh, right, you're British. Well the American Auror's work different than yours. The point is I have new rules I have to follow."

"Well it's a good thing I don't," The man in the black robes grinned. He silently cast a locator spell to pinpoint other people in the area. There was only one. He moved slowly in the direction his mind said.

"I'm struggling with what the protocol is here," The young man said, "I mean we're in Australia, but I still work for the American Government."

"If you go into the woods today..."

"Oh good," The young man nodded, "let's change the subject. That's the song you sang to your victims before you killed them?"

"You're in for a big surprise..."

"It actually sounds mildly terrifying with your scraggly voice and British accent."

"If you go into the woods today..."

"You know, my grandmother sang that to me as a bedtime story when I was a child."

"You better go in disguise..."

"For every bear that ever there was," The young man hummed. He sounded much cheerier than the man in the black robes.

"Will gather there for certain because..." The man rounded the tree where the young man should have been. No one was there. The man in the black robes stared at the spot. His spell couldn't be wrong.

"Today's the day the teddy bears have," The young man sang from high up in the tree, "their piiiiicnic."

He shot a red jet from his wand. It collided with the top of the man in the black robes' head. He crumpled to the floor, unconscious. The young man dropped from the branch he had been sitting on. He surveyed the crumpled mass on the floor, "Incarcerous," Red ropes sprang from his wand and coiled around the man's arms and legs. He knelt down and touched the man's shoulder.

A loud crack sounded as he disapparated with the man.