Chapter 1

Draco Malfoy pushed open the glass door of the restaurant and stepped inside, brushing the snow off his shoulders. He headed to the bar and ordered a Firewhiskey. Looking down at his watch, it was ten minutes pass six already.

'He's late,' Draco thought irritably. Sighing, he picked up his glass and sipped the golden liquid, turning to glance at the door. A tall, dark man entered the restaurant, pulling off his black cloak in one sift motion. Draco smirked and turned back to face the bar, and felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Zabini," he said.

"Malfoy, fancy seeing you here," Blaise Zabini, Draco Malfoy's childhood friend said, acting as if their meeting was just a mere coincidence, not planned.

Draco Malfoy rolled his eyes and and returned to his Firewhiskey as his best friend ordered one for himself. Tipping the remainder of the firewhiskey down his throat, Draco signalled the bartender for another glass. He turned to Blaise.

"Did you bring it?"

Blaise reached into his pocket and pulled out a velvet bag marked with the Gringotts seal. It clinked cheerfully as he set it down on the polished mahogany counter. Draco picked it up and glanced inside quickly.

"This can't be all of it."

Blaise frowned. "The bloody goblins wouldn't let me take out the full amount. I'll get the rest to you later."

Draco lifted a manicured eyebrow "I need all of it, or the job won't get done."

"C'mon Malfoy, I'm your best friend! Give me a break here, money's been pretty tight ever since the Ministry consficated all the dirty money."

"Fine. But she won't like it, you know."

"Who won't like it?"

A voice like cold silk came from behind them. Turning around, they came face to face with a blond goddess with piercing green eyes.

Draco greeted Astoria with a kiss on each cheek.

"I thought you were in France," Blaise said in an accusing tone.

"I just returned," Astoria replied, picking up Draco's glass and downing his drink. "What were you two on about?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Business. Nothing that concerns you," Blaise replied.

"Just because it doesn't concern me, doesn't mean I'm not interested."

"Just because you're interested doesn't mean we'll tell you," Blaise shot back.

This is the problem with all members of the upperclass pure-blood society; just because they're priviledged, they think they can just stick their snotty little noses on everyone's business.

Astoria pouted and linked her arms with Draco's. "You'd tell me, wouldn't you, Draco?"

Draco's mouth was set in a hard line. "Sorry, strictly business." He shot a warning glance at Blaise. "Stop being such a child, Zabini."

Astoria pouted for a few more minutes then decided to let it go. She knew Draco would never mixed business with his personal life and didn't expect him to start now.

"Very well, so aren't you going to buy me a drink, Draco?"

"If I do, would you leave us alone just for a moment?"

"I don't really have much choice, do I?" Astoria raised one eyebrow as she looked at a glaring Blaise.

"I promise it'll just be a minute, sweetheart."

Draco always call her using those silly meaningless endearments when he knew she was displeased. It was stupid and predictable, but very effective nonetheless. Draco ordered a martini for her and she sauntered off to the end of the bar, leaving Draco and Blaise in privacy.

Draco glanced sideways at Blaise. "What have I told you about talking business in front of her?"

Blaise rolled his eyes. "God, sorry. How is business anyway?"

"I think we're taking too many jobs . Calista keeps getting on me to work faster." Draco looked up at Blaise. "So you better get the rest of the money to me fast if you want your job done. Properly."

Blaise frowned. "Fine. God, you hitmen don't care about anything but money."

Draco wrinkled his nose at Blaise's choice of word; he knew he was a hitman, but those words coming out of Blaise's mouth sounded so plebeian. He preferred to be called an assassin.

"It can't be helped, you are hiring the best of the best." Draco smirked with pride.

Draco paused an frowned as he felt the silver pendant he wore around his neck on a chain flash hot, then cold.

"I have to go," he said, setting down his drink and pocketing the bag of coins. He headed over to Astoria.

"Sorry, darling. I have to take off. Have dinner with Blaise. I'll see you later."

He didn't bother to wait for a reply and exited the restaurant, pulling on his coat. He turned on the spot in the empty, snow covered street, and appeared in front of a sleek, glass building in Muggle London.

Draco didn't take notice of the muggles walking around him as he pulled out his wand. The strong magic that shimmered in the air ensured that the muggles couldn't see him or the building. Draco aimed his wand at the small silver plague that was theonly sign on the building. Engraved on the plaque was the same symbol he wore around his neck, a single cross within a circle. Draco cast a charm on the plaque and the doors slid open silently. He entered a bright, minimalist room and headed over to the steel counter. Heidi the receptionist, looked up and smiled pleasantly.

"Miss Archibald would like to see you in her office, Mr Malfoy," she said.

Draco nodded and headed over to the glass elevator opposite the counter. The doors slid opened and he entered, pressing the button that read '10'. Within a couple of seconds, he arrived at the 10th floor, and strolled down the long hallway to the door that read ''. He cast a securtiy charm on the doorknob and it opened.

Draco entered and pulled off his coat, dropping it on the leather sofa, then crossed over to the adjoining door to his partner's office.

"This better be good Calista, I was about to have dinner with Astoria."

"Don't worry, if it wasn't I wouldn't have summoned you," Calista replied without looking at Draco. She was currently crouched on the floor, her back to him, going through some of her old folders.

"Well, what is it?"

"Just give me a second, okay?!" Calista snapped. Draco was rather taken aback with his partner's tone. Blair was usually the patient one.

"Fuck! Where the hell is that piece of paper?!" Calista screamed, pulling out the whole drawer and throwing old folders around.

Hesitantly, Draco approached her. "Calista, are you alright?"

"No. No, I'm not."

"What's wrong?"

Calista didn't reply, though she just kept going around her office, looking for this 'paper'.

"Cal, tell me! Stop! Stop for a second, will you!" Draco grabbed her and turned her to face him. She squirmed and tried to move away, but he had her in a vice grip. Looking into her big navy blue eyes, he could see the panic, fear and disbelief in them. He knew then that something big must have happened.

"Calista, calm down, now tell me what happened."

"Someone tried to kill me today," Calista said in a shaky voice. Draco on the other hand looked at her oddly.

"Cali, darling, with a job like ours, we're bound to have people after our heads."

"No, you don't get it! This man, one person, not ten or twenty, tried to kill me and would have succeeded if it wasn't for my damn good luck! He almost killed me in one perfect shot, who could have done that? We're the only ones good enough."

"Who was he?" Draco asked seriously, all his previous calm composure gone.

"I don't know, but I saw a tattoo on the left side of his neck." She then stared at Draco right in the eye before continuing, "The same tattoo that man who tried to kill you three months ago had."

"What?!"

"So, I did some research on the tattoo, the two interlinked triangles symbol was too familiar, and guess what I found? It was the symbol of Alberte Mouraient, one of the founding fathers of our organization who was exiled over 600 years ago."

End chp 1.