The tall woman appeared, some people would say out of nowhere, on the corner of a muggle city. The sky scrapers towered over her, blocking the sunlight from her path. Cars sped across in several lanes, just dodging a small child who had stumbled. The scrapers were future-like, lots of glass windows that reflected the little sunlight. But the woman was not to be intimidated.

"Muggles" she muttered under her breath, walking briskly to the crossings. Thankfully, her dad had taught her enough about muggle contraptions that she knew how to use a pedestrian crossing. She pressed the button, and glanced over her shoulder. A large family were walking towards her, so were several business men.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing Ginny?" She snapped her head to face the speaker, instinctively plunging her hands into her handbag. She relaxed, the speaker was a tattered looking plump man, who she knew to be Neville. He was one of the few people she trusted in these days, after people had shown that they felt no loyalty what so ever to the order, she limited her trust.

"No." She said simply, as the sign indicated she could cross. "I don't. But someone has to try, and Lupin thinks I should. I'm meeting Hermione, she's coming as well" Ginny wondered if she did know what she was getting into. This wasn't anything like anything.

"I'm not going to talk you out of it, because that would be impossible. But Ginny?" She turned to face him as she reached the opposite side. "Good luck." He too, just disappeared. Ginny smiled at the empty space, and then dug her hand deeper into her handbag. Her clothes were uncomfortable, she preferred robes any day. She rummaged for a while longer, and then with a happy 'aha!' pulled out a grubby bit of paper. She studied it closely, and then looked up at the building in front of her. It was a large and luxurious hotel, one Ginny was surprised at. But looking at the base of the hotel, she saw a woman staring directly at her. Instead of being surprised, Ginny merely laughed and went to see the woman. She had blond straight hair, and was tall. She too was uncomfortable in her clothing, but not as much. Ginny's sharp eyes registered this woman was as nervous as she was; she kept twisting the wedding ring on her finger. The other, she knew, belonged to her brother Ron, who had just been found. He was ambushed just outside his home, and they had only just got him away from the death eaters after three years. Neither of them had seen him yet.

"The spell is adfectio" The woman said by way of greeting.

"I know I know. adfectio " She said, pulling out a slender wand and tapping herself with it. The long red hair changed into short and spiky brown hair. She also became taller, and her skin changed to look like she had a suntan. The only thing recognisable from the woman that stood there before to the woman now was her eyes.

"Nice." The woman commented.

"Cheers Hermione. But why are you a blond?" Hermione tugged at her long hair.

"I wanted to see what its like." She smiled at Ginny, and they laughed.

"What's his name now?" Ginny asked.

"Sirius Auxilium. I don't know what's up with the Auxilium, but Sirius is a bit obvious."

Ginny skipped past the doorman, who was trying to tell some Japanese people he didn't understand, pushed past a gaggle of tourists, and entered the lift with Hermione right behind her. Pressing the penthouse button, she sighed deeply. The lift started, and they waited in silence. A few seconds felt like eternity. A ping made Ginny jump. The lift doors opened, and in front of them was a beautiful apartment, with a view to match. The walked forward cautiously out of the lift, and the doors closed behind them. Hermione walked over to the desk in the room just off the one they were in now, but Ginny wandered over to the coffee table, laden with pictures.

Her heart sunk as she recognised herself in one of the pictures. There was one of Hogwarts, one of Ron and Hermione together, one of the entire Weasly family and others like it. But her heart sunk further than she knew it possible, as one of the pictures was torn. It was a picture at the burrow with her and him before the final battle. But he had torn himself out of the photos. The picture of her was looking indignantly at the tear, and was sulking with her arms folded. Hermione called her over, and Ginny tore herself away from his memories. A luxurious study was the focus of Hermione's attention, large with books lining the walls. As she pushed through the door and let it shut, she walked to the documents on the desk. The first was merely labelled 'businesses'. Before she had a chance to examine the document, the door suddenly closed behind them.

"Who are you and what do you want?" A black haired man asked from behind them. He leant against the door, blocking their exit. Ginny spun around her hair flying over her shoulder. A muggle gun was in his hand, but she could see the shape in his pocket that meant his wand was there. He was glaring at Hermione, who dropped the folder she had picked up back on the dsk.

"I'm Lauren" Hermione lied. "And this is Ginny." The man smirked slightly, as though enjoying a joke, then turned to face Ginny. She shivered involuntarily. The green eyes seemed to look right through her, and they were cold and unfeeling. But what happened to his glasses? Ginny asked herself.

"Lauren hu?" He asked. He turned back to Hermione. "So. i Lauren /i . Why are you in my apartment, and how did you know I would be here?" Hermione looked uncomfortable.

"We have a business deal for you,"

"Really? But I do believe you only answered half of my question."

"You might want to find a way to cover your tracks; you're easy to find when you know how." She replied, staring defiantly at him.

"Take a seat then. He answered, sitting behind the desk. Ginny sat on a large leather armchair, and Hermione did the same. "I am an assassin. Why would two ladies need an assassin?" Ginny shivered at these words. i Assassin /i . Somehow she hadn't envisioned this as his career path.

"For obvious reasons. We need someone taken care of." Ginny answered ducking her head, not wanting to look him in the eye.

"And who would that be madam?" A smile spread across his face. But, Ginny thought. It wasn't at the prospect of a job. Ginny wondered what he wasn't telling them.

"We will give you two million pounds if you complete it." Ginny said, dodging the question.

"What do you really want Ginny?" He asked her, the smile becoming wider.

"Excuse me?" Asked Ginny. where was this going

"What are you talking about Mr Auxilium?" Hermione asked, glaring at him.

"Well for some reason I want to know who my mark is." Again, the words cut Ginny like a knife. A mark could be anyone, a mark was a word for someone irrelevant, and somehow, this man had thrown away his feelings.

"Is the name necessary?" Hermione asked, appearing unaffected by this, but Ginny knew how much it hurt to see one of her friends like this, so different to the Gryffindor she made friends with.

"Well Miss. As a matter of fact it is. I will need their name to find where they work. Who they know. Where they will be, and where they live. So, though many people chose not to associate names with victims, it turns out better. Even a picture can tell me a lot about someone. You are married Lauren, and nervous. Not of me I hope?" His face twisted into a mock grin. " You want to see what it is like to be noticed, you are smart, your eyes glisten every time I tell you something you don't know. And you are shifty. Nervous for two reasons. By the way you clutch your wedding ring; your husband is in trouble. And the second? You tell me" Hermione looked taken aback.

"Well Mr Po-" Hermione froze realising her mistake. Ginny tensed, casually dipping her hand into her handbag and gripping her wand. She observed his face closely. Was that humour in his face?

"You may as well drop the act." He said simply. He looked Hermione right in the eye. "What do you really want Hermione?"