It was a dark night...probably because the elves that usually light the lanterns seemed reluctant to come outside into the icy wind that was blowing hard down the streets of Knockturn Alley. I can't say that I blamed them, but it really sucked trying to dodge people in the pitch blackness. I would have cast Lumos and lit things up a bit, but like everyone else here, I was trying not to be seen.

I glanced up, squinting into the sleet for The White Wyvern. Ah, there it was. I hurried forwards, stomping my boots off on the tatty doormat, before pushing my way inside. The place was fairly crowded, which made sense considering the horrid weather outside, but...it honestly wasn't much warmer in here.

Shaking the ice off my robes, I weaved my way over to the bar to sit down on a rickety stool and grunted "fire whiskey...make that two." The shots were slammed down in front of me without ceremony, and I immediately knocked one back before getting onto business.

As the warmth of the fire whiskey ran into my belly, I glanced about the room as inconspicuously as possible. The place was filled with the usual scum; goblins with ears missing and giant rings hanging out of their noses, warlocks and witches with yellow teeth and black stained fingertips. A group of what I suspected to be necromancers huddled over their table and what LOOKED like a pile of bones laying in the middle.

Horrible creatures and people to be sure...but not what I was looking for.

There had been whispers of an illegal dragon trade floating about Diagon Alley...and upon hearing them, I immediately assumed it was backwash from Knockturn Alley.

Nothing pleasant ever came from this place, but an illegal dragon trade was nasty, even for Knockturn.

Dragons were dangerous, and big, and they breathed fire if you hadn't noticed. Nothing worse than trying to cover up a village full of charred muggles and burned buildings after an illegal dragon escaped into the wild. There were so many minds to wipe, and the news to control...keeping something like that off of television since the invention of smart phones was a NIGHTMARE.

Sighing, I was just about to turn back to my second shot when something caught the corner of my eye.

A woman with a large rucksack had just entered from the back of the bar. She kept her head down, but I saw a flash of bright green eyes as she glanced around the room.

Quickly, I turned back the bar and took my second shot, making sure to keep her in my peripherals as I pulled a notebook out of my robes and tried to look busy.

She was tallish, maybe 5'7'' and her hood was up like everyone else. Her robes were dark, muddy, and ill-fitting. They hung off her lean frame as she made her way over to an empty table in the corner and sat down.

Her rucksack must have been heavy, because she grimaced as she heaved it off her back and onto the bench next to her. But it wasn't the bag that had gotten my attention...it was the way she carried herself, and the light in her eyes. The light of intelligence. And she was clean. Aside from her dirty robes, that is.

I could see shiny red hair peeking out from underneath her hood, and her skin appeared to be clear and well cared for.

Whoever this woman was, she didn't seem to be wanting for money. And in a place like this...that meant she had some sort of well paying trade.

This might be the lead I was hoping for.

Jotting down a few notes on her appearance, I glanced up at the bartender and ordered a mug of ale. Sitting in a bar without a drink was probably one of the most suspicious things you could ever do...I glanced in the woman's direction and noted that she waved away the house elf when he tried to take her order.

Like I said...suspicious.

My ale was set down in front of me and I immediately picked it up, taking a drink and 'accidentally' knocked my notebook to the floor. Bending down to pick it up, I quickly let an extendable ear escape from my sleeve. It immediately scuttled away, hiding beneath the bar as it made it's way around the room towards the woman in the corner.

As I sat back onto my stool, I heard the door to the pub open, and I glanced over my shoulder to see a tall, burly man walk in.

He glanced around the room, and I made sure to turn my attention back to my mug before his gaze came my way. Clearing my throat, I reached up and tapped the stem of my spectacles, activating the spell that allowed me to see out of the back of my head.

I closed my eyes, and almost jumped out of my chair when a giant hairy face popped up right behind me. Merlin's BEARD.

I opened my eyes again to see the giant man pause beside me. He rested his arms on the bar and I gulped. His forearm was bigger than my waist...hairy, and covered in dragon tattoos.

I pressed my lips together and buried my face in my mug. Subtle...real subtle. If he went to sit with that woman I would eat my own-

I groaned internally as the man got his drink and walked towards the back of the pub. Closing my eyes, I stared at him though the back of my head and watched him sit down across from the thin woman with green eyes.

Of course. Guess I was eating my socks tonight.

I opened my eyes again and reached up to press down on the second extendable ear that I kept hidden in my hat. At first I couldn't make out individual voices, but as I closed my eyes and studied the back of the big hairy man behind me, a gruff voice slowly came into focus.

"You brought it?"

I tilted my head as a soft, feminine voice came through.

"Yes. You brought the money?"

"Yeah. Kind of. It's here- "

I winced as the woman's voice became sharp and slightly shrill.

"Don't take it out here! Are you stupid? Wait until we're outside..."

There was some vague shuffling sounds, and I closed my eyes, looking through the back of my head again to see both the man and woman starting to stand up. The woman heaved the pack back onto her shoulder and started heading off to the right of me, towards the side of the bar.

Target on the move.

I quickly downed the rest of my ale, wiping my mouth off on the back of my wet sleeve, and watching them with one eye shut as they headed towards the restrooms.

I assumed they were going to take the secret entrance out the back. I couldn't follow them, as they would definitely notice, so I waited until the door shut behind them before I paid and walked towards the front door.

I paused for a moment by their table to let my extendable ear crawl up my pant leg, before I hurried out into the freezing cold again.

I glanced left and right, checking for the possible ambush (you can never be too safe) before I cautiously made my way around towards the back of The White Wyvern.

I paused for a moment to down a distraction potion, shuddering at the slimy, slithering feeling as it went down into my stomach.

A numbness started spreading through the tips of my fingers as I rounded the corner of the pub, and that's how I knew the potion was working. In a few moments, I would blend into my surroundings and someone would have to look REALLY close to be able to notice me.

Still, once I saw the big hairy man and the green eyed woman pop out of the back of the pub, I ducked behind a pile of garbage to watch.

You could never be too careful. Who knew what kinds of spells -they- might be using.

Once again, I let my extendable ear go into the wild, watching it as it scuttled through the shadows and nearer to my targets. After a few moments, I heard their voices in my ear, somewhat crackly through the wind that was whipping down the alleyway.

The woman's voice came first, angry and high pitched.

"This isn't what I asked for. Are you trying to rip me off?"

There was a pause, and I strained to hear the man's voice. It was so low that the wind almost whisked it away as he said.

"It's genuine unicorn horn...I harvested them m'self. More valuable than gold. Test em if you don't believe me."

My nose wrinkled in disgust at his words. Harvested. As if they grew like apples on a tree, and not some pure creature that he chopped them off of. Merlin, these people were disgusting.

I glared at them as I watched him hand the woman a small parcel. She examined it skeptically before unwrapping the contents...and then she let out an audible gasp.

"Oh..."

Her face was shining with excitement as the pearly, glowing horns came into view. It looked like there were three of them, and they would have been beautiful, if it wasn't for the matted blood and fur I could see clumped at the base of each one.

My stomach turned at the sight of such a monstrosity, but the woman didn't seem phased as she took a small vial of something green and poisonous looking out of her pocket. She dipped the tip of the horn in the substance, and suddenly the liquid turned pure and clear.

The woman let out a high laugh, nodding her head as she replaced the vial in her pocket and wrapped up the horns.

"Alright, we have a deal."

I watched as the woman shrugged her rucksack off her shoulders. She didn't open it, just passed it to the big man, who untied the drawstring and peered inside. He let out a satisfied grunt before he said.

"I like what I see...where do I go if I want more of em? Like...a lot more."

The woman slipped the horns inside of her robes, and then crossed her arms, frowning.

"More? There's two there already...alright, if you're really serious about this."

She reached inside of her robes and drew out an envelope, passing it into one of the man's big hands.

"You can come to that location...there will be more information if you actually mean to buy in bulk. Everything you need to know. But come alone...any funny business and we will take extreme measures to protect ourselves."

I couldn't see the man's face, so I wasn't sure how he took her threat...but judging by the long silence, I guessed he didn't really like it. Finally, he nodded.

"Alright. But you know you can trust me, Celia-"

She slashed her hand through the air, cutting him off.

"No. I don't. I trust no one, Bard. Not even my most loyal customers. It's the only thing that's kept me alive in this business...now..."

She glanced around the man and I hurriedly ducked down behind the trash, holding my breath. After a moment, she spoke again.

"I must be going. We've lingered here too long already...pleasure doing business with you. We hope to see you again in the future."

I heard footsteps coming my way, and I grimaced, pressing myself back into the trash and staying very still as Celia passed. She glanced both ways down the alley, before hurrying off into the darkness.

I let out a breath and waited a moment to see if the man would follow. Frowning, I finally sat up and peeked over the trash again, only to see the alleyway deserted.

Weird...where in the name of Merlin could a man that size disappear to. Unless he disapparated, but-

I let out a yelp of surprise as a large hand closed around the back of my robes, and then suddenly I was kicking my legs several feet over the ground and gasping for breath. I reacted on well trained instinct and kicked my leg back. It connected with a solid thud into what I hoped was a very tender spot.

The grip on my robes loosened, and I twisted wildly, managing to wriggle free and land on my feet on the ground.

The world was spinning from lack of oxygen to my brain and I could barely see past the stars in my eyes as I scrambled back and reached for my wand.

"EXPELLIARMUS!" I bellowed, flailing my wand in a very professional manner in the general direction of my attacker.

There was an explosion of light and a searing heat that instantly dried my robes. I blinked quickly, trying to bring the world back into focus.

When it finally did, I blinked again just for good measure, and then let out a breath of relief. Well...at least he was down for the count.

The big man from the alleyway, or Bard I guess, was laying sprawled in a large circle of dry paving stones, where apparently our spells had collided and created a small explosion. Half of his beard had been singed off his face, and his clothes were lightly smoldering as he laid there, completely bonked out.

People were starting to peek around the corner, so I hurried forwards, stuffing my wand into my robes and heaving the unconscious man unto my shoulders. Or...that's what I tried to do, at least.

The weight of him and the rucksack on his back almost crushed me, and I let out a pained sound, my eyes popping. I immediately dropped him, instead hooking my arms under his armpits and dragging him backwards down the alleyway.

"Nothing to worry about! Poor fellow took a nasty fall. Must have drank a wee bit too much. Haha!"

I cleared my throat and dragged him faster as unpleasant folks started skulking my way down the alley. Ah, bloody hell. Nothing for it, then.

I dropped Bard unceremoniously into the dirt, whipped my wand back out, and then fisted my hand in his shirt. Closing my eyes and picturing home, I spun, and disappeared with a bang.

I stumbled and fell on top of Bard as soon as we appeared in my cottage in Chipping Campden. He smelled like booze and dirty animals, and I grimaced, immediately rolling off of him and onto my back.

Well, that went...fairly well, considering it was me. I grinned up at the blue flowered wallpaper that covered my kitchen walls, daydreaming about a peaceful life as a secretary, before a grunt from my house guest brought me back to my senses.

Groaning, I pushed myself to my feet and stared down at the huge, ugly man that was dirtying up my once clean wood floors.

He was stirring a little bit. His nose wrinkled and he sneezed. It wasn't until his eyes started to open that I pointed my wand squarely at his nose and said, "Incarcerous."

Thin ropes jetted out of the tip of my wand and wrapped around Bard, effectively binding him up as snug as a bug in a rug. Heheh.

I stepped over him, aware of his beady eyes following my back as I tugged off my outer robe and hung it up on the coat stand by the door.

Finally, I turned back to my captive, crossing my arms over my chest before saying. "So...I'm really sorry about this but you tried to strangle me. I didn't really have a choice."

Bard just stared at me with hate filled little eyes, and for a second I wondered why he wasn't saying anything. And then I remembered the ropes covering his mouth. Oops.

Stepping forwards, I tapped the bindings with my wand, allowing the ropes to slither back down to his neck, freeing his mouth.

I immediately regretted my decision as he started yelling, flopping around on the floor like some kind of crazy worm as he tried to bite my hand.

"ACK! Blimey, bloody, stinking hell." I whipped my hand back before giving him a sharp kick to the side.

It was like kicking a log, but it seemed to calm him down some as he said,

"I'm gonna KILL you, you filthy little piece of scum!"

I nodded absently, busy rifling through his robes for clues. I let out an 'AHA' of triumph when I discovered the envelope that Celia had given to him, dancing away as the big man tried to wiggle at me once more.

"HEY! GIVE THAT BACK. THAT'S MINE."

I used my wand to magically unseal the letter, careful not to break the wax as I pulled the parchment out from within. It was heavy paper, only slightly stained, and covered in thin, loopy hand writing.

I waved my hand at Bard, annoyed.

"I'm going to give it back, Merlin's beard...what do you take me for? I'll be needing you to complete the trade so we can catch all you slimy little varmints in one fell swoop."

This seemed to stun Bard into a brief silence, and I took advantage of it, my brow furrowed as I scanned the letter.

Bard,

I'm so glad that you came through on our deal. Now that you've proven yourself over these past years, I'm willing to allow you in on a bigger piece of the trade.

Meet me at the Stone Willow, tomorrow at midnight. We have them fresh from the Ukraine and they're in perfect condition.

I hope that we can come to an agreement that is satisfactory for the both of us.

Sincerely,

Celia P.

So Celia was running things, or at least a part of things. I nodded, accepting this. It seemed right. She held herself in that leaderly sort of way; confident, skilled. And the way she spoke to Bard, it seemed like she was largely in control of the operation "I trust no one, not even MY most loyal customers..."

Her customers.

I rubbed my mouth, ignoring Bard as he started trying to inch his way across the floor and towards the door.

And this Stone Willow...that must be the drop point. Where they were going to trade...whatever it was they were trading? A light bulb suddenly went off in my head, and I walked back over to Bard, kicking the big man again to get him to stop moving, and then shoving him over onto his stomach so I could reach the rucksack he'd taken from Celia.

He immediately started bellowing again.

"NOOO! Get off me. Get away from that. THAT'S-"

I cut him off.

"Yours, I know. Like I said." I grunted as I cut the pack off his shoulders, heaving it a safe distance away from the big man so I could get a peek inside. I set it down with a clunk and sighed, looking down at Bard. "I'll give your stuff back as soon as I'm done putting my dirty paws all over it."

I undid the drawstrings on the top of the sack, pulling it open, and then I gasped. I wasn't sure what I expected...actually I had expected just this, but it was still a shock to see them all the same.

I reached into the sack, grunting as I pulled out an egg that was roughly the texture of an unripe pine cone, and the size of a small watermelon. It was warm to the touch, and the color of a robins egg...except with a steely sort of glimmer to it when you turned it in the light.

My eyes must have been wide as saucers as I breathed "Dragoooons...gotcha."

I grinned, sliding the egg back into the sack, and tied it shut again.

When I looked back up to check on Bard, he was at the door and trying to sit up to open it with his teeth.

The wonder in my heart died a little as I pulled out my wand and knocked the man out with a quick Stupefy.

Frowning, I resealed the letter, and then dragged the rucksack over to Bard's unconscious body. I undid the hairy man's bonds, and then slid the letter back into his dirty robes. The rucksack went on next, and I used Repairo to reattach the straps.

I gave the bag a gentle pat. "Don't worry, guys. We'll have you back where you belong in no time. I know a guy in Romania that would love to take care of you."

I stood up straight and took a deep breath, shaking my head as I put my robes back on. "Alright, time to put you back where you came from, Mr. Bard...but first." I pointed my wand at the mans big, hairy head, casting a simple charm to grow back his singed off beard and eyebrows.

I hesitated for a moment...I hated casting this spell, even on scum like Bard. But it was necessary.

Twisting my mouth, I said softly "Obliviate."

A soft glow of green light bathed Bard's face, and then disappeared. Shaking my head, I gripped Bard's robes in my hand and disapparated.