Chapter 2

James groaned as the sun hit his face, waking him from his dreamless sleep. He tried to make it a habit to sleep in on his days off, but his body did not seem to want to cooperate this morning. He looked over at the clock on his bedside table as it flashed a depressing 7:32 AM. He sighed, kicking the covers off and putting on his dark-rimmed glasses. He sat up and stared outside at the gorgeous, albeit all too early, morning just in time to see an owl fly past his third floor apartment window. He raised an eyebrow curiously. You didn't see too many owls in the center of London. It didn't occur to him as odd, however, until he saw four more fly past.

He stood up and went to the window, peering out onto the London skyline. The city streets were filled with people; an unusual amount of police taking up residence on every corner as they watched over the unusually crowded sidewalks filled with an unusual group of people in unusual looking robes. James, however, was oblivious to the unusual scene in the streets as his eyes were focused on the skies as what appeared to be hundreds of owls traveling in many different directions. If he looked close enough, he could even see some appeared to be carrying parcels.

"What in the-" he trailed off as his cell phone began to vibrate. He picked it up, noticing that he had 14 missed calls overnight. He flipped open the phone and before he could answer his ear was attacked with an overly excited voice.

"I have been trying to call you all night, mate!" Liam yelled into the receiver, "Where have you been?!"

"Sleeping, you wanker. What is all the excitement about?" James said, still watching the owls fly through the sky.

"You didn't see the news last night?" Liam questioned with astonishment, "I mean have you looked out your window?"

James laughed, "Yeah, I see them… wondering why there are so many owls in London. Did something happen at the zoo?"

Liam was silent for a moment. "Mate, look down. Look at the streets. And watch the news. I'm coming over." And then the line went dead.

"Hello? Liam? Hello…" James trailed off as his eyes dropped from the sky to the scene in the streets. His heartbeat began to race. His hand went limp, his phone dropping to the floor next to his feet. The scene would have been strange to see without any context, but it seemed to elicit a panic from deep within the young man. He backed away from the window quickly, stumbling a little and running a shaking hand through his hair. He didn't know what was going on in the city of London, but he was damn sure that he didn't want any part of it.


Hermione slumped over her desk as she hung up the receiver on the telephone. She had to remind herself that it was her bright idea to install a Muggle telephone line in the Ministry and that it was her idea to create a 24-hour hotline to address any Muggle questions and concerns that would arise after her press conference Friday evening. It was not her idea, however, to be the one solely responsible for that hotline—no, that was just the consequence of being the only muggle-born in the Muggle Affairs department. "Damn fellytone." She groaned, quoting her father-in-law.

"Granger…" came a cool voice from the doorway. Hermione looked up to see Draco Malfoy leaning against the frame of the door. She glared at him with her tired eyes and he couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. "Remember what you told me last night—that all of the pain will be worth it when we no longer have to hide." He stepped in, pulling his wand out of his sleek, black robes and conjuring a hot cup of coffee in front of her.

She gave a sheepish grin and grasped the cup of coffee. "Yes, Draco. Thank you for reminding me." She sipped the hot drink, letting it give her the jolt that she needed to get through the rest of the day. She set the cup down and reached for a stack of papers next to her desk, handing it over to the white-haired man sitting across from her. "Your assignment for the day."

Draco glanced at the paperwork and shook his head, "No way. Absolutely not." His immediate protest, drew another glare from the young director—his boss. He ignored it. "You have me on babysitting duty, Granger. You know I am capable of so much more. Put me in front of the cameras. Let me charm the Muggles. They'll devour me like a Large Mac."

Hermione laughed, "Big Mac. And no. You know that I can't do that." She stood up and walked to her window, ignoring the ringing telephone on her desk. "While you may be able to charm the muggle world with your obnoxiously good looks, you still have to charm the wizarding world." She shook her head as she saw a small display of fireworks make themselves known a few blocks over.

Draco opened his mouth in protest, but Hermione turned and cut him off. "Look, you know that I trust you, Draco. You've done nothing but prove yourself to me over the last 3 years, but it is not me that you have to win over. It's them." She alluded to the witches and wizards running free through the city streets. "They still don't know you like I do. They need to see the real you in action—down there in the streets, helping the muggles adjust to their new lives."

Draco knew she was right, but he still didn't like it. "Fine. I'll play by your rules. But do not expect me to do this forever. A week, tops. Then I want to be back in the office, doing PR work—where my pretty face belongs." He stood up, smoothing his platinum locks behind his ears.

"Just be careful out there, Draco." Hermione looked to Draco with a bit of concern. She had grown quite fond of her former enemy over their last few years in the Ministry together. True, she wasn't one to hold grudges, especially not when someone was able to prove themselves, but their history together at Hogwarts made their relationship now quite remarkable.

She looked out the window as Draco began to step out of the office, sighing deeply. "Draco," he halted as he turned to his boss. Her look was one of sheer exhaustion tinged with the tiniest bit of amusement, "Please tell Mundungus Fletcher to stop trying to pawn licorice wands off as real wands to the muggles."