Chapter 3
March 27, 2000-London
The night was cold, and the misty fog gave the few working street lights a blurry, muted feel. Blaise Zabini walked swiftly along the river, his cloak swirling around his ankles. God he hated spring nights. Actually, he hated most nights. He pulled his cloak tighter around his neck as he passed the twisted frame of what was the London Eye. He could hear the water lapping against the rusted remains of the wheel in the Thames. He was struck by the memory of the giants climbing it like it was a jungle gym, before it crashed into the river under their weight.
A shiver racked his body as he approached the bridge that would lead him to the Parliament buildings. He looked at the buildings eerie glow, and could just make out the smoke and ash of the fires burning around the city. There were so many these days that no one bothered putting them out anymore. Besides, Blaise thought, where would the thousands of homeless muggles get their heat from?
He had finally made his way to the crumbling bridge. The moment he stepped on it, he was accosted by a filthy woman who had been crouching at the base of a burnt out lamp post. She grabbed onto his sleeve, and Blaise pulled back in shock when her face suddenly appeared inches from his. She looked underfed and desperate, a dead look visible in her light blue eyes. "Please…Please…sir, you have to help…my friend…please…"
"Get off me you filthy bitch!" Blaise pushed her away, where she fell onto her back, tears filling her eyes. Blaise kept walking, hoping she wouldn't follow. However, she slowly climbed to her feet, and ran after his retreating form. "You don't understand," she sobbed. "Y-y-you have to help…he's dying…p-p-please…" She threw herself onto Blaise, knocking him off his feet.
They fell to the ground, and he struggled to get the woman off of him, as she sobbed onto his chest. He finally managed to roll her off him and onto the ground, where she rolled into a small ball. He clambered back to his feet, brushing the dirt off his cloak. He looked down at the pitiful sight below, a scowl on his face. "You're lucky you didn't rip my cloak, woman!" Blaise looked down at the woman in disgust. "Pathetic…" The woman continued to sob, moaning into her sleeves.
Blaise started to walk away without a glance back at the whimpering woman. "What has this world come to?" he thought to himself. "A man can't walk without being accosted by the filth of the world." He continued to walk towards his destination, hoping no one else would come begging for money or help on the bridge that had been deemed 'Beggars Bridge.' He hated walking on it, but it was the only way to reach the parliament buildings without having to walk through the burning, disease ridden city that surrounded the Parliament buildings, the new Ministry of Magic building.
He snorted at the thought of some sort of government. No one was fooled by the façade that had been put in place. There was no government running Britain. If anything, anarchy ruled the state now. When Potter had lost, it hadn't taken long before everything had fallen apart. The 'accidental' death of the muggle prime minister had resulted in the installation of the deputy prime minister, Magnus Goldwater. As any good Death Eater would, Goldwater handed the country over to Voldemort, and the destruction of Britain began. It had all happened so fast that there was no chance for anyone to stop it. The rest of the world was fed false images of the "riots," but they had no idea of what was really happening.
Blaise recalled the destruction of London, remembering the initial fighting. The muggles thought they could win back their country with those silly shooting machines, but they quickly realized they were no match for the Death Eaters and their army of creatures. Blaise shuddered as he vividly remembered the screams and the smell of burning flesh. He still had nightmares, even though he was no fan of the muggle population. There was only so much death and destruction a person could take.
He shook his head, breaking out of his reverie and remembered the reason he was here in the first place. He continued over the bridge, suddenly becoming aware of the shadows that crept towards him as he walked. He pulled out his wand and cast a quick shield charm, protecting him from the thieves who frequented the bridge. God, he hated that Goldwater liked having meetings at such ungodly hours. Why they had to meet at one in the morning as opposed to one in the afternoon was beyond him. There was a rumour the Minister was a vampire, but nowadays no one really cared.
Blaise had finally reached the entrance to the Ministry, and waved his wand along a hidden door in the side of the building, listening for the unlocking of the bolts. When he had finished, he pushed open the scorched door, and entered into a small chamber. A small mousy woman sat at a small, desk stirring a cup of tea. She looked up and offered Blaise a smile. "He's waiting for you," she said. Blaise barely gave her a glance as he strode past her, knocking on the door to her left.
A gravelly voice answered. "Come in." Blaise opened the door, and found a rather squat little man with a soft, round face. Magnus Goldwater's face cracked into a grin. He seemed rather jovial for a Death Eater, but he was a nasty man when crossed. He was only still Minister for international appearances. He was just a bridge to help complete Voldemort's plans of domination. Everyone knew he was an expendable pawn, and wouldn't be around for much longer. "Ah Mr. Zabini, I see you got my rather abrupt letter."
Blaise dipped his head in a sort of impromptu bow. "Of course Minister," he replied in a silky voice. "I'm at your disposal whenever you need me."
Goldwater chuckled. "Always a charmer, eh Blaise. But that's why you're our relations man. Always telling people what they want to hear!"
Blaise gave the still chuckling Goldwater a good natured smile. The Minister walked over to his desk, and sat down behind it. "Sit down m'boy, sit down. Can I get you something to drink? No? Just to business then? Alright, well I assume you heard that Mr. Malfoy has returned from Washington?"
Blaise stiffened in his chair. Goldwater looked at him, and raised an eyebrow at Blaise's reaction. "Come now Blaise! Surely you and Draco have gotten over your little spat by now?" Judging by the stony expression on Blaise's face, it had not. Goldwater sighed. "Well I'm sure you'll both come around. What I really need Blaise, is for you and him to work together on a little project for the Americans. They keep asking questions, and we just can't have that. Maybe you could whip up a good little PR boost? Something that would make them see everything is fine?"
Blaise grimaced at the Minister, but nodded his head. "Whatever you need sir. I have some good ideas. Let me see what I can come up with. Is there a time frame?"
The minister looked at him sheepishly. "Thursday if at all possible m'boy. I know that only gives you three days, but I know you of all people can pull it off! I suppose you and Draco will need to meet? I think I can help arrange that."
Blaise gave him a false smile. "Of course sir. Let me see when I'm available…" He reached into his cloak and felt around. A perplexed look flashed across his face. "Where did I put that planner?…" He frantically felt around in his cloak and pockets, finding nothing. "Is there something wrong son?" Goldwater asked.
"No sir, not at all. I must have left it at home that's all." Goldwater looked at him and smiled, eyes crinkling. "No worries my boy! Now, I was thinking of a photoshoot…" Blaise stopped listening, trying to remember where he had put his book. He was sure he had brought it with him… had put it into his left pocket… had felt it on his way over…had it on the bridge…his blood ran cold. "Shit!" He leapt to his feet and rushed to the door, leaving a very confused Goldwater behind him.
Outside
As Blaise's footsteps faded away on the bridge, the sobbing woman on the ground opened one eye to make sure he was walking away. When he was out of earshot, she abruptly stopped crying. She immediately jumped to her feet, and quietly skipped off into the darkness.
When she got to the end of the bridge, she silently slipped off to the right and ran along the river until she came to an overturned bus. She slid around the side, where a dark figure sat facing the street. She crept up behind him and tapped his shoulder. His head whipped around. He gasped, and started to cough. "Did you have to scare me like that? I had to choke on a scream!" he hissed.
She giggled. "Sorry…" She pulled out a wand, waving it over her face, vanishing all traces of dirt and hunger from it. He gave her an impish smile. "It's fine. Did you get it?" She nodded. "It was really quite simple you know, but he's not a very nice man. I asked him for help and he said he wouldn't help…even in this terrible time!" Her partner gave her a kind smile and a nod. "Let's get this back so we can stop people like him. Hurry! It's almost time!" With that, he grabbed his partner's hand, and in an instant, they had disappeared.
