Two weeks ago…

Six cloaked figures huddled together in the shadows of the trees. Their heads were turned towards the center of the circle as they conversed in whispers. Fairly frequently, one of them would turn their head and look over their shoulder.

"Alright," the shortest of the group, Alastor Moody, grumbled, "this should be just an in-and-out mission. No lollygagging. And remember, stay in your teams. Whatever you do, don't split up. If something goes disastrously wrong, which it shouldn't, send the signal." Moody made eye contact with each of the other five people in the group. "Always vigilant," he mumbled before turning away from the group and starting through the trees towards the warehouse beyond them.

Elphias Doge caught up with Moody while Loraine paired off with Derek Hicks and Bill Weasley and Emmeline Vance teamed up. In twos, they silently slid through the shadows and halted next to the building. Moody turned towards them and silently pointed each group in the direction they were to go. The three teams split up.

Loraine looked at Hicks and then looked up. Their task was to take to the roof and map out as much of the building compund as possible. They were to be alert to any hidden entrances as well as guard positions. Grabbing Hicks hand, she whispered, "Tollo Sustuli Sublatum." Both she and Hicks slowly began to rise from the ground. As they levitated, Hicks pulled a piece of parchment from an inner pocket of his robes along with a short metallic quill. Holding the parchment open, he stood the quill on top of it. He looked over at Loraine and the quill began moving furiously across the parchment. Loraine's eyes widened as she noticed what the quill was doing. As Hicks looked at Loraine, the quill was drawing everything that he saw. Every feature of Loraine's face was being drawn onto the parchment. Loraine pointed to the parchment and Hicks turned a confused eye on it. When he realized what was happening, he quickly snatched the quill up. With a bashful smile, he shrugged at Loraine. "It works," he mouthed as a slight blush crept across his cheeks.

Finally reaching the rooftop, Loraine shifted her weight so that she would be over the roof and pulled Hicks with her. She ended the spell and the pair dropped a few feet to the rooftop.

They crept to the closest corner and looked over the compound. Hicks flipped the parchment over and drew five boxes on it. One box was in the center and one box adjoined each corner of the center box. He placed his quill in the center box and turned to look over the rooftop. The quill began drawing everything he saw. Fortunately, the rooftop was relatively flat. Only a few short smoke stacks hindered the view of the entire roof. When he heard the quill stop, he picked it up and moved it to another box. He looked over the edge of the building where they were standing and the quill began its work again. When it had completed its task, Hicks rolled the parchment up and tucked both it and the quill away. He signaled to Loraine and they made their way to the next corner.

As Loraine watched over the edge of the building, she saw Moody and Doge pressed against the wall of the next building over. They too were drawing what they saw on a piece of parchment. From her vantage point, she could see two Death Eaters walking along the wall around the corner from them. Moody and Doge were well concealed in the shadows, but the slightest movement or noise would give them away.

Hicks also saw what was happening on the ground below them. He nudged Loraine and looked at her with a concerned expression on his face. Thinking quickly, Loraine cast a freezing spell on the people below her. Moody, Doge, and the quill all froze in place. The Death Eaters rounded the corner while talking to each other. They kept walking right by Moody and Doge. When they had rounded the next corner, Loraine negated the spell she had cast on the duo.

Doge wiped the sweat from his brow as Moody turned and looked directly at Loraine and Hicks. He gave a quick nod of appreciation before grabbing Doge's robes and pulling him to move on to a safer location.

Loraine turned towards Hicks, but he wasn't next to her anymore. Confused, she pivoted to look behind her. She saw Hicks, but he wasn't alone. Two Death Eaters were pointing their wands at him and three more were aiming directly at Loraine. 'Uh oh,' she thought.

Slowly, she raised her hands and stood from her crouched position. Her wand was in her open right hand. Before the Death Eaters had the chance to take her wand from her, she sent red sparks into the air.