Monday night, Marcus arrived promptly at seven. Sirius was lounging on the armchair as I urged Marcus to have a seat while we waited for James and Beth who were cleaning up the kitchen after dinner. Or rather, Beth was wiping the table and countertops and laughing as James made the clean plates dance and the utensils bang on the table to the beat of Queen's 'We Will Rock You' blasting from the small stereo in the kitchen. A fork had narrowly missed my head when I had peeked in earlier and I had hastily backed out.

"I always thought French blokes were pussies," Sirius let his eyes roam over Marcus' shirt, a bright blue dress shirt. "But I have to admit it takes balls to wear a shirt like that in public."

Marcus flushed slightly but I noticed his lips twitched in amusement. "At least you have the gender right for that feeble insult," he said. I sat next to him on the couch and gave Sirius a warning look. Recognizing that lecturing Sirius would probably just egg him on, I decided to change the subject.

"Maybe we should—" I started. There was a crash of breaking porcelain from the kitchen with a louder peal of laughter from Beth.

"Your boyfriend is fucking inept," Sirius told me with a shake of his head.

"I suppose you think you're ept?" I raised an eyebrow at Sirius.

"That's not a bloody word," Sirius protested. His brows knit. "Is it?"

Marcus and I laughed. "No, it's not," I admitted. "But I always think it should be."

James and Beth came out a few minutes later. Beth went to Sirius and dropped on his lap. "Accident in there?" he asked, finding a sliver of porcelain caught in her curly hair.

Beth giggled. "One plate got a little too caught up in the song," she explained.

"I'll thank you not to slice up my girlfriend," Sirius glared at James who sat down between Marcus and me. The space wasn't quite large enough between us so I scooted closer into the corner of the couch so James wouldn't have to press up against Marcus, something I was sure wasn't high on either of their wish lists.

"The plate apologized profusely," James shrugged. "I figured this falls under minor dickhead stuff."

Sirius gave a short bark of laughter followed by his growled, "Arsehole."

James grinned at him and put his arm around me, cuddling me close.

"James and Sirius combed over the decoded messages today," I told Marcus speaking across James' long body. James had been eager to tell me all they had figured out when he picked me up from work. His excitement had caught me up also, and I was anxious to see if their first conjecture was right. "They think one of the possibilities is that Boris is living near the British Museum."

"What makes you think that?" Marcus asked James.

James waved his wand and his parchment flew into his hands. He showed Marcus the bakery mentioned in the third message from Boris. "Boris asked to meet Grant at a bakery for breakfast and noted it would be easy for him to come down. He makes a joke about the name of the bakery having the word 'croissant' in it, his favorite breakfast. We think his place is a flat somewhere above the bakery. There's a bakery close to the museum called 'Le Croissant'. There's another 'Le Croissant' in the High Kensington District."

"We went to one in High Kensington this afternoon," Sirius continued. "We checked out the flats, but we're pretty sure Boris is not staying there."

"Why not?" Marcus asked.

"Because they're expensive condominiums that the tenants have lived in for years," James said. "We found a chatty receptionist and a janitor willing to share. Even guests have to register with management and since they have security, they'd notice a stranger. No one has moved in since over a year ago."

"There's got to be more than two bakeries in London with croissant in the name," Marcus said slowly.

James nodded. "There is. We've found eight so far. Besides the two 'Le Croissant', there are four called 'Croissants and More', a 'Croissant is First in Our Name' and 'Croissant my Heart and Die'. We are just starting with Le Croissant but we may have to check out all eight of them."

"But how will you know who Boris is? There's bound to be tons of people living above all these bakeries." Marcus' questions were the same Beth and I had posed to our Sherlock and Watson wizards at dinner and they were ready with answers.

"Boris also mentioned he could hear the sound of the people leaving the tube from his flat. We'll check each potential bakery to see if they are close to a station." Sirius said.

"Plus Boris said that he could see people sitting outside of a café from his kitchen window," James said. "That will eliminate some places."

Marcus nodded looking a bit more optimistic.

"Boris also mentions he works in an office each day, presumably normal business hours," James said. "Since you and Lily work, Sirius and I will stake out each viable place and weed out the ones that don't fit. Then we can go to the ones with potential in the evenings and weekends and talk to the people who live there."

"It's not perfect but it's a start," Sirius said. "We already checked one of the bakeries off our list. We thought we could go out tonight to the bakery near the British Museum. We can see if it's close to a tube station and a café."

"I'm game," Marcus stood up. The rest of us followed suit.

Sirius gave Beth an apologetic look. "I know," she smiled at him, clasping his hand. "I have to stay here. I'll read one of Lily's romance books until you get home."

Sirius grinned and bent down to whisper in her ear before kissing her good-bye. The four of us made our way to the rooftop. "There's a phone booth right in front of the Museum," James said. "We can apparate behind it and meet there."

Less than a minute later, the four of us spilled out on the sidewalk from behind the bright red phone booth in front of the British Museum. A middle-aged man and woman were approaching and they stared as us suspiciously, the woman's eyes searching our eyes to see if we looked high. I supposed four teen-agers coming out from behind a small phone booth did look a bit shady.

Marcus stepped a little forward and beamed at them, his breathtaking face split into a sexy smile when he made eye contact with the woman. Her eyes widened and she stumbled slightly, her companion grabbing her arm. Her face flushed and she smiled back, slightly dazed. They passed quickly as her companion directed a slight frown to Marcus as he hurried the woman along.

"Direct hit," I said to Marcus. "Do you practice making women melt or is that just natural?"

Marcus just grinned at me and I resolutely kept my face neutral, shaking my head at him.

"Shit, women are shallow," Sirius rolled his eyes at the woman's back.

"And men are not?" I scoffed. "When it comes to judging by looks, you're definitely part of the weaker sex."

We found the bakery a few blocks away. "It's close to a tube station," Sirius pointed across the street to an entrance where muggles were heading out.

"Meets one of our criteria," Marcus nodded.

We walked around the block. The building was on a corner and sat between a street and a narrow alley. Across the street from the narrow side of our building was a small café. "Bingo," James said. When we looked back at our building from the café there was only one window on each floor that overlooked the street the café was on.

We came back around to the front of the building that housed the bakery. It wasn't too large. On the ground floor next to the bakery was a dark seedy-looking pub. There were three more floors above with what looked like residential units as we could see homey curtains fluttering in some of the open windows. A small door between the two businesses probably led to the flats.

The bakery was closed and dark. The pub door was invitingly open and cigarette smoke curled out into the night. James went to the small residential door and pulled finding it locked. Muggles were passing and the four of us made a semi-circle around the door so no one could see when James took out his wand and turned it gently. We heard the click of the lock release and we went in.

We were in a small hall. To our right there were six mailboxes in the wall. A steep narrow staircase rose before us. The stairs had seen better days and thick dust coated the outside of the stair treads. We started up, James taking the lead and Sirius the end. It shouldn't have been scary, but the building had an uncared for, seedy vibe that felt ominous.

There were only two flats on the first floor. "What now?" Sirius asked.

"We know it would have to be on this side of the building to be able to see the café," I said indicating one of the flats. "If the other floors layouts are the same as this one, that means only three flats would possibly meet all of our criteria."

James tilted his head to Marcus and Sirius, who nodded and moved out of view from the flat's door. We had discussed our cover story earlier. James whisked his wand over his clothes and mine and our jeans and light shirts were replaced with telephone repair uniforms. I held a clipboard and James a tool box. I gave him a wink to show I was ready and he knocked on the door.

Silence answered his first, second and third knocks. James took out his wand and the lock on the door clicked open. The door creaked as it swung open and I held my breath. James entered slowly and then signaled me to follow when he saw the flat was empty. I knew Marcus and Sirius would keep a look-out for us.

We moved quickly but stealthily to the kitchen. James and I shared a disappointed look when we found the kitchen window faced the back of the building, not the street with the café. The only view from this kitchen was the wall of a nearby building. We left, James giving a quick shake of his head to Sirius and Marcus who trailed us up the next flight of stairs.

The second floor flat on the same side of the building was clearly occupied. We could hear muted voices through the door. James knocked but there was no answer. He knocked louder and after a few minutes of muffled sounds, the door was slowly opened. An elderly balding man genially smiled at us.

"Mr. Brady?" James had noted the name on the mailbox on the ground floor. "There was some work done to your building today with the telephone connections. We're here to reconnect your telephone."

"What?" Mr. Brady cupped his hand to his ear.

"Your telephone, sir," James repeated louder. "We are here to work on your telephone."

A short woman who looked about seventy years old came from down the hall and walked around his side leaning on a cane. "Robert," she yelled in his ear. "Invite them in." Judging by the small piece of toilet tissue trapped on the bottom of her cane, she had just been to the loo.

Mr. Brady opened the door wider and gestured us in. We entered and I looked around without trying to be too obvious. The flat had a different layout than the one below it. It was much nicer than the common areas of the building. We were in the living room which was open to a dining area. It looked homey and comfortable, filled with old-fashioned but good quality furniture and lovely pictures. The telly was on in the living room. A pile of yarn, a partially completed scarf and knitting needles were piled on the end table as if hastily set aside. Even from several feet away, I could see the stitches looked uneven and I wondered if Mrs. Brady had failing eyesight. Next to the knitting were a cup and a half-eaten Cadbury milk chocolate almond bar. A few books were piled on the couch. A reclining chair next to the couch had a light throw on it, and the table next to it held another cup and some bottles of medicine. I felt guilty, it looked like we had interrupted a nice elderly couple relaxing together and watching their favorite television show.

Mrs. Brady smiled at me and tugged me closer to her. "Why are you working so late?" she asked. Her eyes were friendly and she leaned slightly on my arm for balance.

"We got behind schedule today," I explained. "The phone wire repair work was planned to be completed by noon so we could hook up each flat's phone today. Our supervisor asked us to work late so as not to leave you without your phone another day." I didn't tell her that Sirius had waved his wand to disconnect their phone a few minutes ago. Hopefully they hadn't used their phone this afternoon or they would know it had only recently stopped working.

Mr. Brady was leading James into the kitchen, presumably where one of their phones was located. Mrs. Brady watched James leave and then gave me a knowing look. "Is he your beau?"

I blushed. "Yes." With my lack of penchant for lying, I figured the closer I stayed to the truth, the better. People often told us they could tell James and I are a couple even when we weren't standing close to each other. "When you look at each other, the air is charged," one witch had jealously whispered at a party.

"He's hot," Mrs. Brady observed.

I cleared my throat, more than a little surprised. "Yes ma'am." I said awkwardly. "We're very sorry to interrupt your evening."

She shook her head. "Don't worry about it. We enjoy good-looking young people dropping by. We've lived here thirty years and the scenery doesn't change much."

"Does anyone else live with the two of you?" I asked looking at my clipboard.

"Our children moved out years ago," she smiled proudly. "We have three grandchildren, but they don't live in London."

"Do you work outside the home?" I tried to sound as if this could at all be relevant to a telephone company worker.

"You're such a sweet girl," Mrs. Brady patted my arm. "We've been retired for years, but thank you for pretending we look young enough to still be working."

James and Mr. Brady came back from the kitchen. James met my eyes and I knew the kitchen window had a view of the café. Mr. Brady pointed to another telephone, on the wall between the dining area and living room. James moved to the phone, standing just in front of Mrs. Brady and me.

"Is he good in bed?" Mrs. Brady spoke next to me.

"What?" I jerked my head to look at her in shock.

"He looks like he would be," she watched James as he unscrewed the casing from the telephone. "He's got such good hands."

"Florence!" Mr. Brady barked from several feet away. He stood by the kitchen door frowning across the room at his wife. "Don't embarrass the young lady."

James didn't turn around but I could see by the rigidity in his shoulders that he was holding himself stiffly, trying not to laugh. He took out another tool and unhooked a small wire, leaning over to grab a new wire from the toolbox.

"Those shoulders are so broad," Mrs. Brady continued with a wink at me. "And his a—"

James dropped his screwdriver which hit his toolbox with a loud clatter and bent to pick it up, keeping his face turned away from us. Mr. Brady's eyes were narrowed as he stared at his wife. "Don't harass the nice people working late to help us."

"I'm sorry," she said although she didn't sound contrite at all. "It's my fifth day on this bloody diet the doctor put me on. No sweets, no dairy, no caffeine. Even my tea is bland without milk and sugar."

"Welcome to my world," Mr. Brady growled. "I haven't been allowed to eat nuts or popcorn for two years. My favorite foods, once upon a time."

James was upright again, deftly attaching the new wire. Considering he had never done this before, I was impressed. He looked as if he knew what he was doing.

Mrs. Brady smiled at me again, her pale blue eyes intelligent. I looked at my clipboard, quickly making some notes and trying to look official.

"I remember the days when I had a strong young man in my bed." Mrs. Brady's voice was so matter of fact we might have been discussing the weather. "In his day, Robert was very –"

"Florence!" Mr. Brady almost yelled this time. "You're making the young lady blush."

"I apologize Miss –" she glanced at my name tag "Edwards. I tend to be frank. No point beating around the bush, eh?"

"Yes ma'am," I answered. I didn't even want to know how red my face was by this point. James was putting the casing back on the phone and I flipped the cover over the clipboard.

"All done sir," James picked up his toolbox and turned to Mr. Brady. "Thank you both for your time." He moved towards me.

"Thank you," Mr. Brady said. "You two enjoy the rest of your evening." James reached to open the door and we stepped into the hall.

"And those large hands," Mrs. Brady added with another wink at me. I stumbled and James caught my arm, steadying me. Mrs. Brady swung the door shut and James and I managed to sprint down the hall and around the corner before dissolving into laughter.

Sirius and Marcus followed us from their respective look-out posts. "What's so funny?" Sirius asked.

"The elderly lady in that flat wanted to talk about sex," James managed to croak out.

"And James' hot body," I added, my hand holding my stomach.

"You should have seen Lily's face when we finally were ready to go," James sputtered. "She had no idea how to handle it."

"Bloody hell," Sirius threw up his hands. "So does their flat have a view of the café from the kitchen or not?"

"Yes," James said. "A window looks right at it from over their breakfast table in the kitchen. But it couldn't be either of them. Mr. Brady told me they'd never left England."

"Mrs. Brady said they've lived here thirty years," I added. "They are retired and their children have long moved out."

"Shit," Sirius said. "Let's check out the last flat then and get out of here."

We ascended the last flight of stairs. After several unanswered knocks on the last possible flat's door, James and I slipped in while Marcus and Sirius assumed their watch positions. It only took us thirty seconds to discover the kitchen window faced the wrong side of the building, its floor plan identical to the flat on the first floor.

James and I made our way back to the front door, but before he could open it, a key was plunged in the lock from the outside and the door swung open. James pushed me behind him. I forgot to breathe as I saw a tall, muscular man was looking down at his ring of keys as he pulled the key out of the lock. He swiveled away from us as the sound of footsteps rushing up behind him came from down the hall. Marcus flanked by Sirius stood panting a few feet away.

"What the fuck is going on?" The man sounded belligerent. He was taller even than James and must have outweighed him by a couple stones. He fumbled with his keys looking a little off balance and hope blossomed in my chest that he was drunk.

"Sorry to disturb you, sir," Marcus tried to smile ingratiatingly. "I was just looking for the flat of a friend. Does Anthony Rivers live here?"

The man stepped out of the doorway and closer to Marcus. James and I edged closer to the door, waiting for our chance to slip out behind him. Only a few more feet and we would be clear.

"How the hell did you get in here?" Apparently he wasn't that drunk, if at all. It was also apparent Marcus' smile worked better on the opposite sex. "This building is locked to everyone but the tenants."

"I know Mr. Brady," Marcus said smoothly. That Marcus was quick on his feet. "He let us in."

The man moved another intimidating step toward Marcus. "I don't believe that. Rivers moved out six months ago."

Shit, obviously no one had bothered to update the mailbox labels downstairs. Behind Marcus, I noticed Sirius had taken out his wand quietly. The man moved another step in Marcus and Sirius' direction, his arm swinging out. "You punks are crazy, just like downstairs. Get the hell out of my building!"

He was just far enough down the hall that James and I were able to slip out of his flat into the hall. James pulled his wand out and he shot a spell at the man before he got within reach of Marcus. The man froze, suspended in mid-action. James and I ran around him to Marcus and Sirius.

"He has a few friends coming up behind him," Sirius hissed. "I was watching through the hall window when they came in together. Two of his mates said they were stopping to grab a few beers and would be right up."

As if on cue, we heard heavy footsteps coming up the staircase and the sound of blokes' low voices. I lifted my wand and obliviated the last few minutes from the man's memory. James levitated the man and propelled his body into his flat where he gently lowered him to the couch. I flicked my wand and James and my costumes and props disappeared, replaced by our jeans and light shirts again.

"Let's go," Marcus whispered. We all moved to the stairs that went to the roof. James held the door open for each of us to slip through. We could hear the sound of the man's friends as they called out to their friend through his open door. Hopefully, he'd be conscious soon.

I breathed a sigh of relief as the rooftop door shut safely behind us. Sirius had brought up the rear and he shook his head speaking softly. "We'd better not go back that way. I heard them say they're leaving the flat door open for another friend whose on his way."

James frowned at Sirius. "Why didn't you warn us that huge bloke was coming up?"

"I tried," Sirius glared at Marcus. "We didn't see him enter the building because Princess here found a nest of rats. After killing the rats, we went back to the hall window that overlooks the street and saw the others coming right as huge bloke lumbered up the last flight of stairs."

"The rats had babies and were squealing," Marcus said defensively. "I didn't mean to jump, they just startled me and Sirius came running."

"Don't quit your day job. I don't think you'll make it as a spy," Sirius scoffed.

"Haven't we discovered it's best if you don't try to think at all?" Marcus gritted out.

"Shit," Sirius swore loudly as he stumbled over a heavy doorstop low on the ground near the doorway.

"Let's just call it a night and ap—" James started. I elbowed him and he followed my gaze. A young couple were sitting on a bench to the side of us and they had stopped what looked like a snog session to stare at us.

"Hullo," the man said awkwardly. "Didn't think we'd have company up here."

"Er, sorry," Marcus moved towards the pair. "We were…trying to avoid—"

"Norm?" The woman supplied quickly. At our confused looks she clarified. "Large bloke on the third floor?"

"Yeah," James nodded. "We ran into him on our way out and he became a bit upset."

"That happens often. He tends to turn belligerent easily," the man said. "There's a fire escape over there if you want to steer clear of him. He and his buddies get raucous when they're partying."

"Thanks," Marcus said. He stepped closer to the couple and began to talk to them quietly while the three of us walked to the other side of the building near the fire escape.

Marcus rejoined us. "They didn't hear our talk about spying," he said quietly. "Luckily, they were busy snogging and didn't notice us until Klutzy almost fell on his arse and swore." He indicated Sirius with a wave of his hand.

James looked over the edge of the roof into the small alley next to the building. "No one's down there. We'll just have to drop the last six feet or so."

"Ladies first," Sirius stepped back behind Marcus and I. I made sure my wand was pushed into my pocket securely. I swung my leg over the edge and started down the ladder to the top floor's platform. "Don't get your knickers in a twist, princess," Sirius grinned at Marcus who had stepped forward to watch me. "You can go next."

"Something else is going to get twisted if you don't shut up," Marcus muttered.

I reached the first platform and moved to the second ladder as Marcus started down. It was dark and I felt for each rung carefully before shifting my weight. Above me, I felt the ladder tremor with Marcus' weight.

By the time I reached the last platform, Sirius and James were also descending. I released the last ladder so it could slide closer to the ground and started down. When I got to the bottom rung, I dropped, braced to hit the ground with my knees slightly bent. To my shock, I fell into the arms of a beefy male, whose alcohol infested breath made my eyes want to roll back in my head.

"Whoa," he slurred not letting go of me even when my body had slid down against his enough so that my feet could touch the ground. "What have we here?"

His arms imprisoned mine making it impossible for me to reach my wand buried deep in my pocket. A memory rose of a hand holding me down. Alcohol fumed breath choked me and a voice hissed "Hold still you little bitch" as I struggled, a heavy hand clamping over my mouth as I tried to scream.

The memory receded. A different pair of eyes stared at me. "Put me down," I cried, trying not to breathe his pungent breath, fighting off waves of terror.

There was no reason to panic, I knew three very capable wizards were right behind me. Yet I couldn't help it. My heart was hammering in my chest and my throat was dry. I felt sweat trickling down my back and my head spun. I struggled against his tight hold, nausea rising in my throat.

"Not so fast, luv," the man grunted as I tried to use my elbows to break his hold. "I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to set you do-."

I heard the sound of feet hitting the ground behind my captor and there was a deep groan as I was released. The man sank to the alley pavement in a stupor revealing Marcus behind him with his wand out. I took a deep cleansing breath stumbling back a few paces from the drunken bloke.

"Are you alright?" Marcus came to me, putting an arm around me.

I tried to nod but wasn't even sure if I pulled that off. I put my face into his shoulder and he held me, my body quaking with fear. But of what, I had no idea. Surely I hadn't been afraid of an inebriated eejit with three wizards ready to defend me. More feet landed on the ground and James yanked me away from Marcus and pulled me to him in a hard hug. I clutched him, burying my face in his chest. Amazing how much different James' body felt pressed up against mine than the hefty drunk. "I couldn't see well enough to risk stunning him without hitting you," he said in apology. "He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"No," I croaked.

"What's wrong?" James held me tighter, feeling my tremors. "Lil? Did something else happen?"

I nodded against his neck, unable to speak. James rubbed my back, understanding I needed some time. My chest ached as I tried to control my breath which kept hitching erratically. Every time I remembered the feel of that hand across my mouth, panic would set in; my heart would speed up and my knees wanted to buckle. But this bloke hadn't put his hand on my mouth. I couldn't think about it anymore. I concentrated on feeling James' solid body holding mine, the clean smell of his neck and his hand running up and down my back.

After a few minutes, my breathing had become more even and my heart no longer felt like it was trying to leap out of my chest. "I'm sorry, I couldn't see him from the rooftop," James ran his fingers through my hair still giving me time to recover.

Sirius materialized next to us. "He must have been hidden from our view by the fire escape."

I pulled back from James and tried to control my voice. "He wasn't trying to do anything. I think he just saw me dropping the last few feet and was trying to be helpful. But he was drunk and smelled so bad. I wasn't sure how long I could keep from puking on him."

"That wouldn't have been a bad idea," Marcus quipped. His smile looked a little strained as he looked at me. I didn't blame him, all three of them were no doubt trying to figure out why I was falling apart just because some drunk bloke had held on to me. I was wondering the same thing.

"Let's get out of here," Sirius suggested and he did a quick check to make sure no one else had entered the dingy alley.

"He'll be okay, right?" I indicated the muggle now groaning as he started to come to.

"Yeah," Marcus pocketed his wand. "I barely stunned him." James kept his arms around me and the two of us apparated to our rooftop, Sirius and Marcus close behind.

Once we'd entered our flat, James sat on the couch and pulled me into his lap. He flicked his wand and a glass of water floated to me, which I gulped down. Sirius and Marcus sat down, both just watching me. Beth came out of her room with a welcoming smile, but stopped cold when she saw our faces. "What happened?" she asked quickly.

"Can you tell us about it, Lily?" James asked. His arms were around me and I leaned into his chest.

I shook my head. "There's nothing to talk about. The bloke didn't try to hurt me. I don't know why I panicked."

James ran his fingers through his hair. "Are you sure?" He looked uneasy. "You normally don't get upset easily."

They were all so intent, staring at me. "Let's just skip it, okay?" I know my voice was a little shrill but I couldn't think about what had happened without my heart starting to race again.

I felt rather than saw James look over my head at Sirius and Marcus. Beth moved to sit down next to Sirius, but she didn't ask me anything, just eyed me worriedly.

Sirius finally spoke up. "There's nothing you want to tell us? You're as pale as death."

"I'm always pale," I snapped. "His breath just grossed me out."

"Okay," James said soothingly. "We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

I nodded, relieved and then just sat back and listened as the others told Beth about our night.