The shop bell tinkled.

Luna Lovegood looked up from the plant she was re-potting. It was close to mid-day. Normally, she would have kept the shop open for the afternoon, but she had other plans that afternoon.

The stranger who walked in was… well, very strange indeed. A large, heavy-set man, clad in dark clothes despite the warm weather, and with thick sunglasses that obscured most of his face. Luna was also aware that he was very tall and towered over her.

'Hello,' she said, a little confused as she climbed to her feet. 'Can you help you with anything?'

The man reached into his pocket, and pulled out a piece of paper. He handed it to Luna.

'Amazonian Octarine-Flame?' Luna read aloud. 'I'm afraid I don't stock it; the plant is very rare, and isn't kept domestically in the UK.'

The man stared at Luna for a moment, as if judging whether he believed her, before he nodded, took his piece of paper from Luna's hands, and left without so much as a thank you. The door swung shut behind him.

Pondering the stranger's behaviour, Luna finished her re-potting, and brought in the standing sign from outside. She was just locking the front door, when the sound of a motorbike made her turn.

'Alright, Lu?'

Luna grinned, her cheeks blushing, as Ginny pulled off her helmet, her ginger hair sparkling in the sunshine.

'Yes,' she replied, pressing a quick kiss to Ginny's cheek. 'I'm all set to go. Are you feeling confident?'

'For the match? With you watching me, I'm always confident.'

Luna smiled, as she strapped on the spare helmet Ginny had just handed her. She climbed onto the back of the bike, and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend's waist. With a loud roar, the bike came to life, and the two women sped off through the streets.

Mercifully, the traffic wasn't too bad that day, and they reached the basketball arena with a few minutes to spare.

They could hear the crowds beginning to arrive. Luna squeezed Ginny's hand as they walked over to the players entrance.

'You'll be brilliant, Ginny,' she said, pecking her on the lips.

'Thanks,' Ginny replied. 'Can I hope to expect a bit more than a kiss as a reward afterwards?'

Luna giggled.

'How about you win the game first, before you think about that?'

'So… that's not a "no"…'

Laughing, Luna kissed her again, and Ginny flashed her a smile, before entering the players entrance.

Luna walked through the main entrance, and made for the stands.

'Luna!'

Hannah Abbott and Neville Longbottom were waving at her from a spot roughly in the centre of the stands. Luna waved back, and made for them. The crowd was full of people excitedly talking about the game about to start, and of the odds on different players scoring. Luna was happy to see that Ginny was a popular choice.

Luna reached Neville and Hannah. She hugged them both, and sat down.

'You and Ginny got here on time, then?'

'Yes,' Luna replied. 'The traffic was fine. How about you two?'

'We were almost late,' Hannah said, interlacing her fingers with Neville's. 'Neville's been getting some weird emails from lots of friends from our old class.'

'Very weird, actually,' Neville said, his brow wrinkling. 'Apparently, there's been some break-ins in several botanical conservation sites, all of them having plants from the Amazon stolen. All within the same week.'

Luna was about to enquire further but, at that moment, the stands around them erupted in cheers as the two teams emerged onto the court.

Of course, Ginny's team won the team, with Ginny herself scoring several points, including one scored with a spectacular leap upwards over two members of the opposing teams heads. Luna cheered and applauded as Ginny grinned up at the stands.

About ten minutes later, Ginny emerged from the changing rooms, and was met by a cacophony of reporters and fans. Finally, the crowd dispersed, and the redhead walked over to where her girlfriend was waiting.

Ginny, her face now wreathed in a wide smile, hugged Luna tightly as the blonde threw her arms around her.

'I was a bit worried there for a bit,' she said, modestly. 'But it all worked out okay.'

'You were brilliant!' Luna exclaimed, quickly pressing a kiss to her lips. 'I'm so proud of you!'

'Oh, really?' Ginny asked, a mischievous look entering her eye. 'Care to demonstrate after we get back to yours?'

Luna blushed, smiling.

Luna sat up in bed, and stretched.

Ginny was snoring softly on the mattress next to her, her red hair illuminated slightly in the moonlight.

Luna smiled at her girlfriend.

Her life had been so… dull before Ginny entered it. Sure, she loved her shop and working with plants all day, but there was a routine to it that had become tedious over the years. So much that it almost became background noise. And it wasn't as if Luna met a lot of people; she wasn't the most ongoing person and, while she occasionally met up with people she had known at university, her life progressed in much the same way every passing week and month.

Then Ginny had arrived. A whirlwind of red hair and sports jerseys. Fun, exciting and utterly lovely. The most exciting, mist exhilarating person Luna had ever met. The last few months had been… well, wonderful in every sense of the word.

Feeling thirsty, Luna pulled her nightie over her head, and wrapped a dressing gown around herself, before descending the stairs to the kitchen. She poured herself a glass of milk, and leaned against the counter, watching the moonlight dance across the kitchen.

She was just about to go back upstairs again, when she became aware of a curious sensation. Almost as if she was being watched?

Luna set her glass down on the kitchen counter, and walked across to the entrance through to the shop. She could see the usual shapes of the plants climbing up, and the vines stretching up across the ceiling.

Was… was there someone there? She had a burglar alarm installed, but the siren had not gone off. Everything seemed to be as it should.

Luna paused in the entrance way, her neck prickling. What was…

There was a creak on the stairs behind her.

'Luuuunnnaaa….' Ginny purred, slipping her arms around Luna's shoulders. Luna felt goosebumps erupt along her neck as the redhead spoke softly into her ear. 'Come back to bed…'

Casting one last look over the shop, Luna allowed her girlfriend to lead her back upstairs. But, out of the corner of her eye, she could have sworn that something moved in the shop.

Probably just a fly, she thought.

The kitchen was bathed in sunlight as Ginny and Luna ate their breakfast. Ginny was wearing a pair of Luna's old dungarees paired with a white t-shirt, and Luna was finding it difficult not to blush; the redhead looked so lovely wearing them.

'So… no practices for a few weeks,' Ginny said, her mouth half-full with toast. 'It'll be nice to have some time to relax.'

'That would explain the lack of a bra today, I take it?'

'Oh, definitely,' Ginny said, flashing a wink. 'And, well, what say you and me have the day to ourselves?'

'Oh, that sounds…' Luna began, before her face fell.

'What? Something wrong?'

'No, I'd love to just spend the day here with you, but… well, I've been invited to a Botany and Horticultural conference at my old University today.'

'Oh, no worries,' Ginny said. 'I'll join you.'

'What? No, I can just tell them I couldn't make it-'

'Don't be silly. You love this stuff, Lu,' Ginny said, stroking Luna's hand softly. 'I want to learn more about what you enjoy.'

'You don't mind? I know Horticulture isn't really your thing.'

'And basketball isn't really your thing, but you still come to my games,' Ginny replied. 'Let me be the sweetie-pie for once, 'kay?'

Luna smiled, her cheeks dimpling.

'I'm not that sweet.'

'I beg to differ. After all, I am now rather accustomated to-'

'Ginny!'

The redhead laughed, and threw an arm around Luna's shoulders.

'Okay, when does this conference start?'

'Midday, but-'

'Great, then we've got a few hours to kill. How about you and I take it easy for an hour or so, and then I'll pick up my suit from my place?'

Luna found herself blushing.

'S-suit?'

'Three-piece, Lu,' Ginny said, winking. 'Why? Too much?'

Luna smiled, and shook her head. Her girlfriend was something else, indeed.

The two of them arrived at Luna's old university with some time to spare. They had taken the underground at Luna's insistence; she had said that it was due to the lack of parking at the university but, judging from Luna's blushing whenever she looked at Ginny, the redhead could guess it was because she didn't want Ginny to mess up her suit.

They bumped into Professor Sprout, one of Luna and Neville's old professors who Ginny had met previously. The professor smiled as she saw Luna's fingers intertwined with Ginny's. Both the young women blushed.

Soon enough, the conference was due to staff. Luna and Ginny sat down in the auditorium, and the noise of everyone around them gradually dissipated.

An elderly man, presumably one of the university's professors, walked across the stage. He had a long beard and wore half-spoon spectacles.

'I'll be brief,' said the elderly professor. 'Throughout the last few days, we have heard numerous reports of the thefts of Amazonian plants across London. Our sister universities in Europe have been dealing with similar reports.'

'And from other parts of South America,' said another professor. 'Paraguay and Chile have also had various thefts.'

'We're dealing with an international level of theft. The various authorities have been informed, of course, but I must ask that we all be very careful when it comes to security for the time being.'

Ginny turned to look at Luna, and was startled to see her girlfriend looking suddenly very worried.

Instinctively, Ginny reached out and took her hand, giving it a delicate squeeze. Luna smiled softly, clearly glad of the support.

It worried Ginny to see Luna looking so serious; she was usually so calm and cheerful about everything. Things were clearly bad if even Luna Lovegood couldn't put a brave face on. Even though the rest of the conference was of a more cheerful nature, Luna's mood did not improve much.

Luna and Ginny rode back across London on the underground. Ginny didn't let go of Luna's hand the entire time, and Luna leaned into her girlfriend's shoulder, her face troubled. It broke Ginny's heart to see her like this. She wrapped an arm around Luna's shoulder, and pressed a quick kiss to the blonde woman's forehead.

Luna seemed to be feeling marginally better as they emerged from the underground. As it happened, they passed the restaurant they had gone to for one of their first dates, and Ginny pointed it out. The memory brought a smile to Luna's face, and she squeezed Ginny's hand.

However, as soon as they turned the corner round to Luna's shop, this happy moment popped like a bubble.

'M-my shop!'

Ginny stared on in horror. The shop windows had been smashed in, and there was several police cars parked nearby. Pieces of glass were scattered across the pavement, and the owners of the shops nearby were stood around, looking concerned.

Her eyes widening, Luna stumbled forward.

'What's… what's happened?' she gasped, as her fellow shopkeepers turned to look at her. 'I… I was only gone for a couple of hours.'

'We heard the windows smash and the alarms go off barely forty-five minutes ago,' said Madam Puddifoot, the owner of the café next door. 'Thank goodness you weren't hurt, Luna.'

'Who the bloody hell would do this?' Ginny exclaimed, as she looked at the smashed glass, aghast. 'God, Luna… you could have been here,'-she grabbed Luna's hand-'forget what I said earlier, spending the day at home would have been terrible.'

Luna chuckled miserably.

'Was… was anything taken?'

'That's the weird thing,' Madam Puddifoot said, looking a little baffled. 'Your till doesn't seem to have been touched at all. No money gone, nothing. It looked like whoever did this didn't even try to break it open.'

Well, Ginny thought, that's one positive-

'But we noticed some of your books have been taken.'

'What?' Luna said. 'My books? On botany?'

'Yes, the ones on Amazonian plants, by the looks of it.'

Luna's face, if it was possible, fell even further.

Ginny wrapped her arm around Luna's midriff, holding her close. The blonde turned and leaned into her chest, her arms reaching around Ginny, clinging to her for support.

'I'm here, Lu,' Ginny whispered, 'It's gonna be okay.'

Luna nodded, mutely.

'Ms Lovegood?'

A tall, black man had emerged from inside the shop. He was wearing a dark blue suit that had a sort of neat elegance that Ginny had never managed to achieve. Some people had a distinct aura that went with their job, and Ginny knew he wasn't just a standard policeman. He was a detective, or something similar.

'Y-yes,' Luna said, pulling away from Ginny and turning to face the man.

'I am Kingsley Shacklebolt,' he said. 'I'm in charge of the investigation surrounding this break-in. Normally, we'd ask you to discuss this within your shop, but we understand if this is a bit too much at the moment-'

'It's fine,' Luna replied, sounding far tougher than Ginny would have expected. 'Let's get this over with.'

Still holding Ginny by the hand, Luna followed Shacklebolt into the shop, taking pains to avoid the glass scattered across the pavement.

The inside of the shop was surprisingly tidy. Aside from the windows being smashed, nothing was much out of the ordinary. Same plants, same vines reaching up the walls, etc. Ginny took a quick look around, and was almost positive that none of the plants seemed to have even been moved, let alone stolen. There were no tell-tale trails of compost, for one thing.

As they entered the kitchen, Luna strode over to the bookshelf she had recently put up against the wall. Ginny realised exactly what Madam Puddifoot had meant; there were several empty spaces where Luna's books on Amazonian botany and plant-life were supposed to be. They had certainly been there when Ginny and Luna had left for the conference earlier that morning.

'Ms Lovegood, we are currently trying to ascertain the motive for this,' Shacklebolt said, as he, Luna and Ginny sat down around the table. Several police constables blocked the view into the kitchen from the shop itself. 'The till wasn't broken into, and no plants have been stolen, so profit doesn't seem to have been the motive. Do you think it could be anything else? Blackmail, perhaps?'

'No,' Luna said. 'It's… well, my books on rare Amazonian plants have been stolen. They were the only things that were taken.'

A brief flicker of emotion flickered across Shacklebolt's face.

'I see. And… the smashed windows? An intimation tactic, perhaps?'

'You don't say,' Ginny said, sarcastically. 'What a load of bastards…'

Shacklebolt smiled at the redheads infuriated expression.

There was some raised voices from the shop. Several of the police constables began to move.

'Ere mate, you can't just barge in,' exclaimed one short constable. 'Fred, look at the nerve of this bloke…'

'Aye, Nobby,' said another member of the constabulary, who had a large, red face. 'That constitutes… uh, accessory to annoyin' a police officer-'

'Let me through, you morons, I know Luna and Ginny-'

'Neville!' Ginny said.

'Thank god you're both here,' the blonde man replied, as he scrambled into the kitchen and stood before them. There were some continued mutterings from behind him. 'Luna, I've got a feeling that your books on Amazonian plants have been taken?'

'Y-yes,' Luna said. 'Neville, how did you-'

'Because Professor Sprout's private stores were broken into while she was at the conference,' Neville said, his face serious. 'All her research into rare Amazonian plants has been stolen.'

'O-oh,' Luna said.

'That sounds about right,' Shacklebolt said, mirthlessly as he put a hand up to his earpiece. 'I'll need to discuss this with the office.'

He stepped through the line of constables and into the shop, already talking to whoever was communicating through his earpiece. But he was then barged aside by a tall, redheaded figure.

'Ginny? Luna?'

'Ron?'

Ginny's older brother appeared through the crowd in the kitchen doorway.

'Are you two alright?' he asked, ignoring the mutterings from the various police constables whose feet he had accidentally-on-purpose trodden on. 'I heard it direct from Neville earlier-'

'We're fine, Ronald,' Luna said. 'But thank you anyway.'

'That's good,' Ron said. 'You've got Ginny here, after all.'

Luna smiled, squeezing Ginny's hand.

'Yes, I do.'

Ginny found herself blushing a little.

'How about I make us all some tea?' Ron said. 'Ginny, help me with the mugs?'

'Sure.'

As the kettle began to boil, Ron turned to his sister and whispered.

'Luna seemed pretty shook up.'

'Yeah,' Ginny replied, casting a quick look over her shoulder, to where Luna was talking to Neville. 'I know she's putting a brave face on it, but… this is her home as well her shop, y'know? The idea that someone would break into it while she was barely out for a couple hours is pretty distressing.'

'You were both at the conference while this happened?'

'She was half-willing to not bother today, but I thought it would be good for me to learn more about botany for her,' Ginny said. 'But… what if she'd been here while the break-in happened?'

'It wouldn't have happened, Ginny,' Ron said, patting her on the shoulder in support. 'I've got a feeling that whoever did this timed it so it happened during the conference itself, when they knew Luna would be out of the way.'

'You reckon?'

'Yeah. I mean, why else do it in the middle of the day? Especially on a busy London street.'

Ginny nodded, putting sugar into Luna's mug (Luna always liked two spoonful's of sugar in her tea).

'Ginny?'

'Yeah?'

'Just… I think Luna's going to need you with her,' Ron said. 'And I reckon you'll be there with her one-hundred-per-cent, right?'

'Of course,' Ginny replied. 'I'd die than let anyone hurt her.'

Ron smiled.

'Hopefully, it won't come to that. But just be careful, okay.'

Ginny stared at him.

'It's a break-in, Ron, not a terrorist operation.'

'Still.'

Ron poured the water into the various mugs, added the Kingsley Shacklebolt had returned. He nodded to the police constables nearby in a knowing way. He then turned to Luna.

'Ms Lovegood, do we have your permission to check the premises for any listening equipment?'

Luna stared at him in confusion.

'My apologies, Ms Lovegood, but we cannot be too cautious. The people who broke in could have bugged the place.'

'Do thieves normally do that?'

'No, but I don't believe we are dealing with normal thieves here.'

Luna swallowed, looking worried.

'Okay; you have my permission to check.'

'Thank you,' said Shacklebolt, before turning to the constables.

'Secure the perimeter.'

The assembled constables spread out. All the doors and windows were closed, and the entire shop and kitchen were checked thoroughly, including the underside of the table and every light fixture.

After the constables seemed satisfied that nothing had been tampered with, Kingsley sat down again at the table. Ginny joined Luna on the other side, while Ron and Neville remained standing.

'I'm afraid that I now have reason to believe that this is an international conspiracy,' he Shacklebolt said, his voice grave. 'Which means that I am now authorised to give yourself, Miss Weasley, Mr Weasley and Mr Longbottom security clearance.'

'Er… what?'

The man smiled.

'My name is Agent Shacklebolt of MI5,' he said, as he flashed a badge. 'My apologies for not being honest with you earlier, but it wouldn't have done you any good to know unless you needed to. I've been tracking these break-ins for a while, but now I have solid proof that they aren't just isolated occurrences.'

'You're a… a spy?!' Ginny gasped, shocked. 'Like James Bond?'

'I'm afraid the reality is far less glamorous,' Agent Shacklebolt replied, smiling slightly. 'But, yes, I am a spy. Or spook, if you like. Normally, I only deal with domestic issues but, given the international nature of this threat, I will be liaising with my peers in MI6. They should be here in a moment.'

He put a hand to the small head-set in his ear, and began to talk quietly.

'I always did wonder what the difference was between them,' Ginny muttered. Luna chuckled under her breath.

A man passed through the police (who had, by this point, grown sick of being used as a sort of living wall), and stood in front of the table. His face was covered in scars, and his hair was a messy, mousy brown. He gave the appearance of looking far older than his age.

'Hello,' said the man, smiling softly. 'My name is Agent Lupin of MI6, but you may call me Remus.'