Chapter 36

August 25th of 1985. :

Judging by his appearance, the man looked more like a London Stock Exchange trader than a general from a criminal organization. Even if the line between the two worlds was not well defined. Forty-something, blond hair flattened to the side, in a black suit. The man walked over to Sirius, confident, flashing an asymmetrical smile. He shook hands with Sirius.

"Lord Black. My name is Antoni Azarov; I am delighted to finally put a face to the name, or is it the other way around? Unfortunately, I'm not used to speaking English."

"I am pleased to meet you as well Mr. Azarov," Sirius said as he invited him to sit on the couch across from him.

Azarov sat comfortably, his arms stretched out on either side of his body on the back of the couch.

"May I offer you something to drink?" Sirius offered as he took a bottle of whiskey from the cabinet along with two glasses.

"No thanks, I have a friend waiting for me downstairs. I'd like to...consciously enjoy." Azarov said.

Sirius sat down on the other couch, opposite Azarov, put the two glasses on the crystal's coffee table between them, and filled two glasses anyway.

"I'm sorry, but I don't feel right drinking alone," Sirius said.

Azarov chuckled and shrugged his shoulders before taking one of the two glasses.

"I didn't expect to find you alone...any female company?" Azarov asked.

"No...just me," Sirius said.

"Should I ask a young lady to join you, or two or however many you like." Azarov offered. "What would you like? Witches, muggles, veela?"

"What would please me Mr. Azarov, is to talk business," Sirius said.

Azarov clapped his hands once and nodded. "Fine, let's talk business. That's exactly why the boss asked me to come here tonight."

"Really?" Sirius asked, closing his mind. From now on, a small mistake could be fatal for him.

"Yes, we were far from imagining that we would meet with you in person, but we were planning to deal directly with the hotel manager, anyway." Azarov said.

" Before we could start, Zoran asked me to assure you that despite the other day's incident, our partnership remains intact. The relationship of trust between your family and our organization could not be altered by such a minor event. However, you will agree with me, we are in a position to ask for a reparations and you to grant it," Azarov said.

"An incident? Can you enlighten me on this?" Sirius asked.

"Excuse me...Of course...Four days ago, you prevented our team from completing a contract mandated by one of our loyal clients. That unicorn was a wedding anniversary gift for his wife...Unfortunately, due to your intervention, we were not able to keep our word. Not to mention, of course, the incarceration of our two associates." Azarov said.

"Oh...Yes, I apologize. Of course, I will repay your losses. How much do I owe you?" Sirius asked.

"Well...Our client paid two hundred thousand galleons for the capture and delivery of the unicorn, which we had to pay back out of our own treasury. However, Zoran feels that given the shared history between us, it would be unappropriated for us to withhold any slight from you. So, two hundred thousand, and let's leave this story behind. How does that sound?" Azarov asked.

"It suits me fine. I thank Zoran for his courtesy." Sirius said.

"Excellent! Well, that's all I was sent to tell you and get to know our new partner." Azarov said.

"Well, I have one more matter I would like to discuss with you. Sirius said.

"I'm listening," Azarov said.

"I have been informed that a package intended for the dragon reserve has been intercepted...I would like to acquire it, your price will be mine." Sirius said.

Azarov laughed before taking a sip of his whiskey. "Nice try, Lord Black, nice try!"

"I beg your pardon," Sirius said.

"I don't know how many times your father and I have discussed this particular contract. Zoran had to come all the way to London himself to calm him down..." Azarov said. "Listen... You lost this contract fair and square. You know there's nothing we can do about it."

"I'd like to try my luck..." Sirius said.

"For the thousandth time. That dragon was auctioned off four years ago; I admit that Lord Orion put a huge fortune on the table to get it but, unfortunately, we were all surprised when someone bid even more gold." Azarov said.

"Four years ago?" Sirius asked.

"Yes...As you may know, the dragon was born four years ago; unfortunately, locating it was challenging due to its unique powers and characteristics...By the time we found it, it was already safe, and we had to wait for an opportunity to steal it. I would like to point out that nothing obliges us to capture it within a specific time frame in the contract! "Azarov said.

"I understand... If I am well informed, there was a team escorting him. Sirius said.

"Don't worry about them, they won't be a problem for your business in the region... They are in our custody; they have a lot to tell us, and after all, who would be better than two dragonologists to take care of a baby dragon? Azarov said.

"With all due respect Mr. Azarov...I find it hard to believe that a dragon as you describe was escorted by only two men." Sirius said.

"Oh no, you're right! There was one dumb kid,completely retarded...But still, from the report I received, he had some balls. Unfortunately, in real life, when you want to be a hero...It will more likely end up extremely bad. So,let's just hope for him that he has learned his lesson in case there is another life" Azarov said. "Well, if we're done, I think it's time for me to go. Zoran will be thrilled to know that you are in the same line as your predecessors," he said and stood up.

Sirius stood up as well. "One last question...How much did my father offered to pay to acquire the dragon?" Sirius asked.

"A little over one billion galleons," Azarov said.

"Wh... And how much did the other one bid to win the auction?" Sirius asked.

"Ten times more," Azarov said before shaking Sirius' hand and taking his leave.

Sirius didn't waste a second. As soon as Azarov left, he called Bolko. The house-elf appeared immediately in front of him.

"Master called Bolko?"

"Yes...the man who just left! I want you to follow him! He'll probably go to a remote and secluded place! I want to know where! Don't get spotted, and don't waste any time; go now!" Sirius said.

The elf nodded and disappeared. Sirius turned back to the door's room where Xenia was hiding, surprised that he hadn't already seen her storming out of the room, screaming orders. He went to open the door to check on her. Xenia was sitting on the bed, crying, hiding her face in her hands. He went to her, kneel down in front of her on the floor and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Bolko will be back any minute and..." Sirius said before interrupting himself.

Xenia had lowered her hands to look at him, her face contorted with rage. A second later, she smashed her fist into Sirius' face who fell on his back. Then, she threw herself on him and started to throw punches, aiming at his head.

"STOP!" Sirius screamed between grunts of pain, trying to protect his face and head, except that when she didn't hit his head, Sirius' ribs received the blows.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH! SHARED HISTORY! ZORAN IS HAPPY TO DO BUSINESS, RIGHT?! I TRUSTED YOU WHILE YOU WERE IN THIS FROM THE BEGINNING!" Xenia shouted.

Sirius managed to reach his wand and stupefied Xenia, who fell unconscious on top of him. Sirius finally caught his breath and dragged himself across to get out from under Xenia. He sat on the floor for a while, massaging his head and his sore ribs before getting up and picking up Xenia's body to put her on the bed. After, he sat down next to her on the edge of the bed. He did not know what to think; in less than three hours, he had been bombarded with information, so he understood perfectly well why she wouldn't trust him anymore... What kind of business was his father involved in? A billion galleons for a fucking dragon? And who could have paid ten times that price? And why?

He got up and went to the bathroom to wash his face and get the blood off his face.

He took off his suit, put on his usual clothes, went to the room, and looked at Xenia, who was sleeping on the bed before going to the elevator and going down to the lobby. He was about to look for Artyon and ask him to send the hotel security to the room when he saw Kalyna walking towards the door carrying her violin's case. He caught up with her and grabbed her by the arm. She turned to him in surprise before smiling.

"Sirius! Are you still here?" She asked him. "Did you like the concerto?"

"Yes, it was wonderful!" Sirius said.

"Thank you!" Kalyna said, giving him a hug, "Where is Xenia? Left already?"

"No... we just had a big fight, and I left...she's upstairs in the suite. "Sirius said.

"The suite?" Kalyna asked, confused.

"It's a long story... But look, we got some news, and it's not pretty to hear...Can you please go upstairs and take care of her?" Sirius asked.

"Yes...Of course! How about you, where are you going?" Kalyna asked.

"I don't know, nut I guess I'm about to find out" Sirius said as he saw Bolko appear a little further away, waving at him from behind a pillar.

"Is there a way I can stop you and wait before? Or no matter what I can say, your mind is made up?" Kalyna said.

Sirius nodded and motioned for Artyon to come closer. "Would you show her upstairs, please?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, Sir... Shall I also carry out the instructions you gave me earlier, Sir?" Artyon asked, looking at Sirius serious face.

"Yes."Sirius said before turning to Kalyna, "tell her I wish I could explain everything or say that it's all just a misunderstanding, but I'm just as confused as she is."

Then Artyon took Kalyna with him, surrounded by the wizards in charge of the hotel's security. She kept looking over her shoulder until she got into the elevator. Sirius went to join the elf who was waiting for him at the side.

"Well?" Sirius asked.

"Bolko did as you asked, Master! Bolko followed Mr. Azarov...First, he did some disgusting things with the woman...Then, he went to an abandoned factory near Kharkiv!" Bolko said.

"Did you see what was inside the factory?" Sirius asked.

"Bolko couldn't go any further! Bolko felt a ward that would have revealed his presence! Master asked Bolko not to get caught." Bolko said.

"Yeah...Good job, Bolko! Now take me there!" Sirius said to him.

They went outside, far enough away to be able to leave, then Sirius put a hand on Bolko's shoulder before disappearing.

August 26th of 1985. 8am. London:

Kingsley stood at the ministry's of magic archives office and civil registry. A young woman was sitting at the front desk, looking at him with squinted eyes, massaging her temples with her fingertips. A mug of hot coffee in front of her.

"Busy night?" Kingsley asked.

"A friend's bachelorette party." The woman said.

"On a Tuesday night?" Kingsley asked.

"Don't try to figure it out...What do you want, a Wednesday morning at 8 am?" She asked.

"I would like to borrow the landowners' register for Wales and Monmouth, Hereford and Shropshire" Kingsley said.

"Why?" She asked.

"What do you mean by why? I'm asking you to go and get it; you just go." Kingsley said. "It's a public information; anyone can ask."

"Yes...but I have to fill out a form before I could hand it to you; this isn't Hogwarts library." The woman replied.

"Sure...My name is Kingsley Schaklebolt, and for as motif put...Looking for a cottage with adjacent land to raise cows and ducks." Kingsley said.

"Very well," she said as she wrote what Kingsley dictated to her on a form." I'll be back in a little while if I don't pass out on the way." She said before walking away.

Kingsley waited more than five minutes before he saw her return empty-handed.

"Where's the register?" Kingsley asked.

"Well...It's four big books...They're too big, I can't carry them by myself...Would you be kind and come help me?" She asked him.

"But...are you a witch or not?" Kingsley asked.

"Oh..." She said. "Yes, of course...where did I put my wand?!" She said, blushing, carting her hand across her desk and her jacket.

She finally stopped looking and looked up at Kingsley. "I think...I think I forgot my wand at home, or at the club..."

"You have got to be kidding me!" Kingsley said, putting his hands on his hips.

"I'm sorry...We had a huge party and then...I woke up late and ran out of my house. This is my first week here. "She said.

"Just...show me where they are so I could go look for them myself." Kingsley said.

"Sure! Follow me!" She said.

Kingsley followed her into the rows of the archives; at the end of an aisle, she stopped and showed him the books he had come to get. Kingsley pulled out his wand, enchanted them to reduce their weight before bending down and lifting them. Once back at her desk, she sat back in her chair, looked at the documents Kingsley had chosen and asked him to sign the form before Kingsley left the archives.

However, halfway through, he turned around and came back to the girl. She had fallen asleep in her chair in front of her coffee. Kingsley knocked on the desk, waking her up.

"Finally, I've had another go, and I think this will be your last week at the Ministry of Magic. Kingsley said.

"What?! Just for forgetting my wand?!" She asked, alarmed.

"No... Nobody cares about your wand...What you do on the weekends is your own business, but during the week, you are required to show up here on and ready to offer the best service, which you are clearly not at the moment. Moreover, you have responsibilities towards the citizens who pay your salary with their taxes on one hand, and on the other hand, ensuring the archives documents good custody." Kingsley said.

"The archives are doing very well!" She said, standing up, spilling her coffee on a book on the table.

"I don't think so," Kingsley said sharply as she rushed to try to save the book. "You said you may have left your wand at a club...That you don't remember what could have happened during last night...Before you leave, report to the Aurors office, I want to hear a statement before I charge you with violating the secrecy statute. My team will investigate that party, depending on what they'll find, I may add a reckless endangerment charge."

"WHAT?! For a simple bachelorette party?!" she protested. "But...Listen...We all came to work this morning, and there were no accidents... "

"They work here at the ministry?" Kingsley asked.

"I..."

"There are several ministry employees involved?! This is too serious, I want names, so I can immediately call a meeting of the department heads." Kingsley said.

"But...But...You're a scumbag! "she said, her voice trembling.

"I'm adding contempt," Kingsley said.

The girl looked at him, shocked, before taking a deep breath. "Look, I sincerely apologize..." She reached into a drawer on her desk and pulled out a bag of gumballs and placed it in front of Kingsley." I was saving it for my nephew, but if you're willing to forget about it, it's yours."

"Are...are you trying to bribe an Auror with candy from Zonko's?" Kingsley asked his eyes on the bag.

"No one has to know." The girl said quietly, looking at Kingsley's face.

"You're under arrest," Kingsley said, pulling out his wand.

At this point, she began to cry. "I'm begging you! Just let it go this time! I really need this job! My parents are muggles; I don't even have a vault in Gringotts! I want to work in the magical law department later; I took this job just to get into the ministry!"

"We all have our problems, ma'am...Put your hands on the table where I can see them, don't do anything stupid." Kingsley said.

"It's not ma'am, it's miss! Please! Ask me anything you want, and I swear I'll do it!" She said, collapsing into her chair in tears.

"Anything I want?" Kingsley asked as he sat down on the corner of the table.

"Yes..." She said.

"What if I want...no trace left of my stop here and the documents I asked for?" Kingsley asked.

"What?!" She asked.

"The archives depend on the magic law department, right?" Kingsley said.

"Yes..." The girl said.

"And at the end of each day, you transmit a list of all the people who have asked to consult or borrow something from the archives, right?" Kingsley said.

"That's right." She said, wiping away her tears.

"Well, I want my form to disappear...And I don't want any record left that I specifically asked to see these documents...For this time and every time I come back." Kingsley said.

"Is...is this a test?" She asked.

"I already have five counts on you; if I wanted to send you to prison, you'd be there already," Kingsley said.

"Okay...here, burn it! We never met! Deal?" She said as she handed him the form.

"Deal!" Kingsley said as he took the form. "And find out where you left your wand before someone gets hurt!"

"Yes! Right away! Thank you so much! I won't forget!" She said.

"We just said nothing happened, and you never saw me," Kingsley said.

"Yes! I'll shut up now." She said.

"Alright...what was your name again?" Kingsley said.

"Er...I'm confused; we have to say our names and at the same time not..."

"What's your name?" Kingsley asked.

"Lauren Stanway." She said.

"Alright...thanks for the gumballs, Lauren!" Kingsley said as he slipped the Zonko bag into his pocket before leaving the archives.

After a week's absence, the five Aurors jumped to their feet, surprised to see their boss again. Kingsley greeted them quickly before taking refuge in his office, warning them that anyone who bothered him would be immediately fired before slamming the door of his office behind him. He took off his jacket and put it on his chair before sitting down. He put the book on his desk and opened it before starting to flip through the pages. He soon discovered that the Selwing family mansion was located in Hay-On-Wye. He glanced at the door of his office, behind which he could hear the annoying whispers of his team speculating on what he was doing. After the discovery he had made the night before, he couldn't help but give in to a bit of paranoia. After all, he had asked for a complete list of all the wizards living in Wales...

How could they leave out such an influential family as the Selwings? When he left the gas station last night, he thought he had finally found an answer, the missing piece to solving the case. However, back in his London apartment, he couldn't help but ponder all night in his living room, puffing away at one cigarette after another until the air in the room became unbreathable. So much so that at dawn, he still had more questions than answers. He could prove the presence of Seleucus Selwing and Lord Voldemort on the same evening in the same village...but fifteen years before the murder. In Kingsley's eyes, he would have to blame him for taking his work too personally, but he refused to even consider it a coincidence. The death eaters were still in business. He had found some. The only minor problem was that the death eater in question had been a member of the wizengamot for several years, and to top it all off, he needed a warrant from the wizengamot to summon one of its members for interrogation. The memories he had obtained from the bartender did not show the two men meeting and were easily challengeable if he could not establish the link between them.

He had to wait for Snape to finish his work, hoping that Moody had succeeded in getting him to agree to do it. However, he also had to keep his eyes open, as his team had provided him with incomplete and sloppy work. Was it a simple mistake? Had they received false information's? Or had the omission been voluntary? He stretched and rubbed his face with his hands, surprisingly noticing that he hadn't shaved in at least three days nor slept.

He would have time to rest after finishing this case. He leaned back on his desk and studied the map that was laid on it. The victim's car had last been seen in Herefordshire, but he didn't want to miss the neighboring counties. He returned to the register and found no property belonging to the families whose heads were in the photo. After a moment of staring dumbly at the map, he decided to get up and go directly to the field to investigate. He threw his jacket over his back and walked out of his office, where the Aurors in his team stood up, expecting to receive his instructions. Instead, he looked at their faces, wondering if they were candid and had been tricked or if any of them worked for more than one boss.

"You got work for us, boss?" Snodgrass asked a young Auror who had just graduated from the academy.

"No... you guys can take the day off if you want," Kingsley asked.

"Er...where are you going?" Asked Naylor, one of the two women on the team and the most experienced of the five.

"No, I'm fine," Kingsley said.

"We wanted to talk to you Sir," Bremner asked.

"Can't it wait until tonight or tomorrow? I'm in a bit of a hurry." Kingsley said.

"Well...we feel like we're being sidelined in the current case. To tell you the truth, we've been sitting in this office all week...waiting to hear from you." Snodgrass said.

"I have used you twice in this matter, and I am satisfied with your work," Kingsley said.

"What you asked us to do Boss, only took us one morning and..." Snodgrass said as he exchanged a look with Bremner, seeking her support.

"What we want to tell you is that after all the training we went through and all the exams we had to take to be accepted into the office, we feel we have proven our worth," Bremner said.

"I have no doubt about that...However, this case is particularly complex and requires a lot of discretion." Kingsley said.

"Exactly..." Said Madeley, another Auror on his team." Since I became an Auror, I have been on bodyguard duty and have only been assigned to arrest small-time crooks and criminals. So far, I have not been involved in a single investigation."

"And now that there is one, you're benching us," Snodgrass said.

"How are we supposed to learn our jobs and get ahead like this?" Bremner asked.

"I understand...I've been there too...Only, I'm already well into this investigation and very close to solve it. I don't see any point in putting you on the case, but I won't rule out calling you in as backup, so stay vigilant. I really have to go now." Kingsley said as he headed for the exit of the Aurors' office.

"Aye, boss! We're not going anywhere!" Bremner said.

"We're just going to sit around and wait! We're used to it!" Snodgrass said.

"Oh, and if you have another chore you don't want to take care of, we'll be sitting right here!" Madeley added.

"You call me a chore when I'm not around?" said an offended voice.

"If you run, you can catch him." Kingsley heard Bremner say before getting on the elevator.

June 26th of 1985. 8 am:

Sirius was hidden in a house in a small, abandoned village. Discreetly from a broken window, he had spent all night watching the large, abandoned factory. The building was huge, enough to house an entire army, if necessary, high concrete walls supported the weight of a two-ply metal roof from which three long metal chimneys protruded. Isolated, dangerous-looking and imposing in size, this old factory was the ideal place to hide forbidden merchandise or a Dragon. Bolko had indicated to him where the ward started before leaving for the hotel. Before hiding in the house, he had made several tours around the factory; examining the ward, he concluded that it served as an alarm and completely soundproofed everything that happened inside and the magical signatures of the people in it. If he tried to enter it, he could as well find one person as a hundred. That's why he stayed hidden, away, waiting to see some movement.

However, he could not stay there any longer. He turned into a dog and went down the stairs, taking care to avoid the bits of glass that were lying around on the floor, and left the house. He crouched in the tall grass and approached the factory slowly, hidden by the grass until he reached the ward. He noticed on the right side the carcass of an old rusty car that he had not seen since the window from which he was watching. He thought one second then as a good marauder who respects itself, it charged, galloped as fast as it could and let itself slip under the carcass to hide. A second after taking cover, a brown metal door opened, and a man came out, wand in hand, and looked from right to left, looking for the intruder.

"So what set off the alarm?" a voice shouted in Russian from inside the building.

"I CAN'T SEE ANYTHING! STAY INSIDE I WILL GO AROUND TO BE SURE!" said the man inside as he moved to his left, leaving the door wide open behind him.

Sirius thought quickly. Only one person had come out to check, and he had heard only one voice inside. Chances were, they were the only ones there. He waited until the one who had come out had disappeared from his field of vision to come out of hiding and sneak into the factory before quickly hiding behind a large wooden box, narrowly escaping being spotted by the man inside, who was in the center of the space, near a sizeable opaque steel cage.

Sirius weaved his way through the boxes to the right, where he spotted stairs that led to platforms that went up to the factory's ceiling. He climbed the stairs, shivering every time his paws touched the cold metal of the stairs. He rose as high as the stairs would allow him to get a full view of the factory's interior, the position of the thieves, the exits, and most importantly, to be high enough not to be seen. From where he was, he realized he was wrong; another man was present, busy chopping a dead cheap a bit further from the other man. He finally regained his human form and sat cross-legged on the platform, thinking of a plan. The man who outside eventually came back and closed the door behind him.

"It was nothing...There's no one out there." The man said.

"Good! Are you almost done?" The other one asked the one who was busy working on the sheep.

"Almost..." the butcher replied.

The cage began to shake violently, proving the presence of the Dragon inside, who was shouting loudly at the same time.

"SHUT UP!" One of the men shouted as he 'jumped out of the cage and kicked it, only making the Dragon even more excited. "I WOULD HAVE WARNED YOU!" he said before inserting the tip of his wand through one of the small holes in the cage and firing the Dragon inside with a series of electric jolts.

Sirius closed his eyes as he heard the dragon howl in pain. The man who was cutting up the sheep turned around and rushed at the torturer, his axe raised, ready to strike a blow, except that the other man disarmed him.

"What's the matter with you, Maksim? wanna kill Olek?" the man asked.

"I don't give a damn about Olek! If we hand him over to Zoran wounded, we're the ones who'll get killed!" Maksim said.

"How am I going to hurt him if a dragon skin..." Olek said before being interrupted by Maksim.

"It's still a baby; his skin is not hard enough to resist it yet! You better hope he's not hurt!" Maksim said.

"Ok...sorry...But find a way to shut him up!" Olek said to Maksim.

"I stuffed the meat with sleeping pills; as soon as he eats, he will sleep for at least ten hours! Maksim said.

"Perfect...You made the right choice, you know will make you a rich man!" The man said.

"Let's finish this before we talk about rewards, Yevhen! How are we going to move him?" Maksim said.

"A truck will come to pick it up in an hour; as soon as we load it into the container, we will hit the road. You and Olek will go behind with him, and I will go in front with the driver." Yevhen said.

"Perfect...I'll finish preparing his food; until then, don't fuck up!" Maksim said.

"Are you giving us orders now, Maksim?" Olek asked.

"You two are getting on my nerves! Maksim, go back to work, Olek put your wand away." Yevhen said.

"I wanted to take a leak anyway..." Olek said, putting his wand away before leaving the building.

Maksim went back to work, and Yevhen walked away to smoke a cigarette while looking at the graffiti on one of the walls.

Sirius didn't understand anything of the discussion. He understood that one of the three men was Maksim though, and that he was obviously in league with them and that the little Dragon was suffering. The only plan he could think of was to take advantage of that the one called Olek was outside and that Maksim and Yehven had their backs turned and take them by surprise before dealing with Olek in a one-on-one fight. He pulled out his wand and assessed if he could reach either of them from his position. They were too far away...He turned back into a dog and went down the stairs to the ground before returning to his human form. He quietly advanced towards his targets. Once close enough, he pointed his wand at Yevhen first and stupefied him. The light and the noise alerted Maksim, who turned around in surprise; and threw his machete at Sirius. Still, Sirius deviated it with an agile horizontal gesture, before sending him another stunning spell that neutralized him.

He lowered his wand and approached the two men on the ground, taunting them.

"Never leave your backs unguarded, boys! " Sirius said.

"I couldn't agree more. EXPELIARMUS!" Shouted Olek's voice behind him as his wand flew away from his hand.

Sirius turned around. Olek had returned and was pointing his wand straight at Sirius.

"Shit!" Sirius said.

"Avada ked..." Olek said.

"STUPEFY!" a voice shouted before the spell slammed into Olek, who collapsed on the spot.

"You should listen to your own advice, dogman!"

August 26th of 1985. 8pm. Kyiv:

Kalyna was standing in front of the hotel waiting for Artyon to finish giving his instructions to the wizards who ensured the hotel's security. Kalyna had an arm around Xenia's shoulders. Instead of leaving in the middle of the night, she had managed to convince Xenia to stay the night there, in safety. Artyon had received different instructions from Sirius but finally agreed when Kalyna put forward her arguments. Xenia tried to escape during the night while Kalyna was not paying attention, but the hotel agents intercepted her in the lobby and forced her back to the suite. An argument ensued between them, during which Xenia tore down the office before she calmed down.

Suddenly, Xenia got rid of Kalyna and started running towards the October Revolution Square, where someone had just fallen to his knees. Kalyna took off her heels and ran behind her barefoot.

"XENIA! COME BACK HERE!" Kalyna shouted behind her.

"THIS IS..." Xenia shouted as she got down on her knees in front of the man on the ground.

His face was bloody, his clothes torn, he was shaking trying to speak.

"Istvan! Everything is all right now! Don't say anything! Lean on me!" Xenia said, hugging him.

"Xenia...It's terrible...Maksim is a traitor...We were...I couldn't save him...I'm sorry." Istvan struggled to say.

"Don't worry! Maksim will be taken care of! He will pay for it!" Xenia said.

Kalyna finally arrived next to them and made wide signs to Artyon and the hotel security. They too started to run towards them, but not only them...Muggle policemen had also been alerted and were coming towards them. Istvan became more agitated than he already was; seeing all the people approaching, his face showed the fear he felt. Finally, he let out a loud sob and hugged Xenia tightly, whispered something in her ear and a second later, they both disappeared.

Hello guys! Again, thanks for reading! I hope you like how it's going! This arc is entering its "escalation" phase, and I'm very excited about what's going to happen next.