The Twelfth Use of Dragon's Blood: Chapter 1 Chance Encounter and the Dark Mark By Piroutte

Hermione closed her eyes, and inhaled the scent of the coffee. She let out a sigh. Another day began, and another day to slump through. Once the most promising witch to graduate Hogwarts, Hermione was now stuck in a 9-5 rut as assistant to the Minister of Magic. She wished she was back in Hogwarts, adventuring and exploring with Harry and Ron.

Harry and Ron. She hadn't heard from them for ages. Last she heard of Ron was that he had gotten married to a witch from Beuxbatons. But Harry, she hadn't heard anything from Harry since graduation day.

Hermione sighed again, and slumped down into a chair in her neat kitchen. Her small flat in Hogsemede was located two blocks down from Fred and George's Joke Shop. She had helped finance their endeavour, and now that they had become famous all throughout the wizarding world, Hermione wished that she had made sucess like that.

The phone rang. It made Hermione, who was deep in thought, jump. "Shoot!" she muttered, as the coffee tipped out of the cup onto the otherwise clean table. She walked over to the phone, "Hello?" she answered.

"Hermione? Is that you?" asked a familiar voice.

"Yes, this is Hermione. May I ask whos calling?" At this ungodly hour, she thought.

"Hi! It's Ginny!"

"Ginny! How nice to hear from you!" She said. Actually, it wasn't nice. Ginny had become a successful colomnist for Witch Weekly, and the two had lost touch.

"So how have you been?"

"Oh you know, the usual. And yourself?"

"Oh fabulous. Well, getting to the point," Ginny, who was "getting to the point" in everything she did from her job, said, "I was wondering if you'd like to come out for dinner one time and you know, catch up on old times! It's been at least a year since we've chatted!"

"Sure! When would you like Gin?" she asked, regretfully and full well knowing that Ginny would want to go to an outrageously expensive resturant where she could only afford the soup.

"How about Saturday evening? You could Apparate to my flat, and then we could go to Chez Pierre's! Oh you'd love it Herm, it's this quaint little French resturant where you can't read the menus! It's lovely!"

"Fab-u-lous!" Hermione said, with mock enthusiasm.

Ginny took no notice, and replied, "Well see you Saturday! Bye Herm!"

"Goodbye Gin." she said, and hung the phone up. She ran to her room, and picked up her planner. On the Saturday page, she wrote in "Dinner w/ Ginny, Apparate to London at 6 PM, dressy". Hermione bit her lip. Off to face another day at the office...

***

Harry rubbed his eyes. He looked out the window onto the dim street that lay outside the window of his London flat. Of course, this flat was only temporary. As were the ten other assorted flats and houses he had lived in the past year. Being an Auror, Harry traveled around quite frequently on his assignments, fighting evil wizarding crime. He had always thought it would be funny to go up to a girl and say, "Hey now I'm Harry Potter and I fight crime for a living. How about giving me your number?" He pointed his wand to the coffee brewer and muttered a spell to turn it on.

He swung his legs out of bed, and walked to the kitchen. It reminded him of a hospital, cold and metal. The counter tops were stainless steel, as was the table, and the floor was white linoleum. He poured the coffee into a mug he had grabbed from the gray cupboards. He reached for his glasses near the sink, and put them on, after pushing back his messy, black hair. An owl flew on the sill of the window and tapped its beak on the pane. Harry walked to the window and opened it. He untied the newspaper from its leg and shooed it out the window. It bit his hand and as Harry screamed, it flew out the window. "Damn newspaper owls. So finicky."

Harry got dressed and Apparated to the secret headquarters for this assignment on tracking the illegal distribution of Muggle contraban among wizards. It wasn't the most exciting mission he had ever been on, and Harry showed his lack of enthusiasm. The Ministry was trying to keep him out of reach of Voldemort, who was slowly gaining more power as his following grew larger. Maybe to keep his mind off, maybe to keep him safe.

"Hullo Harry!" called his partner, Seamus Finnigan. They hadn't been the closest of friends at Hogwarts, but in Auror training they became fast friends.

"So excited for this new assignment, Seamus, aren't you?" Harry said sarcastically.

"Oh yes, thrilled. Muggle contraband. Very exciting, indeed."

The two went and sat down at a round table in the center of the large warehouse. There were two plates in front of them, and when Harry and Seamus sat down, they plates filled with breakfast food. "So, Seamus, how's everything with you and Lavender?"

Seamus coughed, and spit his toast out on his plate. "Well.." he began, "Well..okay I guess. And you and what was her name?"

"Oh fantastic, I assure you. Fantastic," he lied. Harry hadn't gone out with a girl since Hermione.

Once they had finished the food, the two headed out to stop Muggle contraband from getting on the wizard market.

***

Carefully, Hermione applied the pink lipstick bought from the drugstore around the corner. "Guaranteed to look genuinly expensive - Impress your friends!" read the label. She pulled on the splendid a-line skirt she had found mixed among the sales rack at Harrods, and the pink top she had recieved as a present from Ginny for her birthday. With her wand, she flung open the closet doors and ransacked the closet in an attempt to find a pair of shoes. Hermione soon realized that she should have been in London fifteen minutes ago, and promptly apparated, after finding her handbag and shoes. She wasn't usually so vain, but she felt she needed to prove something to Ginny.

With a 'pop', she arrived in Ginny's posh London flat overlooking the Thames. "About time Hermi!" cried Ginny, her hands flung up in the air in mock anger. She promptly threw her arms around Hermione and embraced her friend. "Gosh! We haven't met for ages!"

"Yep," Hermione agreed, biting her lip nervously. "Well shall we get going?"

"Oh yes, we should!" Ginny responded. "Come on, follow me." The two took the lift down from Ginny's penthouse flat and arrived on the brightly lit street. They walked a few blocks, and arrived at a small, resturant. There was a patio outside, and since it was a warm summer evening, people were dining outside. A small brick path found its way between the two sets of tables, and led up to the door. "We should go wait for our table." Ginny led the way into the resturant, and sat down at a table. She flung her hand, "I'm a regular, they know its my table," she insisted.

They had ordered, and Ginny began to strike up a conversation, "So Hermione, any lucky men in your like?"

Hermione sighed, then put her chin in her palm. "Well..not...really," she whispered. Not since him, she thought bitterly. "How are you and Rodger doing?"

Ginny grimaced, then returned to her smiley state. "We broke up months ago Hermione. Months."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Hermione said sympathetically.

Ginny brightnend, "Oh don't be Hermione! Guess who I saw yesterday?"

Hermione laughed, and asked, "Who?"

"Guess!" she giggled.

"Ginny, come on, we're not 12 anymore!" Hermione exlaimed.

"Harry!" Ginny said, barely able to control her excitement.

"Har..ry?" Hermione stumbled.

"Yes, yes Harry!" Ginny repeated. She continued talking, but to Hermione, Ginny was simply opening and closing her mouth. The world spun around Hermione. Harry. The boy she had loved, and still loved. "Hermione? Hermione?" Ginny whispered, waving a hand in front of Hermione's face.

The door swung open, and a cool breeze floated past their table. Hermione turned to see who had opened it, and a handsome, blonde man strolled in. "Table for two, Pierre," the voice drawled.

The man took two menus and seated the blonde man and his companion at a table near Ginny and Hermione's. "Ginny," Hermione whispered, "Does that man look familiar?"

"Hmm, yes he does, curiously. Rather handsome too, don't you think?" Ginny said, sipping her water. The man got up from his table and walked over to theirs.

"Do I really look all that familiar ladies?" he said with a smirk.

"Malfoy..." Hermione said.

"Well, Granger, you say that as if it's a bad thing! And hello to you too."

Ginny smiled. "Why Draco Malfoy. Fancy seeing you around London. I would have been certain that by now you would have been with the other side."

"Oh stuff it, Weasley." He kept his eyes on Hermione as he drifted back to his own table.

***

"What the hell?" Seamus muttered to himself, and then shouted to Harry, "Over here, quick!"

Harry rushed to Seamus' side and kneeled down next to a lifeless body of a man. "Should we call the medics? Or the cops..or.."

Seamus interuped, "No Harry, this was a magic.....look how he looks just stunned.." He put his fingers to the mans throat. "Dead," he whispered.

"Adava Kedavra?" Harry asked.

"Hmm. perhaps." Seamus responded.

Harry took the wand out of the mans hand and whispered, "Priori Incantato" he whispered. A trash can near to the two and the man started hovering. "Wingardium Leviosa," Harry said.

"Well that doesn't seem very useful. Should we call the boss?" Seamus said.

"Seamus, I think we can handle this on our own. We were trained to deal with Dark Arts," Harry said.

"How do we know this is Dark Arts?" Seamus asked.

"It just...does. I have a hunch," Harry claimed.

"Har, we can't justify everything on your 'hunches'," responded Seamus.

Harry felt a white hot pain in his forehead at his scar, stronger than it had ever been before. He slid to the groud, clutching his forehead. "Harry? Harry?" heard Harry vaguely. Seamus' voice seemed distant and when Harry looked up, Seamus' face was blurry and his view was spinning.

"My..scar..." Harry horsely whispered.

Seamus stood there, feeling helpless and not knowing what to do. "Harry..what should I do?"

Harry didn't reply. Suddenly, the pain went away, leaving a dull stinging at his scar. He let out a ragged sigh. Harry stumbled to his feet with the help of Seamus, and tried to pretend nothing has happened. "We should investigate the evidence around here," he said.

"Harry, what the hell was that?" Seamus asked, enraged.

"Uh.." Harry tried to cover up, "What?"

"You know bloody well what I mean," Seamus cried, then mocked Harry and clutched his forehead, "My..scar..." He stopped. "Remember?"

Harry stopped, and bent over the man's body. "It was nothing, don't worry about it." Seamus shrugged, and took the other side of the man. "Wait, wait.." mumbled Seamus, "What's this?" He pushed up the man's sleeve, and there was a mark of a scull and serpants on his forearm.

"The Dark Mark.." gasped Harry.

I love cliffhangers, don't you? I'm not going to say that I won't write another chapter if I don't get reviews, because I want to know what happend. :) But I would really appreciate it if you reviewed my story! Thanks!