Authors notes: I don't own the characters, just the story.



Chapter One



Madelaine sat at her desk, shallow, studious lines appearing on her forhead as she looked down at the information presented to her at the beginning of the week. Her dark blue work robes were wrinkled and carried the scent of her jasmine perfume, stale cigarettes and coffee. It was a late Saturday night, the sky was as black as ink because of storm clouds moving about, and rain fell stedily. She had worked herself dead on her feet. Madelaine sighed heavily and threw the documents down on her desk as she leaned back in the black leather chair. However stressed she may have appeared it was normal for her as the head of the Department of Dark Arts in the North American Magic Agency. As she pulled back her long, wavy, sun-streaked blonde hair into a high pony-tail she reached into a mini fridge beneath her desk and pulled out a small carton of orange juice and a mixed berry cereal bar.

"Yeh, it's goin to be a long night." a deep, gruff voice said behind her. Startled, she turned quickly to face Hagrid, an old friend and periodic go-between the Ministry of Magic in the UK, NAMA and the French département de magie. Although his posture was generally slumped over, he still stood at an amazing height and donned a huge, heavy coat, made from various animal hides. She smiled at him, and a wave or relief crashed over her. It had been at least 6 months since she had last seen her half-giant friend, when he dropped off some incantations that needed to be translated to the Division of Magical Language and Linguistics, which the NAMA had the only facility in the world of.

"Hullo Hagrid." Madelaine smiled again and turned in her chair back to her desk.

"What are yeh workin' on, if yeh don' mind my askin'"

"The files for the imprisonment of Lucius and Draco Malfoy to Azkaban." She gave up the answer to him most freely because he had been there. They both had. Madelaine had watched Lucius receive the kiss and been there to hear Draco scream for pity when she visited him a fortnight after his incarceration. Now, however, she was reduced to filing and periodicly reviewing the few and far between cases of misuses and dark magic among the United States and Canada, and offered her help to the Ministry since she was a former resident of the UK, had studied there and had fought in the war against Voldemort.

"After all these years yeh're still lookin back on tha'? You'll make yehrself sick Maddie."

"You're always looking out for me Hagrid." She laughed. "So what are you doing here?" She asked as she put the papers back into her drawers and began to tidy up her desk.

"Yeh know, same old things. Yeh know who needs help with a potion." he chucked into his beard, hisdark eyes shining.

"Ergh! It never ends!" Madelaine laughed. "Tell me again what it is he does for a living?" She shook her head and continued, "I was going to go get a sandwich at the Splintered Wand. Care to join me and I can look over what he needs?"

"Sure. Supper with an old friend and a good poke at prefessor Snape sounds fine to meh."

Madelaine and Hagrid readied themselves to go outside into the blustery New York street which was drenched with rain and smelt of the less than desirable nightlife. The full moon reflected off of everything, the shimmering streets and tall cold buildings, and the flickering of street lights down by the Splintered Wand, which was located in possibly the seediest place in the city, acted like strobe lights. Madelaine quickly opened the door and grabbed a table by a large, roaring fireplace. Hagrid closed the door and joined her at the large oak table. A small house elf quickly appeared with several trays of food, placed them on the table and left as fast as he or she or it came.

"So, let's see what he needs." Madelaine said as she grabbed a large piece of fried chicken breast. Hagrid pushed a folded up piece of parchment her way and once relieved of his burden began filling his plate to half past full. Madelaine unfolded the worn out piece of paper and had to squint to read Snape's fine handwriting in the faded ink which disappeared in the creases and folds.
"How old is this Hagrid?" She could feel her throat tighten as she read it, and she felt her question had come out to stifled to be heard above the cackeling fire and the loud, boisterous people in the pub around her. However she was wrong and Hagrid immediately looked up at her and shrugged his shoulders.

"I uh oh." He attempted to answer from the other end of a stein of ale. She looked back down at the ink which was faded, but still shimmered in the various colors it had been bought to show off. Madelaine looked up at Hagrid again, beer dripping from his beard, and pieces of poultry getting lost in it as well. The warm lights of the fire danced on everyone's faces, as her attention turned from Hagrid to the company that the old inn and tavern kept. Witches of the night and traveling rogues and magical beings of all sorts. The Splintered Wand was like a place out of a fantasy novel, or some role playing game where the troupe meets up after slaying dragons and rescuing damsels. Madelaine looked out onto the crowd again, her eyes following the shadows along the walls and she began to feel sick inside her stomach.

"Hagrid, this isn't a request for my assisstance with any of his potions." She croaked out, and the worry in her voice became even more apparent. Hagrid still didn't seem to notice it and was busy slurping warm, thick potato soup. He looked up at her, and wiped the soup from around his mouth with a large, knarly hand.

"Well wha is it then? If it isn't tha'?" He asked her, his beady black eyes shining from under thick catepillar-like eyebrows.

"It's a request for me."







I hope this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship between you and I dear reader. Please respond since this is my first story and I like the motivation.