Disclaimer: I own nothing; just frolicking in the world of HP.

Full on food and good conversation, Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini headed out of the restaurant to return to the Ministry of Magic when suddenly a grey owl dropped a note into Blaise's hand. A bit angered at being interrupted during his lunch break, Blaise begrudgingly opened it.

Special Cases Unit Memo

Alice McNally spotted at Leaky Cauldron, 12:45 pm. Investigation recommended.

"Mind taking a detour to the Leaky Cauldron?" Blaise asked Draco, thinking every situation, even one regarding a muggle female, required appropriate backup.

"Why not?" Draco said, thinking any detour would be preferable to going directly back to those files from the morning.

The two men walked down the uneven cobbled road before standing in front a heavily soiled brick wall. With a counter-clockwise tapping of Blaise's wand, the wall disassembled, opening up to a courtyard and the back entrance of the Leaky Cauldron. They entered slowly, heading down a dark hallway.

"This place still smells like a pigpen," Draco remarked and Blaise gave a slight heckle of agreement as they entered the main bar. Making their way over to the kitchen, Neville Longbottom quickly got up from his chair to greet them and Hannah swayed over to the kitchen door to listen.

On the other side of the room, Alice had finished the last of her coffee and placed what she thought would be enough change to cover her tab. She suddenly grew aware of the presence of two clean cut though menacing looking men who had entered the pub from the back. They were both impeccably dressed in black garments, looking even more out of place than her. They had made their way over to what she presumed were the pub's owners, the man reading the newspaper and the lady who served her coffee. Suddenly, the group's eyes shifted in her direction and before she knew it her body had risen from her chair, and with one fluid motion she pulled her sunglasses over her eyes and collected her book and the hidden newspaper into her bag, all while her feet raced her out the door.

Neville had immediately assumed Blaise's presence was due to their muggle customer, but he was surprised to see Malfoy there are well. "She came about 10 minutes ago, ordered coffee and has been sitting there since," Neville quietly said, alerting them to her whereabouts by a quick glance to the front of the pub. He was unsure what risk she could be though. As soon as the group looked over towards the small table they noticed a woman in sunglasses gathering her things and quickly heading for the door. Blaise and Draco both immediately ran through the pub, swiftly maneuvering through chairs and customers to the exit; only to catch a glimpse of the young woman running her way towards Tottenham Court Road.

Alice ran furiously, wishing she hadn't worn her heels that day. Turning right at the end of the street she prayed for a bus to be there and sure enough one had just stopped at the bus stop about 10 meters ahead. She leapt through the bus's entrance and quickly swung around the stairway pole to sit in the front seat, watching as the bus door closed shut. It was as if she was suddenly allowed to breathe again. She peered out of the side window to see the two men returning her gaze. She realized they were around her age.

Blaise and Draco stood at the end of Charing Cross Road watching the double-decker bus roll by, their muggle safely in the front seat staring back at them. They quickly turned around and headed back to the Leaky Cauldron not saying a word. Once there, Blaise nodded to Neville Longbottom and walked to the back courtyard intent on returning to the Daigon Alley Floo Network access point. Draco followed closely behind, ignoring the Longbottoms all together.

Approaching the stone gate, Blaise taped his wand counter-clockwise and waited for the fence to provide entrance. He was obviously in deep thought.

"So what do you expect she's up to?" Draco asked, breaking the silence.

"Well, she obviously knows about the magical world, the question is her intentions and whether she's acting alone in her knowledge. Typically this would be a task for the department you're currently researching in," Blaise said, referring to the Obliviator's job of smoothing over muggle run-ins with magic. "But we're thinking she knows someone on the inside."

While many muggles knew of the magical world due to marriage or having a relative or child with wizarding abilities, they were urged to keep things quiet and often monitored in case any damaging knowledge leaked. History had proved it safer to keep the two worlds separate and the Ministry of Magic worked to ensure it. While information occasionally made its way into local newspapers, no muggle had gone as far as publishing a book on the subject. Not to mention one with such blaring accuracy as Alice McNally. Furthermore, she had no clearance with the Ministry of Magic, no known magical relations in Britain or the United States, thus making her knowledge of the wizarding world suspect and worrisome.

Draco and Blaise returned to the Ministry of Magic and headed their separate ways, each wondering how these unusual events would unfold.