Though I've had a drink or two and I don't care

There's no fun in what I do if she's not there

It was late afternoon when Draco finished getting ready; his parents had left shortly after four thirty and Chloe should be flooing in at any moment. He looked at his reflection in the mirror again, running a hand through his hair, and fixed the knot on his tie. From the corner of his eyes, he saw the flames change colors, followed by Chloe's appearance. Her dress was a deep shade of red and her hair was loosely curled; she looked stunning.

"Please stop staring at me like that" She asked, her cheeks rivaling the shade or her dress.

Draco felt himself blush as well; He had not realized he had been staring at her with his mouth almost agape, which made him very uncomfortable. He shook his head from side to side in order to clear it, before he turned to face her.

"We should get started, time is of essence" He said and she nodded.

He reached for the book in his bedside table while Chloe looked around with curiosity; he supposed it was only fair considering he had done the same thing when he had first visited her room.

"Don't you ever get tired of all this green?" She asked in a polite tone.

"Not at all"

"Is the rest of the Manor decorated like this as well?"

"Not all rooms, but mostly yes"

"Someone should introduce you Malfoys to some of the other colors out there"

"Are you offering?" He teased and she blushed again.

"Not in a million years; I get enough interaction with you as it is"

"Now that's just hurtful Ms. Ravenclaw"

"I wasn't aware Slytherins were so sensitive" She replied, smirking at him.

"We are not, I assure you. Let's get started"

He walked towards her and placed a spell on the book so that it would hover before them before reaching for her hand.

"Are you ready?" He asked her.

"As I will ever be"

"Remember, we cannot make a mistake… we could end up making a mess"

"Way to make me feel better Malfoy" She said, glaring.

They began, first somewhat slow and with shaky voices. As they continued, they could feel the surge of magic flowing from each other and meeting at where their hands were intertwined, and they grew more confident. Almost five minutes passed until they were done reciting the spell and as they progressed, Draco felt himself grow weaker. As soon as the last few words left their mouths, a flame erupted from their wands and encircled their left hands, lasting until the very last word.

"Did you feel that as well?" He asked, referring to the sensation that had just travelled his entire body as the flame went out.

She nodded, letting go of his hand and walking to his bed, where she sat down. He followed her lead and sat down as well, next to her.

"I think we both underestimated how weak this would make us" She said.

"Are you ok?"

"Yes, let's just go to my manor and cast the spell there as well"

"Not yet" He said, standing up "Stay here"

Before she could question him, Draco apparated to the kitchen and filled a mug with tea. He then apparated back to his room and tried handing Chloe the mug, but she simply stared at it.

"It's not poisoned Lewis, is only tea"

"Malfoy" She began, taking the mug and eyeing him curiously "Are you ok?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Just because I'm a Malfoy doesn't mean I'm not a gentleman" He replied, an edge of annoyance in my voice.

"I'm sorry… dully noted"

"Feeling better?" He asked, after she had finished drinking.

"Much, thank you"

"Don't mention it. We can go now"

Chloe handed him the mug and he put it down on his nightstand. He followed her to the fireplace and waited for her to floo before taking his turn. They recited the spell a little faster the second time, but by then they were both feeling drained. Like Draco, Chloe apparated to the kitchen but instead of coming back with tea, she brought them each a bottle of butterbeer.

"A little pre party of our own" She explained, handing him a bottle.

They drank in silence. Draco finished first and, after thanking her for the buterbeer, headed for the fireplace to floo home and leave from there to the party.

"Malfoy" She called, right before he stepped into the flames.

"Yes?" He said, turning around to face her.

"Will you help me place the spell at the other places we discussed?"

"We shall see" He said, leaving before her fuming glare actually hurt me.

Chloe arrived at the party a few minutes later, still mad at Malfoy for not agreeing to help her. He hadn't said no, but the lack of a definite answer really troubled her. She quickly found her father and, after taking several pictures with him, the other owners, and Aedan and Faolan, made her way towards the table where Harry, Ron, Hermione, Eva, Jasper, Oliver, Dan and Landon were sitting. She sat down next to Harry and joined their conversation, quickly repeating the same excuse she had given her father earlier as to way she arrived later than everyone else. Soon after, the party moved outside, where a large area had been cleared so that both players could show of the brooms. Everyone encircled the area and the crowd began to cheer as Aedan and Faolan mounted the brooms. For the next fifteen minutes, everyone awed, clapped and cheered as they both flew around. Next to Chloe, Harry and the other boys were following the players so attentively they looked hypnotized. She spotted Draco in the crowd, also attentively watching the players and she couldn't help but to laugh. Aedan and Faolan landed amidst thunderous applause and spent the next several minutes posing for pictures and signing autographs. Elliot asked Chloe to join them for some of the pictures, but she slipped away as soon as she had a chance; she had never liked the attention from the press.

As the party progressed, food was served and Cloe was very excited when dessert was finally brought out; it was a chocolate gnash tartlet, hers and Ava's favorite. Jasper excused himself to use the loo and Landon went after another butterbeer, as both didn't really care for dessert. Before leaving, Jasper kissed Ava on the top of her head and she blushed slightly, taking Chloe by surprise again. She was about to take a huge bite of her tartlet when she noticed Ava pushing her plate away.

"Ava, what are you doing?"

"I don't want it" She replied.

"Why? That is your favorite dessert and it has been for years"

Ava looked at her with wide eyes, before looking down at her plate. When she looked up again, she was smiling clumsily.

"I was just joking" She said "Seeing if your were paying attention to anything other than what is on your plate"

Everyone laughed at the jab, but Cloe continued to stare at as she began to eat. That had been weird, or maybe she was just tired from earlier and taking things far too seriously. She began eating again but a sudden crash sound, followed by a scream that echoed through the hall, caused her to freeze and drop her fork. Everyone looked in the direction of the sound, and quickly got up to take a closer look. They found Landon on the floor, convulsing violently while people watched, some screaming, others looking scared, and some keeping their distance.

"Landon" Harry said, dropping down next to the auror.

Things happened very quickly after that. Kingsley pushed Harry aside, grabbed Landon and apparated away, presumably to St. Mungos. The photographers were widely taking pictures until Chloe's father and his associates stepped in. Harry, Ron and the other aurors present drew their wands and began to look around searching for something while Hermione, Ava, and Chloe walked around trying to calm the crowd. Suddenly, Chloe felt strong hands grab her shoulder and turn her around. She took out her wand and pointed it straight to the person's throat, but it was only Harry.

"Stay close to me" He said, in a strict voice that gave her chills and left no room for discussion.

He followed Chloe around, talking to people and trying to control the situation. By the time Kingsley came back, there were very few of them still present and they all gathered around him.

"So?" Ron said.

"How is he?" Hermione asked.

"Is he alive?" Harry added.

Kingsley held up both hands and everyone stopped talking.

"Landon was poisoned" He said, in a grave voice "By a very rare poison that even the most experienced Healers have very little knowledge of"

"He's dead?" Harry interrupted.

"He was still alive when I left, but barely… I don't know that he will make it"

Harry was sitting between Ron and Hermione, the other aurors and senior officials from the Ministry sitting by them, in an eerie silence. Ten hours had passed since Landon had been poisoned, and neither of them had slept much, or at all, since. While they waited for the Minister to arrive, Harry kept reviving everything from the moment he had heard Landon drop, until now. After calming people down and helping with damage control, mainly dealing with the reporters, he had accompanied Chloe home since her father had left with his associates to their office, to do some damage control of their own. It had been a strange sensation when he had tried steping out of the fireplace but couldn't, and it took Chloe a moment to remember that she had placed a new protective spell at her house, before coming to the party. She refused to tell him much about it, and at the time he didn't want to push her but he planned on asking her about it again. Kingsley walked in and everyone turned to look at him. He walked past everyone and sat down, looking very tired since he hadn't slept at all. He pressed both hands together, put his elbows on the desk and pressed his forehead to his hands for a moment, before taking a deep breath and looking up at them.

"I have some good news" he announced "Landon will be fine"

Everyone in the room sighed in relief and Harry exchanged a quick look with his two best friends; Hermione's eyes were still red from crying. The minister then asked two of the senior aurors to share their findings.

"I have spoken with a few people from last night. A couple, the Davies, provided some very important insight" John began "they were walking on the opposite direction and the husband accidentally bumped into Landon as he was taking a sip of his drink, causing some of the butterbeer in Landon's cup to spill. Mr. Davies apologized and said London was halfway into saying it was fine when he dropped and began to convulse"

"John and I went back to the party and retrieved Landon's cup" Timothy added "and after working on the butterbeer, we discovered that it was poisoned. If Landon had had any more of it, he would have died within seconds"

"So the man running into him saved his life?" Hermione asked, eyes wide.

"That is correct, Ms. Granger" John said.

"Harry and Ron, I want both of you to go interrogate the people working on the bar and serving at the party" Kingsley said "They are downstairs, in the aurors office. You can go now"

Ron and Harry stood up to leave, and Ron squeezed Hermione's shoulder as they walked by. Harry knew she would fill them in on whatever else the minister said, and although he was eager to get started with something that might lead to whoever tried to poison Landon, he didn't like having to leave the meeting so soon. It took them three hours to interrogate everyone. Halfway through it, another two aurors joined them but no matter how hard they worked, they found nothing. All workers were given Veritaserum and none of them had any idea as to how Landon got poisoned.

When they were done, Ron and Harry met with Hermione and Kingsley in her office. Harry hadn't realized how hungry and thirsty he was until they walked in to find a tray of pastries and tea on her desk. She waited for both of them to take a few sips and bites, before filling them in.

"The Minister had me and another three people interrogate some of the other guests from last night, including Chloe's father. No one seemed to really know anything of value, until the last person I spoke with. Her name is Katy Bolsh, an investor in the company and she told me one of the ladies behind the bar, the one that handed Landon his butterbeer, added something else to it before giving it to him. Ms. Bolsh thought nothing of it then, she figured it was something else Landon had asked for, you know, people sometimes add ginger to their butterbeer or something but when she heard he had been poisoned…"

"We gave everyone Veritaserum, none of them did it!" Ron said with a mouth full.

"Ron's right Hermione, none of them admitted to it" Harry agreed.

"You know what that means then, don't you?" She asked.

"Someone had her under the imperius curse" Kingsley suggested.

"You want us to talk to her again?" Harry asked.

"Yes, but this time I want you to use legilimency on her. Someone might have tampered with her mind, to make her forget the moment she was placed under the spell and the things she did"

"That won't be easy" Harry said, matter-of-factly.

"I will have the Head obliviator in the Ministry join you"

"Wouldn't she be more qualified than Harry to deal with the whole thing?" Ron asked.

"Perhaps, but at this point we don't know who we can truly trust, save for a few people. I want you there Harry" He nodded, and Kingsley turned to Hermione and Ron "Landon woke up a few minutes ago, go to him and see if he remembers anything of importance. I'm going to meet with the owners of Firebolt Broom Company now"

He stood up and looked at each one of them before turning around and leaving.

"He thinks someone from our side is working for the other side?" Ron asked.

"Yes, more than one person probably" Hermione replied.

"We need a lead" Harry said in exasperation "And then we need to infiltrate their side as well, or we will never get to the bottom of this. In the meantime, we need to be extra careful"

Harry and Ron finished eating while Hermione worked on a draft for one of the new regulations she was currently writing. They eventually left her, heading to the Auror's department and finishing some work of their own, which took longer than expected. Harry was very frustrated by the time he finally arrived home, almost nine o'clock that night. He had been awake for over twenty-four hours, and was beyond ready to take a shower and get in bed but Kreacher convinced him to eat something first. He also brought Harry a letter from Chloe; she was checking on him and wanted him to write her back soon. Instead, Harry sent Kreacher to see her and tell her he was fine and would come see her soon. Just as he headed to bed, Ron and Hermione flooed in.

"How is he?" Harry asked.

"He's still very weak, but the Healers said he will fully recover" Hermione said.

"Liam is still with him" Ron joined in "He left briefly when we arrived to go home and get more clothes and he wouldn't even let us offer to stay with Landon so he could rest"

Harry nodded. Liam and Landon had been best friends for years and it only made sense Liam wanted to stay. Harry would have done the same thing if it had been Ron or Hermione.

"Did he remember anything?" Harry asked.

"Only that he didn't ask for anything to be added to his buterbeer, which means whatever the lady added to his drink was in fact the poison"

An owl hit its claws on a nearby window and Ron went to retrieve the letter. He handed it to Harry and who quickly read it.

"It's from Kingsley. They have our suspect at the Ministry now and Ms. Evelyn, the head of the Obliviation Department, is already working on her"

"I thought Kingsley wanted you there as well mate?" Ron said.

"He did, but Ms. Evelyn wanted to work alone. Kingsley is there to keep an eye on things"

"Do you think he doesn't trust her?" Hermione asked.

"He says on the letter he questioned her to ensure she wasn't under a spell, and that she can be trusted. That's good; I need to know Chloe is near someone I can trust while at work"

When there was nothing else for us to say or do, Ron and Hermione left and Harry finally went to bed.

It was Sunday morning and as much as he wanted to be outside enjoying the day with his family, he was currently dealing with more pressing issues.

"Crucio" He said, for the third time in a row.

He watched the young man jerk on the floor, his screams echoing in the office. They were alone and he was the only one who could hear the man scream, but he was confident news of the man's punishment would soon spread amongst his followers and would serve as a great example to the others. Someone accidently running into the auror and spilling his drink, inadvertently saving his life, had been an unfortunate mishap but the ministry had almost gotten the woman responsible for the poisoning at the bar, before the man in front of him had had a chance to erase her memory. Such a close call would have proven disastrous to his plans, and he could not easily forgive what had happened. If the aurors had gotten to her sooner, the man in front of him would have been discovered and a valuable player would have been lost in the game.

"Get up" He said, putting his wand away.

The young man did, with great difficulty, and keeping his head down in shame. He was one of the newest members of the Master's inner circle and he was desperate to prove himself. What transpired since the party had turned into a nightmare for him and he hoped for a second chance, an opportunity to show he was up to the challenge.

"You failed me… and I do not consent failure. I acknowledge that you acted fast and covered your tracks, but you will have to prove yourself again"

"I will master, tell me how and I will"

"The moment has come for us to trouble Harry Potter… indirectly, but personally"

"How master?"

"We will act on his girlfriend, Chloe, and through her we will begin to weaken Potter… and that's where you come in. Listen carefully, and do not fail me this time"

The Master explained his plan to him and was about to dismiss him when someone knocked on the door. His most trusted man came in and approached him. He whispered some news in his ear and the man in front of them began to shake under the Master's gaze, which was growing angrier with every word he was being told. Once he was done delivering the news, his most trusted man stepped away and waited for his orders. The Master ignored him for the moment and directed his words towards the other man.

"The ministry has discovered how the auror was poisoned and who they think did it. They have the right person, and it seems that the Head of the Obliviation Department has been working on her for the past several hours, trying to undo your spell. Before you act on Potter's girlfriend, you are to help him" He nodded in the direction of his most trusted man "Kill that woman from the bar. If the Ministry succeeds in reversing the spell, things will get… complicated and I would rather avoid that"

"How will I get to her master? She is under the protection of the Ministry"

"My most trusted will help you. He is no strange to the Ministry and he will ensure you get a few minutes alone with our dear friend"

"Yes master"

"You may go now, both of you. And do not return until there is a dead body in the Ministry of Magic"