"You're sure you don't want to stay in a hotel, Benjamin?" Hermione asked, following Benjamin on the sidewalk in downtown Miami. They had just arrived twenty minutes prior and

He shook his head stubbornly. "There's no need. We have a place to stay. I just have to make a phone call." He entered the phone booth and left Hermione to wait. After a few minutes, Hermione watched as he exited the glass booth with the well-known stubborn smirk of his. He walked past her, and she assumed he expected her to follow.

"Well? Where are we going then?" She inquired impatiently.

"A friend's."

"You have a friend in Miami?"

Benjamin chuckled. "Is that really such a surprise? Anyways, I told you: we vacationed to the states a lot when I was growing up. I have a triple citizenship, you know."

Hermione's mouth gaped as Ben hailed a yellow taxi. He opened the door for her and they both squished into the backseat.

"Where to?" The driver asks.

"Gables Estates. 317 Arvida Parkway."

The driver turned to look at the pair of them. He threw his head back and gave a belly full of laughs. "No, seriously, where are we going?"

Benjamin felt his forehead wrinkle in frustration. "Will you just drive?" He asked, though it came off more as a demand than a request.

The driver drove them through the heart of Miami, passing by tropical trees and unique architecture that kept the attention of Hermione's eyes. Benjamin watched the road ahead of them. He'd never been to the house, let alone Miami itself, and was curious as to how the entry would go.

Their yellow cab pulled in front of the entrance of a gated community. There were two gates on each side of the guard station where security was already eyeing their car.

"Visiting?" The guard asks after the driver rolled down his window. "This guy thinks he lives here or something. You ever seen him?"

The security guard looked into the backseat of the taxi and looked at Benjamin above his dark aviators. He looked back to the driver and shook his head. "Never seen him. There's a turn around right-"

"Not happening. Call 317 Arvida. Tell him it's Hendrix at the gate."

The guard laughed and the driver shrugged his shoulders. Hermione and Ben watched eagerly as the security guard entered his booth and reappeared after a few minutes, the smile from his face no longer apparent. The gate arm opened and he stared at them as he waved the car into the neighborhood.

"Sorry about that," the driver spoke softly. "I've never even been in here. I didn't mean to judge you on your looks but, hey, it's Miami."

Benjamin kept silent, unmoved at the mediocre apology; something that Hermione had noticed.

"Thank you for driving us all this way," she said.

"It's my job."

The houses that surrounded them were tropical paradises, and forever out of Benjamin's budget. He thought to himself that he'd have to work ten lifetimes just to rent one of their garages. The house, 317 Arvida Parkway, was one of luxury. Actually, it could hardly be considered a house; it was a mansion, built in white with Mediterranean-style architecture, large columns that brought the eyes to the grand entrance of the home, lush landscaping, and what looked to be water access at the back of the estate.

A handful of luxury vehicles sat on a large concrete pad in front of the house. Hermione paid the driver and before they had unloaded their bags, a friendly voice called out to them.

"Hey, Benny-boy!"

Orlando King stood with his large arms firmly across his chest. His face was one of surprise but his tone was welcoming. His eyes sparkled as soon as the two men made eye contact. Orlando jogged over to them and took the bags briskly from Hermione's hands.

"And you are?" Orlando asked, switching his curious glance between the pair of them as he walked backwards towards the house. They followed his lead.

"I'm Hermione Granger. I'm a friend of Benjamin's."

Orlando tilted his head towards her in a show of respect, his pearly whites gleaming under the Florida sun. "As am I. Come on inside - any friend of Benjamin's is a friend of mine."

After walking through the double front doors, Hermione and Benjamin gawked at the interior design. The walls were crystal white and the floor was white marble with grey swirls that seemed to extend through the entire lower floor, and it glowed under the large chandelier above them. A sweeping staircase that curved up to the second floor was the focal point of the foyer. A spacious living room with leather furniture and a large grand piano opened up to the left of the foyer, and to the right was a the kitchen that could only be one of Benjamin's dreams.

Photographs and trophies lined the walls and shelves around the house, boasting the accomplishments of the famous boxer.

"How long are you staying?" Orlando asked as he took them upstairs to a spare bedroom. It could have fooled Benjamin as the Master's.

"Hopefully not long. We're here for work - Hermione's work, actually. Uh, Lando..." Benjamin trailed off, realizing that his friend was attempting to house them both together in one room, with one bathroom, and one bed to share. "I'm cool with taking the couch."

Orlando stopped in his tracks. "You two aren't-"

"No. Like I said, we're here for work."

"Oh. My bad then. Well, you may have to take the couch downstairs, Ben. I converted the other spare to another office for Aaliyah. She's doing real estate now."

Benjamin left his bag upstairs in Hermione's room for the sake of minimizing clutter in the pristine mansion. Hermione changed into a new set of clothes and met Benjamin and Orlando downstairs in the living room. Both gentlemen had a whiskey glass in their hand and were laughing about old memories as Hermione entered.

She sat on the same sofa as Benjamin, offering a cushion between them. On the table next to her was a lamp that produced an orange glow on a framed photograph of Benjamin and Orlando. They were both smiling, sweating, and in nothing more than boxing gloves and athletic shorts. They had an arm around each other, with their free arms flexing for the camera. Hermione noticed the gaunt look in Benjamin's facial structure, but he looked to have a more defined abdomen than what he did currently. Orlando looked mostly the same, save for larger arms and more volume to his tight, black curls.

"You've a beautiful home, Mr. King," Hermione said cordially. "I appreciate the warm welcome, truly."

"It's no problem. No problem at all. So, what do you do for a living, Ms. Granger?" Orlando's face appeared stoic now as he took a sip from his glass, awaiting her answer. Hermione looked to Benjamin nervously who nodded her on.

"I work for the Ministry of Magic in England. London to be exact. I'm in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures."

"Isn't that a mouthful? How did you get caught up in that line of work, Benjamin? I just saw you, what, two weeks ago?"

Benjamin shrugged his broad shoulders. "I got lucky, I guess. So did you 'cause you get to enjoy my company for a few days. At least until we find out where we're headed to next."

The three of them became comfortable in their back and forth conversations, Hermione enjoying seeing a different side of Benjamin. Of course, she'd never seen him with any friends and was delighted to meet one as he knew all of hers. But Hermione would occasionally find herself glancing over at the photograph of the two fighters, wondering what the young man had gone through to get to where he is. Perhaps one day she would muster up the courage to ask.

"Did you know, Ms. Granger, that the first time I visited this run down gym in London was the first time I saw a man get knocked out in an amateur bout on the first hit. You should have seen it. I wanted to spar with the man so bad but he told me no." Orlando chuckled loudly as he stared into Hermione's eyes to gauge her reaction. Benjamin was all too aware of the wingman game Orlando could pull off. Unfortunately, Orlando was unaware that physical prowess was hardly enough to impress the most intelligent witch of their generation.

"How did you manage that? That sounds like quite a feat," Hermione said. She felt disinterested, but not in regard to Benjamin himself.

Another shrug from the dark-featured wizard. "He ran his mouth a lot while I was training. We sparred a few times at the gym, and there was one time he really gave it to me. He tried to belittle me, but all it did was piss me off. I was having a rough time with life in general at that point and I just... let it all out, as soon as we got in the ring. I didn't feel good about it at all."

"It was still amazing to watch," concurred Orlando, pointing his big brown finger at Benjamin with the hand he held his nearly empty glass in.

It was mid afternoon when Aaliyah and Willow arrived home after a 'girl's day at the spa'. Aaliyah was pleased to meet Hermione while Benjamin was being overtaken by Willow's rambling of the events of her day. Hermione found herself blushing at how Benjamin interacted with the young child; he was engaging, playful, and full of life. She approached Benjamin after the family had settled down.

"Have you any ideas where we should start?"

"Little Havana." Benjamin replied neutrally.

"How do you figure that?"

"I didn't get much but I did hear a few whispers while we were uptown. It's a good place to ask around."

"Can we go now?"

The pair of them grabbed their wands, bid the Kings a temporary farewell, and made for the exit of the community. Hermione hailed their taxi and gave instructions for Little Havana. It wasn't far, and once the driver dropped them off at a random cross street, Benjamin's demeanor seemed to shift. Not much but just enough for Hermione to feel a difference. His body became tense and his eyes were piercing as they scanned their surroundings.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked, struggling to keep up with Benjamin's brisk pace.

"I want to get you out of here as quickly as possible. This is not a great place to roam around aimlessly."

"Where did you hear that?"

He stopped in his tracks and nearly caused Hermione to run into his back, much like how they met. She stood right behind his shoulder. He didn't turn to face her as he spoke, only looking forward. "I've already seen two drug deals and we haven't been on the streets ten minutes. We don't know who is strapped and who isn't."

Hermione's eyebrows furrowed. "Strapped?"

"They have guns, Hermione. You can't Protego yourself faster than a bullet. Please don't try."

He started walking again, and this time his gait was slower. Just enough for Hermione to keep on his heel.

"Look," he says, nodding towards two middle-aged men with long cloaks. The tip of a wand could be seen hanging from the loose sleeve of one of them.

Hermione turned to Benjamin with a cheeky smile. "Brilliant. Are they approachable, do you think?" Benjamin continued to observe them through his sunglasses before responding.

"They're gossiping. Either work or wives, I can't be sure which. He hurried across the busy street and Hermione followed apprehensively. "Everyone is in such a hurry," Hermione remarked as they made it to the sidewalk.

The two older wizards saw them coming and eyed them suspiciously. Benjamin quickly flashed his wand in a cryptic display snd they relaxed their shoulders and greeted the younger wizard with an arrogant sneer.

"The fuck you want?" Benjamin noticed as the wizard with the hat tightened his grip on the wand they spotted prior.

"Relax, man. Me and my girl, we're here on vacation. We're just looking for a hook up on the magical nooks and crannies around here. Nice area."

"You brown nosin' me, kid?" Hermione stood a handful of yards behind the group of three men, and she watched intently as Benjamin played his part well.

"Really, I'm just looking for someone to give me the run down around here."

The man grunted under his breath. "You can try Rosa at the cafe on the corner. But you chill out on that loco shit. You give her problems and we'll find you."

"All good. Thank you for your time gentlemen," Benjamin replied with a broad smile, turning behind him and reaching out for Hermione's hand. She took it as if it were as natural and breathing, and her heart began to flutter as he pulled her down the sidewalk.

Once they made it to the end of the block and inside the safety of the dimly lit American cafe, Benjamin finally dropped Hermione's hand.

"Sorry - I figured I'd sell ourselves a bit more."

"I-it's no problem."

He eyed her carefully upon hearing her stutter but quickly shook away his glare and approached the front counter. Light salsa music lulled over the speakers around the cafe. A short, thin woman (maybe in her early twenties) with shiny blonde hair and silver eyes asked them for their order.

"Actually, I was hoping we could talk to... Rosa?"

"She's on lunch."

Benjamin did a few glances to each side of him. "Okay. What time will she be back?"

"She's in her office now - but she's busy." The blonde blew a bubble with the pink gum she had been smacking on.

Benjamin fought the beginnings of a smirk at the corner of his mouth. "I thought you said she was on lunch."

"Are you going to order something or am I going to have to call the police?"

As soon as the word 'police' came out, an even shorter woman, looking to be in her sixties, with short, curly brown hair and glasses with beads around her neck approached everyone at the counter.

The older woman kept stern eye contact with Benjamin. "Do we have a problem here, Savannah?"

"Um, this guy was asking for you. I told him you were busy but as you can see, he's still here." Savannah gave Ben a look that reminded him of the average preppy teenager. She looked as annoyed with him as he was her.

"What do you want?" Rosa asked sternly, a peculiar dialect obvious on her tongue.

Hermione took the lead. "I work for the Ministry of Magic in England. This is my partner, Benjamin Hendrix. We are—"

"Hendrix? Well, let me look at you... yes, of course! You look mostly like your father." Rosa's white teeth shined against her weathered and sun-kissed skin. Ben's eyes widened as his realization came to fruition.

"You know my parents?"

"Of course. I remember you were only a toddler the last time I saw you, Benjamin. Look at you! You've grown into a very handsome young man."

Hermione looked on as Benjamin beamed back at Rosa. She took them into the back and to her office to finish talking.

"MACUSA has been chasing an illegal breeding ring of illegal creatures around the country. The Ministry is involved because they've started to leech into other countries. They're obviously trying to maximize their profits."

Rosa sat behind her old oak desk and pulled a pack of smokes from a drawer, her hand shaking slightly as she hovered the lighter under the tip of the cigarette. Hermione waved the smoke from her face as Rosa released her first inhale.

"I'm aware of the group you're talking about. I don't think I can help you."

Ben's eyes squinted as he glared at her. "You know something, Rosa. Help us, please."

She leaned forward quickly and spoke with caution. "What happens if you get caught up, and your body is sent home in a box to your parents? And when they wonder what happened, they find that I was the one that steered you into the direction of danger. No." She took another drag off her cigarette after shaking her head to him.

"Please... we're going off nothing. Once we find them, we'll call MACUSA and they'll take care of the rest. But this is our job."

"Fine," she snuffed out the cigarette aggressively. "You wanna find trouble, Benjamin? There's a warehouse near the port. I don't know which one so don't ask. That's all I have to give."

"How did you come by that information?" Hermione inquired nosily.

"Whispers in the wind, child. You two get moving, and out the back door. I don't want anyone seeing you here if you get caught."

"Thank you, Rosa. I'll tell my parents I saw you," Benjamin said as she shut the door behind them, leaving them in a back alley in downtown Miami.

"Well, shall we go now?"

Benjamin hissed at her question. "In broad daylight?"

"We have magic Benjamin, or have you forgotten? I can cast a Disillusionment charm on the two of us."

"I trust you, Hermione. But I need you to trust me, too. We have no idea what we could be up against. C'mon," he held his hand out to her, "screw the cab."

She placed her hand in his and the familiar squeezing feeling of Apparition consumed them both before they found theirselves in the foyer of the Kings' estate home. Benjamin immediately left Hermione standing there to raid the kitchen. The house was quiet, but voices could be heard at the back of the house. Benjamin assumed the family were enjoying the water and quickly assembled two dressed sandwiches and nodded at Hermione to follow as he ventured up the steps to her temporary room.

She closed the door behind her and took the plate from Benjamin's extended plate. "Thank you," she said softly. He nodded to say 'you're welcome' and began digging into his food by the mouthful.

The night came slowly. Hermione and Benjamin had dinner with their hosts and gave Orlando the run down of their events for the night when Aaliyah put Willow to bed.

"You need an extra hand or anything? I'm not scared to get my hands dirty."

Benjamin quickly shook his head. "No, you're needed here with your family, Lando. We got it. We'll apparate back in. Hopefully we won't woke you up."

"You'll be 'ight. Just be careful out there, Ben-do."

Benjamin packed a small, black tactical bag with unknown items to Hermione. She followed his lead in dressing the part: all black. Unfortunately for Hermione, it was hardly part of her wardrobe and she had taken to charming the extra set of Benjamin's clothes.

A crescent moon blessed them as they apparated into the alley, which put them a few miles closer than the ten mile distance it would have been from the King residence to PortMiami. Darkness shrouded them as they jogged up the back alleys towards the port.

Benjamin stopped in one of the alleys and he peered at what looked to have been a motorbike left for dead. It had a flat tire and scratches but no key. Benjamin threw his leg over the seat and adjusted himself as he tried to turn the motor over. He got back off and stared and it again, Hermione behind him watching his every move. He took his wand from the leg of his black boot and whispered a few incantations. Benjamin attempted another go on the starter where it fired right up - roughly, but running nonetheless.

"We are not taking that. That's theft, Benjamin!"

He chuckled as he rested his elbows on the handlebars. "It's been sitting for over a year. And look at us," he motioned to their clothing choice. She rolled her eyes and reluctantly threw her right leg over and climbed on back, hugging Benjamin tightly as the sport bike stuttered as it was kicked into gear. Benjamin pulled them eagerly out of the alleys and onto the roads where he began zigzagging in and out of traffic, causing Hermione to throw a fit in his ear. He only laughed and continued on.

He was thankful for the find. Benjamin and Hermione made it to the entrance of the port within ten minutes. "Much more fun than walking," Benjamin added with a smirk. Hermione rolled her eyes again and put her beanie back on her head. Benjamin swung his bag around his shoulder and led the way through an opening in the chainlink fence that surrounds the warehouses.

The warehouse district was a maze of narrow alleys and towering structures, each one more nondescript than the last. The two of them spent over an hour combing through the area, using spells to reveal hidden doors and passageways. Just as they were about to call it a night, they stumbled upon a hidden entrance behind a stack of shipping crates.

Inside the warehouse, they found a small office cluttered with papers and magical artifacts. It was clear that the place had been hastily abandoned, but not before leaving behind a few crucial clues. Hermione sifted through the documents while Benjamin kept watch. Among the scattered papers, she found a map of the Everglades with several locations marked. One of the marks was accompanied by a cryptic, handwritten note that read, "Shipment due next week."

Hermione showed the map to Benjamin, who quickly copied it down and pocketed the original.

"We need to get out of here."

As they were about to leave, they heard footsteps approaching. Thinking quickly, Benjamin cast a Disillusionment Charm on both of them, rendering them invisible. They watched as two wizards entered the office, clearly agitated. The newcomers discussed the recent raid on their New York operation and the need to move their activities deeper into the Everglades to avoid detection. Benjamin looked at Hermione under their blanket of transparency. MACUSA was on the move.

With this vital piece of information, Benjamin and Hermione slipped out of the warehouse unnoticed. They returned to their temporary lodgings and reviewed the map, planning their next move. The Everglades were vast and treacherous, but the marked locations gave them a starting point. They knew they had to act quickly before the criminals could relocate again.