Chapter 1

Mission Briefing

A man sat outside, his knees tucked up against his chest while his arms hugged them loosely. There was a soft breeze that ruffled his hair gently as he sat under a tree looking out into the distance as the sun set. A warm, pink glow rested on the tops of the hills in the distance and if you looked hard enough, you could just see the beginnings of the stars peeking out from the sky.

He took a deep breath in and closed his eyes. His stomach was twisting and turning inside as he tried to focus on something positive; anything to get his mind off of what he was about to do. But no matter how hard he tried, it seemed all he could think of was her. It was as if every happy thought, every memory, good or bad, was linked to her.

The sound of a door slamming shut in the background caused his eyes to snap open. He didn't look back but he didn't need to. He already knew who was coming over towards him because he could smell the light perfume she wore floating over and lingering under his nose, teasing him. The soft crunching sound her shoes made on the dry grass came closer and closer and he could feel himself tense up.

'Please God, let this really be the right thing...'

He felt her sit down next to him under the iridescent sky and look forward towards the horizon as he was. They sat quietly for a few moments, both comfortable in the silence and just being there together. That was something he had always taken for granted, the fact that they were so comfortable together and that there wasn't always the need for conversation. He absorbed as much of the moment as he could, knowing that this would probably be his last with her for a long while.

'She'll hate me forever, but I have to do this... right?'

'Yes,' another, stronger voice said to him. With another deep breath in, he finally turned to look at her. She still was looking forward, and the light from the sun bounced playfully off her hair and face. A small smile played across her lips as she felt his gaze upon her but she didn't look over. 'God, she's beautiful...'

"It's amazing, isn't it?"

"Hmm?" he shook his head as she spoke.

"The sunset. This night. This year. Everything. It's just simply...amazing..."

"Oh, right..." He looked back out at the horizon again, his mind a swirl of emotions.

"Are you all right?" She looked over at him, her face etched with worry.

"Couldn't be better," he lied. They sat there a couple more minutes, her watching the sunset, while he mustered up all the courage he could for what was to come.

'It's now or never...'

"We need to talk."

She turned her head to look at him, a slightly amused look on her face, "Is this why you asked me to meet you outside?"

"It's about us..."

Her smile flickered a bit but she seemed unfazed. "Okay, what about us?"

He turned away from her, unable to look into her eyes, "I can't do this anymore..."

Her smile faded, "What do you mean? You can't do what?" His mouth was dry and he licked his lips nervously, trying to keep it together. She gently touched his shoulder, "You can tell me anything, you know that."

'God damnit, why does she have to be so wonderful?'

"I...I can't be with you anymore..."

The silence that followed was deafening. He had thought that she would have started yelling at him or maybe even laughed but instead she just sat there, her hand still on his shoulder, unmoving.

"Look, things were fun while they lasted, but you can't actually think that this was serious, can you?"

Her hand stiffened on his shoulder, and he knew he had hurt her. But if he was going to be a jerk, then damnit, he was going to be a jerk.

"What with school being over and Voldemort being gone, I need to move on. A fresh start you could call it. I can't deal with any old baggage." He laughed a short, cold laugh after this, but inside his mind was screaming for him to stop.

She took her hand off of his shoulder. "Baggage... Is that all I am? Baggage?" her voice was quiet and slow, almost unwilling to say the word. He wanted to hold her, to tell her everything would be all right, but he refused to look back at her.

"We had fun while it lasted, but I'm young. It's not like we were going to get married or anything.."

'Yes you could... you wanted to...'

"I want to experience new things and new people, not be tied down to just one person."

'Stop. Just stop. You know you want to be with her, she was your first... your only...'

"But...what about... you were my... I thought..." she struggled to comprehend what was happening and tried hard to fight the oncoming tears that were forming behind her eyes.

Again he gave a short, harsh laugh, "You mean that night? I know what you're thinking. Just like a typical girl, really. You're all about the romance and the 'happily ever after' aren't you? Honestly, you're a smart girl. How could you not have known?"

She was quiet for a moment then said in just barely a whisper, "You said you loved me."

His face hardened and although his head was screaming for him to stop, he replied casually, "I lied."

'You prat! You stupid, bull-headed prat! You do love her! Stop it! Don't you see what you're doing to her? To yourself?'

"I don't believe you," came her voice, stronger, almost defiant.

'Now's your chance! Tell her she was right and that it's all a lie! Tell her!'

"Honestly—"but he was cut off as he felt her soft, tender, trusting hands turn his head to look her straight in the eyes. He looked down, fearing what would happen if he looked at her.

'Look at her. Look at her face. She loves you! She'll forgive you if you just say something now!'

"If you mean what you say, then tell it to my face. Look me in the eyes and tell me you don't love me. That I was nothing more than just some object you decided to see if you could get," her voice was steady and controlled. She seemed neither scared nor angry but unwavering.

He slowly brought his eyes up to meet hers. Her face was determined but her eyes were soft. He could tell that behind her brave front, she was on the verge of tears and all it would take was a few words from him to break down that wall and shatter her heart.

"Well?"

Looking straight into her eyes, he took a deep breath and then said the four words that he would regret for the rest of his life,

"I don't love you..."

"NO!"

Beads of sweat were rolling down his forehead and he was trembling as he jolted upright in his bed. His breath was ragged and uneven and it took him a good minute or so before he could regain his composure. He looked over at the clock on the nightstand. 4:30 A.M. He closed his eyes and rested his head against the cool backboard of his bed, trying to erase the images burning inside of him.

'Damn dream...' he thought angrily. This wasn't the first time he had replayed that memory before either. Oh no, it had been a nightly occurrence for weeks after it had happened. As time went on, it became a bit more scattered with its appearances, but still it plagued him, even three years after it had happened.

He ran a shaky hand through his hair then brought it down to his neck, leaving it there for a moment. Finally, knowing that trying for more sleep was hopeless, he pushed off the comforter to his bed and got out. He took a shower, letting the cold water wake him up and wash away the remnants of the night before, then got out and brushed his teeth and his hair before changing into his work robes.

His small flat was starting to fill with sunlight as he walked out to the kitchen area and started to make some coffee. As he filled a mug with the steaming, black liquid, a small owl showed up in the window with a letter tied to its leg. After untying the letter and then giving the owl a treat before it left, he unrolled the parchment and read its short contents.

Come into the Ministry at 7:00 sharp this morning so you may be briefed on your mission. You will be starting immediately so please bring any personal belongings of yours along with you.

K. Shacklebolt

He checked his watch. 6:30 already. 'Oh, how time flies...'

After packing a small suitcase full of things and with ten minutes to spare, he grabbed his wand and Apparated into the main building of the Ministry. It was funny how even though he had been working for them for just over three years now that he had almost never spent any of it actually inside the building. This was because he had to go through three long, hard years of training, however now that he was done with it, he had expected and almost hoped that he would get to work at a boring desk job for just a short while, but going out on an actual mission for his first assignment wasn't anything to complain about and he knew it. Most new Aurors didn't get assigned anything like this for years after working for the Ministry.

He stepped into one of the lifts and waited until he heard the cool sounding woman's voice call out, "Level two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Improper Use of Magic Office, Auror Headquarters, and Wizengamot Administration Services."

Walking past the many doors which ran down the long corridor, he looked around briefly at the different people and rooms he passed. Looking out a window, he could see that it was hailing, meaning that the Magical Maintenance crew was still trying to work out proper pay raises. Just as he was within ten feet of Kingsley's door to his office, he felt a heavy hand clap onto his shoulder and a deep voice say, "Ronald Weasley..."

Ron turned around, a smile tugging at his lips as he looked down into the face of his friend, Harry Potter, "And what are you doing here so early in the morning?"

"I was just about to ask you the same thing, mate," Harry smiled warmly and brought his hand off of Ron's shoulder.

"Kingsley owled me this morning saying that I needed to be here at 7:00 sharp so I could be briefed on my new mission. What about you?"

"Same as you actually. I wonder if he's going to put us on the same job. But then again, Sean and Lisa are both here too, as well as Tony, so you never know..."

Ron groaned, "Lisa's here? Now?"

Harry chuckled, "Now, now Ron, you weren't acting this way about her just two weeks ago. In fact, if I remember correctly, you seemed to want to have her around."

"Yeah, and if I ever do that again, please do us all a favor and kill me. Honestly, I can't believe I let myself get that out of hand..."

"Hey, you were having a rough night. It happens to the best of us. Speaking of which, how are you feeling?"

Ron shrugged, "As well as to be expected I s'pose. God, can you believe that it's already been three years?"

Harry nodded, "Yeah, it's hard to believe sometimes," he looked down at his watch, "Oh, damn. It's already 7:05. So much for 7:00 sharp..."

"We'd better move it before Kingsley kicks us off the mission before we even start."

Both men quickly walked down to the end of the corridor and opened the door to Kingsley Shacklebolt's office. Inside were Sean McLean, a tall, black haired, thirty-something Irish man, Anthony "Tony" DeVerza, a robust man in his early forties with thick eyebrows and a hearty laugh, and Kingsley Shacklebolt himself sitting behind a desk. The man hadn't changed much from the first time that Ron and Harry had first met him when they were 15. He was still the tall, bald, black man they had known for six years, the only difference being that there were a few more wrinkles on his once young face and also quite a few more scars.

"You're late," he spoke in his low, rumbling voice as they walked in.

"Sorry—"they both started but stopped abruptly as he raised his hand to silence them.

"Now that everyone is here, I think it would be a good idea to get started." He stood up and turned to a file cabinet by his desk, pulling out two rather large files, and handed one to both Tony and Sean. "Inside of those folders are the orders for each of your assignments," Kingsley stated as he sat back down again, looking at the four men in front of him. "You four will not all be working together directly, but don't look so discouraged Ron," He directed this towards the two of them, "I know better than to split up the 'dream team' completely." He smiled warmly, "Both of these missions are linked together, so it is only appropriate that I should ask for all of you to be here while I tell you all the details. Now Sean, if you would be so kind as to open your folder," Sean opened it and inside found different pieces of paper, a map, and a dozen or so pictures all of different men and women staring menacingly up at him. "As you can see, you have an enchanted map of England with instructions on how to use it, as well as 15 or so profiles on different witches and wizards that we are after either for arrest or questioning.

"Now as you all probably know, we have been investigating a secret organization that call themselves the I.W.P. or the Ill Will Press for several months now. They are thought to be a small group of money-hungry individuals who have been behind some of the recent money laundering scandals as well as the break-in's to some of England's most prominent Wizarding companies."

"Any idea as to who the leader is?" Sean asked while flipping through the pile of scowling pictures. Harry and Ron stood behind the two seated men, trying to get a better look at the contents of the folders.

"Unfortunately, no. However, I have every belief that you and Harry will do a fine job of finding him, as well as the others, for us."

"You want me to help, sir?" Harry asked, shocked. He couldn't believe that he had been given such a huge task for his first assignment as an Auror.

"I want you to work with Sean, yes. Both Tony and Sean will be heading the search for these different men and women while you two will help each man with the separate assignments. I know you can handle it being that you were the top two from your training group. There's also a lot that you can learn from working with experienced Aurors like Tony and Sean. I trust these two men very much and I know that you two will do well."

Ron and Harry couldn't believe their ears. Here they were, two of the newest Aurors to the ministry and already they were being put out on the field to work on one of the biggest cases of the year!

"So what have you got planned for us then?" Tony asked, referring to Ron and himself. Ron perked up a bit at the prospect of being given an exciting job like looking for a group of power-hungry criminals and bringing them down in a heroic fashion.

"Your mission, like I said before, is closely related to the one I have assigned for Sean and Harry, however it is also very different." Kingsley stood up and went over to his window where the hail seemed to have changed into something more of a blizzard, "If you open up your folder, you will find information about a certain Christopher Rhiney."

"Hold on," Ron started, "THE Christopher Rhiney? The business tycoon? What's he got to do with anything?" He stared down at the picture that Sean had just pulled out of the folder. The man in the photo had a very Lockhart- ish appeal to him. He had light, wavy brown hair and big, brown eyes that seemed to twinkle even from the picture. He had a strong jaw and clean- shaved face, as well as a brilliant smile that would have put Lockhart to shame. He looked young; probably just barely 24 by the look of it, and yet he didn't seem cocky, which for a man of his wealth and position, was a very rare thing.

"Obviously you've heard of him."

"Well, who hasn't? He just happens to practically own half of wizard London, along with the fact that he has the largest import/export company in Europe. He was named Witch Weekly's Richest Man in the U.K. and just beat Harry for the spot for most Eligible Bachelor." A somewhat stunned silence met this outburst of information and Ron could feel himself go red. "Blame Ginny. She always has that damn magazine lying around the Burrow. Plus, she's practically obsessed with the man..."

Kingsley chuckled softly and turned back towards the group, "Well, then it is a good thing that I chose you for this assignment Weasley. What with your knowledge of the man already, I shouldn't have to tell you much, will I?"

"But Sir, I still don't see what he has to do with any of this," Tony said.

"Well as you already know, Rhiney is one of the wealthiest business men in all of Europe as well as the world. It just makes sense then that he has now become the new target for the I.W.P. doesn't it? Inside your folder is a copy of the letter that was sent to Mr. Rhiney just two weeks ago."

Tony took out the parchment and studied it before handing it back to Ron who read over it carefully before putting it back into the folder.

"So the I.W.P. sent this to him and now he's worried about getting hurt?" Tony asked.

"Basically. If this had been something completely unrelated to the I.W.P. file, then we wouldn't have been involved. However, as soon as I learned of the circumstances of this particular case, I saw that we might just have a break in the I.W.P. case. If we can follow Mr. Rhiney and be there when the I.W.P. strike, then we may be able to stop them before they can do any more damage."

"So what? You want us to follow him around?" Ron asked skeptically.

"No. I want you two to live with him." This time the silence that followed this announcement was not one from shock but rather of confusion.

"Live with him, Sir?" Tony questioned finally.

"Yes. You and Ron are to go and stay with Mr. Rhiney while there is still a threat to himself and his organization. I need there to be people close to him at all times to make sure that all his transactions go smoothly and also to report if there is any odd behavior or anything suspicious happening. With you two there to watch him and his affairs, we are almost guaranteed the capture of some of the members of the I.W.P."

He looked over at the clock on the wall and his eyes widened slightly, "Damn. 7:30 already. Look, I have full confidence that you four are more than capable of handling these assignments. If there are any more questions, you may owl me at any point, however now I must get going. I have a meeting in ten minutes that I cannot be late for." As he stood, the other four men in his office followed in suit. "Weasley. DeVerza. You are expected to be at Mr. Rhiney's house at about 12:00. All four of you must make sure to talk to Lisa before you leave, however. She is your check-back point here at the Ministry and you are to contact her for not only changes in your duties but also if anything happens."

He grabbed a long cloak and headed for the door. Before leaving the room, he turned around and said, "Good luck." After a couple of seconds, the four men eventually filtered out of the office and back into the corridor.

"Ron, Harry. We'll meet you over at Lisa's office in a minute. Sean and I have some discussing to do but we will talk to you later." With that, Tony and Sean turned and headed over towards Tony's office.

"Well, I guess we should go..." Harry started.

"Yeah. Better to get it done with now..." Ron said glumly.

"I don't know why you are acting so unhappy. This is huge! We're working on one of the biggest cases of the year!"

Ron snorted, "No, Iyou'reI working on one of the biggest cases of the year while I'm stuck playing babysitter to some rich, Lockhart wannabe."

"Oh come off it, Ron. What you're doing is just as important as what I'm doing and you know it."

They approached Lisa's office and stopped outside the door, "Maybe. But I can't help but wish that I could be out there with you mate. Out where all the action is."

"Well, if you really want some action Ron, why didn't you just ask?" a soft, sultry voice chimed in.

Both men turned towards the door and found themselves face to face with Lisa Bremmer. She was a petite woman, just reaching 5'3" when compared to Ron's almost 6' frame and Harry's 5'9" build. However when you looked at her, you would never have guessed her height mainly because she was never seen without a pair of ridiculously high stilettos. Her hair was long and bleached and pulled up into a high ponytail and she wore a dark red lipstick and matching red nail polish that gleamed devilishly. Her robes were a dark green color that was almost black and very tight and low cut. Her eyes were gray and as she looked up into Ron's blue ones, had a suggestive glint behind them. Ron grimaced as he looked down into her eager face.

"Good morning, Lisa," Harry greeted politely.

"I don't know why you try so damned hard to find action out in the world, Ron. All you have to do is go to the right person..." she continued on as if Harry hadn't said anything.

"Well, then I guess I haven't found the right person yet," Ron replied stiffly. He had never cared much for the suggestive secretary and especially since the incident two weeks ago, Ron found that more than ever he wanted to stay away from this woman.

"That's a shame, but maybe you'll change your mind... You seemed pretty willing only a couple weeks ago."

"Look, can you just give us the rest of our mission info so we can go?" Ron asked heatedly.

"I can't. Not until your mission leaders come back at least." She smiled playfully and walked back into her office. "Why don't you two come in and take a seat. Relax. I won't bite. I promise." She smiled sweetly and pointed to the two chairs in front of her desk. With a quick glance toward one another, they finally walked in and sat down.

"So Harry, how about you? Anyone spark your interest lately?"

Harry looked over towards Ron quickly and then chuckled, "No, can't say that anyone has."

"What's the problem? None fitting of your standards? Or is it maybe that you are just a little shy?" She giggled lightly, "I do believe that it was Mae West who said 'He who hesitates is a damned fool'."

Harry merely smiled and replied, "You can pretend to be serious; you can't pretend to be witty."

Ron snorted and grinned while Lisa's smile vanished off her face. However a knock at the door stopped all further conversation pertaining to any of their love lives as Sean and Tony entered the room.

"Sorry 'bout makin' you wait," Sean said as he walked in. "So Lisa. What have you got for us?"

Lisa who had recovered somewhat merely said, "Just more detailed versions of what Shacklebolt told you earlier, plus some rules and regulations as to what you can and can't do, say, etcetera, etcetera. You know the drill boys. Basically, all you have to know is that whenever you do something that affects your mission, you need to notify the Ministry, namely myself, so that it can be cleared and covered. Now in your case," she said indicating Ron and Tony, "Since you two are supposed to be watching over Mr. Rhiney 24/7, there are a few more things that apply to you that don't apply to Mr. McLean and Mr. Potter. For example, you are to have at least one of you within a reasonable distance of Mr. Rhiney at all times, while the other can go off to do investigating, or whatever tickles your fancy.

"Really boys, just use your common sense and no one will have to worry about Shacklebolt's foot being shoved up their arse because they didn't follow protocol."

"Duly noted, Lisa," Tony laughed. "So are we free to go?"

"Yes, just take these mission planers and you are free to go." As the four of them got up to leave, Lisa called out to Ron who spun around before exiting, "Oh and Ron? Good luck with finding your 'action'." She winked and he walked out, shaking his head.

"Blimey..." he muttered to himself.

"I guess I'd better watch out. From the way she was acting around you, I might have to worry about losing my spot as second most eligible bachelor."

"Oh, bugger off Harry," Ron replied grumpily.

"Aw, it's all right mate. You're a good man and I don't mind sharing the title with you."

"Good bye, Harry," Ron said pointedly.

Harry laughed, "I'll see you later, Ron. Try to Floo me if you can."

"I will. See ya, Harry."

As he watched Harry go meet up with Sean, Ron breathed in a deep sigh and turned back to Tony.

"So rookie, are you ready to go?"

He sighed again, "Let's go."

Just review, that's all I ask.