-*-

… somewhere downtown London…

A man dressed in a suspicious black cloak lurked in a rundown alley, hiding between buildings and peeking around corners like he was looking for someone. He acted in a very peculiar manner, it was enough to even spark the interest of someone like Finn Dewey.

It had come as a surprise to the Auror when he was picked for this mission because it was clearly important and he wasn't ignorant of how playful he could be at important moments.

There were rumors of a dangerous drug getting peddled around London and as it was only available to a select group of people, they were forced to do some hands-on investigation. His only order was to be on the lookout for anyone acting suspicious and then tail them. That was what he had been doing for the past ten minutes.

It was really difficult for Finn to stealthily stalk the cloaked man because he was constantly agitated like he had a dead body hidden under his voluminous cloak. He also frequently swiveled his head around like he expected to be attacked at any time, it made Finn wary.

This was a really decrepit neighborhood that they were in, it was mostly Muggle-populated but the people that lived here hardly left their houses. The houses in question were all rundown, windows and doors barred that it was hard to believe that people actually lived in them.

The cloaked man that he was after however was a Wizard, he had been hiding in between some buildings when the man went scurrying past, and without thinking Finn went after him.

The cloaked man seemed to not know where he was going but he moved with such purpose and urgency that it was difficult to tell which was it. It made Finn worry that he had been caught and the cloaked man was trying to throw him off his tail.

For this mission, Finn had dressed in the shabbiest clothes he could get his hands on. He wore a brown threadbare shirt and faded black pants, to complete the homeless-man look, he threw on a patched coat that was the color of dirt. He wore rubber work boots on his feet, and a cap to hide his face.

He blended right into the neighborhood, there was no way the cloaked man would notice that he was onto him. There had to be another explanation for why the man behaved so strangely.

The cloaked man finally stopped in front of a wooden shed that seemed to be made by teenagers, the shed was built into the side of a boarded-up house. It was small and consisted of a single door with a crude peephole cut into it.

He knocked on the door and then stepped up to the peephole. The peephole was flipped open and a hushed conversation was held with someone on the other side. The door swung open after a couple of back and forths and the unmistakable exchange of money and drug happened. Finn remained in his hiding spot, watching with wide eyes the scene in front of him.

He had no orders to interfere, all he was supposed to do was spy on the alleged drug peddlers. The wall he was hiding behind chipped under his hand and a small piece of rock fell to the ground alerting the people a few meters away to his presence.

Finn moved immediately, there was no reason to keep hiding but the peddler was faster. He cursed and apparated away the moment Finn apparated to his side, leaving the cloaked man behind. The cloaked man did not seem to care about the happenings around him, hunched over something.

Finn quickly pulled him up to check what it was he was doing but the cloaked man wasn't having it. He snarled like a wild animal who was threatened, clutching what he had gotten from the drug peddler closer.

Subduing the Wizard was practically impossible and Finn could only watch helplessly as the rough-looking Wizard crammed the contents in his hand into his mouth. The hood of his cloak had fallen backward in their tussle and Finn felt sick to his stomach at the sight of the man.

He only had tufts of hair left on his scalp and his face was literally skin stretched over bone, it was a horrifying sight. What exactly did the drug do?

After ingesting whatever it was that he was willing to protect with his life, the Wizard stood up with an expression of bliss on his face. He made no move to run away, handing the wrapper to Finn and smiling like he was telling him that he could have it now.

Finn took the wrapper and flipped it over, his eyes widening. It was a Ro-Bar, a chocolate, caramel, and nut-filled bar that was a product of a well-known Wizarding sweets company. The chocolate bar was known for improving the mood of whoever ate it but it was certainly not addictive.

He glanced from the wrapper to the dazed Wizard, he was evidently in trouble but he couldn't even tell, he seemed to be in a world of his own. He was almost like a zombie.

"Where did you get this from?" Finn asked, his expression grave.

His questioning gave no response, the almost skeletal Wizard just stood and stared at him with that dazed expression on his face like he couldn't hear Finn speak. There was no use questioning him any longer but Finn would have to take him in, he would be very useful evidence to have on hand but even more than that, he had gotten a clue to the drug.

It clearly couldn't be that the man had just been hungry and bought a snack from a suspicious but kind stranger. There was no question that the popular snack Ro-Bar was directly connected to the drug.

The effects of the drug were also dangerously severe, the Wizard's legs turned to putty when Finn tried to move him and he had to support the Wizard as he started the trip back to the Headquarters.

At least his mission had produced decent results, with the right tests done, the contents of the drug might even be discovered.

-*-

… Roberts Mansion…

… Guildford, Surrey. Southwest of Central London…

"Dad? You called?" Roxana peeked into her father's study, a furrow between her brows.

She hadn't been planning on going anywhere that Friday morning so she was dressed in a pink silk bathrobe with her blonde hair up in rollers.

"I hope I didn't interrupt anything?" Her father's gentle voice and worried expression greeted her.

"Not at all." She smiled, gliding inside his study. "Is there something you need?"

Rowan Roberts stared at his only daughter who was a replica of her mother, her mother who had abandoned them when she found out about what they were.

He frowned, his neatly trimmed blond beard already showing flecks of gray. He didn't like to trouble his daughter with issues like this but the matter was too severe for her not to be informed.

Ro-Bar was his most successful product and it wasn't the only thing on the line, his position was on the line as well. Getting all the ingredients included in the chocolate bar to be approved by the Ministry had been a stretch so any misstep would be fatal.

"I received reports that Ro-Bars were being mass infused with a highly addictive drug and then being resold on the market." Rowan said heavily, resting his elbows on his desk.

Roxana's smile fell off her face at her father's words. "What? Who would do such a thing?"

Rowan's smart gray eyes narrowed, it wasn't difficult to guess who was the brains behind the evil plot to bring him down but he would spare his daughter that knowledge. "I have no clue but it doesn't matter who did it now, the damage has already been done."

"How long has this been happening?" Roxana inquired, the serious expression on her face at odds with her beautiful features.

"A little over two weeks." Rowan laced his fingers, fighting the urge to pace, he didn't want Roxana to find out just how agitated he was. "I hoped that I would be able to resolve it quickly but it spiraled out of my control." He mused. "The only course of action is to involve the Ministry, it'll only keep the fire from our doorstep but it won't take us off their suspect list."

Roxana's eyes widened. "People from the Ministry are coming to the house?"

"Yes, I invited them although it's possible that they have already found out about the drug." Rowan noted her shock and quickly reassured her. "You don't have to interact with them, I just wanted you to be the one to tell you what's going on."

Roxana leaned back in her seat, deep in thought. Someone was framing her father by infusing a dangerously addictive drug into his company's product. It hit a little too close to home, the person behind it was someone that knew him well.