THE MINISTRY WASN'T THE SAME AFTER LYDIA LEFT. Or maybe it just seemed that way to Leo now that he was stuck with Nicholas Finch as his partner. Because even though he was no longer the newest member to the department, he was still viewed as the newest one. A kid that couldn't manage himself on a case on his own. Finch however demanded control and respect as soon as he walked into the department, and that was exactly what he got from Scrimgeour. Despite Leo's experience in America, or even what he had under his belt just since he moved to the Ministry...Finch had taken Lydia's place as the boss of the two of them.

"...Leo?"

Leo looked up abruptly from the Daily Prophet that he had opened on his desk THE MOST EXTRAVEGANT CHALLENGE YET was the main headline as they began to release what they knew about the third and final challenge of the Triwizard Tournament. "Hm?"

Nick sighed heavily, rolling his eyes a bit. "Did you hear anything I said?" he questioned.

Leo shook his head, "Of course not, I was reading so I wasn't paying attention." he stated, earning a glare from his new partner.

"Borgin and Burkes was ransacked yesterday," he said simply, pausing a moment to see if it would jog Leo's memory, but Leo didn't react the way that Nick had hoped for. "I asked if you wanted to take point when we get there to talk to Mr. Borgin."

Leo shook his head, leaning back in his chair, "Isn't that your area of expertise? I thought I was just the muscle for you to bring along when you want to go ask someone questions."

Nick rolled his eyes again, "Were you this insufferable with your old partner?"

"It would depend on the day you asked her."

Nick let out a long sigh as he seemed to visibly have to bite his tongue to avoid saying something back. The irritation that covered Nick's face brought a bit of a smirk to Leo's face. Of course he knew that with the already blossoming relationship that Nick had with Scrimgeour could easily mean the end of Leo's career if Nick said the right thing to Scrimgeour, but for the time being, Scrimgeour knew that Leo knew far too much. He knew all about what was really happening in Riddle Manor, what had happened to Lydia, if he let Leo go, Leo could wind up blabbing all about it to the Daily Prophet and Scrimgeour would have a bigger issue on his hands than just a pair of Auror's who didn't enjoy working together.

"Let's get this over with then, shall we?" Nick questioned as he picked up his wand from his desk and rose to his feet.

       The two men made their way out of the department and to the hall of fireplaces, it was a quiet afternoon at the Ministry of Magic. Instead of the hall being crowded, witches and wizards practically crammed against one another, there was room to move. There were even pairs and small groups standing around chatting with each other. One conversation sounded quite heated as they passed it.

      Once they approached a fireplace, Finch stepped in first and right away green flames surrounded him and he was gone. In the blink of an eye he had left Leo to follow him. Which Leo wasn't exactly fond of. If it had been up to him, Leo would be the one leading the way. But Scrimgeour had other ideas when he partnered Leo with someone like Nick Finch. So reluctantly, Leo stepped into the fireplace and disappeared in the green flames. Quickly finding himself standing in a dark fireplace in Borgin and Burke's.

           The shop was still in bad shape from their break in. At least Leo thought it was, there was still goods tossed around on the floor. Mainly books that had been tossed from their display in the window or the shelves around the store. While other shelves were still cluttered and looked untouched. However the glass store front that had been the display for the books that were thrown about the store was shattered into pieces, leaving shards of glass all over the store floor.

"About bloody time," an older gentlemen stepped out from a backroom, his hair ruffled, and his arms already crossed firmly over his chest. Leo recognized his instantly from his parents visits to the shop when they were in London. "I sent in for help an hour ago."

"It's been a busy day, sir," Nick said calmly in response to him.

A lie. Leo thought to himself, the two of them had just been busy not speaking to one another and were waiting for Scrimgeour to give them a case.

"Eating cauldron cakes maybe." the man replied, causing Leo to stifle a bit of a laugh while he turned his head as if to turn to look at what was on top of the fireplace. "You'd think a robbery in Knockturn Alley, in a shop that holds objects and books like Life in the After: A Compilation of Creation and Theory by Griffen Wilckerson compilation would be a bit higher up on your bloody busy agenda. Instead, I've had to wait around, not touch a single thing, and have had to stay closed. Most of my business comes in the early hours of the day, you know."

"Again, we're sorry about that." Nick said, trying to acknowledge the mans' rambling as little as possible. "Everything is how it was when you arrived this morning?"

"Mr. Burke lives just on the other side of the shop." Leo said quickly, "My parents were frequent shoppers."

Mr. Burke looked a bit taken aback, and looked a bit surprised to see Leo standing there. He had been focused on Nick being the first one there. "Well, if it isn't Leo Black in the flesh, it's good to see you, my boy!" he exclaimed clapping a hand on Leo's shoulder. "Afraid I haven't seen your parents here for years, but as I recall you and your brother, what's his name?"

"Atticus-"

"-Yes! Atticus! You two would usually knock over a display or two every time you came in. Earned me a shiny sickle every time your father had to buy something if it got damaged."

Nick stood a few feet away, his eyes watching Mr. Burke in a bit of a shock. "Mr. Burke did you get here-"

"So do you have a misses yet?"

"Uh, no."

"Well, I would love for you to meet my daughter, she's a few years older than you, but has a wonderful job working in the department of mysteries at the Ministry. If you're looking to settle down that is-"

Nick cleared his throat.

"Mr. Burke, my partner does have a few questions to ask you, about the robbery." Leo said quickly, hoping his tone wasn't too sharp and stayed as friendly sounding as possible.

"Oh, of course, of course."

          After another few ramblings from Mr. Burke, it was established that he had been home and was drinking his morning tea (which was peppermint, it wasn't his favorite but it was all he had left in the flat. Nick didn't ask, but Mr. Burke made sure he told them anyway) when he heard the blast that rattled the entire building. Anyone in the building or on the street in front of the store were shook to attention or woken up from their deep sleep. By the time that Mr. Burke ran to his room to get his wand and got to the shop, the intruder was gone and left a mess behind them. Leaving with one vile of unicorn blood, a pinky bone of a Salem Witch who had died in the trials (or so he said. He claimed it had been a muggle who had ended up involved with a witch who put a hex on the muggle, and when they died, the hex stayed with their bones. It was the type of story that made Leo's stomach churn), and then finally his most prized book: Life in the After: A Compilation of Creation and Theory by Griffen Wilckerson.

          Life in the After was a book that was practically children's stories. It was about The Veil, a useless story that was meant to give kids a visual of what dying meant. You leave this world and go on to the next, supposedly hidden somewhere in London out of the muggle's sight, and protected by an ancient force that even wizards couldn't get through. This book was filled with garbage about how it was created and what it was, and what exactly was beyond it.

"Thank you for your help, Leo. It was wonderful to see you again." Mr. Burke said as the two auror's walked back towards the fireplace. This time Leo taking it first. "Next time we're having a dinner party, I'll be sure to send an invite to you."

"That would be great, thank you, Mr. Burke. And I will tell my parents you say hello."

"Oh, yes, Atticus too."

         Leo offered him a small smile and wave before taking a small pinch of floo powdered and dropping it at his feet and uttering the words Ministry of Magic. Despite practically being partnered with Nick and being the one to take orders, he was quite pleased with how it went. He wished he would have let Nick struggle to get anything useful from the wizard a bit longer, but the aggravation in his stance or the way he breathed was satisfaction enough.

And it was only more please when Nick arrived back at the Ministry a moment after he stepped out of the fireplace in the Ministry. The entire walk back to their desks, Nick didn't utter a single word until they sat back down to begin writing a briefing of the interview to give to Scrimgeour.

"So you know him?"

"Who? Burke? Barely. My parents went there every time we were in London."

Nick nodded, "Well he seemed to really like you." he stated.

"I'm a likable person." Leo replied with a small shrug, "And to be fair, Burke is a bit mad. His daughter is in her fifties."

Nick scoffed.

"He seemed to not like you."

"I don't mind not being liked by someone who has dinner parties with death eaters." Nick replied. It didn't take much for Leo to realize what he was saying, Burke, the current owner of Borgin and Burke's, the only shop to still really be functioning in Knockturn Alley, someone who also had more than a couple friends who were death eaters or at least Voldemort sympathizers didn't like Nick right away. A clean cut auror. But immediately wanted to strike up a conversation with a Black, a name that usually meant death eater to a majority of the magical world.

AUTHORS NOTE;
Holy crap, only 6 more chapters to part one! I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter out, but here it is :') Leo is still my favorite bean.

What do you guys think of Leo's new partner? What do you think Lydia is up to? She vibing or stressing? What are yall wanting to see a bit of in the remainders of part 1?

Please dont leave my comments dry. But still stay classy!
*UNEDITED*