Su pulled her long, straight black hair back into a ponytail. She surveyed the office for a moment; she truly hated Apparating other countries. Being raised a Muggle until she was 11, and her family being all Muggles, she certainly was used to planes. She enjoyed planes. Sighing, she threw her bag over her shoulder and Apparated.

The crushing feeling of Apparition didn't last long, she reappeared in the Apparition Chamber at the Chinese Ministry of Magic a moment later. The Chinese Ministry was laid out differently than the one in England. It was bigger, too, having ten floors of used offices and one floor that was only used as a lobby. Weaving through the crowds, she headed to the lift at the end of a long hallway. She slid inside just as the doors were closing, happy she didn't have to wait in the crowd for another one to become available.

"What floor?" a wizard asked in Chinese.

She smiled. She love the language, the way it sounded, the way it flowed off the lips without being abrupt. She racked her mind for the floor where the meeting was. "Five, I think," she said in fluent Chinese without a hint of an accent.

The wizard jabbed the number. Slowly, the lift went upward, dropping off wizards and witches on the first four floors before she could escape the cramped lift herself. A witch and a wizard followed her, in rapid Chinese they discussed politics and an upcoming meeting between the Chinese and the British Ministries. That's why I'm here, Su thought to herself smugly without saying anything. It was odd. The moment she entered the atmosphere, her own thoughts translated into Chinese.

She reached the meeting room, room 5b, but it was empty. She sighed glancing down at her watch. It was midnight in Britain which made it 8am here. The meeting didn't start until nine. She muttered to herself for being here too early. She had had no plans for Halloween, having this trip thrown on her two days before. Michael had been as jealous as ever, she had seen it in his eyes each time she accidentally caught him looking toward her. She knew it wasn't intentional... at least she hoped it had nothing to do with trust, but still, she wished she knew a way to soothe his worries.

Having an hour to kill, she pulled out two pieces of parchment and a quill from her bag. As qickly as she could, she jotted down two notes.

She looked down at her notes and smiled. Good enough, she thought, tossing her quill back in her bag and standing up. She charmed her bag to float behind her and folded the two notes before writing the addressees on them. Leaving the empty room, she walked back toward the lifts. It wouldn't be as hard to find one going up but she hoped it wouldn't be crowed. She pressed the up button and sighed, relaxing as she soaked in the people around her, conversations in Chinese, and stress-free environment. This Ministry seemed more lax than the British one. The first lift that stopped was crowded, so she let it go, pushing the button again.

After four separate lifts, she found one that had space enough for her charmed bag to follow her in. There was only two wizards occupying the lift. She pushed floor one and waited as the lifted travelled upward first. Both wizards exited at tenth floor where the Chinese Minister of Magic himself walked inside to join her.

The older man stared at her for a moment, trying to remember where he knew her from. Su smiled at him, extending her hand in polite diplomacy. "Hello, Minister Chen."

"Li Su!" the man said eagerly, clearly needing her to speak to remember her. He shook her hand firmly. "Are you here for the meeting?"

She nodded. "I'm the only one from the British Ministry who came."

"I see. I don't think that will be a problem. I dare say you will be able to return home before the business day is over in London!" The older man grinned at her. He was always good natured, but he was comfortable, hardly eccentric at all. He ran a tight ship at the Chinese Ministry, strict on rules, regulations, and international relations. He was truly more involved with his own ministry's relations with other ministries than the British Ministry of Magic was.

They talked a bit about the issues of that the meeting was called for -- nothing serious. Minister Chen exited at the second floor, eagerly telling her he'd see her in a bit. She smiled. The man just had a way at putting everyone at ease.

She walked to the Owlery without anyone else stopping to talk with her. Borrowing two owls for a small fee, and wishing she had brought her own brown one, aptly named Hese, she sent both her notes off, a smile on her face. She looked down at her watch and quickly headed back up to the meeting room. It never hurt to be early; it only hurt to be late. She was still 15 minutes early to the meeting by the time she arrived, but there were two other witches there.

"Hello," she greeted them as she took an empty seat.

"Hello," they said in unison.

An awkward silence fell over the room. She hated this part of meetings. She hated meetings at all, actually.

Slowly the room began to fill with people, making it more comfortable to be silent.

---

The meeting was quick, as Minister Chen had said. They discussed politics, but there were no disasters. No reason for them to even be there really. It was a waste, and all Su could do was lean back in her seat and try to pay attention. She was tired. It was 3am in London before she left the meeting at 10. Her body was begging for sleep. She knew she had to stay in town for another meeting that night, to go over what they had covered in the first meeting. It was useless to waste energy going back and forth all day, that's why she had opted to stay in Beijing for the few days it would take to get through the meetings. She always opted to stay in Beijing. The city itself was beautiful.

She got a room at a local wizard inn and caught a small nap before she had to go back in to the Ministry. The second meeting was worse than the first; she practically fell asleep sitting in her chair. She caught a lift with two unknown witches, they glanced at her, and one muttered something about her being British. Clearly that had no clue she could understand what they were saying perfectly as they chattered on.

"It's happening tonight," the blond one said, her voice thick with excitement.

"Tonight? Already? Is it because the International Relations meeting?" the other asked.

"Yes. I hear it's going to be a girl from Ireland."

"Ireland?" the second witch flickered her eyes to Su who stared at them blankly, like she couldn't understand. "Why not Britain?"

The first witch laughed. "Because that one is too pretty to die," she said jabbing her finger in Su's direction.

As the witches laughed, Su exited the lift, her skin crawling. She had no idea what they were talking about, but she did not like the sound of it.

Summary: Su goes to Beijing for a meeting, sends out owls, talks to the Chinese Minister himself, and then hears an unsettling conversation in a lift.