Harry went to bed early so he could stare at the ceiling for a few hours and try to think through his new feelings. He kept getting distracted by remembering Draco's smile and the way he laughed when Harry said something funny, but he did try. It wasn't Harry's fault Draco was so distracting. He was the human equivalent of a neon sign with a kicking leg and a saucy wink.

In the end, a few hours turned into many, and Harry didn't end up getting much sleep.

When he arrived at the Ministry the next morning, it seemed eerily quiet. The normally crowded atrium only had a few people walking across the tiles, which echoed loudly without all the extra bodies there to adsorb the noise. The lift was blissfully empty, a rare treat he only usually had experienced working the night shift. When it was full, inevitably there would be one person who hadn't bothered with the cleaning charms and smelled like centaur ass or exploded potions or fear flop sweat. The later usually wafting from clerks that worked in the upper levels and thus Harry got to smell them the whole way up.

"You're late," was the first thing Draco said when he came into the office.

"You leave early, I can come in late," Harry said through a yawn.

"Oh really, is that how it works now?" Draco asked.

"There are no rules," Harry said, sitting in the chair across the desk from Draco, "Except wear a stupid suit, apparently."

Draco frowned, "I ought to make up more rules. I can't believe I neglected something so important."

Harry rolled his eyes and asked "Coffee?"

"Asbestos already left," Draco said.

Harry leaned on the edge of the desk with a groan. He had been looking forward to some coffee.

"That's what you get for coming in late," Draco said smugly.

Harry consoled himself by staring at Draco. He was wearing the same suit as yesterday, not that Harry would have been able to tell one way or another. The shirt under the jacket and vest was different though. Draco had worn lighter colours before, grey and pale blue sorts, but today it was a dark blue with thin white lines that stood out boldly against the stark white suit cloth.

"-ror Potter?" Draco tried to snap his fingers in front of Harry's face, but he was really bad at it, barely making any noise.

Harry slowly dragged his gaze up, lingering on the line of Draco's throat, which jumped as he watched. He looked higher, and Draco looked almost alarmed, the tops of his pale cheeks a blotchy pink.

"What?" Harry asked.

Draco opened his mouth and closed it again and abruptly looked away, "Nothing."

Harry kept staring because it was nice. "...Your hair is loose," he said absently.

Draco irritably tried to brush his fine white-blond hair back, but it immediately fell into his eyes, "Some of us like to be to work on time. So I didn't have time to style my hair."

"That's alright, you use too much sleek-easy anyway. This is nicer," Harry said.

The pink blotches became far redder, and Harry grinned.

"It gets in my eyes," Draco muttered.

Harry stood up, "I haven't done my hair either."

"Hadn't noticed," Draco said sarcastically.

"Have you used the mirror in the bathroom?" Harry asked.

"I've used plenty of mirrors." Draco said, "If you're asking if I visited the facilities on this floor, no. Have you seen the people that work here?"

Harry stood up and gestured for Draco to follow him, "Come on then. You ought to meet the mirror. I bet you two hit it off like aces."

"Hit it off like aces? That's not a thing. People don't say that," Draco said, following Harry to the bathroom looking utterly confused, "Are you having a stroke?"

Harry laughed again, "No. That would make more sense." He fished his little tin of sleek-easy out of his pocket and set it on the counter in front of the sink, "Mirror, meet Draco. Draco, meet mirror."

Draco looked at him like he had lost his mind.

Harry grabbed Draco's arm and dragged him in front of the mirror.

"Oh my. You know all the best people," the mirror said. Draco's reflection looked down at himself and brushed his hands over his suit, "Very nice. Exceptional dresser."

"Of course," Draco said automatically as if he was insulted by the very notion that he might be anything other than.

"How would you do his hair?" Harry asked over Draco's question.

Draco frowned, "The way I do my hair is fine."

"I would have said the same about my hair before-"

"Yes, well unlike you I'm not blind," Draco said.

"Shut it," Harry said, "but this mirror showed me how to do my hair so it's all-"

"Intentionally messy," the mirror said.

"Right," Harry said.

"A massive improvement, but anything would have been," Draco said.

Harry sighed, "If you're just going to be a prick, you might as well move and let me do my hair."

"I was not-"

Harry pushed his way in front of the sink.

"Hey!"

"You were a bit of a prick, darling," the mirror chided.

Harry turned on the water, letting it run over his hands and wetting his hair until it was damp.

"Was not," Draco muttered childishly.

Harry paused for a second then quickly flipped his hair back, showering Draco with water which left him sputtering and cursing.

"I wanted to try something new today," the mirror said.

"Yeah?" Harry said warily.

"Have I ever led you wrong before?" the mirror said.

"Not yet," Harry said.

"Wonderful," the mirror said excitedly, and Harry watched as his reflection picked up the tin of sleek-easy. "It's similar to the way I showed you before, but this way will give you more defined curls."

Harry wasn't sure he needed more curls, but he figured it couldn't hurt to try and followed the mirror's directions which used more water, more sleek-easy and scrunching the two into his hair.

Draco stood nearby, leaning one hip against the counter and watching, which made Harry feel a bit self-conscious.

"Like this?" Harry asked when the mirror stopped talking, his hair was still wet and dripping down his neck. "Should I dry it?"

"No!" The mirror said frantically.

Harry grimaced.

"If you dry it too quickly it will get frizzy," Draco said. He reached for his pocket and then stopped with a quiet, "no wand, right." He shook off the moment as if had never happened, "Wand out, Auror Potter, I'll teach you a gentle drying charm."

"Wand out," Harry snickered, drawing his wand from its hostler under his jacket.

Draco fought down a smirk trying to look disapproving, "What are you five?" he took Harry's hand, angling his hand just so and showing him the wand movement.

Harry wanted to sigh, "Can you show me again?"

"It's a very simple charm, first years manage it," Draco said.

"Yeah, well..." that's not the problem, Harry didn't say, being extremely distracted by how gentle Draco was being. "...just show me a couple times, okay?"

"Fine," Draco sighed, as patient as ever as he guided Harry through the movement a few more times before stepping back, "Got it?"

"Theoretically. What do I say?" Harry said.

"Lenis ventus," Draco said.

"Lenis ventus," Harry said, his wand moving the way Draco had shown him more out of muscle memory than any conscious thought on his part. A soft breeze swirled out of his wand, blowing Draco's hair back from his face in a fine frizzy cloud. Draco stared at him with a flat, entirely unamused expression.

Harry grinned at him.

Draco grabbed Harry's hand and moved it like a hairdryer, aiming it at one side of his head, then the other, slowly drying it. But he looked like he wanted to do more.

Harry nodded at Draco's hovering hesitation, "Go ahead, you know what you're doing."

"I know how it's supposed to work, but I've never done it. We have very different hair," Draco said.

"It's fine, it's just hair," Harry said.

Draco frowned, he was starting to blush again. He carefully used his fingers to move a curl here or there, still hesitant, barely touching him. It still managed to make Harry shiver.

Draco glanced at Harry and then nervously back at his hair, "Stop staring."

"It's your best feature, I'm just enjoying the view," Harry said and was rather impressed with himself for coming up with it.

Draco made a noise in the back of his throat and very deliberately didn't look at Harry.

Harry thought that for someone who said shameless flirty nonsense all the time he had a lot of gall to be shy when Harry said something back. Harry was pretty numb to that sort of thing. Most days he had a marriage proposal before lunch; and just about every paper and magazine took time out of their busy schedule to speculate everything about him, from who he was dating, to if he was everywhere in proportion.

"Done," Draco said, stepping back.

Harry looked at himself in the mirror. His hair was less intentionally messy, and more nice shiny waves and curls. It was probably the nicest his hair had ever looked.

"You really ought to invest in a nice conditioner," the mirror said, "Wash your hair first and leave the conditioner on until right before you get out. And when you get out, take a little conditioner and work it back into your damp hair. It will make your hair much smoother and better moisturised."

"If I remember," Harry said. It seemed like a lot of trouble, and it's not like anyone in the aurors would care.

"My turn," Draco said, waving at Harry to move.

"Oh, now you care," Harry said.

"Most of the time these mirrors are just mouthy critics," Draco said. "It's rare to find one that's actually useful."

"Am I supposed to be pleased with such a backhanded compliment?" the mirror said. Still showing Harry's reflection, he shook his head and then gestured broadly to himself, "I am an entirely different class of enchantment. They don't make mirrors like me anymore, I won't be compared to the cheap trash they charm nowadays."

Draco stared.

"Dra-"

"I'm going to steal this mirror," Draco said.

"No." Harry said, "No, you're not."

"Oh, please steal me!" The mirror called.

Harry shook a finger at the mirror, "Don't you encourage him."

His reflection stuck out his tongue.

"I might as well once the Liar's Department is gone," Draco said, "No one here is going to appreciate the poor thing."

"I am ever so unappreciated," the mirror said in a wheedling tone.

Harry sighed, "Have you forgotten that I'm an auror?"

"Have you forgotten that you're a Liar right now, auror Potter?" Draco said.

"I'm going to go back to being an auror-" Harry started.

"Catch me then," Draco said and raised an eyebrow.

"You've just given me motive and intent! You practically confessed!" Harry said.

Draco grinned, "That will make it all the more embarrassing when you fail."

Harry let himself be elbowed out of the way and took up Draco's spot leaning on the counter, crossing his arms over his chest.

"-your hair is just so fine," the mirror was saying, "It's terribly limiting, even slightly too much product can weigh it down."

"Trust me, I know," Draco said.

"What do you normally do?" the mirror asked.

"Water and sleek-easy, combed back," Draco said, sliding his and over his hair and pulling it back to a dry approximation of his usual hairstyle. He cast a sidelong glare at Harry, "And I don't use too much sleek-easy."

Harry raised his eyebrows.

"When I was young I might have, but now I only use as much as I absolutely need to hold the style," Draco said.

"Still more than your hair probably likes," the mirror said.

Draco transferred the glare from Harry to the mirror, but his refection just smirked back at him.

The way the mirror moved reminded Harry a little of how Draco had been in fifth year, before everything had gone wrong.

Harry frowned down at his crossed arms.

"What do you think of this?" the mirror asked, showing Draco a different way to style his hair.

"What do you mean, once the Liar's Department is gone?" Harry said, "Hermione will get you another job, with the Obliviators or the Muggle-worthy excuses committee."

Draco kept his eyes fixed on the mirror, wetting his hair and drawing a thin comb from the inside pocket of his jacket, "And what exactly do you think I'm going to be able to do without magic?"

"Well, she still wants to keep the- the Liar's part, it would just be a part of one of the other departments rather than it's own thing."

Draco snorted deprecatingly, "That's very optimistic of her. But once the Liar's Department is gone, there's nothing making them keep me. I'm not only useless-"

"You aren't-"

"-magically speaking," Draco amended, sounding bemused by Harry's protest, "but I'm... a liability, so to speak. Any department taking me on will look bad." He paused and took a breath, though he kept his tone light and blasé, "I'm bad press."

"They'd get over it once they saw how good you are," Harry said.

"No, they wouldn't," Draco said under his breath.

"Just a little sleek-easy," the mirror interrupted.

Draco held up a fingertip with a dab of hair potion on it.

"Less! Less! Pea-sized. A small pea," the mirror demanded.

"Draco-" Harry started.

"Not that again," Draco said.

"What, again?" Harry asked.

Draco gave him a look, "The 'Draco' thing. You've proved your point, but I'm not going to budge."

Harry wanted to roll his eyes, "That's not why I'm doing it-"

"You might recall that I have been applying for jobs of every conceivable kind for years now," Draco said, jumping back to the other conversation, "and this is the first to ever accept me and it was only because Syrup wanted to sabotage the department."

"That doesn't change the fact that you're good at it," Harry said.

"Who's ever cared about that?" Draco said, a touch of bitterness seeping into his tone, "They're going to make you Head Auror after all."

"Thanks for the reminder," Harry muttered.

Draco carefully combed his hair, creating a new part to one side. The touch of sleek-easy kept the hair from flying away, but it was less than he usually used. Harry still preferred Draco's hair loose but... it looked nice.

"You have to understand, Auror Potter," Draco said flippantly, gesturing broadly with his comb, "I don't need a job; the Malfoy family is still absurdly wealthy. I simply wanted to experience what one was like." He tucked the comb back in his jacket and carefully straightened his sleeves.

That sounded like bullshit to Harry. It sounded more like Draco was trying to convince himself that it was okay and he wasn't going to be upset about it.

Draco gave him an exasperated look, "It's been fun, and that's more than I ever expected."

He pulled open the door and the mirror called after him, "I'll be waiting! Steal me anytime! I'll never tell!"

Harry glared at the mirror and mouthed a definite 'NO,' but his refection just rolled his eyes.

The problem, Harry thought as they went back to the office, was that he had been counting on Draco being here. That he could still see him and visit the office and help him via the auror's. If Draco left, it would be a lot harder to- to have this, the easy chatting and joking, and to see him all the time.

Asbestos was sitting on the desk when they returned, wearing what looked like a firefighter's costume; with a thin plasticy coat and pants with yellow reflective stripes sewed on, and a cheap plastic red helmet. She had had to cut some of the plastic away at the sides so she could wear it without her ears getting in the way.

"Hope we didn't keep you too long, Asbestos," Draco said.

"Pah," Asbestos said, "Was hoping you had left."

"Good morning to you too, Asbestos," Harry said.

Asbestos gave him a tired look, then plucked out a coffee cup from the drinks carrier beside her, holding it out to him.

"For me?" Harry said excitedly. He had the drink half-way to his mouth before he got suspicious. "What's in it?"

Asbestos smirked, "Potter-man wasn't here, so Asbestos picked."

Harry stared at the cup. On the one hand, it might end up tasting like absolute tripe, on the other, he really wanted coffee. He took a tentative sip and coughed. "fuck," he managed and winced, "that's so sweet. Is there any coffee in this or is it just syrup?"

Asbestos sighed at him, "No taste."

"Your sweet-tooth is atrocious, and we both know it," Draco said.

"Asbestos knows what is good and knows that you two are stupid," Asbestos said.

"Fair enough," Draco said, retrieving the other smaller coffee next to Asbestos' massive sugary creation topped with whipped cream and rainbow sprinkles.

Harry took another sip, hoping sugar could substitute for caffeine, but put the cup down when he heard the sound of someone running, and then not slowing down fast enough, running into the door and then struggling it open it.

"Oh! Oh, you're here!" Junior Auror Kalya said breathless, her black hair flying wildly around her face, "Emergency! You have to come! Now!"

Kalya stopped and spun around, "Is there an apparition point on this floor? There has to be, right? In case of fire or flood or perpetually replicating rabbits-"

"Your emergency portkey, Junior!" Harry called over her panicking, "It's keyed to your last point of apparition."

"Right right right," Kalya said quickly patting down her pockets until she found a thin paper envelope and upended it on the desk, sending a broken piece of clothes-pin skittering across the surface.

"Hands together," Harry said, holding his hand out above the clothes-pin. "We have to stay touching when we make contact with the object in order to be transported."

"I know how a portkey works," Draco said, stepping around the desk so he could put his hand next to Harry's, their fingers brushing.

Harry glanced over at Draco, who was very deliberately staring at their hands. He put his hand over Draco's, weaving their fingers together as Kalya grabbed them both and guided them down onto the portkey. It activated as soon as they touched it and in a single twisting lurching moment, dragged them from the office to a closed bathroom stall far too small for three people.

"Ah!" Kalya shouted, stumbling into the door.

For a single, breathless moment Draco wavered backwards, the backs of his knees pressed against the porcelain toilet bowl. Harry grabbed the front of his suit and pulled him back before Draco fell into the loo.

"I don't- I don't remember closing the door," Kalya said apologetically. "Uh, umm. I need a little more room to get it open."

"You- you're wrinkling my suit," Draco said stiffly.

Harry let go, and wrapped an arm around Draco's waist instead, solving both problems in one movement as he stepped in close.

Draco's mouth opened, but no sound came out, his ears turning red.

"That enough room?" Harry asked.

There was a click as Kalya unlocked the door and tried to open it and squeeze around the two of them, "A-almost..."

Harry held Draco even tighter, so they were pressed chest to chest. He grinned nervously at Draco's silence. Draco was warm, the fabric of his suit smooth against Harry's skin.

"Okay! Okay, I'm out!" Kalya said from the other side of the half-open door.

Harry spread his hand a possessively over Draco's back, broad and leanly muscled.

"We need to go!" Kalya said. Much quieter, she said, "Shunter is going to kill me."

"Auror Potter," Draco said, his voice strained.

Harry breathed in.

"Potter," Draco said, his face turning pink as a sunburn.

Harry blinked and stepped back, the edge of the door jamming into his shoulder and pivoting him painfully out of the bathroom stall with a hiss of pain.

"Come on! Come on!" Kalya said, waving them outside.

"Merlin, use your head sometime, would you?" Draco sighed and stepped around Harry, but for a second, his hand brushed over Harry's shoulder and the tender ache that still lingered from the metal door.

Harry couldn't stop the smile on his face as he followed them out into what turned to be a massive indoor shopping centre. An indoor shopping centre on a saturday. There were people literally everywhere, frozen in place, a world holding its breath as they carefully dodged around the masses and headed towards the centre.

"Junior! What is this? I told you to get the Obliviators!" Shunter snapped as they came in sight.

"Sir! Sorry, Sir! They weren't there!" Kalya said.

"They weren't there?!" Shunter said, her harshly pulled back hair was frizzing around the edges in a physical manifestation of her frustration.

"The office was empty, and the receptionist said they were already called out. I sent a patronus, but there was no response, so I thought- I thought I should try to do something and so-" Kalya gestured back to Harry and Draco.

"I commend you for trying to do something, Junior, however we have a magic exposure that involves possibly up to a hundred people!" Shunter said. She turned and looked at the crowded food court in dismay.

The other Junior J- just J, Harry was tired of guessing what his name might be, ran up the stairs and joined them, "Perimeter secured, wards are set, sir!"

"Good," Shunter said even as she shook her head, "We have maybe fifteen minutes before muggle media and authorities start to take notice. Send another Patronus for the Obliviators and tell them its an emergency of the highest order." She turned to J and told him, "Send a patronus to the Department of mysteries and tell them time dilation may be needed and to send someone."

Harry looked from Shunter and the frantically casting Juniors, to Malfoy, standing off to one side with his arms crossed.

"What's the situation?" Harry asked.

Shunter narrowed her eyes.

"We're here, what would it hurt?" Harry said.

"I could think of half a dozen things off the top of my head," Shunter said.

"Sir," Harry said. He could see Draco rolling his eyes and ignored him.

Shunter sighed, "The perpetrator used various spells to alter muggle bodies. We don't know what their intent was-"

"Altered how?" Draco asked.

"...One has antlers, another bunny ears and one has a pig snout... we almost managed to stop that one," Shunter said. "It's a mess."

"How easy are they to dispell?" Draco asked.

"Seconds," Shunter said, "But that's not the problem. The problem is all the people that have already seen the transformations."

"Right..." Draco said thoughtfully.

Shunter started to say something, but Harry held up his hand in a silent gesture to wait. Which earned him a look that he would normally deeply deeply regret, but Draco was thinking, and Harry wanted him to succeed here more than anything. No one would be able to doubt Draco's skill at his job if he could clear this up.

"Have- Have you ever seen any television?" Draco asked.

"Probably more than you have," Harry said.

"You had a head start," Draco said dismissively. "As I was saying, I once saw a program about a man doing magic on the street. I couldn't believe they just allowed magic to be done in front of people like that and Jeremy laughed at me and said it was all fake. Sleight of hand, I think he called it."

"Yeah, muggles do a sort of magic with sleight of hand and clever tricks," J said. Everyone turned to look at him, and he immediately turned into a stuttering mess. "I, uh-am-well, m-muggleborn."

"Oh. I get it," Kalya said, "We could pretend it was all a stunt for a tv program."

"We'd need..." Harry thought, "A camera? Maybe a microphone?"

"I shall be the magician!" Draco said, sweeping his arm out in an extravagant bow, "The great, the marvellous, the magical...." he thought for a second then said, "Mephistopheles!"

"What? What sort of name is that?" Harry said.

"It's from Faust, you philistine," Draco said.

"I meant, it sounds like something from the fifties. I'm pretty sure magician's just go by their name nowadays," Harry said.

"Well, I like it," Draco said.

"Look here-" Shunter started.

"Will this work?" Kalya said hurrying back though none of them had seen her leave. She had a big black camera perched on her shoulder, "I transfigured a trash bin. I think it looks enough like a tv camera. I even put some blinking lights on it."

"Junior-" Shunter said.

Harry's brow furrowed, "I thought you said, you were bad at transfiguration."

"Oh, I lied," Kalya said, "I was afraid I'd mess up because I was so nervous talking to you."

"She was top of our training class," J said quietly, he picked up an empty drinks cup from a nearby table and transfigured it into a grey and silver microphone, "Here."

"Are any of you listening? Have I been hit with a silencing spell without noticing?" Shunter said in dismay, putting her hands on her hips.

"Me?" Harry said.

"Of course, you shall be the- the person with the microphone," Draco said, pushing the microphone into Harry's hand.

"The host of the tv program," Kalya said with a giggle.

"I- No-" Harry said.

"But you're-" J gestured to Harry which made him look down at himself, and the damn suit. Of course. Only he and Malfoy looked like they might be on tv. The rest of them were still in police bobby uniforms.

"Listen!" Shunter said, snapping her fingers, charming their mouths closed with a click and a good deal of shocked silence. "I haven't authorised this plan. We wait until the Oblivators arrive and then do things the way we always have."

Kalya's shoulders slumped, and she sighed in disappointment.

Shunter pushed her sleeve back to check her watch and frowned. When she looked up, Draco met her frown with an absolutely insufferable smirk.

"Fifteen minutes goes by fast, doesn't it?" Draco said.

Harry elbowed him in the side.

"...Alright, times up, and we haven't heard from any other departments so..." Shunter grimaced as if the words were painful to say, "I authorise this plan to go forward post-haste."

"Excellent," Draco said. He told the Juniors, "Off with the uniforms."

They stared at him.

"You must wear something under those ugly robes. You have to blend in," Draco said.

J tapped the badge on his uniform to turn it from a bobby uniform back to a robe which he took off and shrunk down, stuffing it into his pocket. He took the camera from Kalya, and she did the same.

"Is this how you make friends?" Harry asked.

"I don't make friends, I buy them," Draco said flippantly.

Harry had to wonder why he liked this little shit. He contented himself with a sighed, "Liar."

"Boy Auror and Boss Auror will dispell the magic at the correct time," Draco said

Shunter frowned, "And what is the right time?"

"At the ta-dah moment," Draco said.

"What?" Shunter said flatly.

"The 'ta-dah' moment," Draco said more slowly for the hard of thinking.

Shunter looked a bit like she wanted to punch Draco, which was a feeling Harry knew quite well.

"I get it. I know what he means," J said.

"Good," Draco said, "Girl Junior, you hold the camera and follow us."

"I'm not a girl," Kalya said.

Draco raised an eyebrow.

Kalya pulled back her shoulders defiantly, "I'm just- just a person. You can use whatever pronouns, I don't care, but- I don't like being called a girl."

"Non-binary Auror, you shall hold the camera and follow us," Draco said.

Kalya smiled, "Y-Yes! Right!" she grabbed the camera and settled it on her shoulder, "Ready to go!"

"When you see sparks release the freezing spell." Draco told Shunter and scanned the food court, "We shall go, over there," he pointed to a planter overflowing with fern fronds near the cluster of transfigured people, easily spotted by the antlers peeking over the crowd.

"How do you know about- about non-binary things?" Harry asked, following in Draco's wake as he seemed to effortlessly step around the frozen people without running into them or almost falling over his own feet.

Draco reached back, catching Harry's arm before he fell and pulled him along, "You are so clumsy."

"Not when it matters," Harry said.

Draco rolled his eyes.

"So how do you know-"

"I learned," Draco said. He pushed some of the ferns out of the way so they could step into the mass of green out of sight.

"But-"

"Not now, it would take to long to explain," Draco said

"Should I send up sparks?" Harry asked.

Draco shook his head, "I need something to obscure the change, something to make it more sleight of hand, more-"

"Ta-dah?" Harry asked.

"Yes," Draco said, "Any ideas?"

"A big sheet?" Harry said.

Draco's brow furrowed, "Are you taking the piss?"

"No, no like when they make thing disappear on stage, the magician throws a sheet over them and then when they pull it off the thing's gone," Harry said.

Draco nodded to himself, thinking, "...yes, that's suitably dramatic. Can you transfigure something?"

Harry looked around and grabbed a some abandoned paper napkins from the closest table, turning them into a large white cloth. It was gossamer thin, he couldn't see through it but could still see the shadow of his palm underneath.

"Perfect-"

"Thanks," Harry said.

"I doubt you did it this well on purpose, but I'm glad for the happy accident," Draco said.

"You could have left it at perfect," Harry said.

"And let you get an even bigger head than you already have? I think not," Draco said. "Are you ready?"

Harry nodded and passed over the cloth, the microphone in one hand and his wand in the other as he shot a small burst of white sparks into the air.

They waited until the last sparks dissipated and a breath later all the air and noise came into the room, people moving and laughing, and a startled shout and scream-

Draco was already moving, pushing through the crowds with confidence, Kalya and Harry hurrying to keep up in his wake.

They broke into the centre of a growing circle of people pointing and staring, some with phones in their hands. Harry eased the tip of his wand out of his sleeve, casting a modified draining spell to siphon all the power from their phone batteries. The lights overhead flickered at the draw of power and harry quickly pushed his wand out of sight even as the shouts of dismay from all the phones going black joined the excitable screams of those who found power flickering to be particularly scary.

The three transfigured people looked to be teenagers, maybe fifteen or sixteen. A girl with immaculately curled hair and makeup was clutching the antlers coming out of her temples with a look of utter horror. There were two lads with her, the one with the pig nose was going cross-eyed staring at his new snout, while the other seemed utterly frozen in shock except one hand that was unconsciously petting a long floppy bunny ear.

Draco stepped in the middle, the white cloth clinging to his shoulders like a cape, billowing out behind him with his every move. He smiled, confident and bright, his hair practically glittering under the halogen lights as he spread his hands, effortlessly capturing everyone's attention.

Kalya pushed past Harry's shoulder, hurrying to get in front of Draco with her fake camera.

"Before you, you see the impossible! The improbable! Indefinable and utter mystifying!" Draco said, swirling the cloth off his shoulders, "Yet, as quickly as it appears-!" the white cloth drifted over the three transfigured people.

Harry moved behind the three muggles, and as the sheet settled, he cast a silent lumos maxima and just as quickly dispelled it, filling the white sheet with a flash of light that provoked a few more startled cries.

Draco dramatically drew the cloth back off. For a fraction of a second, Harry was afraid the transfigurations hadn't been dispelled, but as Draco raised his hand in a 'ta-dah' sort of pose, Harry could see that the three teens were back to normal.

"-It disappears once more!" Draco said.

There was a moment's hesitation before the crowd politely clapped. The little kids looked impressed and excited, but most of the people just looked embarrassed for them.

Draco looked around, annoyed until he spotted Harry and impatiently gestured for him to come over.

Harry took a deep breath, he hated stuff like this. He lifted the microphone to his mouth, "And that was Great Mephistopheles!" he did his best to project over the crowd.

Draco frowned, "The great, the marvellous, the magical Mephistopheles."

There were a few titters from the crowd, but Harry obligingly played his part, "That was the great, marvellous, magical Mephistopheles!"

Kalya hovered in front of Harry with the camera.

"You gonna do somethin' else?" someone shouted from the back of the crowd.

A wag added, "You could make my mortgage disappear! That'd be some real magic!" which, of course, got more laughs and cheers than anything they had done.

Harry just kept playing along, "We can't do miracles sir, just magic."

He got a few pity laughs for that.

"We'd love to interview some of you about the amazing feat you've seen here today!" Harry added.

"Will we be on tv?" the girl that had the antlers before asked.

"We're filming a pilot for an upcoming tv program," Kalya said.

"A pilot?" The girl raised an eyebrow in disdain, "With one camera? Yeah, right. Do you even have investors for your little pilot?"

The piggy boy snorted and looked down his nose at them,

"Or is this your little dream project?" the girl added mockingly.

"It might work out, babe," rabbits lad said.

The girl rolled her eyes, "I'm not making my debut on something this trash."

"Trash?" Draco said, lifting his chin and sniffing imperiously, "These are custom hand-made suits by one of the oldest tailors in London. They cost more money than you've probably ever seen in your life."

"You can buy whatever suit you like, money can't buy class," Antlers said.

"You wouldn't know class if tore the arse out of your knock-off Gucci's," Draco shot back.

"Some class, you have," Antlers said, "They're Prada, not Gucci."

Harry had always wondered how rich people fought, he had imagined a lot more hair pulling and snarling, or at the very least, expensive assassins. This was more like two Pomeranians standing inches apart and barking hysterically at one another.

The crowd was hanging around, more entertained by Draco and Antler girl trying to out-snoot one another than the magic show.

"Break it up. Break it up," Came a loud flat voice.

The crowd split and revealed and middle-aged man, wearing a uniform that was police-like but much cheaper.

"Security," The guard said, "Do you have permission to film here? Who did you talk to?"

"woops," Harry said under his breath.