The Magical and the Magnificent

Disclaimer: Don't own. Life isn't fair.

A/N Sorry for the long delay and lack of replies to emails but my computer died at New Years and unlike Ezra I'm not rich enough to pop out and buy a new one so its taken this long to save, buy and get used to this laptop. Hope you enjoy and sorry if I generalize a little but all my research and part finished chapter were lost with the old computer (I know, should have backed up!)

Draco woke after a surprisingly sound sleep. Of course he had cast protection wards around his bed and alarms at both door and window but he wouldn't have put it past his father to have changed his mind and sent one of his deatheater assassins after him. It didn't do to underestimate Lucius Malfoy, not even if you were the only son and heir to both name and fortune. Both his parents were still young enough to produce a replacement and had already proved themselves to be ruthless in that department though the doctors had put his brother's death, the brother he had never met, who had died before he had been born and who just coincidently had been born deaf, down to 'natural causes'. Nothing at all to do with being an imperfect specimen. He knew that there were those including Potter and Granger who ridiculed him for his constant striving for perfection but they didn't realise that his very life could depend on it.

It was just one more thing that he hated Weasley for. As a fellow pureblood he must have been aware of the dangers of being an imperfect scion even if his own family didn't follow the darker pureblood practices yet he had never once corrected the others incorrect assumptions… well almost incorrect. He had to admit that he was a bit of a vain git… though only to himself and his magical mirror. Strangely enough that very hatred he had of Weasley's deception was also the root of his jealousy of the Weasley family as a whole (though not Ron who was completely insufferable in Draco's opinion). That caring family bond that was so rare in pureblood families was like watching a banquet from outside the window and being unable to join in. It was what might have been… if only. Draco didn't cry at the thought of his dead brother even though he had endured a lonely childhood, he had learned years ago not to cry, but he did take the lesson on board hence the added security. And on top of the ever present potential threat of death he wouldn't put it past the Weasel to have some nasty ideas up his sleeve. When it came to pranks Ron had a vicious streak that neither of his twin brothers Fred and George possessed. Both the joke shop owning twins created their jokes from a position of wanting to spread fun whereas Ron's aim was humiliation and pain – at least where he and other Slytherins were concerned. It saddened the heir of Malfoy that he understood Ron's reasoning better than Fred and Georges.

Shaking off his attack of melancholy Draco rose and gazed out the window at the impressive and unfamiliar scenery. A glance at the other bed immediately informed him that his Godfather was already up and about. Not surprising since he sometimes wondered if the potions professor ever really slept. Insomnia was a hazard of the profession… potions, not teaching. Some brews needed attention at specific times and an eye of newt added at the wrong moment could prove disastrous. It was the only part of potions that he hated but he'd already decided upon it as a career… imminent war, death and family obligations such as an arranged marriage and estate management notwithstanding so he supposed that insomnia was an inevitability. He quashed the little voice in his head that pointed out that he really had only two destinies open to him… serve Voldemort or die and headed to the ensuite bathroom for his morning ablutions. He only had an hour until breakfast – hardly enough time to fix his hair let alone anything else!

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To say that Ezra was surprised when he was forcibly dragged into the linen closet by a strange pair of hands would be an understatement, he hadn't even known that Chris had a linen closet! However as a seasoned undercover agent he was always expecting the unexpected and it wasn't as though he had never been the victim of an attempted kidnapping…. It WAS the first time that his assailant had pinned him to a wall and proceeded to kiss him though… well there was that cougar wife of a mafia style crook who took a strange liking to his undercover persona that one time. The instinct to fight these particular attentions or change and rip his attacker to shreds quickly died however as his soul immediately recognized its soulmate and responded accordingly.

"V…Vin, we mustn't. Guests. House. Chris….. mmmm!"

Several moments later Ezra tried again.

"Vin! Get a hold of yourself… VIN! Yourself Ah said!"

Buck, sent to the linen closet for a drying cloth grinned and carried on walking – the dishes could dry themselves, quite literally given their guests. He grinned at the positive romantic vibes emanating from behind the closed door and his mustache quivered. There were times when he absolutely loved being an empath.

Back in their make-do love nest Vin finally broke away from trying to inspect his mate's tonsils. "Sorry Ez, but I was gonna go crazy if'n I had to wait any longer. Seems we never get time alone so I thought mebbe I could make some." Before Ezra had a chance to reply a look of anguish crossed the Texan's face. "Hell Ez, I'm sorry, I never even asked if you wanted me in this way… maybe you feel you have to… You've had so much happening lately, I just took it for granted that you'd feel the same way but maybe…"

Ezra was a man of words. Indeed he would quite happily use ten words where one would do but in this case, seeing the distress bloom on the face of the man he had come to love, he kept his words to a minimum while conveying everything he needed and wanted to say.

"Mr Tanner!" The sharp tone and use of his last name interrupted Vin's flow of thought and haunted blue eyes met their twinkling pale jade counterparts.

"Of course I want you, you idiot! Now shut up and kiss me."

Vin beamed once more and closed in on his mate to reacquaint himself with those lips. Just before he made contact, however, a beautifully manicured hand stayed his action.

"Vin."

"Yeah Ez?" Had he changed his mind already?

"The name is Ezra… Ez – Ra."

"Sure Ez."

"Ah give up!"

Vin chuckled. "'Bout time."

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"Okay gang, so have we decided where we want to go today?"

As expected Nettie's enquiry was met with a verbal riot of ideas, some of which showed a little lack of understanding of non magical customs and society.

"I'd like to see a muggle quidditch game."

"It's called 'base the ball'"

"That's baseball you idiot, and it's nothing like quidditch."

In between Ron, Harry and Hermione's argument came suggestions of 'a general sightseeing tour' a trip to a National Park; riding and stopping all other voices dead in their tracks Draco's polite yet hesitant pureblood tones.

"Miss Casey has mentioned a phenomena called the spa and I saw an advertisement for one that claims to be able to do for a person what we wizards have only ever used spells and potions for. I would be intrigued to see whether their claims can be substantiated."

The momentary shock soon wore off and once again voices were raised. Harry, Snape, Lupin, Chris and Buck (being the only two humans who couldn't dredge up a prior commitment excuse for the morning) instantly saw the implications of Draco's innocent suggestion and protested accordingly in a united male solidarity as did Ron who though he hadn't the vaguest idea what a spa was didn't want to do anything that a Malfoy did on principal. However despite their garbled objections to a morning of pampering the men knew that they had lost the battle the moment Casey and Hermione uttered a synchronized squeal of delight and began planning while assuring the men and Draco in particular that they wouldn't be disappointed. The members of the seven who had escaped the terrible fate held in their mirth at the look of horror on their leader's face and the sudden realization on Buck's that where there were Spas there were women. Ezra blushed and handed the girls his members card to Denver's top spa, his glare rivalling Chris's as chuckles drifted his way.

Giving in to the inevitable Chris shrugged and decided that he could always threaten the staff with his badge (his gun being a little over the top even for him…probably) if they came too close with the wax strips. Promising everyone a trip out to a baseball game next day seemed to restore macho equilibrium for the most part until Ron was informed of just what a spa was and flatly refused to go.

"Don't worry I'll stay with Ron and we can explore the city together – after all I doubt that even such a well respected establishment can do much to beautify a werewolf."

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To say that Remus Lupin, who had spent most of his life being shunned for his lycanthrope status, was shocked by the rather awed and definitely not unfriendly reaction from the muggles was an understatement.

"So do you change at the full moon or can you change at will?" JD received a slap across his baseball cap for his intrusive question but Remus didn't mind he just wasn't sure that they understood that he was a monster, at least in the eyes of magical law – or a legendary creature as the statute books called him, along with the ogres, fairies, vampires, veelas and the rest. Not that they were all treated the same within that law. While both weres and vampires were shunned and in the case of vampires who were their base selves all the time whereas werewolves only lost their minds so to speak once a month (and not even that with the wolfsbane potion now available) were not tolerated to live if discovered, having veela blood in the family was less objectionable, probably because most veela genes were to be found in purebloods Remus mused cynically casting a surreptitious eye at the platinum haired and silver eyed Malfoy – a dead giveaway with blonds being the least common hair colour among magicals and platinums only usually found in the veela royal line. Still it was hardly the young Malfoy's fault that he had inherited the veela good looks of whichever genetic donor had slipped into the family mix several hundred years ago and he wasn't going to spend the next hour explaining the attitudes of his people towards those who were different. So he smiled and answered the question set.

"Control for werewolves has always been somewhat of a holy grail but we have a potion that prevents us from becoming feral at the full moon, so I assure you that none of you is in any danger from me."

"Never thought we were Professor Lupin" Nettie huffed, as though to presume that having a werewolf about the place was anything other than normal was an insult. Nettie took most things in her stride and she'd already judged the gentle professor and found him to be a good man.

Harry was a little confused. He had spent almost half his life in the magical world and the rest in the muggle one and both had less than tolerant attitudes to werewolves. At least the fictional ones in the case of humans and he had always presumed that if muggles knew they were real they would react the same as magicals but they weren't. He himself adored Remus and looked up to him as both a mentor and a friend but even he was terrified of the werewolf when it was let loose. It made him realise that not all the influences of his elders had necessarily been good… though even Remus would caution against underestimating the wolf inside. And the likes of Remus were few and far between, most weres being on the side of the dark.

Josiah, seeing the confusion and worry on the children's faces quickly stepped in. Obviously preconceptions were being challenged and he didn't want the situation to deteriorate into a discussion that might spoil Lupin's welcome. Having decided that he wasn't as anti magic as he had been he realised that he rather liked the shabby professor who had obviously had a hard life like so many of the people he tried to help.

"After your trip to the spa perhaps some of you would like to join me in a trip to the zoo. I'm sure that we can find some animals to interest you, even if we don't have any flying horses" And what kid can resist animals he thought. These kids needed something normal in their lives for once.

With Nettie adding the idea of a picnic the day was set and Draco eeped in a distinctly un-Malfoy like way as Casey and Hermione grabbed an arm each and marched him out to the cars… he had a strange feeling that he had just been made an honorary girl!

Harry chuckled until Hermione reached out and swept him up into line. He exchanged a nervous look with Draco and for once there was no malice involved. Hermione looked smug. It was a start.

Ron trailed along behind and fumed silently. He didn't like this at all. He was going to have to owl his Dad about this new development.

TBC