A/N: Thank you to The Grim, Shannon K and WhirlyBlue for their reviews of chapter 2, greatly appriciated. Check out the beginning of mine and WhirlyBlue's C2 thing, I said BEGINNING, all subscribers welcome, and anyone who wants to be a staff person tell me, please suggest stories we could put in the archive.

Morphing Moods

Harry stood outside number ninety-three in Diagon Alley. A giant grinning face hung from the door, winking and flashing. He secured Hedwig's cage and walked through the door, an alarm sounded and Harry stepped out of the doorway just in time; green slime dropped from the ceiling, vanishing as it hit the floor.

"You were luckier than me," Harry looked ahead of him to see Hermione pulling bits of slime out of her bushy hair, he smiled and went up to hug her, at the same time taking a large piece of slime off her forehead.

"No-mess booby traps – unless you happen to be under them! Three Galleons for you Harry." Fred stepped out from behind the counter, closely followed by George, they were both wearing fluorescent robes emblazoned with the same winking, grinning face to from above the door. Their own expressions exactly the same.

"Harry, good to see you mate." Ron came thundered down the stairs behind the counter with Ginny, and patted Harry on the back. Ginny grinned, Harry gasped when he saw her once-red hair, now a shimmering turquoise.

"Do you think it suits me?" she asked nervously, Harry smiled and nodded, and before he could even say hello to her she marched out the door, her bright pink skirt dangerously short and a dragon-scale handbag swinging from her arm.

"What's with her?" Harry gazed after her puzzled.

"She's going – "Hermione started,

"– on a date. With Dean Thomas, can you believe it? I'm going to have to talk to him sometime soon." Ron scowled.

"Oh for God's sake Ron, she'll be 16 soon, just because you don't know anything about dating – "

"– excuse me Miss I-Know-Everything-About-Dating, what gives you that idea?"

"Well it's not as if you've ever had a girl friend..." Hermione bit her lip, Ron's face went as crimson as his hair and he turned away swearing under his breath. "Oh, Ron come on, Ron, I didn't mean..." Hermione gazed anxiously after him.

"Hermione, I've just walked through the door, and the first thing you do is start having a go at each other, please, I just want to enjoy my summer." Harry turned to Fred and George, "So where am I staying?"

They led him up to the top floor where he was sharing a room with Ron. Harry made several mental notes on the way – how to avoid the dungbombs on the stairs, never to open the door with the sign saying 'Beware of the leopard', and which door the real bathroom was behind.

Harry knocked on the door, a grunt replied and he walked into the most miserable shabby room he'd ever been in, and he had lived in the cupboard-under-the-stairs for nearly 11 years of his life. The walls were all grey, the ceiling and floor were grey, and the furnishings were grey.

"Are they trying to save money by just using one colour?" Harry asked the lump on the grey bed as he put his clothes in the grey wardrobe.

"No, it's Magical Mood Paint, changes colour with your mood. One of their new inventions, they used it when they were testing products to see what the testers really thought; some were inclined to lie just for the money (you only get paid when the product makes you laugh, or what ever the effect should be)." Ron got up and smiled at Harry, just a small smile mind, but enough to lighten the room a little.

"Congratulations on being Quidditch captain, but promise you'll be nice right? Cos Angelina was quite tough and Wood was unbearable, be nice OK?" Harry jumped as the room became yellow, "Shit, this is gonna take some getting used to," Orange room, "Help Ron, what can we do?"

"Put up with it I guess," Ron grinned, "how's our favourite bitch?"

"Ron! Look, please, I haven't come to listen to you two bickering all the time, they are more important things going on at the moment..."

"Hey Harry, you heard about Moody, right?"

"Nope,"

"Well, he lost the rest of his nose fighting some Death Eaters last week. Everyone else was OK though, well, except Elphias Doge, he had his left leg blasted off, it would have been fine though, but the Healer was drunk so it's attached backwards, with his foot pointing out the back. He showed me the special shoes he's got so he can walk a bit better." Harry smiled. "So, um do you want your birthday present now?"

Ron had given him a book called '1001 ways to rule the skies – seeking at its best' which was full of moving diagrams and photos of moves and techniques.

"Wow, thanks Ron." Harry barely looked up already engrossed in his new book. There was a soft knock at the door, Ron sighed and got up and opened the door to reveal Hermione, looking flushed.

"Um, Harry, here...your present." She held out a book-shaped parcel. It was, guess what, a book. 'Animagi Aspirations'. "Just to read mind you Harry. You know it's illegal to actually try it..."

Harry grinned sheepishly, and turned back to his friends, "So, what are you doing for work experience then?"

"I'm working at a summer school for wizarding children, you know just teaching them the basics; some history and stuff, I'm so excited! Well, except that Trelawney's running it..."

Harry and Ron exchanged looks, how Hermione and Professor Trelawney were expected to spend a week working together was beyond Harry.

"Well, it's a lot better than what Ron – "

"Hey, you said mine sounded OK – "

"That was only because you went mental – "

"Excuse me, you two but what is going on?"

"Sorry Harry, mate, but well, I'm going to work as a chef, in Mittonner Magie, it's a new restaurant in Diagon Alley. I'm not exactly thrilled." Ron stared at his feet, trying to ignore Hermione's penetrative gaze, and the stormy blue walls around him.

"Why did you put it down then," the floor must have been fascinating, as Ron kept his face straight down.

"Mum did it," he mumbled, "I told you in my letter, she got to the post before I did..."

Hermione couldn't manage to suppress a smirk, mumbling something about homework she made her exit. Harry's eyes followed her as she left and then quickly averted back to Ron.

"Come on, I'm sure it'll be really useful... I mean you need to know how to make something you can actually eat, don't you?"

"Yeah, I s'pose, so what are you doing?" Ron looked at him eagerly.

"Oh me, yeah, right, I'm doing Auror training; with Tonks." Harry was really looking forward to a week with her.

"Lucky! I wish I could do that." Ron gazed longingly. "Oh well, who really gives a fuck anyway?"

Orange walls, Harry jumped, and he and Ron ran as fast as they could down the seemingly never-ending flights of stairs, to the actual shop; probably the only part of the house not painted with Magical Mood Paint. Harry wandered around the many aisles, peering into cabinets holding innocent looking objects that Harry knew were nothing of the sort. After being attacked by an inconspicuous tea cosy which had jumped on his head and pulled itself down tightening it grip until he had to get Ron to yank it off, Harry decided that he had seen enough Wizarding Wheezes for the time being and needed something to eat.

Ron led him to the kitchen where a small creature was sitting on the floor, dressed in an odd assortment of tartan print trousers and striped socks.

"Harry Potter, sir!" the house-elf squeaked joyfully.

"Oh! Hello Dobby," Harry peered down at him as he hugged his waist. "What are you doing here?"

"Professor Dumbledore, he is a very kind man, yes. He lets Dobby have a holiday, but Dobby gets bored, he thinks; he cannot go back to Hogwarts yet, because that is rude. But why not find nice people to work for? And so Dobby finds Wheezy twins and comes to stay with them!" He beamed.

Harry smiled and attempted to pull the house-elf off his waist, failing he hobbled around the kitchen to the table, where a large assortment of food was laid out. "Um, excuse me Dobby, but do you think I could actually sit down please?" Dobby disentangled himself, not particularly willingly though. Harry peered at the dishes on the table, he cautiously picked up a chicken drumstick. Five seconds later he was scratching at the carpet and pecking at Ron's shoes. After a couple of minute's intense humiliation Harry took human form once again, just in time in fact, as Hermione came in looking scornful.

"What have you two been doing all this time? Would anyone like to explain to me why there are feathers on the floor?" She looked at their smirking faces; "obviously not. Oh! Food, I'm so hungry, I haven't eaten since breakfast..."

"We're just going now..." began Ron, who has already shaking with silent laughter.

"Yeah, just off to..."

"Discuss Quidditch tactics." Harry and Ron bolted out of the room, and it wasn't long before cackling and crowing filled the air. The two boys snorted with laughter collapsing against the wall as a large brown hen rushed though the hallway. "She's OK as a hen really isn't she?"

"S'pose, but does the cackling beat the nagging?" Hermione emerged from behind the staircase, with a face to rival Ron's hair she sped upstairs. Only to allow Harry and Ron another fit of the giggles.

&&&

Harry, Ron and Hermione stood at the doors of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, Ron waved his friends off and made his way across the square to his new workplace. Harry and Hermione carefully adjusted their bags and clambered onto the purple triple-decker in front of them. Hermione left the Knight Bus somewhere in Kent and Harry was left alone.

The bus finally arrived at the visitor's entrance to the Ministry of Magic. Harry stumbled over to the telephone box, dialled six two four four two, announced himself as "Harry Potter, Work Experience student" and descended to The Atrium. A banner across the hall that Harry had not seen before read – 'pro liberte debemus pugnare, help us support the Second War' it suddenly hit home to Harry once again, the troubles he'd been trying to forget all summer resurfaced.

That was when he heard a terrible ghastly noise, what he didn't hear was the terrible ghastly silence that followed.

A/N: Hah, I'm evil, leaving you with a cliffhanger. Well I thought I ought to put at least some plot in this. What actually happened will come to me soon hopefully... Hope you enjoyed it, do you think it should be under the 'Humor' section? Cos I don't know how funny that really was. ;-D