Back in the office, Harry and Malfoy discussed options for the password.

"Well it's definitely not going to be sherbet lemon this time," Harry muttered after they had bounced impromptu suggestions back and forth.

Malfoy raised an eyebrow. "Care to explain?"

"Not really."

Malfoy humphed and went back to staring out the fake window. "We're not going to just stumble on it," he said. "I don't care what you did with the idiot duo back at Hogwarts. This is going to take skill."

"Hey, you have no idea what we did. It needed loads of skill."

Malfoy ignored him. "We need to research this. If the password was set by the Dark Magic department, presumably it will be something suitable. Fortunately, we have the Malfoy library at our disposal." He looked smug. Harry thought of his own library and assorted artifact collection at home - which would probably rival the Malfoy library - and said nothing. "If you come over tonight, Potter, we could do some research."

Harry hesitated. He rather felt he'd have more luck at home. "Thanks, but I might try asking Luna," he lied. "She might have some ideas."

Malfoy eyed him strangely. "You could owl her," he said. "And still do research."

Harry shook his head. "She's better in person when she can ramble on and remember things."

Malfoy's jaw ticked, but he said nothing.

Harry coughed. "So, we'll talk about it tomorrow? See what we both come up with?"

"Sure, Potter." Malfoy stood up. "We'd better get to training." He strode to the door and opened it.

Harry stood up slowly. "What's up your arse?"

Malfoy turned back, his lip curling. "Try to be a little more crude, Potter. I don't think I was offended enough."

"Fine, have it your way."

They walked to the training room in sullen silence. Harry kept shooting glances at Malfoy, but the same pursed expression remained on his face. Harry found himself frowning. It was unusual for Malfoy to be so emotional about anything - good or bad. Just like him, Malfoy faced each day with a cynical indifference that Harry found familiar and comforting.

"Join the line, boys!" Pickwick yelled at them as they entered the sparring room. "We're blowing each other up, today!"

A malicious grin crossed Malfoy's face as they joined the line of Aurors. Harry took a small step away from him. The room resembled a large auditorium, complete with training dummies, exercise equipment, and basic potions ingredients. They used it for a variety of Auror training to make sure they were up to date with all the latest spells and equipment. The ceiling was spelled like the Great Hall to show the sky outside, except it wasn't accurate like the Great Hall. Whether intentionally or not, the ceiling only ever showed the night sky, filled with planets and constellations, so that it always felt that they were training in some kind of obscure camping ground in the middle of nowhere.

"Wands at the ready!" Pickwick yelled, brandishing his own wand with a flourish and aiming it above their heads. "New spell, fresh off the shelf. Sharp, downward flick of the wrist. Combustio!"

Purple flame shot from Pickwick's wand, promptly lighting the ceiling on fire. "That's the ticket," Pickwick said with a grin, watching the flames lick along the surface, lapping over stars and suns.

"Aguamenti," he muttered after it had burned for a while, running his hand back and forth to casually douse the flames. "When you're ready," he said once the flames had disappeared.

Several of the newer Aurors stood there, stunned. Harry and Malfoy waited patiently for Pickwick to remember he hadn't given them the counter spell.

"Oh, that's right!" Pickwick said, slapping himself on the head. "Protego Eructo will cut off all oxygen to the flames and immediately douse them before injury." He looked around at the group, smiling. "Well, go on then," he said, making shooing motions.

"Ready, Potter?" Malfoy asked, curling his lip. That was all the warning Harry had before Malfoy turned and hexed him.

"Protego Eructo!" Harry yelled, cutting the flames off just in time.

Malfoy smirked and cast it again. Harry threw it off three more times before Pickwick's enthusiastic applause finally reached Malfoy's ears and made him stop.

"Perfect, boys!" he grinned. "Now you just-"

"Combustio!" Harry yelled, flicking his wand at Malfoy.

Malfoy turned with lightning reflexes and repelled the hex. Harry threw it again and again, but Malfoy repelled just as quickly. When Harry paused, seeing Pickwick look uncharacteristically hesitant, Malfoy took advantage and cast again. Harry repelled and threw up a shield charm, eying Malfoy cautiously. Malfoy lowered his wand and glared.

"Truce," Harry said, holding up his hands.

Malfoy nodded.

"Observation for the rest of the session," Pickwick said, nodding firmly.

Harry paused and lowered his shield. "You alright?" he asked Malfoy.

Malfoy grunted and Harry decided not to press it. They spent the rest of the hour observing the other Aurors' mostly terrible attempts at Combustio, and learning how to cast several variants without actually practicing. Pickwick wouldn't let them.

At the end of the session, Pickwick took them aside. "Whatever issues you have, leave them outside of the training room," he said sternly. "You'll have plenty of distraction on the field. This is a learning environment. Your safety is number one."

Harry made a supreme effort not to laugh at the idea of Pickwick caring about safety. Against all odds, he succeeded. They agreed to focus and left.

"Right, well, I'm going to go home," Harry said when they had returned to their office. "Let me know how you go researching."

"Sure thing, Potter," Malfoy said. He reached over to grab Harry's bag and passed it to him. "Good luck," he said.

Harry fought the urge to gape at such an oddly contrite gesture from Malfoy, and nodded instead. "Yeah, you too."

Malfoy nodded and turned back to his desk. Harry shook his head, and left.

"What was that about?" he muttered to himself as he opened the wards and passed through into his house. He threw his bag down on the floor, but frowned when he saw the front zip was undone. "Damn," he said, opening it up to look inside. "Must have forgotten to put the cloak back." He shook his head and walked away. At least it would be safely in his office.

After casting a furtive look around the room, even though no one was there, he removed the cloaking charm on the bookshelf by the window.

"Goblin curses, Centaur rites, Illegal potions," he said to himself as he scanned the items on the shelf, considering the topics each covered. What would they have used for a password?

"I fucking knew it." Harry jumped at the sound of the cold voice behind him. He spun around to see Malfoy standing next to him, the invisibility cloak in his hands. His eyes were glued to the bookshelf Harry had unveiled, his expression a strange mix of anger and something Harry couldn't identify.

"What the hell, Malfoy?" Harry exclaimed, waving his wand to hide the bookshelf again.

Malfoy punched him, disrupting the spell. "Oh no you don't, Potter. You're not hiding this again. No one knows about this, do they? How much more do you have?"

"This is it," Harry said, rubbing his shoulder.

Malfoy laughed. "You have an apartment full of the most illegal black magic galleons can buy and you can't even tell a decent lie. How much more do you have?"

Harry shook his head stubbornly. Before Harry could react, Malfoy pulled out his wand.

"Combustio!" he spat, pointing his wand at the bookshelf.

"No!" Harry yelled as it went up in flames. Several books screamed, long and bloodcurdling. He fumbled for his wand to put out the flames.

Water dripped quietly onto the floor in the sudden silence as Harry stared, horrified, at the remains of the bookshelf. It was salvageable. Nothing was lost - or even too damaged, since he had been quick enough to stop it - but what had once been a beautiful part of his collection now looked ugly and deformed. One of the books was bleeding, thick drops of blood mixing with the water on the floor.

"I'll ask you again," Malfoy said quietly. "How much more do you have?"

"I'll ban you from the wards, Malfoy," Harry said through gritted teeth. "You'll never be able to get back in."

"Do you really think you can get me out of here before I send this apartment up in flames?" Malfoy asked, one eyebrow raised. "Do you want to take that risk?"

Harry glared at him mutely. Finally, he waved his wand and muttered "Finite".

Malfoy gaped as the room rearranged itself. Items that were hidden came into sight, squeezing into existence from space that didn't exist or popping suddenly into view. Shrunken heads dropped down from the ceiling, bouncing morbidly from string and grinning all the while. Several bookcases and potion cabinets stretched their way along the walls. In the corner of the room, a tall mirror stood. It reflected every piece of furniture with crystal clarity, not a speck of dust marring its surface, but Malfoy and Harry were not visible in its serene reflection. The room settled with a sigh.

Malfoy opened his mouth and closed it several times. "Potter," he said slowly. "You absolute, total, complete-" Harry rolled his eyes at the drama. Trust Malfoy to be impressed. "-utter bloody moron."

Harry's head snapped up. "What?"

Malfoy was still shaking his head slowly. "Do you have any idea what this is doing to you? No, of course you don't, you grew up with Muggles."

Harry bristled. "It isn't doing anything to me," he said. "Trust me, I'd know. You can feel when dark magic is seeping into you. It's not like the Horcruxes. This feels fine."

Malfoy was watching him, expressionless. He didn't speak. Harry shrugged. "I didn't tell you because I figured it could get you in trouble with your probation. It's not like I was hiding it for any other reason."

"Right," Malfoy said, deceptively complacent. "You weren't hiding it from Granger or Weasley either, were you? Not at all."

Harry shifted uncomfortably. "I haven't mentioned it to them, but I'm not hiding it. They tend to overreact. It was easier not to tell them and have them worry."

Malfoy barked out a harsh laugh. "You haven't even tried to shield yourself from them," he said incredulously. "You've hidden them from everyone else, but you feel them just as strongly as if they were visible. No wonder I couldn't come over here without feeling an overwhelming urge to sweep or something. I thought your apartment was just unbearably messy. I'm an idiot. Your apartment is more concealment charm than it is apartment."

Harry tipped his head back in exasperation. "I don't need to shield myself from them. I've read about it, Malfoy. I'm not as ignorant as you think I am. They're mine, so they aren't as malicious to me as they no doubt feel to you. We're used to each other."

Malfoy groaned and ran his hand through his hair, his eyes closed. "I knew you had something hidden here, but I didn't know it was this bad."

Harry frowned. "How did you know, anyway?"

"I smelled it yesterday," Malfoy said, his eyes still closed. "Dragon's blood, used to tan leather in the binding of most old curse books. You obviously didn't shield whatever you were reading quick enough." He opened his eyes. "Mind you, I should have realised quicker." He waved a hand vaguely at Harry. "Your whole demeanor is affected. It was bloody obvious as soon as I was looking for it. I've no idea how I didn't see it earlier." He looked thoughtful, and strangely worried.

"No need to worry," Harry said moodily. "I'm sure you're not losing your touch."

Malfoy shot him a look that was possibly even more annoyed than before and shook his head. "You need to get these out of your house, Potter." He held up his hands. "I won't make you get rid of them, as I'm sure Granger and Weasley would, but you need them out. It's a compromise, or I burn this whole place to the ground. Do we have a deal?"

Harry glared at him. Right now, he didn't exactly have a choice. "Sure," he finally spat out. "Deal." He spun around and sat down in his armchair. "But we may as well look for the password first. Any ideas?"

Malfoy didn't look entirely happy with the decision, but seemed to let it pass for now. He perched on the edge of the couch and looked around the room. "It's certainly a good place to start," he admitted.