Thursday, one blessed day left until the weekend and one full of celebration. Johann felt a little lighter in his step as he headed towards the golden lifts from the fifth floor, lifting his coat over his shoulders and tying his scarf. Then, ahead, the grille slid open with a melodic tinkle, and the man who stepped out was a flat tuba note over the top.

"Father." Johann greeted icily. If he had been five minutes earlier, he might have missed Wolfgang altogether, and slipped away home to the flat he shared with Colin. But it wasn't to be. Swiftly engaged in conversation, his father quizzed him on a number of subjects before even greeting him.

"No, no date this evening, and yes, I am going to that gathering at Diagon tomorrow. Great, I'll see you soon then." Johann attempted to side step, but it was already too late. Short of stunning his father on sight, there was no easy way to evade him now, short of finding him someone else to speak to while he slipped off.

Wolfgang followed him into the lift, and down to the Atrium, keeping up somewhat of a monologue in their native tongue as Johann inhaled slowly.

"And then the stupid hag decided she better check again, and I said 'yes you bloody well should!' So she goes back out - and you won't believe it - tries to ignore I'm even in the shop, I swear, the service in this Merlin-awful country...."

Just a few more seconds, Johann told himself, and they slid out into the atrium. But his father seemed to sense his plans and seized his arm.

"Well, lead on, its about time I saw where you live." Johann groaned inwardly.

So, they alighted on the doorstep just short of half-past six, with no warning to Colin. Johann only hoped the owner of the space beyond was working late, and the dog was with him. As he unlocked the door with a tap of his wand, he was only to discover that neither was true. Colin was in.

Moxie bounded up to them both, happy to see Johann. Since moving into the space in June, Johann had become accustomed to the furry companion and would throw toys for almost endless hours across the room while reading with the other hand. Colin had forbid him to charm it for the sake of the television.

"Hello Moxie." Johann greeted gently, bending down to scratch the dog's head affectionately before removing his coat and hanging it by the door with his scarf.
"Er, Colin..." He called, but his father got there first.

His son lived in a Muggle area? Wolfgang was dismayed almost immediately on discovering. Johann had kept very tight-lipped about his lodgings, and had sent post via the Ministry or Ignan continuously since arriving. Other than knowing Johann had spent a time staying with that rude Bombay woman who was also a werewolf.

Johann was insisting he remove his cloak so as not to draw attention. What was this - they had to walk? How unconventional! They had Muggle neighbours? Merlin grief. He would have to tell Camille that evening, and insist that Johann lived somewhere more traditional and in keeping with his background.

Wolfgang spent much of the journey continuing his monologue as his son kept up a steady pace half a pace before him, his expression set in the same way Johann's mother had hers when she was displeased and would not say so. Johann was clearly ashamed of his surroundings, and rightly so. It wasn't proper.

The front door of the living quarters revealed a compact, cluttered space with all manner of unusual and foreign objects that were not of their world. Worse still, it contained a hound, who should be kept outside. It did not do to coddle dogs, like those Beauxbatons students.

Johann was muttering to it, showing affection before hanging up his coat. Wolfgang did not fail to notice Johann did not invite him to do the same. His cloak had been stowed away with a charm and the November air had been chill. Without it the air had nipped, however inside, the abode was warm... that was one thing that it did have going for it.
 
"Er, Colin..."

"Dear Merlin, you don't really live here do you?" Wolfgang asked, this time in English, as Johann had just addressed another man in English. "Your mother would be appalled, and who keeps a dog in their living quarters, eugh." He aimed his foot towards Moxie, and the horrible mutt growled in retaliation.
"No wonder you didn't want me to see this - how abysmal."

He could go on, especially with an audience, but Johann's fierce look over his shoulder made him pause.

Colin was, unfortunately for Johann, in his evening clothes - that is, his 'evening on the couch' clothes. The t-shirt had holes in it, a few age stains, a faded rugby logo and cleverly bore the slogan "Rucking Brilliant" which, in a casual context, was amusing. Here...it wouldn't be. The jeans had paint stains and were worn out at the heels.

Colin had a good idea that something was up the moment Moxie started barking and Johann's voice wasn't the usual cheerful tone, but it didn't stop him from walking out of the kitchen unshaven, the bowl of batter he'd been mixing under his arm. He paused when he saw the man at the door - finely dressed, with an expression if distaste. Colin's hesitation to speak evaporated when the man aimed a foot at his dog, however.

"Moxie!" He snapped, as she growled. The boxer came trotting over to sit next to him, as the necrologist crossed his arms.

"I would appreciate it if you didn't attack my dog, sir. Who is this, Johann?" He asked, sharply. "Not from the Ministry, is he?" He certainly looked it - fancy suit, snobby expression and a look of horror at the mere presence of the television. "They swore they'd only pester me at work." 

Johann shot Colin an apologetic look.

"Colin, sorry, this is my father, Wolfgang. Father, this is Colin Downer." The two parties eyed each other up from either ends of the hallway.
"Colin is an unspeakable, the Department of Mysteries, and he's kind enough to let me lodge with him." His father gave an impolite grunt, and Johann turned his face the other way and wearily explained to Colin,
"My father's a Durmstrang governor, and he's been back and forth since the Tournament began. It wasn't planned to bring him here unannounced." He turned back halfway, and added firmly, "He won't be staying long, seeing as he's allergic to anything Muggle."

He stooped to pick up one of Moxie's toys and threw it beyond Colin's legs as a sort of apology for the poor welcome.
"Well, let me show you round, so you can give Mother the full run down of my life." He motioned for his father to follow him into the flat proper. Perhaps if he showed him everything suddenly it would scare him off.

Colin managed a precautionary polite nod upon being introduced, watching the man through narrowed eyes. He wasn't sure what the point of showing the man around was; with the flat's single bedroom converted into a saferoom, it was effectively a studio. The elder Storm had seen most of the place upon entry.

But if Johann really wanted to show his father the bathroom and kitchen - neither of which had gotten more than a general clean up in the last month or so - Colin wasn't going to stop him. He sighed, looking down at the dog and rubbing her behind the ears.

He returned to the kitchen with Moxie on his heels. The kitchen, which was strewn with the accessories of his cooking, wasn't very large - three counter-tops in length and with the very basics. Colin put the bowl down, and found the TV remote (naturally, it was sitting upright in the bread box). Without really thinking about it, he turned the TV back on.

Merlin in a handcart, was this where his son lived? Why on earth was he holed up amongst Muggles with another man, in so few rooms? Were they not paying him enough at the British Ministry?

Wolfgang let out a laugh, and clapped his son on the arm.
"Very funny, yes, and you thought I'd fall for this did you? Come on now, you can't possibly live here, with him." Johann gave him a confused look. "There's no room for one, and you don't live amongst Muggles, Johann, let's not beat around the bush..." Johann sighed and shook his head.
"You really don't get it, do you?"

He was about to consider a terse response when light flashed from the kitchen where Colin had gone with the mutt.

"Merlin!" Wolfgang leapt out of his skin as the television burst into life. "What is that?!" He drew his wand instinctively.

"Its a television." Johann stated matter-of-factly, before reaching out and trying to force his father to lower his wand, irritated at the situation. There was a minor tussle, as Wolfgang denied him the opportunity, instinctively protecting himself from having his wand snatched. Johann had stowed his away safely before entering a Muggle environment, and had become accustomed to Colin's rules of not using magic at home unless strictly necessary. Pointing a wand at Colin's beloved television was tantamount to murder.

"Put it down!" Johann exclaimed exasperated, making a second attempt to force his father's arm down with his own hands. It backfired, Wolfgang instinctively shoved him aside and followed it with a stunning spell for good measure, sending Johann sprawling in the direction of the sofa bed, winded.

Staring up at the ceiling, unable to speak, he saw that the spell had clipped his ribs and ended up scorching the paintwork instead. Hand pressed to his bruised ribs, he rolled over, propped on one arm, and stared at the scene between his wand-wielding father and his host.

The increasing tension in the two voices' was lost on Colin for a few moments, as he listened to the TV; but, as their terse tones turned to anger and then the TV burst into static, Colin jumped and rushed to the archway that divided the kitchen from where they were. He didn't have his wand handy - it was sat across the room on the coffee table, holding a magazine open.

He looked at Johann and at Wolfgang's extended wand, eyes narrowing from surprise to anger. Johann rolled over in the corner of his eye, and Colin's gaze darted to him for a fraction of a second. He seemed stunned, but alright. The TV was still static and the coarse sound of it filled his ears, as did the beating of his heart.

Emotions were always difficult for Colin, especially now that he'd been doing his best to suppress them somewhat. The approach of the full moon always made them surge and become more intense; the fact he couldn't have wolfsbane anymore did not help. The fact that now, for him, the Full Moon began not at its rise on a single night, but the moment the sun's light hit that spot on the moon, no matter where it was in the sky -

He growled. It wasn't very human-sounding, the sound a habitual snarl that showed far more pointed canine than it should have.  "Put your wand down before I get the Aurors in here," he said, tone dark and with an almost unnatural harshness to it.

Wolfgang's wand switched from being pointed in Johann's direction to being pointed at Colin. There was a rushing noise in the tiny rooms which hissed like a set of snakes, and that light was still there - brighter so - in the kitchen.

"I don't know what you two have got going on here..." Wolfgang spoke firmly and clearly. His mind was whirring, the evidence was screaming at him the face over the top of the snakes from the bright box, "But I imagine you have something to do with the way he is." The older wizard thrust his spare hand out towards the sofa where Johann was recovering his breath and staring at them both. His long, knarled finger pointing directly at Johann's forehead as he was lower to the floor.

Things started to fall into place neatly, Johann's disagreement at showing him his quarters, the disinterest in women, the friends mentioning a closeness with the man from the Department of Mysteries.
"Oh now this makes sense, the lack of space, the informality. Cozy, very cozy." Wolfgang's wand lowered slightly but still pointed in Colin's direction. His spare hand ceased pointing and gestured instead to the room around them.

"Keep each other warm at night, you and my son, do you? Think its normal, think its right?!"

Johann managed to find his voice, and pick himself up off the floor, a hand still to his ribs where it stung.

His father was speaking of what he had warned Johann about. The trouble was, a part of him did think of Colin in that way, even if he wasn't aware of it. His subconscious stared at Colin in undressed states, found himself staring at him as they watched Doctor Who on DVD, a Muggle television programme Johann had never heard of until Colin had insisted he watch.

It was about a man from a world other than their own, who travelled around in a blue box that could travel anywhere, and travel through time without a time turner. Thankfully, Francis Pepper was familiar with it when Johann had described it in length to him the following day at work.

Although Johann was eagerly awaiting the next episode next month[1], he had spent a fair portion glancing at Colin curiously about the way he laughed, and how peaceful and amused he was at the screen. He never noticed himself doing so consciously.

"Please, put your wand down." Johann begged again, "There isn't anything going on here, this is where I live."

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Colin's wand poking out of a magazine, and slid his own swiftly from within his jacket. It felt alien to use magic in their home like this, before Colin. He normally only did it when Colin wasn't around or well away from his Muggle technology, but in this case, the television continued to crackle in the background as Colin's wand lifted from the magazine and soared through the air, narrowly missing the ceiling lamp before heading to its owner in the kitchen doorway.

Seeing the pleading did nothing to help, he backed up Colin's earlier comment about aurors.

"Look - we know a lot of Aurors. A lot! It doesn't take much to summon them."

Shaking, he extended his own wand in his father's direction, an action he had never in his life dared to take in retaliation.

1.	RL canon reference: here

The accusation was offensive, whether it was true or not, but Colin almost ignored it in his warring battle not to hit the old prick in the face. Colin put one hand on the archway, fingers almost digging into the plaster as he sucked air in in an effort to calm himself. It wasn't easy.

He didn't think about the accusation much, truthfully; it wasn't the case, and in his sate of seeing red that was all he needed. But he was comfortable 'round Johann; probably more comfortable around him than he was around anyone else, even if the curly haired bastard did need the occasional punch and scolding to keep his brain in right. If it was wrong to live with Johann...well, Colin did a lot of things that were worse than that every day. He wasn't going to be that bothered by it - he carved up bodies for a living and sometimes brought them back to life. Living with another bloke was nothing next to that, ethically.

His wand flew to him and he caught it, though he held it white-knuckled and didn't take his eyes off Wolfgang.

"It's as wrong as barging into people's homes, hexing your own kin and making a royal ass of yourself," he said, voice still that unnatural snarl. "Leave - before I make you leave."

Wolfgang looked from one to the other as Colin's wand soared out of nowhere and into his hand. Johann had drawn his wand, and was now pointing it at him too, though it was clear to see his son was trembling.

"Johann, come on now, you wouldn't raise your wand to your old man now." He uttered in German, but it seemed to make no difference to his son's expression, other than a flex of the other hand and a nervous glance to Colin.

"Tsk." He dropped his wand to his side.

"Royal ass. I suppose that's what you enjoy most about my son." Wolfgang spat in the direction of Colin's shoes, and narrowly missed Moxie's head instead. He turned his glare to Johann,

"Think of your mother. Think what she'll do when I tell her. You disgust me." He didn't weight up his chances against Downer's wand on home turf, and the filthy mutt had been eyeing up his ankles. With luck the shock would send Johann scurrying after him, seeking forgiveness. Tutting again, he turned on his heel and raised his wand to the front door, sending it swinging open with a bang.

"No son of mine!" He called back, and on stepping into the stairs beyond, encountered a shocked Muggle couple, who he promptly apparated in front of. The British Ministry could stick their Statute of Secrecy issues up their...

Johann's legs buckled from beneath him as he heard the familiar crack of apparition, and he landed ungracefully on the sofa bed again, shaking visibly. His wand landed on the floor beside his feet and he wrapped his long arms around himself to try and steady the shakes.

"Colin I am so, so very sorry!" He blurted out, "I should have found a way to get rid of him, I - I didn't know he would say such things!" Fighting his trembling form, he forced himself upright by placing a hand on both of his knees, and turned to look at Colin guiltily.
"Poor Moxie! Oh Merlin! The television!" Things that were held dear to Colin suddenly became great concerns of Johann's too. He shot to his feet unsteadily, looking into the kitchen beyond Colin, expecting to see a charred box where the television had once been.

Instead, coming face to face with Colin, he fixed his worried expression on his best friend, still trembling. 
"I'll go. This is my fault."

Colin let his breath out, the sound a quiet hiss in the otherwise rather noisy flat. The crack of apparition made Colin shake his head almost imperceptibly; the damn old fool could get arrested, for all he cared. But the Ministry would probably find some way to pin it on him, being a werewolf...

He took a deep breath as Johann jibbered, shaking his head. When he turned to face Johann, he was smiling slightly - the smile the same sarcastic expression he used when making fun of his bosses, and odd mix of bitter and smug.

"Your father is incredibly charming," he said. "I can see what your mum likes about him. Not always like that, is he?" If he was, it explained plenty about Johann, that was for sure.

He shoved his wand into his pocket, other hand running through his short hair. Just like Johann to over-react, wasn't it? The throes of anger still made him shaky; the man's sheer gall made him want to hunt him down and rip his throat out -

No. He wasn't going have those thoughts at all, even in anger, even when he couldn't transform if he wanted to.

Colin looked to Johann and shook his head. "Don't worry about it, Johann," he said, sighing and looking at the TV. It was rolling static, the picture occasionally flickering on and then being lost in the haze of static again. "The TV needed an upgrade, anyway..."

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I could use a beer. You want one?"

Johann's shoulders slumped.

"Yes, I think I could do with one too." He replied thoughtfully, extending his wand to the front door to close it. With the television already done for, it was in for a penny, in for a pound.

"He's an arse, but he loves my mother. He wouldn't have done that if she had been here - I learned my impeccable manners from her, can you not tell?" Johann cracked a relieved smile that Colin was not horrifically angry and that the whole issue - however explosive - was now over.

"I'll pay for the television, Colin. You can argue me over it later. But if you want that whole surround-sound whatsit you were explaining the other night, you might have to chip in. A rise from Gabrielle is something but not a fortune." He raised his hand to receive a beer from their fridge and realised he was still shaking.

"Merlin, I'm thirty three, though the old man can still scare me. I think I would rather stare you in the face on a full moon than him." He raised his beer to Colin. "Thanks for not ripping my head off... but if he does it again, you have my full permission to rip his off instead."