Candles and Keys
by Little Whinger
* This story takes place a few weeks after my earlier story, "Empty Orchestra". *
Draco Malfoy hated birthdays.
At least since he'd come of age.
His dislike stemmed from the simple fact that, aside from his 23rd, he'd spent all of his adult birthdays alone...well, single, that is...and his 23rd had been an absolute disaster.
And now, Draco's 27th birthday had arrived, and he was not single...but he was dreading it, all the same.
Draco had been dating Harry Potter since November...almost seven months. This had become the longest-lasting relationship Draco had had in his entire adult life. And while things were going swimmingly between them, a little part of Draco...the part that always expected the worst...was beginning to wonder if it was too good to be true.
The morning of June 5th, he was awakened by the sound of a jackhammer. The night had been so nice that Draco had slept with the window open, so the noise sounded like it was right next to his head.
"Ugh! Really?!" Draco grumbled, looking at the clock and seeing that it was 7:13 am. Pulling a pillow over his head to muffle the sound, he lasted only a minute or so before he felt stifled and threw the pillow off onto the floor. As the jackhammering continued, Draco relented and got out of bed and closed the window. While this effectively quieted the grating noise, now that Draco was up, he knew it was pointless to try to go back to sleep. He'd just have to get up in less than an hour, anyway.
Grumbling, he walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Waiting for the water to get hot, he looked in the mirror.
"Another year older," he sighed, and huffed a slight chuckle, rubbing his eyes and muttering, "Merlin...!"
After finishing his shower and getting himself dressed and ready for the day, he made his way to the kitchen to make tea and breakfast.
As he silently sipped his tea, he wondered if Harry would remember that it was his birthday. Coming to think of it, Draco suddenly realized he didn't know when Harry's was. 'I'll have to ask Granger, sometime,' he thought to himself, taking a bite of toast.
Arriving at the Ministry an hour later, Draco made his way up to his office within the Public Defender's Office of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. His secretary, Leonora, had already pulled the case files he would need for the day and arranged them on his desk. Picking up the first, he opened it and started reading and making notes.
"Mister Malfoy?" Leonora said, standing in the doorway, some time later. Draco looked up. "You're due before the Wizengamot in a few minutes, sir." Draco looked at the clock...it was 10:23.
"Oh, bollocks!" Draco muttered, dropping the file onto his desk and standing. "How did two hours go by?!" Pulling on his court robes, he picked the file up for the case he was trying, and bustled out of the office. "Thanks, Leonora…you're a lifesaver!"
The Wizengamot recessed at noon, as usual, and Draco headed up to Harry's office to see if he wanted to have lunch. When he arrived at the Auror Offices, he was greeted by Harry's secretary, Bryce.
"I'm sorry, Mister Malfoy," he said. "Mister Potter is out on assignment, and won't be back until later this afternoon." Draco's face fell, slightly.
"Oh," he muttered. "Alright, well thanks, Bryce."
"I'll tell him you came by," Bryce volunteered. "I know would have liked to see you, sir."
"Thank you," Draco said. Bryce smiled and nodded as Draco retreated to the hallway.
After mulling over his options, Draco decided to just grab a quick bite at the Ministry commissary before heading back down to the court rooms for the afternoon session.
At the end of the day, as Draco was preparing to leave, an owl flew into his office, dropped a small scroll onto his desk and, without so much as a hoot, flew back out again.
Frowning slightly at the bird's odd behavior...usually they at least stop long enough for a treat or a quick pat on the head...Draco picked up the note and smirked at the ridiculous (and endearing) hen-scratched handwriting.
Dray...
Bryce said you stopped by...sorry I missed you. Pulled a bitch of a case, and had to work through lunch. I'll make it up to you tonight. Pick you up at your place around 6:30.
XO
– H
Chuckling and shaking his head, Draco rolled the note back up and stuffed it into his pocket.
"Good night, Leonora," he said, walking through the outer office.
"Good night, Mister Malfoy," she replied. "And I didn't get a chance to say it earlier, so Happy Birthday, sir!"
"Thank you," he said, stopping short in the doorway, a surprised smile on his lips. "You're the first person to say that to me all day." Leonora smiled back.
"Really?" she replied, incredulous. Draco nodded. "Well, I'm sure I won't be the last," she said, reassuringly.
"Whether you are, or not, it's most appreciated," Draco said with a wink. "See you in the morning!"
"Yes, sir," she said, smiling, as Draco ducked out the door.
Arriving home, Draco noticed that several notes and a couple of packages had appeared on his table. Reading through them, he found birthday greetings from his mother, Pansy, Blaise, Granger and Weasley, Professor Slughorn, and, curiously enough, Astoria Greengrass. Inside the packages, he found a small jade dragon from his mother, and an ancient potions book from Slughorn.
But nothing from Harry, though.
Moving a few things around on the mantle, Draco found a home for the dragon figurine, and placed the potions book on the shelf with the many others. Sighing slightly, he walked into his bedroom and got undressed, and tried to decide what to wear for the evening.
'Formal? Or casual?' he pondered, gazing into his closet. After several minutes, he decided that Harry would most likely be dressed casually, so he chose a pair of dark jeans, a white button-down shirt, and a black silk necktie. Once dressed, he headed out to the living room to wait for Harry.
A few minutes later, at 6:28, there was a knock at his door. Smiling, Draco stood and opened it. Harry stood there, dressed in a well-tailored charcoal grey suit, his hair miraculously tamed, and holding something behind his back.
"Hi!" he said, smiling. "See...I'm getting better!" he joked about his usual problem with punctuality.
"Hi," Draco replied, surprised at Harry's appearance. "Come on in." Harry stepped into the room, and pulled out from behind him a large bouquet of flowers.
"Happy Birthday, Dray," he said, stepping toward him and hugging him, planting a quick peck on his lips. "Bet you thought I'd forgotten," he added, leaning back and winking. Draco's heart melted, and he giggled.
"Eh...maybe a little," he admitted, hugging Harry back, then stepping back. "Well...I guess I'm a bit under-dressed, aren't I?" he said, looking down at himself.
"There's a first time for everything," Harry chuckled. Draco smiled.
"Right," he murmured. "Well, give me a minute, will you?" Harry nodded, and Draco retreated to the bedroom, and frantically got undressed again, and redressed in a smart black suit.
Checking to make sure that everything was properly in place, and satisfied with how he looked, he stepped back out to the living room.
"Hi," Harry said, smiling, standing by the mantle, looking at the jade dragon. "Is this new?" he asked.
"Yes," Draco replied, joining him. "It arrived today from my mother." Harry nodded, with a small smile.
"How is she?" he asked, then added, "Where is she?"
"She's well, thank you," Draco replied. "Still in France...I don't imagine she'll ever leave." Harry nodded.
"I'm glad she's doing okay," Harry said, earnestly.
His testimony had kept Draco and Narcissa out of Azkaban after the fall of Voldemort. Lucius, however, had not fared as well, and after his death, Narcissa had apparently had a bit of a breakdown. Though it wasn't widely known, Harry had learned of her condition through his connections at the Ministry. But out of respect to both of them, he'd never said anything about it to Draco.
"Yes," Draco said, simply, then noticed the flowers still sitting on the table. "Well, let me get these into water, then we can go." Harry nodded, and Draco picked up the bouquet and carried it to the kitchen. He took a purple glass vase from the top of one of the cabinets, filled it to half with lukewarm water, and arranged the flowers in it before taking it out to the living room to place on the table by the door.
"Alright," he said, turning the vase a couple of times before being satisfied that they looked 'just right'. "Well, shall we...?" he said, indicating the door. Harry nodded.
"Yes, let's," he replied, and the two of them stepped out into the hall.
As they were finishing dinner, Harry looked across the table at Draco.
"Would you like to come back to my place for a bit?" he asked, smiling, an eyebrow slightly raised.
"Sure," Draco replied, smiling back.
"Good," Harry said, his smile widening. He signaled for the check, and once it was paid, he and Draco stepped outside into the cool evening. Once they had found a secluded enough place, Harry gripped Draco's hand and Apparated them to the front stoop of Number 12 Grimmauld Place.
Opening the front door, Harry ushered Draco into the house, then flicked his wand, surreptitiously, casting a silent spell. Suddenly, flames flickered to life all around them. Startled, Draco looked around, thinking for a moment that something horrible was happening. But turning and seeing Harry's calm smile put him at ease, as he took in his surroundings more clearly. There were candles scattered all around the house...on the fireplace mantle, the top of the piano, even up the stairs.
"Harry, it's wonderful," Draco murmured, smiling. Harry grinned and, taking Draco's hand, led him to the sofa in the living room. On the coffee table was a small round cake, with a ring of candles around the top, a bottle of champagne on ice, two champagne flutes, and a small silver box, tied with a green ribbon.
"Will Master be needing anything else?" a raspy voice asked from behind them. Harry and Draco turned to see Kreacher standing in the doorway.
"No Kreacher," Harry said. "Thank you." Kreacher bowed deeply and then turned and shuffled away toward the kitchen door as Harry and Draco returned their attention to each other.
"Happy Birthday, Dray," Harry purred, holding both of Draco's hands in his own. Draco smiled. "Blow out the candles...well, the ones on the cake, that is." Giggling a bit and leaning carefully over the coffee table, Draco took a deep breath. "And don't forget to make a wish," Harry added, quickly. Draco smiled at him and blew out the candles, slowly, with one breath. "Looks like you'll be getting that wish," Harry said.
"Looks like...," Draco purred, smiling. "And this better be chocolate!"
"Wouldn't be anything else," Harry laughed. Draco started pulling the small extinguished candles out of the cake, licking the frosting off of each of them. "Here, I'll finish that...you open this," Harry said, picking up the silver box and holding it out to him. An eyebrow arched, Draco took the box from Harry. Hesitating only a moment, he carefully untied the green ribbon and opened the box.
Inside the box, under a small piece of white tissue paper, was a key. Draco took it out and looked at it, then looked at Harry.
"What's this for?" he asked, frowning slightly.
"Nothing, really...it's just sort of symbolic," Harry replied, slowly. Draco's brow furrowed even more. "Draco...I was wondering if you'd like to move in with me, here?"
Draco was silent for a long moment, looking at Harry, then at the key, then back at Harry.
"Really?" he finally murmured, softly. Harry nodded, eyebrows raised, expectantly. After another moment, Draco's face broke into a huge grin. "Yes."
"Yes?" Harry asked, a grin forming. Draco nodded.
"Definitely, yes!" he said, and pulled Harry toward him, pressing their lips together in a deep, passionate kiss.
Finite.
Author's Note:
Okay, so yes...I'm bouncing around in time with my stories. But each of these stories is a "day in the life" of these characters, but still a part of a larger picture.