Title: Coffee Date
Author: Gothic-Neko-Writer
Summary: Harry and Draco have their long-awaited coffee date after shooing away Blaise and Pansy. What they didn't expect was to see Hermione halfway through and seeing Hermione meant someone was dead. {Part of my Death!Verse - Rated T for mentions of suicide}
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor the characters - all rights go to Ms. J.K. Rowling
Note: I deeply apologize about the ending - It wrote itself, I had no control over it!
Draco would be lying if he said he wasn't feeling the tiniest bit nervous about this date, especially since it was happening without warning.
He had told Pansy and Blaise that they could reschedule their originally planned shopping and lunch trip before waving them goodbye, leaving him alone – well as alone as they could be in the middle of a bustling sidewalk – with Harry.
"Shall we go?" Harry said, holding out his arm for Draco. The blonde could feel his cheeks heat up, but he was in public and he rarely showed emotion when out. He looked at the elbow jutted out to him and hesitated, his father didn't really accept his sexuality because it would make him "lose" his place at the top of the political world and any tabloids could use this as tomorrow's headline scandal.
"Draco?" Harry asked worriedly, his arm starting to drop back to his side. At that, Draco threw caution to the wind and quickly locked his arm with Harry's, smiling at him in reassurance.
Harry smiled back and they walked towards the café, Draco looking away to hide his pink tinted cheeks when Harry held open the door. Death, the perfect gentleman. Draco thought, his lips forming a small smile at the thought of Death having more mannerism than a regular human man.
They walked up to the counter, arms no longer linked together after Draco started shifting at the staring. Sure, most people didn't read up on politics, but Malfoy was a famous name and the blonde could tell that some of the café patrons recognized the bright blonde borderline white hair of the Malfoy family. Instead, they stood next to each other, arms lightly touching, as the girl at the counter waited for them to order.
"Plain black coffee for me," Harry said and shot Draco, who opened his mouth to say his order, a look, "and a Nonfat Iced Caramel Macchiato for my friend."
The girl, Lavender according to her nametag, took their orders after she finished checking Harry out, which had been bothering Draco to no end. Harry didn't give her a second glance after giving their coffee orders though, his eyes had been either roaming the café or fixed on Draco, and that made the blonde feel better.
"I got it," Draco said, taking out his wallet and of course gentleman Harry had to protest. After some debate, Harry admitted defeat and Draco smiled triumphantly as he paid Lavender, who had come back with their drinks while they were arguing.
"Thank you," Harry said politely, taking the drinks and walking towards the door to the patio. Lavender let her eyes stare lustfully at Harry retreating figure, but she quickly looked away after Draco sent her a fierce glare.
Draco followed Harry to one of the outdoor tables. They sat in appreciated silence for a while, drinking their coffee and occasionally brushing their feet against each other under the table.
"How did you know my coffee order?" Draco asked, breaking the silence, his fingers playing with the straw of his drink.
"I may or may not have been keeping an eye on you during the years we weren't meeting," Harry said, shrugging as if practically stalking someone was a normal occurrence, though Draco could tell he was embarrassed at the confession by the faint pink on his cheeks.
Draco couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face when he saw the slight blush. He quite liked the thought of being the one that made Death flush in embarrassment, he didn't even mind that he was being watched every now on then – he would've done the same if Death didn't live in some other realm.
"Never thought I'd be able to make Death feel embarrassed," Draco said, smirking at Harry, his grey eyes not breaking contact with Harry's bright green eyes, even when his companion looked down at his coffee.
They chatted about almost everything that happened during the six years they were apart. Harry told Draco that he could barely glance at what Draco was doing during the time because all the reapers were working like crazy, including him.
"Explain to me how exactly this all works again?" Draco asked, silver eyes sparkling with curiosity, his empty coffee cup pushed to the side as he slightly leaned on the table, his attention fixed on everything about Harry's world. He had his left hand intertwined with his companion's, their hands resting comfortably on the table.
Just as Harry put down his now empty cup to answer, people were screaming and shuffling towards a building close to the café. Draco watched as Harry's eyes widened and raven-haired man shivered at an invisible breeze. From what Draco learned during Harry's earlier explanation, the other could feel a reaper's presence in hir human form and that reapers came with a cold front that chilled Harry's bones.
People were coming out of the café to check out the commotion and Draco shared a look with Harry who was looking pale. They got up at the same time, linked together by their hands, and hurriedly walked towards the crowd.
While Draco and Harry were pretty tall men, the amount of people made it hard to see exactly what was happening, so they pushed their way to the front – Harry muttering apologies as he let himself be dragged by Draco. The blonde didn't bother with manners and glared at people to get out of his way, hand holding onto Harry's tightly so they wouldn't be separated.
When they finally got to the heart of the crowd, they saw no blood and no lifeless body on the ground. Draco looked confused. No one was dead, so why was there a reaper?
Harry seemed to figure out what happened because when Draco glanced turned his gaze to the man next to him, green eyes were fixed on the top of the building. Draco followed his gaze and let out a small, inaudible gasp. On the edge of the six story building's roof stood a man, looking down at the crowd and laughing manically.
"Oh look a crowd! Here to witness my death! Has society become that desensitized to suicide and people dying?!" the man yelled, his voice hoarse from crying and laughing at the same time. He was moving closer and closer to the edge.
"Call 999!" a woman in the crowd shouted and soon, someone did call the police, but it was too late.
The man on the roof had teetered on the edge before he fell through the air. Just as quickly as he fell from the roof did he hit the ground and people were yelling, rushing to help him.
Draco stared as the crowd migrated to the bloodied man on the ground, his body tense and frozen with shock. He may have witnessed and been the cause of many deaths, but suicide was one thing that he had never seen, and was hoping he would never have to.
A hand gently squeezed his shoulder and broke him out of his trance-like state. He looked over to the owner of the hand. Harry stared at him in worry, though not at all surprised at what had just happened.
Draco noticed how dark it was and his eyes widened considerably, he remembered this black sky, though it felt different. It was the darkness that wrapped itself around him when Harry appeared on the job; no it was definitely another reaper.
"Hi Hermione," Harry said, his hand still firmly placed on Draco's shoulder. Draco looked surprised at the sudden greeting, but looked away from Harry and to the dead body in front of them.
Hovering slightly above the body was a girl in a simple black cloak, a grey scythe in her hand. She looked up from the body, her curly, thick brown hair bobbing when she moved her head, and the same surprise Draco felt evident on her face. She stopped her hovering, feet now on the ground, and walked over the body towards them.
"Death?" she asked in disbelief and Draco watched the exchange in confusion before the pieces clicked together; this girl – Hermione – was a reaper and obviously a friend of Death's and it seemed like Death didn't take on this appearance in his own realm. The blonde did faintly remember Harry telling him something about being in his normal, genderless form while with other reapers, but the blonde may have been distracted because that was when Harry had nonchalantly placed his hand on top of Draco's.
"Yup," Harry said, nodding his head and smiling that friendly smile that he had shown Blaise and Pansy earlier. "Why don't you join us for a quick drink when you're done?"
Hermione looked at him, a bit taken aback, before her eyes flickered to Draco and she smiled.
"Sure," and with that, Draco watched from the sidelines as Hermione finished up collecting the jumper's soul. Draco had felt a shiver run down his spine when he saw how the two carelessly brushed off the death in front of them, but he knew that all three of them had seen far too much death.
The darkness faded along with Hermione, who appeared moments later from the small alley next to the building where the man jumped.
"Back to the café or somewhere less crowded?" Harry asked, looking at the two.
Sometime during the chaos, Harry's hand had moved from holding Draco's hand to his arm being wrapped around the blonde's waist, not that Draco minded. He had snuggled up to the other man's side, arm slung around Harry's shoulders because the blonde was a few inches taller.
"Less crowded," Draco said, "and I know the perfect place."
Draco led the way to a smoothie shop a good few blocks away from the somber air of death, Harry and Hermione chatting during their walk there.
After they got their respective drinks, Harry with a tropical blend, Hermione with pomegranate, and Draco with apple, they sat at a table situated in a cozy corner of the shop, away from the other customers.
"When did this happen?" Hermione asked curiously, gesturing towards the closeness between Harry and Draco. While Harry had let go of Draco's waist, the blonde silently wrapped his arm around the other man's waist when they sat down, Harry almost sitting on his lap.
"Uh, well, we were actually on a date," Harry said and Draco couldn't help laugh at how tomato red Harry's face became.
Hermione's face turned a matching red, catching the hint that they weren't official yet, and cleared her throat.
"So, Draco, I'm pretty sure De-Harry here didn't tell you about me," Hermione said, taking a long sip of her smoothie as she shot Harry a hard look, who smiled at her sheepishly. "I'm Hermione, one of the reapers that work in Harry's group," she held out her hand.
Draco gladly shook it. "Draco Malfoy. I'm certain Harry's told you about me since you don't seem too surprised. You look like you're about to burst from excitement."
Hermione laughed and they spent the rest of their time getting to know each other.
"Unlike Harry, I didn't watch you constantly and he didn't talk about what you were doing, so I don't know much about you."
Draco could tell that he and Hermione shared many mutual interests and smiled. She wouldn't make a bad friend.
Harry watched as the two got acquainted, becoming quick friends. That brought a smile to his face, seeing the guy he liked and one of his best friends get along well.
He wasn't at all mad that his coffee date with Draco was cut short. They did spend at least two or three hours talking and laughing, he was thoroughly satisfied with how it went, especially since Draco was holding onto him.
Harry winced slightly as a familiar pain shot through his head; he quickly took a long sip from his drink to hide it and any emotion that might show on his face.
What is it? He said in his head. Everything was going smoothly and there were rarely any reapers going rogue, so he was confused when he felt the small pain of his superior, Kingsley Shacklebolt, contacting him in his human form.
Death, there's a problem. The voice sounded calm always, but Harry could pick up the underlying panic.
Go on.
He's back.
Harry choked on his drink and he shook his head when Hermione and Draco both stared at him in worry.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," he said, trying to reassure them. He smiled gratefully at Draco who was rubbing his back in a comforting motion.
He wouldn't worry them with his problems, especially not Draco.
Hermione, do you mind giving us privacy? I'm going to ask him. Harry asked Hermione through the small telepathic connection he set up. He looked in the corner of his eyes at Hermione, who nodded and mouthed a 'good luck' to him before disappearing with an inaudible whoosh.
"Where did Hermione go?" Draco asked, noticing that their friend had vanished.
"Draco," Harry said, holding onto Draco's free hand with both of his, "will you be my boyfriend?" "Even if the idea of dating Death is kind of weird," he quickly added, making Draco laugh.
"Of course, you idiot," Draco replied and a silence fell over them as the realized how close their faces were, neither sure of who should make the first move.
In the end, it was Harry who boldly leaned forward and let his lips brush against Draco's before pulling away, eyes glinting in amusement when he saw Draco's red face. The blonde took the next initiative and leaned forward to properly kiss him.
Harry closed his eyes as he relished at the feeling of his boyfriend's soft lips moving with his.
He briefly pushed the conversation he had with Kingsley aside and enjoyed the moment.
No, he wouldn't worry Draco with this problem, even if it could end with his permanent death and the deaths of many others.
