Draco Malfoy had learned from an early age that the key to a perfect party was perfect planning and organisation. It was something that his mother, party hostess extraordinaire, had always told him.
"It is never too early to start planning a party, Draco," she'd say from her desk while a five-year-old Draco sat on the floor playing with his toy dragons. "The earlier you start, the more successful the party will be."
On her way to meet with the decorator, she'd breeze past Draco's room. "Decorations are everything, darling. They make the party!"
In the Manor's dining room while tasting a selection of desserts, Narcissa would try a tiny sample of each dish before telling Draco "You can never go wrong with chocolate, dear."
Now Draco was proud to say he had a perfect track record when it came to successful parties. That is, until the day Harry Potter turned thirty.
Draco sat in the Ministry cafeteria, going through the to-do list in his black leather-bound diary. He pulled out a sketch of a cake and stared at it thoughtfully as Hermione slid into the seat opposite him.
"Sorry I'm late. The meeting ran overtime."
Draco looked up and greeted her with a brief smile and nod.
"Oh, is that the cake?" Hermione asked.
Draco passed her the sketch. "Yes. Vanilla and chocolate swirl with a milk chocolate mousse layer and dark chocolate ganache. What do you think?"
"I think, yum."
"Good. I thought it was a bit much, but Harry does love chocolate," Draco said, slipping the sketch back into his diary.
Hermione leaned back in her chair. "So why did you want to meet, anyway?"
Draco returned to his list. "Well, I still have music to take care of, and seeing as my beloved other half prefers that deafening, screeching rubbish he calls music, while I am partial to Tchaikovsky and Bach, I thought you could help me out."
Hemoine nodded, understanding. "No problem. I'll find some excuse to borrow Harry's laptop and burn his iTunes library onto a cd."
Draco ticked "Music" off his list in satisfaction. "I'm not even going to pretend to understand what you just said, but thanks."
"So, everything all sorted? How's the rest of the planning going?"
"Fine, so far. Cake's been ordered, I just have to arrange the Portkey to Paris to pick it up the day of the party. The food will be delivered on the night, invitations are sent, decorations taken care of, music done, gift bought," Draco recited, going through his list.
"I'm sure everything will be perfect. A simple, surprise party on the rooftop terrace. Harry will love it."
"I hope so. Oh, one more thing. Weasley-,"
"-won't be a problem. No one has said anything to Ron about it. On the day, I'll tell him we're just dropping by your apartment to give Harry his gift, and I'll explain everything on the way there. By the time he's there, there won't be a chance for him to blab to Harry."
Draco smirked. "Perfect. The last thing I need is a ginger blabbermouth ruining everything."
"Well, darling, you definitely deserve the boyfriend of the year award," Pansy said, raising her teacup in a toast. "Throwing a surprise party with a group of Gryffindors, not to mention Weasleys, finger food and that horrid Muggle music? You must really love Potter."
"It won't be all Gryffindors," Draco replied, looking at Pansy pointedly.
"Oh, which reminds me, what does Harry want for his birthday? Blaise and I will probably be doing a joint gift."
Draco raised a scandalised eyebrow. "A joint gift? Pansy, did your parents teach you no proper etiquette?"
Pansy matched his expression perfectly. "Draco, darling, need I remind you that your invite, which was not calligraphed, I might add, read 'Casual dress'? And the fact that this party is taking place on a rooftop terrace where you will be serving pizza, buffet-style?"
"Gourmet pizza," Draco corrected. "It's from Harry's favourite restaurant. And he's always said he hated all that fancy bullshit."
"The cake is fancy," Pansy pointed out.
"That's different. One should never scrimp on desserts, especially when chocolate is concerned."
Pansy rolled her eyes. "Anyway, rest assured mine and Blaise's gift will not be any less expensive even though it's from two people."
"Speaking of gifts, would you keep this at your place and bring it along to the party tomorrow night?" Draco reached under the table and handed Pansy a large shopping bag.
"Ooh, what is it?" she asked, peeking inside curiously.
"It's Harry's birthday gift. A leather jacket I just picked up from Twilfit. They just finished the alterations. I thought it would be safer for someone else to keep it so he won't find it."
"Sure."
"All right, I better head off. I have some other things to pick up. I'll see you tomorrow." Draco stood and turned to leave before turning back. "Oh, Pans? When in doubt, you can never go wrong with chocolate. And perhaps a nice, expensive bottle of vintage wine."
The day of the party arrived. It was 2 pm and Draco had precisely four and a half hours to prepare everything before the guests arrived. After treating Harry to breakfast in bed earlier that morning, George Weasley had arrived to take Harry out to a Muggle football match where they would spend the afternoon before returning at 7pm precisely.
Draco glanced at his watch. His Portkey to Paris to collect the cake was leaving at 3 pm, which gave him an hour to set up the decorations on the rooftop. He dug out the shrunken box he'd hidden in his sock drawer, re-sized it and brought it up to the roof, pulling out candles, strings of fairy lights and little white lanterns. Draco stood in the middle of the rooftop terrace, surveying the space and deciding where to start, when he noticed some ominous-looking grey clouds overhead.
"What the fuck are those?" he muttered to himself. "It's the middle of summer, for Merlin's sake!"
He studied the sky worriedly as the clouds grew darker and closer. Oh, please, please, please don't rain...he pleaded silently.
It started to drizzle slightly. "Fuck! No!" Draco swore loudly. The rain came down harder in response.
With an exasperated groan, he quickly packed the decorations back into the box with a wave of his wand and hurried back to the apartment. Setting the box down on the coffee table, Draco then hovered near the window, cursing his luck. The rain seemed to become heavier each minute and Draco heard the rumble of thunder in the distance. He took a moment to worry whether the football match where George and Harry were at would be cancelled.
He thought quickly for a few minutes, then grabbed some parchment and a spare quill, scribbling out a note.
Hermione-
Party's been moved to apartment due to godforsaken rain. Would you please let George and other Weasleys know as well? Thanks.
-Draco
Draco sent it off with their owl, then wrote another note detailing the change of venue. He duplicated a few copies with a quick spell, then Apparated to the nearby Owl Post Office and sent the notes off to the rest of the guests.
By the time he arrived back home, Draco was drenched and irritated. He took a few moments to run through things he needed to do in his head. Now that the party was moved indoors, he needed to tidy, clean and decorate the apartment, move the furniture around, set up tables and chairs, and work out where the food and drinks were going.
Draco decided to sort out the decorations first. With a muttered spell, the fairy lights and lanterns hung themselves up, crisscrossing the ceiling. The tiny candles scattered around the apartment. Draco plugged in the fairy lights, feeling proud of himself when they flickered on.
Next, he tidied the apartment with a quick cleaning spell, then moved the furniture around to create more space. He moved the chairs from the dining table to the living room, made a trip to the liquor store and supermarket to pick up drinks, and set up a makeshift bar. By the time he'd finished, the apartment looked presentable enough, however Draco was exhausted. He glanced at his watch- it was almost five.
"Well, that's everything done," he muttered. Draco headed to the bathroom where he decided to reward himself with a nice, long hot shower.
By the time he emerged from the bathroom, dressed and hair perfect, it was almost time for the guests to arrive. The food was due to be delivered anytime now.
Draco checked the living room, making sure everything was in its right place when he noticed the fairy lights were off. Frowning, he checked the plug. It seemed normal. He tried flicking the main lights on and off, but nothing happened.
"Fuck, no...not a power cut..." he muttered. He checked the fridge next, groaning aloud when the light inside did not come on and the humming noise was distinctly absent.
Draco was figuring out what to do, when the doorbell rang. He was expecting the food, but Ron and Hermione strolled in instead, carrying Harry's gift, which was wrapped in a Twilfit and Tatting's signature black and white box.
"Hi, Draco, where should I put this?" she asked.
"What's that?" Draco replied, eyes on the box.
"What, Harry's gift? It's a leather jacket from Twilfit. He mentioned he liked it when we were shopping last week."
"I know!" Draco cried out in despair. "I bought him the same one!"
Hermione's jaw dropped. "You did? Oh, no."
Draco felt like crying. He collapsed on the sofa, burying his face in his hands. "Everything's going wrong!" he wailed.
Ron threw Hermione a bewildered look. She shrugged in response. Setting down her gift, she sat down next to Draco, gingerly placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Draco, what's wrong?"
"Everything!" he cried out. "I had to move the party down here because of the stupid rain, the power's out so my decorations are fucked up, we can't even play the Muggle music because there's no elekticity, the food's late and-and you've gone and bought Harry the same gift as me!"
"All right, I'm sure we can fix everything," Hermione said, thinking. "Okay, look. I'll call up the restaurant and see what's taking so long. Ron, why don't you conjure up some balloons and Draco, set up some floating candles since we don't have any light. About the music, I guess we'll just have to listen to the wireless. And I'll try to work something out about the jacket, okay?"
Draco nodded half-heartedly and they set to work. Hermione made the call to the restaurant, then greeted guests as they arrived. Ron conjured up some pretty decent glittering silver and gold balloons. Draco hated them, balloons were just so plebeian, but he guessed it was better than nothing. He sent more candles floating near the ceiling, casting a spell that will make them light up as soon as Harry entered the room.
Soon it was almost seven. Hermione had instructed all the guests to start hiding, and they were currently scrambling about excitedly, each trying to find a place. Draco glanced at the door, which Hermione had charmed transparent on their side so they could see Harry coming. He was looking nervously at his watch- the food still hadn't arrived-when Hermione asked him about the cake.
"What cake?" Draco asked absentmindedly.
"The birthday cake. You were Portkeying to Paris to pick it up, I thought," she said.
"Oh...no," he whispered, closing his eyes. "Fuck! I completely forgot! I was so pre-occupied with moving it down here, and setting up...I must have missed the Portkey!" Now he really was going to cry.
Blaise, who had been hiding behind a nearby armchair, stood. "I could Apparate down to the grocery store on the corner and get one of those pre-made ones," he suggested.
Draco glared at him. "Do you think I specially ordered a 150€ cake made by a top French pâtissier so I could end up with some soggy mess from Tesco's that costs 2£?"
Blaise shrugged. "What other choice do you have? We can't just conjure up a two-tiered chocolate ganache dream now. Food is an exception of Gamp's Law of Elem-,"
"He's right," Hermione cut in. "Harry's going to be here any second."
Draco shrugged and threw up his hands. "I give up."
Hermione turned to Blaise. "You better hurry."
He nodded and disappeared with a crack. When he returned the apartment was dark and everyone was hiding. Draco, crouched behind the couch, had his eyes fixed on the transparent door. Everything had gone wrong; the only hope now was that the surprise went off without a hitch. Everyone waited in a tense silence. Draco could hear at least five different watches, plus the clock, ticking. After what seemed like hours, someone approached the door.
"Get ready," Neville hissed from behind the coat rack.
Draco frowned. The man at the door was carrying two large paper bags and a stack of pizza boxes. He cursed mentally- it was the bloody food delivery from the restaurant!
"That's not Harry!" he hissed.
"Yes, it is!" Neville whispered back.
Draco swore again-aloud this time. Now everything really had gone wrong. Harry and George had turned up at the exact same time as the delivery man. Harry was looking confused and seemed to be asking the man something, while George wore an expression that clearly read 'Shit, what should I do now?'
Draco watched as Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys, unlocked the door and stepped inside, saying, "Draco, there's this man here who says he's delivering some fo-,"
He trailed off as all the candles lighted up. Everyone was still hidden, quite unsure of what to do now the surprise seemed ruined. Except for Luna Lovegood, who had burst out from behind the curtain, shouting, "Surprise!"
That seemed to be the cue for the rest of the guests and Draco (even though he felt like hexing the delivery man for having no sense of timing), who now jumped up, yelling 'Surprise!"
Harry's mouth dropped open and he started to laugh. "Oh my God!" he exclaimed, his eyes scanning the room and finally landing on Draco.
"Did you plan this?" he asked, stepping forward.
Draco managed a smile. "Yeah. Happy Birthday, Harry," he said, giving Harry a quick kiss.
Harry wrapped him in a hug. "You're amazing." He beamed at Draco and started greeting the other guests. Draco stepped away and directed the delivery man to the dining table, paid him and then transferred the food onto plates. He inspected the cake, which Blaise had placed in the middle of the table. It seemed like the only one he could find would fit in better at a seven-year-old's birthday party. It was a circular chocolate cake, the top covered in whipped cream (which Draco could tell wasn't even fresh) and colourful sprinkles. 'Happy Birthday' was written quite messily in chocolate icing.
Draco returned to the living room, where the party seemed to have started successfully. Hermione had turned on the wireless, and Luna and Neville were dancing to the Celestina Warbeck song now playing. Pansy and Ginny (who had become good friends after Hogwarts, to everyone's surprise) had taken over the bar and was mixing drinks. Harry was on the couch with the rest of Weasleys and Hermione, laughing about something. Blaise seemed to be chatting up one of Harry's colleagues, and the rest of the guests had drifted over to the dining table where the food was.
Draco sighed. Only with his luck everything would start going right after every other possible thing went wrong.
Harry caught Hermione as she was returning to the dining table for more food.
"Hey, have you seen Draco?" he asked.
She shook her head. "No. Actually, I haven't seen him since the party started."
Harry frowned. He checked the kitchen, which was empty except for Blaise and his colleague, Eloise, making out furiously. Shaking his head, Harry headed down the corridor to their bedroom. He opened the door and peeked inside. Draco was lying face down on the bed, his blond hair splayed across Harry's pillow. Harry stepped inside, closing the door behind him silently. He moved over and sat on the edge of the mattress, placing a hand gently on Draco's lower back.
"Hey," he said softly. "Are you all right?"
Draco shook his head without lifting it from the pillow. Harry started moving his hand in small circles.
"What's wrong?"
Draco turned his head to look at Harry, who noticed there were tears clinging to his eyelashes.
"Hey, what's the matter?" Harry asked, starting to worry that something terrible had happened.
Draco rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling. "I planned the perfect party for your birthday and every possible thing that could go wrong, did."
Harry frowned. "Like what? It seems pretty perfect to me."
Draco had such a miserable expression on his face Harry was tempted to kiss it away, but he waited for Draco to reply.
"It was supposed to be on the roof terrace, because you love the stars. Then the rain spoiled everything and the power went out. So we had to use balloons instead of fairy lights, and we can't play the Muggle music you like so much. And I missed my Portkey to Paris so now we have to eat that disgusting cake from the supermarket; the actual surprise was ruined because of that goddamned delivery man, and Hemione and I bought you the same gift!" Draco ended his speech nearly in tears again.
"Draco, it's fine. I love the party, and I really was surprised," Harry reassured.
Draco sniffed. Harry smiled and lay down on the bed, facing Draco. He brought up a hand and brushed a tear from Draco's eyelash with his thumb.
"Darling, you planned a party for me, even though you've always said surprise parties were so Muggle, and you invited all my friends, most of whom you barely get along with, you're serving pizza, your least favourite food, and you were willing to listen to music that you hate all night long. That means more to me than having a perfect party."
Draco smiled and slipped an arm around Harry's waist, burying his face in his shirt. Harry brought his hand up and combed his fingers through Draco's hair.
"Besides," Harry continued. "I talked to Hermione and she told me I could exchange her gift. And we'll Portkey to Paris tomorrow to get the cake, and I'm sure it will be just as good when we eat it tomorrow night along with the lovely vintage wine Pansy and Blaise brought."
"I love you," Draco mumbled into Harry's chest.
Harry laughed softly, relieved that Draco seemed to have cheered up. "Love you, too."
Draco pulled away and sat up. "I have another gift for you."
Harry raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
Draco reached for a box on his bedside table. "Since the other one's not really a surprise anymore." He passed Harry the box, and he opened it, pulling out a pair of handcuffs.
"You can handcuff me to the bed tonight and do whatever you want to me," Draco declared.
Harry grinned and set the cuffs down. He reached out for Draco's hand and pulled him down onto the bed, leaning closer and kissing him deeply.
"Draco, you are always full of surprises."
the end.
Happy Birthday, dear Harry! x