Title: Harry and Draco at the Optician's
Author: shantismurf (!)
Pairing: H/D preslash
Rating: G (sadly, I haven't worked up to smut - yet!)
Warnings: Bad puns?
Word Count: 1,400 or so
Author's Notes: Firstly I do apologize to those who have me on alert because of my French Twilight story Le Cygne et le Lion. I do think I'll probably translate and extend that story someday, but my heart is too wrapped up in the HPDM fandom these days to give it its due at this time. Merci beaucoup à tous!

Sara's Girl owns my fangirlish worship, and she owns this Harry and this Draco, although none of us really own them, do we? This Harry and this Draco come from her amazingly awesome fic "Turn." I admit the summary of partial epilogue-compliance put me off at first, but I trusted the author and I have been so swept up and moved by this story that I write her inappropriately long reviews and even ended up writing this little ficlet as fanfic for her fanfic - my first ever bit of HPDM. It was written between the posting of chapters 10 and 11, but I've since edited to mention the cafe. Note: I'm American and have NO clue what optometrist shops are like in London (opticians as I'm told they're called there). Here they're all in shopping malls so I'm hoping there's something similar? Thank you endlessly for the fabulously kind beta job by Sara Holmes. She brit-picked this into something much better!

PS - This title sucks, but it's slightly better than "Turn-inspired ficlet of worship" which is what I've been calling it up to this point. Suggestions for a better title are most welcome! Also, I adore constructive criticism...please tell me what I can do better!

On an odd Wednesday afternoon where Draco wasn't rushing off to a meeting the two new friends linger a bit at the cafe over extra cups of coffee and a few random custard creams and not-biscuit wafers, which Harry happily consumes to Draco's overt disgust. Harry wheedles a bit until he convinces Draco to accompany him to a Muggle optician's for new glasses reasoning that he'd be bollocks at picking frames himself citing his nonexistent sense of style, and the fact that he has to remove his glasses to try on new ones so he'd be half blind without them anyway, how would he know how they looked? Harry has the idea of going to a Muggle shop because, well, look at what the Optiwizard let him leave the shop with last time. Unable to disagree with any of this, Draco throws up his hands and promptly finds himself among the shiny displays of rows upon rows of empty frames stylishly backlit in a blandly neutral but vaguely contemporary optician's in Muggle London.

Draco looks around and only sneers for a moment although Harry reckons that could be as much for the oddly plastic smell to the place or the tinny music being piped over the store's sound system as anything. Draco economically picks out a selection of frames for Harry to try and as he's setting them on the counter Harry says, "Six?" Draco blanches and hops up to grabs two more candidate frames, placing them neatly in two lines of four with the others. "That's better." Draco pauses and cocks an eyebrow at him with an expression of half relief half disbelief but leaves the question unsaid until Harry cracks, "It's just that six isn't a great number, right?"

"Right."

Harry puffs out the breath he was holding and reaches for the first frame, slipping his clunky round glasses off and setting them down. Harry glances up at Draco before slipping them on and thinks he can see a dazed expression on the blond's face, remembering how much his Draco (he really needs to stop thinking of the glimpse that way) had a weakness for Harry without his glasses. He said it made him look all vulnerable and shaggable.

Draco immediately vetoes the first frames but sets the second down for consideration and continues through his first selections. He then mercilessly drags Harry, sans glasses, around the shop trying different styles and shapes. They draw the attention of the trendy and exceedingly friendly young salesperson and she's roped into giving opinions and suggestions on frames. After several minutes of prodding and staring and "Turn this way so we can see your profile" they start in on Harry's hair and clothes and he starts to feel a bit like a bull being eyed up for sale at market.

"Oh Merlin, you should have seen the jumpers he used to wear! Brown shapeless things that did nothing at all for his skin."

Harry grumbles a bit to himself. Who knew this Draco would be this chatty?

"Well he cleans up nice, that's for sure. Here, try these." She hands a pair to Draco who turns and slips them on Harry, who apparently is no longer allowed to touch the frames as they're slipped on and off.

"Ahh, yes, I like the bottoms on these; is there a wire there?"

"No, it's just the lens, but it's secured in at the sides and top so it doesn't come out. Some people worry that they'll chip the lens in frames like this but they're really quite durable."

"Oh that's no problem I'll just cast a-"

"I'm not worried!" Harry quickly cuts in. "I'm very careful with my glasses." He kicks Draco's shin lightly with a meaningful look.

Draco just smirks and says, "I think these are it. What do you think Rochelle?"

"Oh yes, he has such lovely eyes. Those are perfect. I wish my boyfriend were this considerate," she says, smiling at Harry with a nod towards Draco.

Harry stutters, "Oh, well, we're not, I mean, we just…we're friends…right? Good friends." He flushes, hoping the salesgirl's misunderstanding doesn't embarrass Draco and make him shy away. They'd come so far today. Draco looks a little put out, but not overly so. Harry's not sure if that's a good sign or not.

"Oh…um, yes, I'll just get the order started then. Do you need an exam or do you have your prescription?"

"Umm yes, here…just a moment." Harry digs into his pockets and pulls out a rolled up bit of parchment that he got from his Healer at St. Mungo's. "Sorry my doctor's a bit old fashioned," he says as he hands the roll over.

"Umm, yeah, well, I'll just…hmm I've never seen a…what is that, an APV…aural perception value? I have no idea what that is."

"Oh, yeah, he does some, um, research, you know, experimental stuff. Don't mind that. Does it have the numbers you need?"

"Yep I see them here…just never seen a prescription like this before."

"Yeah, sorry."

"No worries. I'll just run this order through. If you wouldn't mind waiting I'll be right back." Rochelle waves the parchment at them as she jaunts back behind the counter to her computer and starts entering the data.

Harry turns to Draco with a grin, "Well, who would have thought you'd be so chummy with the Muggle salesgirl, hmm?"

"I'm not a heathen, Potter. I can be civil when it's called for."

"Well, thanks again for coming with me. If you hadn't been here she would have talked me into those orange and white frames for sure."

Draco grimaces in memory of the offending frames. "It was all I could do not to vanish them on sight. If my back hadn't been turned she never would have gotten them on your face. Muggles wear the strangest things."

"Okay guys, I've put that through so if you'd like to come back over," Rochelle calls from her computer. They settle up the order and Rochelle only blinks a bit when Harry pulls out a wad of Muggle bills to pay in cash. "Okay, we can have these ready for you in about an hour, if you want to wander and do a bit of shopping I can send you a text when they're done."

Draco's brow furrows in confusion and opens his mouth when Harry cuts in, "Oh, that's alright, we'll just come back in an hour."

Harry steers Draco out of the shop and once out of earshot Draco turns to him and says, "Why would she send you a book when your glasses are done?" Harry just chuckles.

(And that joke there was the whole reason this bunny has been bouncing around in my head for weeks! Ba-dum-bump.)