Title: Our First Date
Summary: With Harry and Draco's first anniversary coming up, he turns to his friends for advice. When they discover Draco and Harry never had a real first date, they decide that creating one is the perfect solution to Harry's problem. Lots of fluff. Harry/Draco. Oneshot.
Relationships/Pairings: Harry/Draco, mention Ron/Hermione and Ginny/Dean as well as hinted past Ginny/Harry and Draco/Astoria. Nothing major at all though.
Warnings: None, really, unless you're offended by male/male relationships – in which case, why are you searching for Drarry?
Authors note: Fluff in the form of an established Drarry relationship is not my usual style so any tips/pointers/reviews would be gratefully received and appreciated. Thanks and enjoy! :)
Our First Date
"I just don't know what to do." Harry sighed mournfully as he dropped into one of the chairs that surrounded Hermione's large, welcoming oak kitchen table. A steaming mug of tea was already waiting for him and he wrapped his hands around it thankfully. The belief that a cup of tea solved everything was a muggle phrase Hermione had stubbornly crossed over into the wizarding world with her and, usually, it worked.
But not today.
He groaned in frustration, throwing his head back and gaping at the ceiling as if asking gods for an answer. "Why does he have to be so damn difficult?" He asked no one in particular.
"You don't even know that he's going to be difficult about it Harry, you haven't even tried anything yet." Hermione pointed out as she took a sip of her own tea whilst looking over at the bundle which was baby Rose being swung softly throughout her sleep in her enchanted crib. Hermione and Ron's first child was only a month old and was already the centre of both of their universes. As he listened to the soft, sleeping snuffles which floated from the crib, Harry had to admit he could see why.
"Of course he's going to be difficult." A second voice chimed in, ringing with laughter. The voice belonged to Ginny. Until a just over a year ago, it had been the voice he had thought he would spend the rest of his life with. Ginny smiled at him with wicked humour, fire dancing in her eyes. It was a fire Harry had been sure he would always love, yet after the war that love had dimmed and, with the realisation he infact preferred the fire in men's eyes - in one particularly firey male in particular - has died out completely. "It's Malfoy."
Ginny's taunts pulled yet another groan from Harry and he dropped his head down onto the table. "Not helping, Gin." He protested, his voice muffled against the wooden surface. "I don't even know why we have to celebrate anything anyway."
"Harry James Potter!" Hermione snapped with such force that Harry threw himself back up from the table. "It's your first year together. It's a time all couples celebrate. You and Draco-" Harry allowed himself to smile as his best friend spoke his lovers given name - they may never see completely eye to eye, but Draco and Hermione had come to respect each other's intelligence and could even be considered as friends. Not that Harry would say that out loud of course; Draco would deny it with vehemence, and Ron would more than likely forbid his wife from speaking to Malfoy ever again. Ron and Draco had learnt, yes, to be civil for Harry's sake, but he knew friendship would never happen. "-deserve to celebrate more than anyone." Hermione continued. "This year has been difficult for both of you; your families, the press.." Hermione trailed off, her expression suddenly that of a rabbit caught in the headlights of a muggle car. Clearly she regretted her words; it was true, the reaction of Draco's parents, of the Weasley's... The articles in the Daily Prophet and the scorn of the wizarding world in general had been difficult. Reminding Harry of them, however, did not upset him as Hermione clearly worried. It only made him remember his earlier determination in planning the perfect anniversary.
"I know. Draco deserves something great - no, amazing - to make up for all the shit we've had to go through to be together." Harry sighed, catching Ginny miming the action of being sick from the corner of his eye. "That doesn't help either." He snapped, quickly becoming agitated.
"Sorry Harry." She smiled, softening her features as she reached a hand out for him arm. Of all the Weasley's she had been the most accepting. Perhaps, after living as his girlfriend, she was the one who knew best of all that Draco was exactly what he needed. "I'll help now, I promise." She said, holding her hands up in mock surrender.
Harry rolled his eyes at her in return, but smiled to show he appreciated her support.
"I know!" She exclaimed, as if promising to help had suddenly unlocked a flood of ideas in her mind. "Why don't you recreate your first date? That's how Dean proposed." She suggested, smiling dreamily as she twirled the engagement ring which sat delicately on her finger.
"Well I can't do that." Harry said bluntly.
"Why not?!" Hermione asked "I think it sounds like a brilliant idea!"
"It's not that it's not a good idea, it's that... Well... We never exactly had one." Harry explained, sighing as he ran his hand through his hair. He watched as the faces of the two women before him began to gape, mouths dropping open. "A first date, that is." Harry clarified, mistaking their surprise for confusion.
"You never had a first date?" Ginny repeated in questioning, her eyebrows shooting up as if stretching to join her hair.
"Not really. Unless you count when we first saw each other in the Hogs Head, had more to drink than we should have and ended up flooing back to my flat and-"
"That's quite enough information Harry." Hermione interjected in a formal tone, her face straight and her cheeks warming pink.
"Honestly Hermione." Ginny laughed as she rolled her eyes at the other witches embarrassment. "You have a baby. You know how these things work. I, personally, would love to know all the details." She waggled her eyebrows suggestively as she turned her gaze from an embarrassed Hermione to an affronted Harry.
"And I definitely don't want to tell you them." Harry shot her down, secretly glad Hermione had interrupted him when she did. No doubt he would have been caught unaware and Ginny would have taken the opportunity to quiz for details about his sex life. It wasn't that he was a prude - anything but, infact, just as Draco - but he wasn't exactly thrilled at the idea of sharing his new bedroom habits with his ex-girlfriend.
"But you didn't have a date after that?" Hermione pressed as Ginny sank back her chair, scowling with disappointment.
"No." Harry shrugged awkwardly, suddenly feeling as if he had done something very wrong. Naturally, the urge to defend himself rose up. "You know what it was like! After that night, all our meetings were in secret until Draco realised he really couldn't go through with marrying Astoria... Then after he told his parents, the presses reaction was so mental we couldn't go out anywhere without being hounded and then... Well it just never happened."
Harry's bad feeling rose all the more as he watched Ginny and Hermione exchange a single, damning look. It was a look that he had gotten used to over the years; a look that simply said, in a very condescending tone, 'men'.
"Well all the more reason to do one then." Hermione insisted. "If you never had a first date then this is the perfect excuse to have one."
Harry suddenly had a very queasy feeling in his stomach; after a year of a relationship without a first date, how could he hope to plan one that would be worth the wait?
Above all, how could he hope to plan one to Draco Malfoy's standards?
"You'll help me, right?" He asked meekly.
"Of course we will." Hermione and Ginny said in a unison which Harry would have at once found creepy but now, as he and his friends began to plan the ideal first date, he found amazingly comforting.
The day of Harry and Draco's first date was, thankfully, a bright and sunny morning. A quick flick of his arm out of the window to check the temperature outside - a gesture Draco always despaired with 'for Merlin's sake, Harry, you're a wizard. Use an atmospheric charm' he would moan - told him that it was breezy, but not overly cold. He smiled softly to himself; the perfect weather.
"Good morning," he greeted cheerily as Draco groaned, slowly opening his eyes and blinking in the light that bathed the room.
"Why are you always so happy in the mornings." He groaned moodily, slowly pulling himself into a sitting position.
"Because I get to wake up next to you." Harry told him as he sank down beside him on the bed, reaching his lips forward to his lovers.
"Corny Gryffindor." Draco muttered, but a glorious smile flickered across his lips before Harry claimed them. It continued into their kiss too; Harry could feel it, warm and happy, against his lips.
"Get up and get dressed." Harry demanded as he broke the kiss, jumping back up from the bed abruptly.
"Why? It's Sunday." Draco said as if that was a completely valid excuse to stay in bed all day. For Draco, it often was.
"It's also our anniversary. It's been a year since you decided you weren't marrying Astoria and chose me instead." Harry told him, turning back to smile at his partner as he stopped in the doorway. "A pretty good reason for a celebration, you must admit."
"Naturally it is, for you. One wouldn't simply forget the day a Malfoy took them as their lover." Draco retorted. To some his comment may be taken as condescending, a rebuff of Harry's romantic gesture. Harry, however, knew differently. He saw the way Draco's eyes lit with glitters of happiness at Harry's words, how the edges of a smile tugged at the expression he tried to keep completely neutral. He wouldn't have him any other way.
"Of course not." Harry agreed with a happy smile. "So hurry up and get dressed." With that, he closed the bedroom door behind him and retreated to the living room where he could pace the floor in peace and tell himself that he was not at all nervous, but simply allowing himself some light exercise. Aurors had to stay exceedingly fit, exercising was natural for them.
When Draco was ready, Harry offered him a kiss and took his elbow, patting the bag at his side as if reassuring himself he had remembered everything he needed. He pulled his lover into the twist of apparation and, although he stumbled as they landed, he never let go of Draco's arm.
"Where are we?" Draco asked as he looked around. Harry followed the grey eyes of Draco's gaze; they stood on the edge of a line of magnificent, tall trees which burst with the colours of spring. The breeze out here whipped a little more strongly, causing Draco's robes to billow slightly at his feet. His hair, of course, remained steadfastly neat. His eyes were widened, only slightly, with curiosity, and a look of excitement danced in them. For Harry this was like Christmas as Draco rarely showed so much of his emotions quite so freely. His pale cheeks were beginning to pinken slightly, almost matching the rosy shade of his lips which, although they appeared thin, were actually plump and more than satisfying when considering their multiple uses.
When Harry realised he was mentally describing the view of his lover rather than their surroundings he stopped, flushed, and answered Draco's question.
"The Forrest of Dean." He said, casting his gaze forward into the trees. "I came here during the war. I imagined it would be beautiful in a happier time and I always wanted to come back and see if it was."
Harry pulled open the bag he had brought, pulling out a single broom. It had been shrunken, of course, but a simple tap of Harry's wand restored it to its original size.
"Only one?" Draco asked as he saw the broom appear, arching an eyebrow.
"I brought yours too, but you don't know where you're going yet. I thought we could ride together." Harry said as he brought the broom down and stepped over to mount it, leaving plenty of room for Draco to slide on behind him. He watched, cautiously, as a flicker of something – a memory – passed through Draco's eyes. Suddenly Harry remembered the last – and only – time they had shared a broom; when Harry had saved him from the burning flames of the Room of Requirement. Harry could have cursed himself if his own wand would allow; that was not a day he wanted Draco to be remembering on their anniversary. He held his breath, knowing he could do nothing now but wait for his lover's response.
"If I can ride us back you've got yourself a deal." He quipped, stepping over the broom and mounting it behind Harry in one fluid movement. Harry did not try to quell his relief, allowing his shoulders to sag as Draco agreed to join him so easily.
"Deal." He replied without hesitation, giving a firm kick from the group as Draco's arms wrapped around him, guiding them into the air toward the forest. He allowed himself to enjoy the flight; the soft breeze against his face, the colours of the trees as they whipped by him, the solid, reassuring wood beneath his hands. More enjoyable than all of that, however, was the feeling of two strong, steady arms around him, holding their owner's body flush against his.
Harry never wanted the flight to end but, as he saw a distant clearing through the trees, he knew he had reached their destination. He began to pull the broom into a dive, landing just short of the clearing in a clip of dense, heavy oak trees. He allowed Draco to dismount first before he followed and shrank the broom, safely stowing it away.
"Just through here." He said, motioning for Draco to follow as he began to pick through the trees toward the clearing. As he stepped his way over fallen branches and around heavy stones his heart began to beat wildly in his chest. As they inched closer and closer, Harry became more and more uncertain. Questions swirled in his mind, biting at him for answers; would Draco really like what Harry had planned? The image of Draco, sneering with scorn at what Harry had planned washed into his mind. Draco Malfoy was used to glamour, grandeur, richness and beauty. Would he think Harry's attempt at romance was beneath him?
Harry pushed the thoughts away and pushed himself into the clearing.
It was a clearing he had once stumbled upon when he and Hermione had been alone in the forest. It was filled with a layer of rippling, green grass punctuated with wild flowers. A small, glistening body of water – too small to be a pond, yet large enough for a person to comfortably bathe in, glittered in the sunlight which dappled through the gap in the trees. In the centre of the grass Harry had already – after apparating directly into the forest that morning – left a warm, woollen picnic blanket threaded in the perfect combination of emerald green and ruby red with a large wicker basket at its centre. The basket contained a wide selection of magically preserved foods; sandwiches, fruit, drinks and, of course, Harry's own favourite treacle tart.
Harry turned back toward Draco who was still standing right behind Harry. He stood, frozen in place, his eyes scanning the clearing before him as Harry's once had.
"What is this?" He asked, moving his gaze toward Harry with loose suspicion.
"A picnic." Harry said, quite clearly stating the obvious. He was biding his time, waiting for Draco's reaction, before he admitted the true, romantic intentions behind the plan. He started toward the blanket, pausing as he reached the edge of the material. "Join me?"
Draco nodded and moved toward Harry, pausing at the edge of the blanket to conjure a cushion. It was large, overwhelmingly stuffed, and entirely emerald apart from the ornate silver trimmings which edged it. Once the cushion was in place, Draco promptly lowered himself onto it. Harry, who was beginning to relax, allowed himself to roll his eyes. Typical Draco. "I already cast a cushioning charm." He said in the tone of a stubborn child, dropping himself down beside Draco onto the already perfectly comfortable blanket.
"What is this place?" Draco asked as he gazed around once more. Now the initial suspicion Harry had seen in his eyes had faded it had been replaced with a light, pleased curiosity as he looked around his surroundings. Harry noticed how he paused on several clumps of flowers, allowing himself to smile at some particular varieties before he moved on. Harry made a mental note of those that made Draco smile, thankful that he had been forced to help Aunt Petunia tend to her garden for long enough he knew the names of many common flowers. Perhaps he would collect some for Draco before they left.
"Just a clearing I stumbled across whilst me and Hermione were camping out here. I ventured out here a few times alone, but I always wanted to experience it with someone else." He smiled, gaining confidence as he spoke, sliding his hand out to take Draco's. Draco curled over his hand in response, allowing their palms to caress and their fingers to entwine.
After a moment of quiet contentment, Harry leant over to open the wicker basket he had Kreacher help him pack. There was, as was typical of his house elf, enough food to feed at least another eight people. At least, Harry comforted himself, there should be something to tempt Draco. True enough he had plated himself a delicate, yet substantial amount of food, although his expression had turned to faint disgust as he browsed the drinks that had been packed. Harry allowed his lips to curl into a smile; sure, he had Kreacher pack all the food – it was one way of making sure it was perfect, but he wasn't about to let the house elf get all the credit. He reached into the bag he had carried with him and pulled out a bottle of elf made wine; the rich, ruby coloured contents swirled against the bottle green glass and the label announced its contents with such flashy, proud lettering that told Harry it was the aesthetics of the bottle as much as the taste which pleased Draco about this particular drink.
"Looking for something stronger?" He asked, his smile now transforming into a teasing smirk.
Draco swiped the bottle without a word, apparently choosing to punish Harry for his teasing. Harry didn't care; he had seen, in the exact moment Draco turned to him, the softening happiness around the lines of his eyes that told him his lover was flattered by the fact Harry knew him so well.
After a long, lazy meal full of laughter and easy conversation Harry lay back against the blanket, searching the cloudless, blue sky above him without any real purpose. He sighed, a deep, happy sigh as he settled back. He was happy and, more importantly, it seemed Draco was happy too. As silence passed comfortably between them, Harry had almost found himself drifting off to sleep before Draco's words jolted him from his half-dazed state.
"Why bring me here today, though?"
Harry pulled himself into a sitting position, shyly avoiding Draco's gaze. It was one thing to have planned their outing with the intention of creating a first date; it was an entirely different thing actually admitting it. Would Draco think he was stupid? Would he laugh, thinking him a sappy, pathetic Gryffindor?
Well, Harry told himself, Gryffindor's also had courage.
"It's our first date."
Draco looked confused for a second, a questioning gaze covering his features as he regarded Harry. "We never had one." He pointed out, slowly. All of a sudden, a sharp jolt of fire swept through his eyes – something Harry had learnt to recognise as jealousy – although Draco quickly covered it with a cool, emotionless gaze. "Unless your confusing me with the Weaselette, in which case, I think you seriously need-"
"I'm not confusing you with Ginny." Harry interjected firmly, keen to interrupt Draco before he made his jealousy even worse and ended up, as Harry knew he would, insulting her and forcing Harry to defend her. That would only end up in an argument and ruin what Harry had hoped to achieve. "I never brought her here. I never brought anyone here."
The cool expression which had replaced Draco's jealousy dropped, letting Harry safely realise that the emotion it had been concealing had also gone. Instead, a faint confusion took its place.
"It's our first date because we never had one." Harry explained, leaning over to take both of Draco's hands in his. "I was thinking what I could do, to celebrate the year we've had together, to show you how much I love you." He paused, swallowing slightly. He and Draco rarely bared their souls in such ways; on the occasions Harry did, Draco usually teased him mercilessly. Harry didn't mind, he knew already, from the brief moments when Draco did let himself go, that he felt just as strongly as Harry did. "I thought you deserved a first date. I always wanted to bring someone special here. It seemed like a perfect idea."
Draco smiled, giving Harry's hands a soft, reassuring squeeze. "It was." He assured him, his voice gentle and kind. Harry smiled; this was the Draco he loved, not just because of his loving, caring side, but because it was a side that no one else got to see. A side just for Harry.
Draco leant towards him, his eyes fluttering closed and his lips pursing as he sought out Harrys. Harry, however, leant back. As Draco opened his eyes in surprise, Harry shook his head, a smirk sliding across his lips.
"Oh, no you don't." He said, his voice soft and teasing. "I don't kiss on the first date."
Harry watched as emotions flickered through Draco's eyes – embarrassment, anger, and, Harry noticed with a stab of regret, uncertainty. He didn't want to do anything, even in teasing, that would make Draco doubt his feelings for him. At best, it would be a knock to Draco's self-pride. At worst, it would be a blow to the trust and love Harry had built him to believe in.
"But, for Draco Malfoy, I'm sure I could make an exception." He whispered, his smirk turning to a genuine, adoring smile as he leant forward and claimed his lover's lips.