Someone New
Harry/Draco, Hermione [G, 901 words]
Disclaimer: JK Rowling and co own everything. I'm writing for fun and not for profit.
A/N: Unbeta'd and I needed to post something sweet after my last angsty drabble. Title comes from the song by Hozier that's been stuck in my head for days and written for the prompt: choosing the perfect outfit for a date. As Harry is in this fic, I'm a t-shirt and jeans type of person, so the descriptions of clothes are rather vague. But just imagine the best outfit that Harry could wear and it should work.
Summary: While tonight is more than just a simple date for Harry with someone new, it wouldn't hurt to start out with a perfect outfit.

Someone New

"Hermione, you're not helping me at all." Harry came out of the closet with two more shirts and held them up for her to see. "What about these?"

Hermione sat up on the bed and opened her eyes. She looked at each shirt carefully as if choosing the wrong one would be the worst mistake of her life. Considering that Harry rarely asked for help, especially with his love life, her answer was crucial to Harry. Out of all of his friends, he trusted Hermione to help him find the perfect outfit for his date tonight and to give him her honest opinion.

"They look the same as all of your other shirts, just different colours."

And sometimes all she did was state the obvious.

"Which one looks better? The blue or the red?" Harry walked over to the mirror and held each shirt in front of him several times before letting out a groan of frustration.

In the mirror's reflection, Harry could see Hermione shake her head. "Harry, what more can I say? We've been at this for the last hour. There are only so many options in your closet that aren't denims and t-shirts."

She had a point, Harry thought, looking around at all the clothes strewn on the bed. It didn't help that everything he owned had been bought after the war, so he couldn't blame it on having only hand-me-downs. He just liked wearing things that were comfortable and didn't care how he looked. Until now, of course.

"I told you that you needed to go shopping," Hermione continued, using her wand to sort, hang and fold the clothes back into the closet. "You can't hide behind wizarding robes for the rest of your life."

"Yes I can. Besides, I heard that the proper way to wear robes is to go starkers underneath."

Hermione smiled. "Then go starkers. You'll make a lasting impression on your date."

The blush that bloomed across Harry's face had nothing to do with the images that flashed through his mind at those words. Not at all. He cleared his throat and hurriedly changed the topic. "I want to impress him, not send him away as soon as he enters the room and looks at me. Do you think I should wear a tie? Or would it be too much?"

"Does it matter? It's not like you'll be wearing it for long." A quick look around the room had her adding, "I hope you go back to his place tonight to shag-"

"Hermione!"

"What? Just because I'm married doesn't mean I've forgotten what it's like in the early days of a relationship." A smirk appeared on her face as Harry blushed yet again.

"Right. I was there for our Eighth Year, remember?" Harry had spent half that year avoiding his bedroom the first time he had caught Hermione and Ron in bed together.

"Of course. Okay, how about this: what did you wear on your last date?"

"That's not helping. The last proper date I went on was with Ginny three years ago." It had been a disastrous attempt at getting back together after the war, but it couldn't have been any clearer to Harry that they weren't meant to be in a relationship. Besides, Harry had started to get an inkling that he was gay. Or curious then, but definitely gay now.

"Well, you need to tell me more about your date. Do I know him? Where did you meet?"

"There's not much to say, but he's someone different, someone new." At Hermione's look of disbelief, Harry added, "I promise. He's an Unspeakable. I can't tell you much about him or he'd have to kill you."

Hermione fell back onto the bed, her voice muffled by the pillow she hugged close to her body. "Harry Potter, you are just unbelievable!"

As much as Harry would have liked to hear Hermione go on about him being so secretive, he was going to be late if he didn't leave soon. So he told her the only thing that could silence her at once.

"I can tell you that I really like him."

For the next few minutes, Harry could feel his heart pounding in his chest as Hermione really looked at him and made him wish he was skilled at Occlumency. It wasn't that he was afraid of the truth; it was just that he had figured it out and wanted to keep it to himself for a while. Or at least until he admitted it to his date.

Hermione sighed and said, "Fine, I'll let it go. For now. But you'll have to introduce us soon if it gets serious, okay?"

Harry nodded.

"Alright." Pleased at his answer, Hermione sat on the edge of Harry's bed and Summoned the clothes so that Harry was left empty-handed. "Wear that outfit."

"Are you sure?" Harry took another look at his reflection. He wore black slacks and a red Oxford shirt that felt nice, if stiff, against his skin. On his feet were a pair of dragon hide boots that didn't pinch his toes and were very comfortable. "I think I should go with the green shirt-"

"No, go with the red shirt. If nothing else, it'll give you Gryffindor courage."

Harry frowned, running a hand through his hair. "Why would I need courage?"

"You'll need it tonight when you ask if he tops or bottoms."