Fancy Seeing You Here

Draco was in a wretched mood. Some days it just seemed a fantasy to think he could ever escape who he used to be, no matter how hard he tried, no matter what he did.

He'd worked hard at his final year in school and avoided drama at all costs, only wanting to finish his education and start his life afresh. The Malfoy name would not be destroyed after hundreds of years just because he and his father had been fool enough to follow a delusional madman. He wanted to run their affairs honestly now, he wanted to build the Malfoy estate up and give back to the community that they had inadvertently helped take so much from.

So once he graduated, Draco kept his spine straight and his head down, ignoring the dark looks and whispered remarks. One day they would forget, or at least have the decency to stop openly trying to shame him.

Today was not that day though.

He was still shaking as he stalked away from Hogsmead's main street, into the little winding village where the handful of houses stood. The elderly lady he'd just encountered had been half his size, and her voice croaking like a toad as she tore into him in the middle of the pavement, waving her walking stick like the sword of Gryffindor.

Draco had spluttered and tried to apologise, assuring her that he didn't know her as tears had run down her crinkled face, but as she'd advanced on him she'd explained that she knew exactly who he was.

Her granddaughter had been at the Battle of Hogwarts. She had not come home that day.

Eventually Draco had just pushed through the crowd to get away, stammering "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry-" but he was pretty sure it had fallen on the wailing woman's deaf ears. How could he apologise for something like that?

He shoved his hands in his pockets and shivered again against the warm sunshine, thankful no one had followed him. He'd been just as scared as everyone else in that battle, and he'd not even had his own wand to defend himself. He gripped it now in his pocket and thought of the person who had given it back to him, who had even gone so far as to save his life that day.

Thinking of Harry always filled him with a heavy mixture of longing and shame, and he paused to close his eyes and sigh, running his thumb across the wood of his wand. It wasn't good to remind himself of Harry when he'd just been utterly disgraced in public like that. He had no defence, the woman was right in everything she had said, all the names she had called him. He was a fool to think he could ever shake that off and start again.

He began walking again, half-planning to find a quiet spot to sit and compose himself before he attempted to apparate home, so wasn't paying attention as he rounded the old church that marked the end of the village.

"Draco?" a surprised voice said, and he snapped his head up in horror.

Of course he had to run into him now, right when he'd been kicked in the gut.

"Harry," he stuttered, coming to an abrupt holt and holding onto his satchel strap like it was the only thing anchoring him to the ground. "I, err…hi?"

Things had been pretty civil between them since the war. Harry had stood up for him at his trial after all, even going so far as to testify, and when they'd headed back to school they'd formed a sort of truce that meant they hadn't fallen out in well over two years. In fact, he might even go so far as to say they were friends now.

Not that that was enough for Draco, but he'd come to the sad realisation that nothing would probably ever be enough for him when it came to Harry Potter.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked, pushing himself off where he'd been leaning on the side of the building.

Draco swallowed and gave himself a little shake. "Yeah, yeah," he lied. "I'm fine, just…how are you, what are you doing hiding out here?"

The question came out a little forceful, but Harry didn't seem to mind as he smiled and ran his hand through his hair. "Nothing really," he said with a shrug. "Sort of hiding maybe, I'm supposed to be at a book signing." He had a white shirt on over a white vest, and it was making his usually golden skin look even more bronzed in the dappled sunlight. He generally wore a tidy beard these days which Draco had to admit suited him greatly, and he swallowed again desperately trying not to picture what it would be like to press up against that shirt, to card his fingers through that hair and press his lips gently across that stubble…

He cleared his throat and registered what Harry had said. "Book signing?"

Harry rolled his eyes, hands in his trouser pockets as he strolled over to meet Draco. "Yeah, it's supposed to be an auto-biography, but Hermione ghost wrote most of it for me god bless her. Unfortunately she can't get away with signing hundreds of the blasted things for me as well."

Draco found himself laughing along with Harry, and a spark of glorious disbelief shot up his spine. Harry was chatting to him, like a friend. "Yeah, that doesn't sound fun," he said easily. Harry was stood only a couple of feet in front of him now, calm and unruffled like they talked all the time. "How long do you have to suffer it for?"

Harry considered, tilting his head. "Only an hour or so, then my publicist normally lets me escape. Hey," he added with a grin. "You don't fancy hanging around do you, we could get a drink after, or something to eat maybe?"

Draco stared dumbfounded at him as his heart exploded in his chest. "I, you – huh?" he said. Had Harry really just asked him out? He couldn't have meant it, he was just being friendly, or he needed someone to help him get out of the book signing. Yeah, that was more likely, that Draco just happened to be around to offer an excuse to leave.

Harry rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, only if you fancy it," he said lightly, but Draco could have sworn he looked a little crest-fallen. "I thought it might be nice to catch up?"

Draco, again, struggled to pull any words out of his throat, but then he finally came to his senses and snapped himself out of it. "No I'd love to," he spluttered, unable to help the smile from beaming on his face. "That, that would be nice." Quit while you're ahead, he warned himself silently. He couldn't blow this now.

Harry's expression lost its concern in a heartbeat, and he too broke into a wide smile. "Great, that's, thanks that's really great."

They just sort of stood like that, grinning like goofballs for a few moments before Draco realised what he was doing and laughed a little awkwardly, stepping back and breaking the spell.

"I guess I should get going," Harry said tentatively, looking up at him through long black lashes. He didn't always wear glasses these days, and Draco loved how green his eyes were when they weren't hindered by the reflection on the lenses. "Do you want to walk back into the village with me?"

Draco's stomach flipped and he tried not to gulp. "Of course," he said, a smidgen of confidence flooding back through him and he stood up a little taller.

They chatted about Harry's book tour on the winding path back into the high street, and Harry made Draco laugh several times with silly anecdotes about the crazy things fans had done once they'd made it to the front of his queue. He didn't miss the way Harry's fingers graced his arm with a touch as they came to a halt in front of the book shop. Heat flared through Draco's skin, and he was sure he didn't imagine the way Harry licked his lips and glanced at his mouth. "So," he said, warily eyeing up the long snake of people stretching from the shop. "You'll wait?"

Draco had waited years for this. He could stand to hang around a couple more hours.

He returned Harry's gesture, just a little more obviously as he reached over to squeeze Harry's arm. "I'll be at the Three Broomsticks," he said. "Do you think you'll definitely be done by seven?"

Harry looked at his watch, confused. "Yeah that's ages away, I'll be done by then for sure."

Draco beamed, and before he could change his mind, pulled Harry close enough to peck a swift kiss on his cheek. "Good," he murmured, ignoring the stifled gasps coming from the crowd. "You come meet me at the pub when you're done, and I'll make dinner reservations for seven o'clock, somewhere nice."

Harry blinked as a light blush crept onto his cheeks, and Draco could honestly say he'd never seen a better sight in his life. "Okay," he stuttered with a nod. "Okay it's a date."

"I guess it is," Draco replied, not quite believing how quickly his day had turned around.

End