Harry indeed returned three hours later, his stomach full of butterflies and his arm very swollen. His mind had been whirring ever since he had left the shop. Draco Malfoy was going to do on a date with him, his arch enemy.
Old arch enemy, Harry kept telling himself.
He had rushed home and showered, shaved and doused himself in cologne. He had changed into a dark grey tee shirt and some slightly tighter than usual jeans. He had tried to tame his hair, but it ended up a tangled mop on his head as usual.
"Well If I would have known you were going to get so fancy Potter I would have dressed up more." Broke him away from his muse.
Harry whipped around and blushed, looking at the concrete. "I'm not that dressed up." He said softly.
Draco laughed. "I was just teasing, relax." He said, watching the darker haired man. "Now come on, the specials start soon." He gripped Harry's upper arm, steering him down the sidewalk towards the pub. "How is your arm feeling?"
Harry glanced down at the swollen flesh. He had removed the bandage and had spread ointment across it. "It's fine, just kind of swollen. Does it look like it's supposed to?" He muttered.
"Yeah, it looks fine." Draco said, examining the tattoo as they walked. "Just make sure you wash it and stuff." He then frowned as they neared the pub doors. "I have to warn you though, the muggle girls in here…well they don't take 'I'm gay' for an answer. So I'd advise just being extremely flamboyant."
Harry laughed. "Okay? I guess I can try." He said as Draco held open the door.
"DRAKIE BABY!" A lavishly dressed woman stumbled over to them, her breasts nearly spilling from her tube top. "How are you?" She wrapped her free arm around his neck, tipping back her glass of wine towards her mouth, slopping some down her front. She moved back, batting her thickly coated lashes at Harry, who felt revulsion welling up in the back of his throat. "Who is your friend? He's just about as cute as you, Drakie."
Draco moved away from her. "This is my friend, Harry. I actually tattooed him for the first time today."
She gasped loudly, seizing Harry's wrist and pulling him towards her. "Oh, my gosh, that it so good, Drakie! Those are weird names though." She swung her glassy eyes upwards towards Harry. "You're not fluffy too are you? Like Drakie here, a sausage smoker!" She moved back, downing her drink and bursting into a fit of giggles.
"Actually…" He began.
She stopped and stared at them, wide eyed, swaying slightly. "Drakie! Is this your boyfriend?" She exclaimed, looking between the pair of them. "I see how it is, you don't want us to be all over you, and so you bring him in here." The girl's eyes became slits, glaring at the pair of them. She then proceeded to turn tail and disappear into the crowd.
Draco laughed, turning to face harry, who looked slightly dumbfounded. "Drunk girls…" Draco muttered, grasping Harry's arm once more and steering him back further into the pub, seating him in a booth and planting himself in front of him. He motioned to the waitress for two beers.
Harry bit his lower lip and shifted against the vinyl cover of the booth. "Yeah, she seemed a little….overzealous." He laughed softly.
"She is always like that. I'm pretty sure that she thinks that we best friends. She will be back, whenever she gets a new drink…and when she finds us." Draco smiled, his grey eyes dark in the low light of the bar. He passed the waitress a few coins as a tip as she set two mugs of ale on the table. He slid one over to Harry, who eyed it. "Drink up." He winked over his glass as he took a sip.
Harry felt his stomach swoop once more, the butterflies that had temporarily subsided in the excitement of the drunken friend of Draco's came back in full force, punching him in the gut. He put the mug to his lips and took a drink, the burn, he hoped, would calm him some. He scrunched his face up, causing the blonde to laugh once more.
"Yeah, I know, I don't know what muggles do to mess it up, but it's not nearly as good." The blonde continued to sip his beer, his eyes on Harry the entire time. "So, what are you doing in Muggle London?" He asked finally.
Harry sighed, knowing that this was going to crop up eventually.
"I figured you would still be trying to become the Minister or whatever." Draco teased.
Harry grimaced. "No, I never had any ambition to become the Minister. I was an Auror for about…a year. Then I just decided it was too much. All the drama and all the people overwhelming me, you know?"
Draco snorted, setting his drink down. "You're just now sick of all the attention Potter?" He sat back against the seat, watching him.
"Oh, be quiet!" Harry said, his cheeks turning pink. "Well, now I'm working in this little shop, I sell all of the non-magical items that George Weasley sells." He watched Malfoy, a strange sense of bizarreness. How were they just sitting here, talking about everything like old pals? As if nothing had ever happened.
"Do you like it?" He asked, his pale face flushed slightly. Draco had drunk a little over half of his beer. Harry assumed it was getting to him.
"Yeah, I like it a lot. I'm in charge, so I can pretty much do as I please." He said, taking a drink. "I hire a lot of teenagers, part-time, since they like that kind of thing." He tilted his head to the side and looked at Draco. "So, what are you wanting to do…about this?"
"What?" Draco snapped his head upwards. He had been staring at Harry.
"So, are we going to try to be friends?" Harry smiled slightly. "Or are we going to work out something?"
Draco grimaced. "Well I wanted to be friends, yeah….i mean, I figured we could….and besides, we live so close by, I don't see why we couldn't." He drained the rest of his mug and signaled to the waitress. "Two shots of the strongest whisky you've got."
Harry bit his lip. "Yeah, I don't see why we couldn't. I mean…since you're a changed man or whatever right?"
Draco rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Potter." He pushed the small shot glass towards Harry once it had arrived. "Well," He began, then lifted his own shot glass. "To a new friendship."
Harry lifted the shit glass to his lips. "To a new friendship."
~O~O~O~
Several drinks later, the pair sat, quite tipsy in their booth.
"-and then he….then he got that –b-book checked at his head b-by peeves!" Harry laughed, rolling around in his booth.
"He did!" Draco exclaimed, scooting to the edge of the booth. He grabbed Harry by the hand and dragging him up. "Let's go dance." He said, grinning.
Harry groaned. "But I'm a terrible dancer! What if that girl finds us?" He whined, as he was pulled out onto the small dance floor.
"You will be fine. We are drunk, so is everyone else. Who cares?" Draco said, pulling him close and starting to grind against him slightly.
Harry felt a horrible blush creeping over his face as Draco moved against him.
"Oh come on, Potter, just move with the beat or whatever. Don't make me look stupid just air humping you." He muttered against his ear as he grasped the dark haired boy's hands, placing them firmly on Draco's hips. He shimmied, grinning.
Harry rolled his eyes and tried to move with the blonde, who was clearly a much more skilled drunk dancer than harry, who stumbled almost instantly.
Draco burst into a fit of giggled. "Harry!"
He bit his lip as he heard his real name burst from the blonde's lips. It was kind of nice. "I told you I was a shoddy dancer!" He gasped. "Oh no…" The music had suddenly turned slow, and Malfoy had begun to sway against him.
"What are you gasping for? Scared to slow dance with me? Might pop a chubby or try and cop a feel?" Draco teased, winding his arms around Harry's neck.
"No, no its no….it's not that. I don't think you will be making me pop a chubby, D-Draco."
The blonde grinned wickedly, as they swayed slowly on the spot. "Then what is it?"
Harry glanced around, seeing all of the other drunk people hastily snogging, groping each other with fervor.
"What is it Harry?" He asked sweetly, batting his eyelashes.
Harry shook his head. "No, I….it's nothing."
Draco huffed, his full lower lip, which Harry had just noticed was pierced, pouted. "Tell me! We are friends now, remember?"
The dark haired man growled, reaching up and grasping the back of the blondes hair, pressing his mouth full onto those pouting lips.
Draco squealed, writing against him. "Harry!" He gasped, pulling back and eyeing him.
Harry purpled. "I shouldn't have done that!" He pulled away from Draco, wringing his hands. He felt his ears ringing as he took off, pushing inebriated people out of his way.
"Harry! Harry wait!" He heard Draco call out from behind him.
He pulled in fresh air as he stumbled outside the pub. He glanced behind him, seeing the blonde wading through the crowd.
Harry disapparated.
A/N: MUHAHAHAHAH Cliff-hanger much? Review, thanks yayayay.