Chapter 3 A Look
'You look absolutely stunning Pansy,' Draco said, smiling warmly at his friend.
'You look totally amazing,' Potter agreed.
'Thank you boys. I must say I do feel amazingly stunning in this dress,' Pansy said, doing a little twirl on the spot.
'Oi!' they heard George's voice, coming from behind the heavy white velvet curtain, 'Someone have a heart and fill me in please?'
Harry stood up and stuck his head through the curtains behind which George had been banished.
'Sorry mate,' he said. 'Pansy's going all Muggle on this part of the ceremony I'm afraid. She said if you do something, you should do it right, so the first time you'll see the dress is at the ceremony'.
'Muggle, dear?' came the confused sounding comment from the woman pinning Pansy's dress. 'I'm sorry, what was that?'
Draco smacked Potter on the shin, which was sadly the only part of him within reach.
'Ow!' Potter complained, rubbing his shin. 'Was that quite necessary?'
'Yes,' said both Pansy and Draco at the same time.
'Fine, sorry,' Potter mumbled, still rubbing at his shin sulkily.
'What Potter here meant was that Miss Parkinson has decided to stick with tradition, which for the groom means no peeking at the wedding dress before the wedding,' Draco said, giving the saleswoman a winning smile.
'Oh, absolutely,' she agreed. Then she said to Pansy: 'So, Miss Parkinson, have you come to a decision? Is this dress going to be the one?'
Pansy turned back toward the large mirror and looked at herself admiringly. She smoothed a hand down the ivory silk and moved around a bit to watch the dress flow around her legs. The dress was held up with tiny straps over the shoulders, it hugged her curves perfectly without being too revealing and had a simple yet very elegant cut. Draco thought she'd never looked more beautiful.
'Oh yes Miss Harris,' she said, beaming happily. 'This is the one'.
Miss Harris clapped her hands excitedly and ushered Pansy back into the changing room to change clothes.
'It's your turn now boys,' Pansy called from behind the changing room door. 'Miss Harris and I have already selected a few options for you to choose from, why don't you go ahead and take a look?'
'I guess that means I can come in now,' George said, stepping through the curtains without waiting for a response.
The three men hurried over to the rack set up in the corner of the room. Draco was quite anxious about this part. He didn't go out into the Muggle world all that often and he'd never been to a Muggle wedding. All in all, he was slightly worried about what he was supposed to be wearing.
'Oooh, I like this one!' George exclaimed, holding up a Muggle suit that looked to be made of cashmere.
'I knew you would darling, that's why I picked it out for you,' Pansy said with a smirk. She'd changed back in the green dress she was wearing before and came over to see what the men were up to.
'I still don't think it's fair though,' George complained. 'How come I'm not allowed to see your dress but you still get to choose my suit?'
'Because I have impeccable taste and I need to make sure that whatever you wear is going to be up to my standards of course,' she stated plainly.
'Isn't that supposed to be Harry's job, you know, being my Confidant and all?' George asked, still sounding slightly sulky.
Both Pansy and Draco snorted at that.
'Really George?' Draco asked, rolling his eyes. 'You'd rely on fashion advice from the person who picked out that outfit when deciding what to wear this morning?'
'Hey!' Potter complained with an injured look. 'I'd like to know what's wrong with my outfit'.
'Nothing Harry dear, don't listed to Draco, he's just being mean,' Pansy quickly soothed him. 'It's just that your style is a bit, you know… casual for a wedding, isn't it…'
She shot Draco a warning glare and mouthed the words "play nice" to him. Draco sighed and gave a little nod in acknowledgement. He had promised after all.
'Yes, that's what I meant as well,' Draco finally said, trying to look sincere. Potter still looked a bit suspicious, but left it at that.
Pansy stepped forward and pulled two pairs of suits from the rack.
'Alright', Pansy said, suddenly all business. 'As the two Confidants, you'll be wearing identical suits for the ceremony. It was quite a challenge with your different build and colouring to find something that would work for both of you. But even if I do so say so myself, I think we've managed to pull it off'.
Draco stepped up and whisked one of the suits out of Pansy's hands and made his way over to one of the changing rooms.
'Fine,' he huffed as he went. 'Let's get this over with'.
After he pulled the door closed behind him, he hung up the suit and fingered it reverently. He wasn't going to admit it to Pansy of course, but the minute he saw the suit, he'd fallen just a little bit in love with it. It was made from a high quality, charcoal grey cashmere, and Draco could tell without trying it on that it would fit him perfectly. He almost felt giddy as he quickly undressed and slipped on the suit and the white button down silk shirt and grey tie that went with it. He admired himself in the mirror for quite some time, turning this way and that, before finally emerging from the changing room trying to look as casual as possible.
Pansy squealed in delight when she saw him.
'Oh Draco, you look so handsome,' she exclaimed. She placed her hands on his shoulders and made him turn so she could admire him from every angle. Draco had no objections to that, he just smiled indulgently and let himself be admired.
'You look great Draco, seriously,' George said, smacking him on the shoulder. 'You'll be beating them off with sticks for sure!'
'Yes, thank you George, for what I assume was meant to be a compliment. Now why don't you…' Draco started.
And then he was silent. He'd heard the door to Potter's changing room open and turned to face him while still talking. The minute he had a good look at Potter, he forgot what he was saying.
Fuck. So that's what Potter could look like if he made a bit of an effort…
Draco heard Pansy's enthusiastic chatter somewhere in the background. He could see George complimenting Potter, he was vaguely aware of the saleswoman's appreciative comments… But nothing really registered except how fucking good Potter looked in that suit. Draco was uncomfortably aware of the fact that he might just be staring at Potter, but he didn't seem able to stop himself.
oOoOo
'I feel like a bloody idiot,' Harry complained.
He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this uncomfortable. He'd looked at himself in the mirror before stepping out of the changing room of course, so he knew what he looked like. He'd thought he looked alright. Different, a bit posh, but still, all things considered, alright...
He'd been ok with Mrs Harris' gushing. Not thrilled about it, but ok. He could handle Pansy's mock flirting and saucy remarks. He was fine with George's honest compliments. But then he had to go and look at Malfoy… That's when he'd stopped feeling alright and started to feel like an idiot.
Because Malfoy was looking at him. Like, really looking. Looking all intense with his silver eyes fixed solely on Harry, making Harry feel very uncomfortable indeed. That feeling was only intensified by the fact that Harry had no idea what that look meant. Or actually he did, he'd just never expect to see it on the face of Malfoy of all people. Or not while he was looking at Harry anyway. And worst of all, Harry was looking right back.
'… don't you think? Harry? Draco?'
Harry shook himself mentally, trying to rip his gaze away from Malfoy's and look at Pansy, who'd obviously just asked the two of them some sort of question. It was Malfoy who got his act together first.
'Sorry Pansy, what was that?' Malfoy said, smiling politely.
'Something have you distracted there Draco darling?' she smirked. 'Can't say I blame you. You both look fabulous, you honestly do'.
'Yes, well…' Malfoy said. 'I have to admit you still have an eye for this kind of thing Pansy. The suit is an excellent choice, for both Potter and myself'.
With those last words, Malfoy glanced at Harry one more time before quickly turning his eyes back to Pansy. Harry repressed a small shiver. Stop that, he scolded himself. It's Malfoy for fuck's sake!
But the uneasiness stayed with him for the rest of the afternoon. Unable to simply shake it off, he tried not to think about it too much, not to think about Malfoy and how he'd looked at Harry and more importantly, how that look had shaken Harry as much as it had.
It wasn't until they were back in Diagon Alley, having a celebratory drink at the Leaky Cauldron, that Harry began to relax a bit. The comfortable, familiar pub was like a warm, soothing bath to his nerves. And the three shots of firewhiskey didn't hurt matters either.
'… without killing each other?'
Shit. He'd done it again. Let his eyes linger on Malfoy for a bit too long and his mind drift off to places he really, really shouldn't. And now George was looking at him expectantly, obviously having just asked Harry some sort of question.
'Erm… sorry George, what did you say?' Harry asked.
'I was wondering how you were getting on with the quest for the four symbols?' George asked. He got a wicked glint in his eyes and continued: 'More specifically, how you're managing with the no-killing each other rule while performing your duties as my Confidant?'
Harry narrowed his eyes at his "friend" and said: 'You are aware of the fact that you're enjoying this way too much, aren't you?'
'I'd say we're enjoying it pretty much exactly the right amount thanks,' George gave back, looking unapologetically gleeful.
'Say Potter,' Malfoy intervened, 'you've known George here for quite some time, have you not?'
At Harry's affirmative nod, Malfoy continued: 'That must mean you have your share of embarrassing stories to tell. Excellent. I'm sure that'll make for an… interesting speech…'
Malfoy smiled sweetly at George before snatching his firewhiskey and quickly gulping it down.
'Hey, get your own!' George protested, slapping Malfoy's hand away good humouredly.
Malfoy looked at him with perfect disdain, softened only slightly by the tiny upward curl of his lips.
'I do believe you owe me George, me and Potter here both,' he said. 'So I suggest you bite me. Oh, and get us another round in will you?'
Laughter roared around the table and another round of drinks was bought by George. Oddly enough, Harry was actually having a pretty good time. And even stranger was, that Draco Malfoy had a lot to do with that. Interesting, Harry thought again. Yes, the man was anything but boring.
He'd not really had contact with Malfoy since the end of the war, even though they both worked at the Ministry these days. After all, the Auror department didn't usually have all that much to do with the Department of Mysteries, and Harry was mostly operating in the field anyway. He tried to make a point of it to avoid the Auror's office as much as possible, since all that was waiting for him there were stacks of paperwork and people wanting stuff from him.
Harry wasn't even sure what exactly Malfoy did at the Department of Mysteries. He'd like to find out a little bit more about his former school rival, and this seemed as good a place to start as any.
