The next afternoon, Harry and some other guests of the boarding house were learning how to bake bread under the supervision of Elena when Alessandro stuck his head into the kitchen.
"Signor Potter, there is a man looking for you," he said.
Harry brushed his flour-covered hands on his apron as he followed Alessandro to the front door, where he found Draco looking around the patio curiously.
"Draco? What are you doing here? I thought we were meeting later tonight."
"Yes, we are, Potter, but there's somewhere I want to bring you first," Draco said. He eyed Harry's pink flowered apron (Elena didn't own any masculine coloured aprons, unfortunately) with interest. "Unless you're busy in the kitchen?"
"Um, no. I'm sure the rest can continue without me. Give me a moment to get changed, alright?"
Harry left Draco on the patio chatting to Alessandro as he raced upstairs, put on a clean shirt and nice trousers and tried to settle his hair into some semblance of order. Upon returning downstairs, he noted Draco was dressed in nicer clothing than usual. He wondered if the restaurant they planned on going to was fancy. They bid Alessandro goodbye and headed off.
"I didn't bring my Vespa with me," Draco explained as he led Harry down a quiet side street. "I thought since you know where Il Magia is now, you could Apparate us."
"Oh! Sure."
Draco looked at him expectantly, and Harry realised he meant now. He glanced around the street and finding it deserted, stepped closer to Draco and brought an arm up to wrap around his waist. He was close enough to see the tiny, faint freckles on Draco's nose. Draco looked at him with wide grey eyes as they disappeared with a crack.
They landed in Il Magia's central square. Draco stepped out of Harry's loose embrace and started walking, Harry hurrying after him. They came to a stop in front of a nondescript door in one of the streets full of shops. There were some Italian words painted on the door, but Harry didn't have time to register what it said before Draco pushed the door open and entered. They headed up a long flight of stairs and entered a bright reception area. Draco headed to a woman seated behind a desk and spoke to her in Italian while Harry studied his surroundings. He felt something akin to dread as he looked at the large pictures of broomsticks and autographed photos of Quidditch players hanging on the walls.
A moment later, a young, handsome man entered the room and smiled brightly upon seeing Draco.
"Draco, amico mio!" the man called out cheerfully and greeted Draco with a friendly kiss on the cheek. "Come stai?"
"Sto bene," Draco answered with a smile. He gestured Harry forward and switched to English.
"This is Harry Potter," he introduced. "Potter, this is my friend Roberto de Cielo."
Roberto shook Harry's hand enthusiastically. "Signor Potter, I have heard much about you."
"Please, call me Harry. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise," Roberto replied, inclining his head. Harry couldn't help but like him already; his easy smile and cheerful disposition was infectious.
Draco stepped closer and murmured something to Roberto in Italian, who nodded. "Please, come with me," he said, leading Harry and Draco down a corridor. They took an elevator down and emerged into what looked like a huge workshop. Several people were working at large wooden tables covered in pieces of wood and metal. There were piles of sticks everywhere. Broomsticks in various states of completion were hanging on the walls. Detailed diagrams of brooms were tacked to a large board on the wall. A large silver machine in the corner was spitting out steam as an annoyed-looking wizard pointed a wand at it.
Harry looked around in wonder, taking in everything before looking at Draco. "What is this place?"
"Our workshop," Roberto replied simply.
"Roberto's family founded and owns the De Cielo racing broom company," Draco explained. "Surely you've heard of them?"
Of course Harry had heard of De Cielo brooms. They were the wizard equivalent of Italian sports cars and each of their brooms cost three times as much as a Firebolt.
"Of course I have," Harry said. He looked around and shook his head. "I had no idea your workshop was here in Portovenere."
"Well, our main offices and workshop are actually in Milan. But we recently decided to open a second one, so here I am," Roberto said.
He took Harry on a tour around the workshop, showing him how they made the brooms and how things worked. He introduced him to the head broom designer and left them talking in a corner of the room.
"So, Harry Potter has a fear of flying, huh?" Roberto said, chatting to Draco over a cup of coffee.
"Keep your voice down. And remember I swore you to secrecy," Draco replied. He glanced over at Harry, who was nodding as the designer gestured at a diagram of a broom. "I'm glad he didn't have a panic attack as soon as he walked in."
Roberto glanced between Harry and Draco as he sipped his latte. "You like him."
Draco frowned. "Don't be ridiculous."
"Why did you bring him here, then? You were hoping he would freak out about being in the same room as a broom, leave and never speak to you again? Or perhaps you think if he could just learn more about how a broom is made, there is nothing to be scared of? Ti piace, Draco," Roberto repeated.
Draco thought about Roberto's words as they Apparated back to town and walked to the restaurant. Harry was talking excitedly about the things he learned from the designer and Draco nodded absent-mindedly, half-listening.
"-never knew that was what controlled the speed! And the designs for the new Velocita racing broom look amazing. Thanks for bringing me there, Draco."
Draco jolted back to attention at the mention of his name. "Oh. You're welcome. It wasn't too...uncomfortable for you?"
Harry shook his head. "I'm fine. I think it only really hits me if I actually...get on a broom."
They reached the restaurant, Pomodoro di Oro, a fairly upscale place in the middle of town. They were shown to a table and Harry opened the menu, studying it hungrily.
"You don't need to read that?" Harry asked, noticing Draco didn't even glance at his menu.
"Oh, I already know what I want."
"Do you come here often?"
Draco shook his head as he took a sip of water. "I used to work here. Before I decided to become an artist."
"So, what would recommend?"
Draco smiled and opened his menu.
"So, Roberto seems like a great guy," Harry said conversationally after they ordered.
"He is," Draco replied. "He helped me out a lot when I first moved here and was practically broke."
"How did you two meet?"
"He's a regular customer at this restaurant. One day he caught me after my shift using magic, told me he was a wizard too and we got to talking and became friends. He offered to lend me money, but I always refused, so he would find me odd jobs to earn some extra cash, then got all his friends to buy art from me after I quit being a waiter. And now I do some broom testing for him. Helps pay the rent."
Harry cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Did you too ever...date?"
Draco smiled and raised an eyebrow. "He wanted to. But I made it clear I was only interested in him as a friend, and he knows that now."
Harry nodded, feeling slightly relieved.
After dinner, which was as good as Draco promised, Harry walked him back to his place. As Draco unlocked his front door, Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out the shrunken package he'd purchased that morning in town.
"This is for you," he said, re-sizing it and handing it to Draco.
Draco looked surprised as he took it. "What is it?"
Harry smiled. "Open it and see."
He ripped off the brown paper and pulled out five large bars of chocolate with a gasp. "Potter, you bought me chocolate!"
"Well, you were so upset about eating that other bar yesterday, and I felt bad for laughing at you."
Draco looked up at Harry, smiling shyly. "Thank you...Harry."
Harry's eyes widened at the use of his first name. He stood still on Draco's front step and didn't even have time to react as Draco leaned in and kissed his cheek.
"See you soon," Draco murmured, entering the building and shooting Harry another smile over his shoulder.
X
Harry laid in bed that night with a huge grin on his face. He couldn't get Draco's smiling face out his mind. He reached up and touched his cheek.
Dracokissedme!He thought delightedly, then shook his head with a laugh. Listentoyourself,Potter,yousoundlikeafirst-yearHufflepuff.
And yet he couldn't remember ever feeling like this before, not even after his first kiss with Ginny. But he couldn't help but wonder where this was going. Was he dating Draco? How would this relationship work if they didn't even live in the same country? With that thought, Harry sighed and drifted off to sleep.
TBC
