12. Uprising [Wednesday, November 10th 2004]
When Draco knocked at Blaise's door for their usual Wednesday Dinner, he wasn't home. Sooky opened the door and informed him that the Master had yet to come back from the workshop. Draco declined her offer to wait for him in the parlour and borrowed Blaise's owl instead.
Blaise,
This is the third time you stood me up in the last four (!) weeks. I've gone home to plot my revenge. If you know what is good for you, you'll be there in the next 30 minutes. Bring pizza, or else.
D. M.
~o~
According to his stopwatch, his doorbell rang exactly twenty-nine minutes later. Draco threw his book onto the table and went to open the door when he heard something unexpected – people talking at his front door.
"Blaise, stop fucking with us," someone said right outside. And fucking hell, he knew that voice. "This is a Muggle neighbourhood. Why would Malfoy ever live here?"
"Yeah, we're not entirely stupid," a female voice agreed. "And only one of us hit his head lately."
"Hey!" the first voice protested. "Is that how you show your love for me?"
Draco opened the door and was greeted with the sight of Blaise, carrying four large pizza boxes. Ginny and Potter were standing on either side of him, shouldering a Firebolt Gold and a Lightning Blast each. All of them were dressed in extremely tight-fitting long-sleeved shirts and trackies.
Draco's stomach dropped, as did his face. Fuck this, Potter was seriously fit. It was simply unfair that he could look even better in that than half-naked. Well, maybe not better-better. Draco would have to see him without the clothes again to really be able to compare and fuck, where did all that come from all of a sudden?!
"Surprise!" Blaise exclaimed, pushing past him into the hallway. "Move it, I think she is glued to her window already."
Draco looked across the street at Mrs. Capitelli's house, where the curtains were moving suspiciously. It was dark enough already that Draco was hopeful she wouldn't be able to make out what exactly Potter and Ginny were carrying. He still hurried to close the door behind them. The two of them exchanged confused looks.
"You don't really live here, right?" Potter asked suspiciously, placing their brooms in a neat row by the door.
"Why not?" Draco asked pointedly, leading them into the kitchen. "What's wrong with it?"
"You've got a fridge!" Potter said, opening the grey monstrosity Draco stored his leftovers in.
Draco examined the thing. The previous owner (a sweet old lady who had to move into a retirement home) had never told him its name, and Blaise didn't know either, of course.
"Oh, is that what it is called?"
"Yes! What are you calling it?" Potter asked.
"The cooling cabinet, of course. That's what it does."
Blaise and Ginny had already cleared the table from books and parchment and were now busy cutting the pizzas.
"Why is the light not working?" Potter said, leaning into the fridge and tapping the glass tube at the top.
"Is there supposed to be light? That would be really convenient," Draco said. Why had nobody ever told him about the food light?
Potter closed the door and went to look behind the fridge.
"Malfoy! It's not even plugged in!"
Draco raised an eyebrow at him. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Potter."
Potter was now handling one of the tiny white levers in the wall. Draco wasn't entirely sure what he was expecting, but it clearly was not happening.
"There is no electricity!"
"Well of course not, it gets confused when there's magic," Draco said. "Everybody knows that."
"Then why are you storing food in your fridge?" Potter sounded exasperated now.
Draco really didn't know why this bothered Potter so much, but it definitely was a stupid question. "Because that's its purpose?"
Potter threw his hands up in frustration. "But it's not working!"
"It is so! I put a cooling charm on it!"
Blaise and Ginny were now sitting at the table, watching them argue. "Wow, this really is a train wreck," she said under her breath.
Draco glared at her, but instead of cowering she held his gaze and took a bite of her pizza demonstratively. Well, he couldn't argue with that.
Draco sat down next to Blaise, and Potter took the seat opposite him. Blaise handed him his Hawaiian pizza and they began to eat.
"Where's Aurelius?" Blaise said, probably to change the subject.
"He's asleep upstairs. Probably waited up for me all night, the clingy bastard," Draco said, not quite managing to sound annoyed. "And then he hid my alarm clock. I overslept by an hour!"
"Ah, you should be thankful there's someone waiting for you at home," Blaise said. "All I've got is Sooky."
Draco was pretty sure he saw Potter flinch. He looked at Ginny, but she seemed oblivious. Potter was staring at him, shaking his head slightly. Draco smirked and Potter's eyes narrowed.
"Well, she does look out for you, doesn't she?" Draco said ostentatiously.
Potter kicked him under the table, hard. His legs were definitely back at full strength. Draco kept a straight face. Barely. His shin was throbbing quite a bit.
"I guess so …" Blaise agreed hesitantly, glancing at Ginny as well.
Didn't he want her to know about his one-night stand with Potter? Was it even just a one-night stand anymore?
"Hey, Malfoy? Why are all your mugs on the floor?"
Very smooth, Potter.
Draco followed his gaze. His mugs were, indeed, on the floor in front of the couch. He had been so absorbed in his reading that he hadn't even noticed.
"You know what? I have no idea. You'd have to ask Aurelius," Draco said earnestly.
This didn't seem to be the answer Potter wanted to hear. He rolled his eyes and was suddenly very interested in his pizza. Draco exchanged a confused look with Blaise, but he just shrugged.
"So," Draco said casually, like he wasn't dying to know the answer. "How did you come to bring these two to our Wednesday Dinner?"
"We've been working on the Lightning Blast all day. Didn't even remember to eat lunch," Blaise said excitedly.
And then they were talking about broomsticks for the rest of the meal.
"Hey, it's Bill's birthday this month," Ginny said when all the pizza was gone. "You two should definitely come to the party. It won't be as quiet as the last, though."
"Quiet?" Draco said disbelieving. "I think a Weasley get-together stops being quiet as soon as it passes the Three-Weasleys-Mark."
"You'll be there then?" she said, grinning. "It's on November twenty-ninth. The party starts at eight at Shell Cottage."
"Of course we'll be there!" Blaise agreed instantly.
Draco was more hesitant. The last party he had attended hadn't ended all that pleasantly and he wasn't too keen on witnessing any more of the love triangle between Potter, Blaise and Ginny.
Ginny seemed to sense his lack of enthusiasm. "Come on, Draco! You can bring Aurelius if you like," she offered. "Then he won't have to pine for you all night. Ouch, Harry!"
Potter had apparently kicked her under the table and was now glaring at her, probably because she didn't take this as quietly as Draco had. Well, at least now he knew that Potter wasn't keen on having him there either.
But why had he come here, then? Had Blaise and Ginny talked him into it, like she was trying with Draco now? Or maybe he hadn't actually believed that they would be visiting Draco? He and Ginny had been very surprised to see him here.
"I have the night shift," Draco lied effortlessly. "I'll see if I can switch it around."
Which meant, of course, that he would most definitely not make it.
