13. See you in everything [Monday, November 29th 2004]

Being friends with Blaise Zabini often had its perks. Blaise was almost always in a good mood, incredibly charming and the life of every party. And he could make almost anything happen, be it a reservation at a fancy restaurant or a meeting with some high-up Ministry official. Blaise either knew someone or he at least knew someone who knew someone.

The downside to being friends with Blaise Zabini was that he could make almost anything happen. If Blaise wanted something, he could not be deterred. And Blaise wanted Draco to go to that party with him.

When Draco left his house for work on Monday evening, Blaise was waiting for him, leaning against his hedge.

Draco stopped dead in his tracks and instantly wished he had just Apparated from inside. Screw the neighbours. He'd rather they get suspicious about him never actually leaving for work than endure this.

"Draco, you need to get out more," Blaise said gravely. "Go back in and put something on that will get you laid."

"I already told you. I can't go with you; I have to go to work."

"No, you don't. I talked to Grimm and he was willing to switch shifts with you. You're welcome."

"You did what?" Draco asked incredulously.

"Yes, indeed. I know you already asked him, but he seems to have forgotten," Blaise said casually. "Seemed to think you switched to night shift only a week ago. Absurd, I know. If that were true, you'd have to have done it on purpose so you wouldn't be free tonight. He isn't getting any younger, I reckon."

"Blaise –" Draco started, but Blaise turned him around by the shoulders and led him back inside.

"No arguments! You can't rely on the Malfoy name anymore; you need to start networking. And nowadays that includes anybody that Potter is friendly with."

"I know you, don't I? You seem rather friendly with him."

"It's not a network if it only consists of one person," Blaise said, leading him upstairs.

"Fine," Draco relented. Not that there was any way for him to get out of this. "But I'm bringing Aurelius."

"Good idea! He's a chick magnet!"

"Blaise!"

"Don't worry, the men will like him as well," Blaise assured him. He snatched the pullover Draco had pulled from his wardrobe out of his hand and threw it somewhere beside his bed. "No green, you don't have to remind them you're a Slytherin."

And then Blaise swept him out of the way and dove into his wardrobe himself, which was why Draco ended up in black, form-fitting jeans and a light-blue shirt that allegedly brought out his eyes. Not that Draco knew how one could highlight eyes that were such a boring grey. Now, Potter's eyes on the other hand ...

And why was he thinking about Potter's eyes now? They weren't even talking about him right now! What was wrong with him? It was probably because he had seen so much of Potter lately. He would just try to keep out of his way tonight and everything would go back to normal eventually.

~o~

Draco was hammered. Bill's party was nothing like the ones he had attended at the Burrow. There were no grown-ups present (if one followed Draco's example and thought of grown-ups as people over forty years old), but instead a very large crowd of young wizards and witches. Some of them were Curse Breakers at Gringotts (and most of those were probably Gryffindors). Then there were a ton of students from Bill's graduating class and a respectable amount of French people.

Draco had managed to avoid Potter so far, which was not hard at all, since he was notably absent. Though he had resolved to stay out of Potter's way, Draco found that he was scanning the crowd for him with increasing frequency. It was only because his absence was so strange. Rude, even. No other reason.

Draco had talked to Luna and Thomas, Longbottom and Abbott, as well as Granger and all of the Weasley children, but he had not yet seen a single stupid lock of Potter's stupid hair. He had heard his name mentioned several times, but always by people who were wondering if he wasn't attending, and none of them were people Draco knew.

Draco had been given a glass of Firewhisky as soon as they arrived and he hadn't let go of it since. The glass was charmed to refill itself constantly, which was a blessing because Draco had taken to have a sip whenever he thought of Potter or his stupid bright eyes or his stupid not-quite-curly hair or his stupid, thoroughly fit body. Stupid.

It was half past twelve when Draco decided he had enough. He could barely walk in a straight line anymore and his head was swimming, which was rather pathetic for a Malfoy. He was supposed to always keep his composure, but here he was, smashed because a guy he definitely didn't fancy wasn't here. Blaise was right – Draco was in desperate need of getting laid.

He would just go home now. Right now. He would just ... just find Aurelius and then go home. Curse that dog, why did he always have to make his life harder than it had to be?

He went over to where Ginny was playing a game of butterbeer pong with some of Bill's former classmates.

"Hey, have you seen Aurelius?" he asked, trying to focus on her face. Wasn't as easy as it sounds.

"Oh, did you bring him?" she said excitedly. "No, I haven't seen him at all. What does he look like?"

"Er –" Draco had trouble concentrating. "Golden, medium height and brown eyes, I guess? And he's really friendly, ran off as soon as we got here."

"I'll send him your way if I see him," she promised and threw a small ball into one of the cups on the opposite side of the table. The boy next to her cheered loudly.

Draco made his way through the garden and also searched the kitchen, where Aurelius liked to spend most of his time at home. When that didn't yield any results, he went outside again and then down some winding stairs until he reached the shore. Golden retrievers loved water, right?

The further he got away from the cottage the quieter it was, and when Draco reached the bathing jetty, he could only just hear the beat of the music. Aurelius was there, lying next to a young man who was sitting cross-legged, stroking his fur.

"Lee!" Draco exclaimed, plonking himself down on Aurelius' other side. "You're a fairy friend! No, that's not right ... a fair ... something."

"Fair-weather friend?" the stranger suggested. Draco looked at him, squinting his eyes to stop his vision from blurring.

"Hey, did anyone ever tell you that you look a bit like Potter?" Draco asked bluntly. "Only your eyes are the wrong colour ... and your hair is not as stupid, I guess. And then there's the scar, of course. Be glad you don't have that."

The guy, maybe a few years older than Draco, looked at him perplexedly with his bright blue eyes. He ruffled his wavy brown hair with one hand while the other kept stroking Aurelius. His forehead was indeed unscathed, but he had roughly the same olive skin tone as Potter. If Draco squinted his eyes some more, he could probably pretend it was Potter. And Draco had to stop thinking about Potter, for fuck's sake.

"I get that, sometimes," Not-Potter said, screwing up his face.

"Don't like to hear it?" Draco asked. His eyes were fixed on the waves splashing against the shore, which certainly didn't help with his light-headedness.

"He seems like a big-headed bastard, doesn't he?" Not-Potter went on. "So what, he killed Vo- er … You-Know-Who. Big fucking deal."

Draco arched one of his brows, which wasn't that easy, because his face felt somewhat numb. Whether this was due to the cold wind or the alcohol, he couldn't say.

"What?" Not-Potter said. "You're no fan of him either, are you?"

"He's not half bad," Draco shrugged. "Unbelievably stubborn, but at least he knows what he wants and goes for it. I can respect that."

The guy frowned. "Are you friends or something?"

"I wouldn't go that far. We're friendly, I guess."

"Right, I forgot. You treated him, didn't you? It said so in the Prophet." Not-Potter leaned a bit closer, suddenly very interested. "What was that like? Got any good stories?"

Draco tickled Aurelius between the ears, making his tail thump against the wood.

"I'd rather not talk about Potter," Draco said shortly, because he also didn't want to think about Potter. "I'm not allowed to, anyways. Confididenti-thingy ... you know. Means I legally can't."

They were silent for a moment, both stroking Aurelius and looking out at the water.

"Who names their dog Lee?" the man said suddenly.

"Name's Aurelius," Draco said. "Way too long to shout. Should've thought of that when I named him."

"That's Aurelius?" the man asked sharply, a note of disbelief in his voice. Draco nodded confusedly.

"And I'm guessing he's not an Animagus?"

"An –why would he be an Animagus?" Draco laughed.

But Draco never got to know the answer, because suddenly, the guy was kissing him. Draco's mind was moving a bit slower than usual, which was why he froze on the spot, one hand still on Aurelius' head. Not-Potter backed off almost instantly.

"I – sorry, I thought you were –" he stammered, apparently horrified.

Draco's mind was racing. Not-Potter had kissed him. He had been kissed. He had a crush on Harry fucking Potter, which was a total fucking disaster, and here was a guy who looked like his older brother, kissing him willingly. And maybe this was an opportunity. Maybe this was what he needed to get Potter out of his system.

"No, I am," Draco said roughly and then he was pulling the guy in by the neck and kissing him fervently.

He barely noticed when Aurelius startled and scarpered and he certainly didn't care. Draco had not kissed anyone for over a year and this guy was good. Suddenly he didn't feel cold at all anymore and when the guy began nipping at his bottom lip, Draco grew bold as well and slid a hand under his t-shirt.

Not-Potters torso was wiry and cool under his fingertips – exactly like Draco imagined Potter's body would feel like. Scratch that, Draco had examined Potter enough times, he knew what he felt like. Great.

And with his eyes closed now, it wasn't hard at all to imagine it was Potter who pushed him onto his back by the shoulders. Potter, who promptly followed and was leaning over him now, his forearms resting on either side of Draco's head. Potter, who kissed him hungrily while Draco's hands moved from his flat stomach to his muscular back.

Not-Potter broke the kiss to draw a deep, shuddering breath and something fell out of the front of his t-shirt, landing on Draco's chest. He looked down and saw that it was a silver pendant on a delicate golden chain, but before he could get a clearer view, the guy had already snatched it up and put it back.

But the spell seemed to be broken. Not-Potter got up on his knees, shot a quick glance to the top of the stairs and then looked at him, clearly on the fence. Draco propped himself up, head swimming and very confused.

"Sorry, I've got to go," the guy mumbled and then he was on his feet and almost sprinting up the steps, leaving Draco with nothing but a racing heart and mind.

Draco stayed on the jetty for a good fifteen minutes after the guy had fled. When he finally had himself under control again, he straightened his clothes and went back up to find Aurelius and then bail.

The golden retriever was napping at Granger's feet. Draco approached her casually, trying not to look like he had just made out with a total stranger.

"Hey Granger," he said friendly. "I'll have to hijack my dog now."

"Oh, that's too bad," she said, giving Aurelius a final pat on the side. "Did you have fun?"

"Yes, thank you, it was really ... something else," he said, bending down to rouse Aurelius.

"That's one way to put it," she smiled. "So, did Harry get a chance to talk to you?"

Draco furrowed his brow. "No, I haven't seen him at all tonight. Is he here?" Potter had wanted to talk to him? He hadn't even wanted Draco to come!

"Yes, of course," Granger said like it was a dumb question. "I think I saw him go down to the shore a while ago."

Draco looked up at once as a cold shiver went down his spine.

Had Potter seen him make out with his look-alike? Would he know that their uncanny resemblance was the reason Draco had made out with him? Would he avoid him even more than he was already? Would he tell someone? This was bad. Really, really bad.

"Draco?" Granger said hesitantly. "Are you alright? You don't look so well."

"Fine," Draco said feebly and he hurriedly took Aurelius and bailed. No need to find Blaise. He would figure out that he had gone home eventually.