Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.
Challenges listed at the bottom.
Word Count: 2281
A Little Faith (And A Little Cunning)
Technically speaking, wine wasn't allowed at Hogwarts. Well, Theo supposed it was allowed for the professors, but despite them being adults, those that had returned to Hogwarts for a redo of their seventh year were supposed to follow the rules set for students.
Ergo, no alcohol.
But… well, Theo figured it was practically medicinal at this point. If he was going to be forced to listen to Draco's continued—very noisy—pining, he needed something to dull the headache.
Blaise refilled their glasses as if reading Theo's mind, just in time for Draco to groan and roll over on his bed until he was lying on his stomach, his chin resting on his fist, a pained look in his eyes.
The drama queen.
He sighed, long and tragic, and Theo wanted to bang his head on the bedpost. Blaise snorted.
"Just tell him," Theo pointed out. "What's the worst that could happen?"
Draco blinked. "He could laugh in my face? He could tell the whole school what a loser I am? He could make the house-elves poison my morning coffee? He could curse me with terrible hair for the rest of my life? He could have me eaten by the herd of Thestrals in the forest, because even creatures love him. He could—"
"Okay, okay, you've made your point. It's a ridiculous point, but you've made it. Really, Draco," Blaise said, shaking his head, "when has Potter ever struck you as someone that would be intentionally cruel?"
"Well, never, but we have a special relationship and he hates me so…"
"Does he?" Theo asked, arching a sceptical eyebrow. "Because let me tell you, Draco, if I hated someone, I certainly wouldn't make such a passionate speech for them in front of the Wizengamot—and the whole Wizarding World, since they printed it word for word in the Prophet—just to make sure that they didn't spend twenty years in Azkaban."
Draco sighed again, and Theo's hand twitched around his glass. He was itching to throw it at the blond and stain his pretty hair red. Maybe then he'd be attractive to Potter; the hero of the Wizarding World was a Gryffindor, after all.
"He's never going to notice me."
Blaise blinked and then looked at Theo. "Is he being serious?"
"Apparently," Theo replied. "Dumbass."
"I heard that," Draco complained, throwing a pillow half-heartedly. It didn't even reach the bed Theo and Blaise were sprawled on.
"Good! You were supposed to."
"He's just so… good," Draco said then, and Theo groaned. It was ignored. "And so… pretty. Have you seen his eyes? Have you? They're so green and sparkly. And his smile. Not that he ever smiles at me, but still. Have you seen it?"
"I regret ever being his friend," Blaise said, shaking his head at Draco before he buried his face against Theo's shoulder.
"I regret engaging in this conversation at all," Theo agreed, draining his wine glass. Sadly, the bottle was empty. "Time to go to sleep and pretend it didn't happen?"
Blaise nodded. "Yep. Night, Draco."
Draco nodded absently, even as Theo spelled the curtains around his bed closed and threw up a silencing charm for good measure.
"We've gotta do something about this," he murmured, settling down against Blaise' chest. "I can't take a whole year of this, I'll kill him."
"I'll provide your alibi?" Blaise offered.
"You're the best boyfriend," Theo replied sleepily.
"Yes, I am."
…
"Tell me again why we're doing this?" Blaise asked, grimacing at the torrential rain pounding over the Quidditch pitch.
They were watching the Gryffindor team practice, although they were after Potter rather than the actual team. Despite no longer being allowed to play, Potter was out there, flying with them every practice, schooling the new Seeker.
Theo wrinkled his nose. "Because if I have to listen to Draco being a pining idiot for the whole year, I'm going to go fully insane and you like me only being a little bit insane."
Blaise nodded his head thoughtfully. "Good enough."
Theo cast another Impervious charm over them, even as Blaise conjured a larger umbrella.
"We should have planned this for a day when there was less rain. Or, you know, no rain."
"It's October in Scotland," Theo pointed out. "I don't think there's such a thing as no rain."
"True. Oh, here they come."
They waited as the team marched past them, full of mud and looking like drowned rats. Potter brought up the rear, and Theo called his name.
He glanced over at them, surprise clear even behind those ridiculous glasses he still wore, and without a moment's hesitation, walked over to them. When he ducked under the umbrella Blaise was holding overhead, Theo grimaced at the state of him.
"Do none of you know how to cast Impervious?" he asked, shaking his head.
"Playing in all weather builds character," Potter replied with a shrug. "Besides, I cast it on my glasses."
"Uh huh. Well, we're here on business."
"Very important business," Blaise agreed. "Because lemme tell you, Potter, if my Theo goes insane and can't do the thing he does with his tongue anymore, I'm gonna be pissed."
Potter blinked. "Well, we wouldn't want that. What can I do to help?"
Theo snorted. "If someone in Slytherin happened to have a crush on you—hypothetically, of course—would you disregard them because of house loyalty or some nonsense?"
Frowning, Potter shook his head. "No."
"Okay, good," Theo said. "Because someone in our house has a crush on you and it's driving me insane."
"So… not quite hypothetical, then?" Potter asked, his lips tilting up in an amused smile.
"Look, straight talking, Potter," Blaise said, sighing. "Someone is pining over you and just… doing the absolute most, and we can't take it anymore. So we were thinking maybe we could, you know, arrange a little blind date, see if there's… something."
"Or you could just tell me who it is?" Potter suggested.
"We're Slytherins. Loyalty to our house and all that bullshit," Theo said, waving the suggestion off. "Besides, the person would kill us in our beds if we told you so. Probably best that we don't."
Potter sighed, rubbing at his temple. "Alright, fine. Blind date. Merlin, I must be mad. Just… it's not Millicent is it? Because she's lovely, and she helped me last week in Herbology, but she also terrifies the life out of me, so."
Blaise laughed. "It's not Millie."
"Okay, good, I guess. Just let me know when and where to be."
He turned to walk away. It was only when he was almost at the door that Theo remembered an important factor.
"Hey Potter!"
"What?"
"Does gender matter?"
Potter tilted his head for a moment and then shook it. "No. No, I don't think it does."
He left them there, and Theo grinned at his boyfriend happily. "That went well!"
"Uh huh. Can we go inside now?" Blaise asked. "My hand is so cold it's gone numb."
Theo nodded and pulled him back towards the castle. "Now we have to plan the date!"
"Don't you think we should tell Draco about it first?" Blaise asked.
Theo paused and then shook his head. "Nah. Let's have a bit of fun, shall we?"
Blaise got rid of the umbrella and wrapped his arm around Theo's shoulder. "This is going to come back and bite us in the arse; I can already see it coming."
…
"We can't use the Room of Requirement," Theo pointed out, chewing on the end of his quill. "Because they almost died in there and I feel like that's a bit insensitive."
"Can't do it outside either," Blaise said, glancing at the window. It was two days after they'd ambushed Potter, and it was still raining.
"Can't be on Halloween," Theo added. "Or the days either side, since there's no telling what mood Potter will be in."
"Kitchens?" Blaise asked. "The house-elves would help us set it up, especially if we tell them it's for Potter. Draco had that right at least; the elves love him."
"Hogsmeade?"
"Draco isn't allowed in the Three Broomsticks, and Potter hates Puddifoots. I heard him complaining about it to Granger."
"Why is this so hard?" Theo complained, dropping his quill onto the parchment.
"What about here?" Blaise asked, glancing around the library. "It's quiet, they're unlikely to be disturbed here, and—"
"And Madam Pince will kill us if she catches us fetching food and wine here," Theo interrupted. "Besides, it's not like they'd be able to actually talk or—"
"I'm failing to see how that's a bad thing," Blaise interrupted. "Draco is pretty until he opens his mouth. Then he's just a failure at being romantic."
"This could be their destiny," Theo retorted, affronted. "And you're already trying to doom it."
"I think you're already starting to lose your mind," Blaise said, shaking his head. "I know you're determined that this date will be perfect, but… Theo, they're not perfect. In fact, on paper, they make zero sense. But… I can see how they might work, you know? I just don't want you to be too invested in this, okay?"
"I know," Theo replied, patting Blaise's hand to offer a little reassurance. "I just… Draco, as much an asshole as he is, deserves a chance to pull his shit together, you know? He could actually be a valuable human being if someone sees his potential. I think Potter might be able to help him get there."
"You're such a romantic," Blaise said fondly, shaking his head. "Okay, okay. What about the Astronomy Tower?"
"Too cliche," Theo said. "Besides, they'd be interrupted every ten minutes by other students looking for a little romance."
"An unused classroom?"
"That could work. We could make it… date-ish?"
"Date-ish?"
"Shut up."
…
"Why am I doing this?" Draco asked, when Theo threw a forest green cashmere sweater at him. "I don't see the point in going on random dates. It's not like I'm going to want anyone you could pair me up with."
Blaise rolled his eyes. "Just trust us."
"We're Slytherins," Draco said, shaking his head. "Which makes this at least eighty-two percent sure to be a trick or a plot for your amusement."
"See, now that's just rude," Theo pointed out, grinning. "Anyone would think that we weren't your friends."
"Uh huh," Draco agreed. "Because if you were my friends, you wouldn't be setting me up on blind dates when you know I love—"
"Oh Merlin, nope. Stop that train of thought right there," Blaise said, pulling the sweater over Draco's head. "Put that on, fix your hair and let's go, dumbass."
Grumbling under his breath, Draco got himself ready, and Theo watched through narrowed eyes, making sure he was done to the best he could be.
When he was finally satisfied, he prodded and poked at Draco until he was out the door. Blaise led the way to the fourth floor, clearly ignoring Draco's whining as he walked.
Theo envied him a little—he'd never perfected the art of ignoring someone's yapping.
"This is pointless," Draco muttered when they reached the door of the classroom that Blaise and Theo had spent hours preparing earlier in the day.
They'd even charmed the plates to have little serpents and lions on them. That was the strength of their dedication to seeing this through.
Well, Theo's dedication; Blaise was only really in it for the thing Theo did with his tongue, and he'd said as much repeatedly.
"Behave yourself," Theo said softly. "And give it a chance, okay? It's not a trick, or anything else. It's an honest chance. Try not to fuck it up."
Draco frowned at him, but Blaise was already pushing him through the door so he couldn't say anything.
When the door closed, Theo leant against Blaise's shoulder.
"We've done what we could," Blaise said softly, pressing a gentle kiss to Theo's head. "It's up to them now, okay?"
Theo nodded. "I know. Come on, let's get back to the dorm. I need a distraction."
Blaise grinned a filthy grin. "I can provide that."
…
"Oof," Theo gasped, startling awake when something hard landed on his stomach. Beside him, Blaise flailed on the bed, almost falling out.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Draco was gushing from above them.
Theo stared at him for a moment before he realised that Draco was back from his blind date with Potter.
"Oh. It went well then?"
"Shame you couldn't have waited until morning to tell us that," Blaise grumbled, pushing Draco until he was no longer sitting on top of them.
Draco smiled sheepishly. "Oops?"
Theo waited, and then rolled his eyes, prompting Draco with a wave of his hand. "Well?"
"He was uh, surprised to see me there," Draco said, that same sheepish smile still playing on his lips. "But he wasn't mad that it was me. And it was just… perfect. Thank you."
Theo nodded and then yawned. He glanced at the clock to see it reading just after two in the morning and he grimaced.
"Happy as I am for you, think you can wait until I'm not sleeping to tell me all about it?"
Draco nodded. "I just wanted to thank you. Didn't mean to wake you up."
Blaise snorted. "Go to bed, Draco."
Draco did so, and Theo rolled over to cuddle back up to Blaise.
"I guess you were right," Blaise murmured against his hair. "All it needed was a little faith and a little cunning."
"We should go into matchmaking when we're done with school," Theo replied, his eyes drifting shut.
He thought he heard Blaise groan above him, but he was already asleep before he could ask.
Written for:
Record Collection: 13. Destiny
Written In The Stars: 8. Forest Green
Book Club: Unferth: failure / determined / wine
Lizzy's Loft: 10. Skeptical
Liza Loves: 10. Faith
Scamander's Case: 18. Flying
Forecast: 19. Plate
Build A Comic Book: Villain: Determined
Geek Pride: Labyrinth: Prompt 2: Plot Point: Write about regretting saying something.
Founder Says: Godric Says 7: "I heard that!" / "Good! You were supposed to."
Brand Wars: Loki: Word Set: Ploy / Trick / Shame / "Let's have a bit of fun, shall we?" / Cunning / Theodore Nott
Jet Plane: 40. Gibraltar: Torrential Rain
365: 15. Reassurance
Fantastic Beasts: 103. Jarvey: Draco Malfoy