Percy is shockingly good at darts. He and Wood flounce Draco and Krum not once, not twice but three times, until Draco finally begs mercy. The games had been a bit strained: Draco's not well acquainted with Krum, and while Percy and Wood's friendship clearly goes back years, there's a frostiness between them, at least on Percy's side. Wood tries to gloss over this by being overly cheerful and familiar, using what are obviously in-jokes. Like when Percy had hit a bullseye to win the second game, Wood had yelled,
"Cumulonimbus!" and slapped Percy on the back. Percy had given him what could be called half a smile at best and while Wood had deflated some at that, he hadn't let it get in the way of everyone else having fun.
Gradually the various and sundry games come to a end until they're just standing around watching the death throes of Abbott and Weasley's chess game. There are piles of rubble on both sides of the board and as Draco watches, Weasley's remaining bishop whacks one of Abbott's pawns to bits with his crozier. He can't tell who's winning — they're both down to so few pieces. In fact, a few moves later, the match is deemed a stalemate.
"Good game," Weasley says, enthusiastically shaking Abbott's hand. Draco wonders when the last time he lost was and whether this counted as at the very least close to a loss.
"Exciting pool room now?" Krum asks. "Yes? Please say yes." Harry grins and nods.
…
"We will be spending a lot of time in this room," Krum announces as the nine of them take in the indoor pool room.
"Yes," Draco agrees quickly. "Lots of time. Shirtless. Definitely." Harry elbows him and Draco smirks back.
"You would like that?" Krum asks.
"I think everyone would," Draco answers. He does his best to sound sincere but a smile creeps onto his face. Pansy rolls her eyes at him.
"Like this?" Krum asks and immediately takes off his shirt. Well, Draco hadn't expected that. He barely manages to nod. "Who wants to get in?"
"We're doing this?" Harry asks. "At two in the afternoon?"
"It's a Saturday, Hundo," Wood says. "It's time to relax." He pulls his own shirt off, obviously not willing to be outdone.
"I'm with Wood," Pansy says. "I think it's time for some day drinking. Winky?" There's a loud crack and the house elf appears. "Could you fetch us several bottles of rosé? And nine glasses." Percy tries to protest but Pansy silences him with a glare. Winky bows low and disappears.
"Right then," Harry says. "Meet back here in five? In swimsuits?" There's a general susurrus of agreement and the nine of them part ways.
…
"I've set Doctor Who to record," Harry says as he sidles up to Draco approximately twelve minutes later. Draco's standing by the edge of the pool, watching it fill. The scent of roses fills the air and Draco assumes that the bubbles have been chosen by Pansy, who loves all things roses. The bubbles that cover the surface of the water are a pale pink in color, small and densely packed together. They're the perfect kind of bubbles to hide any shenanigans going on under the water. Draco wonders if Pansy has done this on purpose. It seems like the kind of thing she would do.
"You can record television?" Draco asks.
"Yes, on a blank tape."
"I won't pretend to understand what that means."
"I won't try to explain it," Harry retorts.
"Wine?" Pansy asks, interrupting their conversation, though it has mostly turned to good humored glares. She shoves glasses into their hands before they can say anything else and then walks away, swinging her hips. Draco watches her go, fondly, and notices both Krum and Weasley staring too. Interesting. But then, it's early days.
Abbott is much more enthusiastic about the prospect of the pool than Longbottom, but he seems game to do anything she wants to and so follows her into the shallow end, staring at her like he's not sure how he ended up with such a girlfriend. It's cute, Draco decides. And part of him hopes that Harry will look at him that way someday. Not now, of course, as they're keeping their budding relationship under wraps, but someday.
The last person to join them is Percy Weasley. He stammers something about it being difficult to find a bathing suit in his suitcase, but Wood just waves away his explanation.
"Come sit next to me, Perce," he says. "I got you some wine." Wood is sitting on the shelf that runs around two sides of the pool, which is set at the perfect height for sitting on with your head and shoulders remaining out of the water.
"Er, alright, Ollie." Percy shuffles over to where Wood is sat and awkwardly hops down into the water. Wood shuffles over until he's almost hip to hip with Percy and Percy flushes and frowns down at the bubbles on top fo the water, but takes the wine that Wood hands him.
"Perce and I were roommates at Hogwarts," Wood cheerfully tells the group, explaining for anyone who might not know. "We were the only two Gryffindor boys in our N.E.W.T. year, so it was just the two of us." He elbows Percy and Percy turns, if possible, even redder.
"What an illustrious dorm room," Draco drawls. "Head Boy and Quidditch Captain."
"Hey Perce," Wood says. "Remember that time when we got our badges mixed up?"
"Fred and George wouldn't shut up about it," Weasley interjects from the other end of the room. "They kept asking him for the latest Gryffindor tactics." Weasley is in the process of taking off his shirt and Draco is surprised to see that he is in very good shape. Draco wonders what training the aurors must do, if both Weasley and Harry have abs you could wash clothes on. But the most surprising thing comes when Weasley turns around to place his folded shirt on one of the lounge chairs.
Tattooed on Weasley's back is a giant, roaring lion. There's a stylized crown above its head and the words "Weasley is our King" surround it. Draco's oddly touched that Weasley has had Draco's brilliant song etched on his skin for eternity.
"Nice ink," he calls.
"Er," Weasley says, turning back around. "Thanks, Malfoy?"
"I didn't know you were so taken with my lyrics."
"I wasn't."
"And yet." Draco gestures towards Weasley's back and lets the words hang in the air.
"It looks nice," Krum says, which completely undermines Draco's teasing. "Very cool."
"Um." Weasley turns turns a patchy shade of red and it's all Draco can do not to laugh. "Er, thanks?" he manages to spit out. Draco is delighted by the fact that Weasley seems completely tongue-tied around Krum. Even though Harry ostensibly invited Krum here for him, it seems unlikely Weasley will ever make a move.
"Get in the pool all of you," Wood demands. "The water is lovely."
"Hold this, will you?" Harry says to Draco, thrusting his wine glass into Draco's hand. Then he takes off, jumping into the pool, his body bunched into a ball for maximum splash. Draco escapes unscathed, but both Wood and Percy are showered in water and bubbles.
"Uncalled for, Potter," Draco says when Harry's head emerges from the bubbles.
"Oh, you love me," Harry shoots back.
"Not likely," Draco shoots back, because they're keeping up appearances.
"Not yet at least," Harry retorts, a cocky grin on his face. Draco thinks he's going to have to have a quiet word to Harry as to what a secret relationship entails. As it is, Weasley is staring incredulously at the back of Harry's head. Harry is oblivious to this as he whips his head sharply to the side, flinging his wet hair out of his eyes. And Merlin help Draco if that isn't one of the sexiest things he's seen Harry do.
"You wish, Potter," he says, recalling their infamous duel in Lockhart's club. He places the two wine glasses on the side of the pool and then lowers himself into the deliciously warm water. Harry paddles over to him and picks up his glass.
"Do not be sad, Harry," Krum says. "I can love you." Well shit. And with that, Krum gets into the pool and makes his way over to where Draco and Harry are, giving Harry what Draco can only assume are sex eyes the entire time. Draco catches Pansy's eye and she rolls hers at him but then gamely gets into the water, leaving only Weasley out of the pool.
"Are you really limiting yourself to just Potter?" Pansy asks. Krum turns in her direction.
"No," he says immediately. He stands up straighter in the water, presumably so that his incredibly impressive chest can be seen above the bubbles. "Viktor Krum is an equal opportunity lover."
"Happy to hear it," Pansy all but purrs. Behind Krum's back, Draco raises his eyebrows at her but she just smirks back at him.
…
Watching Percy Weasley and Viktor Krum interact fast becomes Draco's favorite pastime. Krum flirts with everyone, outrageously at times, while Percy is just as straight laced as Draco remembers him from Hogwarts. It's also fun to watch how Wood reacts to Krum's flirting with Percy. For reasons unknown to Draco, Wood seems to take it upon himself to defend Percy's sensibilities, and to try to one up Krum at every turn.
Somehow it ends with Krum putting Pansy on his shoulders and Wood putting a loudly protesting Percy on his for a game of chicken, which Draco, Harry and Weasley all take furious bets on. Pansy and Krum win, but mostly because Percy takes a purposeful swan dive off of Wood's shoulders, much to Draco's delight. Longbottom and Abbott look on in mild amusement but make no move to join in the betting. Draco thinks this is a missed opportunity, as they were cheering on Krum, and could have made Weasley even more unhappy. But he'll take what he can get.
As it was, Weasley had looked like he had wanted to punch Draco the first time Draco had tried to call him "Weaselbee" to his face, but he'd restrained himself, likely because everyone, and most importantly Harry, had been there.
But the pool is warm, and the bubbles make everything smell lovely, and most importantly there is wine. The afternoon has all the ingredients for making friends and everyone getting along. Draco just thinks he needs to help it along some. He summons Winky and procures a fresh bottle of wine from her.
"Alright," Draco says, holding the bottle aloft. "I think it's time for a round of Never Have I Ever."
"Really Draco?" Pansy asks, arching an eyebrow at him. She's sitting on the ledge in the deep end of the pool, her arms stretched out along the side of the pool. She looks the picture of decadence and Draco would be jealous of her effortless glamour if he didn't love her so much.
"Yes, Pans. I think it will help break the ice."
"Very well. But you're going first." Draco rolls his eyes at her.
"Never have I ever," he says. "Been a Gryffindor."
"Cheap shot," Weasley says but he takes the bottle of wine from Draco's outstretched hand and gamely takes a swig. Harry, Percy, Wood and Longbottom follow suit. Longbottom ends up with the bottle.
"It's only fair," he says. "That I retaliate with never have I ever been in Slytherin." Pansy glares at Draco like this is his fault, but takes the bottle from Longbottom and tips it back.
"This hardly seems fair," Krum says from his spot in the corner. "I was not in any house."
"Never have I ever attended Durmstrang," Pansy says once Draco has had his sip of wine.
"Cheers," Krum says. He winks at her, even as he swims over to take the wine from Draco. "Never have I ever won the Triwizard tournament."
"I would hardly say I won," Harry protests.
"You won the money."
"I guess, but I also got whisked away to a graveyard where a psycho stole some of my blood and tried to murder me." Krum just shrugs at him.
"You still won."
Harry sighs but accepts the bottle as it's passed over to him. "Never have I ever played quidditch for my country," he says when he's done drinking.
"Really?" Krum asks. "From all accounts you were good enough to."
"I went into the auror force right after school," Harry says by way of explanation.
"He wasn't that good at quidditch," Draco says.
"Yes, he was," Pansy snaps.
"Oi," Wood says. "Give me the bottle." He waves his arms at Krum. "I'm the back up keeper for England. And Harry, you could probably still play for us if you wanted to. Summerby's a shit seeker."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Oliver."
"I mean it. You were really good, Hundo."
"I haven't flown in years," Harry says. "There's not really a good place to do it in London."
"You might have space in the greenhouse," Longbottom says. His voice is so quiet that they almost miss what he says.
"What?" Harry and Draco ask in unison.
"It's quite tall, from what I can tell," Longbottom explains. "I can't see how far it goes back as the hecate's tears are rather overgrown, but once we get it under control, you might have enough space to fly there." Harry looks dumbfounded and more than a little excited.
Draco bites his lip as he watches the emotions on Harry's face. It's seeming more and more like Harry might want to keep the house. While it's none of Draco's business, he thinks at the end of the day, the thought of selling his godfather's house doesn't sit well with Harry, even as he protests he doesn't want it. But perhaps he is projecting his own feelings about one day owning the Manor on the situation.
"That would be brilliant," Harry says. He looks over and catches Draco's eye. "If we can, I challenge you to a Seeker's game."
"Pass," Draco says immediately.
"What? Why not?"
"I've lost to you how many times?"
"This would be different."
"True," Draco says. "It would be worse. Oh, stop laughing, Pansy. It's not that funny." Even though it probably is.
"Never have I ever been to Egypt," Wood says, interrupting their back and forth.
"Targeting," Percy says, archly, swiping the bottle out of Wood's hands.
"Is it?" Wood asks as both Weasley and Pansy take the wine and drink.
"Hand it over," Draco says, mentally reliving the time his parents had taken him to see the Sphinx. They'd gone on a week day, at a time when several muggle school trips were visiting, and Draco had been surrounded by local children, all trying to touch his white blond hair and staring at him like he might be a demon. It was one of Draco's worst childhood memories that didn't have to do with his father.
"Never have I ever," Draco says. He pauses to give himself time to come up with something good. He thinks it might be time to take the game to the next level. They've had a warm up round, so now it was time to really learn about people. "Kissed a friend's sibling."
"Arsehole," Harry mutters as he swims over to take the bottle from Draco. Draco smirks at him.
"Drink up." Harry continues to glare daggers at him as he makes his way back to his spot. The glaring stops, however, when Wood coughs awkwardly and reaches out to take the wine. Interesting.
"Never have I ever kissed a celebrity," Wood supplies. Percy's eyes go wide and he leans in to whisper something in Wood's ear. "Yes, Perce. That counts." He presses the bottle into the other man's hands while Draco mentally curses, realizing that Harry counts as a celebrity. Once Percy's had his sip, the bottle makes its way around the circle. Krum drinks, presumably for kissing Harry, and Harry drinks, presumably for kissing Krum. Draco grinds his teeth but goes over to take the bottle from him. He's saved from having to come up with another thing by Harry saying,
"Never have I ever slept with a co-worker," which earns him a middle finger from Weasley.
"Never have I ever lied to get out of going to work."
"That was one time, Ronald."
"Erm," Percy says. "May I?"
"See, I'm not alone."
"Percy?" Weasley asks, incredulous.
"Crouch was an arse," Percy says. "Er, until he disappeared." Percy takes a quick swig and then passes the bottle over to Abbott who is reaching for it. She shrugs good-naturedly and says,
"The pub's closed while I'm here. I told everyone I had the Ar-Too virus so I could spend the time with Neville." Longbottom laughs and leans in to kiss her on the cheek. "Never have I ever pretended to be someone else." This gets both Harry and Weasley who point back and forth between each other to see who asks the next question. Weasley wins and says,
"Never have I ever fancied anyone in this room."
"That is everyone," Krum says loudly. "I am here."
"He's not wrong," Pansy says, making a grabbing motion with her outstretched hand. Krum turns to look at her appraisingly. Krum's not wrong, however, as even Weasley takes a drink.
"Fine," Weasley says. "Never have I ever spread a rumor I knew wasn't true."
"Fuck you, Weasley," Pansy says. "Give it."
"Slytherin code of conduct," Draco says, taking the bottle from Pansy. "You pass on all the rumors." Draco stays sitting next to Pansy and slings an arm around her shoulder. She snuggles into him. "Never have I ever held a grudge for longer than a year." He doesn't mean to target Weasley but it's clear the other man thinks he is because Draco can all but hear the murderous thoughts thundering through Weasley's brain as he comes over to snatch the wine out of Draco's hand.
"Never have I ever slept with anyone in this room," he spits out. Draco's not sure who the target is supposed to be but everyone except Weasley and Pansy drink.
"We will fix that," Krum says, even as Draco's mind is racing trying to figure out who's slept with whom. Krum and Harry are easy, as are Abbott and Longbottom, which leaves just Percy and Oliver. Draco blinks as Percy's whispered question to Oliver starts to make more sense in his mind. He watches them out of the corner of his eye, not wanting to draw attention to them as Percy in particular seems awkward. He wonders if this is the first time they've been back together since Hogwarts.
He's so busy puzzling out Percy and Oliver that he doesn't notice Weasley staring at him. At least not until he hears Weasley yell,
"Him? Harry? Really?" And then it's all Draco can do to watch in horror as Harry sits rooted to the spot while Weasley charges (ineffectually due to the water) towards him. Before he makes it across the pool, however, Krum moves into his path.
"Chill," he says, holding his hands up. Weasley stops. "I was the one who slept with Draco. He has a very nice arse." Krum's eyes meet Draco's in silent understanding and Draco gives him a small nod.
"It was great," Draco says quickly. "Couldn't walk straight for days."
"Draco, you never walk straight," Pansy quips.
"Cheers, darling," Draco says. "Thanks ever so."
"Maybe we should play a new game?" Abbott suggests quietly. And that's the end of Never Have I Ever.