Usual Disclaimer: Unfortunately this world and its wonderful inhabitants do not belong to me, they belong to J. K. Rowling, I'm just borrowing them. I am making no money from this it is purely for the enjoyment of those few who choose to read it. Thanks J. K. for lending me your ready made world of magic.
A/N: Thanks as usual to my reviewers: Nichole08, Laura, Isis-mystic, Fallen Angel, Andromeda Summer, Nastygurl, SpazMcG7, Angel of death, fancyfantasyfairy, tamachan444, The-Magnificent-Fuzzy, SiLvErFaTeD, and Siriusly Black2 (The twinkle will never die!)
Extra Disclaimer: The song lyrics below do not belong to me they belong to Hoku (I think - It's from the 'Legally Blonde' soundtrack anyway).
"On this perfect day nothing's standing in my way,
On this perfect day nothing can go wrong,
It's the perfect day, tomorrow's gonna come too soon,
I could stay forever as I am on this perfect day."
Chapter 21 - Best Birthday Ever
The anticipation of giving Harry the best birthday ever woke Draco extra early on the morning of the 31st of July and he lay watching his sleeping Gryffindor for a few minutes before dressing quickly and quietly and heading downstairs. He returned not long later with a tray of breakfast accompanied by a thin crystal vase (easily transfigured from an ordinary glass tumbler as he had practised) containing a single red rose.
Harry woke to the smell of a bacon sandwich and smiled and remembered that bacon sandwiches were the first thing he had ever cooked for Draco. He almost melted at the sentiment as he sat up and put his glasses on, clearing his blurred vision.
"Happy Birthday." Draco whispered.
"Thank you. You made this yourself?" Harry asked, seeing no evidence of injury and Draco nodded proudly. Harry almost laughed, sometimes Draco seemed like a cute little boy and he couldn't prevent the image of Draco as a child, holding out clean hands to prove he was a good boy, from sweeping through his mind. He pulled the vase and the rose towards him and breathed in the intoxicating smell and was for a moment hit with a nostalgia for being out in the summer air. The warm summer air, full of the sweet scents of different flowers, mingled together by the summer breeze. He placed the rose beside the bed and kissed Draco warmly before beginning to eat his very well cooked bacon sandwich.
Breakfasted and dressed, it was time for them to go downstairs where Hermione had Ron and Ginny waiting with gifts. He received a spell book form Hermione, a cookbook from Ron and a fancy new quill from Ginny. It was not much but he appreciated just having his friends around him on his birthday. Hermione, the saint that she was, had thought ahead and had bought a present Draco could give Harry in front of the others without arousing suspicion. Harry laughed as he unfolded a pair of novelty boxer shorts patterned with little moving snitches.
Harry was bombarded with visitors bearing gifts all day and by the end, even Draco was having trouble calming down Mrs Black. Mrs Weasley, Arthur, Fred, George and Charlie were followed by Remus, then by Dumbledore, then Dobby, then Tonks and so on. When the last visitor had left, Harry couldn't have been happier and Hermione ushered a rather unwilling Ron and confused Ginny out of the door insisting that she wanted to see a movie. Harry interpreted their leaving as a way of giving him and Draco some time alone and said that he was positive he would be fine if they left, he didn't really want to see a movie. He was even happier when Draco revealed the real reason they had left and told him to get dressed for dinner.
Harry stood in front of the full-length mirror, brushing the front of his trousers self-consciously. He was wearing a blood red shirt contrasting on top of the only pair of black dress trousers he owned which flared slightly at the bottom to cover his, only slightly scuffed, black shoes. His breath caught in his throat as he caught sight of Draco through the mirror as he appeared in the doorway to see if Harry was ready. Draco was dressed all in black. A black fitted shirt and black soft leather trousers contrasted sharply with the silky platinum locks framing his face making him look almost angelic. Almost. The look that he gave Harry plainly stated otherwise - it clearly implied that he would readily pounce on Harry there and then.
"Mmm." Harry commented, turning away from the mirror to face Draco. "You look good enough to eat."
"So do you." Draco said, lingering in the doorway with his hands behind his back. "But there's something missing." He brought his hands from behind him and held out a small blue box.
Harry moved forward and reached out with a hand shaking from excitement and removed the lid. Inside was the most beautiful pendant he had ever seen. A long silver chain passing though a white gold pendant depicting a lion with a snake coiled around it leg, the snake's head resting in the lion's majestic mane. The eye of the lion was a small glittering set-in emerald while the eye of the serpent was a small shining diamond.
"It's beautiful." Harry breathed as Draco took it delicately from the box and moved to fasten it around Harry's neck. The pendant completed Harry's outfit perfectly and Harry could not find words enough to express his gratitude. "Thank you." He whispered, kissing his boyfriend intimately, hoping a kiss could say it better than words.
As they kissed, Draco sent a silent thanks to Hermione. He couldn't be more pleased with Harry's reaction and he had no idea where Hermione had found something so perfect but he was in no doubt that the girl was a saint.
"Come on we better go, even Hermione won't be able to keep them away for too long." Draco smiled as they finally pulled apart.
They walked to the same nearby muggle town they had visited on their first night at Grimmauld hand-in-hand, ignoring the judgemental looks they received from passing muggles and Harry breathing in the air around him deeply: the air he had craved only that morning. Harry almost burst with happiness when they stopped outside the same romantic little Italian restaurant they had dined in on their first night staying in Grimmauld.
"Now we'll really give them something to stare at." Draco smiled as they entered the dimly lit restaurant and were seated.
All through dinner Harry fingered the pendant around his neck, silently vowing never to take it off. Between courses, Draco held Harry's hand across the table as they talked or delicately traced his fingers over the palm of Harry's hand. They were getting rather a lot judgemental looks and whispers from other tables but were happily ignoring them, glad for the chance to be open with their relationship without worry, even if was only for a few hours.
Once Draco had settled the bill however, he became all too aware of the eyes narrowed and focused on them and as they left he couldn't resist - he pinched Harry's bum. They laughed together and shared a kiss in the doorway, leaving behind the frenzied whispers of a restaurant full of bigoted muggles.
The walk back to Grimmauld was one full of laughter, and playful pinches and kisses uncaring of who was watching. By the time the reached to door of Grimmauld, things were extremely heated. Managing not to wake Mrs Black, Harry pushed Draco against the nearest wall as soon as the door was closed behind them and proceeded to ravish his mouth. Both boys were breathing heavily and their painfully obvious erections suggested that they would not make it upstairs and so they tumbled into the nearest room free of prying portraits, which happened to be the kitchen. Harry perched on the edge of the table, kissing Draco thoroughly as he undid his shirt buttons. Undressing revealed that Harry was wearing his snitch boxer shorts and Draco laughed, pulling them off.
"I was right, they do look better in a heap on the floor." He whispered jokingly but was silenced as Harry pulled him onto the table with him, their now naked bodies pressing together. Harry groaned as Draco found the sensitive spot just below his adams-apple and kissed, nibbled and sucked it whilst lubricating himself painfully slowly. Harry couldn't wait any longer and he pulled Draco to him, guiding him inside. He wrapped his legs around Draco as he thrust into him. He moaned and yelled Draco's name over and over until they came quickly and loudly together.
"We're back!" Hermione shouted as they returned at eleven o'clock that night with the intention of giving Harry and Draco warning. "Dammit." She cursed herself as Mrs Black began her usual hissy fit. She smiled gratefully as a slightly ruffled Draco emerged from the lounge and went about his absurd job of calming a hysterical picture.
They made their way into the lounge where Harry was sitting on the couch straightening himself up. He was wearing a wrinkled red shirt and creased black trousers. Hermione blushed as unbidden images of what they might have been doing flashed into her head.
"Hey guys." He cleared his throat and greeted them.
"Hey Harry how was your meeting with Dumbledore?" Ron asked.
"Um fine..." Harry cleared his throat again. "Nothing major. It's all sorted." He said, although he had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. All he knew at that moment was that Hermione was signalling frantically behind Ron's back. He cleared his throat yet again.
"Ron could you get me a glass of water please?" He asked and Ron headed to the kitchen as Draco re-entered the room and sat down in the single armchair. He and Ginny looked utterly confused as Hermione rushed to Harry's side as soon as Ron left the room and began whispering frantically in his ear.
"I had to tell them something - they weren't happy to leave you on your birthday so I told them Dumbledore wanted to talk to you and Draco about Lucius or Deatheaters or something..." She whispered hurriedly and Harry nodded as they straightened back up as Ron came back with a tall glass of water.
"Thanks." Harry said accepting the glass and, pretending to be thirsty, downed it in a few long gulps.
It was the early hours before they all went to bed and by that point Harry was elated with happiness. He was surrounded by all the people he loved on his birthday and it really had been the perfect day.
Once upstairs Draco waited the customary length of time till he thought everyone would be sound asleep before creeping out into the hallway. As he left his room however he bumped straight into Ron.
"Shit! You scared the hell out of me you creepy bastard!" Ron hissed.
"Me creepy? What are you doing?" Draco demanded.
"Um... toilet..." Ron said weakly.
"Yeah, me too." Draco said, sounding a lot more convincing than Ron had, then again it was to be expected, he was a Malfoy and therefore a skilled liar when he needed to be. They walked down the hall together in an awkward silence.
"Ladies first." Draco said as they reached the bathroom door, standing aside and allowing a scowling Ron to go first. He leaned against the wall outside the bathroom sighing quietly with relief that he seemed to have gotten away with the bathroom lie. There was a few moments of silence, then a flush and then Ron emerged from the bathroom, Draco smirked at him and went in himself. He waited for a few minutes to allow Ron to disappear before flushing an empty toilet, no doubt as Ron had done, and creeping back to Harry's room. He shook his head to himself and wrinkled nose as he heard quiet giggling emanating from Hermione's room as he passed. When he finally reached his desired destination Harry was waiting for him with a warm smile.
"What took you?" He whispered.
"I met Ron in the corridor." Draco grinned and Harry raised his eyebrows.
"What was he doing?"
"Sneaking into Hermione's room!" Draco laughed as did Harry.
"I knew it!"
"We both had to pretend to go to the bathroom!" Draco exclaimed and they went into fits of laughter again, trying to keep themselves quiet.
"I hope you were nice?" Harry said when their almost silent laughter subsided.
"Of course I was!" Draco feigned shock. "I didn't say anything about his pyjamas." He looked proud of himself. "They have ducks on them! Ducks!" This sent them both back into almost silent laughter.
"I'm just glad you were wearing something!" Harry eyed Draco's black silk pyjamas. "Although why you are still wearing them is a mystery to me." He licked his lips and pulled Draco into bed beside him where they took care of the 'pyjama problem'.
"Ron I really think you should let him sleep." Hermione paced down the first floor hall after Ron.
"Don't be silly Hermione! I'm just going to ask him if he wants breakfast." Ron rolled his eyes as they reached Harry's door, wondering why Hermione was being so weird.
"You should at least knock!" She said positioning herself between Ron and the door to Harry's room. "Harry could be naked!"
"Hermione, we share a dorm. It's nothing I haven't seen before!" Ron began to get exasperated and, shooing her aside, he flung the door open.
A/N: I know I know I'm evil - another cliffie. Intense scene coming up next so here's a snippet I think I'm gonna include, just to tease you all till I update next week!
"Six months ago you would have happily hexed him in the Hogwarts corridors and now what...? You're shagging him?!" Ron flared and took a threatening step towards Harry and Harry backed up against the wall - he wasn't going to fight.
