"Shouldn't that one be a little higher? To match its compatriot on this side?"
Harry sighed as he raised the ornament another three inches. He had so been looking forward to his first real Christmas with Draco. No madman pitting them against each other, no parental figures offering unnecessary advice, and no difficult questions at the dinner table. Just the two of them, making long overdue happy memories. Following the pattern of his life, things had not gone entirely according to plan. The hot chocolate had been a success, and after a half-hour of wheedling, Harry had gotten Draco to agree to making snowmen, but decorating the tree...
"Gold? Isn't this supposed to be silver?"
Harry took a deep breath before turning to his critic. Draco didn't notice his irritation, frowning at the bundle of tinsel he held. For a man who had never decorated a Christmas tree before, he certainly had a lot of thoughts about how it should be done.
"It can be any color you'd like." Harry took the strand from him and tapped it with his wand, watching as the warm gold gave way to frosty silver. Perhaps there would be less frustration if Draco actually did do it himself. He offered Draco the tinsel. "Would you like to hang this one?"
Draco shook his head. "No, but maybe the next string? I'll just watch the first one."
Harry shrugged and turned back to the tree. He laid the end of the tinsel at the top of the tree and pulled it across. He turned it and was pulling it back the other way when Draco spoke again. "Doesn't it go all the way around, instead of crossing hither and thither willy-nilly? This seems like a shortcut."
Harry counted to three to fight his rising temper as he placed the rest of the tinsel strand. He got off the ladder and handed Draco the next string as he walked toward the kitchen to check on their food. "Either way works. You're welcome to loop it around if you want. I'm going to finish dinner." If he wasn't in the room, Draco couldn't comment on the way he was doing things.
Harry's head cooled as he checked the ham and started the potatoes. He was pulling down a pan for the gravy when Draco wandered in. "The tinsel's up. The tree is so big I had to Transfigure more to go all the way around. What goes on next?"
Harry held up a few fingers as he started listing decorations. "We did the lights, some ornaments, and tinsel…the only thing missing is the star on top, I think."
Draco smirked. "I'm standing right here, but I assume you mean that pointy plastic thing in the box. I'll go put it on the tree." He turned and walked back out of the kitchen.
Harry smiled softly and shook his head as he turned back to the beginnings of his gravy. Draco had no problem decorating without him, all his earlier reluctance gone. Everything was nearly done when Draco reappeared. He walked up to Harry, whose focus was on dinner's final touches.
"The star was located and appropriately placed. Our tree is complete." He sounded quite pleased with himself. He stood there for a few seconds, radiating excitement at his oblivious boyfriend.
Harry, still preoccupied with his gravy, didn't notice as that excitement morphed into nervousness. He registered movement and a sparkle as Draco knelt by the stove, but didn't look down. Draco must have gotten some of the tinsel stuck to his hands. Harry only tore his attention away from the food when Draco spoke. "Goodness, you've made a right mess down here."
The criticism was piling too high for Harry to fight - the height of the ornaments, the color of the tinsel, how it was strung, and now the kitchen floor, bound to be less than spotless when someone was cooking. Apparently, he hadn't done one thing right this afternoon. Harry looked down to fire back a response and froze. Draco hadn't moved. He was still on one knee, and the sparkle in his hand wasn't tinsel. It was a ring.
Draco averted his eyes as he started to talk. "I had to say something to tear you away from your precious gravy. I know I was a bit choosy about the tree. Probably because it's the centerpiece. Christmases weren't always warm, but our tree was spectacular every year. Until the whole war business started, anyway. But I'll be better next year, if you'll have me around to decorate again." He paused and lifted his eyes back to Harry's.
"Harry James Potter, will you marry me?"
Harry stopped gaping and laughed as he hauled him off the floor into a kiss. "Yes, you painfully picky man," he said as they pulled apart.
Draco pouted in his hold. "I prefer detail-oriented." Harry rolled his eyes since he couldn't disagree with that.
"Is His Detail-Oriented Highness ready for dinner? I'm all done here." Draco nodded, and Harry began to set the table for his first Christmas dinner with his now-fiancé. He lifted his hand and stared at the band on his finger. He had to admit an engagement wasn't quite the kind of memory he had envisioned himself making this year, but he would never forget this Christmas.