New Year's Eve Party

Inviting Potter to the Berks, Draco thought, was the best decision he'd made. Potter got along really well with all of his friends and even Theo had fully warmed up to him. It helped that Draco confirmed with Theo that he wasn't interested in Potter and that Potter had said wonderful things about him to Draco. If Draco knew anything about Theo, it was that he loved being talked about when he wasn't in the room.

The trip was going well until it was time for Theodore to leave. On the morning of the 31st of December Draco and Theo said their goodbyes several times that the third and the fifth floor of the castle had heard their declarations.

After Theodore left Draco decided to join his friends in the lounge and overheard a conversation between them. "That's the one bad thing about old castles like these," Greg told Pansy and Harry, "the acoustics are quite adept. They didn't have speakers, intercoms or mobiles in the olden days so the architects had come up with solutions to let noise carry through the abode, of course, Sir Charles Barry or William Butterfield never considered having to listen to their best friend shag their boyfriends." Draco saw Harry shyly snicker at Greg's comment.

"Talking about me again are we?" Draco announced his presence to the group as they turned towards Draco and began laughing. His friends were never reluctant to poke fun at Draco and he liked that about them. "Listen mate, I am really sorry about all the noise. I asked Theodore to keep it down but he doesn't heed to anyone's requests. At least now you all should be glad that he's left so there will be fewer disturbances in the morning." Draco didn't realise but his tone had reduced to sadness in an instant. He acted as the understanding boyfriend but he was unhappy over the fact that he would be without his boyfriend on New Year's Eve.

"He's just possessive, and he was nervous about leaving you alone here with twenty plus people who might try to snog you at the party so he was just making his claim," Harry explained. "At least be glad that he's announced it to all of us that you're not available!" Harry smiled one of his gracious smiles at Draco; it was something Draco had gotten habituated with.

"You're too nice to him Harry!" Pansy exclaimed, "Are you always this sweet?"

"Not always," Harry replied, "but my parents are the most ridiculously sweet pair I know, so I am afraid that sort of niceness has trickled down on me!"

"Wow that speaks volumes about my damaging personality!" Draco retorted.

"That's not true at all, Sev told me your father is the most resourceful man he knows and your mother is his rock. I can see that in you, you're thoroughly resilient and ambitious and you told me you're the lead researcher at your company. People look up to you; you're not damaged, maybe a bit cracked." Harry winked as he delivered his last statement and the rest of the group erupted with laughter again.

"I see you lot have taught him well," Draco commented looking at his group of friends.

"What do you expect? You left him alone with us, of course we corrupted him!" Pansy replied as she sipped on her mimosa.

For the rest of the day Greg and Pansy put all of their friends to work to set up for the party. The DJ arrived at 6:30 and began constructing his booth which gave the guests time to prepare for the party. The plan was simple, food was to be served at 8pm for the guests with light music and the dancing commenced at 9:30 giving everyone a chance to loosen up with a few drinks to ring in the new year. For Draco, the only thing missing was Theodore.

The party had been a success but everyone had noticed Draco's foul mood, regardless of how much he attempted to hide it. Draco was standing in a corner of the hall and was slowly sipping on his drink watching his friends dance and socialise when Harry and Pansy approached him. Without words Harry on one side and Pansy on the other pulled him to the dance floor. At first he resisted, but Draco knew better than to disobey Pansy and now that Potter was on her side too, he truly couldn't defy at all.

The lights dimmed and Pansy placed herself in the middle of Draco and Harry and danced with the two of them simultaneously. Draco laughed; Pansy could always put him in a better mood. He also noticed at how much at ease he was with her now, since he'd realised that she no longer desired him. He leaned in her ear and whispered, "Sorry, I have been a shitty friend these past few months. I wish you'd just told me to get my head out of my arse instead of your mother." Pansy threw her head back and laughed at Draco's admission, Potter grabbing onto her flowing body. He raised an eyebrow towards Draco in uncertainty and Draco simply shook his head. She leaned back towards Draco and whispered in return, "no hard feelings love, new year, let's become the best of friends again." Draco grinned at Pansy's forgiveness as Greg joined the group and pulled Pansy away with her leaving Draco and Potter to dance alone.

Draco closed the distance between him and Potter grabbing onto his waist, he pulled Potter in towards him. They jumped and moved their bodies in accord with the beat of the music. The two men danced next to each other understanding the other's movement, they barely touched. Draco didn't look at Potter as he moved in rhythm and every time they would catch each other's eye they would simply grin in delight. Potter was a good dancer; he definitely knew what he was doing. Slowly Draco was forgetting his misery and beginning to enjoy the moment. He felt awkward only because he'd never truly danced with a friend before. The few times Draco went dancing when he was single, he'd spent flirting with someone and eventually the dancing was simply a faux mating ritual on the field. He had gone dancing with Theodore, Theo always took the initiative. Draco remembered the first time they had gone dancing together. Theo moved smoothly with the music, his thumbs gently caressed Draco's hips causing a shiver up his spine. Draco remembered how he'd longed to kiss Theo in that moment but resisted because he didn't wish to seem the fool.

"You're thinking about Theodore again, aren't you?" Harry whispered in Draco's ear waking him up to the present.

"Sorry, I got distracted," Draco confessed.

"No, don't be. It's quite alright, I understand. As long as you're not pouty face in the corner again, it's all fantastic!" Harry grinned at Draco. Why was Potter always so nice?

They danced together again as the music changed, this time the beats slowed down and Draco was back to feeling awkward. Harry smiled and pulled Draco in a hug causing Draco to wrap his arms around Harry's waist. "We're just dancing Draco, no need to be so alarmed," Harry whispered. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable, I simply enjoy dancing and it's either you or your friend Blaise who I am afraid won't be such a gentleman with me," Harry spoke again.

"Is Blaise bothering you too much?" Draco asked raising his eyebrow in severity causing Harry to laugh.

"Nothing I can't handle, but I did have to make a promise that I'd reserve a dance for him tonight," Harry replied. A few moments later Pansy returned indicating her need for a drink and asked the boys to accompany her to the bar.

The good thing about Greg hosting the party was that it had an open bar. The bad thing about Greg hosting the party was that it had an open bar. Draco couldn't decide whether it was a good thing or a bad thing. He thought that it was good because the open bar would help him forget his sorrows and cause him to have fun with his friends; the bad would the hangover the next morning. Several cheers and whiskey shots later the group was back on the floor. The reservations and awkwardness had shrunk along with the distances between the dancing bodies. Draco wondered how close he could come to Potter without it being considered crossing a line, his thought was interrupted when Blaise appeared.

"Sorry to disturb you boys but one, Harry here promised me a dance and two, Draco you've got a phone call from Theo," Blaise announced.

"Oh, where?" Draco spoke as he removed his mobile from his pocket, there was no signal.

"He called the castle," Blaise answered. "There's a phone in the DJ's booth, it's a soundproof room, I was hanging out there with some people when one of the staff came in and told me. You can talk in there, he's on hold. You won't be able to hear the music and vice versa."

Draco smiled at Harry and nodded at Blaise, he leaned into Blaise and whispered in his hear "behave yourself Zabini," and left. He arrived at the DJ's booth, who had set himself up behind a bulletproof, glass room. Draco walked in to the room and when he closed the door behind himself he noticed that the music really didn't penetrate through the glass. He recognised some of the people on the sofa sitting behind the DJ having a drink; he nodded at them and picked up the phone that was attached to the wall.

"Hello?"

Draco!

"Theo! Is everything alright?"

Yes, of course. We are at the show. I am about to go on stage with several other people and then there's a party after so I just wanted to check in with you and wish you a Happy New Year!

"Oh thanks so much love, I miss you. I wish you were here," Draco responded with sincerity. He stared out of the DJ booth and noticed Potter and Zabini dancing. Blaise had just said something that made Potter laugh and Blaise conveniently held his body placing his hand on the small of Potter's back. Draco scowled for a second.

Hello? Are you there?

"Yeah I am here love, how's the show?"

Theo began talking about the extravagant decorations of the art show and explained the art are the clothes themselves that the models are demonstrating. Theo was excited for this opportunity and there were many well-known industrialists attending the event. Eventually Draco drowned him out again as he watched Blaise continually place his hands all over Potter. Blaise had positioned Potter in front of him and he pulled on Potter into his hips. Draco watched Harry move slowly against Blaise as he extended his right arm pulling Blaise's head into his neck and Blaise placed his left hand on Harry's waist. Draco couldn't hear the music and simply glared at them in silence watching them practically fucking, according to him, on the dance floor. Draco snapped himself out of it and returned to listening to Theo talk about his job. A few moments later they said their goodbyes and promised to spend more time with each other in the New Year.

After Draco hung up the phone he returned to watching Potter and Blaise dancing. There was something intoxicating about watching them move their bodies, Potter, move his body, without being able to hear the music. He took a seat at one of the empty chairs in the booth and watched. After what Draco assumed the music had changed Potter turned to face Blaise again. He saw Blaise whisper something in Potter's ear and Potter shyly smiled. Draco knew Potter's smiles now. There was the genuine one, the formality, among a few, the shy one meant that Blaise probably complimented him and he wasn't sure how to respond.

Draco watched as Blaise leaned in to kiss Harry. Draco stood up instantaneously but before he could do anything he witnessed Potter turn his head to avoid Blaise's lips and exploded with laughter. An embarrassed Blaise walked away leaving Potter alone on the dance floor. Potter wasn't misstating, he faithfully, unpretentiously, enjoyed dancing. Alone on the dance floor Potter closed his eyes and danced by himself. A few moments later a handful of people surrounded him, Potter seemed to enjoy their attention. He wasn't the only one that found Potter intriguing.

After a few short moments of witnessing Potter as the centre of attention Draco noticed that Blaise was returning to the DJ booth where Draco had been hidden. He opened the door for Blaise and grinned like a fool. "What happened? I hope Potter let you down easy," he commented.

"Sod off." Blaise whined.

"I told you he was off limits," Draco replied with a tone of coolness in his voice.

"He's off limits to you too Draco. Have you already forgotten Theo?"

"What do you mean? I haven't forgotten anything. I told you we are simply friends and he's been a good friend to me tonight, trying to cheer me up and such."

"Yeah, is that why you were staring at us the entire time you were in here?" Blaise asked, his voice touched with a hint of disdain. "Yeah, I saw you watching us, Harry might be clueless but I see right through you."

"I don't understand what you mean, I was on the phone and I had nothing else to do but watch the crowd and I didn't try to practically fuck him on the dance floor!" Draco retorted.

"Just be careful Draco," Blaise answered, "simply make sure you know what you're doing."

"I am not doing anything," Draco replied his peaceful tone matching Blaise's, "and I know what I am doing." He didn't know what he was doing.

Draco left the booth and returned to the dance floor. He didn't approach Harry right away instead he headed to the bar to get another drink. Harry caught up with him.

"Is everything alright?" Harry asked approaching the bar behind Draco. "How is Theodore?"

"He's doing great, he's having fun just wanted to wish me a Happy New Year," Draco answered faking his delight. He was confused by his conversation with Blaise and decided to best keep that to himself.

"That's good news!" Harry exclaimed, Draco realised at this point that Harry was pissed drunk. "Do you want to dance some more? It's ten minutes to midnight!" Draco couldn't help but smile at Harry; he always just made everything better. He quickly forgot about his discussion and followed Harry to the dance floor. A few more upbeat dances later the countdown had begun, at the stroke of midnight Harry pecked Draco's cheek gently with a kiss and grinned. "Happy New Year Draco, you're the best friend ever!" Draco laughed with his head thrown back and returned the small kiss on Potter's cheek. Potter gave his charming smile, the one that meant I love this moment, and rested his head on Draco's shoulder.

Years later when they would be married and with children, Draco would always look back at this moment in retrospection and remember it as the moment he knew he had begun falling in love with Potter. But, he'd know then, as he doesn't know at the moment, that it was a long road to happiness.

(A/N): Thank you for reading, you guys are awesome! Hope you like the story!