Chapter 4
Harry groaned as something pecked him viciously.
"Seriously?" he asked the owl, which was now circling his bed. It dropped the letter on his head and sat on his side table. He reached for his glasses and put them on, yawning and bleary. The owl shot him a disgusted look, ruffling its feathers.
The letter was black and simple, but elegant. When he turned it around, he saw the Malfoy crest and groaned.
To:
Harry Potter
12 Grimmauld Place
London
Dear Mr. Potter,
The Malfoys would like to invite you to the Annual Summer Ball on June 5. This event is usually held in Nice, but for the safety and health of Mrs. Malfoy it is being held at the Malfoy Manor in England. You may bring a date, and June 5 is the date of Draco Lucius Malfoy's birthday so an extra celebration will be held. Please return the owl sent you with your reply.
Hoping you are well,
The Malfoys
Potter, Father insists you be my date, so you need to come to the Manor tomorrow. (Harry could basically see Malfoy rolling his eyes) I've invited the Weasel and Granger because Kingsley made me. See you there.
P.S. – Do you have any green dress robes? If we are doing the whole "date" thing we need to colour coordinate.
Thanks for Monday.
The owl hooted and flew away as Harry read the letter again. Malfoy had crossed out bits and oh, Merlin, he had to wear dress robes? God, those things were itchy.
He frowned as he saw tiny letters at the very bottom, crossed out and almost, almost illegible but he understood anyway. He felt a smile spreading on his face.
"You're welcome," he whispered to no one. Feeling stupid and even more confused, he went to go get ready for work.
LATER
A knock on his door startled him.
"Took you long enough! We need to get going on the lead, if what you're saying is true then someone with a last name E – Oh, Ron!" Harry jumped again as he turned around to face the door.
"Been expecting someone?" Ron questioned, plopping down next to him.
"Only Malfoy, really,"
"Bloody hell, Harry, you're becoming obsessed with him again. Hermione thinks –"he stops, looking mortified.
"Hermione thinks what?"
"She thinks you might fancy the git."
"Oh. Oh. Wait, what? Are you mental?!" Harry cried, standing up. "No way!" Ron shook his head.
"Want to go to lunch at Lucille's, mate?"
"Actually, I need to go to Diagon Alley. Dress Robes, you know."
"Ah, for that stupid ball celebration thingy. Apparently they used to have these every year before the war, did you know? Only the richest pure bloods were invited apparently. When Malfoy's father suggested they start it again, Kingsley jumped at the chance. You know, the whole 'rebuild, renew and relive'" Ron mimicked the Head Auror. "I heard Kingsley made Malfoy invite Fred, George, and the lot. Can you imagine his expression? A house full of Weasleys in his Manor." He chortled, and Harry smiled hesitantly, following him out.
There's no way he could actually – why not? But it's Malfoy. So what? He's changed. He even looks quite handsome now.
The last thought startled him and he ran into Ron, who looked at him, confused.
"All right, mate? You've been awfully jumpy."
"Fine! Fine, perfectly fine, not been thinking weird stuff at all," Ron stared at him, and Harry coughed anxiously.
At Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, they managed to find Harry a decent set of robes which didn't look too itchy.
"Ah, Harry Potter! No, sir, you get a special discount!" she gushed, and then ushered them out with free slices of cake. "Just made these an hour ago."
Ron rolled his eyes good-naturally, biting into his cake and they Apparated back to the Ministry.
NEXT DAY
Harry rolled around in bed. He was exhausted. He'd had barely any sleep, and now it was 7am and he didn't want to get out. And the fact that he had to go to an actual ball – they still existed, apparently, not just in fairy tales – wasn't the only reason he was worried. Just because you think someone is attractive doesn't mean you fancy them, he assured himself.
He got up, stretching, as an owl flew in through the window (why was it open?) and landed on his head.
"Ow!" He complained, and the bird hooted twice before leaving again. He reached up and pulled down the note, patting his head.
Potter,
Bring the case file. Kingsley says we can look it over at the Manor, so meet me there at 9am. Don't be late. I think I have a lead. Don't get too excited, but it's worth a try.
With that, Harry ran into the bathroom to shower and get ready.
THE MALFOY MANOR
"Potter," greeted Malfoy briskly and without saying anything else, strode up the stairs. Harry closed the door behind him, breathing in deeply. He regretted it immediately, wishing he couldn't smell the musky apple scent that trailed after Draco. Shampoo, he assumed. Why is he noticing these things now?
And for the first time in his life, he wondered if he was gay. Not that he had a problem with it or anything, but this is just coming out nowhere. It's weird, he thought. You don't even realise you do like something until it overwhelms you. If Ron knew what he was thinking, he'd probably have a heart attack.
2 Hours Later
Harry was exhausted. The stupid git had made him hang green draping cloths all over the stair sides and light about a million candles. When he'd complained about being exhausted by holding his arms above him to tie the drapery, Malfoy ignored him and ordered his house elves on polishing silver. He was so bloody tired of Malfoy. He sat down on the (also polished – when do the house elves have time to do this?) dark wood, crossing his legs and leaning against a table leg.
The candles, he realised, smelled like green apples. And Malfoy. Merlin, why did he keep talking about him? He's supposed to be irritated with Malfoy, not swooning over how good he smelled. Wait, he wasn't swooning. Just appreciating. Right?
"Potter," said Malfoy. "There's 2 hours to the ball, do you have your dress robes? And why does the entire house smell like apples? I thought I ordered lily scented candles..?" Without waiting for an answer, he left Harry sitting on the floor, flabbergasted.
"You can use my shower if you want! It's upstairs," he called, not turning around.
"Uh...Alright?" said Harry. He'd been sweating like mad because of all the candles and the warm fireplace that he had helped light and carry all the wood. For Godric's sake, why did he have to act like a house elf? And why did he not refuse to do any of the things Malfoy ordered him to do? Was he trying to impress him? He shook his head. Enough, he told himself. Enough bloody questions.
"Is there something wrong with your head, boy?" cackled the mirror above the fireplace as he passed. Harry glared at it for a second before realising that glaring at a mirror probably wasn't a very sane thing to do, either. He trudged upstairs slowly.
He opened the first door he saw cautiously, feeling relief when it was deemed empty. He gingerly started unbuttoning his shirt inside the small bathroom, noticing a magic razor and several other bathroom necessities. Which included a bottle of apple-scented Shampoo. He grinned, pleased at himself for guessing correctly.
As he showered, he relished in the hot water. So this was Malfoy's personal bathroom. It was smaller than he'd expected, but still grand (the taps looked like they were gold). He wondered if Malfoy used it regularly. Oh, Godric, he was thinking about what Malfoy would do in the bathroom.
"Fuck," he exclaimed as he hit his head on the shower head. Rubbing the back of his head, he flushed at his original thoughts as he gazed downward. One, he was obsessed with Malfoy all over again. Second, he was probably definitely attracted to him.
DRACO's P.O.V.
He stood back on the top of the stairs, tapping his feet impatiently. The whole house was lit up in a golden light, with green highlights here and there. The entire living room had been cleared and the wall between the dining room and the living room had been Vanished, so now it looked like a giant ballroom. He nodded, pleased, as the house-elves pushed tables along the side walls. They bowed deeply, scurrying to the kitchens to start bringing the food out.
He exhaled, realising he was sweating out of nervousness. His mother was the one that did all the party planning, and he was worried he was going to mess up and disappoint her. And Father.
Also, the fact that Potter was going to have to act like his estranged lover and about 250 people will notice and the last thing he needed was the press finding out about this. And Pansy and Blaise would be there as well. Great. This was all he needed.
"Master Draco, Master and Mistress are on their way here," squeaked Knobby.
"I'll be down in a minute, let me get dressed!" Damned house elves. They never give him too much of a warning.
When his father had first suggested this idea, he had downright refused. After several Healers assuring him "She'll feel better in a happy, comfortable atmosphere" and Kingsley offering to send the invitations, he'd relented. He could only hope his mother wouldn't faint. Besides, he was so sick of seeing him with pale, ghostly eyes with no warmth. It made him think of dementors and he just, well, missed his Mother.
He sighed, walking down the hallway. However, when he went inside, his dressrobes were nowhere to be found.
"KNOBBY! Where are my dress robes?" The elf Apparated to the room, shaking on his knobby knees.
"Sir, I put them in the guest room, sir, I thought you'd be using that – "the elf replied nervously.
"Yes, but I told you, no one must know that I can't sleep in here because – whatever, forget it. Go finish setting out the food," he shook his head, walking out as he heard a sharp crack behind him.
He opened the door, examining his feet. Should he change his shoes -?
"AHH!" shrieked a voice, making him jump and he let go of the door knob, and it shut on his fingers.
"Ow," he cried out, pushing the door open fully and sitting on the floor, sucking his fingers gingerly. He took out his wand, cast a healing charm and sighed as the pain disappeared.
And that was when he looked up to see Potter, in all his naked glory, standing on the side of the bed looking embarrassed.
Hiya! It's me again. I know, I disappeared for a couple of days but here I am! My school starts again tomorrow, so I'll be kinda slow with the updating (maybe?) but yeah.. This is my first real fanfiction, so I'm trying to take my time with it. At least I know that this chapter is better than the last one. That's what I want, I want to try to get better at writing every chapter so I can feel like I'm growing and evolving :D
lol, when Harry was in the shower, I was going to have him .. you know, but then I was writing this 1pm so I said to myself "Too early to write porn" so I didn't. Guys, next (3?) chapters will be the ball and maybe an exclusive after party...if you know what I mean. Definitely slash heheh so expect that! Btw, that'll be my first slash chapter. So I'll take a loooong time with it, so please be patient! I think I know where I'm going with this story now, which is greaaaaaaaaaaaat and yay thank you for reading, as usual and expect the rating to be bumped up to M soon :)
- ellie
Song for the chapter :
Taylor Swift - Wildest Dreams
(I'M SORRY 1989 JUST HAS ME HOOKED ALRIGHT I SWEAR I WASNT EVEN A HUGE SWIFTIE)
Reviews :
Guest: Ohh, that makes so much sense, actually. Thank you! Because I've already made up a plot with this, I can't change it right now :( but i'll keep that in mind for next stories (if I do write any) but thank you again! Wowwww, I'm a Ravenclaw and I'm actually in awe of you so well done :D
DrarryDiary: Oh gosh, ty! I'll update as soon as I can :D