Flirt by xErised
Drenched in Dusk
It was way too bright for it to be night.
Harry whined as he yanked the bedcovers up and burrowed deeper beneath them. He curled his body up into a fetal position and sighed, snuggling happily into his pillow. Now, for him to return to that sweet, sweet dream about Draco-
"Harry! Harry, wake up!"
And then something was shaking him, jerking him out rudely from hallucinations of DracoDraconothingEVERYTHINGaboutDraco- The blinds were suddenly yanked open and jarring, blinding light glared their way into the brunette's drowsy state. Harry rubbed his face and moaned, cracking open a sleep-swollen eye. Hermione was perched edgily at the edge of his bed, urgently tearing out the blankets from Harry's grasp.
"Let me sleep-"
"Draco's leaving you!"
Well, that certainly got his attention.
"What?!" Harry yelped, catapulting upright in shock. He immediately regretted doing that; the room tilted crazily around its axis and a dizzying constellation of stars popped stunningly behind his eyes. Groaning, Harry cupped his face with his hand and leant to his side.
"Drink this. I fed you some last night, but you didn't take all of it."
With that, Harry felt someone nudge the lip of a bottle near his mouth. His eyes still closed, the brunette gratefully gulped the hangover potion down, feeling his senses clearing up fractionally.
"W-What did you mean by that?" Harry pressed on, his voice rubbing painfully against his throat like sandpaper. He hadn't regained full control of his faculties yet, but what Hermione had said just seconds ago was demanding answers in his teeming brain.
"Draco came to the party yesterday, and he caught you kissing Joshua!"
Now, the bile rising up in Harry's throat had nothing to do with alcohol.
"I didn't kiss him… Draco told me he wasn't going to be there… doesn't make sense," Harry stuttered disjointedly, but even as he spoke there were vague snatches of moments, snapshots of last night's horrors bowling down through his foggy mind.
"I saw him, Harry! I think he finished his trip early just to see you, he even had a present all ready and… and he saw you with another man-"
"Why didn't you chase him-"
"I did, but it was so crowded! By the time I could get close enough to grab him, he had already Apparated!"
A horrible concoction of fear and guilt was welling up in Harry as he ignored the sonorous ringing in his head and tried to focus on the topic at hand.
"It was just a kiss right, we didn't go any further-"
"If I hadn't stormed over there to tear the two of you apart, it definitely would have progressed to something further! Harry, you already knew I had my reservations about inviting Joshua last night! Everyone at work knows how he's been trying to win you back after you dumped him. You should have seen Draco's face, it was horrible," Hermione pointed out fretfully, wringing her hands in despair.
Harry cursed sharply under his breath and thumped his forehead with his fist, blaming himself fully for yesterday's altercation. It had all gone up in smoke; every planned detail, all the painfully patient battles fought and won to gain Draco's affections, every single thing that he had worked so hard for was crumbling into uselessness simply because of that split second scandal.
"Go and talk to him, Harry! It's Saturday, he'll be at home! Make him understand-"
"Hermione, thanks… but I can't do anything about it now," The pounding in his head wasn't going to go away anytime soon; Harry predicted that he would need the whole day to recuperate and gather his wits about him, and a while more to worry about the next best tactic that he should perform. Maybe it would be better to let Draco cool down too before Harry showed his face again. "I'll get some time off work on Monday and see him."
This was his own mess, and no one else could clean it up for him.
The first thing he noticed was that the door was ajar.
Fingering his wand discreetly, Draco placed his briefcase quietly on Millicent's table and crept to his office. Behind him, Millicent had her own wand already out and angled towards the shadowy figure moving inside Draco's room. They had just returned from a meeting, and Millicent wondered how the intruder had successfully gained access into Draco's quarters, which were Apparation-proof. Most, if not all, of the important paperwork was placed in a private safe that was skillfully concealed in Draco's office, and it was further protected by wards that only Draco and Millicent knew.
Harry all but jumped when the door behind him was thrown open with a slam. Turning quickly, he felt his heart skip a beat when the brunette saw two wands aimed directly at him. Upon seeing Harry, Draco's shoulders sagged in mild relief when he realized that the trespasser wasn't after any sensitive documents. But the color drained out of the blond's face when he remembered the events that had transpired last week; the vile, hot sickness that spat and surged within him like a furious dragon, the horrible feeling that was something akin to realization, choking the very air that he was breathing. He remembered hearing Granger's shrill voice calling out his name, hearing her footsteps trailing after him as a poor substitute why was it her that chased me, why wasn't it you, tell me, because if it had been you it wouldn't have gotten to this, it would have been salvageable, tell me, why!- for Harry's-
"How did you get in?" Draco said apathetically, his voice containing no notion of emotion at all. Draco dropped his gaze downwards and stifled a gasp. He felt his heart lift dangerously, suspended by a minute thread of hope.
The blond was surrounded ankle-deep in bouquets and ribbons of roses of all shades and shapes. The floor was plastered with flowers, so many that the carpet couldn't be seen, this lively explosion of rainbow colors that made Draco so dizzy he had to hold onto the doorknob for support.
Behind him, Millicent hesitated, before retreating wisely.
"How did you get in?!" The hard edge in his tone was getting more and more distinct as Draco tediously waded through the sea of blooms and closed the door firmly behind him.
"I was hiding outside with my Invisibility Cloak. I… reckoned you were late for the morning meeting when the both of you dashed out and forgot to lock your room. Then I quickly brought the roses here. I had to Apparate downstairs and work my way up because I can't Apparate to your office," Harry said out in a rush, hating how Draco was giving him a wide berth, hating how all the warmth had been leeched out of his grey eyes. "I just want to apologize-"
"You've apologized. Now get out," Draco cut in roughly, his voice as precise and passionless as homework.
"At least let me explain why I did it-"
"I don't want to hear it. Are you too slow to comprehend the simple meaning behind the words get out-" Draco barked irritably, his hands curling into fists behind his back and a muscle ticking fiercely in his jaw.
"There's always been something holding you back and pushing me away from you at the same time! You don't say what you really think, and sometimes, when we talk, I can see that your heart's not in it! Your eyes wander towards your watch at times, and it's like... it's like you have better things to do than to go out with me! I'm sick of overanalyzing your sentences, reading in between the lines for any hidden meanings to try and gauge your true emotions!" Harry railed, taking an agitated step towards Draco.
He had been harboring all of this, all of the subtle signs that he had picked up from Draco. They broiled and bit relentlessly at his heart, but Harry had persevered, thinking that it's fine, I'll wait a while more, maybe all he needs is time-
Draco fell silent at this raw admission of feelings, his eyes shuttered and screened. He shifted from foot to foot and brought his arms up, crossing them jerkily. The blond still refused to meet Harry's beseeching gaze. Draco didn't know that he did all those little habits whenever he was around Harry. His head still bowed and his expression hidden, Draco slowly lowered his arms and let them hang limply at his sides, and then Harry thought that it was alright, it was going to be okay in the end and he was rushing towards the blond-
-cheat.
"And that gave you the go-ahead to snog some other man?!" Draco suddenly lashed out, that protest acting as a brake to Harry's advances.
"It was a mistake, and I am very, very sorry for that. Please forgive me-" Harry tried to suppress the hint of a sigh in his voice, but even before the brunette could finish his sentence, Draco, with his eyes cold and dagger-sharp, lifted a leg and stepped viciously on a trio of deep-red roses, mashing the petals under the heel of his shoe until they had disintegrated into crescents of bits and pieces, destroyed and clotting an ugly red all over the floor, all over the carpet, all over Harry's heart-
"You need to learn how to be loved," Harry whispered, a damaged and dull smile painted over his mouth.
"Love? Hah. I don't love you, nor do you love me. It's so… Gryffindor of you, complicating this game by bringing love into the equation," Draco jeered, letting out a derisive snort of laughter.
"A… game?" Harry faltered, his voice dropping even lower. He stared at Draco with fraying hysteria, his head shaking as though he could abolish the echoing words lodged in his head. No, this did not compute, this wasn't how it's supposed to be-
"Did you seriously think you were good enough for me? All of those cheap Muggle dates?! Don't you think that I'm worthy of something better, something more... expensive?! You should actually count your lucky stars that I've actually wasted this much time with you!" Draco scoffed venomously. Each word was tailor-made to wound and hurt Harry in a bid to get back at the brunette for the anguish that Harry had inflicted on Draco. The pain had taken a backseat in Draco, and the arrogance was brought forward in this little show.
"I... thought you enjoyed it..." Harry whispered disbelievingly, a pang of heartbreak reflected in his voice. It was so easy to take it all back, so easy for Draco to wave his hands and show that he didn't mean a word of it. Harry's distressed green eyes were like silent pleas to Draco, each dumbfounded blink an insistent tug to Draco's conscience. But Draco's bruised pride refused to relinquish its manacle-like grip of that hated memory, that poisonous recollection of Harry blatantly cheating on him.
"Do you deserve my love, Harry?"
This lethal parting shot was uttered icily with chilly emphasis, and Harry jerked upright, as though snapping out of a haze of befuddled adoration, and his heart, as fragile as an hourglass, was cracking, cracking-
Both men stood as still as a pair of wax mannequins, their hearts and their minds spinning in this terrible, terrible silence that pervaded. As though he was released from a spell, Harry let out a dry little laugh and turned shakily, his feet taking strange mincing steps as he shambled away.
And then, Draco was left standing alone in his sanctuary of an office, his eyes wrenched tight, his teeth cutting into his lower lip, his fingernails digging so deeply into his palms and he was drowning, drowning in the roses, the petals, the colors that pierced his guilt and murmured a thousand apologies from Harry-
and I've thrown my words all around-
but now I can't pick up the pieces-
Letting out a huge roar, Draco bent down and gathered as many bouquets as he could in his shaking arms, hurled the windows open and pitched the roses out of the room. It was as though he was on a rampage, swallowing back his sobs while he snarled and continued to throw the flowers out onto the streets, ignoring the curious passers-by that looked up and wondered why it was raining roses-
And then Draco realized that his skin was tearing, little pinpricks of blood blooming due to the thorns on the flowers. He couldn't help but cast his mind back and reminisce about the first bouquet of roses, beautiful, exquisite, white and red, that he had received from Harry on their very first date.
He used to remove the thorns.
The tears were bleeding him dry, his heart was beating with scorn and fury, his face was buried in his hands and the words were whistling forlornly in his head like the deadliest melody-
It was over before it had even started.
Night was a familiar friend.
Draco was no stranger to the intimate slither of faint moonlight and shadows that danced and writhed through the windows of his office and snaked their way to him. The drizzling of rain was falling like tiny, colorless needles, pattering at the glass. The quills on his table were projecting little silhouettes on the floor, and Draco tamped down the childish urge to reach over and caress the shadows.
The blond's eyes matched the onerous and grey landscape of the sky beyond, and with his features shaded in the moonlight dusk; Draco looked like a sculpture cast in a fairytale: pale, untouchable and elegant.
He sat on the floor with his back against the wall, taking up the position that he used to when he was a little boy; legs pulled up close to his chest, arms wrapped loosely around his thighs and his chin resting on his right knee. The blond was enclosed in a brambled wall of meticulously arranged documents and proposals. Draco absentmindedly lowered his eyes to the fortress of docketed files that surrounded him, his gaze dim and vague.
A wedge of light spilt across a stack of parchment, illuminating that the top sheet was slightly askew. Without even thinking, Draco's hands shot out and restored order, making sure that the corners were in place.
He didn't even know that he had cultivated this habit.
He should have drawn the line somewhere. He should never have let himself get so physically and emotionally close. He should have gotten protection from the rules; he should never have let Harry pry each regulation apart with his never-ending touches and sweet nothings.
Maybe last week had been a fortunate accident, an incident that gave him a much-needed wake-up call. It was as though a little, precious slice of heaven had been wrenched away from Draco, leaving nothing but a dull, debilitating ache that siphoned his energy away from him. It felt like an open door, illuminating its path of potential, had been shut rudely in his face. The initial passion, fiery and hot, was gradually cooling down to hardened lava, and Draco wasn't sure whether to let out a laugh or sob at this. He had been risky to play around with this, this sticky spider's web with so many strings attached-
Harry had been as dazzling and hopeful as a shooting star, but yet as temporary.
But Draco found himself reluctant to discard the past month as easy as tossing an old shoe. However much he hated to admit it, he still missed Harry. His mind was still refusing to blot out the cheerful and lovely scenes that both men had shared. Part of Draco was stung with regret, wondering what would have happened now if he had accepted Harry's genuine apology. He wondered if Harry would have been able to smooth over the hurt and anger that Draco had been stewing in over the past weekend with just a simple touch or a few heartfelt words, if only Draco had let him.
But it didn't matter anymore, did it?
Draco smirked humorlessly as he pulled out the basket of baked goodies that he had been snacking on for the past few days. The basket was almost empty, and Draco scowled darkly, remembering how he had blushed whenever he chewed on a brownie. This time, the blond picked up a chocolate chip cookie and regarded it with a neutral gaze.
It didn't take long for Draco to curl his hand into a fist and crush the cookie into smithereens, letting the crumbs fall to the floor. Grey eyes gradually began to narrow, glaring hotly at the remains of the cookie still stuck to his palm, at each sugary sprinkle of betrayal, at each spin of candy bristling with lies.
do all the broken pieces-
mean that I can throw them all away?
Draco didn't know how long he remained there, cocooned in the soporific darkness, his face cloaked in an inscrutable blend of sadness and secrecy. The silence that pressed in all around him was dark, stifling and deafening.
It took Draco some time before he realized that he had been staring at something that was not there.
There was a tub of Ben and Jerry's ice-cream sitting on the dining table.
Draco, still pink-cheeked from his shower, froze in his steps, the damp towel slipping from his hands.
"I know you're here! Get out and leave me alone!" the blond raged, his thunderous voice bouncing angrily off the four walls. He didn't know how the brunette might have gotten in, since his Floo was fitted with a ward that prevented people from trespassing when Draco was not home. The only logical conclusion that the ex-Slytherin could reach was that Harry had sneaked in when he was in the bath.
He bolted to his study, slamming the door loudly behind him. In a huff, Draco rushed over to the towers of files that demanded his attention and dumped them unceremoniously on his table. Ignoring the hungry growl that emanated from his stomach, Draco snatched up a quill and began leafing wildly through the pages, his movements so frantic and heated that he almost risked tearing a sheet out.
But he wasn't in the right frame of mind to work; the sliver of spark itching its way throughout his body oh God what is he doing here, what does he want, will I take him back, will I- was distracting him, fuelling his emotions even more. Harry could even be crouched right beside him, hidden in plain sight under his damned Cloak.
That thought chilled and thrilled him to the bone.
Gradually, Draco managed to steady his breathing as he rubbed his brow with his palm wearily. He sighed, put his quill down and brought both of his hands up, threading them messily through his hair, delivering an unconvincing picture of someone who did not care. As though he had come to some sort of decision, the blond stormed out to the hall and shook the carton of ice-cream at nothing in particular.
"If I eat it will you leave?!"
He hadn't really expected an answer. Wondering whether he was doing the right thing, Draco summoned a spoon and twisted open the ice-cream lid hesitantly. Before he dipped the spoon in, he lifted his head and gazed warily at his surroundings, wondering if Harry would swoop out from nowhere and gather him in his arms.
Wishful thinking, Draco laughed impassively when he took the first few bites of the dessert and nothing happened. The blond let the treat funny how it doesn't taste so sweet anymore- slide down his throat and let out another sigh, the fight slowly fading from his eyes and disappointment setting in. Harry had probably dumped the ice-cream there and left straight after, Draco thought as he fished out the chunky cheesecake bits and chewed on them quietly for a moment.
Harry appeared so fast and so suddenly that Draco almost swallowed his spoon.
"When you ate it, I think a part of you already forgave me."
And then, even before he could blink, Draco's back was thrown against the wall, Harry's body pressed dangerously close and his cloak shed on the floor. Draco let out a wordless hiss and kicked ineffectually at Harry, his pale arms held as rigid as tree branches. Without flinching, Harry effortlessly encircled Draco's slim wrists in his hands and hooked them behind his back, and then he was leaning in, as though he was going to-
"Comparing kissing techniques, aren't we? Thought maybe I could kiss better than him?" Draco bit out harshly, turning his face away from Harry and struggling to free himself from his iron-clad grasp. Although a cruel parody of a smile played on the blond's lips, Harry could see the grey in Draco's eyes transforming into pools of hurt, the ugly little scene in the bar playing endlessly and heart-wrenchingly in Draco's brain like a stuck Muggle film-
"Stop seeing and start feeling," Harry coaxed, before closing his eyes and covering Draco's frowning mouth with his own.
Draco had been so ready to seal up the Harry-shaped hole in his life, so ready to usher him out, but here he was, yet again, forcing and shouldering his way back in as though he belonged there. And then, very reluctantly, Draco felt his arms stop their futile tussling, the string of vituperation wilting on his lips, his limbs unable to find the strength to fight back, his heart and body succumbing perceptibly to Harry's barrage of gentle embrace.
It might have just been the ice-cream, but Harry tasted delicious.
His eyes blinked once, twice, before fluttering closed, his hands grappling uncertainly on Harry's wrists. As though sensing that the battle was swaying to his favor, Harry wrapped his arms confidently around Draco's waist and pulled him even closer, expecting Draco to kiss back any second now.
But he didn't.
Harry's hands were coy and wandering, but not sleazy. Draco gasped when Harry's fingers skimmed up the small of his back and stroked the sensitive skin at the back of his neck, before sliding smoothly back to his waist and giving it a light squeeze.
Harry's kiss was taking him down memory lane, over the dates that they had shared, glazing efficiently over the cheating scene, each tender lick ghosting over Draco's pliable lips like an overdue apology. The brunette's lips were strong, yet patient, forceful, but not demanding as Harry waited for reciprocation.
It was the kiss when there was nothing left to say.
His resolve crumbling and his true feelings breaking free with each and every passing moment, Draco kissed back desperately, returning the passion and possession that Harry fed him. His whole system was thrown into haywire, his senses in overload, the ground turning into quicksand beneath his feet and the blood pounding, crackling, storming along the very edge of his veins, and then Draco was moaning in Harry's mouth, his fingers lost in Harry's hair, his eyes scrunched tight, their breaths getting shorter and faster, their melded mouths points of intense contact and heat-
just don't give up on me-
They fell oblivious to their surroundings, this panic-stricken because kisses don't lie, do they, will you still want me after this-, whispering, ensnaring kiss, and they no longer knew how long it had lasted because the important thing was that they didn't want it to stop-
Harry pulled away suddenly, and Draco mewled, his voice aching with need when his lips were exposed to cold, bracing air. Harry's eyes were shining and his cheeks were flushed as he hushed Draco and dipped his head, planting a silver necklace of butterfly kisses on the base of his neck, his hypnotic fingers feathering across Draco's hips and waist teasingly, and then he was whispering, almost chanting Draco's name under his breath, nibbling and licking playfully at Draco's neck, and the blond's brain was failing him, faltering to a complete standstill as he stood there, wriggling in pleasure-
sometimes-
touch is all we need-
Harry pulled back, his eager green eyes checking Draco's expression, wondering if he had redeemed himself or dug himself deeper in his grave. Draco's eyes were round with disbelief and confusion, his fingers lingering on his own lips, lips which were throbbing as though they had a heartbeat of their own-
Both of their hearts were thudding ponderously, and the atmosphere felt like the eerie calm after a thunderstorm. It seemed as though Draco still had his reservations, but Harry wouldn't hear any of it. He lunged forward, holding Draco so tightly, so closely, so violently that the blond couldn't breathe, couldn't do anything else but it didn't matter because Draco could exist only on the scent of Harry, the drunkenness of his kisses, the steady and firm rhythm of Harry's heartbeat through his chest that's all I need, nothing else-
Draco looked out over Harry's shoulder out to the windows. It was raining, a light drizzle, and a chilly draft of wind was blowing towards them, raising goosebumps on his arms. It reminded him of the night that he had spent in the office. But why did he feel so warm this time? Why did he feel so different?
I don't know if I should stay-
or turn around and-
run-
"Sometimes I realize that I've spent the whole day doing nothing but thinking about you. And I get so pissed with myself, wondering why I'm so crazy about you… because I know that you don't think about me as much, and it… hurts a bit," Harry started, loosening his grip and staring deeply into Draco's troubled grey eyes. He held him carefully, as though the blond was made of china.
"Always, after our dates, my smile doesn't go away, even after you've left. I think… I think that's got to mean something, doesn't it? That's why I'm not letting you go, not over this stupid incident! And about that… I'm just really… sorry. It was nothing but a mistake," Harry finished, his lips bent in contrition.
"Do you know how many rules you've broken?" Draco said quietly, but he already knew that this fact was inconsequential. The rules had already been whittled away at the edges already, and Draco looked away, not willing to show Harry the paradoxical states of his mind, the uncertainty and fear simmering in wait underneath his anger. Does this mean that I'll take him back regardless of what he has done? Am I going to pardon every wrong that he does in the future? Have I been too soft-hearted?
Draco sighed and inwardly prodded his feelings experimentally. He remembered how Harry added sparks to his daily grind of work, and he couldn't deny the fragile thread of intimacy, longing and promise between them.
"One more chance. Don't mess it up," Draco mumbled, gazing down at his feet.
Harry's face burst into a brilliant smile and he hugged Draco again, but there was something niggling away at him. A small part of Harry had expected an apology from Draco about the things that the blond had said during the confrontation in his office, but it didn't seem that he would be getting one.
However, that wasn't on the forefront of his mind right now.
"Your present!" Draco suddenly piped up. "I didn't get you one in the end!"
"It's okay. I got something else much more precious this birthday," Harry replied, smiling. When Draco tilted his head questioningly, Harry dropped a kiss on Draco's cheek and murmured cheekily.
"I got you back. And that's everything that I'll ever need."
Perhaps his expectations had been a bit too high.
It was the second night that he was out of the country, and he liked to think that he had purely brought the phone with him on a whim. Draco sat in his hotel room, his forgotten quill dripping ink onto the blank piece of parchment as he stared hard, his eyes slitted in concentration, at the mobile phone beside him, as though by glaring at it, it would ring.
When it did ring, Draco almost fell off his chair.
The blond squeaked and scrambled for the phone. Just when he was about to flip it open, he paused. Maybe he shouldn't sound too eager? But he shouldn't sound too indifferent about it, if not Harry would think that Draco didn't like him calling? This was stupid, Draco finally cleared his throat casually and answered the call, keeping his voice low and neutral.
"Hey. I'm not bothering you, am I?" Harry's voice was transmitted clearly, and Draco grinned.
"It's fine. I… wasn't expecting you to call me, actually," Draco fibbed, twirling a coil of blond hair girlishly around his finger.
"Really? Then why did you bring the phone along, hmmm?" Harry teased lightly, laughing.
Oh, bollocks.
"It's alright, Draco. Stop blushing."
"W-Who says I'm blushing!"
Harry only chuckled. "Hurry back when you're done with your work over there, okay?"
"Why?"
"Just don't like you to be alone on the other side of the world," Harry said gruffly.
"It's perfectly safe here! There's no need for you to worry. Besides, Millicent's here too," Draco reassured, but was secretly pleased to be the object of Harry's concern. The other man's voice mollified Draco's weariness from the intensity of the meetings, and the little ache that felt like homesickness in Draco's gut was beginning to alleviate.
"I need to go now, got lots of documents to prepare for tomorrow," Draco lied, keeping his tone carefully nonchalant.
"Oh," Harry remarked, disappointed.
"But you can call me tomorrow, I'll have more time to talk to you then," Draco said hopefully, and the next few words came out in a rush, "I mean, if you want to, of course."
"Okay then. I'll hear from you tomorrow then."
With that, Draco disconnected the call and hugged the phone to his chest, feeling like some incredibly silly and lovelorn teenage girl. Surprisingly, he didn't really feel like doing any work now. The blond pranced joyously towards his bed and flopped lazily onto it, the phone still clasped tightly in his hand.
It didn't take long before Draco was asleep, the ghost of a soft, truly happy smile still etched on his face.
Nudity hadn't really been part of Harry's Program to Woo Draco Malfoy.
Well, it was, to be honest, but not at this stage.
The astonished brunette stood in the living room of his apartment, with only a towel draped around his hips, his broad shoulders, chest and Sweet Salazar, just look at him- muscles completely bare. His black locks were still wet, plastered carelessly around the sides of his face and the back of his neck. His skin was damp and deliciously warm from the shower that he had just emerged from. A clean, soapy scent wafted around Harry, and Draco made a faint choking sound.
"I'll come back later when it's more convenient!" the blond spluttered and backed away. A crimson blush had spread all the way up Draco's neck and was now overwhelming his face.
"It's fine, really. Just give me a while to get dressed," Harry said breezily, grinning at Draco's flustered expression. He quickly went to his room and pulled on a pair of shorts and a shirt.
"I should have told you that I was coming," Draco said, letting out a slightly hysterical laugh. Harry beamed and waved that comment away, breathing in Draco's intoxicatingly sweet scent and marveling at his alabaster skin, a sharp and beautiful contrast to his black jacket.
Harry had taken it upon himself for the past week to undo the damage that he had done. In a desperate attempt to get his name out of the gutter and to recover lost ground, Harry had tirelessly done all he could to show Draco how sincere he really was, all the while keeping out of his sight.
The brunette would send messages to Draco's phone, messages of sickeningly sweet fondness that made Ron balk and Hermione coo when the couple had noticed Harry bashing away at his phone. Of course, the frequency of the messages were moderated to prevent irritating the blond, and Harry had never received a reply from Draco, not even a 'thanks' or a smile.
But Draco responding wasn't really the crux of the issue; Harry only wanted to prove that Draco was always on his mind.
And how could he forget the flowers? Every day, after work, Harry would hurry to the florists' to buy a single long-stemmed rose, stick a tag with Draco's name on it and make his way home.
When the time was near, Harry would Apparate over to the café just across Draco's building and park himself there for a while. The blond tended to knock off work much later, but Harry noticed that he usually went home shortly after Millicent left. Using that as a guide, Harry would wait until the lights were switched off in Draco's office, before dashing over and placing the rose at the handle of the main doors of the building. Harry had picked out the perfect hiding spot after planting the rose; far enough to be easy concealed, but yet near enough to quickly retrieve the flower when other people that worked in the same building exited.
There was no way Harry could afford those extravagant bouquets of flowers all the time, but it didn't seem as though Draco minded at all. At one time, the rose had accidentally fallen to the ground, and Draco was already walking towards the doors. The blond had pouted in disappointment when he didn't see a rose. He ended up back-tracking and scrutinizing the floor in front of him. When he saw the dropped flower, Draco had smiled a lovely smile, picked it up, dusted it off and continued merrily on his way.
Harry had found himself dreaming of that smile that night.
"You look tired. Are you alright?" Draco said worriedly, frowning. There were indents on the bridge of his nose where Harry's glasses had been sitting on for far too long. There was a dark, unshaven shadow outlining his jaw and exhausted rings haunting Harry's eyes.
"We're getting close to solving this particular case that Ron and I have been working on for the past month, so we've been coming into the office earlier to wrap it up. It's no biggie, really," Harry said airily, dismissing it with a toss of his hand. "Besides, seeing you makes it all better," Harry continued, shooting Draco a sly look.
"Only you can say mushy things like that and get away with it," Draco muttered under his breath. "Anyway, I just came over here to ask you whether you would like to go to a wedding."
"Wow, that's quick work. I haven't even popped the question yet! My, my, we are excited, aren't we?" Harry teased, his laughter escalating when an incensed Draco grabbed a cushion and whapped Harry over the head with it.
"It's Pansy and Blaise's wedding. It's happening on Saturday. It would be nice if you would be my date for the evening, but if you have to catch up on your work, I'll just get someone else to come along with me."
"Pansy and Blaise?! I thought Pansy moved back to London only a few weeks ago?!" Harry exclaimed, his eyebrows rising in surprise.
"Well, yeah," Draco sighed. "I did ask her whether she was rushing things a bit, but they've always fancied the pants off each other, even during Hogwarts. So I'll see you on Friday evening to go shopping, and Saturday afternoon for the wedding. Is that fine with you?"
"Shopping?! What for?! I've got clothes!" Harry squawked in horror.
Draco let out a pained sigh and eyed Harry's Snoopy shirt disdainfully.
"Pray tell me, Potter, what is a dog doing on your shirt?"
"It's not just a dog, it's Snoopy, the most famous beagle in the Muggle world!" Harry yelped defiantly, wincing at how silly he sounded. Maybe he really was spending a bit too much time with Hugo… "But it doesn't matter, does it? I won't be wearing this to their wedding!"
"Not good enough for me. I've got an appearance to keep, Potter. We're going shopping and that's final," Draco said firmly, his arms crossed. Harry hesitated, his fingers playing a contemplative drum-roll on his arm. If there was one thing he hated to do, it was shopping. Life was simple for both Harry and Ron when it came to shopping: They would wait for Hermione to start nagging at them with the gaping holes in their socks and the breaking seams in their clothes as evidence. Harry and Ron would then drag themselves laboriously to the shops under Hermione's watchful eye and buy everything in bulk, enough to last them for a year.
And Harry's year wasn't up yet, dammit!
"Pansy and Blaise should be celebrating their wedding in one of your hotels, are they not?" Harry asked, and then grinned naughtily from ear to ear when a confused Draco nodded. "Book the both of us in a hotel room for the night and I'll let you take me shopping."
Harry only managed to narrowly dodge the cushion that was thrown to his face.
"I won't hear of it!" Now it was Draco's turn to squawk his protests, but Harry's grin only widened.
"Well then, I guess I'll be wearing darling Snoopy to the wedding then. Come on, Draco, think about it. It's a win-win situation, you get to dress me up on Friday, and I get to… how should I put it… dress you down on Saturday night. I'll get breakfast on Sunday morning, if all goes according to plan," Harry whispered hotly, licking his lips.
"You're incorrigible, Potter," Draco mumbled and turned his head away, hiding his blush. The blond reckoned that it probably wouldn't be too difficult to reject Harry's sexual advances if he really meant it, but most importantly, Draco would get peace of mind, knowing exactly what Harry would be wearing. "I'll see what I can do about the hotel room," Draco conceded.
Harry whooped silently in his head. Of course, he wasn't so ambitious to think that he could get the other man in bed yet, but hey, a few gropes here and there, maybe some explicit murmurs when the time was right, God, just thinking about it was enough to make him all hot and bothered-
Next week was definitely going to be fun.
/tbc
Harry. Draco. A hotel room.
Are you thinking what I'm thinking?
Review! (: