Chapter 14: Valentine's Madness

A/N: if you're here for Drarry, which I'm sure is most of you, enjoy!

Time passed, and as January turned into February, Harry despaired over the possibility that they might not figure out the Chamber of Secrets mystery before another person was Petrified. However, in early February, another matter suddenly burst its way into Harry's awareness. It was only about a week before Valentine's Day, and Harry had become rather sure that the small crush he'd had on his best friend over Christmas had turned into a huge one. He'd known that he liked boys for about a year, but he'd never actually had any feelings for anyone beyond a few blush-inducing thoughts about what it might be like to kiss someone.

Harry wasn't sure what to do in regards to Draco. Should he just tell him? Give him a card? What about asking him out? Where would they even go? They weren't able to go to Hogsmeade until next year! He couldn't talk to Hermione, since she had very different ideas to him of what romance was; Fred and George were out of the question since he'd rather be sappy and romantic than humiliated due to a prank gone wrong. Enya wasn't much help either, since she'd just told him to give his prospective mate some dead rats and that was so… ewww… So, Harry had decided to do something crazy: talk to Sirius.

That night, when he was sure Draco and his other dorm mates were asleep, he cast a Silencing Charm on his curtains, so no one would be able to hear anything that happened within their confines. He got out the communication mirror Sirius had given him ages ago, and whispered, "Padfoot!"

Sirius picked up almost immediately, and he appeared to be sitting in front of the fire at hime. "Hey, pup. What brings you to call at such a late hour?"

"I… I need your help. I like Draco, a lot, and I want to give him something on Valentine's Day, but I have no idea what."

Sirius' questioning expression slowly morphed into one of surprised happiness. "Aww, that's great, Harry! Wow, old enough to be asking your godfather about boys," he said, wiping a fake tear away, "I'm so proud of you!"

Harry rolled his eyes. He was definitely not blushing. At all. "Sirius, please! I need your help, you can brag about how much I've grown to Remus when I'm not there. What do I do about Draco?"

Sirius sighed, as if put upon, but his twinkling eyes gave him away. "Okay. So. With Valentine's Day, you can never go wrong with a nice card. You're lucky that you're such a good artist—you won't have to settle for getting a generic card owl-ordered to him. If you'd like, I can send you an owl-order catalogue for cards, so you can get some idea of what they look like and contain."

Harry sighed in relief. "That would be great, Sirius! I'll send you Hedwig tomorrow morning, so can you have it sent so that it'll arrive by tomorrow night around seven? That way, Draco will be studying, and I can just slip away to get it off her from my dorm room."

Sirius nodded happily. "Of course! Now, onto accompaniments. Does Draco generally prefer chocolates, or flowers?"

Harry had to think about that for a moment. "Er… Chocolates, I think. He's always begging us to sneak into Honeydukes with him so he can get some more."

"And what's his favourite type?"

"Hazelnut," Harry replied instantly, "although he doesn't mind dark chocolate too much."

"Then sneak into Honeydukes and buy some hazelnut chocolate, perhaps some chocolate-dipped strawberries too, since they're absolutely delicious. Keep them in the stasis bags they come in, then once it's breakfast, take a little picnic in the Room of Requirement with the chocolate and strawberries. You'll need to organise the time with your other friends, since they might want to have little dates in there as well."

Harry was feeling worried again. He'd finished making the card for Draco three days ago, and had then snuck into Honeydukes as Sirius had suggested. The best thing about the owners of Honeydukes, in Harry's opinion, was that they didn't care if it was a Hogsmeade weekend, or even if they looked like they were old enough to go on one of those weekends. They loved the store and the kids who visited, and unless directly asked by a teacher, they wouldn't tell anyone you'd come in for some of their sweets.

The thing he was worried about most, he decided, was whether his plans would be accepted by Draco. To be honest, he didn't actually know if Draco liked him back or not. He thought the feeling was mutual, because he'd sometimes catch Draco staring at him, or blushing when they were in close proximity, but that could be due to any number of outside factors.

He'd lain awake for about an hour, stressing (only a bit, of course), when he finally heard Draco stir. He waited for the sounds of Draco taking his morning shower to start, then quickly got out of bed and took his time dressing for the day. Draco took at least fifteen minutes in the shower every morning, and unless they had Herbology that day, he wouldn't shower at night. Checking the time, he quickly brushed his hair as much as was possible, then took out his card and chocolate, checking them over one last time to make sure they were perfect.

He heard Neville waking up, and quickly told him what he was about to do. Neville shook his head bemusedly and made his way to the bathroom to take his own shower. Harry faced the bathroom, chewing on his bottom lip, when he heard the door open again. Draco stopped short when he saw that Harry was already up, since normally he would wake up shortly after Neville. Then, when he saw what Harry was holding, and gasped. "H-Harry?" he stuttered out, his face taking on a pink tinge.

Harry took a deep breath, and held the card and chocolate out to Draco. "I really like you, Draco. Will you be my Valentine?"

Draco's eyes were wide as he took the things from Harry's hands, staring at them as though unable to believe they were real. Harry was getting nervous with Draco's lack of words, but was determined not to rush him. Finally, after what seemed an age, Draco looked into Harry's eyes and said, "Yes. I will." He laughed softly. "You know, I was actually going to wake you up with something similar. You totally caught me off guard with being awake."

Harry exhaled the breath he'd been holding in relief. "Really? I mean, I had a little bit of an idea that you liked me back, but I wasn't completely sure."

"Yes, you dolt. I've liked you since about halfway through first year, although I didn't really know what it was at the time, and I was unsure if it was as okay to like the same gender as people made it out to be." He quickly went to his trunk and took out something Harry couldn't see. When he turned to face Harry, he held a card and a beautiful yellow rose with red tips. Slightly bemused, he took the card and the rose, and looked questioningly at Draco. "I-it's a Flame Rose… the yellow represents friendship, but the red tips on it change the meaning so that it means that I've fallen for you over the course of our friendship. Do you like it?"

Harry may have melted. "Yes, I love it. How about we go down to breakfast? Oh, and we're going to the RoR at lunchtime."

Draco furrowed his brows. "Are we planning a prank I don't know about yet?"

Harry laughed softly. "No, it's just going to be the two of us… like a date?"

"Oh."

They walked down the stairs, blushing and holding hands, and were met by a squeal of happiness. They looked into the common room and saw Hermione hugging Fred as he spun her around. Draco raised an eyebrow. "I take it Hermione said yes?"

From around Hermione's bushy hair, Fred grinned. "Got it in one! And I see Harry did too."

"I'm the one who asked him, actually," said Harry. "Do you have anything planned for the RoR at lunchtime?"

Fred shook his head. "I was thinking dinner, actually."

"What?" asked Hermione. "What am I missing?"

"Harry and I am having lunch in the RoR, and you and Fred are apparently having dinner there."

Hermione gasped. "A date? Oh Fred that sounds lovely!"

Fred led her out of the common room, winking behind her back at us, and Hermione chatted happily to him all the way down to the Great Hall. Harry and Draco, on the other hand, were content to simply walk quietly next to one another, although that might have something to do with their nervousness.

All their movement stopped when they saw the monstrosity the Great Hall had become. Large, lurid pink flowers festooned the walls, and there was heart-shaped confetti everywhere, since it was falling from the enchanted ceiling. Then, there was Lockhart. He was wearing robes matching the decorations, and just as they came out of their shock and sat down at the Gryffindor table, he stood up and waved for silence. All of the other teachers were stony-faced, well… all but Dumbledore, whose eyes Harry could see were twinkling away from the other side of the room.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" the deluded man shouted. "And may I thank the forty-five people who have so far sent me cards! Yes, I have taken the liberty of arranging this little surprise for you all—and it doesn't end here!"

He clapped his hands, and through the doors to the Entrance Hall marched a dozen surly-looking dwarves. Not just any, however; they were all wearing golden wings and carrying harps. "My friendly, card-carrying cupids!" exclaimed Lockhart. "They will be roving around the school today delivering your Valentines! And the fun doesn't stop here! I'm sure my colleagues will want to enter into the spirit of the occasion! Why not ask Professor Snape to show you how to whip up a love Potion! And while you're at it, Professor Flitwick knows more about Entrancing Enchantments than any wizard I've ever met, the sly old dog!"

"Remind me to never use that epithet ever again," whispered George as Professor Flitwick buried his face in his hands.

Harry took a deep breath and opened the door. He peeked inside and smiled. It was perfect! He turned around, and said, "Okay, Draco, close your eyes. No peeking!"

Draco barely refrained from rolling his eyes, but dutifully closed them. Harry led him into the room he'd envisioned, and bade him to sit down once they'd reached the picnic blanket. "Okay, open your eyes."

Draco did so, and gasped. Harry looked around with pride. He'd pictured a forest clearing, with sunlight streaming in. He'd convinced one of the Black elves, Dipsy, to set up a romantic picnic once he'd asked for the room. He turned his attention back to Draco. "Harry… this… this is beautiful!"

"I'm glad you like it," he replied, grinning happily.

Draco shook his head in wonder, then turned to the picnic basket that lay between them. "What's on the menu, then?"

Harry opened it and pulled out the chocolate dipped strawberries he'd bought in Honeydukes, and some scones and cream he'd asked Dipsy to prepare. "I hope you like it."

The young couple spent ages sitting in the clearing, eating, and talking about the most random subjects. When the food ran out, they made their way to the door, but Harry hesistated before opening it. He turned back to Draco, biting his lip again. However, Draco seemed to know what he was asking permission for, and simply leaned in and kissed him. Draco's lips were warm, and soft, and really, everything Harry had hoped they'd be. When they broke the kiss, Harry saw Draco was blushing again. "Was that okay?"

Harry simply smiled, nodded, then leaned in again.

A/N: So, that was my attempt at some short, sweet fluff. I hope you all liked it!