"Where have you been?" Hermione asked.

"Out." Harry tried to smile casually, but it was likely his tea-fuelled high made his grin too bright.

"Oh really? Who is he?"

"A man is allowed some secrets, Hermione. Besides, we're just friends."

"I find it hard to believe you would smile like that over a 'just friend,' but I'll leave you be, for now."

"What are you doing here, anyway? I thought it was Weasley family dinner night."

"That's why I'm here. If I'd stayed one more minute I might have hexed that… that woman and then Ron would never forgive me." Hermione gnawed on a fingernail. "It might be worth it."

"Hermione!"

"Oh, you know I wouldn't, but Godric, I wish she would put a cork in it. One more word about how Ronnikins prefers this or Ronnikins prefers that and…" she shook her head. "Never mind. I'm here to calm down. Do you have any alcohol?"

Harry blinked at her. Hermione seldom drank. "Are you going back to the Weasley's?"

"No. I escaped by pleading a headache. Which was not a lie, by the way."

Harry went into the kitchen and entered the pantry. He shifted aside a box or two. "Um, I have a partial bottle of cheap vodka and an unopened bottle of rum, quality unknown."

"I'll have the rum."

Harry located some fruit juice to cut the straight alcohol and handed Hermione the glass.

"Join me?"

"I have to work tomorrow."

She grimaced and shuddered as she took a drink. Currant juice may not have been the best mixer for rum. Vodka might have been the better choice. "Me, too."

"I've had enough tea that I think I might float away."

"Really? You've never been much of a tea drinker."

I think I've never had really good tea. Hey! You need to see this spell! It's amazing."

"A spell?"

Thirty minutes later, Hermione had perfected the Tea Leaf Extraction Charm and a pile of empty teabags littered the countertop.

Harry made a mental note to procure some better tea.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ o ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mondays in the Auror Division were either insanely or dreadfully boring. There seemed to be no middle ground. Harry found himself facing a Boring Monday, so he spent most of the day creating a paper trail persona for Mr Mark Birmingham. It was standard procedure when an Auror went undercover, although Harry had never utilised company resources for personal reasons before. He felt a twinge of conscience or two, but the thought of Malfoy discovering that "Mark" had no existence outside of his house caused him to bury his guilt and hand the paperwork over to the clerk for processing.

She took them with such a look of gratitude that Harry knew she had the Boring Monday blues as well. "I'll get right on this, Auror Potter!" she said with a snappy salute.

"Thank you, Janice."

Harry had barely settled into his chair again when a memo from the Minister's office winged into the room. URGENT.

Forty minutes later, Harry was back at home, grumbling, and packing an overnight case full of t-shirts, socks, and spare underwear. "Denmark. Bloody hell, nothing ever happens in Denmark."

Once packed, he triggered the Portkey and was whisked away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ o ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Draco admitted the strange owl, which laboured into the room on frantically beating wings and then alighted upon Draco's favourite chair. The package it bore was prodigious and the owl looked at him reproachfully.

"Thank you?" he offered.

The beast cocked its head and then turned slightly. Draco took the hint and unbound the package. Inside the wrapping was a shiny box decorated with a bright red ribbon. A card was tucked into the ribbon and Draco freed it before tugging on the satin.

I was called out of town unexpectedly. I hope this will allow you to think of me whilst I am gone. I will owl you when I return, hopefully on Friday. ~Mark

Draco pouted. Mark was gone? He tore open the box to find it stuffed with a variety of amazing dark chocolates. It was a princely gift. Despite that, he found that he would rather have Mark's company. He had been entertaining and quite pleasant of late. And not at all hard on the eyes.

Draco ate six pieces of chocolate and then forced himself to put the rest away lest he make himself ill. When the sweets were safely hidden, he strode to the fireplace and Flooed to Blaise's flat.

"Bloody hell, Draco, can't you ever announce yourself?" Blaise was sat on his sofa, scrambling to grab something to cover himself.

"Honestly, can't you wank in the bedroom like a normal person?" Draco asked, brushing the residual ash from his sleeves.

"It's my house!"

"Then block your Floo. Too late now, anyway. I need something."

"I need Privacy Charms and better friends," Blaise muttered, but he'd pulled his trousers on and snatched a sofa cushion close before glaring petulantly at Draco.

"Yes, yes, good luck with that. No one will ever love you like Pansy and me. Now, that thing I need…"

"Draco, contrary to your delusions, I do not live to serve you."

Draco stared at him without blinking, long enough that his eyes burned and began to fill with tears. And then he allowed his lower lip to slacken and tremble.

"Damn it, Draco, that doesn't work anymore! Stop manipulating me, you bloody wanker!"

Rather than pointing out the fact that Blaise had been the one wanking, Draco allowed his shoulders to slump as he hitched a half-sob. "You're right," he said, spinning the words into a high tone dramatically, "I'm a terrible person." He stood and walked quickly to the fireplace. "Forget I was here."

"Fuck! Stop. Just stop and tell me what you want."

"No, never mind. I was wrong to ask it of you. I always take advantage of our friendship and you are always the best person to do as I ask without fail. A true friend."

"Draco, just tell me."

Draco paused. "Well, only if you're sure…"

"I'm sure." Blaise's tone was ice-coated.

Draco bounced back to his seat, pleased that Blaise was still not quite immune to his machinations. "Here's the thing. I met this man-remember at the club the other night? The hot one sitting at the bar that I danced with and nearly left with except that Pansy spoiled my fun, like usual? Anyway, he came to see me and I don't know anything about him except that his name is Mark and he doesn't know anything about tea and he's terribly cute, but I don't trust him. Can you help?" He gave Blaise his most earnest stare.

"Why didn't you just say that to begin with? A simple person search? You could have owled."

"But then I wouldn't have caught you wanking," Draco pointed out with a smirk.

"Want to help?" Blaise leered.

Draco shot to his feet, nose wrinkling. "Merlin, no! I know where that thing has been."

"You are such an arsehole."

"But you love me. Thank you, darling." Draco made a couple of kissing noises in Blaise's direction and practically leaped into the fire before Blaise could yell at him further. If nothing else, curiosity would prompt Blaise into action. All Draco needed to do was wait.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ o ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry popped into his bedroom on Friday evening wanting to do nothing more than sleep for the next three days. Denmark had been exhausting. Boring, but exhausting. Unfortunately, sleep was not on his agenda. He blinked at Ginny Weasley.

"Why are you in my bedroom?" he asked blearily.

"It's about time you got back. You need to hurry. I have your clothes ready, although I gave you a couple of choices, so you'll have to decide on the green or the blue. Now, into the shower with you! There is no time to waste! Gala time!"

Harry groaned. The fucking Gala. He had been hoping to crawl into bed without anyone noticing he'd missed the grand event. Trust Ginny to not only remember, but to show up at his house and force him to attend.

"I'm really tired, Ginny."

"Fourteen minutes and counting."

"Is there any chance of you allowing me to stay home tonight?"

"Not a snowflake's chance in hell. I need a date and you're it. Thirteen minutes."

Harry sighed heavily. Ginny did look nice in her shimmering green robe-dress combination thing. It would be a pity to waste such loveliness. And the way she fingered her wand told him a hex was coming if he suggested not going again.

"Fine. Showering. Just tell me which clothes you want me to wear."

"Well, the green will look nicer with my dress. And don't forget to condition your hair! Maybe it won't do that sticky-uppy thing in the back." Harry closed the bathroom door firmly on any additional suggestions and dove into a quick, hot shower with conditioner.

Twenty minutes later, Harry tried not to roll his eyes as Ginny paraded around him with a critical stare. She finally pronounced him suitable, even if his "sticky uppy bit" wasn't cooperating to her satisfaction.

"Now, before we go, have you seen the Seeker for the Korean team, Dae-Ho Park? The one with eyelashes to die for?"

Harry nodded.

"Good. He's mine, so hands off. The others are fair game."

"Ginny, I am not using the Quidditch Gala as a meat market. I don't even want to go."

"Excellent. Then there will be more for me. Shall we?"

She grinned brightly and took his arm. Harry had to chuckle as he Apparated them away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ o ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Draco suppressed a sigh and hoped his painted-on smile did not appear too fake.

"These canapés are delicious, Draco. You should try one." Roderick popped the bacon-wrapped scallop into his mouth and winked at him.

"It seems to me you would rather eat the waiter," Draco said dryly and took a drink of his champagne. He nearly shuddered at the taste. Cheap and harsh, but at least there were large quantities of the stuff.

"He is a tender-looking morsel, is he not?" Roderick's voice was a purr and his bedroom eyes swept over the fluffy-haired waiter. The boy noticed his perusal and smiled widely, visibly preening beneath the attention of the Quidditch star.

"Keep it in your pants, if you don't mind. And I thought you had 'met someone,' or was that another passing fancy?"

Roderick lifted a brow. "Are you jealous? Do not be. I am merely Latin; it is our nature to flirt."

"We have an agreement, so I will remind you to keep your flirting to a minimum."

Roderick tsked and snared a glass of champagne from a passing tray. "Draco, you wish me to play the attentive lover, and yet you do not make it worth my while."

"What are you talking about?"

"We will discuss it later, cariño. This is a celebration, not a time for strife. Madre de Merlin, is that the famous Harry Potter?"

Draco, ready to insist upon an argument, glanced at the doorway and took a calming gulp of champagne. Potter and the Weaselette had just arrived, looking every inch the Golden Couple, although they might better be dubbed the Green Couple tonight, dressed as they were in coordinating colours. Potter wore stylish robes of deepest green that would doubtless make his eyes gleam like verdant pools. Draco snorted.

Despite their proximity, Ginny Weasley wasn't clinging to Potter like a choking vine. Draco lost sight of them as the crowd got wind of Potter's presence and clustered up around them, obscuring the hero completely.

"He is even more handsome than his photographs have shown. Is it true that he is willing to play for many teams?"

Draco frowned, trying to suss out Roderick's meaning. Sometimes the accent was impossible to decipher, and sometimes he just got English phrases wro—

"Are you suggesting that Potter is bisexual?" Draco spoke in a tone that only Roderick could hear, although his shock made him want to shout.

"It is rumoured. Are you saying it is untrue?"

Draco stared back at the crowd surrounding Potter. Draco had never heard anything of the sort. And surely Pansy would have filled his ears with such gossip if it were true. Then again, Draco had a terrible habit of tuning her out whenever she got going talking about the shenanigans of her acquaintances and societal hangers-on, so it was entirely possible she had mentioned it and the suggestion had flown under Draco's radar. Then again, any mention of Potter usually caught Draco's attention.

"I don't know. I would have to do some digging."

"I should like to do some digging under those robes." Roderick snickered and Draco jabbed him with an elbow, hard.

"Merlin, Draco, sos un demonio."

Draco showed his teeth at Roderick, who gave him a glare and flounced across the room, pushing himself into the group that surrounded Potter. Draco drained his champagne glass and went looking for another. It was going to be a long night.

~TBC~