Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe and characters belongs to J.K. Rowling, unfortunately not me.

Chapter 16

Draco stood in his bedroom, contemplating his reflection. His blond hair hung loosely in front of his left eye. His deep blue button up shirt was tailored perfectly to his body, the first two buttons left unbuttoned. The color of his shirt was reflected in his eyes, making them much bluer than usual. A knock on his bedroom door broke him out of his revelry. "Come in," he called softly.

Draco looked up to see Scorpius open the door. "How are you doing, Dad?"

Draco smiled at his son. "I'm fine. Shouldn't you be doing something fun, enjoying your last few days of Christmas holidays?" Scorpius gave his father a skeptical look. "Alright, alright. I'll admit I might be a little nervous."

Scorpius chuckled. "Well you look great, and I don't think you have anything to worry about."

Draco clapped his son on the shoulder. "Thanks. Now I'm going out, not sure when I'll be back. No parties while I'm gone."

"Ha ha, Dad," Scorpius responded sarcastically. "You know me so well."

Draco rolled his eyes at his son. "If I see you at the Leaky Caldron, you're grounded for the rest of your break."

Scorpius just smirked at his father. "Fine, fine. You really do know me."

That elicited a chuckle from Draco before he glanced in the mirror once more. He highly doubted that how his hair looked would have any bearing on how the night played out, but he couldn't help it. He didn't know what to expect from his night out with Harry, and he felt extremely off balance. To counteract this, he was doing his best to keep his expectations of the night low, in case things didn't go as well as he hoped. He ran his hand through his hair and took a few deep breaths. This was just Potter for Merlin's sake. He had no reason to be this worked up.

"Dad," Scorpius broke into his thoughts once again. "You're going to be late."

Draco cast a quick Tempus and swore when he saw his son was right. 6:57. He had three minutes to get to the Leaky Caldron. He had been waiting for this since the moment Harry suggested it yesterday morning, and yet now it felt as if it had all come all too soon. "I'll see you later, Scor."

"Good luck, Dad. It'll go great! And if it doesn't then Mr. Potter will have to answer to me," Scorpius said, waving his wand around in what Draco could only assume was supposed to be a threatening gesture.

Draco simply snorted at his son's ridiculousness. "Sure, you will. One of the most powerful evil wizards of all time couldn't hurt him, but you, the Hogwarts student, are gonna teach him a lesson."

Scorpius just folded his arms defiantly. "I have the element of surprise on my side."

Draco rolled his eyes with a chuckle. "Thanks for the support." He ruffled his son's hair as he made his way to the front hall to Apparate.

A moment later, Draco found himself right outside the Leaky Caldron. If he was being honest with himself, he had meant to Apparate about a block away to have a short walk to calm down further. It was a testament to just how nervous he was about this night. He was lucky he hadn't splinched himself. Taking one last breath, he stepped into the pub. He slowly surveyed the scene in front of him. There were people there, but it wasn't overly crowded. Those sitting at the bar filled up about half of it. There were about 3 or 4 tables filled with groups of friends, one seemed to have a couple who were sitting in the corner to get as much privacy as possible. His eyes were drawn to the opposite side of the pub from the couple. There in the corner booth sat Harry Potter. Draco could only see the other man's profile, but it was enough to make his heartbeat speed up. From the messy black hair all the way down to the faded jeans he wore, Draco took in every detail.

Before he even realized that he was moving, Draco found himself standing in front of the man he had been studying. "Potter," he greeted with a small smile.

Harry had been looking down at the pint of some sort of beer in front of him, but his head snapped up when he heard Draco's voice. When his eyes met the blond man's, his face broke into a genuine smile that made his emerald eyes twinkle with happiness. Draco couldn't help but smile widely back. Harry stood up to give Draco a hug. "Hi," he whispered, almost shyly. "How have you been?"

Draco bit his bottom lip to hold back a chuckle. "Since yesterday morning? I'd say not much has changed, Potter," he drawled with a slight smirk.

He saw the other man's lips twitch slightly in amusement. "What will it take to get you to call me Harry?" he asked.

Draco took a step forward until there was barely room for a wand between the two. "I could be tempted with a kiss," he responded, surprised at his own boldness.

Harry took a step backwards. Draco's face fell in disappointment. "I'm sorry, Draco, but I just can't risk it. Not here, and not while I'm still married."

Draco nodded sadly as he sat down across from Harry. He was relieved to see that Harry had already purchased him what appeared to be a double shot of firewhisky and a pint of butterbeer. "I understand," he said quietly before downing the shot. "Thanks for the drinks."

"Oh those?" Harry asked in mock innocence. "They were here when I sat down. I probably should've warned you not to drink those."

Draco snorted in amusement into his pint glass, the awkwardness of the previous moment fading into the background. "And just when I was considering using your first name, you make me do something as undignified as snort. Malfoys do not snort." He mock glared at his companion.

Harry laughed with a shake of his head. "If it makes you feel any better, I think you're cute when you're being undignified."

Draco felt heat rise to his face. "Well thank you...Harry," he responded with a grin.

It was Harry's turn to blush. "I think I could get used to that."

Draco wasn't sure how to respond to that so instead he took a large gulp of his beer. He wasn't sure if he wanted to continue to flirt with Harry to avoid a real conversation or put himself out of his misery and hit the issue head on. He was saved from deciding, however, when Harry spoke up, "Why don't I get us another round and then we can talk about the other night?"

Draco nodded. "But here, I've got this round," he said as he handed Harry some money.

Harry simply ignored him before leaving to get the drinks. Draco took a steadying breath. So far things were going well, but he couldn't help but replay the moment that Harry had pulled away from him. Draco knew that he shouldn't be upset. He had done the same to so many men while he was married to Astoria. That's when he realized why it bothered him so much. Despite the fact that he had enjoyed the company of those men, and even had genuine feelings for some of them, he was never going to leave his wife to be with any of them. Was that all Draco was going to be to Harry? Some man to experiment with when he could sneak away from his wife for a couple hours? Draco drained the rest of his pint in an effort to calm himself down. Harry Potter was far too noble to string Draco along like that, wasn't he?

That's when he noticed that Harry was making his way back to the table. He guessed he would find out soon enough. "Draco, are you alright? You look a little pale," he inquired softly.

Draco didn't mean to let his feelings bubble over, but his mouth seemed to have a mind of its own. "I can't be the man you sneak out to see when you can get away from your wife. I can't be this dirty little secret who you refuse to acknowledge in public lest someone tell Ginny. I can't-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Draco, calm down," Harry cut him off in alarm.

Draco stopped, took a deep breath, and a large sip of firewhisky. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say any of that. Bloody firewhisky is already getting to me."

Harry chuckled. "It's okay. That seems to be a theme when we're together doesn't it?" Draco chuckled along with him. "Now is it okay if I talk, or do you have more ranting to do?"

Draco had a strong urge to stick his tongue out at the dark-haired man, but he controlled himself. "Proceed," he said in his most Malfoy voice.

Harry smiled. "In the last few months, it has become more and more apparent that my marriage is falling apart." Draco felt his heart skip a beat. "Ginny and I have plans to discuss the state of our relationship once our kids are back at Hogwarts, and I can already tell it won't be a pleasant conversation. Before anything happened between the two of us, I knew I would have to ask for a divorce. She's not going to be happy about it, but neither of us are happy in this marriage."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Draco said with as much empathy as he could muster.

Harry's lips twitched. "No you're not, and I'm glad. Draco, I may have known Ginny and I were headed towards divorce for a while, but more recently I've learned more than that. Now that I've had a taste of you, Draco Malfoy, I don't intend to give that up just yet." Draco's heart was now beating frantically, as if it was trying to jump out of his chest. "If you're willing to have me, at least. I can't commit to anything until after I at least talk to Ginny about the divorce, but if you're willing to wait, I'd love to give this a shot. I know that probably isn't fair to ask you."

Draco stared at Harry in a stunned silence. Harry Potter wanted to be with him. He just wanted to divorce his wife first. This was the best outcome Draco could have hoped for. "I've waited, what? Over 20 years? I think I can wait a little bit more." His voice sounded odd and strangled even to his own ears, but also happier than he had been in a long time. He smiled at the man in front of him and squeezed his hand briefly. He couldn't wait to see what the next few months had in store for them.