Author's Note: I was delayed in posting this chapter by the fact that my laptop was in the shop yesterday. I broke the hinge, so she needed a whole new top casing. I'm very glad she survived; I'm rather attached.
Harry set off to find the perfect play. He owled all of Draco's friends for advise in addition to reading multiple reviews for each of the choices. Daphne and Tracey recommended a sappy romance, Blaise a comedy, and Theo a piece of political propaganda. None of them seemed right, with the romance and political plays sounding boring, while the comedy was too light hearted. What he most wanted to see was a heart wrenching drama about the plight of a pureblood orphan after the war, but it had poor reviews. In it the young orphan discovers that her parents had been Death Eaters and then went on to overcome the prejudice caused by her dead parents. It was not at all the type of anti-Death Eater propaganda that was popular these days, hence the poor reviews. With bad reviews and none of Draco's friends recommending it, Harry almost passed it up, until he finally received a response back from Pansy. Pansy loved it.
Normally Pansy Zabini isn't the type of person Harry would turn to for dating advice, but she happened to be one of Draco's very best friends. Plus she was recommending the play he wanted to see, so he decided to take her advice.
That settled, Harry turned to researching the restaurants in the area. There was only really one choice when it came to expensive pureblood food in the area of the theater. He almost went with it, but then realized that the ice cream parlor that they'd gone to with Ron and Hermione was only a few blocks away from the theater. The Malfoy family has enjoyed a long business arrangement with the muggle owners of that shop, with the muggle funneling Malfoy house elf-made computer chips into the muggle supply. It was one of only a very few muggle businesses the Malfoys frequented and it was the first place Harry had ever taken Draco outside of Grimmauld Place. It was hard to choose between a muggle place he knew Draco liked and a pureblood restaurant that was the type of place he was trying to show Draco that he was cool with. He almost ruled the ice cream parlor out due to the fact that it was winter and far too cold for ice cream, but they were wizards capable of casting warming charms. Ultimately, he decided on the ice cream parlor, hoping it'd bring back some of their good memories.
As for the gift, Harry decided to go with both flowers and jewelry. Flowers were easy, because he just asked the florist for a bouquet like the one they'd had for their wedding. Jewelry was harder, but he wanted to get Draco jewelry, because in their almost two years together, he'd only ever given Draco a wedding ring. He wanted Draco to have more to show for their love than one ring.
Harry really didn't know what type of jewelry he should purchase, but once in the store, he fell in love with the idea of a pendant with birthstones in it intended for mothers. Draco was pregnant and therefore sure to love that sort of sentimental mush. Since the Malfoy family crest featured a serpent and the entire Malfoy family had been in Slytherin, Harry especially thought Draco would like the one cast in the shape of snakes; a parent and two children with the gems in the eyes. The shop keeper even promised to exchange out the bloodstone if the baby wasn't born in March.
Which clothes Harry was going to wear was also preplanned with attention to detail far beyond his usual. He wore the ones Draco liked best, making sure to have his new elf Hissy prepare them ahead of time. They were his nicest dress robes and combined with a haircut, made him look rather dashing. He went out of the way to get that haircut just that day so that styling his hair would be a professional's problem and not his own.
Draco was still accustomed to a rather early bedtime, so the date began just after lunch. Harry picked him up at the Manor, presenting him with the bouquet of flowers. He loved them and had a house elf put the flowers in a vase, before they flooed to the theater. The play was a bit of a tear jerker, but uplifting and entertaining at the same time. When the lights came back on for intermission, Harry noticed the tears on Draco's face.
"If you want to leave early, we can," Harry offered, as he leaned in to wipe the tears away with his fingertips.
"No, I'm fine. Just a little emotional is all," Draco replied, pulling his handkerchief out of his pocket to dab at his face.
"If you're sure."
"I am. I could use a refreshment though."
"Will any of these do?" Harry asked, pulling a shrunken lunch pail out of his front breast pocket. He unshrunk it to reveal cold pumpkin juice, pretzels, sliced apples, and Draco's favorite blueberry scones.
"Is that pumpkin juice?" Draco asked pleasantly surprised, picking up the thermos full of juice.
"Yes."
Draco took a thirsty gulp. "You brought all this for me?"
"Yes, but we can still buy some of the popcorn we saw outside if you'd like."
"Merlin no, I hate popped corn. Thanks." Draco picked up and bit into a scone, moaning in appreciation.
"Hissy made them."
"I knew there was something I liked about that elf."
"You were absolutely right about her; having her around has worked out great. My house is clean, my meals are edible, and she even watches Kreacher for me."
"Kreacher doesn't mind having the younger elf around?"
"No, if anything, he seems happier, probably because he still has the preferred spot in the kitchen and Hissy sleeps down in the cellar."
"Elves, like people, are not solitary creatures. They do better when there are more than one of their kind in a house."
"They do better when they have witches and wizards to serve, too," Harry said, before going into a story about Hermione's latest elf debacle as part of Fawley's Department for the Protection of Magical Beings and Creatures.
Hermione had managed to get a half dozen elves taken away. Their masters were the cruelest imaginable and were running a sweat shop and using the elves as slave labor. The living and working conditions were deplorable and the punishments barbaric. The elves were happy to be away from their masters, but soon became discontent with Hermione and began to waste away, refusing to eat. Eventually she realized that what all of the purebloods said about house elves needing to serve was true. She solved the problem by arranging for her elves to provide labor to the building of Wizarding primary schools.
Draco laughed at Harry's story and ate the snacks, before rushing off to the loo. He came back just as intermission was ending and the lights were going off once more. They finished the play and it turned out to be far better than the lousy reviews suggested, just as Harry thought it would be. It left them with a fuzzy warm feeling inside as the curtain went down and the lights turned back on.
Being December, they bundled up in their warmest cloaks and caught a taxi to travel the short distance to the muggle ice cream parlor. Like the previous time they'd traveled in a car together, Draco was scared of riding inside the muggle contraption. To distract himself from the still unnerving ride in an automobile, he said, "I thought for certain you were going to take me to that horrible stuffy place by the theater."
"You don't like that place?" Harry asked, inwardly cheering his decision regarding the restaurant.
"No. Mother, Father, and I went there all of the time when I was a child and I always hated their food. It's horribly greasy compared to the food at home and they put onions in everything. I hate onions."
Harry kept Draco talking about his childhood experiences with the horrible pureblood restaurant throughout the short drive to distract him from being scared of the car.
"They even put relish and onions on their cheese sandwiches. Can you believe that?" Draco asked pulling his cloak close to him as they stepped out of the car onto the curb in front of the muggle restaurant. "Who puts relish and onions on a child's cheese sandwich?"
"I don't know, it sounds ghastly," Harry replied as they walked inside. Truthfully he'd never had the combination, but would've eaten almost anything the Dursleys offered him.
Mister Franks, the muggle owner of the shop, greeted them with a huge smile and a loud, "Hello Draco, good to see you again! How have you been?"
Draco returned the greeting and made small talk with the muggle, introducing Harry as his husband. Harry offered a polite, "Hello," and a courteous wave of the hand, but he was only too happy to be left alone with Draco.
They ate burgers and ice cream cones, despite the cold weather and the snacks they'd had in the theater, and discussed the play. "You know, Harry, I'm rather impressed with your choice in play," Draco revealed.
"You are?"
"Yes. Three months ago you would've balked at seeing something like that."
"Yes, well, I was wrong," Harry said with a shrug of his shoulders. "I now know that everyone, even Death Eaters, deserve a second chance. That child wasn't to blame for her parents' mistakes, she wasn't a Death Eater, and she shouldn't have been punished for something she had no control over."
"You've come a long way."
"Does that mean you'll agree to another date with me, Draco?" They locked eyes and Harry tried to convey how much he truly wanted Draco to say yes.
"Possibly. I was actually thinking therapy would be the next logical step if this evening went well."
"Therapy?"
"Yes, with a marriage counselor at St. Mungo's. Would you agree to go to something like that?"
"For you, Draco, I'd do anything." Agreeing to counseling wasn't a particularly big deal to Harry; he'd already agreed to the much steeper price of helping Lucius' defense. In comparison to that, a little counseling was nothing.
"Great. I'll look into it then," Draco concluded, before changing the subject. "Speaking of anything, how is that interview you promise me going?"
"It's going. I've been owling your father's attorney going over the wording of the statement. He said he'd arrange the interview too, so that he can time it with some legal preceding that's in the works."
Draco was very pleased to hear that, as evident from the giant smile that lit up his face. That answer was more than good enough for him, because their lawyer would know the best time to release the interview.
Later, when it was time to take Draco home, Harry began to feel the burning of the pendant in his pocket. He'd forgotten it most of the date and when he had remembered, it hadn't been the right time. Now, as they walked to Draco's sitting room, he realized that his window of opportunity was closing. Who knew if there was ever to be a second date? He had to make this date memorable, so that Draco would want another. He had to give Draco the pendant.
Draco took a seat on his chaise, clearly tired but leaning over to smell the flowers Harry had given him earlier. Harry stood in front of Draco, before going to his knees on the rug.
"Um, Draco, I sort of, er, got you something," Harry said pulling the small jewelry box out of his pocket and opening it up for Draco to see. In it was the snake pendant on a thin chain. "The gems in the eyes are birthstones. Alexandrite for you, the parent snake, and garnet and bloodstone for our children, the baby snakes. If this baby isn't born in March, I can have the bloodstone changed out. I, er, hope you like it."
"I do. Put it on me?" Draco requested happily and Harry nodded his agreement.
Harry held the chain around Draco's neck, struggling to hook the delicate clasp, while fully aware of how close his face was to Draco's face. He could feel Draco's hot breath on his neck and see the pulse beating in Draco's delicate throat. When he finally got it he said, "There," and slowly adjusted his position until he could see Draco's face. Draco looked pleased and open to more contact, so Harry leaned in and gently pressed his lips to his husband's.
Draco deepened the kiss and Harry let him for several minutes, before pulling back and saying, "No. You said our relationship is only about sex and children, so I am going to prove you wrong. I want you without sex."
"If that's what you want," Draco acquiesced, dropping his hands from Harry's shoulders to his own lap.
"It is. We can kiss and be intimate in other ways, but I want to hold out on sex itself. It's past your normal bedtime, so you should lie down," Harry said and Draco nodded his agreement, before holding out his hand for Harry's assistance. They walked to Draco's room and Draco sat on his bed. "I'll retrieve Eiona from your mum and go back to my place. I enjoyed myself tonight and I hope we can do this again sometime soon."
Draco yawned and nodded, saying only, "Goodnight."
Harry had hoped Draco would agree to a second date then and there, so he was somewhat disappointed that Draco hadn't. But at least there was counseling to look forward to; that was clearly a step in the right direction if they were going to rebuild their marriage.
Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who offered ideas for therapy topics! The next chapter will be their first session and if I don't get to your ideas, don't worry, because they will be in therapy probably until towards the end of this story, so they will get to everything eventually.
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