”

“Just stay quiet ande with us,” Pansy said. “If you resist, I swear, Draco, I’ll put a Body-Bind Curse on you!”

“She’s not kidding. She practiced on me, earlier,” Blaise winked.

“Oh, Salazar,” Draco groaned.

Mentally hexing his friends, he let Pansy grab his arm and Apparate them. She didn’t even wait for him to catch his balance before she dragged him into…Where were they? Ah, a pub, it seemed. It was already crowded, which Draco detested. There were no more empty tables. But Pansy didn’t seem to be bothered by that. She walked straight up to a table in the corner, pulling Draco along with her. Everything happened so fast, he had no time to protest. He did, however, raise a confused eyebrow when he saw dirty blond curls and a warm smile.

“Luna?”

Pansy stepped aside, giving him a clear view of the person sitting next to Luna.

“What—”

“Draco?”

Potter looked as shocked Draco felt.

“What the fuck is going on?” Draco narrowed his eyes. “Did you plan this?” he snarled, not exactly sure who he was asking. Had they all planned this together?

“Did you?” Potter asked, gaping at Luna.

“Harry, this is a good thing,” she said, rubbing his shoulder.

“How is—”

“Harry.” Luna’s expression darkened as Draco had never seen before. “You’ve been an awful mess for weeks now.”

Potter flinched while Draco’s pulse instantly quickened. Really? A strange feeling bubbled up inside him at the thought that Potter might have been as miserable as him. Why though? Could he really dare to hope?

“Same over here,” Pansy said in an irritated tone. Before Draco could snap at her, she grabbed him and pushed him down in a chair.

“I’m not going to sit here and—”

“Yeah, me neither,” Potter said, getting ready to get up.

“Shut up! Both of you,” Pansy bellowed.

Several heads around the pub turned in surprise, but Pansy seemed unimpressed. Man, she could be scary if she wanted to.

“You!” She pointed her index finger at Draco. “You broke up with Astoria, so you better make it worth it.”

“You—You broke up with your fiancée?” Potter looked like he had just been hit with a stunning spell.

“And you!” Pansy turned to Potter. “From what Lovegood told me, you didn’t even have to break up with that bloke you paraded in front of Draco, because he never really was your boyfriend.”

“What?” Draco spluttered.

“You told her—Why are you even talking to her?” Potter exclaimed, turning to Luna.

“Apparently,” Pansy said, ignoring Potter’s outburst, “he’s an Auror. They used to train together, and now Potter owes him a favour.”

“You—You—” Draco’s mind reeled. “You weren’t dating Henry?”

“You aren’t engaged anymore?” Potter retorted, gobsmacked.

“Clearly,” Blaise said with a smug grin, “you two have a lot to talk about. We’ll leave you to it.”

Draco saw Luna join Pansy and Blaise as they all turned to leave, but his brain couldn’t process what was happening. Was it really true? Had Potter seriously asked this Henry guy to pretend to be his boyfriend? Why? Why would he do that?

“You little shit,” Draco growled.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Potter growled back. “Why didn’t you tell me about your break up?”

“We weren’t speaking,” Draco said curtly.

“Right. And whose fault is that?”

“YOU—” Draco tried to collect himself. He didn’t care for a scene right in the middle of a crowded pub. “You pretended to date someone else,” he hissed.

“What was I supposed to do?”

“What—Seriously? Why did you even do it?”

Potter scowled at the table.

“Were you going to marry him, too?” Draco scoffed. “Out of spite? Do you still have to beat me at every—”

“I wanted to make you jealous, you stupid git!”

Draco froze. Everything he had wanted to say suddenly evaporated like smoke in his mind. Jealous? Potter had wanted to make him jealous? Well, mission aplished. But… why would—

“It was such a dumb idea,” Potter muttered, his eyes still fixed on the table. “I wasn’t even sure if it was going to work. You weren’t—You never—But I thought you might—”

Might what?

“You told me you were engaged and I snapped, okay?”

Draco wasn’t sure if he was hallucinating or not. Granted, on more than one asion he had gotten the impression Potter might think he wasn’t unattractive, but Potter had been drunk almost every time. Draco wasn’t one to just jump to conclusions. Could he now? Was Potter really saying…he liked Draco?

“Why was me being engaged such a big deal?” Draco asked. He needed to hear it. He needed Potter to say it.

“Fuck you,” Potter spat.

“You know,” Draco said slowly, “you say that every time I ask you—”

“Because you already know! What, you want to gloat?” Potter seethed.

“I just want to know what the fuck is going on,” Draco shot back, slamming his fist down on the table.

“What?” Potter gaped at him. “You’re kidding, right?”

Draco didn’t answer, holding Potter’s gaze defiantly.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Potter threw his hands in the air, shaking his head. “Even I’m not that oblivious!”

“Are you calling me stupid?” Draco said through gritted teeth.

“At this point, I think I have every right to do so,” Potter retorted.

“Fuck you, Potter! You act so high and mighty, but you told me you just wanted to be friends.”

“I never said I wanted to be just friends.”

“Oh, so this is all my fault?”

“You were leading me on!”

“I’m not going to sit here and listen to this bollocks,” Draco barked, jumping out of his seat so fast, the chair fell over. “You don’t get to make me the bad guy anymore.”

As soon as he got outside, Draco hesitated. If he walked away now, would that be it? Technically, he was single now; as was Potter.

Draco let out a humourless laugh. Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be.

Just as he drew his wand and got ready to Apparate, somebody grabbed his shoulder and whirled him around.

“You’re seriously going to leave?” Potter barked. “I can’t believe you!”

“Why? Because the fight is only over when you’ve won?” Draco huffed.

“Why can’t we just talk about this like normal people?”

“Oh, so you think I’m some kind of abomination?”

“No, I think you’re a coward!”

Snarling, Draco narrowed his eyes. How dare he!

“You have no idea—”

“Oh yeah?” Potter interrupted him. “Then prove it! Go to Cho’s wedding with me tomorrow. Or are you too much of a wimp to—”

“FINE,” Draco bellowed, fuming. “But you have to pick me up at the Manor.”

“FINE,” Potter yelled back. “I’ll be there at nine. Wear the Muggle suit.”

“Duh.”

“I swear to Merlin, Draco—”

“Whatever,” he spat. He was so mad, he couldn’t even look at Potter. “Don’t be late.”

He took a step backwards and Apparated to the Manor. He was still shaking with anger when he tossed his clothes on the floor and climbed into bed,pletely ignorant to the fact that it was only seven o’clock.

Who did Potter think he was? That wanker! He would pay for calling Draco a coward! Draco would prove to him he was anything but! If it was the last thing he would do!

He turned to his side, clutching his blanket and shoving one hand under the pillow. Bloody Potter!

As Draco kept repeating that over and over for hours in his mind, the prickling sensation on the back of his neck got more intense, apanied by the fluttery feeling of his stomach doing somersaults.

Bloody Potter, he thought one last time as his eyes fluttered closed and the tiniest of smiles slowly crept its way onto his lips.

Saturday, 24 May 2003

Why? Why had Draco agreed toe here with Potter?

Apparently, it didn’t matter he had already seen Potter wearing that bloody Muggle suit when they had picked it out together; it knocked the breath out of him nheless every time he glanced over at him.

He hadn’t been able to say anything but gibberish since Potter had shown up, looking all handsome and spectacular,plimenting Draco on how good he looked, consequently frying his brain. His magic had gone bonkers again when Potter had touched his arm to Apparate them, to which Potter had only grinned knowingly. Draco’s mother would go ballistic when she found out he had destroyed one of her favourite vases. But Draco couldn’t care less about that right now. Right now, he was far more concerned about not making a fool out of himself while he stood there awkwardly, eyeing Potter out of the corner of his eyes. He looked ufortable as well, fidgeting with his tie. Little beads of sweat were forming on his forehead, glistening in the sunlight. It was an exceptionally warm day, which Potter didn’t seem to like. It probably didn’t help that the wedding was about to be held right here, in Chang’s garden, with no shade and a bunch of Muggles, which made it impossible to use magic.

“You, err, you want something to drink?” Potter asked. Draco stared at his lips as he spoke, realising too late that he wasn’t exactly being subtle about it.

“Oh, um, no.”

“Right.” Potter licked his lips and absentmindedly scratched his beard. Fuck! Was he trying to drive Draco mad?

“Do you want to—”

“Merlin’s beard! It’s Harry Potter!”

They both turned around to find an old man gaping at them. Well, at Potter.

“Mr. Potter, such an honour to finally meet you. Howard Chamberlain.” He grabbed Potter’s hand with both of his and shook it enthusiastically. Potter smiled awkwardly. “I hope I’m not overstepping, but I’ve been dying to know. There have been many tales about your victory over You-Know-Who.” He leaned closer and Draco noticed he was still clutching Potter’s hand. “Is it true you defeated him with the Elder Wand? Do you still have it?”

Draco rolled his eyes, ready to tell the wizard off. Before he got the chance, however, Potter patted the old man’s arm.

“That’s a secret I’ll be taking to my grave, I’m afraid,” he said.

Annoyance flickered over the wizard’s face, which he quickly tried to mask with a smile.

“Of course.” Finally, he let go of Potter’s hand but kept scrutinising him. “I was very sorry to hear about your relationship with young Mrs. Weasley. Are you here on your own?”

Before Draco knew what was happening, he felt a hand on his hip which pulled him against Potter’s side.

“I’m not, actually,” Potter said, his lips stretching into a devious smile. The heat of the sun suddenly seemed to burn Draco alive. It was the same gesture Potter had used to make Draco jealous. Only, now, he was the one Potter was claiming.

They hadn’t discussed the details of today’s…arrangement. Yes, Draco was here as Potter’s date, but they hadn’t talked about whether or not they would be open about it. While Draco knew his mother had strong suspicions about his preference, it had been very much implied on numerous asions he was never to make it public knowledge. Well, so much for that.

It was more than surprising that Potter was acting like this, actually. After everything he had told him, Draco had been sure he wanted to keep a low profile, especially when it came to his private life. All it would take was some shady reporter behind a bush, taking some pictures, and the whole Wizarding World would go bonkers. Speaking of which…

The old wizard was still gawking at them, shock written all over his face.

“But—But that’s Draco Malfoy,

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