Happy H/D Holidays aluinnsearlait
Author: noa_luna
Recipient: aluinnsearlait
Title: Possibilities
Pairing(s): Harry/Draco, past Harry/Ginny
Summary: An unexpected meeting causes old memories to resurface and new ones to be created.
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters herein are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No copyright infringement is intended.
Warning(s): None
Word Count: 1381
Author's Notes: A bit shorter than intended, due to RL issues, but I hope you like it nonetheless.
"Harry, you're here!" said a beaming Hermione when she answered the door. "Come in, come in. Here, give me your coat. I'm so glad you could make it!"
Harry sent her a small smile. He really didn't want to be here tonight, but it was Hermione's birthday, and Ron was likely to kill him if he didn't at least make an appearance. Harry's break-up with Ginny had left him more messed up than he'd expected to be, even though they had ended their relationship in mutual agreement.
He'd never realised how much Ginny did for him until after she was gone. Not just things like making sure he had something clean to wear and cooking his favourite food, but mostly the little things. He missed watching a movie together, or just sharing a nice conversation. Sure, he could do things like that with his friends, but it just wasn't the same.
Hermione kept urging him on to meet new people, to build new relationships, but every promising date he'd been on had turned out to be yet another person who was attracted to his 'Boy-who-lived-to-defeat-Voldemort' status and didn't really care about Harry himself. They didn't want to get to know him, they just wanted to show him off; and sleep with him, if possible.
Harry sighed. He hoped Hermione would at least leave him alone tonight. If he was honest, he was starting to get pretty damn fed up with the whole dating thing, and if Hermione kept pressuring him like this, he didn't know how he would react. Straightening his shoulders, he followed Hermione into the garden, only half listening to her enthusiastic chattering.
When Hermione had left him to attend to the rest of her guests, Harry made his way over to the refreshment table, looking for something to busy himself with so he didn't have to talk to anyone. He scanned the contents of the table, resting his eyes on a particularly delicious looking raspberry muffin.
"Well, well," the person standing next to him drawled. "Look who we have here."
Harry stiffened, dropping his muffin. It had been years since he'd last seen the owner of that voice, and yet he immediately knew whom it belonged to.
"Malfoy," Harry said edgily, picking his muffin up again and studying it closely before taking a bite. It really was a very tasty muffin. "What do you want?" he mumbled, still chewing.
"Very hygienic," Malfoy commented, wrinkling his nose in disgust. "Do I have to have a reason to speak to my favourite Boy Wonder?" he asked with a mock pout.
Harry huffed. He really didn't want to deal with this right now. Why hadn't Hermione mentioned that she'd invited Malfoy of all people to her birthday party? Just when Harry had done such a good job of avoiding him in the past years, too.
"Earth to Potter," Malfoy said, snapping his fingers in front of Harry's face. "Your already limited brain capacity is still working as slow as ever, I see."
"Look, Malfoy," Harry growled. "I am in a very bad mood, and I really don't feel like talking to you right now, let alone being a source for your amusement. So why don't you just fuck off?"
"Touchy, touchy," Malfoy said, and added with a smirk, "Trouble in paradise, perhaps? Did the Weaslette finally come to her senses?"
"For your information," Harry retorted, "We decided to call it quits months ago. It was a mutual decision, not that it's any of your business." He took another bite of his muffin. Spraying crumbs everywhere, he added as an afterthought, "Why are you even here? Aren't you supposed to be at home, crying over daddy's lost money?"
"Please, keep your bacteria to yourself," Malfoy said, handing him a tissue. He sniffed haughtily at Harry's question. "For your information, I happen to be an Unspeakable at the Ministry. I work with Hermione. Money is the last thing I have to worry about."
Harry was about to react when Hermione interrupted them. "I believe we are almost ready for dinner. Oh, I see you've already met Draco! It's so nice to see that you boys get on well." She gave Harry an encouraging smile. "Draco has been a huge support for me in the past few months. We've been dealing with some very tricky problems. That's about all I can say about it though, I'm afraid. Unspeakables, you understand." she said. Malfoy smirked.
"Now, if you two gentlemen would please go find your place at one of tables, I'll go and find Ron. He needs to help me with dessert." Hermione said.
"Bloody finally," Harry said, immediately leaving Malfoy in search of his table. Having spotted his name tag, Harry stopped at one of the tables. He sat down with a sigh. It looked like Susan Bones would be sitting next to him, and on the other side - Harry groaned loudly - Malfoy. Just his luck. He closed his eyes tiredly.
"We meet again, I see." Malfoy said, sitting down on the chair assigned to him. "And the lovely miss Bones. How are you?" he said, turning to Susan. They exchanged a bit of small talk before suddenly falling quiet.
Harry looked up. Ginny was standing at their table. "Susan, Draco," she acknowledged. "Harry." She sat down hesitantly.
Susan glanced at him, a worried look on her face. Harry rolled his eyes. Honestly, he wasn't going to break down or anything. "Ginny. Good to see you," he said, nodding.
That seemed to break the tension. Soon the two girls were happily chattering away. "So. Your team is still doing well, I heard?" Draco said, neatly cutting his steak. "I must say, the way things are looking now, I wouldn't be surprised if you manage to win the World Cup next year."
Harry raised his eyebrows, surprised by the compliment. "Well, even without Viktor, the Bulgarian team is a force to be reckoned with, not to mention the team from Poland."
"Oh, nonsense." Draco scoffed, "Their Chasers don't work together as flawlessly as they should, and the Bulgarians are obviously still getting used to their new Seeker. Now, the Canadians, all they need is a better strategy..."
When all plates were cleaned and stomachs were filled, Harry excused himself. He'd never been a person for crowds, and right now he needed a bit of time alone. He could already feel a headache coming up, though he'd been expecting it for quite some time now. Usually the pain would've been unbearable by now, but somehow it wasn't so bad today. Harry rested his arms on the fence surrounding the garden and leaned against it. His conversation with Malfoy had been interesting, pleasant even. It seemed they actually had quite a bit in common.
Meeting Malfoy again after all those years had caused him to remember a night five long years ago, towards the end of the war. Things had looked grim for everyone, and Harry had been suffering from a severe depression. Nobody seemed to notice, or maybe nobody had cared, but of all people, Malfoy had been the one to see. He had been the one to give Harry comfort by inviting him into his bed, he had been the one to understand. Harry still was grateful for that. He'd never told Ginny.
Harry sighed. Pretending it had never happened had been the best decision for all of them at the time, but now he wasn't so sure. He turned around and noticed that Malfoy was standing right next to him, a thoughtful look on his face. "Do you ever think of that night?" Harry asked, suddenly wanting to know.
Malfoy stared at the sky, head slightly tilted. He didn't seem to have heard the question. "Sometimes," he said after a few minutes. "I didn't think you even remembered that."
"I should go," Harry said. He tucked his hands into the pockets of his jeans, and started to walk back to the garden so he could say his goodbyes to Hermione when Malfoy's voice made him stop in his tracks.
"Hey, Potter."
"Yes?" Harry asked, turning around to look at him.
"We should meet up sometime," Malfoy said, and Apparated with a soft pop, not waiting for a response.
Harry smiled. "Whatever, Malfoy."
Recipient: aluinnsearlait
Title: Possibilities
Pairing(s): Harry/Draco, past Harry/Ginny
Summary: An unexpected meeting causes old memories to resurface and new ones to be created.
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters herein are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No copyright infringement is intended.
Warning(s): None
Word Count: 1381
Author's Notes: A bit shorter than intended, due to RL issues, but I hope you like it nonetheless.
"Harry, you're here!" said a beaming Hermione when she answered the door. "Come in, come in. Here, give me your coat. I'm so glad you could make it!"
Harry sent her a small smile. He really didn't want to be here tonight, but it was Hermione's birthday, and Ron was likely to kill him if he didn't at least make an appearance. Harry's break-up with Ginny had left him more messed up than he'd expected to be, even though they had ended their relationship in mutual agreement.
He'd never realised how much Ginny did for him until after she was gone. Not just things like making sure he had something clean to wear and cooking his favourite food, but mostly the little things. He missed watching a movie together, or just sharing a nice conversation. Sure, he could do things like that with his friends, but it just wasn't the same.
Hermione kept urging him on to meet new people, to build new relationships, but every promising date he'd been on had turned out to be yet another person who was attracted to his 'Boy-who-lived-to-defeat-Voldemort' status and didn't really care about Harry himself. They didn't want to get to know him, they just wanted to show him off; and sleep with him, if possible.
Harry sighed. He hoped Hermione would at least leave him alone tonight. If he was honest, he was starting to get pretty damn fed up with the whole dating thing, and if Hermione kept pressuring him like this, he didn't know how he would react. Straightening his shoulders, he followed Hermione into the garden, only half listening to her enthusiastic chattering.
When Hermione had left him to attend to the rest of her guests, Harry made his way over to the refreshment table, looking for something to busy himself with so he didn't have to talk to anyone. He scanned the contents of the table, resting his eyes on a particularly delicious looking raspberry muffin.
"Well, well," the person standing next to him drawled. "Look who we have here."
Harry stiffened, dropping his muffin. It had been years since he'd last seen the owner of that voice, and yet he immediately knew whom it belonged to.
"Malfoy," Harry said edgily, picking his muffin up again and studying it closely before taking a bite. It really was a very tasty muffin. "What do you want?" he mumbled, still chewing.
"Very hygienic," Malfoy commented, wrinkling his nose in disgust. "Do I have to have a reason to speak to my favourite Boy Wonder?" he asked with a mock pout.
Harry huffed. He really didn't want to deal with this right now. Why hadn't Hermione mentioned that she'd invited Malfoy of all people to her birthday party? Just when Harry had done such a good job of avoiding him in the past years, too.
"Earth to Potter," Malfoy said, snapping his fingers in front of Harry's face. "Your already limited brain capacity is still working as slow as ever, I see."
"Look, Malfoy," Harry growled. "I am in a very bad mood, and I really don't feel like talking to you right now, let alone being a source for your amusement. So why don't you just fuck off?"
"Touchy, touchy," Malfoy said, and added with a smirk, "Trouble in paradise, perhaps? Did the Weaslette finally come to her senses?"
"For your information," Harry retorted, "We decided to call it quits months ago. It was a mutual decision, not that it's any of your business." He took another bite of his muffin. Spraying crumbs everywhere, he added as an afterthought, "Why are you even here? Aren't you supposed to be at home, crying over daddy's lost money?"
"Please, keep your bacteria to yourself," Malfoy said, handing him a tissue. He sniffed haughtily at Harry's question. "For your information, I happen to be an Unspeakable at the Ministry. I work with Hermione. Money is the last thing I have to worry about."
Harry was about to react when Hermione interrupted them. "I believe we are almost ready for dinner. Oh, I see you've already met Draco! It's so nice to see that you boys get on well." She gave Harry an encouraging smile. "Draco has been a huge support for me in the past few months. We've been dealing with some very tricky problems. That's about all I can say about it though, I'm afraid. Unspeakables, you understand." she said. Malfoy smirked.
"Now, if you two gentlemen would please go find your place at one of tables, I'll go and find Ron. He needs to help me with dessert." Hermione said.
"Bloody finally," Harry said, immediately leaving Malfoy in search of his table. Having spotted his name tag, Harry stopped at one of the tables. He sat down with a sigh. It looked like Susan Bones would be sitting next to him, and on the other side - Harry groaned loudly - Malfoy. Just his luck. He closed his eyes tiredly.
"We meet again, I see." Malfoy said, sitting down on the chair assigned to him. "And the lovely miss Bones. How are you?" he said, turning to Susan. They exchanged a bit of small talk before suddenly falling quiet.
Harry looked up. Ginny was standing at their table. "Susan, Draco," she acknowledged. "Harry." She sat down hesitantly.
Susan glanced at him, a worried look on her face. Harry rolled his eyes. Honestly, he wasn't going to break down or anything. "Ginny. Good to see you," he said, nodding.
That seemed to break the tension. Soon the two girls were happily chattering away. "So. Your team is still doing well, I heard?" Draco said, neatly cutting his steak. "I must say, the way things are looking now, I wouldn't be surprised if you manage to win the World Cup next year."
Harry raised his eyebrows, surprised by the compliment. "Well, even without Viktor, the Bulgarian team is a force to be reckoned with, not to mention the team from Poland."
"Oh, nonsense." Draco scoffed, "Their Chasers don't work together as flawlessly as they should, and the Bulgarians are obviously still getting used to their new Seeker. Now, the Canadians, all they need is a better strategy..."
When all plates were cleaned and stomachs were filled, Harry excused himself. He'd never been a person for crowds, and right now he needed a bit of time alone. He could already feel a headache coming up, though he'd been expecting it for quite some time now. Usually the pain would've been unbearable by now, but somehow it wasn't so bad today. Harry rested his arms on the fence surrounding the garden and leaned against it. His conversation with Malfoy had been interesting, pleasant even. It seemed they actually had quite a bit in common.
Meeting Malfoy again after all those years had caused him to remember a night five long years ago, towards the end of the war. Things had looked grim for everyone, and Harry had been suffering from a severe depression. Nobody seemed to notice, or maybe nobody had cared, but of all people, Malfoy had been the one to see. He had been the one to give Harry comfort by inviting him into his bed, he had been the one to understand. Harry still was grateful for that. He'd never told Ginny.
Harry sighed. Pretending it had never happened had been the best decision for all of them at the time, but now he wasn't so sure. He turned around and noticed that Malfoy was standing right next to him, a thoughtful look on his face. "Do you ever think of that night?" Harry asked, suddenly wanting to know.
Malfoy stared at the sky, head slightly tilted. He didn't seem to have heard the question. "Sometimes," he said after a few minutes. "I didn't think you even remembered that."
"I should go," Harry said. He tucked his hands into the pockets of his jeans, and started to walk back to the garden so he could say his goodbyes to Hermione when Malfoy's voice made him stop in his tracks.
"Hey, Potter."
"Yes?" Harry asked, turning around to look at him.
"We should meet up sometime," Malfoy said, and Apparated with a soft pop, not waiting for a response.
Harry smiled. "Whatever, Malfoy."