𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐇/𝐃/𝐒 𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐄 2008

Splintered (3/4)

Chapter 3: Splintered, (3/4)

Chapter Text

Splintered, (3/4)

Harry felt like he was floating as he headed to the counter. He also felt like he was in school again, carrying books for his crush and hoping he'd notice. He waited patiently for Draco to pay, shrink the books and pocket them before suggesting the newest pub that had sprung up in Diagon Alley. The Leaky Cauldron had been damaged during the war and hadn't been repaired. Now it was only an entry to Diagon Alley, so there was a niche in the market that had been filled by no less than three new pubs since the war.

Before he knew what had happened he was seated across from Draco at a small table in a mostly empty pub, clutching a pint of ale and wondering what they possibly had to talk about. Draco was looking uncomfortable, so Harry gulped and grasped at a straw.

"So...besides the last week, what have you been up to since the war?" he asked softly, taking in how Draco's hair gleamed in the dim light.

"This and that," he said. Harry just gave him a pointed look and he sighed dramatically before adding, "Potions mostly, I haven't had the patience for a lot of socializing, although Pansy and Daphne like to drag me out on occasion. They like to set me up with various witches, but they've been unsuccessful so far. Poor girls have yet to figure out my type." He scoffed and shook his head , then took a sip of his drink. It was some kind of brandy that Harry had never heard of before, undoubtedly expensive.

"So what is your type?" Harry asked, then kicked himself mentally. 'Way to be subtle, Potter,' he chastised himself.

Draco lifted a brow. "Gorgeous," he said after a moment. "Funny, intelligent. Not air headed and full of their own imagined superiority. And not self absorbed either."

"Picky," Harry said.

"There's a reason I'm single," Draco said, taking a drink.

"Can't fault your taste though," Harry replied.

"Well, I do have impeccable taste."

"Ponce," Harry said, laughing. Draco chuckled too, making Harry's stomach clench. Merlin, but he was gorgeous.

"What about you, Po...Harry," Draco said.

"Me?"

"I thought I heard that you'd broken it off with the littlest Weasley," Draco watched him warily, as if Harry was going to jump on him for speaking of Ginny that way. Harry wanted to jump on him, for an entirely different reason altogether.

"Where'd you hear that?" Harry asked. It had only been a few days, he couldn't imagine the news had made it into Draco's social circle already.

"I, uh...I overheard something like that when you were talking with the other Weasley," Draco said, flushing just a little. It made Harry wonder what he'd look like flushed with arousal. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, and that's about all I heard." He looked almost apologetic and Harry couldn't be upset about it. It's not like he and Charlie had been in private, and if Malfoy had discerned that he was gay, the inevitable scene would have happened by now.

"Charlie," Harry said. "And yeah, I broke up with Ginny. Monday night actually, after I talked to you."

Draco's brow lifted in surprise. "You didn't seem too upset about it," he said.

"Yeah, well," Harry didn't know quite what to say. 'I'm gay' would likely not engender the response he wanted. "We just weren't right for each other. Nothing you can do to change it, sometimes it just is." Harry shrugged.