Stop All the Clocks (This Is the Last Time I'm Leaving Without You)

chapter 18

As far as stakeouts went, Harry thought this one might be his favourite. He and Draco were sitting at a small wrought iron table outside a café, sipping coffee from little white china cups and nibbling on almond biscotti while keeping an eye on the apothecary just across the street. The sun shone bright and warm in a cloudless blue sky, and a slight breeze ruffled Harry's hair. If Harry ignored the part where he was supposed to be keeping an eye on some stupid tosser who felt that trafficking in unicorn blood was a perfectly valid career choice, he could almost pretend this was a date.

They really ought to go on more dates, he thought. They mostly just stayed in, either fucking or fighting, sometimes both at once because apparently Draco was brilliant at multi-tasking. Even though they were in a relationship now, not much had changed. They'd just put a different label on what they were doing. And Harry wasn't quite sure how to take that. He still wasn't sure what exactly Draco wanted from him. He'd said he wanted everything, but that didn't exactly narrow things down and Harry wasn't sure if Draco wanted everything in the same way he did. Harry sighed.

"What is it?" Draco asked suddenly, startling Harry out of his thoughts.

"What's what?" Harry asked. He darted a glance to the apothecary, but didn't see anything worth his attention.

"What is it with you?" Draco clarified. He stretched his legs out beneath the table and his foot bumped against Harry's ankle. He didn't move away. "I can practically hear those rusty gears in your brain turning over."

Harry let that go. Draco's foot against his ankle was a welcome weight and it gave him the nerve to say, "My lease is up next month."

Draco went imperceptibly rigid as he took a sip of his coffee and slid a casual glance toward the apothecary as a wizard paused to peer into the window, then relaxed again as the man passed by without going inside. "Oh? Are you thinking of moving?"

Harry nudged the handle of his cup, turning it slightly. "Er. Sort of," he said. "I mean, I'd like to." He drew in a deep breath. "If that's all right with you."

"All right with me?" Draco asked, and his pale brows drew together. "Why on earth would you need my approval for it?"

"Well," Harry said, looking at the apothecary across the street. "It's just that your place is bigger than mine. And since I'm there all the time anyhow, I was just thinking..."

Draco's chair scraped on the pavement as he sat up straighter and the gentle pressure of his foot on Harry's ankle disappeared. He carefully set his cup back onto the table and said, "Don't you think that's moving a bit fast?"

"Maybe," Harry said. "But like I said, I'm there all the time anyhow."

"Not all the time."

"Close enough," Harry said, finally looking back at Draco. He felt slightly relieved to find Draco watching him contemplatively, with no trace of the contempt in his expression Harry had been half-afraid he'd see.

For a long moment they just stared at each other, then Draco sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. "Harry Potter," he said. "You constantly inspire me to new heights of madness. We've only been dating for seven weeks-"

"But we've been shagging for over three months," Harry broke in.

Draco dropped his hand away from his face so he could scowl at Harry unimpeded. "Yes, but we've only been properly dating for seven weeks."

"We were dating before, we just didn't put a name to it."

"We were shagging before. There were no dates involved."