Ship of Theseus (Harry X Draco)

Chapter 5

"I went on a date," he told Pansy, the next day, at Ginny's flat.

"You did?" asked Pansy.

"Mhm."

"With whom?" asked Ginny.

"Clarence Elgar?"

"Oh, my God," said Ginny. "Did you see his dick? Was it huge?"

"I did not see his dick," said Draco.

"Pansy, Clarence is the hottest person I've ever actually seen in person," said Ginny. Pansy grinned wickedly.

"Is he, now?"

"He really is impossibly good looking," said Draco.

"So? How did it go?" asked Ginny.

"He liked me, I think," said Draco, taking a sip of wine.

"And?" asked Pansy. "Did you like him?"

"Yeah," said Draco.

Yeah. He did like Clarence, more or less. He liked that Clarence liked him.

"I love what a good listener you are," Clarence told him, when they had been dating for a month. Draco smiled. They were at the Jules Verne, the Michelin-star restaurant on the second floor of the Eiffel Tower. That was something that was better with Clarence than with Harry: Clarence loved fancy shit. They went to the opera, the ballet, to expensive exhibits at the Tate Modern, to wine tastings in the South of France. Draco had tried dragging Harry to the opera once. Harry had complained and asked stupid questions the entire time. He laughed when Carmen died.

There were other things that were better with Clarence than with Harry. Clarence showered Draco with gifts, for instance; expensive, tasteful gifts. That had been one of his earliest fights with Harry. It had taken a lot for Draco to realise that Harry wasn't slighting him when he gave joke gifts at Christmas.

They had settled it, eventually. Draco would leave a catalogue out on the kitchen table, with what he wanted circled in red pen, and would buy it for him. But it was nicer, not to have to do that. Simply to receive things he loved, unexpectedly, knowing Clarence had picked them out.

Draco was well-aware that his constant tally of ways in which things were better with Clarence was a testimony to how much better things had been, overall, with Harry.

But that, in itself, was one of the advantages of his relationship with Clarence. He had never been able to believe his luck, when he had been with Harry. It had seemed too good to be true; self-indulgently blissful. Dating Clarence was work, and so it felt more credible.

"Is he good in bed?" asked Pansy.

"Yeah," lied Draco, because he had chosen Clarence, and owed him his loyalty. In truth, Clarence, like most truly good looking men, was rather clumsy in bed. He relied more on the excitement of his partner than on any innate skill.

Probably the best thing about Clarence was that Draco felt nothing like himself around him.

They had been dating for several months before they ran into Harry. It was at a party at Neville's house. Not much of a party, really, not compared to the glamorous events Clarence and Draco attended constantly. They sat in Neville's living room, snacking on cheese cubes. Clarence had his arm around Draco, and stroked Draco idly as he talked. Draco was embarrassed by how Clarence mistook Dean Thomas' politeness for interest, but he didn't say anything.

On his other side, Hermione and Ginny were talking about a camping trip they were planning. Harry sat next to Ron, his feet on the coffee table, looking dark and handsome and dour.

"Draco, will you come, if we go camping?" asked Hermione, across the circle. Draco opened his mouth to answer, but Clarence got there first.

"We hate camping," said Clarence, squeezing Draco close.

"Why don't you let him speak for himself, for once?" asked Harry disdainfully. Draco had hoped that Harry would see him with Clarence and feel jealous-Clarence was so very good looking-but now he saw how hopeless that little fantasy had been. Harry probably thought Clarence was every bit as boring as Draco did.

Clarence laughed uncomfortably.

"Harry," chided Hermione.

"What?" asked Harry, and Draco knew, he could hear, how close Harry was to blowing up. "He hasn't let Draco say a word all evening!"

"I don't want to go camping," said Draco quietly, to Hermione. Clarence looked at him anxiously.

"Have I been talking over you?" he asked, when people had stopped looking at them.

"No," said Draco. Clarence kissed his nose. Clarence loved him. Draco had never felt sure of Harry, and it was wonderful, knowing, knowing that Clarence loved him.

"You'd tell me, right?" asked Clarence.

"Of course," said Draco.

"I love you," said Clarence. Draco kissed him on the lips.

"Love you too," he said, because he did. It wasn't an exciting sort of love. It was more like gratitude than anything else. But he did feel it. Harry left the party early.

To be continued...