Drarry AI Oneshots

The Date That Wasn't

Draco Malfoy never should have listened to his friends. That much was painfully obvious now as he sat across from Harry Potter at a small café in Hogsmeade, pretending to sip his tea while his heart hammered in his chest.

The whole thing had started as a joke—one of Blaise's brilliant ideas. Pansy had gone along with it, of course, snickering as she suggested the idea to Draco over dinner in the Slytherin common room. They thought it would be hilarious for Draco to ask out Harry Potter, of all people, for a laugh. They figured Harry would either blush and stammer his way through a polite rejection, or he'd outright laugh in Draco's face.

The one thing they hadn't accounted for was Harry actually saying yes.

It had been a normal day in the Great Hall when Draco approached Harry, his nerves hidden behind his usual air of smug confidence. His friends were watching from the Slytherin table, snickering quietly, clearly waiting for Draco to make his move.

Draco had expected the worst. He figured Harry would laugh, or give him a look like he'd lost his mind. After all, they weren't enemies anymore, but they weren't exactly friends either. Their dynamic had mellowed since the war, but it wasn't anywhere close to warm.

But when Draco stood in front of him, hands in his pockets, and casually asked, "Potter, fancy going out with me this weekend?" he hadn't anticipated the way Harry's entire face would turn pink.

Harry blinked up at him, his green eyes wide with surprise. "Wait—what?"

Draco had smirked, masking his own nerves. "A date. You and me. What do you say?"

For a moment, Harry just stared at him, and Draco was sure the joke was going to fall flat. But then, to his utter shock, Harry's cheeks turned a deeper shade of red, and he mumbled, "Um... yeah. Sure."

Draco froze. His heart skipped a beat. "What?"

Harry smiled shyly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah. I'd like that."

Draco was so stunned that he could barely muster a response. He just nodded, muttered something about meeting at Hogsmeade, and walked away, feeling like his entire world had just been turned upside down.

His friends were laughing when he returned to the Slytherin table, congratulating him on pulling off the prank. But Draco barely heard them. His mind was spinning with the fact that Harry Potter had just agreed to go on a date with him. A real, actual date.

And now, he had no idea what to do.

The date itself was surprisingly... nice. They had met in Hogsmeade that Saturday, both of them looking more awkward than Draco had anticipated. Harry had shown up in a casual sweater and jeans, his hair its usual messy self, but there was something endearing about how shy he seemed.

Draco, for his part, had been a bundle of nerves the entire morning. He hadn't known what to expect—he had been preparing to explain that it was all a joke, to make an excuse and laugh it off. But the moment he saw Harry, looking at him with that soft smile and those bright green eyes, Draco found that he couldn't do it.

He couldn't crush that look of quiet hopefulness on Harry's face.

So instead of telling him the truth, Draco had smiled back and led Harry to a café, where they spent the next hour awkwardly sipping tea and making small talk. It was stilted at first—neither of them knew what to say—but as the minutes passed, the conversation became easier. Draco found himself laughing at Harry's dry humor, and Harry seemed more relaxed the longer they sat together.

Draco had never expected to enjoy himself, but as the date went on, he realized that he was. He liked talking to Harry. He liked the way Harry's eyes crinkled when he smiled, the way he nervously played with the edge of his sleeve, the way he seemed to light up whenever Draco actually listened to him.