diner- drarry

zéro

Harry stood with his back to the brick wall of his school, his earbuds in. He waiting for his aunt and uncle to pick him up from soccer practice, but as usual, they were three hours late. He assumed they were out somewhere eating, like they usually did on practice days, as an excuse to make Harry buy his own dinner.

Harry's music was interrupted by the sound of shouting coming from around the corner of the wall. He pulled out one of his earbuds, wanting to listen in on what was happening. It was strange that anyone else was at school this late.

"This is your mother's fault," a man's voice shouted.

"It's not! She has nothing to do with this!" This voice was a man's, too, but it cracked like a teenager's.

He heard the squealing of tires, and figured that whoever had been arguing with the boy was leaving. He saw an expensive-looking black car speed out of the parking lot.

"Fuck!" Harry heard the sound of something metal fall over, and he assumed the boy had hit something out of anger.

He ultimately decided it was none of his business, and that he was too hungry to care. He unlocked his cell phone, and ordered an Uber. Just as he looked up from his phone, someone bumped into him, causing his glasses to fall to the ground.

Harry looked up to see the familiar, blurry face of Draco Malfoy. Great, Harry thought. He couldn't stand him. He reached around on the ground, searching for his glasses.

"Watch it," he said, standing up, and putting on his glasses. "God, you're such an-."

He stopped mid sentence as he saw that Draco's pale face was flushed and tear streaked. "Um..." said Harry, quietly. He'd never seen him this upset, or even upset at all, for that matter, and he wasn't sure what to do. He realized that the other boy probably wasn't in the mood to argue, and that he probably needed some comfort, even if it was from someone who he disliked. "I'm sorry. Are you...er...okay?" 

Draco sighed. "Fuck off, Potter." What a dick. That was what Harry got for trying to be nice to him. Draco started to walk away, and Harry felt a pang of guilt knowing that Draco's house was miles away from here, and he'd be the one forcing him to walk that far.

"Look..." he offered, causing the blonde boy to stop walking and turn around. "Do you need a ride or something? Cause I just ordered Uber..."

He sighed. "Yeah...I mean... that would be nice, I guess." He sniffled, and wiped his nose on his sleeve, walking back towards Harry.

Harry sat on the curb, and Draco sat beside him. They still remained a good distance apart, because even after that act of kindness from Harry, they still weren't very fond of each other.

"So... who were you arguing with?" asked Harry. It was obviously none of his business, but they didn't have much to talk about, and he was curious.

"My dad..." he muttered. "It's fine, it happens all the time."

"You seemed pretty upset about it..."

"Look, Potter," he said, his familiar confident look returning to his face. "I appreciate the ride and all, but the last thing I need is advice from you. Of course I'm upset about it. He's my dad, and I hate arguing with him."

"Yeah," muttered Harry, chewing one of his nails. "I get it. No need to be an ass."

"I'm not being an ass," he defended. "I just don't think it's any of your business."

"Fair enough," sighed Harry. An uncomfortable silence passed between them. "So it's not cause you're gay?" 

"What the hell, Potter?!" he said, his face turning even redder than before. "Did your buddy Ron tell you that? Because tell him that I'll-"

"I just assumed... a lot of people say..." It was true. Last year, a rumor had been going around the school that an extremely intoxicated Draco tried to kiss Dean Thomas at a party. It had since died down, but Draco still got shit for it. 

"A lot of people said you got Ginny Weasley pregnant last year, but that turned out to not be true." Ginny had in fact spread the rumor herself until one of her brothers confirmed it to be false. 

"You're right," he sighed. "I'm sorry for assuming."

Draco groaned. "It's whatever."

"Yeah..." said Harry. The silence returned. Thankfully, the Uber pulled up a few minutes later, and Harry and Draco climbed in. They both put in their earbuds in during the car ride, avoiding more disastrous conversation.

Draco looked confused when they arrived at a diner instead of either one of their houses.

"Why are we here?" he asked.

"I've gotta eat dinner," Harry replied. The two exited the car, and Harry opened the door. Draco followed, looking confused. The diner was called Rachel's. It was decorated with retro tables and lights, with a wall of old records.

They sat down at a table near the front together. "Are you ordering anything?" asked Harry, pushing his menu towards him.

"Um..." he said. "I don't know... I've never been to one of these places before." His gray eyes skimmed the menu. "Is the burger good?"

"You have to have had a burger before," said Harry, a grin spreading across his face. It was strange to think that he had never had one before.

"No..." said Draco, an embarrassed blush spreading across. "I mean... the cook makes turkey burgers..." 

Harry shook his head. "Trust me, it's not the same."

"Oh? So...um...should I get one? I'm not really allowed..."

"Most definitely," he told him. "Get fries and a milkshake with it, too."

"That's a lot of carbs, Potter." A worried look spread across his face.

"You're sixteen," he said, laughing. "I'm sure you'll be fine."

Draco grinned. Harry realized he'd never seen his smile before. It was crooked, but big and bright, lighting up the whole room. "Alright."

The waitress came, and Harry ordered a burger, as well.

"So..." he said, once she left to drop off their orders. "Do you wanna talk about what happened now?"

"No," replied Draco. "I don't. Look, I owe you a ride, not a therapy session."

"Fine," agreed Harry. His mind suddenly went to all the times he'd seen Draco driving to school in an expensive-looking red car. "Don't you have a car?"

"Yeah... my dad was supposed to be taking me to dinner, so he drove me to school, and he was supposed to pick me up..."

"Oh," replied Harry, pushing up his glasses. "So can you drive me home from practice next week, then?"

"Um...sure," said Draco, blushing. "We can meet up after." Harry nodded.

Their food came, and Draco didn't speak as he wolfed down his entire meal. "Oh my god," he said. "Mother was right. These are terribly addicting. I can feel myself getting fatter."

Harry felt a strange rush of affection towards him as he ate his burger. "You look fine," he complimented. "One burger won't kill you."

After they ate, Harry ordered another Uber to their houses, and they stood outside for a few minutes, waiting for it to arrive.

"We have to come back next week," he said. He blushed. "Sorry, is that weird?"

"No," said Harry. "I mean... we might as well, since you're giving me a ride."

"Cool," said Draco. Their car arrived soon after.

On the ride home, they were both quiet again, but there was no tense energy between them like before. Instead, the silence was comfortable and warming.

They went to Draco's house first, and he got out, waving goodbye to Harry and thanking him.