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Draco bit his lip when he read through an internet post of what his favourite restaurant, 'La Vegetalienne' had planned for their Valentine's day menu... baked cashew Camembert with freshly baked bread to share... maple and mustard-glazed celeriac steak with red wine lentils and parsnip puree with a chicory, walnuts and apple vinaigrette and for desert, a chocolate fondue with shortbread, truffles and berries... just reading the words made Draco salivate.
His eyes flickered to the hearts at the edges of the pictures and he sighed. He was not going to be that one loser who was going to have dinner by his lonesome on valentine's day surrounded by happy couples, no sir, he would not.
...maple and mustard-glazed celariac steak with red wine lentils though...
Out of the corner of his eye, Draco saw Harry shut a case file and push it onto the 'finished' pile. For a second, Draco allowed himself to indulge in the daydream of taking Potter to La Vegetalienne. To share the Camembert with him, maybe feed him some of the berries from the chocolate fondue...
He quickly shook his head. His crush was well and truly getting out of control. There was no way Harry would even accept... right? Draco chanced another glance at his auror partner and at the way his shoulders slightly hunched over as he read the next file avidly.
He cleared his throat and Harry looked up.
"Yes Draco?"
It was now or never, Draco mused. Just go carefully, Draco, he reminded himself. Ask him politely. His last break up has only been three months ago...
"Potter, I demand you accompany me to dinner this evening," Draco said and tried to school his expression into practiced aloofness even though his grip around his phone tightened considerably.
Harry stared at him and blinked.
"I, what? Huh? Today is... today is Valentine's day..."
"Yes," Draco replied, emphasising his uncaring expression with a wave of his hand, "do you have anything better to do?"
At this, Harry blushed.
"No, but..."
"Hm?"
"Wouldn't it be awkward for us two to go have dinner on Valentine's day?"
The word awkward practically boomed through Draco's brain at full volume. But if he had learnt anything in his 22 years of age, it was not to stop once he'd started something.
"Listen here," he started, getting slightly agitated, "I want to eat the food. The menu has been designed for couples. The only awkward thing would be me sitting in this restaurant alone, between fifty couples, just because my only friend can't share a meal with me and hold my hand for a bit and gaze into my eyes lovingly for an hour to bend to societies shit inventions."
He rolled his eyes at the end, for good measure.
Silence rung through the office before Harry spoke up.
"Did you just say hold your hand and gaze into your eyes?"
"Well duh, Potter. If I am to share my cashew Camembert with you I need some serious eye contact," Draco said and smirked while putting his phone in his robe pocket.
He didn't dare look at Harry, though. He didn't want to see the bewilderment and the disgust and the...
"Okay."
"Okay?"
"Yeah. I'll be your cashew Camembert date."
When Draco did look up, Harry grinned at him. An open, wide grin that made his eyes crinkle with mirth.
Draco immediately felt like he'd just lost the upper hand.
"Well then. Be there at eight. Look sharp. And hand me the Emmerson case in the meantime."
Draco was nervous. He couldn't help but fiddle with his cufflinks, hoping that Harry didn't comment on his outfit. He wasn't quite sure on it after all. Usually, he came here in casual Muggle clothing as it was a Muggle restaurant. He favoured black jeans and a sweater. However, he figured that the occasion and the festive setting called for something a little more high class and so he had braved one of the shops in which Muggles bought their 'suits', hoping he didn't look absolutely ridiculous in his dark grey model.
He was a little early and glanced around the restaurant, trying to spot an empty table. But all he could see were couples. Couples everywhere. Kissing, holding hands, feeding each other truffles and berries and cheese made out of nuts... He couldn't believe that he'd gone through the ordeal of ordering Potter to be here only to be turned away on the grounds of a full house.
He was just about to talk to the waitress, beg for a table if need be, when he spotted a hand in the air. His eyes widened and he felt like he'd forgotten how to breathe, when his eyes traveled down the attached arm and straight into Harry's handsome face. His gentle smile as he beckoned Draco over to where he sat on a small table in the corner of the restaurant - Draco's favourite spot. He also wore a suit, which made Draco only feel more ridiculous because how could he ever compare to the gorgeous man grinning at him?
Slowly, he set himself in motion and ran his hand through his hair in a nervous gesture. He didn't even think about the twenty minutes it had taken him for his hair to be perfectly coiffed.
Once he was standing right in front of Potter, he didn't know what to say. It's nice to see you? You look beautiful? How did you get a table, this place is packed?
"You're early."
Harry chuckled and stood up to engage Draco in a quick one armed hug, as they always did whenever they saw each other outside of work.
"You, too."
Harry sat back down and when Draco didn't even attempt to do the same, Harry rolled his eyes and stood back up to pull out the chair for him.
"Here you go, Princess," he whispered in his ear as he pushed the chair with Draco closer to the table, amusement clear in his voice.
Draco felt his face heat up.
He watched Harry sit down again and started to question all of his life choices. He was just about to say as much, to just laugh it off, treat is as a joke and suggest they go home, veggie steak be damned, when the waitress came over and asked placed the complementary champagne in front of them, which came with the Valentine's meal.
"Uhm," Draco looked confused, "I'm sorry but we haven't ordered yet."
The young woman was just about to reply, when Harry smiled at him and said: "Oh I'm sorry, honey. I just ordered the Valentine's meal for us before you arrived," he then turned to the waitress, "thank you so much."
When she nodded and turned to leave, Harry took his glass in hand and grinned at Draco again.
"Cheers."
Draco glared.
This wasn't what he'd bargained for. He just wanted some food! Just food!
"Potter, what are you doing?"
Harry folded his napkin onto his lap and smiled before resting his hands on either side of his plate and cocking his head.
"What, not enough eye contact for you, Draco?"
Hearing his name from Harry's lips in a darkened restaurant with a candle shining bright between them usually was what Draco's daydreams were made of. He couldn't help but feel mocked in this instance, however, and he didn't appreciate it one bit.
"Look, Harry," he started shuffling his cutlery around, "I asked you to come so I didn't have to be here by myself. And now I feel like you're mocking me, which is fine."
Harry was about to interrupt his speech but Draco held up one hand to keep him from it.
"But this? Food? Vegan food? Is important to me. It means indulging in something without hurting anyone or anything. It means taking care of myself. It means taking care of creatures who have never done anything to anyone. It means me trying to atone for all the hurt I have caused in my past. And I am so freaking excited about it. Fucking vegan Camembert, Harry. Chocolate fondue. Just let me enjoy this. Mock me as much as you want tomorrow."
He wasn't able to directly look at his auror partner, instead he fixated on his empty plate, before he sensed Harry shift.
Harry's hand covered his own and stilled his nervous clatter with the fork and knife.
"Draco...," Harry started but before he could continue, the waitress was back and with her an amazing looking wooden board containing the vegan cheese and grapes, as well as as a tiny basket containing fresh bread.
"Enjoy," she chimed happily before leaving them to it.
Neither of them moved.
"Draco," Harry started again, "I know how important your veganism is to you. Which is why I am here. You also deserve as much love as every other person in this room."
At this, Draco looked up and straight at Harry, whose eyes rested calmly on him in an easy and earnest way that was so essentially him, that it made Draco's heart ache.
"You're my best friend-"
"Bollocks, the Weasel is your best friend."
"Ron is Hermione's husband. You are my best friend."
"He can be both Hermione's husband and your best friend."
Harry groaned.
"But he's... okay, never mind. Anyway, Draco, just... yeah," Harry said, suddenly deflating.
"Just eat your cheese."
Draco didn't know what to say. He replayed the scene in his mind and came to one conclusion: He was behaving like an absolute brat. Harry was nice enough to come to dinner with him, even pretend to be his Valentine in order to make Draco happy. He'd been perfect, which was exactly Draco's problem. Even though it didn't have any right to be.
He watched Harry sniff a piece of the vegan cheese and put it on a piece of bread before biting into it. His eyes lit up and it was obvious that he liked it, which made Draco's heart swell even more.
He reached over on an impulse and brushed a few breadcrumbs off Harry's chin.
"You're right," he sighed and quickly dropped his hands again after Harry started looking at him questioningly.
"You're, you're my best friend too you know. And you deserve all of the love, too."
Draco watched Harry chew slowly and finally swallow, before he replied:
"All of the love?"
Draco nodded. And more, he wanted to say but kept his mouth firmly shut.
Harry grinned mischievously.
"In that case, why didn't you get me some flowers? Chocolates? It is valentine's after all?"
A loud laugh escaped Draco, which quickly turned into giggles.
"I beg your pardon, Potter?" he gestured at the still half full platter of cheese and grapes, "I am treating you to a feast. I even wore a Muggle suit for you!"
Harry popped one of the grapes into his mouth and hummed appreciatively.
"I noticed. It brings out your eyes. Good colour on you, dark grey. We should have the auror department reconsider the colour of our uniform."
"You mean so that the uniform would always match my eyes, and thus by default making me the prettiest person in that shithole of a ministry?"
"Aww, Draco, you're already the prettiest person in there. None of the other witches stand a chance against you."
Draco grinned and spread the Camembert on a piece of bread, trying not to blush and to calm his heartrate back down.
"Damn right. Don't you forget it."
The meal ended up being a pleasant affair after all. Draco soon forgot about the awkwardness in the beginning and instead started to talk to Harry as he always would. They bickered and joked while devouring the delicious food. It was worth all of the trouble, Draco decided.
It was only when the chocolate fondue was placed before them, that Draco started to feel a little outside of his comfort zone again, especially since their hands kept touching while dipping their array of fruits and shortbread into the chocolate sauce. Even worse, Harry was obviously unable to feed himself properly and chocolate sauce was constantly dripping down his chin, only for him to catch it with his finger and then licking it clean.
It was a very hard desert to sit through, Draco decided.
When they were ready to leave, Draco made to pay for their meal but the smiling waitress informed him that it had already been taken care of. Shocked, he turned around to look at Harry, to returned his gaze sheepishly and holding out Draco's coat for him to slip into.
Draco, trying not to make a scene, slipped into one of the sleeves and stopped for a second, glad that he had his back turned to Harry at the moment.
"You didn't have to pay," he mumbled before slipping his other arm through its sleeve.
"I wanted to," Harry said and Draco finally turned around. Harry looked like he was about to say something else, but lightly touched Draco's elbow instead.
"Let's head out first?"
If Draco had been trying hard not to make a scene before, it was nothing compared to what he was experiencing now. Mainly because Harry Potter. Stupid Harry Potter, thought it was appropriate to take his hand while guiding him out of the restaurant, through all the little tables, over handbags and past couples looking into each others souls over dinner.
Once outside, Draco quickly snatched his hand back, which earned him an unreadable look from Harry.
"What are you playing at?" Draco asked, angry at the handholding, annoyed at his heartbeat, furious at the look Harry now gave him.
Harry held up his hands in mock surrender.
"Look, I just thought you'd wanted a proper Valentine's experience, yeah? So this is what I did. Making doe eyes at you, telling you you look pretty, holding your hand..."
Draco spluttered.
"You did all of that to what? Make me uncomfortable? See how far you can go with me? Punish me for asking you to come because your hero complex wouldn't ever say no if anyone asked anything of you?"
"Not anyone. You."
"Huh?"
"You said I wouldn't ever say no if anyone asked anything of me. But that is not true. I am plenty able to say no to people. Gerald from accounting has been trying to ask me out. Sarah from the cantine as well..."
Draco rolled his eyes.
"Well lucky you."
"I never would've gone out with any of them. But I just had dinner with you"
"Yes, because we are friends and because I am a pathetic loser noone wants to take on an actual date," he couldn't help but sound bitter. He didn't want to look at Harry and cupped his hands around his mouth to warm them up, instead, trying to focus on his task, not on the hard line Harry's mouth suddenly formed.
"Anyone would be so damn lucky to date you. But they can't."
Draco laughed. It sounded bitter to his own ears.
"They can't? And why is that?"
Harry looked to the ground, shuffling his feet.
"This isn't working out as I was hoping it would," he grumbled and sighed.
"Draco, I thought if I went along with this... and went to your stupid Valentine's date with you and showed you how good I could be as a... as a..." he swallowed thickly, "partner, you might be...you might be open to do it again."
Draco was dumbfounded. He must've misheard because it had almost sounded like Harry asking him out. Was Harry asking him out?
"...What?"
Harry groaned and Draco was well aware that they were still standing in the soft light of the restaurant, which made Harry look almost ethereal to Draco. The most beautiful man he'd ever seen in any case.
"I figured if I was here early and paid and... and held your hand and... complimented you, you would... maybe say yes if I asked you to go out sometime... Like on a date."
"On a real date?"
Harry nodded but Draco couldn't ask again.
"A real date which ends with a kiss?"
Another nod.
Draco took a step towards Harry.
"I cannot believe you thought I'd be so... so... superficial as to be impressed by your compliments and money. I am able to pay for meals myself, you know?"
"I know Draco and I'm sorry, I..."
Draco snorted and effectively shut Harry up by taking his hand.
"This will have to be our first fight as a couple, Potter."
Harry looked at their intertwined fingers and licked his lips.
"As... as a couple?"
"You're mine now. Which mean's vegan food all day every day."
"And kisses?"
Draco nodded, "and kisses."
"And... more?"
"Keep it in your pants, Harry, I don't put out on the first date," Draco said haughtily and started walking into the direction of the closest apparition point.
While walking, he thought that Harry's laugh and his hand in his were the best things to ever happen to him.
So when Harry replied: "Wouldn't dream of it, princess," Draco stopped, turned to face Harry and kissed him.
With the hand not currently grasping Harry's hand, he cupped his cheek and deepened the kiss when Harry immediately responded enthusiastically.
They smiled at each other softly, when they parted and with one last look toward the restaurant, Draco thought that in the end, it all really did come down to vegan food, before he was pulled away by the power of Harry's apparition, pulling him with him.