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Draco was just about to take it off again when Pansy barged into the room. He would definitely not wear it tonight.
“Are you ready yet? You’re taking ages and we- Holy crap, you look gorgeous!”
“Yeah. Could you help me take it off again please?”
“Oh, Merlin, no! You’re wearing that!”
“But-“
“Nuh-uh, I’m not discussing this. The only choice I’ll give you is: with makeup or without makeup?”
Draco sighed. He really didn’t want to do this tonight. He’d rather just fly under the radar again. The dress could wait for another occasion.
“Pansy, I really don’t think-“
“Okay, with makeup then. Come on, I’ll do it for you!”
For a moment Draco kept hesitating, but then he gave in and followed Pansy into the bathroom. Maybe it was time. He’d bought the dress four years ago and up until now he had always chickened out last minute whenever there had been a fitting event. After everything he had done during the war… let’s just say it wasn’t so pleasant anymore to be recognized by other wizards or witches.
But on the other hand, people had started to get over it. Draco was working as a healer and many people only saw his face after he had already saved their lives. Things were getting easier again. He was slowly overcoming the guilt that had been eating him up during the first years after The Battle. The past slowly started to become his past and he was instead focusing on turning himself into the best version of Draco Malfoy there could be.
Yes, it was probably about time he started wearing this dress. He looked absolutely fabulous in it after all.
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“-Thank you and happy holidays. May the new year bring us joy and magic.”
With a polite smile Harry left the stage to Kingsley. As soon as he was away from the spotlight, he dropped the mask and asked the closest waiter for one of the golden drinks. What Harry had learned over the years of ministry functions and speeches and balls: the brighter the colour, the stronger the drink.
He hated giving speeches. God, he hated it so much. It was probably the worst part of his far-from-glamorous job as the head-auror.
After he had downed the drink he moved into the least crowded corner of the ballroom and leaned against the wall. He would have slouched but that was hardly possible in his stiff uniform. That damn uniform! It wasn’t even practical! It looked impressive and every now in then the special protection was strong enough to hold off a curse he didn’t deflect in time but apart from that it was just stiff and itchy and way too tight around the neck. He couldn’t wait to quit this job as soon as another opportunity would open itself up.
He carded his hand through his hair, not really caring that his hairdresser had spent an hour taming it earlier. Slowly, Harry let his gaze wander over the people in the room. He had to stay at least for an hour and Hermione had opted out this time. Unwillingly, considering that Ron had caught a dreadful curse two weeks prior and someone had to look after Rose and Hugo while he was at St. Mungos.
Either way, it meant that Harry was stuck at this Ministry Yule ball on his own and he’d prefer to find himself some pleasant company before a bunch of self-declared important people would start chatting him up.
Then he saw him. He was standing at one of the high tables, chatting with Parkinson and Luna. Of course, the only one of his friends who was here tonight just had to be the one who had made friends with Draco Malfoy.
Harry kept his eyes fixed upon Malfoy angrily. Or so he was telling himself. Even though he was very far from actually believing it this time. Because most of his mind was currently more freaking out about the fact that Draco Malfoy was wearing a dress and he was absolutely slaying it!
So, while he told himself that he was glaring at his childhood rival he was actually more drinking in the way the dress was falling around Draco’s form silkily all the way down to his ankles, bringing out his best angles and exposing his right shoulder. In the same silver as the dress, he was wearing elegant high heels.
Harry caught himself thinking about how Draco’s legs must look below that veil of fabric. Immediately he tore his gaze away from his legs and instead let it settle on something a little further up. Only a small sliver of his pointy face was visible. His platinum blonde hair was pulled back into a loose French braid, some strands had fallen out and were softly framing his sharply cut jaw.
Harry felt his heart starting to flutter and forced himself to turn away, to look back up towards the podium where a band had just started playing.
He was a hopeless case.
A year ago, after about the third time that Draco had fixed him back up, he’d been able to brush this off as a stupid crush on a very attractive guy. Now it was clearly more than that and it definitely didn’t seem to go away anytime soon. And he was running out of reasons not to ask Draco out.
Harry hadn’t dated anyone in a while. Neither man, nor woman. He had put himself out there for a certain period of time after his breakup with Ginny, but it wasn’t easy to find something that was working out for him, considering that he was The Saviour and all.
So, what was holding him back from asking out Draco Malfoy, you might ask.
The answer is simple: Empty excuses.
And that damn dress absolutely broke down all of the walls Harry had built up. Before he could talk himself out of it again, he started walking over to the table of the three with a quick step. On his way he grabbed himself one of the lilac drinks. Some extra courage wouldn’t hurt.
“Hello, ladies and gentleman. You all are looking fabulous tonight!”
He raised his glass to each of them, ending with Draco. He almost choked when he looked up at him. He hadn’t counted on him being so damn tall in those heels. And he had been even less prepared for sparkling eyeshadow and rich purple lipstick. Draco smirked. That guy knew exactly what he was doing to Harry!
“Thanks, Harry. You’re looking quite handsome yourself!”
Harry cleared his throat to regain control over his voice. “Thanks, Luna.”
The following silence was filled to the brim with tension. Harry was about to strike up a conversation about work or something when Pansy picked up her empty glass with one hand and grasped Luna’s wrist with the other.
“I really need another drink. Come on, Luna. Let’s head over to the bar. It was very nice seeing you, Harry!”
Then she threw Draco a glance that was surely supposed to mean something, but Harry had never been the best at reading other people. In a matter of seconds Harry was alone with Draco.
Desperately wanting to look at the beautiful man again, he luckily managed to convince himself to say something before giving in.
“So, how are you? Are things going well for you at work?”
Then he let himself lock eyes with Draco and immediately had to take a shivering breath. This was a terrible idea. Malfoy would make him look ridiculous in front of everyone. And it would be so easy for him as well.
“I’m having a blast, Potter. Even though nobody has asked me to dance, yet.” Draco was still smirking and Harry wasn’t sure if he was mocking him or if he really meant it. Draco raised an eyebrow.
Wait, was he waiting for Harry to do something? Harry’s expression probably looked really stupid right then.
Draco rolled his eyes and released Harry from his misery.
“In case you didn’t get that: I would like to dance with you, Potter.”
Harry’s heart went crazy. He couldn’t have heard that correctly, right? But now it was definitely time for him to say something.
“Uh- um, yes. Yes, sure.”
After taking a long sip of his drink and slapping himself mentally, Harry managed to remember his ballroom etiquette skills that he had somewhat achieved over his years at the ministry. He held out his arm for Draco, trying not to freak out entirely when he took it, and led him over to the dancefloor.
Before Harry could get confused about who was leading, Draco had placed both his hands on Harry’s shoulders. Once again, Harry cursed his uniform. While it would have been an extra distraction, Harry wouldn’t have minded feeling them through his unnecessary shoulder-pads.
Gently he placed his hands on Draco’s waist and they easily started dancing to the slow rhythm of the music.
He looked up at the other man’s face and found him smiling. Harry couldn’t recall ever having seen Draco Malfoy smile like that. It wasn’t like his polite and respectful and sometimes pitiful smiles that he wore at his workplace. It was… fond. Harry’s face started to warm up and he smiled back.
After a while, he dared to pull Draco a little closer. He tried to make it seem like he wasn’t doing it on purpose, but Draco immediately caught onto it. He raised an eyebrow and let his smile grow a little wider, his teeth were sticking out against the deep colour of his lips. The next thing he knew, Draco’s arms were circled around his neck. Harry abruptly stopped dancing. His brain couldn’t process all those sensations at once and keep his feet moving in the correct pattern.
Harry tried to make up an excuse, but Draco was so damn close and he smelled so nice and Harry’s brain just short-circuited. Without another word, he took one of Draco’s hands and strode towards the exit of the room.
Once he had rounded a few corners and found himself in a hallway that was barely used - even on regular work-days - he turned to look at Draco. The gaze that fell back on him was so intense that Harry was assured his feelings weren’t one sided. He stepped closer to the other man and placed his free hand on his hip. Harry gulped nervously. He could feel every curve and edge of Draco’s body through the soft fabric of the dress.
Draco stepped closer himself now and before Harry had processed what was happening, he was pressed against a wall.
“Are you going to kiss me, or what?”
As soon as these words had reached Harry’s ears, his body took over for him. He had no idea what exactly his body was doing, he only knew that Draco’s lips felt amazing on his and that this was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.
Harry’s hand found Draco’s naked shoulder by accident and instinctively he broke the kiss to leave a trail of pecks and maybe one or the other hickey all along Draco’s neck, down to his collarbone.
Draco huffed a breathless laugh.
“Wouldn’t have thought you’d get around to doing that anytime soon.”
“Didn’t think so either but that damn dress! You’re driving me insane, Malfoy!”
“Mhm, get back to kissing me, Potter!”
Harry happily complied.