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After the war and reconstruction, a new area by Diagon Alley had been set aside, magically of course. Usually the area held community events but for the past few years, every December, it hosted a Christmas Market. It had started small in the beginning but had grown in the few years it had first begun. The children loved the toy section, the adults loved the cider and wine section, and both equally enjoyed the food and sweet section. In the middle of the entire set up was always a large red chair set on a platform with a man in a red suit with a long white beard.
That aspect confused a lot of people who only knew the wizarding world. There had been many questions sent to the Prophet. The Prophet had run an explanation in a special edition. There were also pamphlets released to the wizarding world that explained better who Santa Claus was. Not that the man who showed up to sit in the seat was the real Santa. It had to be explained that the man who dressed up as Santa was just an imitation. Although the man who did it yearly was someone the wizarding world was very familiar with.
“Oh look. There’s “Santa,” Blaise said as they walked through the Christmas Market. “And as usual it’s your kind of Santa.” Blaise said suggestively, elbowing his friend.
“Shut up, Blaise,” Draco said sharply as his eyes darted over to look at the Santa who had a long line of eager children, and some adults, waiting. “My kind of Santa? Honestly.”
“Well it’s not like you didn’t know he was here. And it’s not like, for the past few years since this has started, you’ve brought us out here to ogle that particular Santa,” Pansy drawled sarcastically, even throwing an eye roll in there.
“I do not ogle!” Draco sneered. “You lot don’t have to accompany me.”
“Aww but we like spending time with you,” Blaise said as he wrapped an arm around Draco and gave him a half hug, “even if we do have to deal with your crush on “Santa.”” Blaise almost laughed but grunted in pain at the elbow in his side.
“Why don’t we get in line?” Pansy asked.
“Why?” Draco asked perplexed.
“So you can sit on Santa’s lap,” Pansy deadpanned.
“Only children are allowed on his lap,” Draco said immediately.
“Says who?” Blaise asked.
Draco just pointed at a sign that had a list of rules. One of the rules stated only children up to the age of 11 could sit on Santa’s lap and tell them what they wanted for Christmas. Right after that was a rule for pictures. If an adult wanted a picture with Santa they had to take a picture with their child/children in the photo. Blaise whistled lowly at the amount of rules listed.
“The price of fame,” Blaise stated almost wistfully, while dropping his arm from around Draco’s shoulder and turning away from the line of people. “Now mulled cider wine?”
Draco let himself be lead away, taking one last peek at “Santa.” He made a face as Pansy recounted the bizarre flavored wines they stumbled across over the years. He missed the look “Santa” gave them as they walked away.
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“Mate, you don’t have to do it,” Ron said as he sipped his hot cocoa.
“You tell me that every year. And what do I say?” Harry asked as he sprawled out on the couch after having taken a shower.
“Something about happiness and joyfulness and making spirits bright,” Ron said with a grin. He picked the marshmallow up off his lap that had bounced harmlessly off his head.
“So I get a little Christmas-y when drunk. Shut up,” Harry said sarcastically. Ron just laughed. He felt something nudge his leg so he lifted his legs up and Hermione slid onto the couch. He set his legs down on her lap.
“You practically wax poetic when drunk. I think you’re secretly a poet,” Hermione teased as she sipped on her hot cocoa, “but seriously, Harry. So many rules. I feel like we need to have everyone sign a disclaimer or something.”
“Ooooh. I like that. Anyone not adhering to the rules has to pay a fine,” Ron pointed out.
“This is supposed to bring people joy. Disclaimers have never brought people joy,” Harry pointed out.
“Yeah, but imagine all the extra money you could make for so many charities,” Ron said. They both stared at him. “What? I think sometimes.”
“Astonishing,” Hermione said blandly.
“Mate, how could you think?” Harry asked sounding betrayed. Hermione and Ron both snorted.
They sat sipping on their cocoa in a comfortable silence that was broken up by the wood cracking in the fire. Harry felt drowsy and content. He had a long day and sitting by the fire with his best friends felt like a dream. He sighed contentedly and thought about his day. The drowsiness went away when he remembered one particular event that happened today.
“Alright, what happened now?” Hermione asked casually.
“What?” Harry asked startled.
“I could feel you tensing up. What happened?” Hermione asked.
“Do we have to ban someone else?” Ron asked curiously.
“No, nothing like that. And nothing really happened,” Harry said. He rolled his eyes as they stared at him. “I just saw someone today. Like I see every year.”
“Malfoy,” Hermione and Ron said at the same time. Harry sputtered while sitting up properly.
“Malfoy wasn’t annoying me!” Harry settled on saying.
“But it was Malfoy you were thinking about,” Ron said.
“Was Zabini flirting with Malfoy again?” Hermione asked casually.
“He had his arm around him!” Harry ranted. Ron silently groaned and gave Hermione a look of betrayal. Hermione just shook her head.
“Mate, I mean this from the bottom of my soul,” Ron said cutting Harry off from ranting, “for the love of Merlin, ask the ferret out. Or at least shag him because my god man!”
“I- what?” Harry asked in shock.
“You go up to Malfoy, ask him if he wants to get a drink or bite to eat, and then when he says yes, go somewhere where you can get a drink and/or bite to eat,” Hermione explained.
“It’s not that simple,” Harry protested.
“Okay, do everything that ‘mione said but get the punching out of the way before dessert,” Ron added. Hermione wrinkled her nose at him. Harry grimaced.
“I don’t want to punch him. Well, I do. But I don’t?” Harry said. Hermione patted his leg.
“Trust me, when you have strong feelings for a person, wanting to hit them is just one of the things you want to do to them,” Hermione said.
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” Harry asked confused.
“I think she’s saying you’re not special for wanting to attack the person you’re in love with,” Ron supplied.
“I’m not in love with him!” Harry said in a high pitched tone.
“That’s not what I meant!” Hermione said annoyed. Ron just shrugged.
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“Ugh Dray we were here only yesterday,” Pansy groaned as she winced behind her sunglasses.
“Yes, well thanks to taking care of your sloshed arses I forgot to get the present I saw for mother,” Draco said. He shook his head at the grunt Blaise gave. “You lot could have not come with me.”
“Potter,” Blaise muttered. Draco glanced around.
“What about him?” Draco asked, not seeing anything.
“You and Potter. Just shag already,” Pansy said rubbing her temples.
“Shh! Woman!” Draco said making them both flinch and groan, “do you want the entire market to hear you?”
“Yes,” Pansy moaned, “maybe you should speak softer.”
“I’m speaking at a normal volume,” Draco said with a raised eyebrow as he continued to the jewelry stall he saw the night before.
A necklace had caught his attention on their way to get wine. He had promised himself that he’d come back after but his friends had a little too much to drink. He being the most sober had dragged them to Blaise’s place, since it was the closest. When he woke up that morning he remembered the necklace and would have picked it up but the market didn’t open until the afternoon. So he lazed around Blaise’s while the other two barely functioned. He actually didn’t know why his friends were torturing themselves by coming with him. It’s not like he’s ever interacted with Potter here at the Christmas Market. Or ever.
Draco didn’t hear the shuffling of his hungover friends behind him and turned to glance back. Before he could register if they were behind him he ran into someone. He grunted in surprise. It felt like he ran into someone carrying a pillow. He quickly turned and had to step back to see what white and red abomination he ran into.
“Shit, sorry!” A slightly muffled yet recognizable voice said followed by a softer curse. “I mean- sorry...”
“Pott- Santa,” Draco started and then caught himself when he heard children giggling. They stood there staring at each other. “Your glasses work with this look.”
“Thanks?” Potter asked.
Santa Potter looked around them, seeming a little twitchy and harried. Draco saw why a second later and just reacted on instinct. He grabbed Potter and shoved him behind a garishly decorated shrub that hopefully had a small alcove behind it. He then casually stood in front of it and scowled at the small gaggle of reporters. Their leader gave him a passing glance but the rest avoided eye contact. Once they were far enough away he stepped out of the way.
“They’re gone, Potter,” Draco said. Santa fell out of the shrub and stumbled into Draco who steadied him. “Did you get sloshed in that small amount of time?”
“I was squished between a wall and a shrub. It’s a miracle I didn’t just fall on you while those vultures passed by,” Potter said as he stood up and straightened his outfit. Draco chuckled startling Potter into staring at him.
“You’re Santa. Miracles are your thing,” Draco drawled as he reached up and pulled a leaf out of Potter’s beard, almost pulling the beard down. “Fake?”
“I’ve had a beard this long. I don’t recommend it,” Potter said automatically as if he’d been asked about it before.
“I see,” Draco said as he dropped the leaf and took a step back. He wasn’t sure if he should say anything or nod and just leave. He started to turn.
“You laughed!” Potter blurted out. Draco felt both his eyebrows raise in surprise.
“Yes. I am capable,” Draco said not sure where Potter was going with this.
“I made you laugh,” Potter elaborated. Draco felt his lips twitch.
“You’ve made me laugh in the past,” Draco said with a small smirk. Potter gave him a flat look, which made him smile. “Were you going somewhere?”
“I... Oh! What time is it?” Potter asked as he patted his pockets. Draco looked at his watch.
“Five to two,” Draco said. Potter made a weird garbled hissing sound. “Potter?” Draco asked startled.
“I have to go. Santa stuff,” Potter said, turning in the direction of Santa’s chair. “Malfoy. Uhm. That is-Do you-?”
“Do I eat? Do I drink? I do indeed,” Draco said, “i’m free anytime, Santa.” Draco then felt extremely bold and stepped closer to Potter and said lowly. “And if you’re good, I’ll sit on your lap and tell you what I want for Christmas.”
Potter made a weird choking noise but his eyes seemed to glaze over. Draco grinned in triumph and patted the other man’s arm. Those green eyes zeroed in on him making him shiver but he held his wrist up and tapped his watch. Potter mumbled a few curse words and took off running towards the center of the market. He almost barreled into Blaise and Pansy and then disappeared.
“What the bloody hell?” Pansy sneered. “If I see him again I’m going to kill him.”
“How many people has she threatened today?” Draco asked Blaise.
Blaise just waved his hand in the air. Draco rolled his eyes but was too happy to have his hungover friends drag his mood down. Now he just had to find that necklace stall.
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“Okay, Harry, what’s up with you?” Hermione asked as they got back to Grimmauld before Harry could escape to throw off his costume and take a shower.
“What? What do you mean?” Harry asked as he opened his jacket and threw the beard off. Hermione caught his hands before he could scratch at his face.
“You’ve been jittery all day. I know it wasn’t just because of the reporters,” Hermione said.
“Can I please take a shower first?” Harry whined.
“Let the man take a shower,” Ron said as he stood behind them in the doorway, “and can I come in properly? It’s a bit uncomfortable being squished by the door and you guys.”
“Right. Sorry,” Hermione said, letting go of Harry and walking in properly.
“Don’t worry, Ron. If whining didn’t work then I would have threatened to take off my boots.”
“Ew, Harry!” Hermione said as she threw a glove at him. “Go take a shower.”
Harry grinned and bounded up the stairs to his room. He immediately threw off his Santa costume, making sure to hang it so Hermione wouldn’t lecture him about wrinkles again, grabbed a new pair of boxers, and then headed to his bathroom. The perks of having the master bedroom.
He stepped in the shower once the water got to temperature and groaned in relief. He grabbed his soap and started to scrub the day away. Watching the suds wash off him and go down the drain made him feel like everything negative that happened today washed away.
The Santa thing filled him with happiness but kids were magnets for dirt. He’d rather have that though over the reasons for all the rules. He knew he was popular but there were some real creeps out in the world. The only time he didn’t mind working with the Aurors and it was because Santa seemed to bring out the weirdos.
All the elderly women who wanted to sit in his lap and try to charm him just made him grossed out, hence the age rule. Before any of those memories could surface a very pleasant new memory came to mind. He was pretty sure Malfoy was flirting with him. And the thought of the blond sitting in his lap, yeah, that was very pleasant indeed.
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“You alright, mate?” Ron asked as Harry came into the kitchen. “Oh, you’re fine.”
“What?” Harry asked confused as he sat down.
“You took longer than usual,” Hermione said, “so good day? Bad day?”
“Food,” Harry said instead as he shoved a fork full of food in his mouth.
“Food!” Ron agreed and followed Harry’s example.
“Honestly,” Hermione said with a wrinkled nose.
“It was a good day, ‘Mione,” Harry said amused, “you’ll never believe what I did.”
“Finally hexed all the reporters harassing you?” Ron asked hopefully.
“I wish,” Harry said with a pout.
“Hmm,” Hermione said eyeing him. Harry rolled his eyes.
“I’ll just tell you,” Harry said.
“No, let me figure it out,” Hermione said.
“Look what you did,” Ron accused. Harry just waited and when Hermione took a sip of her drink he struck.
“I asked out Malfoy and he said yes,” Harry said. Hermione spit out her drink while Ron almost choked on his food.
“Seriously?!” Ron gasped out.
“Yeah. Are you alright?” Harry asked worried. Ron just waved him off as he took in some deep breaths.
“That’s great, Harry,” Hermione said after wiping her face with a napkin. “And it was simple, right?”
“Erm, well, I think I need to owl him to ask him but he said he’s free anytime. That’s good right?” Harry asked now unsure.
“Yes, that’s good. Now finish your food so you can owl him,” Hermione said.
“But I’m busy with Santa,” Harry said.
“Ron can be Santa,” Hermione said.
“Ron does not want to be Santa,” Ron said with a shake of his head. “We end at five tomorrow so go out at six or seven.”
“That sounds doable but where would we go?” Harry asked. “Oh Merlin! I’ve never taken anyone out on a date!”
“Well, you did but...” Hermione said gently making Harry grimace.
“Relax! Just take him to that diner with the pie,” Ron suggested.
“No, take him to that Indian restaurant. The diner is more like a fifth date place,” Hermione said, “or ask him where he’d like to go.”
“What if he thinks I’m supposed to pick?” Harry asked starting to panic.
“Harry, you know Malfoy,” Ron said flatly.
“It’s been years! Today was the first time I talked to him and that was cuz I literally ran into him,” Harry explained.
“So if you hadn’t run into him you wouldn’t have asked him out?” Hermione asked. Harry shrugged.
“So all we had to do was shove them together?” Ron asked sounding a little annoyed.
“I’m not that bad,” Harry mumbled.
“Harry just tell him you’re free tomorrow night and let him pick the place,” Hermione said giving him and Ron quelling looks. “Now eat!”
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“Did I tell you you look nice?” Potter asked awkwardly.
“You did. For the third time. I’m not objecting but I’m sure you have a larger vocabulary,” Draco drawled.
When Draco had gotten an owl in familiar looking scrawl he couldn’t believe it. He didn’t care if he seemed eager, he penned a note and sent it back. He knew the perfect place to take Potter. Everything would be great except Potter seemed uninterested now.
“You look less ferret like,” Potter deadpanned. Draco raised an eyebrow. “Fuck. Sorry. I’ve never been on a date before,” Potter said while rubbing his face.
“Didn’t you go on a date with Chang?” Draco asked. He was amused at the pained groan he got.
“Please don’t remind me. I’m sure that’s what put me off dating,” Potter said. Draco smiled.
“And yet here we are. Is this so bad?” Draco asked curiously.
“No. It’s pretty good but I feel like...” Potter said and then tapered off.
“We’ll fall into the habit of insulting each other that will lead to a physical altercation?” Draco supplied.
“Yeah, that,” Potter said lamely. Draco snorted.
“I’ve thought about it, don’t get me wrong. But I don’t know the you now so I don’t have much to insult,” Draco said. He smirked against his glass when he got a laugh out of the other man.
“Go ahead and ask but I get to ask you questions too,” Potter said.
“Deal,” Draco said.
They both asked the mundane things like what they’ve been up to the past few years. Harry almost went into the Aurors but then realized he was over chasing the bad guy so he went into charity work. Draco went into financing, which is a fancy way of saying he had money to invest and his investments paid off.
Draco bluntly asked why Harry didn’t end up with the girl Weasley, which Harry actually answered. Draco teased him by saying it was because he didn’t take the girl on any dates. Harry asked him if Draco had been dating Blaise, which almost made him choke on his food. Draco explained that they had experimented in school but they were never together.
They had only been interrupted twice by the waiter. The next time the waiter came to collect their empty plates he asked if they wanted to see a dessert menu. Draco cut off Harry by saying no but had the waiter bend down so he could whisper something in his ear. The waiter nodded in understanding.
“And I’ll have the creme brûlée,” Draco said.
“Of course, sir. Let me go put those in,” The waiter said and left.
“Why didn’t you want me to see the menu?” Harry asked suspiciously.
“Well, besides the good food and lovely ambiance there was another reason why I brought you to this particular restaurant,” Draco said.
“And that is?” Harry asked. Draco just smiled.
“You’ll find out in a bit. Now why do you dress up as Santa?” Draco asked.
“It makes the kids happy,” Harry said, “and from a political angle, it expands knowledge from the Muggle world to the wizarding world to create more unity.”
“That sounds like Granger,” Draco said.
“Yeah, it’s how she spun it to get approval to do it at the market,” Harry said.
“Oh shut your eyes,” Draco said.
“What? Why?” Harry asked startled, he was about to look around but stared down at the hand that had been placed on top of his.
“Please. It’ll only be for a moment,” Draco said. Harry looked at him and then shut his eyes. Draco grinned and watched as the waiter set their desserts down.
“Enjoy,” The waiter said and walked away.
“Can I open my eyes?” Harry asked.
“Go ahead,” Draco said, retracting his hand from holding Harry’s down.
“Treacle tart?” Harry asked as he looked down at his dessert plate.
“It’s your favorite. Right?” Draco asked now a little worried.
“Absolutely!” Harry said digging in and trying not to moan at the taste. He slowed down when he saw Draco watching him with a small smile. “Aren’t you gonna eat yours?”
“Of course,” Draco said trying not to show how he almost forgot he had a dessert by tapping the brûléed sugar, getting a satisfying crack. He took a bite and hummed happily. He looked up and saw Harry watching him. “Would you like to try?”
“Yeah,” Harry said and leaned forward a little with his mouth open. Draco bit his lip but scooped up some of the custard and sugar and fed it to the other man. “That is tasty.”
“Yeah,” Draco said absentmindedly as he watched Harry’s lips. His eyes quickly darted up when Harry cleared his throat.
“So you thought of me when you came here?” Harry asked amused.
“Well, I mean, treacle tart and you go hand in hand,” Draco said as he focused on his dessert.
“I’m glad you thought of me,” Harry said, reaching out and placing his hand on top of Draco’s free hand. Draco held his breath for a moment and then let it out with a small smile. The hand stayed as he finished his dessert.
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“I can’t believe we’ve lived this close to each other this whole time,” Harry said as he walked Draco back to his flat, which happened to be on the way to Grimmauld.
“It is an old Malfoy flat so perhaps this once was a wizarding section,” Draco said. They stopped in front of a posh looking building. “I enjoyed myself.”
“Yeah?” Harry asked as he ran a hand through his hair self consciously, dislodging the few snowflakes that had started falling while they were walking.
“Yes,” Draco said amused and glanced at the light snowfall. “The snow could get worse.”
“You think so?” Harry asked as he looked at the snow.
“Hmm, perhaps you should come inside,” Draco said with a head tilt.
“I could?” Harry asked surprised.
“Oh, yes. I want you to,” Draco said as he started up the path to the front steps.
“Well, it would be rude of me not to,” Harry said, following Draco, “plus the snow does seem to have picked up.” The snow had stopped before the door had even opened.
“Oh, yes,” Draco agreed as he let Harry in, “you might have to spend the night.” Harry grinned crookedly as the door shut behind them.
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