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Well, this was a colossal waste of time Draco thought as he swallowed down the second glass of wine he'd drunk waiting for a date that didn't seem like he was going to show. And the pitying glances he was getting from the waitress and hostess made his skin crawl.
So much for dating muggles being better than dating in the wizarding world. No matter where Draco was, it seemed no one was interested in him. He should have known better than to expect Jonathan from the coffee shop to want to actually get to know him before fucking him.
He blew out a breath and was just about to make eye contact with the waitress to get her to bring him the check, when a hand brushed over his shoulder. "You would not believe what happened," a lovely baritone voice said laughingly.
And Draco knew that voice, but there was no way that it was actually the person it sounded-
"Potter?" he asked incredulously as the other man sat down across from him.
He smiled charmingly at Draco, "I got seated on the other side of the restaurant!" he exclaimed. "I was just getting ready to leave, I thought you'd stood me up-"
"What?" he asked, "Are you-" he started before the waitress came over and interrupted them.
"I'm so glad the two of you found each other!" she tittered, "I'm so sorry, I thought you said he was a ginger," she added, nodding at Potter.
Potter laughed, "Definitely not a ginger," he replied giving her that delightfully charming smile.
"You've both had plenty of time to look at the menu, do you know what you'd like?"
"I would love the spaghetti bolognese," Potter said easily.
Draco, so taken aback by everything that was happening, just said the first thing that came to mind. "The eggplant parmigiana for me, please,"
"I'll be right back with some bread sticks."
Potter looked over at him, "Do you like semi-sweet wines?"
"Sure," he said, still a bit dazed.
"A bottle of your Chianti, too?" he asked the waitress.
She nodded and headed back toward the kitchen and Draco cast a quick wandless Muffliato. "Potter what in Merlin's name-"
"I got stood up," he blurted. "The person I was supposed to be meeting never showed and when I noticed you sitting here alone 20 minutes ago, I thought maybe you had been too."
"What if I was just eating dinner alone?" he asked defensively.
Potter raised an unimpressed eyebrow, "Who sits and drinks two glasses of wine without ordering any food if they're eating alone? Besides, you kept glancing at the door, you're obviously waiting for someone."
"Be that as it may, do you really think I needed your saving?"
The other man visibly deflated, "No. I," he swallowed, "I needed yours. It sounds stupid, but I just hate the feeling of being stood up. Even if I'm never going to see these people again, I just," he shrugged miserably. "I don't want them to think badly of me."
Draco blinked, opened his mouth, then closed it again because he didn’t know what to say to that.
“Never mind,” Potter said, “this was stupid. I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m just going to go. I’ll leave money for what I-”
“Wait,” Draco said. “Just," he sighed. "It’s fine,” he said, shaking his head and trying to reorient himself. “Stay. We can catch up?” he said, not entirely sure why he was phrasing it as a question.
“Yeah?” Potter asked, perking up like a golden retriever puppy.
He nodded, a reluctant smile tugging at the corner of his lips in response.
“Okay,” he replied, shoulders easing in relief.
“So,” he said, toying with the stem of his wine glass and wishing it was full to give him something to do. “What are you up to these days, Potter?”
Potter smiled, “Call me Harry.”
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“You know,” Harry said a couple of hours later, after they’d finished dinner and gotten coffee from the shop a few blocks down, while they were walking together, “this was honestly probably one of the best first dates I’ve ever had.”
“That’s because it wasn’t a date,” Draco replied, even as his foolish heart argued otherwise.
Harry hummed and slipped his arm through the crook of Draco’s, “What if I wanted it to be a date? Would you count it then?”
“What are we counting toward?” Draco asked.
The other man huffed a laugh, “do you always have to be so difficult?”
“Yes,” he replied. “It’s part of the charm,” he deadpanned.
Harry squeezed his arm a little, "You are surprisingly charming, you know."
Draco felt himself blush, heat rising to his cheeks and the tips of his ears. "You're barmy."
"Come on," Harry said, swinging around so that he was standing in front of Draco, "Admit it. You had a good time tonight."
He rolled his eyes, "Fine. I had a good time tonight."
Harry beamed at him, "Let me take you on another date," he said.
"Where?"
"Wherever you like," he said. "Want to go to the movies? Want to go to one of those muggle amusement parks?" he asked, then with a frown he added, "I've never been to one of those. Want to go eat crepes in Paris?" he continued, "I'll get us a port key. Want to-"
"Yes," Draco said, huffing a laugh.
"Yes to Paris?"
He shrugged, "Yes to anything. On one condition."
"Name it," Harry said eagerly.
He squeezed Harry's hand, "You keep looking at me like I'm an adventure that you want to have."
Harry laughed, "Easy," he promised. Then, after a moment of the two of them standing and staring at each other like absolute idiots, Harry said, "Can I walk you home?"
He nodded, "I actually only live a few blocks away."
They continued chatting as they walked and Draco couldn't help but feel a little amazed that talking to Harry was this easy. When they arrived at Draco's flat, Harry stopped at the bottom step.
"When will I see you again?" Draco asked, biting his lower lip.
Shoving his hands in the front pockets of his jeans, he asked, "Is tomorrow too soon?"
"Tomorrow's perfect," he said, relief and excitement washing over him.
Harry grinned, "Can I pick you up at 6:00?"
"I'd like that," Draco replied.
"Tomorrow, then," Harry said, stepping back from the steps. "Sleep well, Draco," he added before starting off in the opposite direction.
"See you tomorrow," he murmured, feeling more excited than he had in ages for the day ahead of him.