Work Text:
As soon as Harry flooed home from work, he knew something was wrong.
The smell hit him first, acrid with a hint of lemon, then the sound of Draco’s voice, high-pitched and panicked. Harry ran into the kitchen, sleeve pressed to his mouth, to see Draco frantically waving rags and casting Aguamenti. Thick, gray smoke poured out of the oven, and Harry’s Auror instincts kicked into gear as he lifted his wand to help. Within moments the air was cleared, revealing a metal baking tin with a burnt something at the bottom, and a very wet and distraught Draco.
Harry rushed across the tiled floor and took Draco into his arms. “Love, are you okay? What happened?”
Draco slumped into Harry’s weight, burying his face into Harry’s chest as he shook with great, hiccupping sobs. “I j-just…I wanted to—to surprise you! B-because treacle tart is— hic —your favorite and— hic —you’ve had s-such a s-stressful week— hic —at work…but it caught—it caught on fire!—and I—I didn’t know what to do and—and—.”
He broke off into a fresh round of tears and so Harry held on tighter, pressed gentle kisses into Draco’s forehead, whispered words like sweetheart and darling into Draco’s hair.
Finally, when Draco looked up at him with red-rimmed eyes and the beginnings of an apology on his lips, Harry shushed him with a kiss and said, “You lovely, thoughtful man. I absolutely adore you.”
Draco looked confused. “But—it didn’t work, I made a huge mess and ruined your surprise and—”
“—and you tried something completely outside of your comfort zone in order to bake a dessert you knew would make me happy. And I think that’s thoughtful and wonderful.”
Draco considered this for a second, then said, “Does it cheapen the gesture if I told you I bought a back-up tart from Ballywag’s Bakery, just in case?”
That startled a laugh out of Harry. “I stand by my earlier statement, as long as we can eat this second tart straight away.”
So Draco summoned it from the pantry, and they sat and ate the whole thing, right there on the kitchen floor. They laughed and talked and Harry kissed Draco, sticky and sweet. The evening passed like molasses around them, unhurried, with the warm light of the setting sun turning every surface into gold.
As Harry lay in bed that night, lulled asleep by the sounds of Draco’s soft snores and the settling weight of his own full stomach, he knew that everything was alright.