Chapter Text
December 8
Draco is so lost in thoughts that he jumps when something touches his leg. He’s a little embarrassed by the shriek he let out, and he can feel his cheeks grow warm as he quickly looks down to see what the hell he just nearly stumbled over. There is a beautiful long-haired cat curling itself around his legs, and after giving it a quick pet on the head, Draco steps over it to continue on his way. The cat follows him, though, and after almost tripping over it again, Draco kneels down to give it another pet - hoping it will grow bored of him soon enough and go back home.
Minutes later Draco is still kneeling down in the snow, and after taking a better look at the cat, he realises just how dirty she is, and how skinny she feels. She’s wearing a tag, but it looks dirty too, and after scraping off the filth, Draco almost hesitates to see just who would take such poor care of their cat. But, he decides, perhaps the cat ran away, and her family has been looking for her. He picks the purring cat up, and after ignoring the thought to take the cat and run, he starts to make his way over to the address on her tag.
The cat is still lying in Draco’s arms, purring and giving a little meow every time Draco tries to stop petting her, by the time he reaches the house where her family lives. He knocks on the door, and after just a few seconds, a dark-haired young man opens the door - looking more than just a little confused to find a stranger at his door, holding a cat in his arms.
“Hi….” Draco smiles awkwardly. “I found your cat. It was following me, and…”
“My cat?” the young man chuckles. “I don’t have a cat.”
Draco checks the address on the cat’s tag again, and after considering that perhaps he’s on the wrong street, he shows it to the young man too.
“Right… I moved here a few days ago, so maybe she used to live here with the previous owner.”
“Do you have an address for them? She looks like she’s been living on the street for a while, so I could take her over to them, and…”
“She passed away,” the young man interrupts. “A neighbour told me after I moved in,” he quickly explains. “No one mentioned a cat.”
“Oh…” Draco looks down at the cat in his arms, not sure what to do with it now. He was only going to bring her home before heading back to work, but now that she doesn’t actually have a home, he’s not sure what he’s supposed to do with her. Bring her home and look after her? But what the hell does he know about taking care of a pet? “I should ehm…,” he mumbles.
“I could take her.” The young man shrugs, reaching out to pet the cat’s head. “I love cats, and if this is her home…” He shrugs again.
Draco isn’t sure if he should leave the cat with this stranger just like that, but then, this is her home, and the cat is already freeing itself from his grip to climb onto the young man’s shoulder.
“Unless you want to…”
“No!” Draco quickly cuts in, flashing an awkward smile. “She seems to like you.”
“Looks like it, huh?” the dark-haired man laughs. “I ehm…” He’s interrupted by the cat pushing her little head against his chin, purring loudly, and Draco can’t help but smile. “I’m Harry, by the way.”
“Draco.”
“Can I offer you a drink to say thank you for…” He chuckles when the cat meows loudly. “For bringing her home.”
“Yeah… sorry, I thought she was yours, so…” Draco shrugs awkwardly.
“Would you like to come in for a drink?” Harry suggests. “To say thank you.”
Draco can’t help but smile to himself, because this man wants to thank him? When he literally showed up randomly and dumped a cat on him?
“I should get back to work,” he says, even though he could go in for that drink if he really wanted to, as it’s not like there’s a boss to fire him if he decides to take the rest of the day off. But the thought of going in and having a drink with this stranger is making him feel slightly uncomfortable, and work is always a good excuse.
“Okay.” Harry flashes a friendly smile. “Thanks again… Draco, was it?”
Draco finds himself returning the smile, and after resisting the urge to give the cat a final pet, he puts his hands in his pocket, clearly ready to leave.
“You have a good day.” Harry smiles, and he gives an awkward little wave when Draco turns and walks off without another word.
Draco considered taking the rest of the day off work, just so he could avoid other people today and avoid another situation as awkward as that morning. But he had dragged himself back to work, and it had actually helped distract him from thinking about the handsome - scrap that - the nice guy he had met that morning. Or rather, as he told himself, he couldn’t stop thinking about the cat, and wonder if she’d be okay with this stranger.
He knew he shouldn’t, but after work he had gone to the shops and he had thrown every cat toy and snack into his cart, together with a few tins of food. It was the least he could do, he figured, after showing up and giving this stranger a cat to look after.
He was doing this for the cat, he told himself, as he found himself heading back to the house where he had left her that morning. He was only going to leave the three bags of things for the cat outside Harry’s door, but he couldn’t help but take a peek inside, just to check if he could see the cat and make sure she was okay. Of course Harry saw him looking in, and only moments later he is at the door - a surprised smile on his face.
“Draco!”
“Sorry, I just…” Draco looks down at the bags in his hands. “I got these… for the cat…” He mumbles, realising just how weird it is not only to show up with a cat, but then with a bunch of cat toys too.
“Are you checking in to make sure she’s okay?” Harry guesses, flashing a knowing smile. “You can come in and see for yourself if you want to?”
Draco almost says yes, but he knows that he shouldn’t. So he hands Harry the bags, kicking himself for not just going home after work and making a fool out of himself.
“Thanks,” Harry says, and when Draco turns to leave, he quickly calls out, “Wait, Draco? How about that drink?”
Draco isn’t sure how many times he can reject this offer, but he finds it in himself to say no one more time, and he takes his phone out of his pocket to check for the time - to make it seem like he was at least considering it.
“It’s late, and I have to get up early tomorrow…”
Harry gives a nod, and it’s obvious from the smile on his face that he knows that it’s nothing more than an excuse. He doesn’t call Draco out for it, though, and instead he gives a small shrug.
“Maybe another time, then?” he suggests. “We could go for a coffee… I could let you know how she’s doing.”
Draco tries his best to tell Harry no thank you, but it’s late and he’s tired, and he finds himself giving a nod. “Sure.”
They exchange numbers, and after an awkward second where they’re not quite sure how to say goodbye, Draco grabs his phone again - feeling silly, as Harry already knows that he’s using the time as an excuse to get away.
“I’ll see you later.” Harry smiles, leaning against the doorframe, as he watches Draco walk off. Draco trying his best not to stop and turn to have another look at Harry’s smile.
