Work Text:
Draco liked to compete with Harry on many things; this was a fact that everyone knew. Ever since school, they were competing with each other in regards to school, quidditch, intelligence, or even the petty things such as which mug was theirs for the day.
But there was one thing that Draco would unwillingly accept Harry being better than him at.
Ice skating.
Draco was horrendous. Even though the years continued to pile on and with age comes experience, life had decided to completely throw away any ability for Draco to skate. He could ballroom dance, he could salsa, he could maneuver a fucking stick through the air like a pro just with a twist of his hips. But when it came to skating…
It wasn’t like he didn’t try. For ages ever since he was a child, Draco remembered his parents freezing one of their ponds out behind the manor so that he could get a head start on gliding upon the ice. But each year it was in vain because no matter how hard he tried, Draco would slip and fall on his ass, making a scene and blaming his skates.
Not like they were a 200 galleon investment and the best in the market or anything.
He had stopped attempting to skate once he hit Hogwarts because after a few years of Pansy and Blaise getting on his back about being a success at everything but skating, it was getting a bit demeaning.
However, that all changed when he just so happened to get a famous Harry Potter attached to his hip and chained with the label ‘Boyfriend.’
Of course one of their winter dates had to be ice skating. Of fucking course.
Harry was already skating around the rink’s entrance, waiting for Draco who was standing apprehensively on the solid ground.
“You’re not going to get anywhere if you just stay there,” the bespectacled boy said, grinning.
“Maybe that’s the point, Potter,” Draco retorted, though it had no bite. He was busy glowering at the ice before him, slashed with hours of previous skaters and their blades. “Maybe I don’t want to go anywhere.”
Harry snorted, skating forward to rest his forearms on the rink’s wall. “The ice isn’t going to bite. Do you want me to hold your hand?”
Both of them were fully aware that Draco would rather die than grip Harry Potter’s hand in public while trying to balance on ice. To emphasize that point, the slytherin glared at the amused looking man. “Like you wouldn’t let me go just to watch me fall. I bet you’d laugh.”
“You’d bet right.”
“Excuse-?!”
Harry laughed, quickly cutting off Draco. “I’m joking. I won’t let go.” He was smiling so earnestly that Draco wanted to believe him… and he could. He really could. Their relationship status practically dictated that Harry was supposed to be believable.
But still.
“Why do people enjoy this pastime?” Draco said in what was barely just a whine.
“Because it’s like flying,” Harry explained, straightening. “How about this, why don’t you just hold onto the wall if you don’t want to hold onto me. We’ll just skate around the edge.” Harry cocked his head with a faint smile on his lips. “I’m not expecting you to be a pro skater anytime soon.”
Sometimes it was hard to deny Harry when he spoke and looked at Draco like that. Sometimes it was hard for Draco to do anything around Harry, really. Pressing his lips in a thin line, he nodded. Placing one unsteady foot onto the ice, he clenched the wall with enough force to crush a small animal. “This is…a really bad idea.”
“Alright, now the next foot. Come on, you’ve got it.”
“Don’t rush me,” Draco snapped instinctively before catching himself and looking down in slight embarrassment. But instead of hurt, he felt bemusement radiating from the other man. Of course, leave it to Harry to just take Draco completely how he was and to love it for all his worth.
Eventually, Draco had gotten both feet onto the ice and was standing upright, both hands on the wall with grips of iron. “Bad idea,” he muttered to himself once again when he nearly slipped and fell when he felt a hand on the small of his back.
“Relax,” he heard in his ear and he nearly bit back another sarcastic reply when the hand on his back shifted to two hands on his waist. “What if I just guided you like this?”
Heat was crawling up Draco’s neck and he was sure that underneath his scarf, his face and neck were as red as Rudolph’s damn nose. “This is ridiculous, Potter. If someone saw us and you’re just-“ The hands tightened on his waist and he bit his lip, not wanting to make any more of a scene. “Potter. Seriously.”
“Malfoy, I’m being serious.” The grin was evident in his words.
“We’re not doing some inane pair skate.”
Harry hummed. “But what if you fall and I’m too far away to catch you?”
With a grunt, Draco tried to move forward a few inches, Harry’s presence behind him unwavering and constant. “You’re always too close for comfort,” he said without any true meaning behind it.
“I don’t think you mind, honestly,” Harry said. His hands were gently pushing Draco forward and whenever he wobbled, they tightened, keeping him upright.
Before Draco knew it, they were already halfway around the rink, Harry skating slowly behind him with Draco gliding in front. One hand was still gripping the wall but the other was held out for balance. The slytherin kept his eyes on the ice in front of him, the sound of Harry’s breathing in his ear and the chatter of other skaters having a calming atmosphere.
“So?” Harry asked on their third rotation. “Still scared?”
Scoffing, Draco tried to shake his hair out of his face but the jerk of his head caused him to nearly lose balance once again. “As if I was scared. I was just cautious. It’s important to be careful on the ice because what if you slip and fall? Or worse, what if someone skated over you once you had fallen over? You’d be left with a bloody gash-“
“So can I let go?”
“No!”
Draco’s immediate response was enough to elicit a chuckle from the other man and a horrible flush on Draco’s cheeks. “I mean… I’m still unsteady.”
The hands thankfully tightened on his waist. “I’ve noticed.”
“So… you should still probably hold on. Unless I fall.”
“Fall and get skated over?”
“Precisely.”
They slowed to a stop by Harry’s control and slowly, the other man turned Draco around so that they were facing each other. Confusion written on his face at their pause in routine, Draco almost voiced his question when Harry pressed a sudden kiss on his nose.
“I- What?”
Those eyes filled with mirth were lit by the rink’s glittering lights. “Is it a crime to want to kiss you?”
Draco was sure his cheeks were crimson. “Ah- no?”
“Good. I’m going to kiss you.”
“H-Here? In public?” Draco glanced around, seeing other couples and families and children all enjoying their time on the ice.
Harry cocked his head, his eyes never shifting their gaze from Draco’s. “Yes. In public. It’s Christmas, Draco. It’s a time to give and receive.”
Jerking his eyes back to Harry, he stared at the other man dubiously. “What the hell does that have anything to do with kissing me in public?”
Once again, the grin slid back onto his face.
“Simple. I was given you. Now you get to receive.”
Alright, so maybe there was also one other thing Draco would admit Harry might be better at… Kissing. Feeling the warmth of his lips in the frigid air was just as mesmerizing as watching him fly upon the ice.
Yeah, he could willingly lose himself in this.