“Of course. I told you so.” And Draco still hadn’t looked up from his homework, which he was just about done with.
Chapter 19: Because I Wanted To
Draco normally would have found it quite odd, although strangely not disturbing, to think about Harry Potter while in the shower, but at this moment in time that was exactly what he was doing. Of course, he wasn’t thinking about Harry in that way, but it was still a landmark of sorts. What he was thinking about was this: If Harry came to Malfoy Manner for Christmas then he would have to, if only to be polite and proper as befitting a Malfoy, get Harry a Christmas present. Normally Draco did not bother to think that much about what presents he got for what people, as he normally bought the presents so far in advance he forgot what he’d gotten the person by the time Christmas rolled around. But here he was, with two weeks before Christmas, and he had to suddenly get Harry a gift. Well, that’s what Hogsmead trips were for. And quite satisfied that he had solved this particular problem, he moved right on to the next: which type of shampoo would he use first?
Harry was also thinking about Draco, though he was not in the shower because that would have been just weird. No, Harry was all ready for sleeping, but sleep just hadn’t seemed to visit him yet.
Draco must be thinking about something, Harry thought. After all, Draco’s showers only got this long if he had something to think about. And of course, Harry’s mind quickly assumed exactly what Draco would possibly be thinking about, something he wished Draco could just up and forget as easily as he said he could. But Harry knew that when you hear someone professing feelings they have about you, you can’t really just forget. Although, if anyone could do it, it would be Draco, Harry had to admit. Yet, something didn’t quite fit with Draco’s current behavior and his behavior before Harry had been caught telling Hermione what he thought of Draco, which proved that the younger Malfoy had not forgotten.
I find it ironic that you’re so worried about me rejecting you, when it was you who rejected me first…twice.
Why was it that Harry couldn’t get that sentence out of his head? It wasn’t like it was a particularly nasty thing to say…Merlin knew Draco was capable of doing much worse. But it still would not go away. Something about the wording…it just wasn’t something he would expect from Draco. It was ironic that Harry was worried about Draco rejecting him…when it was Harry who had rejected Draco…
Harry sat up in bed almost on a reflex.
Oh.
Pieces began to come together. Everything about Draco’s demeanor that had confused him from the start of this whole thing seemed to finally make sense. He still hadn’t forgotten the Wyverns, how afterward Draco had acted so…well, as embarrassed as a Malfoy could ever look in front of someone else. And then Draco had actually acted downright pleasant at times, and had even done Harry’s homework for him on one occasion for the teacher that Harry hated most of all.
Harry grinned, falling back down on to the bed. Then, assured by the sound of still running water that Draco was nowhere within hearing range, couldn’t help mimicking Hermione’s earlier tone. “I know who Draco li-ikes.” And it was true, but Malfoys didn’t make a habit of showing such emotions in public so it had taken a long time for Harry to piece it together.
I wonder how he would react if I were to randomly kiss him without having a reason. Harry could almost picture the raised eyebrow, and look of hidden curiosity, and the “Now what was that for, Potter?”…or maybe Draco might even call him Harry now…hmm, that was an interesting thought.
Draco didn’t notice the smile that seemed fixed upon Harry’s sleeping face as he made his way through the darkened room to his own bed, which was more of habit than actual practice because either he or Harry would end up in the other’s bed by morning.
Harry was almost used to having Draco in his bed or being in Draco’s bed himself when he woke up in the morning, and he continued to be amused by the different positions they were in when he woke up. He didn’t think they’d yet repeated a position.
Today when he woke up, Draco’s head was resting on one of his arms, his legs wrapped around Harry’s own. Harry idly thought that one thing he was getting out of this was a new found sense of what control was, waking up as a teenager (with teenage hormones) in such a position.
Again, Harry found himself watching Draco sleep by the dimmed light of the room. He wondered what Draco would look like if there were windows in the dungeon so there could be morning light on him when he slept. If he looked so…untouchable in this type of light he would most likely look positively angelic in that type of light.
Draco seemed deep in sleep, so deep in fact that he didn’t move when Harry slowly disentangled their legs. Harry stopped as he thought about how he would dislodge his arm without waking Draco. He didn’t get very far down that train of thought as he went back to watching Draco and not thinking very much at all.
One thing he had to say, Draco looked much more kissable when he was asleep than when he was awake and one had silver steel eyes watching you. Not to say Harry didn’t like those eyes; one could positively drown in them if their owner would let you…but still…Damn, where was that Gryffindor courage when he needed it?
Slowly, as if afraid the very image of Draco would shatter if he moved too quickly, Harry leaned forward and gently brushed his lips against Draco’s own. Harry started in surprise as those lips responded almost immediately. A hand reached up to tangle in his hair as he pulled back slightly to stop movement such as that. Harry’s blood sizzled as a tongue worked its way between parted lips to explore the inner cavern of his mouth. The kiss flowed like lava and Harry had to stop himself from whimpering when Draco finally pulled away.
“Not that that wasn’t a fascinating way to wake up, but would you mind sharing exactly what that was for, Harry?” Draco asked as one eyebrow rose in question.
Draco never did find out what Harry found so amusing about that question before Harry answered, “No reason. I felt like it.”
Draco was pointedly eating breakfast and NOT thinking about what had happened that morning when the rest of his compatriots made their way into the Great Hall. He immediately regretted not leaving when he had the chance. After all, he should have been prepared for the human-sized leech that latched itself on to his right arm-which was unfortunately the arm that he was using his fork with and thus he was stuck staring at his eggs with an almost forlorn air as all movement of that arm was stopped.
“Draaacooo. We haven’t seen you in so long.”
Draco wished for a silencing charm…or for someone to just make that woman permanently mute. And yet she continued to keep talking. Merlin, hadn’t she insulted the English language enough by now by using it in such a way? And she really didn’t need to dance around the subject like that. There was no way she was going to get Draco to take her to Hogsmead, today of all days. Draco needed to get a present today and that had to take precedence.
“Pansy, I already told Blaise that I would accompany him to Hogsmead.” Draco flashed a sickeningly sweet smile at the girl. “Perhaps next time.” Then with practice-honed skill, he detangled himself from her grasp and headed for the Slytherin Common Room.
Blaise was just walking out into the hallway when Draco found him.
“Zabini, we’re going to Hogsmead today.”
“Pansy again?”
“Do I need to dignify that with an answer?”
“Fine, but you’re helping me with Potions homework then.”
Draco nodded and continued past the hidden door to the Slytherin Common Room to his own rooms. He would need more suitable clothing for a trip to Hogsmead.
Harry travelled through Hogsmead, surprisingly by himself, wondering what on this earth could one buy for Draco Malfoy…especially considering that anything he truly wanted he would have already bought a month ago…
Harry was pointedly avoiding any students of Hogwarts so as to not get distracted from this goal of his. Even if he didn’t find a present for Draco here, he would come up with at least an idea before this day was over or…well Harry couldn’t really come up with a reasonable threat for what would happen if he failed this self-imposed quest…but hopefully he wouldn’t have to come up with something.
All of the gift shops were decked out in all their splendor as he meandered down the road. Christmas was just around the corner after all, a mere week and a half away, and like any shopping center Hogsmead was full of last-minute shoppers looking for just the right Christmas gift. It was easy to lose yourself in such a crowd, not quite as bustling as the one in Diagon Ally but close.
It was also strange, in such crowds, who you actually saw. And as Harry neared one particularly…expensive looking shop, he saw none other than Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zambini standing nearby. Blaise was looking around and discussing where they should go next. Draco was only half paying attention, his eyes seeming to be drawn to something in the middle of the window display.
Harry hung back, careful not to be seen by either boy, watching as Draco’s perusal of this object turned to acceptance and then a look of more interest. But surprisingly Draco made no move to buy whatever it was that he obviously wanted, instead he moved through the crowd with his fellow Slytherin when said Slytherin excitedly began urging Draco along to look at something or other.
As they moved off, Harry went to look in the window. It was a jewelry shop that also sold small, expensive, trinkets. Harry had seen this kind of store before but had never actually been in one. And the item that Draco had been looking at was…well, Harry had to admit it was very pretty.
The item in question was a set of crystal chimes, edged in silver with trailing flowers flowing around the top, also in silver. Harry had seen such flowers; his aunt had wanted some of them planted a year before. The plant was green when it was live, and grew in a bush although it spread out in a vine-like manner. The flowers it created were a dark pink color, shaped like upside-down hearts that were broken in the middle, thus earning it the name of the “Bleeding Heart Flower”. Harry could now see why Draco wouldn’t want to buy this in front of other people. A Malfoy and Bleeding Heart Flowers didn’t mix. It was the kind of item that one would have to be able to say, “Oh, that was a gift from so and so”, or one of those things that husbands kept around simply because it was a gift from their wives…no matter how they really felt about it.
Harry looked over at the card next to the chimes to see exactly what the item did. It was charmed to chime the hour, though it was not actually a clock, with each hour having a different chime. These were all set to a default chime but one could set a different chime if they wanted to.
With a set smile on his face Harry walked into the shop and pointed to the chimes in the window, asking if they could be gift wrapped as well.
Chapter 20: Through the Looking Glass
When one was being entirely truthful, there were only a few things in life one could really count on, and Draco became ever firmer in his resolve of this statement as he passed by gift after gift that he could have bought for Harry but…didn’t. It was rather sad really, all the glitter of commercialism everywhere, but just not the right glitter. Not that Draco hadn’t seriously considered most of the gifts (all inside the correct price range of course…a range that would have made most people flinch); there were some really good candidates… but they just weren’t right and there was no getting around it.
No amount of rationalizing worked, and Draco had been rationalizing for hours. If the gift wasn’t perfect then Draco wasn’t going to buy it. That was what Christmas was all about after all, spending oodles of money on gifts that were, in a word, perfect. If they weren’t perfect then there was no point in giving them in the first place. And perfect wasn’t just “perfect for this moment only” or “perfect for now but would soon be cast aside”, no, perfect was perfect. Something that was meaningful on Christmas Day when it was opened, meaningful on New Year’s Eve a few days later, and meaningful for at least twenty years down the line when all the glitter and sparkle of it being new wore off.
Not that Draco really followed this ideal when he normally got presents for people. No, this was an ideal saved only for family because family was important where groupies were not. And, as much as Draco sometimes hated (and sometimes didn’t mind so much), Harry Potter was family now. Ergo, the ‘perfection problem’ as Draco was now terming it.
Draco had parted ways with Blaise as soon as they both knew that the coast was clear and that less wanted people wouldn’t latch on to either of them, and now he sat drinking a butterbeer and thinking about this problem at hand.
His father always solved this by quantity. For as long as Draco could remember, Christmas (and his birthday, but that wasn’t until June anyway) was the time to be literally showered with gifts. When he was a child his father had even done the idea of twelve days of Christmas with the gifts growing in number each day. But he’d grown out of that (albeit mournfully as that really had been a nice tradition) and had been happy with the multitude of presents on Christmas morn. It made some sense too: give as many gifts as you can come up with and one of them will be perfect. Easy and simple…when dealing with Draco that is. Draco thought back to the necklace he’d received last year, gold and engraved with the Malfoy family crest, that he’d opted to leave at home when he returned to school and remembered how much he’d regretted that decision.
But Draco didn’t have the time or patience (note that he did have the resources) to find every little thing that Harry could have ever wanted in his life to wrap and give to him. So Draco had to go for quality instead. But what was the one thing that Harry Potter would want most of all? That was the question of the day.
Paying for his drink, Draco again stepped into the cold December air and continued moving. Now…if he were Harry Potter what would he want? Well, parents. That much was simple. If there was one thing that would be the most meaningful thing ever, it would be Harry’s parents. But Draco couldn’t do necromancy and couldn’t really pay anyone else to. In fact, the only person he knew who had accomplished the whole “brought back to life” feat was Lord Voldemort. And Voldemort would probably opt to…well, something disgusting, rather than bring back the Potters. So, actually giving Harry his family for Christmas was out of the question.
Pictures…another out of the question. All he would be able to find would be the school photos and Harry probably already had those. No, what Draco needed was something that would provide a different aspect than just looking at a picture. Something that would allow Harry to really see them and…well, why just Harry’s parents. What about something that would allow Harry to really know all the people who cared for him like family, to really see them…
Draco’s eyes fell upon a mirror that was propped up on a stand inside a window display. It was a simple oval mirror, made of white gold, with a handle. It looked rather like the kind of mirror Narcissa used to enjoy using. But this mirror was a bit different from that. It was rather plain really, with a simple border around the edge of the mirror that was elegant but not extravagant to the point of excess. Draco peered into the mirror and saw his own reflection looking back at him. And in that instant where his own eyes locked on his reflection’s, Draco realized what he would give Harry for Christmas. And it would be absolutely perfect.
