The Fake Date

this is only the first date

"Malfoy, I need you to date me."

Draco's head snapped and his heart immediately began to race at the words from the particular voice. When he returned to Hogwarts for his eighth year, Draco, albeit reluctantly, made a truce with everyone else who had come back. He didn't think people would be willing to move past everything that had happened during the war, especially the ones returning after having spent a year with him following and enforcing orders from Death Eaters or the Dark Lord himself. To his surprise, everyone had meant what they had said back in September and for the most part steered clear of the blonde. The only person that hadn't was the one person Draco wished did; Harry Potter.

It was all too easy for Draco to keep his head down and do his work, so naturally a higher power wanted to make his life difficult and specifically sent Harry Potter to do so. The raven haired boy with the stupid scar and stupid green eyes was keen on befriending Draco, who wanted none of it. It was bad enough he had to endure an entire year at Hogwarts without his friends, not to mention share a common room with people who barely tolerated him, he could most certainly do without Potter's persistence.

"What?" Draco asked with furrowed brows, but he refused to look up from his parchment. Certainly the Boy Who Lived knew he was busy as Draco was in the common room taking up an entire table with his books. But it seemed as though Potter had a knack for knowing the precise moments Draco was busy and decided those were the perfect times to strike up a conversation.

"I need you to date me—Fake date me, obviously—"

"Why can't you get a real date?" He scoffed as he continued to write notes for charms.

He hoped he was portraying himself as entirely put off by the idea seeing as internally he felt the opposite and had spent years pushing his feelings for a particular green eyed boy aside. He was prepared to continue to do so for another year, but Potter's ongoing persistence on forming a friendship had made it quite difficult.

"Don't flatter yourself, Malfoy. You're not my first choice—"

"Potter, can't you see that I'm busy? Will you just get to the point so you can leave me alone?" Draco groaned and began to bring a hand through his hair. He bit the inside of his cheek, surely he was curious as to why Harry Potter needed a date and even decided to ask Draco Malfoy of all people. Despite the curiosity about the situation, the last thing Draco  wanted was to see the look on Potter's face when he would inevitably say it was a joke. To avoid any embarrassment, the blonde went back to taking notes as he quickly asked the overarching question. "Why do you even need a date anyway?"

"Well, I sorta told Ron and Hermione that I had a date for Hogsmeade as a way to get out of third wheeling them, but then Hermione suggested meeting up at the Three Broomsticks for a double date—Anyway, will you just pretend to be my date?" The boy rushed as he took it upon himself to sit in the empty chair beside Draco.

At the desperation in the other's voice, Draco's head turned up. Sure enough, Harry was blushing and nervously "fixing" the mop he called hair on the top of his head, which only fed into the fluttering in Draco's chest, the feeling inadvertently pulling a smirk on his lips. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms and the action clearly only made Potter even more impatient.

"Please—"

"Certainly you know better than to beg, Potter." Draco smirked, despite the rumbling feeling in his chest.

"Shut up," Potter quickly said, his eyes scanning Draco's face before he looked down at his hands. "So will you go with me or not?"

Draco tossed the idea around in his head for a moment. On one hand, he'd rather be caught dead than go on a fake date with Harry freakin Potter. On the other hand, without his friends, Draco had nothing better to do on a Hogsmeade weekend—or any weekend for that matter—but he wasn't about to admit that to Potter.