Drarry oneshots

Stranger

Summary: When a random stranger mistakes Draco for his blind date, Draco can't get a word in to tell him he's not. Well, at least the stranger's hot.

Tags: AU, angst, fluff, social awkwardness, date, cute, first meeting, misunderstandings, another attempt at humor

Trigger warnings: vague references to trauma, awkwardness, slight implied violence 

Words: 5k (oops)

___________________________________________

{This is an AU where Harry was never the boy who lived and doesn't know Draco}

Draco sighed as he put his phone down. Pansy hadn't even read his messages and she was unlikely to show up this late.

It wasn't her fault. Probably. Ever since she'd joined the aurors she spent less time with him and when they were together she often had to leave halfway through because she got paged.

Draco munched miserably on the last breadstick that remained. He wasn't angry with Pansy. He was angry with himself.

He'd done everything right. Apologized for his part in the war, put up with the shit people put him through and even became a healer to show he wasn't the bad guy anymore. Everything had worked out, in the end.

Everything but one thing. He had no friends. He had Pansy, granted, but apart from her he had no one. Sure, he was nice to his co-workers, made all the small talk in the world, but when it came down to it, he couldn't do it.

He couldn't open up. He couldn't stop hiding away.

He had never had trouble with such things before, but after war he couldn't go on being A Malfoy any longer. He'd had a complete change of view, and with stopping to be a Malfoy, he had stopped being himself.

He was a real arse back then, but still. Once you took away the shell of arrogance, etiquette and self-importance, you were left with nothing.

He'd had to build up a new personality, be a new person, from scratch.

And it hadn't been easy.

People always say you can't change who you are, but that wasn't true. It just took a shitload of work.

Add to that that people took every opportunity to tell him that he was the biggest arsehole in the world.

So, Draco had begun to grow wary of new people and he'd never really lost that trait.

And now, Draco was socially awkward. And it sucked. Pansy was never there, and the times he visited his mother for company she'd always ask if he'd made any new friends. She meant well, of course. But still.

He just felt like a loser. Especially now, sitting in a restaurant alone, pathetically eating breadsticks.

His last breadstick was gone and he really had no reason to stay any longer, so he signalled a waiter to pay the check.

Except that the waiter had just turned around to serve a couple of other guests, and he made eye contact with a random stranger instead. The stranger looked like he'd just run a marathon and the look in his eyes was frantic, but then he saw Draco and his face broke out in a ... smile?

He immediately started towards where Draco was sitting before Draco could even make a move, and when he was within hearing range, he announced:
"I'm so sorry! I got caught in the traffic and then my bike broke and, well, I didn't even know if you were still here. I'm Harry, by the way." He stuck out his hand and then he shot Draco the most blinding smile he'd ever seen.