We Open at the Close (Drarry)

The Nature of Hawthorn

"What?" he asked sounding annoyed.

"Nothing," Harry replied quickly.

"Is there something wrong with my attire?" he asked sharply.

"No! No, I think it looks nice," Harry said quietly. Draco blinked.

"Oh," was all he could think to say. "Thanks."

Harry gave him a small smile, then asked, "Where's Andy and Teddy? Are they out at the shop?"

"London, actually," said Draco. "Will be gone all day, she said."

Harry frowned. "London? Are you sure?"

Draco glared at him. "Of course I'm sure! I saw her off on the Knight Bus just before you arrived."

"Why are they in London?"

"Shopping," said Draco, then added quietly, "For a birthday present."

Harry's eyes widened and asked, "It's not your birthday today, is it?"

"No, it's tomorrow. You can stop panicking, I'm not expecting anything from you. A free breakfast will suffice," he joked. "What are you doing here anyway? Surely you have your own kitchen you could make breakfast in."

"I, uh," Harry looked confused. "I thought Andy invited me here for breakfast this morning. But if she's in London..." he shook his head. "I must have got my dates mixed up. Sorry to bother you."

Draco shrugged. "No bother at all. I didn't have anything planned today."

"Me neither," said Harry. "I had planned to spend the day here."

Draco hesitated, then said as casually as possible, "You still can, if you want."

Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Just the two of us?"

"It was merely a suggestion," Draco grumbled, regretting he'd even suggested such a thing. Of course, Harry wouldn't want to hang out with him, he's got friends he could be spending his time with instead.

"I'd like that," Harry assured him.

Draco paused, then nodded curtly. "Good. Well...good then. Right."

Harry gave him a lopsided smile. "So what would you like to do today?"

You .

The bizarre thought came loud and clear in Draco's head and he quickly suppressed it and said, "I don't know. I don't fancy wizard's chess again. If anything, I've gotten worse since I started playing with you."

"Well," said Harry slowly, thinking. "We could go flying if you like. Play Quidditch, two-on-two."

Draco's eyes lit up momentarily then he frowned. "I can't. I don't have a broomstick."

"Oh," Harry said, annoyed at himself for forgetting that Draco had lost literally everything after the trial, including his prized Nimbus 2001. Harry thought hard for an alternative. "We could play football." Draco looked at him blankly, and Harry continued, "It's like Muggle Quidditch. It's not as good as Quidditch obviously, but it's a good laugh."

"Fine," sighed Draco. "But I get to bring my guitar."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "You play the guitar?"

"Yes," Draco replied, sounding exasperated. "Why do you look so surprised?"

"I dunno, I never pegged you as the musical type."

"Are you insulting my purported lack of creativity or my ability?"

"Neither since I haven't heard you play anything yet," said Harry coolly. "I didn't mean to suggest you couldn't play. I just thought you'd be into more wizardy stuff."