No More Waiting (H/D, PG)
Title: No More Waiting
Author: sesheta_66
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1234
Pairing/Characters: Harry/Draco, Hermione
Challenge: For sassy_cissa's birthday prompt of "And if not now, when?" It also fits the current slythindor100 quote of "Being happy doesn't mean everything is perfect. It means you have decided to look beyond the imperfections" and my GJ 100_prompts table #050 - "Years."
Summary: Hermione gives Harry a much-needed nudge.
Disclaimer: The author is not responsible for underage readers. Please observe the ratings, warnings, and age of legal consent for your country. The characters contained herein are not mine. They belong to JK Rowling and her publishers. No money is being made from this fiction, which is presented for entertainment purposes only.
"What's wrong with me, Hermione?"
"There's nothing wrong with you, Harry. You just ... well, you expect too much of yourself is all."
"I don't."
"You do, Harry. You know, being happy doesn't mean everything is perfect. It means you have decided to look beyond the imperfections."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean that you and Ginny --"
"Oh, don't start on that again."
"No, Harry, wait. I wasn't suggesting that the two of you get back together. I know you don't like her that way any more."
"I don't know if I ever really did, you know?"
Hermione looked surprised. "I don't understand."
"Well ..."
"Well what, Harry? I was there. I remember. You two were very happy together."
"I think I went after her for all the wrong reasons. I know it was expected of me to date ... well, someone. And the disaster with Cho ... well, we don't need to talk about that. Then I felt, I don't know, strange when Ginny's attention was on someone else besides me. After spending the summer at the Burrow, it was weird not having her along, and then ... well I think I was jealous and ..." He paused, not sure how to continue.
"And?"
"Confused. And Ginny was there. It didn't take long for me to feel like it just wasn't right, you know. Like I was dating my sister -- which, of course, I should have expected anyway."
"And now?"
"Now I think I know why it would never have worked out with Ginny, or Cho, or any other girl for that matter."
"You're not saying what I think you're saying, are you?"
Harry nodded.
"Well."
"Yeah."
"That changes everything."
"Doesn't it?"
"All these years you've been keeping this to yourself?"
"Not really, I don't think. I was a bit preoccupied, you'll remember?" She chuckled and nodded. "I guess I just felt like it was something else that made me different, and I thought that maybe it was just a stage, something that was getting all jumbled up with everything else, one more thing I just didn't understand."
"You don't ... I mean Ron --"
Had he been drinking something at the time, Harry was quite sure he'd have choked on it. "No, Hermione," he reassured her, "I most definitely don't have designs on your boyfriend. He's straight, and he's all yours!"
"Oh, well then." Her face was pink. "So ..."
"So ..." They sat in silence for a while, neither knowing what to say. Harry knew Hermione was processing this latest information, and he wasn't too sure if he could bring himself to add to it.
"Oh my God!" she suddenly cried out.
"What is it? Are you okay?"
"Malfoy!"
"What?"
"It's Malfoy, isn't it?" she asked, eyes boring into Harry's as they always did when she was looking for the truth.
"What's Malfoy?" he asked, knowing that he was pants at lying to Hermione.
"It is Malfoy! I can see it in your eyes! And all that obsessing in sixth year. Well, okay, he was up to something, but still. Then going back to save him. Again, I'm not really so sure you'd have left anyone behind, but that's beside the point. Then you saved him again. Right, that saving people thing you have again. Oh! And you still have his wand, and it's been months. I wondered about that. Did you keep it because of what it represented in the end? Was it revenge or punishment for Malfoy's actions? Oh, Harry, you fancy him, don't you?"
As always, Hermione was a whirlwind of words when she discovered something that had been lying beneath the surface, just waiting to be uncovered. But her final statement summed it up perfectly.
"Yeah, I think I do."
"Oh, Harry! So what are you going to do about it? Are you going to ask him out? You could offer to drop by and bring back the wand. Oh, but no - you wouldn't want to go back to the Manor. Maybe you could meet somewhere neutral. His trial is coming up soon. Maybe you could testify - you will testify, right? Then you could talk to him afterwards. No, maybe that's not the most appropriate time. You could --"
"Hermione, stop!" Harry found himself shouting. This hadn't been the reaction he was expecting at all. "Whoa, there. Aren't you going to try to talk me out of this madness, tell me I should go after some nice Hufflepuff?"
Hermione giggled at the suggestion. "Oh, Harry, you really are hopeless, aren't you?"
He scowled at her. "I hardly think --"
"Oh, I'm sorry, Harry. I don't mean it like that. I just mean that when you realize you have a chance at happiness, you need to go for it. And thinking back on all the years we spent together, there was always this ... connection between you and Malfoy. You two were always passionate about each other."
"We were at each other's throats!"
"Haven't you ever heard the phrase There's a fine line between love and hate?"
"Yes, but --"
"Harry, I wouldn't be in the least bit surprised if Malfoy felt the same way about you."
"But he likes girls."
Hermione laughed at his remark. "Oh, I don't think so, Harry. I may have missed the signs with you, but as you said, you were a bit preoccupied. But Malfoy? I'd be very surprised if he weren't gay."
"Really? You think so?"
"Yes I do. Besides, what have you got to lose?"
"Oh, I don't know, my reputation? He could sell the information to the papers. I can see the headlines now --"
"Since when do you care about headlines? And so what if it did happen that way? You would know where you stand with Malfoy, and the wizarding world's most eligible gay men would know that you're on the market. I don't see a down side."
Put that way, it didn't sound all that bad after all. "Oh, alright, I'll think about it. Maybe I'll send him an owl next week."
"Next week? Let's do this now."
"Now?" Harry just about jumped out of his skin. "That's rather sudden. I was expecting some comfort from you, some rational explanation, some plan to research things for weeks, possibly some smacking me upside the head for liking Malfoy. I'm not ready for this, 'Mione."
"Harry, don't you want to be happy?"
"Well ... yes."
"And haven't you wasted enough time?"
"I suppose."
"So, Harry, don't you think you deserve happiness? And if not now, when?"
Three days later, Harry walked in to the restaurant to see Draco waiting at the table. When he looked up, he greeted Harry with a smile that lit up his face, and caused his grey eyes to dance. Harry's stomach did a flip.
"I wasn't sure if you'd show up," Harry said, his nerves on edge.
"Well, you said you'd bring my wand," Draco replied. "I could hardly pass on that. I've felt somehow incomplete without it."
"Oh, right," Harry said, failing to keep the disappointment from his voice. He took out Draco's wand and handed it to him. "There you go then."
As Draco took back his wand, his hand grasped Harry's and didn't let go. He looked up at Harry and smiled again. "Besides, I've been waiting years for a date with you."
.
Author: sesheta_66
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1234
Pairing/Characters: Harry/Draco, Hermione
Challenge: For sassy_cissa's birthday prompt of "And if not now, when?" It also fits the current slythindor100 quote of "Being happy doesn't mean everything is perfect. It means you have decided to look beyond the imperfections" and my GJ 100_prompts table #050 - "Years."
Summary: Hermione gives Harry a much-needed nudge.
Disclaimer: The author is not responsible for underage readers. Please observe the ratings, warnings, and age of legal consent for your country. The characters contained herein are not mine. They belong to JK Rowling and her publishers. No money is being made from this fiction, which is presented for entertainment purposes only.
"What's wrong with me, Hermione?"
"There's nothing wrong with you, Harry. You just ... well, you expect too much of yourself is all."
"I don't."
"You do, Harry. You know, being happy doesn't mean everything is perfect. It means you have decided to look beyond the imperfections."
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean that you and Ginny --"
"Oh, don't start on that again."
"No, Harry, wait. I wasn't suggesting that the two of you get back together. I know you don't like her that way any more."
"I don't know if I ever really did, you know?"
Hermione looked surprised. "I don't understand."
"Well ..."
"Well what, Harry? I was there. I remember. You two were very happy together."
"I think I went after her for all the wrong reasons. I know it was expected of me to date ... well, someone. And the disaster with Cho ... well, we don't need to talk about that. Then I felt, I don't know, strange when Ginny's attention was on someone else besides me. After spending the summer at the Burrow, it was weird not having her along, and then ... well I think I was jealous and ..." He paused, not sure how to continue.
"And?"
"Confused. And Ginny was there. It didn't take long for me to feel like it just wasn't right, you know. Like I was dating my sister -- which, of course, I should have expected anyway."
"And now?"
"Now I think I know why it would never have worked out with Ginny, or Cho, or any other girl for that matter."
"You're not saying what I think you're saying, are you?"
Harry nodded.
"Well."
"Yeah."
"That changes everything."
"Doesn't it?"
"All these years you've been keeping this to yourself?"
"Not really, I don't think. I was a bit preoccupied, you'll remember?" She chuckled and nodded. "I guess I just felt like it was something else that made me different, and I thought that maybe it was just a stage, something that was getting all jumbled up with everything else, one more thing I just didn't understand."
"You don't ... I mean Ron --"
Had he been drinking something at the time, Harry was quite sure he'd have choked on it. "No, Hermione," he reassured her, "I most definitely don't have designs on your boyfriend. He's straight, and he's all yours!"
"Oh, well then." Her face was pink. "So ..."
"So ..." They sat in silence for a while, neither knowing what to say. Harry knew Hermione was processing this latest information, and he wasn't too sure if he could bring himself to add to it.
"Oh my God!" she suddenly cried out.
"What is it? Are you okay?"
"Malfoy!"
"What?"
"It's Malfoy, isn't it?" she asked, eyes boring into Harry's as they always did when she was looking for the truth.
"What's Malfoy?" he asked, knowing that he was pants at lying to Hermione.
"It is Malfoy! I can see it in your eyes! And all that obsessing in sixth year. Well, okay, he was up to something, but still. Then going back to save him. Again, I'm not really so sure you'd have left anyone behind, but that's beside the point. Then you saved him again. Right, that saving people thing you have again. Oh! And you still have his wand, and it's been months. I wondered about that. Did you keep it because of what it represented in the end? Was it revenge or punishment for Malfoy's actions? Oh, Harry, you fancy him, don't you?"
As always, Hermione was a whirlwind of words when she discovered something that had been lying beneath the surface, just waiting to be uncovered. But her final statement summed it up perfectly.
"Yeah, I think I do."
"Oh, Harry! So what are you going to do about it? Are you going to ask him out? You could offer to drop by and bring back the wand. Oh, but no - you wouldn't want to go back to the Manor. Maybe you could meet somewhere neutral. His trial is coming up soon. Maybe you could testify - you will testify, right? Then you could talk to him afterwards. No, maybe that's not the most appropriate time. You could --"
"Hermione, stop!" Harry found himself shouting. This hadn't been the reaction he was expecting at all. "Whoa, there. Aren't you going to try to talk me out of this madness, tell me I should go after some nice Hufflepuff?"
Hermione giggled at the suggestion. "Oh, Harry, you really are hopeless, aren't you?"
He scowled at her. "I hardly think --"
"Oh, I'm sorry, Harry. I don't mean it like that. I just mean that when you realize you have a chance at happiness, you need to go for it. And thinking back on all the years we spent together, there was always this ... connection between you and Malfoy. You two were always passionate about each other."
"We were at each other's throats!"
"Haven't you ever heard the phrase There's a fine line between love and hate?"
"Yes, but --"
"Harry, I wouldn't be in the least bit surprised if Malfoy felt the same way about you."
"But he likes girls."
Hermione laughed at his remark. "Oh, I don't think so, Harry. I may have missed the signs with you, but as you said, you were a bit preoccupied. But Malfoy? I'd be very surprised if he weren't gay."
"Really? You think so?"
"Yes I do. Besides, what have you got to lose?"
"Oh, I don't know, my reputation? He could sell the information to the papers. I can see the headlines now --"
"Since when do you care about headlines? And so what if it did happen that way? You would know where you stand with Malfoy, and the wizarding world's most eligible gay men would know that you're on the market. I don't see a down side."
Put that way, it didn't sound all that bad after all. "Oh, alright, I'll think about it. Maybe I'll send him an owl next week."
"Next week? Let's do this now."
"Now?" Harry just about jumped out of his skin. "That's rather sudden. I was expecting some comfort from you, some rational explanation, some plan to research things for weeks, possibly some smacking me upside the head for liking Malfoy. I'm not ready for this, 'Mione."
"Harry, don't you want to be happy?"
"Well ... yes."
"And haven't you wasted enough time?"
"I suppose."
"So, Harry, don't you think you deserve happiness? And if not now, when?"
Three days later, Harry walked in to the restaurant to see Draco waiting at the table. When he looked up, he greeted Harry with a smile that lit up his face, and caused his grey eyes to dance. Harry's stomach did a flip.
"I wasn't sure if you'd show up," Harry said, his nerves on edge.
"Well, you said you'd bring my wand," Draco replied. "I could hardly pass on that. I've felt somehow incomplete without it."
"Oh, right," Harry said, failing to keep the disappointment from his voice. He took out Draco's wand and handed it to him. "There you go then."
As Draco took back his wand, his hand grasped Harry's and didn't let go. He looked up at Harry and smiled again. "Besides, I've been waiting years for a date with you."
.