Shall Yourselves Find Blessing - Part 1
Off to a bit of a late start with my Christmas story this year (thanks mainly to budget season) but now I'm off work until the new year and I'm without offspring most of the time between now and Christmas Day, so I'm good to go. Without further adieu, here be Part the First:
Title: Shall Yourselves Find Blessing - Part 1
Author: sesheta_66
Prompts used: slythindor100’s early bird prompts 16: mince meat pie and 23: roasting chestnut stand (pics under the cut) and dracoharry100’s prompts 4: Christmas market and 14: winter wonderland
Word Count: ~1K
Rating: G
Warning: none
Summary: Christmas can be a lonely time. Until it’s not.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Notes: Written for the slythindor100 Early Bird 25 Days of Draco and Harry and the dracoharry100 Christmas Challenge. Title lifted from the last line of Good King Wenceslas.
[Part 1]
Shall Yourselves Find Blessing - Part 1
Harry grinned as Luna spun around in the middle of the Christmas market and people gave her a wide berth, most looking bemused and a few looking put out by her spontaneous display.
"I love Christmas!" She twirled again. "Isn’t it wonderful?"
On impulse, Harry grabbed her by the hand and spun her around again. "Happy Christmas, Luna!"
She giggled and proceeded to grasp him by the shoulders and spin him around with her. "Happy Christmas, Harry."
Silliness completed, Luna led the way through the crowds from hut to hut, humming tunes along the way and buying a little something at nearly every shop. Harry smiled at her fondly, remembering the first year she’d invited him to join her, insisting that he’d love it. And he had. They were now in their sixth year of their tradition of going to a different market each first of December, and Harry couldn’t imagine Christmas without it. When Luna and Rolf had started dating, Harry had been concerned that Rolf would want to take up his spot, but Luna had brushed that aside. "Nonsense," she’d said. "You’re one of my best friends, Harry. This is our tradition and always will be."
He smiled at the memory before being jolted from his musings by a yank on his arm. "Oh!" Luna dragged Harry off to a roasting chestnut stand. "Rolf loves roasted chestnuts." Harry had never seen the appeal, but the cart warmed the air around them nicely.
"How is Rolf?" he asked as he breathed in the comforting aroma. "It’s been a while since I’ve seen him."
"Oh, you know how he gets. He has his creatures to care for and when one gets sick, he forgets that the rest of the world exists."
She said it with such obvious fondness, it caught Harry off-guard. An ache in his chest threatened to put a damper on the day. He’d been single for so long now that most days he just poured himself into his work and didn’t even think about a life with someone else in it. He had his friends and the Weasley’s, of course, but ... well, around the holidays it got harder to be alone. He forced a smile. "He is dedicated to his work, your husband. Just don’t you let him forget about you and your little one."
He touched her belly gently and she put her own hand over it. Seeing right through him as she always did, she said, "Don’t worry, Harry. You’ll find someone too." She rested her head on his shoulder. "When the time is right."
He wasn’t quite sure what to say to that, so he stayed silent and followed his brilliant and carefree friend around for the next couple of hours.
***
"Honestly!" Pansy huffed, interrupting Draco’s perusal of the mince meat pie display. "You’d think they were at a ball or something."
Draco followed her gaze and found himself watching - of all people - Harry Potter dancing in the middle of the street with Loony Luna Lovegood. Well, dancing was a bit of a stretch, but they were spinning around and laughing. "At least he’s not as atrocious a dancer as he was back in school."
Pansy’s head snapped around so quickly he was surprised she didn’t give herself a crick. "Really, Draco? That’s all you’ve got to say? I mean Lovegood’s always been a bit odd, but Potter’s an Auror, for Merlin’s sake. He should conduct himself with decorum."
Draco shrugged. Somewhere along the way, he’d become less of a snob and Pansy more. Frankly, he didn’t give a toss if someone broke into dance or burst into song. In fact, it was rather refreshing to see someone as usually serious as Auror Potter remove the stick from up his arse.
As they meandered through the winter wonderland of the market, Draco’s gaze kept seeking out Potter. It felt oddly like his old school days, so much so that he found himself doing so covertly, so as not to be called out by Pansy. When Potter and Lovegood reached a chestnut stand, he put his hand gently on her stomach and she placed her own atop his. When she rested her head on his shoulder, it seemed such an intimate moment, Draco turned away.
"Since when are they a couple?" he asked casually. Not that he kept up on all things Potter, but it was hard to avoid the man who lived to be on the cover of the Prophet practically every week. Surely they’d have reported a relationship.
She followed his gaze and, to Draco’s astonishment and relief, did not accuse him of obsessing. "Pfft!" She rolled her eyes. "You’d think they were, the way they’re going on." She turned back to Draco, brows raised as though he were completely devoid of intelligence. Or a small child. He couldn’t tell which. "But you must know she’s married to that Scamander bloke who hangs about with magical creatures all day. Their wedding was the scandal of the society papers last year."
Now that Pansy’d mentioned it, Draco had a vague recollection of an article about the unlikely war hero and her nontraditional wedding at a wildlife reserve of some sort. He glanced back over at the pair and was caught by the sudden change in Potter’s expression.
Before he’d had time to process what that might mean, Pansy grabbed his wrist in a vice-like grip and pulled him in the opposite direction. "Come on then. Enough Potter watching. I have to pick up something tasty for tonight."
All thoughts of Potter and his haunting look subsided into the background as Draco dutifully helped Pansy choose the pastries for the evening’s meal.
Part 2
Title: Shall Yourselves Find Blessing - Part 1
Author: sesheta_66
Prompts used: slythindor100’s early bird prompts 16: mince meat pie and 23: roasting chestnut stand (pics under the cut) and dracoharry100’s prompts 4: Christmas market and 14: winter wonderland
Word Count: ~1K
Rating: G
Warning: none
Summary: Christmas can be a lonely time. Until it’s not.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Notes: Written for the slythindor100 Early Bird 25 Days of Draco and Harry and the dracoharry100 Christmas Challenge. Title lifted from the last line of Good King Wenceslas.
[Part 1]
Shall Yourselves Find Blessing - Part 1
Harry grinned as Luna spun around in the middle of the Christmas market and people gave her a wide berth, most looking bemused and a few looking put out by her spontaneous display.
"I love Christmas!" She twirled again. "Isn’t it wonderful?"
On impulse, Harry grabbed her by the hand and spun her around again. "Happy Christmas, Luna!"
She giggled and proceeded to grasp him by the shoulders and spin him around with her. "Happy Christmas, Harry."
Silliness completed, Luna led the way through the crowds from hut to hut, humming tunes along the way and buying a little something at nearly every shop. Harry smiled at her fondly, remembering the first year she’d invited him to join her, insisting that he’d love it. And he had. They were now in their sixth year of their tradition of going to a different market each first of December, and Harry couldn’t imagine Christmas without it. When Luna and Rolf had started dating, Harry had been concerned that Rolf would want to take up his spot, but Luna had brushed that aside. "Nonsense," she’d said. "You’re one of my best friends, Harry. This is our tradition and always will be."
He smiled at the memory before being jolted from his musings by a yank on his arm. "Oh!" Luna dragged Harry off to a roasting chestnut stand. "Rolf loves roasted chestnuts." Harry had never seen the appeal, but the cart warmed the air around them nicely.
"How is Rolf?" he asked as he breathed in the comforting aroma. "It’s been a while since I’ve seen him."
"Oh, you know how he gets. He has his creatures to care for and when one gets sick, he forgets that the rest of the world exists."
She said it with such obvious fondness, it caught Harry off-guard. An ache in his chest threatened to put a damper on the day. He’d been single for so long now that most days he just poured himself into his work and didn’t even think about a life with someone else in it. He had his friends and the Weasley’s, of course, but ... well, around the holidays it got harder to be alone. He forced a smile. "He is dedicated to his work, your husband. Just don’t you let him forget about you and your little one."
He touched her belly gently and she put her own hand over it. Seeing right through him as she always did, she said, "Don’t worry, Harry. You’ll find someone too." She rested her head on his shoulder. "When the time is right."
He wasn’t quite sure what to say to that, so he stayed silent and followed his brilliant and carefree friend around for the next couple of hours.
***
"Honestly!" Pansy huffed, interrupting Draco’s perusal of the mince meat pie display. "You’d think they were at a ball or something."
Draco followed her gaze and found himself watching - of all people - Harry Potter dancing in the middle of the street with Loony Luna Lovegood. Well, dancing was a bit of a stretch, but they were spinning around and laughing. "At least he’s not as atrocious a dancer as he was back in school."
Pansy’s head snapped around so quickly he was surprised she didn’t give herself a crick. "Really, Draco? That’s all you’ve got to say? I mean Lovegood’s always been a bit odd, but Potter’s an Auror, for Merlin’s sake. He should conduct himself with decorum."
Draco shrugged. Somewhere along the way, he’d become less of a snob and Pansy more. Frankly, he didn’t give a toss if someone broke into dance or burst into song. In fact, it was rather refreshing to see someone as usually serious as Auror Potter remove the stick from up his arse.
As they meandered through the winter wonderland of the market, Draco’s gaze kept seeking out Potter. It felt oddly like his old school days, so much so that he found himself doing so covertly, so as not to be called out by Pansy. When Potter and Lovegood reached a chestnut stand, he put his hand gently on her stomach and she placed her own atop his. When she rested her head on his shoulder, it seemed such an intimate moment, Draco turned away.
"Since when are they a couple?" he asked casually. Not that he kept up on all things Potter, but it was hard to avoid the man who lived to be on the cover of the Prophet practically every week. Surely they’d have reported a relationship.
She followed his gaze and, to Draco’s astonishment and relief, did not accuse him of obsessing. "Pfft!" She rolled her eyes. "You’d think they were, the way they’re going on." She turned back to Draco, brows raised as though he were completely devoid of intelligence. Or a small child. He couldn’t tell which. "But you must know she’s married to that Scamander bloke who hangs about with magical creatures all day. Their wedding was the scandal of the society papers last year."
Now that Pansy’d mentioned it, Draco had a vague recollection of an article about the unlikely war hero and her nontraditional wedding at a wildlife reserve of some sort. He glanced back over at the pair and was caught by the sudden change in Potter’s expression.
Before he’d had time to process what that might mean, Pansy grabbed his wrist in a vice-like grip and pulled him in the opposite direction. "Come on then. Enough Potter watching. I have to pick up something tasty for tonight."
All thoughts of Potter and his haunting look subsided into the background as Draco dutifully helped Pansy choose the pastries for the evening’s meal.
Part 2