Not Exactly Love at First Sight (H/D, PG-13)
Title: Not Exactly Love at First Sight
Author:
sesheta_66
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1490
Pairing/Characters: Harry/Draco
Challenge: AWDT challenge "And then he kissed me"; 046 "Dinner" for
100quills.
Warnings: Schmoopy. Uber-fluffy. I blame it on the fluffy prompts! No beta. Please point out any errors you find.
Summary: Harry and Draco tell their two daughters about their first date.
Disclaimer: 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.
"Tell us about how you met, Daddy!" squealed Alexa. It was her night to choose the story, and tonight she decided against the usual one from a book, in favour of a real-life love story.
"Yes, how did you and Papa meet? Was it romantic?" asked Cecilia. "Was it love at first sight?"
"Not exactly," said Draco dubiously.
Harry laughed out loud. "There's an understatement!" he added.
"What's an understatement, Daddy?" Cecilia asked.
"It means that Papa wasn't telling you just how bad it was when we first met. In fact," he tapped Cecilia on the tip of the nose, "we pretty much hated each other for the first six years we went to school together."
"No!" Alexa gasped. "That can't be true! You love each other so much, there's no way you hated each other."
"Oh yes, there is, my sweet," said Draco, confirming what Harry had said. "We just don't like to talk about those days, because it was a very dark time for us both."
"Well," Alexa considered. "What about the first time you knew you liked each other? The first time you went out on a date. Can you tell us about that?"
"We sure can," Draco said, smiling at Harry. "Let's see, it was just supposed to be dinner, right?"
"That's right. Just dinner. You see," Harry began, cuddling up with the girls on the sofa. "We had been through a terrible time with the war, Voldemort had been killed, and we were just starting to get things settled."
"You were both heroes, right Daddy?"
"Well ..." Harry started, ready to dispute the fact.
"That's right, baby. We're both heroes," Draco interrupted, shooting Harry a look that said not to argue, and to carry on with the story.
"Right. Well, then. Papa and I had said goodbye to everyone else that was staying at the house."
"You lived together?" asked Cecilia, scandalized.
Draco chuckled. "Yes, we did. But we also lived with Uncle Ron, Aunt Hermione, and a lot of other people. It was wartime, and we all stayed together in the same house."
"Oh," she said, nodding her head in acceptance. "Alright then." Draco gave Harry a smirk, rolling his eyes at their daughter's comment.
"May I continue now?" asked Harry.
"Yes, Daddy."
"Very well. You see, Papa and I still didn't really like each other very much. We had hated each other for so long, and we were forced to stay together because of the war. We no longer fought, but it wasn't something we were used to."
"But Daddy was very generous, and offered to let me stay with him, even after everyone else had moved out." He winked at Harry, and pulled Alexa onto his lap. "Daddy always wanted to save people, and I suppose he thought I needed saving."
Harry rolled his eyes at that comment. "Yes, well, you didn't have anywhere else to stay, did you?"
Draco shrugged. "I could have got by."
Cecelia giggled. "But you wanted to stay with Daddy, right?"
"Well ..."
"I don't think it was as easy as that, Cecilia. I think Papa decided to do what was best."
"And Daddy was very convincing."
"Oh, I'm sure he was," said Alexa, casting a knowing look at Cecilia.
"Alex!" Draco gasped, ready to defend their honour. "I will have you know ..."
"Ahem! May I continue?"
The girls giggled but nodded their agreement. Draco pouted, but nodded for Harry to continue as well.
"Well, it was about three weeks later ..."
"Eighteen days," Draco interrupted. Harry raised his eyebrows at his husband.
"Very well. It was eighteen days later, and Papa received a letter from the Ministry telling him that his money would be released." At the look of confusion on their daughters' faces, he explained the situation. "You see, at the beginning of the war, Papa's father was actually working for Voldemort."
"No!" both girls cried out, looking up at Draco for support.
"Actually, yes," he said. "But that's another story, for another time," he said, signalling for Harry to move on.
"Anyway, even though Papa's father realized what he did was wrong in the end, the Ministry still took away everything. That included the manor, and all the money they had. So when Papa had no place to go, he also had no money."
"But you saved him!" said Cecilia.
"No, I didn't save him," Harry protested.
"Yes you did. Papa said so," Alexa insisted.
"No, what I said was that Daddy liked to save people. I didn't need to be saved, at least not then." He cast a knowing glance at Harry. "But he did help me by letting me stay with him."
"Yes, well, if you're all done saying how wonderful I am, may I finish the story so these monsters can get to bed?"
"Hey!" pouted Cecilia.
"We're not monsters!" chimed Alexa.
"Well, you are our little monsters. Now, may I finish?" Everyone nodded for him to continue.
"So, eighteen days after everyone else had left, Papa got a letter from the Ministry telling him that he could have his money, which meant that he could find a place of his own."
"But he didn't, did he?" asked Alexa.
"Let Daddy finish the story, Alexa."
"Okay, Papa."
"Papa was relieved to get the letter, because ..."
"Because I didn't like the idea of anyone taking care of me, when I should have been able to take care of myself," Draco said emphatically. Alexa nodded her agreement.
"As I was saying ... Papa was glad to receive the letter, but I wasn't so happy about it."
"Why not?" asked Cecilia. "Didn't you want Papa to have his money back?"
"Oh, of course I did, sweetie. I had just become used to him being there. We were getting along like we never had before. We were becoming friends, and I was afraid that he would move away and I might never see him again."
"You loved him," Alexa stated.
"Yes, well, I suppose I had started to have feelings for him," Harry agreed. "But I didn't realize it then. All I knew was that I felt empty at the thought of him moving out."
"But he never told me that! Nooooo ... he told me how happy he was for me, and how exciting it was that I could get properly established, and how wonderful it would be for me to get on with my life."
"You did not!" Alexa said, glaring at Harry, and snuggling in closer to Draco.
"I'm afraid I did, honey."
"How could you?" she asked. Draco gave Harry a triumphant smile at their daughter's indignation on his behalf.
"I meant it," Harry stated. She glared at him again. "No, really. I meant that I was happy for him. I wanted him to have his money back, and feel that he was independent. You know Papa. He could never stand having me or anyone else taking care of him, providing for him. He would have to fend for himself. And as long as he had no money, he couldn't do that. So I was happy for him, even if it would break my heart to have him leave."
"So then what happened?" Cecilia asked.
"Then Daddy took me out to celebrate."
"Celebrate?" Alexa asked, confused. "Celebrate your moving out?"
"No, silly," Draco answered. "To celebrate my freedom. That's what it felt like to me. I was getting my freedom back."
"So I took Papa out for dinner. As friends. To say congratulations and thanks for everything he had done, for the Order and for me."
"Then what?"
"Then we had dinner, and we talked about what Papa was going to do next."
"Yes, I told Daddy that I would start looking for a place to live the next day, but he told me not to rush, that I didn't need to go anywhere any time soon."
"And then Papa said some nonsense about having overstayed his welcome."
"And then Daddy said, ever so quietly, that I could never overstay my welcome."
"He did?" asked Alexa.
"He did," said Draco, squeezing their daughter and giving her a smile. "I had to ask him to repeat himself, because I wasn't sure I heard correctly."
"And then somehow it just seemed so silly to stay quiet. I suddenly realized that Papa might leave, and I may never get a chance to say what I thought. So, I gathered up some Gryffindor courage, and told him that I didn't want him to go anywhere. Not the next day, not the next week, and not in the foreseeable future. I enjoyed having him around, and I saw no need for him to leave."
"And what did Papa say?" Cecilia asked.
"He reached over, and took my hand in his."
"Then what happened?" Alexa asked, eyes wide.
Harry smiled, taking Draco's hand in his, and looking into his eyes. "And then he kissed me."
Part 2 - When Do You Know?