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Alright, when Harry had gotten himself a nice, tidy job at the local coffee shop, he had thought that there would be nothing to it. He had assumed that there would be the nice customers that had known him since he was knee-high. Those that were less friendly before they had their coffee — and his stained shirts proved that he had gotten more than his fair share of rude Karens — were also to be expected, but the rest of his regulars definitely made up for the few oddball crazies. Or at least, they did.
Most days, Harry tried to look at all the different ways it could go right. Up until he had met the bane of his existence. Draco Malfoy. Everyone thought that Dean Riddle of Mangemorte Academy would be his mortal enemy, and they would have been close. But Draco Malfoy was, without a doubt, the most spoiled rotten, nasty, entitled little piece of work he had ever met in his life, and he had definitely met his share. When he had graduated secondary, though, he had counted his blessings that he was going to uni and would never again have to deal with the brat, or his little cohort, for the rest of his adult life.
That was, until Draco fucking Malfoy strutted his way over to the counter, smirking as he looked Harry up and down. Like he was just so fucking pleased to see Harry working behind a counter. Bastard. “Well, someone looks like they fit right in.”
“Just shut up and order something, Malfoy,” Harry spat at him.
“Temper temper,” he tried to purr, but it ended up sounding like the kind of voice that came from someone that Harry sorely longed to punch. “I am a customer. You know what they say, anyway. The customer is always right.”
“You haven’t bought anything. So that just makes you some prick lingering around our establishment.” Draco’s stupid smirk still didn’t get wiped off his smug stupid face, even as he looked up at the board, hemming and hawing.
“Well, I suppose I could always try something new. I normally have a mocha, but what if today I have a blended? Or perhaps a tea. I would ask you if you had tried the chai tea, but I doubt that I would get any sort of intelligible response from you, Potter.” He watched Malfoy stare up at the menu before finally looking back at Harry like he was worth less than the dirt under his nails. Not that he had any. As always, everything about Malfoy was immaculate. “I’ll have a hot twenty-ounce mocha with three extra shorts, two pumps of salted caramel, a single of white chocolate, one pump of regular caramel made with whole milk, layered with a chocolate drizzle, and yes, I will take the whipped cream.” Then, he had the fucking balls to smirk at him again. “Did you get all of that, or do I need to go over it again?”
Harry picked up the cup and started to drizzle in the chocolate — for no goddamn reason since it would just get mixed into the coffee and it was a paper cup anyway. “Yeah. Anything to eat?”
Malfoy looked impressed as he watched as Harry started to make the drink to his specifications. Asshole. “...Not today, no.”
Inputting the drink, Harry nodded, throwing back a quirk of his lips. “That’ll be seven forty-three.”
Instead of being put off by the ridiculous amount for one drink, Malfoy only opened up his wallet- “And I’d like my change back.”
Harry had never in his life been more tempted to throw a drink in someone’s face, but fucking hell, did Malfoy have a talent for driving him up the goddamned wall. “Yeah.” The rich ass handed him a fifty dollar bill for a seven dollar drink. Right then and there, Harry decided that there was a special place in hell for Draco Lucius Malfoy.
✶✶✶
Draco had to admit, it was nothing short of incredibly amusing that not only was Harry bloody Potter working at some little coffee shop, he now had to serve Draco to keep his job. He took great delight in the face, and watched with a careful eye as the younger made his drink. After all, when you were better than others, you had to be aware of any… extra fluids making it into your drink when your back was turned.
It only took a moment or two before Potter was coming back with the drink. Just the cup and lid. No sleeve or straw. Just as Draco was about to say something, Potter pointed behind him, assumedly to direct him. “If you think I’m doing anything else for you, you’re insane. You can get your own straw, or napkin, or whatever the hell else you need. Now take your drink and leave.”
Oh, that was just too good. “Well, wait now. Here I was thinking of having a nice sit down. After all, I was thinking about taking care of some homework. Finals this semester are incredibly close, you know.”
“Finals?” Now Potter had that adorable look of confusion he so often adorned. How Draco did miss that expression. “You’re in uni? Where?”
Draco held his drink tight, rolling his eyes. “‘Where,’ he asks. The same school as you, you ignoramus.”
That really had him staring as a bell rang behind Draco- Potter was now completely ignoring him in favor of whoever had come in, rushing over fast enough that he knocked down a stack of cups and didn’t even seem to care. “Hey, Cho. Your usual, today?”
Oh good god, he was moon-eyed over her. Draco walked himself over to a table, none too pleased as the girl gave him a polite smile and a nod. “Just the same as every day, Harry.”
Potter looked around the shop and, apparently, didn’t see whatever he was looking for, perking up that much more. “So, uh, Cho-”
The bell rang again, and Draco turned his head. Cedric Diggory. Everyone from secondary knew the star football player, after all. It wouldn’t be truthful for Draco to say he’d never drooled over the man himself. Though rather that drooling, Harry looked like a balloon that had been promptly popped. “Hey, Cedric.”
“Hey Harry. Having a good shift?”
“Oh, you know, it’s just a regular shift. You here for your regular?”
Diggory gave him a grin as he strode towards the counter where Cho still waited, wrapping an arm around the girl’s small waist. “You know I am.”
Harry nodded, turning away from them. “Alright. The regular amount, then.” He got started on their drinks… How very interesting. All these lights and tinsel aglow, and yet Harry looked particularly gloomy in that moment. Hm… Not even that fire that lit his eyes up when the two of them were getting into it. Well, Draco simply couldn’t allow that to stand.
He walked over to the counter, leaning over it, not caring for the other two still waiting for their drinks. “You know, I think I do want something to eat. I would say your dignity but looks like you’re all out, today.”
Just as Draco had expected, he immediately lit up as he turned towards him to seethe and rage. “Malfoy, I swear to god if you don’t stop with the jokes and get the fuck out-”
“Now now! Is that any way to talk to a paying customer?” He leaned against the glass case, much more pleased to see that fire in his eyes.
Beside him, to his surprise, Diggory began to laugh. “You two don’t change, do you?”
Draco frowned, turning to look at him and nearly slipping against the glass case. Damn fucking- “What is that supposed to mean?”
Now Cho was laughing with him! “Ced, don’t. They don’t know, yet.”
“What? What don’t I know?” Harry was just as confused, and frankly, the way they spoke peeved Draco. It was as though they knew something that he didn’t. And he hated people knowing more than him.
When Harry handed over their drinks, still with that same dumbfounded look, Cho just giggled. “Thanks, Harry.”
“Y- Yeah. Uh… No problem.” Monkey brain. What an idiot. Draco couldn’t believe how some men utterly lost it at a mildly attractive woman.
“Let me put this in simpler terms for you, Potter. Food. Want. Now. ”
Harry whirled around to him immediately as the couple left. “You shut it, Malfoy, before I kick your ass out of here!”
Draco couldn’t help his own snickering, shaking his head as he took his cup and left. He couldn’t help winding him up, after all. He made such an attractive image when he was so worked up.
✶✶✶
As Christmas only got closer, Harry felt like he dreaded every day. Finals had come and gone in what seemed to be a flash, and now that the holidays were upon them, it seemed like everyone that came in for their cups was more stressed out and snappish than the person before them. So when Malfoy walked in, Harry was expecting the worst, but… He was a lot more quiet and subdued than usual, just asking for his drink. He didn’t look so hot, either.
Finally, against his better judgment as he handed the man his drink, Harry watched him before asking, “You alright there, Malfoy?”
Malfoy seemed surprised that he’d asked, but shook his head. “Don’t worry about me. Too many nights staying up for my finals. I just got out of my last one, now.”
“You still had a final?” That didn’t make sense. “I had my last one a few days ago.”
“Yes, well, I suspect you are also not double majoring.”
Harry’s eyes widened. A double major? He figured that… Fuck, he hadn’t even know what to think when he learned that Draco was going to uni. “What are you majoring in?”
“International Relations, as well as Pre-Law.” Draco give him one of those smirks, but instead of smug or anything, it just looked fucking tired. “Surprised?”
“Well… Well, yeah. I thought maybe you might be in business or something-”
“Like my father?” Harry couldn’t help the sheepish nod as Draco only nodded back at him. “That’s what most expect, yes. Unfortunately, I don’t see much of a point in trying to be like him anymore. What major are you in, then? Most have placed their bets on Law Enforcement.”
Yeah, they would, wouldn’t they? “Actually, I’m in Early Childhood Education.”
Draco’s eyes widened just a moment before he gave a chuckle that… didn’t sound mean, or cruel. It sounded warm, like they were laughing together, rather than Draco making fun of him. “I suppose I have some money to collect, then.”
Alright, now Harry was definitely shocked. Draco had actually figured he was going into education? Even Ron had been surprised — and a little betrayed — when Harry had declared his major! “Seriously?”
“After what you went through as a child? I doubt anyone would want to go through that for the rest of their lives.” Well… Well, yeah. Draco hit the nail right on the head with that one.
Maybe they weren’t so different after all. They both didn’t want to do whatever everyone else wanted them to do with their lives. “Yeah. Guess so, huh?”
✶✶✶
It was only a day or two later, Christmas nearly upon them, when it happened. Draco would forever refer to it as ‘the Incident.’ He walked into the shop as he always did, watching as Harry seemed to be mopping the floors behind the counter. Didn’t they have janitors to do that? That was incredibly menial. Hearing the bell, Harry looked up and set the mop aside, standing at the counter. “Regular, Malfoy?”
“As always,” Draco said with a smile. “Have you known me to order anything else?”
“Didn’t you pick up a drink for Pansy just a week ago?” Draco rolled his eyes.
“I can tell by your tone you so adore her, too. Do you have a problem with Pansy, Potter?”
“I have a problem with people coming in and hanging all over each other. She was practically trying to give you a lap dance in the corner.”
Eyes widening, Draco laughed, holding his stomach. “P- Pansy and I! Oh, now that is a joke if I’ve ever heard one!”
Harry, amazingly, only continued to stare at him, as though he didn’t see where the humor was in such a statement. “A joke? I thought you two were dating.”
“Pansy and I? Please. We’re friends, just as you and Granger. Aside from that, I don’t play for her team, as it is. So no, we’re not dating, the two of us.”
For a while, it seemed all he could do was stare at Draco before Harry finally nodded. “Right. Gay. You’re…”
He sighed, rolling his eyes and smiling. “A ponce, a poof, queer, yes, I am.”
Harry shook his head as he got started at making his drink. “Sorry. Guess I just…”
“Never guessed?” Draco snorted with a shake of his own head. “Well, many of my classmates guessed far before I did. It’s not my fault that most teenage boys see no point in personal upkeep.”
Harry moving around behind the counter, Draco watched as he let out a bark of laughter. “Oh, yeah, because that’s what everyone worried about in secondary. Personal upkeep. ” Finishing up Draco’s drink, he walked over. “Here’s your damn posh drink, Your Maj-” Harry slipped on the freshly mopped floor, sending himself down to the floor.
Draco watched in what seemed to be slow motion as his drink went flying into the air. Oh. The lid wasn’t properly sealed, and his coffee was starting to spill out of the cup. And-
Draco stood there, soaked in coffee. And of course he had chosen to wear one of his cashmere sweaters today, because Pansy always insisted that it showed off his figure. It seemed like Harry and he both stared at one another before Harry was struggling to stand. “Oh god, oh shit-” Before he could stand, he feet slipped out underneath him on the still-wet floor, and it reminded Draco of Pansy trying to ice skate. It… didn’t seem to be going all that well for him, Harry couldn’t seem to get his feet under him properly.
Draco finally laughed, walking behind the counter. “I assume you’ve got a spare shirt around, somewhere?”
Harry stared at him with wide eyes as Draco made his way to the back room. There had to be a shirt somewhere around here, after all. “Uh, yeah- You’re not mad?”
“Mad?” Draco looked back at him as he took his shirt off. He’d have to get his sweater dry-cleaned, now. And of course he would have to go straight home. He wouldn’t be caught dead for long in some uniform shirt. “I’m furious as all hell. That was one of my favorite sweaters, I’ll have you know. I’ll be sending the dry-cleaning bill directly to you.”
“I, uh… Huh…” Harry finally managed to get to his feet, walking to the back room and reaching around Draco. “Uh, here. A shirt.”
Raising an eyebrow at the strange behavior, Draco took it- Oh. It was a soft tee shirt. That was nice. He pulled it on and saw that it was plainly colored, with no logos or advertisements. He frowned, looking back up. “Is this yours?”
“Uh, one of mine, yeah. I keep spares around. Just in case.” Harry took a few steps back to let Draco out of the back room and Draco gave a thankful nod.
The moment he stepped out, though, it was his turn to go down immediately. He saw Harry reaching forward…
Draco landed in Harry’s arms, staring up at him. Harry gave a quiet chuckle, “The, uh… The floors are slippery.”
Bringing a hand up slowly, Draco put it on the back of Harry’s head. “Harry?”
“I, er- Yeah? Draco?”
“Shut up.” Draco pulled him down and watched Harry’s eyes slip closed. This well and truly was happening. He was going to kiss Harry Potter. God, was he living a charmed life-
The bell on the door rang, alerting them that there was a customer for Harry to take care of. Unceremoniously, Harry dropped Draco onto the floor, and now seemed to have no problem making his way across to the counter and taking care of whoever it was that came in.
Rubbing his back as he got to his feet, Draco also took note of his sore pride. Rather than bothering to have Harry make him another drink, he watched him for a moment before shaking his head and turning to leave the shop. It wouldn’t have worked, anyway.
✶✶✶
Harry really couldn’t believe it. It was ridiculous. He was damned from the start. Working Christmas Eve closing shift. Not only was it a ridiculous day to be working, but now he was gonna get fucked over on tips because who the hell was gonna stop in for coffee on Christmas Eve. When the bell rang, he looked up, perking up at seeing that Draco was stepping into the shop and walking over to the counter. “What are you doing here?”
Draco gave him a wry grin. “I can’t stop in for a quick cup?”
Looking him up and down, Harry snickered. “Alright, rich boy, but this time I’m expecting a big tip. You’re gonna need to make up for interrupting all this business,” he said, raising his arms out at either side to gesture to the empty shop around them.
He watched Draco throw his gaze around the room, nodding seriously at the desolate chairs and tables. “Yes, I see, you are utterly swamped. Perhaps I should come back later?”
“Get your ass over here, prick,” Harry told him with a smile, already starting on his regular. “No rich winter vacation to go on with your rich family?”
“No, not this year,” he told him plainly, shaking his head. “I prefer the independence, strangely enough. And you? I expected you to be gathered around a table, singing praises of love and compassion with the millions of Weasleys there are.”
“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, prick.” Harry laughed as he made the cup, stirring it just the way Draco liked. “I got scheduled for work. I’m headed over to theirs tomorrow.”
Draco opened his mouth to speak before the door opened and Cho was making her way inside the shop. Alone. “Hi, Harry. Just my regular.”
Harry rose an eyebrow, looking behind her. “No Cedric, today?”
Cho sighed as he watched Draco pay and put what looked like a dollar bill in the tip jar. “No. He says he forgot to tell me, but he’s just flown out. He’s on a study abroad program next semester, and… Well, we’re not together, the two of us. I don’t think I can do long distance, you know? And he’s just…” She shook her head. “I don’t know if it would have worked.”
Huh. Whereas a few weeks ago he may have been excited at the thought, now he just felt… Well, he felt bad for her, definitely. “Sorry about that, Cho.” He finished up Draco’s drink and started in on Cho’s. “Are you two going to try again when he comes back?”
Cho shook her head, hands clasped. “No, probably not. We were just growing apart, you know? Some kind of Christmas present…” Smiling at Harry, she took the cup when he finished her drink. “Would you like to go to a movie, Harry? I have an extra ticket, now.”
Harry’s first reaction was of course ‘yes’ but… Glancing to Draco, he gave a shake of his head. “Thanks Cho, I really appreciate the offer. But I’m gonna have to say no, right now.”
It looked like Cho was disappointed, but she nodded. “Alright. That’s fine, I’ll ask another friend.” Turning she gave a backwards wave. “Bye, Harry. Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas,” he called back to her as she left.
Draco stood to the side as Harry walked around the counter and started to clean off the tables. Again. After they hadn’t been used since the last time. “You told her no.”
Glancing to Draco, Harry tried to keep his gaze down at the table as he scrubbed it. “Yeah, well… Doesn’t seem right, you know? She probably just needs some time to figure herself out.”
Straightening up, he watched as Draco smiled, giving him a nod. “You know, I used to think that all you cared about was football, and your popularity.”
Laughing, Harry crossed his arms. “What, are you saying you still don’t think that?”
“No, I don’t.” Draco smiled at him. “I think we’re a lot more similar than I once thought we were.”
Now Harry really couldn’t help a laugh. “You know, it’s really funny that you say that.” Seeing as not so long ago, Harry had come to the same conclusion, it was fairly funny that Draco had come to see the same way as him.
“Is it, now?” Looking up to Draco, something caught Harry’s eye and he kept tilting his head… Oh. In his periphery, he could see that Draco was beginning to look up as well. “...Oh. Mistletoe.”
Harry gave a nervous chuckle. “Yeah. Guess someone put those up when I wasn’t looking.”
Draco looked back down at him, smiling and raising a hand to rest it against Harry’s cheek. “May I?”
Rather than verbally answering, Harry nodded, and the two of them both leaned forward to meet each other in the middle. Rather than something hot and passionate like Harry may have once expected, it was… It was soft, and warm, making something curl pleasantly in his stomach as he leaned closer, reaching up to wrap his arms around Draco’s shoulders.
Draco responded in kind by wrapping his arms around Harry’s waist. He wasn’t sure how long the two of them were like that, caught up in one another before they both pulled away, staring at one another. Harry said the first thing he could think of, “Don’t think this means you don’t have to pay anymore.”
The words seemed to startle Draco, and he blinked at Harry before finally drawing away and laughing, shaking his head. “You’re a prick. What’s the point of trying to date you if I don’t get free coffee out of it?”
“Oh, yeah, that’s the only reason. It was for the coffee.”
Somehow, Harry thought that this, the way the two of them were… He thought that maybe this might work.