Work Text:
It was noisy, as it usually was on Saturday morning at the park and Harry was sitting alone, as he usually was... Well, everywhere.
He couldn't quite understand his inability to retain the attention of his... peers, as he couldn't really call them friends since they hardly spent more than five minutes in his company.
The day had started quite well, he got up early all on his own and was greeted by the sight of sunshine and the cheery tweet of birds coming from his window, it was actually warm enough to walk around the house without shoes on. And Harry really loved days like those, specially when he got to the kitchen to find his mum singing softly as she and his dad made breakfast.
After sharing hot cocoa and freshly made pancakes with jam, they decided it was a too beautiful day to stay inside and they invited uncle Sirius and uncle Remus to go to the park with them. Soon, this impromptu park trip became a fully formed picnic plan. And Harry found himself in an even better mood than usual, eagerly waiting by the door until it was time to leave.
Harry practically bounced all the way to the park, and when they got there and he got permission from his mum to go explore, he even tried to follow uncle Sirius' advice to "make some new friends", although Harry didn't knew why he bothered to make it sound like Harry had any friends.
Because he didn't. At all.
And not from lack of trying, either. He once even heard his mum telling Mrs. Tonks that she couldn't quite figure out why Harry didn't get along with other kids. "And he's such a sweet boy, too," said Mrs. Tonks
Well, thank you. And I don't know either. They just don't like me much, Harry wanted to answer. But he didn't, of course, because his mum sounded sort of upset, so he just went back to play with the toy dragon that uncle Remus had given Harry on his birthday and decided to try and make some friends as soon as he got the chance. And he had tried, repeatedly. With no success. Yet, he was determined not to give up. Or he was, until a couple of minutes ago.
Harry had stumbled upon a group of kids playing with a ball and they had actually invited the boy to play with them. He was so happy, and he thought everything was going great and that maybe he would be able to tell his parents and his uncles that he had friends now, so they shouldn't worry anymore. That was until the ball went off the field and Harry volunteered to go fetch it. When he got back, ball on his hands, the smile slid right off his face. The kids had continued without Harry and were now playing another game, with another ball, practically ignoring his presence.
Harry's good mood deflated quickly. Then, he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see a girl that was playing in the same group as Harry before.
"Hey, pass that," she said pointing to the ball.
Perhaps all was not lost, Harry thought and smiled lightly. He tossed the ball to the girl and made as if to follow her, but she took it and turned her back on Harry, leaving to play with her friends elsewhere.
Harry heaved a long and weary sigh.
Oh, well. Nobody could say he hadn't tried, again. He shrugged to himself then picked a sunny - looking patch of grass, surrounded by a rainbow of flowers, on the side of the field and went to sit there, looking somewhat wistfully at the groups of kids running around.
Harry spent several minutes sitting there, looking at the trees and counting the flower's petals, not wanting to go back to the picnic so soon, knowing the adults would ask about it if he did so.
Suddenly, a figure shadowed the flower he was holding.
"Excuse me," said a soft but confident voice.
Harry looked up, and found himself staring at the boy with not quite white hair holding a green trash can and lifting an eyebrow in his direction.
"Yes?" He croaked out, suddenly nervous.
"Can you pass that candy wraper?" He answered, pointing to a bright pink plastic square on the grass and shaking the can.
Almost automatically, Harry picked up the wraper and put it in the bin. The boy smiled and Harry could feel a blush creeping up his face. That was a very nice smile.
Then, the boy's smile dimmed. "That was not yours, was it?" He asked sternly.
Harry shook his head.
"Good," declared the boy, then rolled his eyes and went to sit next to Harry. "Honestly, this people. I hate loitering," he huffed.
"I can see that," Harry smiled tentatively, and was rewarded with another very nice smile from the boy.
"I just don't like sitting around doing nothing," said the boy, then frowned. "Not that I think you were sitting around doing nothing," he then looked at Harry in askance. "What were you doing, though?"
"I was sort of sitting doing nothing," answered Harry sheepishly. "And waiting a while before going back to my parents."
The boy hummed in response. "Where are your friends?"
Harry blushed even harder than before. "Not here," he mumbled.
"Good," the boy nodded determinedly. "Then you can come with me."
Harry turned wide eyes on the boy.
"If you want, of course," added the boy at Harry's silence.
"Yes! I want to," Harry nodded rapidly.
The boy beamed and Harry thought he could feel himself melting a bit on the inside.
"Good. Great. Let's go then," said the boy, gathering the trash can and extending a hand to help Harry up.
Harry took the profered hand and stood up.
"So, what do we do now?" Asked Harry.
"Oh, well, we walk around the park gathering wathever trash we can find and put it here," he said, signaling the can. "And then we take it to the park guard so that she can sort it into recyclables."
"Great," said Harry.
"Also, we can chew out whoever we find throwing garbage around," added the boy, confidently.
"We can?" Asked Harry, amazed.
"Of course we can. It will be irresponsible to do otherwise," the boy answered with a certainty that had Harry smiling again.
"That sounds fun," said Harry, truthfully.
"Oh, it is," answered the boy excitedly.
"And how often do you do this?" Asked Harry.
"Most saturdays, specially if the weather is nice," answered the boy with a shrug.
"Alone?" Asked Harry.
The boy frowned. "Well, most people think this is boring. And weird."
Harry frowned back, wondering what could be weird about such an interesting boy.
"And you don't think this is weird?" The boy squinted at Harry.
"I think it's brilliant," said Harry, sincerely.
The boy beamed again. "You're smart. I like you," he declared.
"I like you too," Harry smiled. "And I also think you're very smart."
The boy stopped, and only then did Harry realized they had been walking holding hands all the time.
"I'm Draco, by the way," said the boy, offering his free hand for a shake.
"I'm Harry," replied Harry, taking Draco's other hand. This left their arms crossed between them.
"Nice to meet you, Harry," Draco said, swinging their clasped hands as if in greeting.
Harry laughed. "Nice to meet you too, Draco."
Draco nodded again and started pulling Harry along.
Harry kept smiling, happy in the knowledge that he had actually made a friend that day.
"Harry, what are you looking at?" He heard the soft voice of his husband before feeling arms wrapping around his waist.
He showed the picture to Draco and he laughed.
"Oh, Merlin. We were tiny!" Chuckled Draco.
"We looked so happy too. But it was sort of an ass move of Sirius to take a picture the first day we met," answered Harry, turning to face Draco. "I do think I fell in love with your smile from the first time I saw it, though."
Daco smiled up at Harry, that same smile that always made his insides melt.
"You had the prettiest eyes I had ever seen, I couldn't believe you thought I was cool," Draco laughed softly.
"Of course you were cool," Harry frowned.
"And that's why I was your first friend," Draco teased with affection. And then turned his sight on the pictures laying on the table beside them.
A laugh bubbled up from Draco all of a sudden. "Goodness, look at this picture! I was all over you!"
Harry smirked. "You've always been all over me," he said, tightening his embrace.
"I've never heard complains," sniffed Draco.
"And you won't," said Harry, leaning down to peck his lips.
"Good," said Draco, hooking his arms behind Harry's neck.
As he leaned down to kiss his husband again, Harry couldn't help thinking fondly of the day he met the boy with the heart - stopping smile that brought color to his life, and filled it with happiness every day since.
Fin.