Mentally hexing his friends, he let Pansy grab his arm and Apparate them. She didn’t even wait for him to catch his balance before she dragged him into…Where were they? Ah, a pub, it seemed. It was already crowded, which Draco detested. There were no more empty tables. But Pansy didn’t seem to be bothered by that. She walked straight up to a table in the corner, pulling Draco along with her. Everything happened so fast, he had no time to protest. He did, however, raise a confused eyebrow when he saw dirty blond curls and a warm smile.
“Luna?”
Pansy stepped aside, giving him a clear view of the person sitting next to Luna.
“What—”
“Draco?”
Potter looked as shocked Draco felt.
“What the fuck is going on?” Draco narrowed his eyes. “Did you plan this?” he snarled, not exactly sure who he was asking. Had they all planned this together?
“Did you?” Potter asked, gaping at Luna.
“Harry, this is a good thing,” she said, rubbing his shoulder.
“How is—”
“Harry.” Luna’s expression darkened as Draco had never seen before. “You’ve been an awful mess for weeks now.”
Potter flinched while Draco’s pulse instantly quickened. Really? A strange feeling bubbled up inside him at the thought that Potter might have been as miserable as him. Why though? Could he really dare to hope?
“Same over here,” Pansy said in an irritated tone. Before Draco could snap at her, she grabbed him and pushed him down in a chair.
“I’m not going to sit here and—”
“Yeah, me neither,” Potter said, getting ready to get up.
“Shut up! Both of you,” Pansy bellowed.
Several heads around the pub turned in surprise, but Pansy seemed unimpressed. Man, she could be scary if she wanted to.
“You!” She pointed her index finger at Draco. “You broke up with Astoria, so you better make it worth it.”
“You—You broke up with your fiancée?” Potter looked like he had just been hit with a stunning spell.
“And you!” Pansy turned to Potter. “From what Lovegood told me, you didn’t even have to break up with that bloke you paraded in front of Draco, because he never really was your boyfriend.”
“What?” Draco spluttered.
“You told her—Why are you even talking to her?” Potter exclaimed, turning to Luna.
“Apparently,” Pansy said, ignoring Potter’s outburst, “he’s an Auror. They used to train together, and now Potter owes him a favour.”
“You—You—” Draco’s mind reeled. “You weren’t dating Henry?”
“You aren’t engaged anymore?” Potter retorted, gobsmacked.
“Clearly,” Blaise said with a smug grin, “you two have a lot to talk about. We’ll leave you to it.”
Draco saw Luna join Pansy and Blaise as they all turned to leave, but his brain couldn’t process what was happening. Was it really true? Had Potter seriously asked this Henry guy to pretend to be his boyfriend? Why? Why would he do that?
“You little shit,” Draco growled.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Potter growled back. “Why didn’t you tell me about your break up?”
“We weren’t speaking,” Draco said curtly.
“Right. And whose fault is that?”
“YOU—” Draco tried to collect himself. He didn’t care for a scene right in the middle of a crowded pub. “You pretended to date someone else,” he hissed.
“What was I supposed to do?”
“What—Seriously? Why did you even do it?”
Potter scowled at the table.
“Were you going to marry him, too?” Draco scoffed. “Out of spite? Do you still have to beat me at every—”
“I wanted to make you jealous, you stupid git!”
Draco froze. Everything he had wanted to say suddenly evaporated like smoke in his mind. Jealous? Potter had wanted to make him jealous? Well, mission accomplished. But… why would—
“It was such a dumb idea,” Potter muttered, his eyes still fixed on the table. “I wasn’t even sure if it was going to work. You weren’t—You never—But I thought you might—”
Might what?
“You told me you were engaged and I snapped, okay?”
Draco wasn’t sure if he was hallucinating or not. Granted, on more than one occasion he had gotten the impression Potter might think he wasn’t unattractive, but Potter had been drunk almost every time. Draco wasn’t one to just jump to conclusions. Could he now? Was Potter really saying…he liked Draco?
“Why was me being engaged such a big deal?” Draco asked. He needed to hear it. He needed Potter to say it.
“Fuck you,” Potter spat.
“You know,” Draco said slowly, “you say that every time I ask you—”
“Because you already know! What, you want to gloat?” Potter seethed.
“I just want to know what the fuck is going on,” Draco shot back, slamming his fist down on the table.
“What?” Potter gaped at him. “You’re kidding, right?”
Draco didn’t answer, holding Potter’s gaze defiantly.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Potter threw his hands in the air, shaking his head. “Even I’m not that oblivious!”
