The Garden Party Incident
“But I don’t want to wear those clothes,” Harry stomps his foot on the ground and plants himself down on the Gryffindor red rug in his room. “Dad said I can wear whatever makes me happy!”
Regulus holds up the small suit on the hanger and looks at him exasperated. “Harry, please. It’s your auntie Narcissa’s birthday today. She’ll expect you to look your best.”
“But we were supposed to go to the zoo today! Dad promised!” Harry starts to roll on the ground, marking the beginning of his daily tantrums.
“Well, your dad forgets every reminder I put on the pantry, so no, you are not going to the zoo,” Regulus kneels down to Harry’s level, trying to wrangle the boy out of his pajamas. “James! Get your ass in here now!”
There are footsteps trudging down the hallway when a mop of the familiar messy black hair peeks through the bedroom door. “Yes? Woah, what’s wrong with the gremlin?”
“James, please. I’m trying to get your son into the wizards suit. This is a formal event! If he wears his everyday clothes, he’ll stick out like a sore thumb.” Regulus hands James the suit and nudges him to the now crying boy on the ground.
“Come on, love. He’s a kid. He can wear whatever he wants.”
“No, he can’t. Harry James Potter! You will wear this suit this instant or so help me, you won’t be getting any treats for the next month!” Regulus holds onto Harry’s pajama top and takes it off as he puts the suit over his head. Harry seems to reluctantly become more passive after the threat of no dessert.
Harry sits on the family room couch of the Potter Manor as his parents also start getting ready. He opens the box of Chocolate frog that his dad gave him after he agreed to not throw any more tantrums at the party. The frog jumps out of the box and starts hopping around the room. Harry hops off the couch as well and giggles as he tries to chase the magic-ed piece of chocolate off of the floor.
Before the frog could reach the stairs, someone picks it off the ground and swallows it whole into their mouth.
“Dad! That was mine!” Harry looks up at James teary eyed as he saw his precious chocolate get eaten. “Papa gave that to me!”
“Finder’s keepers, buddy! You gotta catch it quick when it tries to jump out.” James ruffles the same black mop of hair on his son’s head and heads towards the floo. “Besides, there will be way too many sweets at the party anyway. You can eat all you want today; your papa will be too distracted to know.”
“Too distracted for what?” A voice rings like a chime through the living room as Regulus glides down the stairs in his ethereal beauty.
“Nothing, you look beautiful as ever, love.” James winks at Harry as Harry tries to hold his giggle in.
Regulus just rolls his eyes and picks up Harry into his arms. “Alright then. Ready?”
The whole family steps into the fireplace as James grabs a handful of floo powder and yells, “Malfoy Manor!”
Walking out of Malfoy’s giant sitting room floo network, Harry immediately grimaces at the monotonic style of the room. All the furniture was either a shade of black or marble yellow, but the sunlight peeking through the thin laced curtains gave the cold interior a sense of warmth and homeyness.
Regulus gently puts Harry back on the ground but holds onto his hand. As they walk towards the open garden doors, James slithers his hand around Regulus’ waist. “Well, aren’t you a charmer?” Regulus jokes as they make their entrance to the Mafloy Manor garden.
The garden was beautifully decorated in white pastel roses and formal tables running along either sides of the tall hedges. The tables were full of grand desserts and picnic foods, which made Harry’s mouth water. Before Harry could ask to be let free, a familiar voice calls out from ahead. A beautiful woman, almost as pretty as his papa, walks towards them, stretching her arms out for a hug. Regulus momentarily lets go of Harry’s hand as he embraces his dear cousin.
“My, Regulus. You don’t visit as often as you should,” Narcissa says, letting go of the hug, which gives her time to spot little Harry standing next to Regulus. And look at Harry! You’ve grown much taller than last I saw you on your 6th birthday!”
After a moment of Harry’s silence, not quite remembering where he’d seen this woman, Regulus replies, “Harry is quite tall of his age. But speaking of kids, where’s yours?”
“Draco, darling. Come show your uncle Regulus your new dress!” There, a little girl, wearing a long white and pink doll’s dress with a matching lace bonnet skitters out of the crowd and stands curiously next to her mother.
Harry only got a glimpse of her twinkling grey eyes as they peeked in and out of her long bangs. Harry whispers under his breath, “a princess…”
Narcissa then nudges the princess towards Harry and says, “Introduce yourself, dear.”
Draco puts on a little pout and sticks her hand out, “Malfoy, Draco Malfoy.”
Harry’s face turns a bright red as he looks up at his papa for help. “Go on, Harry. Introduce yourself.”
“Harry James Potter.” and takes the girl’s hand.
Draco gives him a small smile and yanks him a little. “Do you want to go see my peacocks?”
Harry looks back at his parents again and sees his papa give a smiling nod. Harry gives them a little wave as he is quickly taken into the crowd by his princess.
“Here they are!” They make it past the gated area near the end of the garden, where the doors magically open as Draco approaches them. “These are our peacocks. They have white hair just like mine!”
Draco excitedly points towards a group of albino peacocks grazing on the turf. “Do you have animals at your house?”
Harry shakes his head. “No, but we were supposed to go to the zoo today to see some…” Harry looks down at the ground sadly. Draco then grabs his hand again and drags him back towards the manor.
“That’s alright! There are plenty of them to see right here!” Draco takes Harry to the forested area connected to the garden. They were still technically on family property, and the magical barriers around the forest stop any dangerous creatures from coming in, but that doesn’t stop little pixies and harmless prey from roaming the woods.
“See there? That’s a Jobberknoll,” Draco points towards a blue bird with a long feathered back on one of the oak trees. They listen to everything around them, and they can recite everything they hear backwards before they die.”
Draco turns towards Harry with a bright smile, which makes Harry fall more. Harry grips onto Draco’s hand tighter, not wanting to let go, as Draco leads them into a small clearing. They arrive at a small pond, where the sunlight hits the water to create a beautiful carrousel of shining light. They sit at the edge of the water, and Draco starts to take off her shoes and dip her toes into the cold water.
“Those shoes are so uncomfortable,” Draco says as she looks at the pearl-white baby heels. I wish I could wear a suit.”
“Well, I didn’t want to wear a suit either,” Harry crosses his arms, “But too bad girls can’t wear suits.”
Draco furrows her eyebrows as she stands up accusingly, “I’m not a girl.”
“Yes, you are. You look like a princess!”
“I am a princess. Boys can be princesses, too!”
“No, they can’t. Boys are princes and wear suits. Girls are princesses and wear pretty dresses like you. Also, you need a wiener to be a boy.”
Draco gives an angry puff as HE lifts up the hem of his dress to show that he is not in fact a girl. “I’m not a girl; I’m a boy!”
Harry’s face turns red in embarrassment as he pushes Draco to the ground. “That’s gross! What kind of boy dresses like a girl? You’re ugly in that dress!”
At that exact moment, someone runs towards them and picks Draco up. “Draco! I told you not to come this far into the forest. You could’ve tripped and fell.”
Draco then burst into tears, “Daddy Sev, he called me ugly.” He starts to wail at the top of his lungs as he points down to a shocked Harry, who looks like he is on the verge of crying as well.
But before the man could reply, tears started to stream down Harry's face. Severus looked at Harry with a bit of a surprised look; he was not really used to being around crying children. He helped Harry up to his feet as he held his hand, then appariated them back to the garden party.
Severus gives the crying Draco into his father’s arms and returns Harry to his parents. “It seems as though Harry is in a bit of a shock. He might have been a little smitten with Draco and called him a princess, but then Draco told him that he too was a boy.”
James only starts to laugh as he holds onto a crying Harry and Regulus just apologizes to Severus for the trouble. “Seems like Harry had the same reaction I did when I found out your knickered arse played for the other team,” James says as he pats Severus on the back a little too hard.
Severus only rolled his eyes as he turned his back and started walking away.
From then on, the fierce rivalry between Harry and Draco began. As much as their childhood was intertwined, Harry would often make fun of Draco for liking feminine clothes, while Draco, in turn, made fun of Harry’s “limited intellect.” Even throughout their schooling, Harry and Draco pretty much stayed separate entities, only for Harry to break the peace by throwing hurtful jabs at Draco and Draco having no other choice but to throw some hexes back. As much as Draco wanted to get closer, Harry would just get angrier at him. So, one day, Draco just stopped trying.