The masked figure looked forlorn, sitting at the end of the dimly lit bar, nursing a pint of beer.
Harry had been observing the stranger for a while, as he was waiting for his date.
There was something familiar about the man, but Harry could not place him.
Draco was late, as usual.
Harry would never understand how one person could spend so much time on his appearance.
He cast a quick Tempus and by his calculations, based on past experience, he would be waiting for at least another twenty minutes before his lover would make his dramatic entrance.
They had progressed from adversaries, enemies was too strong a word, to friends and then friends with benefits and were now at the lover stage.
Of course none of this had been a linear progression. How could it when half of the couple was immature and petulant and the other half hot-headed and oblivious when it came to affairs of the heart.
As a result there had as many breakups as makeups, but they were getting better at it. There were fewer breakups now and the intervals between breakups were getting longer every time.
There had been a few attempts at dating others in between breakups and makeups, but they always came back to each other.
Harry had been thinking about taking the next step and making it official for some time now. Partner sounded so much more mature than lover and none of their friends were taking their breakups serious any longer.
They were already exclusive, so why not announce to the world that they were an item now.
In fact they didn’t even need to announce it, as most of their friends were treating them as a couple anyway.
Harry sighed, punctuality would be nice, but he supposed that Draco was hardly going to change at this stage.
As he had at least twenty minutes to kill, he took a seat beside the stranger at the bar and ordered himself a beer. He offered the masked man a beer also, which he accepted with a short ‘Thanks’.
Harry took out a piece of paper and a pen. He had abandoned quills as soon as he graduated from Hogwarts.
He drew ten little dashes on the bottom of the page.
‘My date is late,’ he said by way of explanation, ‘fancy a game?’
The masked man looked up, surprised.
‘Come on,’ Harry said, ‘anything must be better than sitting here drinking by yourself.
Indulge me. It is a word guessing game. Just name the first letter and if you get it right, I will tell you where in the word it fits. You get seven guesses.
The masked man said ‘O’.
‘Incorrect’, Harry said and drew a gallow.
‘What’s that?’ the man asked.
‘It is part of the game. Every wrong guess I draw another part of the picture, until the picture eventually shows a man hanging from a noose.
The game is called Hangman.
It’s a silly Muggle game I used to play as a kid with the lady who used to mind me, when my aunt and uncle were away.’
The masked man was intrigued.
‘E’, he said and Harry filled in three of the places.
E _ _ _ _ E _E_ _
‘R’, the man continued.
‘Incorrect’ and Harry drew a head in a noose.
‘N’, the man continued.
Harry filled in two more spaces.
EN_ _ _ E _EN_
The man looked at the word for a while.
‘T’, he said.
Harry filled in another space.
EN_ _ _ E _ENT
The man scratched his head.
‘V’, he said eventually.
‘Incorrect’, Harry said and drew a body underneath the head.
‘M’, the man said.
Harry filled in another of the blanks.
EN_ _ _ EMENT
‘L’, the man continued.
‘Incorrect’, Harry said and added an arm to the body.
‘You have Three more guesses left.’
‘A’, the man said.
Harry filled in another blank.
EN_ A _ EMENT
The man looked at the word for a long time. Then he turned to Harry and said, ‘so I take it then you have made up your mind?’
Now it was Harry’s turn to look confused.
‘The last letter is ‘G’ and I take it you are going to ask that blonde young man of yours to marry you?’
Harry filled in the last blank.
E N G A G E M E N T
‘I guess I am. I’m sorry, Damien,’ Harry said, as he had just recognised the person beside him.
They hadn’t seen each other for quite some time, not since his friends had taken him out for drinks in The Triple Crown to talk sense into him.
Harry couldn’t believe he had not recognised the man straight away, even with the mask.
‘Can’t say I blame you, Harry. My life is a cursed life. I have been keeping tabs on you over the past few months and you have good friends who look out for you. That is quite rare, you know. Treasure it. And that blonde man of yours may be a handful, but underneath it all he has a good heart. Let me be the first to congratulate you,’ Damien said and shook Harry’s hand.
‘But he hasn’t even said Yes yet,’ Harry protested.
‘He will,’ Damien said, as he got up, ‘he would be a fool not to. Draco maybe many things, but he is no fool. Be well, Harry,’ and with that the masked man disappeared.
Not long after, Draco made his entrance, looking spectacular, as always.
Harry felt his insides flutter.
As soon as Draco had reached him, Harry went down on one knee.
‘Draco will you marry me?’ Harry asked, holding out the most exquisite antique gold ring sporting a huge peridot solitair.
Draco looked stunned.
‘Did you have to steal my thunder, Potter?’ he said, once he had regained his composure. He held out his own hand to Harry, in which he had an equally beautiful ring with a large ruby in an antique gold setting.
‘Of course, I will marry you. I thought you would never ask.’
The kiss that followed this scene was one neither of them would ever forget.
Only when other patrons were starting to shout ‘Get a room’ did they come up for air and under a chorus of congratulations they left the pub swiftly to continue their celebrations in private.