*Both*
Draco stood in front of the hob with a scowl on his face. How hard would cooking be? He is a potion master, for Merline's sake! It didn’t help that he was nervous as hell. Why did he ask Justin on a date at his house? Well, that was easy. He didn’t like to be around people after his attack. Draco hated the looks that he would get. It didn’t matter if he was in the muggle part of town or the muggle. The real question was why he thought he could cook the dinner for the date. It was simple he could have floo’d for a fancy dinner, but he wanted the satisfaction of being able to say he made it. Justin was worth the effort.
The black sludge in the pan was the last straw. He couldn’t do this without help. Draco huffed and apparated away. When he popped in front of the main house, he hoped the person he was looking for was there.
The door opened before he could knock. There stood Barnaby with his red glasses on top of his head.
*Hey you! Come in!* Barnaby moved, the blond walked in and pulled out his notebook. “I didn’t expect to see you here. I thought you had a date with Justin.”
Draco was already writing as the older wizard spoke. He thrust the notebook to Barnaby.
“Where is Harry? I need his help. Time is running out before Justin will be at my house, and I don’t have dinner!” Barnaby read out loud.
“I’m right here,” Harry answered as he walked into the living room. Winnie was in his arms. “What is going on? What do you need my help for?” Draco rolled his eyes and pointed at the notebook again.
Harry read the notebook and smiled. “Of course, I will help you with dinner! Pops, do you mind watching Winnie for an hour?” Barnaby held out his arms for his granddaughter. Who went willingly.
“The rest of your family should be around, so I’ll start dinner over here and you can just eat with us tonight.” Barnaby leaned over and kissed Draco’s scarred cheek. “Have fun!”
*We will!* Harry signed and then popped away. Draco rolled his eyes and followed.
When he popped back into his house, Harry was already at the hob.
“Don’t worry Draco, the last time I made a first date dinner for a man, they ended up being married. I’m going to make a quick Parmesan Polenta with lemon and sage steaks. I don’t know what to do for dessert. There isn’t much time.” Draco walked over to the counter and held up a dark chocolate truffle tart. The raven-haired man winked. “Oooo, that looks yummy. Okay, great! You go get cleaned up and ready. I’ll be out of your hair by the time you are finished. The only thing I ask is when you get married, you let Pops have a winter wedding. He has had spring, summer, and fall.” A winter wedding could be beautiful. Not that he was going to marry Justin. They haven’t even had their first date.
The blond nodded and rushed up the stairs.
Draco Looked at himself in the mirror, not at his face though. He could never look at his face. His black trousers were pressed, without a hint of lint with a deep plum jumper. Draco’s almost white hair was styled to where it hid his scar. As he made his way downstairs, he smelled the dinner that Harry made. He owes that little ray of sunshine. The potion master looked outside to make sure that what he set up earlier was still picture-perfect and it was. Neville had gone a little overboard in their garden this spring. Draco loved it though.
As he walked away from the window anxiety kicked in.What if the mind healer didn’t show up? What if Justin figured out that he was too good for him? Before his mind could spiral out of control, there was a knock on the door. Okay, he could do this. He just needed to take a deep breath. It was Justin, a Hufflepuff. He isn’t scary. Who could be scary with dimples like his?
He would not run to the front door, but he would walk quickly. Draco felt his heart beating out of his chest. When he opened the door, Justin stood with a bouquet of colorful paper flowers. The mind healer's curly hair is styled perfectly. Of course, he wore muggle jeans, but he had a blue button-up with a black dinner jacket.
*Hi,* Justin held out the paper flower bouquet. Draco took them and the other smiled, showing off his dimples.
*Thank you. They are beautiful.* Each flower looked to be homemade.
*You’re welcome. I volunteered today at children’s art therapy today. They were making flowers. My friend Josie helped me with those.* This man was too… too everything. Handsome, kind, fuck what was he doing here with him. Draco shook his head.
*I bet she made them and you are taking credit* The blond teased as he moved so Justin could enter the house. The manor this was not, but he loved his standalone home. It was perfect for him.
*Hey! You know I’m getting better at art! At least I know how to work with clay and paper. Painting is hard!* Justin playfully pouts at him. Which made it harder not to want to kiss him. *Something smells wonderful! I’m hungry. I haven't eaten since this morning.*
Draco summoned a vase and placed the colorful paper flowers in it. With a flick of his wand, he put on a charm so they wouldn’t ever fade or tear.
*I wish I could tell you I made everything tonight. I didn’t; I had a personal chef to make dinner, and I picked dessert up from my favorite bakery.* Justin’s eyebrows almost disappeared into his hairline.
*A personal chef? * Draco smirked and shook his head.
*Okay, he isn’t a personal chef. Harry wanted to help, and I let him.* The blond didn’t need to tell him he practically made Harry help but.
*That was nice of Harry. I would have eaten what you made. You didn’t have to go through all this trouble. Though I am flattered that you wanted to.* The other man winked at him.
*Are you ready to eat?* Draco wanted to get this started before his nerves got the best of him.
*Yes, I am.*
Justin
Justin couldn’t keep his eyes off the form in front of him. Draco looked handsome as always. The blond was tense, he could tell by his body language. He couldn’t blame him. Justin couldn’t believe that Draco had asked him out on a date.
Justin followed him to a set of french doors. Draco placed his hands on the door handles and pushed them open in one swift move. What Justin saw was something from the love stories that he sees at Anthony’s bookstore. With a half-naked man holding onto his lover, who was always wearing a flowing dress. Draco’s beauty could be on a book cover.
Fairy lights hung over the wooden frame of the veranda. In the middle sat a table and two chairs. Deep blue linen covered the top with a candle that was lit in the middle. Two cloches were placed in front of each chair. Music played in the background. The best was the view. It was rows of trees. Justin hasn’t dated much, but no one ever put this much effort into the first date. Draco looked nervous. He was biting his bottom lip and would not meet his eyes.
“Wow Draco this, this is breathtaking.” He said he knew Draco couldn’t see his hands right now, he wasn’t even looking at him.
*Thank you.* Draco pulled out a chair and motioned for him to sit. Justin felt himself blush. No one has ever pulled out his chair for him. He was raised with chivalry. He assumed Draco did as well as a pureblood.
They ate delicious food. Justin had no clue that Harry could cook the way he did.
Draco looked at him when they were finished with dinner, and he looked nervous.
*Would you like to take a walk with me?*
Justin stood up before Draco could and held out his hand.
*I would do whatever you would want me to do. I think I would always do what you want me to do.* The mind healer was joking, or he wanted to believe he was joking, but deep down, he knew he would.
Draco smirked up at him. When he smirked, he looked like he did when he was at Hogwarts.
*You shouldn’t tell me something like that. You never know what I might want you to do.* Justin interlaced their fingers together.
“I’ll take my chances.” Draco chuckled silently and signed for Justin to talk to him as they walked.
“Trying to think about what people talk about on first dates. I have 3 siblings: Nathaniel, Toby, and Camilla. Nathaniel and Camilla are muggles; they still live with my family. My Father is an Earl and a Barrister. Nate was following in my father’s footsteps before I left. Camilla was a baby when I left.” Draco squeezed his hand as he took them around his property. It made Justin’s stomach swoop that the blond was trying to comfort him.
“Toby and I left home and haven’t been in contact with our family since. Toby and I moved in with my aunt after Toby’s accident. I tried to… well, I tried so hard to help him. He is the reason I became a mind healer. Everyone who tried to help said that he was a lost cause. That his PTSD and his trauma were too much. Add in the curse of lycanthropy. I wanted to fix him, but then I figured out he wasn’t broken. I don't need to fix him. He is in the hospital and that works for him. Toby is safe and somewhat happy where he is. Where they can help him. You know I am going to ask his mind healer when he can meet the family. Barnaby and Hagrid are first on the list. I know that him having that connection with Barnaby will bring him happiness. Let's face it. There is something about that little man.” As Justin talked, Draco moved closer until his head was on his shoulder.
“Growing up, Toby and I used to camp in the garden. We lived in a manor. My family has always had money. Toby and I didn’t care about that too much. We just liked to be kids. One moonlit night, Toby and I explored the outer part of our estate. We stumbled upon a wounded animal—a wolf, or so we thought. Of course, we were stupid and approached it. But little did we know it was no ordinary wolf. It was a werewolf. I was only in year 4, even if I could do magic out of school, I wouldn’t have known what spells. We were not fast enough..The werewolf caught up to us. I tried to step in front of Toby but at the time he was bigger than me. I hated how he was bigger than me. Toby’s magic took over as he was bitten and the werewolf ran off. The damage was already done. I willed my magic to help.” Justin coughed to hold back a sob. He hadn’t spoken about this night in a long time. Tears that threatened to fall did. Draco stopped and turned to face him. Gray eyes stared up at him, and potion-stained fingers cupped his cheeks. His thumbs rubbed the tears as they fell.
Both of them didn’t need to speak. Justin could feel everything that Draco was trying to tell him.
The mind healer held his breath when Draco’s hands slid around his neck and pulled him down. Their lips were so close they were touching. Draco’s lips moved over his, not in a kiss. Justin felt puffs of air as he was telling him something. Justin closed his eyes and focused on the movements.
~Justin… I… am... so.. sorry~ Each movement of his mouth made it so clear. Justin placed their forehead together. Their noses rubbed against each other.
“I’m sorry for turning our first date into this. I thought the first time you put your lips to mine would be as a kiss. This was so much better. Not saying I wouldn’t want a kiss.” Draco rolled his eyes. “I can’t help it. I have the most beautiful man in my arms. His lips are touching mine.” Justin took a chance and placed his hands on the smaller man’s hips, and pulled him close.
“May I kiss you Draco?”
Draco nodded, and his eyes fluttered shut. Justin took in this sight before he brushed their lips together. The kiss didn’t deepen, their lips caressed each other. When the kiss was over Draco pulled away to sign.
*So?* Draco asked with his elegant eyebrow raised.
*So….* Justin signed back. There was something in the other man’s gray eyes, something like mischief.
*Which was better, my lips on yours speaking or kissing?* Justin barked out a laugh and signed confidently.
*Both*