A Very Persistens Valentine
They were already one month back at Hogwarts when Harry had a nervous break down. He had succeeded in confessing his love and Draco was finally his boyfriend. But in one week it would be February 14, Valentine’s Day, and Harry had absolutely no idea what he should do.
Gifting a book was not romantic. Chocolate was also out of the question because Draco always got really high quality belgian chocolate sent from his mother. A date in Hogsmeade was impossible, too. For one because Draco and Harry couldn’t reveal their relationship to the wizarding public – it was suspicious enough that the two rivals were now on friendly terms. For two because Harry really was traumatized by the disastrous date with Cho at Madam Pudifoots.
So, what the fuck was he supposed to do? Harry wandered aimlessly around the castle, deep in thought. Just as he came to a halt in front of it, he noticed he stood at the castle's kitchens entrance. ‘Well, might as well say ‘hi’ to Dobby’ Harry thought. Maybe the elf had some helpful insights, he had worked for the Malfoy household after all.
Tickling the pear, the kitchens entrance revealed itself and Harry entered. Immediately, he was swarmed by excited house elves. “Is Mr. Potter, sir, wanting to eat something?” they asked in chorus.
“Ehm, no, thank you, I’m just here to see Dobby.” A dozen big round eyes stared at him disappointed. Shit, one of them even was about to cry. “Well, uh, I think I could drink a hot chocolate, maybe?” Harry caved in. Appeased, the elves pushed Harry into a seat and got to work. “Wait, what about Dobby?” he called after them but they didn’t seem to have heard.
Harry didn’t have to wait long, though, because two minutes later Dobby came with an enormous mug of hot chocolate topped with a giant mountain of cream and a plate with biscuits.
“Dobby is very honoured, sir, to have Mr. Harry Potter visiting him”, the elf said happily. “How can Dobby be of assistance?”
“Thank you, Dobby.” Harry took a sip of his chocolate. “I’m, uhm, kind of in a relationship with your former master and –“ “Is Mr. Lucius Malfoy laying a hand on Mr. Harry Potter? Dobby will be ironing his ears for not warning Mr. Harry Potter of Mr. Malfoy’s obsession with the Potter name!” Dobby exclaimed and franctically looked for something to hit himself with. He settled on the spoon which lay beside the mug and was about to ram it into his eyes. “Bad Dobby!”
“Dobby, stop!” Harry desperately grabbed onto the elf's hands. “I mean Draco, not Lucius!”
“How is that being any better, sir? If Mr. Lucius Malfoy is forcing Mr. Harry Potter into a relationship with his son, Dobby has to rescue Mr. Harry Potter!” The elf struggled to break free.
“Listen, Dobby! It’s not like that! Nobody is forcing me to have Draco as my boyfriend! I really do love him, and I want to make something special for him for Valentine’s Day. I thought you know what Draco would like since you lived with him for a long time.” Sighing in relief as the elf stilled, Harry let go.
“So, Harry Potter wants Dobby’s love advice.” The elf beamed. “Dobby is being proud to say, that Dobby is being considered a love expert among the house elves.”
“Great, thanks, Dobby. So, what do you think Draco would like for Valentine’s?”
“Mr. Harry Potter does not have to worry about anything, sir. Dobby is having a plan already. Dobby will be making the perfect Valentine’s gift! Harry Potter can leave everything to Dobby!” the elf exclaimed proudly. Somehow, Harry had a really bad feeling about this.
On February 14, Draco woke up with a feeling of doom. He hadn’t planned anything special, and he didn’t want anything either. He just wanted to spend some time alone with his boyfriend. Since they were back at school they had to hide their relationship from the public. At home they were under constant surveillance, too.
Draco never thought of himself as the affectionate type, but on their date in the zoo he’d come to like snogging very much. So, really, he just wanted some peace and quiet to snog his boyfriend, was that too much to ask?
If this foreboding feeling was anything to go by, it was indeed too much to ask…
When lunch passed without any incident, Draco was restless. He had seen Harry only fleetingly in passing. The Gryffindor seemed very distressed, saying something about “Chasing that damned elf”.
As it was a Friday, after lunch Draco went to the Arithmancy classroom with Hermione. Upon entering, he was ambushed by at least a hundred roses and a house elf that was dressed like a giant Valentine’s card. “Dobby, is that you?” Draco asked incredulously.
“Mr. Draco Malfoy, sir, I is having a Valentine’s gift for you.” The elf said and bowed very deeply until his nose hit the ground. Draco watched mortified as the elf snapped his fingers, and a few more elves appeared with instruments, others were throwing heart shaped confetti. Oh Merlin, please, no! Dobby took his position. Shit, he was going to dance. Dobby cleared his throat. Gods, he was going to sing, too.
Before the house elve ensemble could begin their show, Draco turned tail and fled. Hermione yelled “But we have class now, Draco!”
“I don’t care, I’m skipping!” Draco screamed back. A rose sailed past him. He heard rapid footsteps behind him. Shit, shit, shit, the elves were chasing after him!
“Mr. Draco Malfoy, stop and hear the Valentine!” Dobby shouted. “Like hell, I will!” Draco grumbled and skidded around the bend. A few hallways later, Draco hid behind a statue of an ogre who picked its nose. The blonde held his breath.
The elves ran past the statue, leaving a trail of confetti behind. Draco breathed a sigh of relief. He remembered vividly Dobby’s previous shows when he was a kid. Even then the elf had a penchant for going all out, putting every circus to shame.
Salazar, Draco hadn’t had to ran so fast in years! Catching his breath, he got into the men’s restroom. His hair was sticking up in every direction and he was sweating. He needed to change this state immediately. While he combed through his hair, he felt like he was being watched but nothing happened.
By hearing footsteps outside the restroom, Draco carefully went into a cabin. The footsteps faded and Draco peeked through the door. The coast was clear! He opened the door and slammed it shut almost immediately.
“Mr. Draco Malfoy is getting his Valentine’s song now, whether he’s wanting it or not!” Dobby said sternly and blasted the door away. Draco backed up against the wall, “Please, you don’t have to do this.”
Ignoring Draco’s pleads, the house elves began playing their tune. Dobby said, “This is being a Valentine’s gift from Mr. Harry Potter, hero of the house elves, for his beloved Mr. Draco Malfoy.” Then he sang,
“Roses are red, red are my robes.
Big is my love, and high are my hopes.
Phlox bloom at night. Let me hold you tight.”
Draco was reminded of Ginny who gifted him a little notebook full of selfmade poems for Christmas. She had said, she aspired to be a poet one day and Draco should be honoured to have a copy of her very first poems book. Now, he had the suspicious thought of Ginny helping Dobby create this horrible piece of art.
“Violets are sweet and blue,
Let me be sweet and tender to you.
Tonight let us dine, be my Valentine?”
The song ended with a fanfare and an elf throwing a hand full of glitter in Draco's face.
Expectantly the elves looked up at the blonde boy. “I aint gonna clap my hands, if that’s what you want” he sniffed.
“Dobby and his friends are knowing that they made a wonderful show. What we’s are waiting for, is for Mr. Draco Malfoy to reply. Is Mr. Draco Malfoy being Mr. Harry Potter’s Valentine tonight at dinner?”
Draco laughed. He was going to kill Harry. And Ginny, probably. “Absolutely not. Potter can stick his Valentine in his arse!”
“Then Dobby is being very sorry, sir. But Dobby has promised to make this the perfect Valentine’s Day for Mr. Harry Potter.” With a snap of the elf's fingers Draco was wrapped in a red rope.
At dinner in the Great Hall Harry was exhausted. He tried to stop Dobby all day long after the elf told him of his fantastic song gift idea. Not only couldn’t he catch the elf but Draco was mysteriously missing, too.
On Harry’s plate appeared a little note. It read, “Harry Potter’s Valentine is waiting in the Room of Requirement for you, sir.” Abruptly, Harry got up and ran to the room.
He entered and his breath was taken away. The room was lit by thousands of candle lights, creating a romantic atmosphere. And at a table full of fancy foods sat Draco half-naked, wrapped in red velvet bondage, glaring at him murderously. Harry was wondering why he wasn’t yelled at when he noticed his boyfriend was gagged. Fuck, that’s hot.
Harry knelt down beside his boyfriend. “I’m really sorry. I just asked Dobby to help me find a gift for you, I didn’t think he was planning something like this. Believe me, I tried to stop him.”
“Mmpf”, said Draco, the glare intensified. “If I’m going to free you, will you promise not to hex me?” Harry asked. Draco arched an eyebrow. “I must say, I really like you like this. I think, I should let you stay like that for a while.”
“Mmhmmh!” Draco shook his head vehemently. Harry took pity on his boyfriend and removed the ropes.
“When I wished to have some time alone with you, I imagined something different.” Draco mumbled, burying his face in Harry’s neck.
“I’m really sorry, my love.” Harry said and kissed Draco’s temple when he slumped into his arms.
“Well, let’s not waste the food, alright? I stared at it for hours and it smelled delicious.” Draco climbed on Harry’s lap and demanded “Feed me!”
As the Gryffindor scooped up a bite of foie gras he resolved to spoil his boyfriend to no end tonight.