All I Want For Christmas Is You

Day 8

Song: Feliz Navidad

"You never told us you have a new boy toy, Harry," Pansy said as she cut her pancakes.

"What?" Neville asked, shocked.

"He's not my boy toy," Harry argued. "How do you know about that anyway?"

"Hey, Harry," a low voice murmured, and suddenly, Elijah was sitting next to him.

"Hi Elijah," Harry replied, breathless.

"Will you come with me to Hogsmeade after classes?"

"Um, yeah, sure." Harry was definitely blushing now. Fuck.

"Wonderful." The smile Elijah gave him was stunning. "I'll see you then."

He kissed his cheek and left the Great Hall.

"I was wrong," Pansy murmured. "He's not your boy toy, you're his."

"Don't be stupid," Harry answered, blushing.

"You're the one who's stupid," Blaise replied easily. "Blonde hair and blue eyes? How much more stereotypical can you be?"

Harry glared. "Hop off, Zabini. We've been friends less than a week, don't think I won't drop you."

"Are we that disposable to you, Potter?" Draco asked quietly, taking a sip of his orange juice.

Harry stared at him.

"Good to know." Draco stood and walked out of the Great Hall.

"Fuck," Harry murmured, and stood to go after him.

"Are we?" Pansy whispered.

He paused, turning toward her. "What?"

"Disposable."

Harry stopped, genuinely thinking over her question. 

"No, I don't think so," he replied, and then he turned and rushed after Draco.

He didn't get far, however, because Draco was stuck underneath mistletoe in the hallway just outside the doors, angrily trying and failing to break free of its magical hold. He was shooting curses, many of which Harry was sure were illegal, and shouting curse words when none of them worked.

"Draco, do you need help?"

Draco turned around, eyes blazing.

"I'd rather be stuck here than kiss you, Potter," he growled, and damn, that stung.

"Sorry," Harry whispered, backing away.

Suddenly, a warm hand wrapped around his bicep, tugging him back a bit to face Elijah.

"Are you okay? I saw you run out. You seemed upset," he murmured, face very close to Harry's. Harry noted that Elijah was a few inches taller than him.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Harry responded. "I was just... checking up on Draco."

"He doesn't seem to appreciate you checking up on him," Elijah replied softly so Draco couldn't hear his words.

A seed of doubt in Draco was planted in Harry's head. "I know. He's probably just upset about something."

He didn't even realize they were walking until Elijah's hand slipped into his own.

"Still, even if he was, no good friend would act like that to someone."

Harry frowned. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Elijah squeezed his hand. "You sure you're okay? I'm here for you."

Harry smiled softly. "Yeah. I'm okay."

*************************************

Harry sighed as he waited for Potions to be over. Draco kept staring at him and he just wanted to get out and see Elijah and forget Draco existed.

Finally, finally, Snape allowed them to leave, and Harry rushed out of the classroom to see Elijah standing by the door.

"Shall we?" he asked sweetly, and Harry smiled, taking his hand and walking with him.

He didn't notice Draco standing there, watching them with a crestfallen expression.

****************************

"So, you really like this place?" Elijah said with mild disgust, glancing around at the interior of the Three Broomsticks.

"I do," Harry said brightly. "Madame Rosmerta doesn't give a damn about my fame."

"Which means you're paying for this, darling," Madame Rosmerta said, placing their drinks down with a grin.

"But Rosieeee!" Harry complained dramatically.

She just laughed. "Call me that again and you're dead. I know you have money, don't cheap out on me now, Potter. I demand a tip, too."

He laughed easily as she walked away, but his smile faded when he saw Elijah's expression.

"You know it's rude to flirt with someone else while you're on a date, right?" he said sharply.

Harry's eyes widened. "I'm-I'm sorry, I wasn't flirting with her...?"

Elijah seemed to crumple in on himself. "I'm sorry, it's just that I've had so many boyfriends who have cheated on me, I have a lot of trust issues and I never can tell what's playing around and what's genuine."

"No, don't be upset, I'm sorry," Harry said desperately. "You can always trust me, Elijah, and I'm really sorry for upsetting you. I never knew."

Elijah shrugged, a smile returning to his face. "It's okay."

At that moment, Ron chose to step into the pub, face lighting up when he saw Harry. He came over, hugging Harry happily.

"Hey, Harry! And you must be Elijah!" he said cheerfully.

Elijah's eyes were locked on the arm Ron still had around Harry's shoulders, and that look was starting to come back to his eyes. Harry carefully shrugged Ron's arm off and took Elijah's hand. The blonde relaxed a bit, but Ron frowned.

"It was good seeing you, Ron," Harry said, trying to make Elijah stop looking so worried about him.

Ron frowned slightly, but nodded. "You too, Harry. See you later."

He went over to the bar area and started flirting with Rosmerta. She knew he was ace, but she enjoyed their banter.

Right now, Harry was kind of wishing he could be over there joking too, but he had a feeling Elijah wouldn't like it if he started play-flirting with them.

"Ron is asexual and aromantic," Harry explained. "You don't have to worry about him."

Elijah frowned. "How do you know he's not just saying that to get closer to you and get you to leave every boyfriend you ever have?"

"Er... boyfriend or girlfriend, I'm bisexual. And I don't think Ron's the kind of person who would do something like that."

"You seem pretty gay right now. And you never know with people. You can trust someone with your life, and they can turn right around and shatter it. That's what my second boyfriend did," Elijah responded, starting to look sad.

Harry tried to change the subject because he didn't want Elijah to be sad on their date.

"So, do you play Quidditch?"

"Nah. I prefer to watch. I'm not athletic. You do, though, don't you? Although aren't you playing as a Chaser this year, because you weren't allowed to be a Seeker again?"

"I am," Harry said, grinning. Quidditch was an easy subject.

Only the members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team knew about his position change, because they hadn't played against anyone yet and they wanted the element of surprise.

At the time, Harry didn't stop to question how Elijah could know that.