sesheta66 | Love and Marriage (H/D, PG)

It's extremely late, but hopefully the use of ALL OF HER PROMPTS will make up for the fact. Hope you had a fabulous birthday,

dysonrules, and here's to making it last almost a whole year. *facepalm* Hope you enjoy this little ficlet, hon.

Title: Love and Marriage
Author:

sesheta_66
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1150
Challenges:

dysonrules's birthday request of "stamps, horse-drawn carriage, batons, and excessive perfume," plus the initial prompts she gave over here. It also fits

slythindor100's photo prompt here and

awdt's valentine prompt #14 - "love and marriage."
Summary: Draco lost a bet, and now he has to spend the day out with Muggles.
Disclaimer: The characters contained herein are not mine. They belong to JK Rowling and her publishers. No money is being made from this fiction, which is presented for entertainment purposes only.

Love and Marriage

"Welcome to the fair," a rough-looking Muggle -- who looked like he might very well have recently escaped prison or skipped bail -- greeted them in a dull voice.

Draco opened his mouth, but closed it again quickly. He'd lost the bet with Harry and now they were spending their well-earned day off at a Muggle fair of all things.

"Remember to get your stamps over there --" The ruffian pointed at a turnstile to their far right. "-- if you plan to leave and re-enter."

Merlin, they'd only just arrived and Draco couldn't imagine wanting to return.

As they entered the fairgrounds, they were greeted by a dilapidated old building with a gargoyle atop that threatened to topple off, right on top of some unsuspecting sod's head. Draco veered Harry away from it, just in case.

They crossed railroad tracks -- this place was a Muggle death trap! -- and got caught up in the crowd flowing towards a large building marked Coliseum. It didn't look anything like the Coliseum. Draco knew this; he'd been there several times with his parents. Once again he opened his mouth, said nothing, then shut it again. He had been warned, after all. He was not to complain about the Muggle surroundings all day, or there would be retaliation -- massive retaliation. Draco knew he could manage to get out of the 'all day' part of the deal, but only if he didn't push his luck.

"This way," Harry told Draco quite unnecessarily. The crowd practically carried them forward. "Over here," Harry said, pointing off in the distance.

Surely he was joking! Apparently not, Draco realised as Harry guided them towards a group that Draco thought looked suspiciously like gypsies. Merlin, one of the women wore a braided silver circlet made of who knew what atop her head! Draco shuddered at her atrocious fashion faux pas.

Harry smiled broadly as he set up their two folding chairs in front of a fire hydrant. "This looks like a great spot to watch the parade from."

"Parade?" Draco asked.

"Yeah, you know … marching bands, girls twirling batons, clowns, and grown men driving itty bitty cars."

Draco shot Harry his best you must be joking look. "No, Harry, I don't know, having never attended a Muggle parade before."

"Oh, you'll love it," Harry insisted, ignoring or just oblivious to Draco's tone. "Just wait and see." He looked like a child at Christmas, and Draco's heart warmed at once. Damn Harry for being so … cute. That thought was abruptly replaced, as Draco very nearly choked when a woman wearing thigh-high leather boots, a mini-mini skirt, and a more-than-excessive dose of perfume wafted past.

"Must she bathe in it?" Draco heard someone behind him say. Well, at least some Muggles had sense. He smiled and turned around, only to discover the 'sensible' Muggle was wearing -- of all things -- a pink plaid tie with a tie-dyed t-shirt! Honestly. Perhaps that went a long way towards explaining Harry's abysmal fashion sense.

Draco turned quickly back round before someone tried to speak to him, Merlin forbid. Moments later, Draco was introduced to the nightmare of a marching band -- the symphony this was not! A series of clowns then marched past, some seemingly walking on their hands. They were mildly amusing until one carrying a bouquet of tulips, upside-down, dropped the flowers on the ground in front of Draco.

"Do you mind picking that up?" the clown asked. Before Draco had a chance to express his outrage, someone else had picked them up, only to be sprayed in the face on her way up, with who-knew-what from some plastic flower in the clown's lapel. Were all Muggles this uncouth? He shook his head at the laughing onlookers. Did this actually pass for entertainment to them?

Draco remembered his father's regular tirades about the dim-wittedness of Muggles, and began to wonder if Lucius had had a point after all.

A series of floats passed by them, followed by those large men in tiny cars Harry mentioned earlier. Draco looked over at Harry and saw the twinkling eyes of a little boy. Well, if these antics made Harry this happy, Draco supposed it wasn't all that bad.

As he looked beyond the parade route, Draco saw his opportunity for an early escape, parked right across the street. Mistaking Draco's smile for something else, Harry nudged him. "See? It's not so bad."

When the parade ended, they were once again carried by the throng of spectators towards the fairgrounds.

They spent half an hour in front of a wall of mirrors, which somehow managed to delight Harry to no end. Draco was convinced that his husband occasionally forgot he was a wizard, and could do all this and more with magic.

Then they went through a strange building which freaked Draco out a bit. Not that he'd ever admit that. They started out by getting in a dodgy looking cart that drove past a "No Trespassing" sign into total darkness. As if that weren't bad enough, then came yelling followed by loud shuffling and banging noises, and finally what sounded like gunfire and a call of Lockdown!

Harry had to grab Draco's wand to prevent him Apparating them out. Well, Harry should have explained the concept of the house better. Really, Muggle parents took their children in there? What were they thinking?

A short while later, while they were in the games pavilion, Draco decided to make his move. He had seen enough Scrabble, Monopoly, chess and checker boards to last a lifetime.

"Harry, why don't we have a coffee? There's a bakery near where we came in."

Harry agreed and they passed through an obnoxious series of outdoor games en route.

"Doggy, doggy!" called one bloke.

"Try your luck with the bottle game?" another asked.

"Fish for prizes," a third suggested.

Then the spin of a wheel and a loud, "And the winner is lucky number seventy-two!" came from in front of them. Draco couldn't get out of there fast enough. He'd endured about all he could take for a day.

Thankfully, they made it. Draco suggested Harry get them a table while he went to the washroom. Right. As if he were going to use the facilities here.

When they were done their coffee and admittedly delicious cake, and they exited the bakery, Draco's surprise -- a horse-drawn carriage -- stood waiting for them. They took in the sight for a few minutes, arms casually resting in each other's back pockets. Draco looked over at Harry, the absolute joy reflected on his face making the entire day worthwhile.

As they rode around the fairgrounds, Harry's hand in his own, Draco knew that this marriage was the best thing to ever happen to him. And from the look of love in Harry's eyes, he figured his husband felt the same way.

Current Mood: amused

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

piratesmile331.livejournal.com

Poor Draco, subjected to common Muggle pleasures! *lol* Harry should take him to an amusement park next; he could ride the roller coasters! ~~Oh, I'm sorry; that would mess up his hair, wouldn't it?~~

This was really very sweet, babe!

A tiny boo-boo: dropped the flowers on the ground in front of Draco.

From:

There's Always Fiction

Love and Marriage (H/D, PG)

Links

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags