Roommate Wanted

Draco stared, wide-eyed, at Harry, who continued to be oblivious while munching on his burger.

"You own Lumos?" Draco asked. "Is this a joke?"

Harry blinked. "Why would I joke about something like that?"

"I don't know! Why didn't you mention this before? All the times you talked about this place...You didn't give any clue that you owned it!" Draco exclaimed.

"Hey, Draco, mate. Shush down a bit," Ron said, while glancing around at the people who were listening in interestedly.

"I said it was my favourite club. I didn't say anything about not owning it." Harry frowned.

"Well, you should have said something about owning it! God, you're the owner of the most successful magical nightclub around! No wonder you can afford that apartment. Why do you even work at the Prophet?" Draco asked curiously.

Harry shrugged.

"It's fun. And do you mind not telling anyone I own this place? I try to stay a little anonymous. That way, I can come here and party in peace," Harry said.

"Yeah, of course. I'll keep it to myself."

Harry juggled the pile of parchment and the bundle of junk mail as he reached into his bag for the keys. Finally unlocking the door, he stepped inside to see Draco and Jake making out on the couch.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry," Harry stammered as they broke apart.

"Umm, I thought you were going to be out all day," Draco said, cheeks flushing pink.

"Yeah, I just came home to drop off some stuff...I'll be just a sec!" Harry exclaimed.

He sprinted into his room and dumped the parchment on his desk, before rushing out the front door again.

Jake looked at Draco.

"So...where were we?" he purred.

Harry stuck his head into the room as Draco leaned closer to Jake.

"Sorry, sorry! But Jake, Roland asked me to tell you that you're a day late on that story, and if you don't have it on his desk by midnight, you're going to be writing the pet obituaries for the rest of your life," Harry said.

He saw Draco frowning at him from behind Jake, and shrugged.

"Just passing along the message," Harry said innocently.

And Jake never needed to know there was no such message.

Harry exited his apartment building while thinking about Draco.

"It's just a little crush, it'll pass over in no time," he assured himself, muttering under his breath.

He decided to distract himself by visiting the café across the street. After purchasing two caramel lattés, he apparated to Dean and Hermione's apartment.

Hermione took a sip from her latté and glanced up at Harry.

"Oh, tell me about your love troubles later. I'm taking you shopping! Dean's birthday is next month, and I'm throwing him a rooftop party. We need new outfits!"

Hermione dragged a half-hearted Harry off the couch.

Two weeks later, Harry and Draco were eating dinner at the dining table. Harry chewed on a mouthful of steak while simultaneously reaching for his wine glass and reading the latest issue of the Quibbler.

Draco sniffed over his plate. Harry looked up and raised an eyebrow, but remained silent.

The sniffing continued for another five minutes. Finally, Harry could take it no longer and spoke up.

"Is there something you want to say?"

"Jake broke up with me!" Draco wailed.

Harry's first reaction was to leap around the apartment in joy and open a bottle of champagne while screaming something along the lines of "I love you, Draco!" - but his senses kicked in.

"Ohhh, I'm so sorry. Break-ups are hard. Shall we go to Lumos and get you drunk?" Harry said.

Draco didn't seem to have heard him.

"He said we were having a good time together, but he wasn't looking for something serious!" Draco sobbed.

If he was a girl, he would have had mascara tracks running down his cheeks, Harry thought.

"There, there," Harry said awkwardly, patting Draco's arm clumsily. "You know, my last boyfriend told me the same thing when we broke up," Harry said, attempting to cheer Draco up.

Draco looked up.

"Your last boyfriend? Good lord, Potter, you own a nightclub, you're gay, what next? Anything else you want to tell me? Your grandmother, the queen, is dropping by for a visit next week?" Draco rambled on, momentarily forgetting the state he was in.

"No, that's it," Harry admitted sheepishly.

Draco glared at Harry for a few moments, then decided to resume his melodramatic weeping.

"Oh, come on, be a man!" Harry sighed, getting up to clear the plates. "Look, I'll invite my friends over and we can have a little 'Screw Jake!' party, how about that?"

Draco sniffed and nodded.

Harry programmed the wireless to play The Weird Sisters song 'He's a Flobberworm and we don't need him' - his official break-up anthem, while his friends prepared snacks in the kitchen.

Harry decided an action film would be perfect for such an occasion and searched for his 'Star Wars' DVD, while Hermione carried in a tray of popcorn and chocolate. Dean, Ron and Draco soon joined them, carrying in bottles of wine and butterbeer.

They watched in silence-apart from the munching and occasional burp from Ron- for a while.

In the middle of a particularly exciting scene, Draco burst into tears.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked in alarm.

"Jake once told me-sniff- that he hated this movie!" Draco wailed.

Dean and Ron looked at each other and rolled their eyes together.

They sat in awkward silence for a few moments, while Hermione attempted to comfort Draco.

"Thanks for your support everyone, but I think I just need to go to bed," Draco sniffled, and headed into his room.

Draco kept up his moping for another week, even purchasing a black hooded sweatshirt to wear. He even took sick leave from work.

Harry decided he had had enough, and told Draco so one night.

They were watching television, while Draco sat curled up on an armchair in his hoodie and with a box of tissues on his lap, occasionally blowing his nose. And they weren't even watching anything remotely sad or romantic - just an old re-run of Bewitched.

After Draco had started crying during an ad for toilet paper, Harry finally exploded.

"Oh, enough with the freaking sniffling and the tissues! I've had enough of your childish behaviour! So put on your fucking big boy panties, grow up and deal with it! Because this is real life, and guess what, mate? You're going to have to like it! And take off that goddamn jumper! Its summer outside, in case you haven't realised because you've been hiding in your room all day with the blinds closed! God, I'm getting heatstroke just looking at you! And please go back to work. You're a day late on rent," Harry finished off.

Draco huffed and reluctantly pulled off his sweatshirt.

"Good. Now go get changed. We're going to Lumos," Harry said, reaching for the remote.

An hour later, Harry and Draco sat at the end of the counter at Lumos, with plates of perfectly cooked steak and glasses of Firewhiskey. Harry pulled out a black box from his pocket and slid it along the counter towards Draco.

"What's this?" Draco asked, frowning.

"Open it. You'll see," Harry replied.

He lifted the lid off the box and pulled out an expensive looking leather key ring, on which hung a single silver key.

"It's the key to my- well, our- apartment. Your two month probation period is over. You passed the test- just barely, considering your behaviour the last week. Anyway, you're officially my roommate," Harry said.

Draco smiled - his first real smile in a week.

Harry lifted up his glass. "Congratulations, roomie."