Cho Chang was sipping
her Martini in the corner of the café. “I love this place. Never thought I’d
say this but Blaise Zabini made a fantastic and much needed safe space. It has
a much better vibe than most wizarding pubs.”Though ‘The Liar’ had
more muggle than magical customers, the concealment charms were done so well
witches and wizard could walk and talk freely without any risk of exposure.
There was even an enchantment in place to notify magical folk if someone knew
about the wizarding world or not, making it a lot easier to flirt without
falling on your face, which was useful since this was the only place in Britain
where queer witches and wizards could try to court muggles or each other
without the risk of being outed.If you didn’t have
someone’s permission to mention they were queer to people outside of the pub,
then you couldn’t bring it up. It was physically impossible, a trick Draco
Malfoy had learned during his career as death eater. Every time he woke up because of a
nightmare, bathing in cold sweat, he thought about how he’d used his teenage
mistakes to create a safe place for lgbt people like him with one of
Voldemort’s favorite spells, and then he could relax again.“I agree. In most pubs
everyone keeps looking at me like ‘Oh, there’s the bitch that abandoned our
saviour, how dare she show her face in public.’ Like, have they ever even
thought that there might have been a reason I left Harry that wasn’t
self-centered and awful?” Ginny took a sip of her wiskey. Since she’d become a mom
free nights like this had become way to sparse for her liking, so she made good
use of them when the opportunity presented itself.Cho nodded in agreement.
“Last week I was at the leaky cauldron, and some middle aged wizard actually
came up to me, saying ‘I’m so sorry for your loss, Cedric was a wonderful and
gifted boy’, like, yes I miss him, but am I supposed to mourn
about him 24/7? Am I not allowed to smile and be happy? It’s not that I don’t
care about his death but it’s been fifteen years! I never opted to be the
national face of mourning lovers!” She chucked back her drink and let out a
frustrated sigh.“Anyone need a refill?”
Oh, if her mother could see her now. Molly would jump out of her skin.“Evening Malfoy, haven’t
seen you here in ages. And a vodka tonic since you’re asking.”“Pans, get us some shots
will you?” Malfoy sat down next to Ginny with a dramatic sigh.“That ex-husband
of yours will be the death of me Weasley, I swear to Merlin.”“Don’t offer drinks if
you’re not getting them yourself, you idiot.” But Pansy went to fetch them
anyway. She knew how tired and worn out Draco’s job made him, and his nights
off were even more scarce than Ginny’s.“Sorry love, tough day
at work. Can’t be bothered.” He let his head rest on Ginny’s shoulder. Only
three years ago they’d met for the first time since the war, but with both of
them being recently divorced and queer in a homophobic society they had gotten
over their differences quicker than expected.“Not introducing me now,
are we? How rude.” A tall blue haired woman in a tailored red suit approached their table.“Ginny, Cho, meet
Gabrielle. Gabrielle, meet Ginny and Cho. She’s the new Hogwarts nurse and a
pain in the butt. Wouldn’t get too cozy with her.”Ginny didn’t respond.
The hair, the combat boots, the long row of piercings in her left ear, the
suit. This was her. This was her dream girl. Damn.The woman unapologetically
moved first over Draco and then over Ginny, flopping down in the corner of the
booth. Pansy came back with a tray full of vodka shots and began a rapid
conversation in Chinese with Cho. Judging by the tone of her voice it was
gossip.Normally Ginny hated it
when they locked her out of conversations like that, but the impression of
the clad-in-red ass was too fresh in her memory, rendering her unable to
think of anything but that. Anything but butt.“Well Gin. Long time no
see eh? Last time we met was at my sister’s wedding I think?” Ginny looked at
her with new eyes. Of course. That Gabrielle. Gabrielle Delacour. She hadn’t
recognized her since she now had short hair and a lean, mature body.“Je crois que tu as
réduit Ginny au silence, Gab. Félicitations, ça n’était jamais arrivé avant,
même quand elle m’a vu avec Pansy dans un bar gay à Paris.” Noted Draco.“Honnêtement, avec
un corps pareil je me fiche pas mal de son silence.” Gabrielle let her
eyes roam the redhead’s body for a bit, before downing her first shot and
extending her hand.“I believe new
introductions are in order. It has been way too long since that wedding.”
Stunned, Ginny shook her hand. There was a firm grip from both parties despite
the fact that Ginny felt like she could die right there on the spot. She’d
thought Fleur was beautiful, but the suit and bright blue hair dye of her
sister made her feel things she’d never experienced before. Things she didn’t
even know she could feel. Damn.After another round of
shots Ginny could still only listen to the woman sitting next to her, still a
bit too dazed to form a full sentence. It was probably the veela blood in her
veins. It had to be.“While Ginny’s still
searching for her tongue, I have to ask Draco, how exactly is Harry going to be
the death of you?” Cho was usually the quieter one, but she’d downed a few
drinks and could now almost outdo Pansy when it came to gossip. They were a good
couple, Chang and Parkinson.“How not is a better
question. He came into my classroom three times before lunch, three times! I
think even my least intelligent students are starting to notice how often their
defence professor has potion related questions now. I even confiscated a
betting list. Three sickels if ‘Drarry’ becomes ‘canon’ before the end of the
year.” Draco stressed Drarry and canon with greatly exaggerated air bunnies. “I
don’t even know what canon means, but if I guessed it right about half of my sixth
years are going to lose some serious money if me and that idiot don’t snog
before June.”“Oh quit your whining
Draco, it’s not like you don’t want ‘Drarry’ to be ‘canon’ or something.”
Gabrielle grinned at him, looking way to smug for Draco’s liking.He let out a deep sigh.
Yes, of course he wanted to snog Potter senseless sometimes, but the messy
haired man didn’t seem to grasp the seriousness of the situation. The school
board already wasn’t happy with Draco as a head of House and potions professor,
and turning the saviour into an unnatural, disgusting homofile could very well
be the last nail in his coffin. Even if he was the only Slytherin teacher and
the snakes would therefore be left without guidance if he was fired.The needs of his
students were much more important than his need to be loved. Need to be
loved, ulgh. Since when did I become so sappy? Sappy for Potter of all people.“I think Harry knows
exactly what he’s doing. Or not exactly, obviously. I mean we’re still talking
about Harry here, but he knows the complications of a possible relationship. He
wants to use his fame for something good, something noble.” Ginny had found her
tongue back, apparently. She’d also made quick use of the situation when Draco
lifted his head off her shoulder by leaning into Gabrielle. Inch by inch
they were drifting more towards each other, like slow working magnets.“So you’re saying he just wants to fuck me
to make wizarding Britain less homophobic? Should’ve seen that one coming.”“Draco! Don’t say stuff like that! If Harry is really going to use you like that I will
personally knock him of his high horse and tell him he can’t treat people like
that. But I won’t have to because he’s genuinely interested, and he doesn’t use
people. That’s just not how he is. Get over it Malfoy, you just turned into a
lovable person.” Ginny looked at him with fire in her eyes. Try to disagree
with me and I will fight you, they seemed to say.“Drarry? Is that how the
kids are calling it these days?” Gabrielle snorted, removing the sudden serious
atmosphere out of the conversation. “I’m sure I could think of a better couple
name for the two of you.”Draco muttered something
that sounded like ‘This is exactly why I didn’t want to bring Gabrielle with
me’, but other than that he responded by dropping his head on the table with a
loud thud.“Ah, look! He’s
embarrassed!” Ginny upright laughed at him while slamming her hand on the
table. Smooth as fuck Gabrielle “supported” Ginny’s laughter by putting an arm around her muscled
waist.“What about Malpot?”
“Or Potfoy!”
Suddenly Pansy grew
serious. “Guys. Guys. Guys. Hear this. Harky.” Cho nearly choked on her drink.“No, no, no, no, no.
Listen. It should totally be Draky.”“Aaaand…. I’m leaving.”
Draco got to his feet and dramatically swung his cloak over his
shoulder. “At least Harry and I have a ship name that sound better than
Gabinny.”“Oi! At least Ginny and
I do more than awkwardly talk about potions.” Gabrielle put another arm around
Ginny’s waist and pulled her on her lap. “Can’t say that about you two.”“Can’t say what about
who?”Draco turned on the
spot.And was met with a pair
of emerald green eyes.
Translation of the french lines (provided by the lovely @jk-destroyed-our-best-gay-ships ):
“I think you rendered
Gin speechless Gab. Congratulations, that has never happened before, not even
when she first saw pansy and me in that Gay club in Paris.”“Well, with a body like
that I sure don’t mind her silent to be honest”This one shot is for @sappypotter because she was feeling down. Hope things get better soon!
YES YES YES TO WIZARDING QUEER SAFE PLACES !
Fuck JKR 