Apple of My Eye
Harry/Draco & Drapple [G, 1476 words]
Disclaimer: JK Rowling and co own everything. I'm writing for fun and not for profit.
A/N: Yeah, I find Drapple amusing! Unbeta'd, non-canon use of spell and written for Halloween.
Summary: Draco hates pumpkins for reasons unknown and has never carved one for Halloween. Harry is determined to change that with a friendly wager that is too tempting for Draco to pass up.

Apple of My Eye

Harry stumbles into the kitchen, gasping as he struggles to carry two huge pumpkins in his arms without falling flat on his arse. "Draco, a little help please?"

Draco lowers his newspaper and is staring at him with a raised eyebrow. "Honestly, have you forgotten that you're a wizard, Potter?" With a flick of his wand, the pumpkins levitate to the kitchen table.

"Thanks," he says sheepishly, shrugging off his Auror uniform and draping it over a chair. "I had my wand in my back pocket and I couldn't quite reach it." Harry half turns to show Draco, who rolls his eyes to see the wand stashed where it could easily break or be stolen. "Is there anything to eat?"

Draco shakes his head and crosses his arms in front of his chest. "From what I see, I'm guessing there will be pumpkin pie somewhere in the future."

"Maybe another time." Harry's voice is muffled from sticking his head in the Muggle fridge he installed, trying to find his dinner. "Neville gave them to me when I visited him today at Hogwarts. I thought that we could carve them."

Draco snorts. "Why would we want to do that?"

With his plate full of lasagna, Harry sits down across from Draco. "To decorate Grimmauld Place. Not that it needs any improvement," he hastens to add when Draco gives him a stern glance from above the pumpkins. "I know it's a bit late to decorate properly, with Halloween tomorrow, but we should at least have a carved pumpkin. What do you think?" Harry bites into his lasagna, taking the time to enjoy Molly's home cooked meal. When he doesn't get a response, Harry has to sit up straight just in time to see Draco shudder.

"I'd rather not," Draco says, picking up the newspaper and beginning to read again.

Harry frowns. "It'll be fun, don't you think?"

"No. I don't like the taste, the smell, or even the texture of pumpkin. It's a wonder I still kiss you when you drink pumpkin juice."

Harry's eyes go wide at the information; he had no idea.

He pushes his plate away and takes a sip of his drink, all the while looking at the pumpkins. Now there was no way that they wouldn't carve a pumpkin. He wants to prove to Draco how much fun it can be. As an idea forms in his mind, Harry snaps his fingers. "Okay. Well, think of it this way: here's your chance for revenge. You can decorate it any way you want: slicing, smashing, stabbing, absolutely whatever you feel like. The point is to decorate – er destroy the pumpkin. Once we're done, we'll stick a candle inside to light it up and place it outside the front door."

Draco has placed the Prophet down on the table and is now looking at the pumpkins, which Harry takes as a good sign. He continues before Draco has a chance to protest. "And then as the weeks go by, we'll see as they slowly rot into nothingness, yeah?"

By the time Harry finishes speaking, Draco is clearly amused, a small smile appearing on his face. "Fine, Potter, but there needs to be something that determines the winner. This better be worth my time."

Harry rolls his eyes. Leave it to Draco to make everything into a competition with a prize. Luckily, he has the perfect answer. "Winner has complete control of our social events for the rest of the year." He's determined not to lose because the Yuletide season is approaching and he doesn't want to attend more parties than is required. Draco, on the other hand, would love nothing more than to have them both appear at top Ministry events and private galas and, as an added bonus, have Harry outfitted in new dress robes from Twilfitt and Tattings

Draco laughs and picks up his pumpkin. "You'll regret this, Potter."

I hope not. "Dream on, Draco. There is one catch: we can't use any magic."

Draco pauses in the doorway for only a second before Harry hears the quiet reply of "fine."

Harry clears the kitchen table before placing copies the Prophet over the surface to catch any mess. Studying the pumpkin, Harry picks up a quill, dips it in black ink and starts tracing a pattern. He sighs several times as the rough and uneven edges of the pumpkin's surface makes it difficult to draw. There is a dragon carving he had seen once when he had taken Draco to a medieval festival, and he hopes that when Draco sees the pumpkin, it will bring good memories.

Even if the knife is sharp, Harry struggles a bit as he cuts the stem off at an angle, the lid popping off. The smell of rich earth and salty tanginess of the raw pumpkin has Harry thinking of Draco's earlier remarks. He doesn't understand why Draco doesn't like pumpkin, but that is one question he'd ask later when he won.

The gory mess of pumpkin seeds and stringy insides are cool and squishy when Harry reaches inside and begins scooping the mess onto the newspapers. Bits of pumpkin get stuck in his hair and he has to take off his glasses when he smears it with orange goo. Harry amuses himself, feeling like a mad Muggle scientist, carving out the pumpkin like a mortician would to perform an autopsy. Or Dr Frankenstein as he created his monster.

For a long time, Harry works on the pumpkin, so lost in concentration that he is startled when he looks up to find Draco standing right in front of him.

"Draco, you're not supposed to be here!" Harry exclaims, jumping up to stand in front of the pumpkin. At least the design is facing away from Draco so he can't exactly see what Harry is doing. "Did you need something?"

"Yes, do we have a paintbrush?" Harry gives Draco an incredulous look, who despite the fact that he has small specks of paint on his hands, hair, and cheeks, looks perfect.

"Yeah, there's one in a storage closet, but why do you need one? You need a knife, not a paintbrush."

"I'm not going to slaughter my pumpkin, Potter. That would be a waste and a sure way to lose. Besides, I've decided that I'm going to decorate it into something I love."

Harry doesn't quite know what to say to that seeing as Draco doesn't often talk about his emotions, much less in public.

"Close your mouth, Potter, before you catch flies in it. You more than anyone else should know that I'm capable of loving something very dearly." With a small smile, Draco steps out of the kitchen, leaving Harry very interested in seeing Draco's pumpkin.

"A dragon, Potter? Really?"

He is quite distracted by his creation that he doesn't notice Draco has snuck up on him for the second time that night. Harry scowls, but Draco only smirks and holds out two candles in his hand.

"I admit that yours is pretty good, considering the subject matter, but mine is better." Draco has such a smug tone in his voice that Harry has to fight the urge to stick his tongue out, but barely restrains himself.

"Then you must have cheated, Draco," Harry says, taking the candle and placing it inside the pumpkin.

Draco smirks. "You did, too, Potter." He picks up Harry's wand and casts Incendio on the candle, causing the flickering shadows to dance on their skin. "If I use Priori Incantato, will a spell completely unrelated to your Auror training appear?" Harry flushes, because he had to use a Sticking Charm to hold the pumpkin together so that it wouldn't collapse as he was carving. It would have been a disaster otherwise.

"No," Harry mutters, and then stops, eyes wide. "Is that glitter in your hair?"

Draco grabs his hand and levitates the pumpkin, ignoring the question. "Come on Potter, I've a bet to win."

It's a cold night when they step outside 12 Grimmauld Place and when Harry exhales, he can see his breath fade into the darkness. Down by their feet, Harry's pumpkin will certainly make a cheery display once he's charmed the dragon to breath out wisps of harmless fire.

"Where's yours?"

"Right here." Draco flicks his wand and a moment later something green settles down next to the dragon pumpkin. Harry stares at it for a long time, now understanding why Draco has splatters of paint and glitter on his body.

"It's an apple."

Draco nods once, proud of himself. "A poisoned apple."

"But why?"

"Why not? I hate pumpkins, but I love apples."

Harry leans into Draco and kisses his cheek. "And here I thought you loved me."

"Oh, Salazar knows I do. Imagine how delicious you would taste covered in apples."