Struck me while I was making fun of a friend of mine, who fell into a manhole, talking to his girlfriend! xD
Unbeated, because my beta is on a four month vacation. :'(

Enjoy, anyway! :D

Draco Malfoy walked towards his apothecary in Diagon Alley with a hard set mouth. He could hear the people around him sniggering in the bright daylight. Children laughed at him outright, and their mothers made a half-hearted attempt to hush their children. Internally, he wondered if they thought he deserved it.

It had been five years since the war had ended, and Draco had made a lot of effort to be integrated and accepted back into the society. Things had only got uphill when Potter had testified for him. Lucius, though, had to serve a few years in Azkaban. Narcissa and he had moved out of the manor. While Narcissa went away to France, Draco moved into a small flat. Granted, he hated living in it, but it was convenient. It was directly over the Apothecary, where the owner was taking him as an apprentice for a Potions Master. He had been grateful to the poor old sod, who took him in when he had nowhere else to go. And now, he owned that apothecary, since Maflagus had died last year.

Initially, people had been reluctant to trust him to provide the right ingredients and potions' apparatus. But as his was the only Apothecary in Diagon Alley, people couldn't keep away for long. And soon, they realized that Draco was harmless. He got along with some of his customers and had enjoyed an occasional cup of tea at their place, till he moved away and into a better flat.

But that morning, Draco grimaced, as he unlocked the door, should never had happened. Damn Potter.

It was like every other day. Draco woke up, lounged about, made himself a cup of tea, grumbling all the while, and sat down in his comfortable armchair, opening the Daily Prophet. What he read made him spill his tea on the big photo of Potter grinning up at him.

Apparently, the Boy-Who-Lived was gay. Yep, the perfect Potter, who had to have his 2.5 kids with the Weaslette and a house in the country side, was gay.

The news had shaken him to his core. He had been walking down one of the narrow streets of Diagon Alley in a daze when it happened. He fell into a manhole. And curse his luck, but Rita Skeeter just had to be there with her photographer. Needless to say, there was a photo of him, as big as Potter's, falling into the manhole, with the headline screaming- Malfoy Heir in a Manhole.

It wouldn't have been half as embarrassing if not for the last line of Skeeter's article- Now the whole wizardring world wonders if this falling of Draco Malfoy was only physical or did it have a metaphorical meaning too?

He was going to squish Skeeter one day. Preferably today.

It had been a week since that article, and people refused to let it go. What made it even more embarrassing was the fact that it was true- Draco Malfoy was gay. If he came out now, he would be teased to death. Sure, wizardring world accepted homosexuality, but still! His father would have a heart attack if he got a whiff of this fact.

The day went on as usual. Customers came, bought things, smirked/sniggered depending on their disposition, and had to be pushed out of the shop. Finally, to Draco's relief, it was time to close the shop.

Just as he was about to lock the door, he caught Harry Potter waving at him from miles away.

He looked around to see if there was any Weasley near him, but he couldn't see any. So why was Potter waving like a total moron, trying to push through the crowd to get to- him?

Oh Merlin, Draco groaned, he's found the perfect chance to make fun of me!

Draco tried to run away in the opposite direction, but just his luck, it was a dead end. And he realised it too late. At the moment, he was trapped in a dark street, and Potter was coming to get him. He did not even think of apparating away in his panic stricken state.

"Malfoy," Harry called out, running towards him now, "Hold up!"

Putting a facade of bravery, Draco crossed his arms across his chest and sneered, "What do you want, Potter?"

Coming to a halt, just a few feet away from Draco, Harry tried to catch his breath.

"Did- did you read the article?"

Draco's face morphed into a stone mask.

"Why the fuck do you care, Potter?" he spat out.

Harry blinked at him.

"Well, duh," Harry rolled his eyes, "because it concerns me!"

"And how does me falling into a manhole concern you, Potter?"

"Oh!" Harry blushed, becoming uncomfortable suddenly.

Shifting his weight on his feet and looking down, he mumbled, "I was talking about the article the day before that one."

"In which where it's declared that you're gay?"

Harry nodded, his face still flaming.

"I did. So?"

"Um, so, er, would you, uh, like to, maybe, have, erm, dinner wimme?" Harry muttered.

Somehow, Draco understood him. And lost his temper.

"Do you think," Draco yelled at the top of his voice, "that just because Skeeter made an innuendo about me falling into a manhole, I'm gay?"

"Uh, no," Harry looked at him sceptically, "I asked Pansy."

Draco's eyes widened.

"You asked PANSY?" Draco spluttered.

Harry nodded.

"That was on the evening when the article came out. I- I didn't know anything about you falling into a manhole..."

Draco eyed his long-time rival and now, potential partner. Raven black hair, with a tan that suited the Boy-Who-Lived-but-No-Longer-Looked-Like-A-Boy, and glittering green eyes made Potter physically appealing. And he wasn't complaining about how fit Potter was. The guy was quite different from him, and that might make things interesting.

"I might consider it," Draco announced after he had made Harry uncomfortable enough to play with the hem of his shirt.

Harry's face split into a dazzling grin.

"Can I walk you home?" Harry asked, eagerly.

"Well," Draco sighed theatrically, "if you must."

They walked in the silence and the dark for a while (luckily, no one accosted them), till Harry opened his mouth.

"Say Malfoy, wanna fall into my manhole?"