~*~
Harry ran a hand through his hair and surveyed the kitchen. It was a bit messy, but at least everything was ready to go. All he had left to do was cast chilling charms on the champagne bottles.
He grasped one in each hand and carried them to the front room, where Draco was busy putting finishing touches on the Christmas tree they'd picked up that afternoon. Harry put the bottles on the sofa table and waved his wand over them, and the green glass iced over with a satisfying hiss. The fire was burning, the glasses were set out, and the hors d'oeuvres were being kept warm in the oven -- they were almost finished. Harry smiled and turned around to survey Draco's handiwork.
And gaped. "Wha… What the…?"
Draco grinned. "Yes, I know. It's quite stunning, isn't it?"
Harry made strangled sound, feeling the blood drain from his face. "It's… This is a joke, right? You've just charmed it to look like this. It's not really--"
"It's not a joke," Draco replied, his expression completely earnest. "I thought it would be fun to do something different."
"Different?" Harry repeated, his voice squeaking a bit on the last syllable. "It's… it's fucking obscene!"
Draco's grin grew even wider. "It is, isn't it?"
Harry blinked his eyes a few times, hoping he was imagining it all. Unfortunately, he wasn't. He pointed at something hanging from one branch of the tree. "Is that big blue one…?"
"A butt plug," Draco said, almost gleefully. "And there's a few more over here. I had to shrink the dildos; they were weighing down the branches. The garland of condoms was a nice touch, I thought. And--"
"We have guests arriving in ten minutes!" Harry sputtered. "For the very first party we've ever had in this house, and this--" he gesticulated wildly "--is what you want them to think of us?"
Draco's lips formed a smirk. "I think it's festive."
"It would be festive in a brothel, Draco, or even a sex shop. But not in our house!"
Draco opened his mouth as if to respond, but seemed to think the better of it. Instead, he crossed to where Harry was standing and slung an arm around his shoulders. "Relax, Harry," he said, still grinning. "I did charm it, actually. We're the only ones who can see it."
Harry frowned. "The entire tree is invisible to everyone but us?"
Draco snorted. "No, you idiot -- the decorations are charmed to look like ordinary Christmas ornaments to everyone but us."
Harry continued to stare at the tree. "I'm not sure I believe you."
"Oh, please. Do you really think I would subject our friends to the sight of a Christmas tree covered in cock rings and latex?"
Harry turned to face him. "Yes. You would."
"Possibly," Draco said with a shrug. "But not tonight. I promise that we are the only ones who can see it in all of its irreverent glory." He slid his arms around Harry's waist, grinning wickedly. "Which means that we have the entire evening to decide which of those toys we're going to take off the tree to play with when everyone leaves."
Harry squinted at the tree again. "You'd better be right about this. Or that riding crop up there is the first thing I'll pick."
Draco kissed him and raised an eyebrow. "Promise?"
The sound of the doorbell interrupted Harry's witty retort. He shot the tree a reproachful glare and then went to open the door.
"Merry Christmas!" Tonks exclaimed, leaning in to kiss him. She moved through the door past him, Remus trailing behind her. Harry took a deep breath of cold air before closing the door and turning around. Remus and Tonks were greeting Draco, and neither of them seemed to be paying the tree any particular attention.
The very sight of the tree sitting there lewdly whilst everyone said 'Merry Christmas' to each other was most unsettling, though, so Harry busied himself opening the champagne and pouring a few glasses. He handed one to Remus and Draco, then dashed into the kitchen to get some juice for Tonks.
"--be so glad when I can apparate again," she was saying when he returned, one hand stroking her swollen belly. "I think the doctor's being a bit overcautious."
"It's not worth the risk," Remus said, with the tone of someone who'd made this argument a dozen times. "Splinching yourself at this stage--"
The sound of the floo activating drowned out the rest of the explanation. Ron stepped out of the fireplace, smartly dressed in green robes and grinning at everyone. "Merry Christmas," he said. "Hey, nice tree."
Harry could see Draco smirking, but he ignored it.
Their guests continued to arrive over the next ten minutes, and none gave the tree any more than a cursory glance. After two glasses of champagne, Harry finally managed to relax. He still wasn't happy about the situation, but at least he knew Draco's charm had worked.
Two hours later, they'd finished off several bottles of champagne and nearly all of the food. Hermione had brought a tray of fruit and cheese, for which Harry was grateful despite the fact that he'd warned her not to bring anything three times that week. Draco had just disappeared into the kitchen to look for another bottle of wine they could open and Harry was attempting to look interested in what Blaise Zabini was saying, when he saw the girl Blaise had brought along reaching out to touch something hanging from the tree.
Harry leapt to his feet and crossed to her, panicked. She smiled at him when he approached and pointed at a particularly knobbly purple butt plug.
"That's so lovely! Where ever did you get it?"
Harry couldn't prevent himself from blushing. "I… erm, you'd have to ask Draco, actually. The decorations are all his." Draco reappeared through the door then, an open bottle of wine in his hand. Harry cast him a withering look before turning back to the girl. "Family heirlooms, I imagine. Won't you have another drink?"
Unfortunately for Harry, the other guests began to take more notice of the tree soon after. He spent the next hour on his feet, steering people away from the tree whenever possible, wondering what they saw when they pointed at a sparkly bottle of lube or an edible thong.
Draco, of course, was absolutely no help. He seemed to enjoy watching Harry struggle, and even began to point out particularly kinky objects to the people he was sitting with, who seemed to see crystal figurines and sparkling balls of fairy light. When he suggested that Tonks could have what she seemed to think was a ceramic angel (but was in actuality a double-headed dildo), Harry nearly lost his temper. He excused himself to the kitchen and didn't return until he'd had several shots of firewhiskey.
Fortunately, the guests seemed to realize that the tree was a touchy subject after that, and no one commented on it further. The rest of the evening was spent in increasingly slurred conversation, much of which centered on recent politics and Muggle television programmes. The last guest flooed away after midnight, leaving Harry and Draco alone at last.
"I suppose you thought that was funny," Harry spat, not bothering to hide his irritation.
"It was," Draco replied, settling himself next to Harry on the sofa. "You needn't have worried so much."
Harry snorted in response, pressing one hand against his temple. A headache was blossoming behind his eyes from all the tension.
Draco was quiet for a moment. "I take it my plan backfired then?" Harry turned to look at him and was surprised to see a contrite expression on Draco's face. "I thought you'd be pouncing on me by now, but you don't look as if you're in the mood."
Harry opened his mouth with the intention of stating that no, he was not at all in the mood, thanks ever so much -- but he paused. Perhaps he'd been a bit uptight about the whole thing. Draco's charm had clearly worked, after all. No one had been the wiser, and even if they'd touched an ornament, it wasn't likely that they would have discovered what the tree was really decorated with.
Harry sighed and studied Draco, who was staring at his own hands gloomily. They hadn't been together very long, barely a year. They were both still learning about each other -- and they both overreacted occasionally. Draco had meant well, hadn't he? This entire thing was meant to be a seduction, something special to spice things up between them. From a certain point of view, it was rather sweet, Harry had to admit.
He reached out to stroke Draco's thigh, letting his hand slide upwards. "I wouldn't say that."
Draco looked up again, a surprised smile on his face. "Really?"
"You said I could pick anything?" Harry asked, turning to look at the tree.
"Anything," Draco replied, leaning forward and whispering in Harry's ear. "Anything you want, whenever you want, until the tree is bare."
Harry grinned. "That might take weeks, you know." He felt Draco's breath against his cheek, warm and a bit alcoholic.
"We'd better get started then, hadn't we?"
~*~
Story Notes:
Originally posted: December 15, 2005
Note: Written as a holiday gift for Rosesanguina, Azhure, Gblvr, and Lagreyeyes. 1553 words.
Link: http://www.livejournal.com/users/emmagrant01/211993.html
Translation: Spanish