Expensive Disaster

Authors Note: A million and two thanks to Alexandra for her diligent work as my beta for all my current WIP stories. I also wanted to say, I have the best readers ever! This story (and a couple others) have already cleared over 200 reviews! I'm so excited I could kiss you all! I also wanted to say, enjoy the fluff while it lasts...

Chapter 10 Costume Hunting

The costume shop was called Features, and looked like an old movie theatre on the outside. The marquis now proclaimed that they were open and the store hours instead of the name of some black and white movie.

Harry pushed through the doors and was hit by an onslaught of dank, dusty smells. Just inside was a wide room packed with wigs of all styles and colors and glittering Venetian masks. It also held various accessories like fake neon eyelashes and elaborate costume jewelry.

The next area held hundreds of shoes and hosiery. Draco picked up a pair of lime green platform boots and held them against Harry’s legs with a laugh. “You might be nearly as tall as me with these things on,” he teased.

Harry responded with mocking laughter and flung a set of fishnets at his head.

Draco laughed again and gingerly removed the stockings, eyeing them speculatively. “Too Goth,” he said casually, slinging them aside.

“Maybe I was going to wear those,” Harry replied with a pout.

“It wouldn’t be enough of a stretch for you,” Draco replied with a grin. “I could see you wearing fishnet any old time. Halloween should be special,” he reminded Harry.

They proceeded into the next room, which had pre-packaged, one size fits all costumes and Draco turned up his nose. “I’m not wearing any of this rubbish. There will probably be dozens of people in these outfits,” he said, picking up a generic devil suit and tossing it back in with the rest.

The final room was the one they had been waiting for.

In that room was a maze of racking systems, each holding three vertical rows of costumes. There had to have been thousands packed into the old theatre space. The rows contained everything from period costumes, to unheard of creatures, to movie and television characters.

The boys dove in and started looking through the vast array of things available. Almost half an hour past and they were already exhausted from hauling various heavy costumes into the dressing rooms.

Harry had already been an astronaut, which Draco nixed as soon as he saw he wouldn’t be able to kiss him. He had tried on an elaborate pirate outfit, which Draco loved, but Harry turned his nose up at, recalling that Theo was planning to be a pirate.

Draco had, at Harry’s insistence, tried on an angel’s outfit, complete with halo, but took it off immediately joking that it burned his flesh. He actually liked the golden brocade Edwardian outfit he had tried on, but Harry said it made him look like a ponce, so he put it back.

So with neither having a proper option, they resumed their search.

“Hey, Harry,” Draco shouted. “Look at these.”

Harry followed Draco’s voice toward an aisle marked ‘Wizards and Witches’. Draco was pulling out a few sets of what appeared to be wizard robes. “How about these?” he asked Harry as he approached, holding a set out toward him.

Harry picked up the robes and looked them over. They were mostly black, but the collar and trim were a rich emerald green. On the breast was an emblem of a silver snake and the word Slytherin. “I don’t know,” Harry said, turning up his nose slightly. “I don’t think the green is for me.”

He pointed out another set, handing the green set back to Draco. “Maybe these?” he asked, indicating a set of black and red robes with a gold lion and the word Gryffindor on the breast.

“Yuck,” Draco said immediately. “You would look awful in red and gold, plus the green matches your eyes,” he added wistfully.

Harry rolled his green eyes. “I always wear green,” he protested.

Draco frowned as he looked at the emblem. “You must be crazy if you think I’m going to let you wear anything with your avid admirers namesake on it,” he pouted.

Harry was perplexed for a moment but then suddenly laughed. “Griffin? I told you, he’s over me. He wasn’t even really gay,” Harry said.

Draco kept pouting. “No one gets over you so easily. I should know,” he said and kissed Harry on the corner of his mouth.

Harry blushed and shrugged lightly. “Something just doesn’t seem quite right about them anyhow. I think Neville mentioned wanting to go as a wizard. Maybe I should tell him where to find these,” he mused.

Draco shrugged and put both sets back on the rack.

They had nearly looked through all the racks and still hadn’t found anything that worked. The final rack contained Venetian Carnivale costumes and Draco could barely contain his excitement. “Harry, these are perfect!” he exclaimed, plucking several from the row and practically throwing them at Harry.

“Draco, these look a lot like the costume that made you look like a ponce, only glittery,” he teased. “Would you prefer to go to the dance as a sparkly ponce?”

He shot Harry a scathing look, and then grinned wickedly. “We’re both going in these,” he stated matter-of-factly.

Harry shook his head. “Oh, no. There is no way you are getting me into one of those,” he said.

“Just try it on,” Draco pouted prettily. “For me?” he added, with a flutter of blonde eyelashes.

Harry groaned as his resolve melted and he grabbed a few of the options and trucked to the dressing rooms, a chuckle sounding from behind him.

--

“Well, it’s not as bad as I thought,” Harry said as he pulled the curtain aside. He stepped out and did a quick pirouette to Draco’s applause.

Draco smiled widely. “You look fantastic,” he whispered.

He didn’t look half bad, either. Their costumes were nearly identical except for the color and fabric pattern. Draco’s was a faded antique gold brushed silk with a lacy ivory high collared cravat. It also had the same ivory lace falling out from the thick sleeves. The jacket and short trousers were accented with a slightly darker gold lace. He had also slipped on a pair of ivory stocking and black loafers to complete the outfit.

The coloring made his hair shine like silk and Harry found it impossible to resist running his fingers through it, so he didn’t. He carded his fingers through Draco’s soft blonde hair and smiled briefly before capturing his mouth in a hungry kiss.

When they broke apart, panting slightly, Draco chuckled. “If it gets me that reaction, it must be the one,” he noted.

Harry laughed and nodded. “I love it.”

“What about yours?” Draco asked.

Harry looked at himself in the mirror and scrunched up his nose. Harry’s choice was a sapphire blue and silver costume. It had a similar construction as Draco’s with the ivory lace cravat and sleeves; only under sapphire jacket was a silver vest and trousers. The same lace work covered the jacket in silver, but not as much as on Draco’s gold jacket. The design was simpler and he liked it that way.

“I don’t know,” he mused, torn between if it looked good, or if it looked silly.

“Okay, hold that thought,” Draco said, before whisking away down the aisle into the darkness beyond.

Harry had started to wonder if he had been left, when Draco suddenly returned holding two masks. The first he slipped over his own face. It was mostly ivory with gold beading around the eyes and golden feather plumes bursting from the top. It only covered part of his nose and made him look angelic.

The other he handed to Harry. It was the same blue as the jacket, and the beading around the eyes was the dark silver of the vest. Instead of feathers it had more silver beading around the edges that made a scrolling design on the forehead. He smiled and slipped it on and looked at himself in the mirror.

He sighed, still not sure, when Draco came up beside him and wound his fingers together with Harry’s. Side by side they looked like a magnificent couple from another time, another world.

Harry nodded and grinned. “Let’s get them. I think they’re perfect.”

Draco bounced slightly in excitement but quickly regained his composure when Harry began chuckling. “All right. Let’s go before you change your mind,” he said, and went back into the dressing room.

--

“All right in there, Harry?” Draco called.

Harry had fumbled with every singe button on the elaborate ensemble and had only just gotten the ruddy thing off. “Yeah,” he called back, but Draco slipped behind the curtain to check on him before he got the words out.

His eyes went wide as he took in Harry standing there in only black cotton boxers. “I’m sorry,” he said quickly and tried to exit, but Harry grabbed his hand.

“You snuck in, you might as well see what you came to see,” he said, his voice low and husky.

“I didn’t mean… I didn’t think you would be… damn you’re hot,” he mumbled.

Harry chuckled and launched himself onto Draco’s stuttering form, pressing him into the makeshift wall.

“Feeling frisky?” Draco asked with a chuckle and Harry nodded.

He leaned down and devoured Harry’s lips, absorbing the taste of him and let his hand snake down to run fingertips over his bare flesh.

Harry moaned against his mouth and pressed himself firmly against Draco, their bodies linking together like puzzle pieces. Draco responded in turn by trailing down and fingering the waistband of Harry’s boxers, eliciting a squeak of surprise. He tugged at them gently and Harry pulled back, his eyes wide and filled with lust.

Draco chuckled and pulled them back into place, taking his time to smooth down the front and grazing Harry’s cock as he did. Harry gasped sharply at his motions and ran his own hand over the bulge in Draco’s trousers.

A scraping and a whooshing noise made the boys look up, and at once moved apart and started blushing furiously.

An employee of the store, a young looking woman, maybe in her early twenties, was staring at the two of them with narrowed eyes. Her hair was a vibrant pink, she wore all black and her small booted foot was stomping angrily.

“You are not making a mess in my dressing rooms,” she declared.

Harry stifled a grin and gathered his clothing, putting it back on frantically. Draco held his hands up in surrender and walked calmly past her and out of the booth. She turned around to face him, her cheeks only slightly pink from viewing Harry in his skivvies.

“Every year,” she muttered. “I swear, that academy breeds nothing but horny gay boys who love nothing more than to beat each other off in the dressing rooms,” she huffed.

Draco snickered quietly and gathered his costume and mask. They went to the counter as soon as Harry was finished and paid for their costumes, exiting as quickly as possible.

Once in the car, they fell into a fit of laughter, as Draco told Harry what the employee had said. It was several minutes later before Harry felt composed enough to drive them back to school, and even then a bubble of laughter would occasionally escape as he thought of being caught in the dressing room with Draco.

“We are going to be the best looking couple on the dance floor,” Draco said with a grin.

Harry grinned too, but not because they would be the best looking… because they were a couple.

Authors Note: More sugary sweetness, unfortunately you should all know me well enough by now to know that it won't last. pout. Please review (Also, if anyone is interested, you can view the costumes on my LJ. Username Digitallace)