Diagon Alley was covered in snow and Christmas decorations: wreaths and garlands and ribbons and bells tingling in the cold wind. With promises to Snape to meet back at the tavern in two hours, Harry headed off one side of the Alley, peering in every window.

Draco sarcastically muttered something about not pressing his nose to the window like a six-year-old, but he stayed near Harry and talked about the contents of each window.

"Nice treats," Draco nodded at the window of a sweets shop. "By the way, Luna will be here in an hour. You two can share a cuppa while I cover for you."

Harry looked into the window to hide his nervousness. "Snape isn't going to look for us for an hour. Why are you covering?"

"Because it's a secret meeting," Draco grinned. "Like a love affair."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me you're a romantic."

"No, I'm just trying to get you snogged and sexed," Draco's grin became roguish.

"You're horrible," Harry shook his head.

"No, I'm honest. Any bloke who says he wants a chaste friendship with a girl is lying to himself."

"What about Hermione?"

"You knew that Weasley liked her. Any bloke who steals his best friend's girl is a bastard."

"Life according to Draco," Harry scoffed as he moved to the next window.

Harry made his way down one side of the street and stopped when he reached the entrance to Knockturn Alley.

"You scared, Potter?" Draco challenged with a sneer. "I dare you to run down there, all the way to Borgin and Burkes."

"No thanks," Harry turned away.

"Scared?" Draco smirked.

"No," Harry bent to tie his shoe.

"Yes, you are. You're scared of Snape finding out. He's wrapped you around his finger like a baby who -"

Harry stood up and flung the snowball he had made while pretending to tie his shoe. It hit Draco straight in the face. The blond boy shrieked in pain and outrage. Harry took advantage of Draco's confusion and ran forward to push the other boy into the snow.

Not waiting around, Harry took off down the street, back to the main part of Diagon Alley. He remembered from the summer that Draco could run faster than he could, but after months of training with Snape, Harry realized he was faster and stronger than Draco. Feeling bad, Harry turned around to see Draco trudging through the snowy street, batting snow off his coat.

Harry went back, apologizing, "Sorry."

"You're a prat," Draco scowled. "I come all this way and arrange a meeting with your lover -"

Harry snorted.

"Your soon to be lover," Draco corrected.

"Over Snape's dead body," Harry laughed. "He'd thrash me for a month if I tried to make Luna my lover. My lover - who talks like that anymore? You've been reading too many novels."

Draco looked away, his cheeks slightly red.

"Do wizards have romance novels like Muggles?" Harry questioned. "Those thick books you see in the markets - The Slut and Her Hero or the Temptress's Cad. The ones with the man showing his chest and the woman with the huge breasts."

"There's nothing wrong with erotica," Draco crossed his arms defensively.

"You need to take a lover," Harry decided.

Draco opened his mouth to retort, but Harry reached over to grab Draco's arm.

"Look," he whispered, pointing so Draco could see. "There's Moretta. Where do you think she's going?"

Both boys watched quietly as Moretta slipped down the lane, her long cloak trailing in the snow.

"Come on," Harry started forward.

"Unbelievable," Draco whispered. "You won't go down Knockturn, but you'll follow a teacher all over the place. This is wrong."

"Fine, Hermione," Harry said. "You stay here like a good girl, while I follow her."

"Shut up," Draco snarled.

They crept along behind Moretta, careful to keep at least fifteen feet away. She did not look back - she went all the way into the Leaky Cauldron without slowing for a second.

Harry wondered how they would be able to spy on her if she stayed in the main room of the pub, but fortunately, she headed back to one of the private rooms, shutting the door behind her.

"Blast," Harry frowned. "We can't listen at the door. It'll be too obvious."

"What if we go into the next private room?" Draco pointed at the open door. "No one's in it."

The empty private room was cold, but Harry huddled up against the wall as Draco nudged the door shut.

"We have a few minutes before they come and make us pay to use the room," Draco guessed.

Harry nodded as he pressed his ears to the wall where there was a large knoll in the rough wood. The voices were audible but garbled.

"No good," Harry shook his head.

"Out of the way, Potter," Draco pulled out his wand. "Audire Magus!"

The voices came through the wall, soft but much clearer.  

"Then it's been confirmed?" a man said, a voice that Harry did not recognize.

"Indeed," a woman said - Harry was fairly sure it was Moretta. "All our eyes have confirmed. He is rising . . . soon. We must act."

"The spells are almost done," another man said. Harry realized with shock that it was Dumbledore. "Severus has been working tirelessly to bring them about."

"He is willing to be the key?" Moretta did not sound convinced.

"Yes, yes," Dumbledore said. "He will be here soon and will tell us all. But the magic has been confirmed. We have researched it, and it does require a bond. Thankfully, that bond is cemented, legally as well as emotionally and mentally."

"I don't trust Snape," the first man objected.

"His actions have proved him trustworthy," Moretta argued. "We are not here to debate Snape any longer. What matters now is the spell."

"Yes, right," another female chimed in. Harry blinked. It sounded like Tonks. "We got Remus on board and he says Snape's work is right where it should be."

"But I don't like having all our plans rest on the one spell," the first man protested. "We need to have back-up in case that spell fails or simply doesn't work."

"We are the back up," Dumbledore sounded serious. "After the spell, we stand against the brink, ready to push back the tide of evil."

"Excuse me," a barkeep opened the door. "Can I help you gentlemen? Dear me, is that Harry Potter?"

"Um, yes," Harry searched for an excuse. I was - we were -"

"My mate here is going to meet his girl, and we were just rehearsing what he was going to say."

"Oh, really?" the barkeep raised his eyebrows. "Harry Potter is getting a girlfriend? Well, I can't let you stay in here, but I can give you something to wet your whistle. Man shouldn't face such a serious business without a bit of fortitude. Come on, on the house."

Harry found himself hustled up to a barstool with something thick and amber poured into a small glass. Draco took the stool beside him, looking all suave and cool to be drinking liquor in a pub.

"What do you think they were talking about?" Harry glanced over his shoulder at the closed door.

"I dunno," Draco shrugged. "I guess they are working on some secret spell. But that's a lot of people to have in there all at once. They said Snape would come later. Drink up, and let's get out of here."

Harry grabbed the glass and tossed the contents back with one gulp. He meant to look nonchalant, but the alcohol burned so badly that he nearly choked. "Water," he gasped at the trail of fire which blazed down to his stomach. 

When the barkeep set down a glass full of water, Harry grabbed it and gulped it down. He set the glass down with a clink and stood up. "All right. I'm ready to go meet Luna."

"That's the spirit," Draco grinned.

On the way out of the door, they bumped into Snape. Harry immediately closed his mouth, not wanting Snape to smell the alcohol. Snape wasn't completely forbidding about alcohol; he occasionally let Harry have a few sips of wine at dinner. And Harry guessed that most potions were made with some kind of alcohol for brewing purposes.

But Harry saw no reason to let Snape know he had had a taste of firewhiskey. That might lead to unpleasant conversations in the middle of the Leaky Cauldron that had enough patrons to make a confrontation with Snape look odd. Harry wasn't in disguise, too.

"Mr. Potter," Snape nodded coldly, keeping up the charade.

Harry nodded, not saying anything.

"Mr. Malfoy, I do hope you both are behaving yourselves."

Draco nodded as well, and they stepped past Snape into the cold air.

"You think he wouldn't like you drinking the firewhiskey?" Harry asked once Snape was out of hearing distance.

"Like? He threatened to make me drink fish oil for a week if I ever tasted alcohol," Draco made a face. "Fish oil has to be the nastiest thing the Muggles ever invented. Ugh! Oh, look, there's Luna."

Harry glanced up ahead and he saw her, standing in the middle of the street, dreamily gazing up at the frosted sign above one of the shops. As Harry got closer, she saw him and her face relaxed into a smile.

"Hello," she breathed as he stopped in front of her. "You are here, just like Draco said."

"Yeah," Harry grinned, tongued-tied.

Draco looked immensely proud of himself as he looked back and forth between Harry and Luna. "Well, don't just stand there. Kiss each other."

Harry felt his cheeks blaze and he reached over to punch Draco in the shoulder, using about half his strength. "Such a joker," he brushed his embarrassment off.

"Should we go get some tea?" Luna suggested.

"Sure," Harry agreed, ready to head off.

Draco grabbed his arm, whispering, "You have enough money, right?"

"Yes, of course," Harry shook free. "No one thinks I can do anything for myself anymore."

"I'll be keeping a lookout outside," Draco promised.

Luna giggled as they slipped into the tearoom. "Everyone looks after you now. You have a new father and now you have an older brother."

"Draco's only a few months older," Harry objected. "And I don't need them looking after me. I'll be of age next summer."

They found a cozy corner in the back, and Harry ordered a pot of tea, plate of biscuits, and small sandwiches. He felt tingles run up and down his spine. It was all so new to him. He had ordered food in a pub before, but he had never done so with a girl before, a girl he found attractive and pretty. His heart beat a little faster every time she smiled at him, and his stomach flopped as he sat so close to her.

When the food came, Harry forced himself to eat some of it, just to give himself something to do, but he mostly watched Luna eat. She liked to take a sip of tea, a bite of a biscuit, and a bite of sandwich, and start over with tea again. As they talked, the small radishes from her ears swayed back and forth. Harry wished he was brave enough to reach out and touch the earrings. He wondered if Bill or Charlie could take control of situations and act on impulses with their dates.

 And Luna wasn't too dreamy, either. She had a whimsical air about her, but Harry liked to imagine that she was seeing the beauty in everything and watching it in awe. Where other people saw drab stone walls and bare ground, Luna saw roses growing from the stones and future gardens. She imagined grace and elegance and mystery, and she had a kind heart and sweet nature. Harry felt his own heart beat a little faster.

Outside the window, barely visible from their back table, Draco crowded close to the window and tried to catch Harry's eye. The moment Harry looked up, Draco started making hand signals, trying to tell Harry what to do next.

"Your friend is very amusing," Luna observed. "Were you not enemies last year?"

"Yeah," Harry admitted, "but I got to know him over the summer. He's still a prat - make no mistake about that. He's selfish and pushy and he'll never be half the friend Ron is, but I guess we're kind of friends. It's strange. Ron liked me from the minute I got on the train. Ron was my first friend, my best friend, and I could ask him to do anything for me, and he'd be there in a second. Draco grew on me after spending the summer with Snape."

"Everyone needs diversity in friends," Luna agreed. "You need it more than anyone."

"Meaning what?" Harry asked.

"You are going to be a leader. You can't surround yourself with all the same people. The more diverse people you have around you, the more you can see what would be the best for the most people. That was Voldemort's problem. He surrounded himself with Death Eaters who thought exactly like he did."

"And he was evil," Harry added.

"That too," Luna smiled.

They could have sat in the tearoom forever, Harry thought, talking about all sorts of things: hobbies, interests, school, the kinds of people they liked, reading, families, Christmas wishes. But Harry eventually brought himself to look at his pocketwatch - the one Snape had given him - and he realized the hour was growing late.

"We have to go," Harry left the money on the table. "Let me walk you out."

Harry barely noticed the cold as they stepped out. In some magical way, his whole world seemed too good to be true. Luna walked close towards him and slipped her hand into his. Witches and wizards were shopping and wandering all over the snow-covered alley, and then a light snow started to fall.

It was too perfect. In the middle of the street, Harry turned to face Luna. He looked deep into her shimmering eyes and then he leaned forward. Their foreheads touched for a second, and Harry felt her warm breath on his face.

Then he kissed her.

Her mouth - wet, warm, and soft - pressed against his lips, and he reached down to grab her by the waist, to pull her closer.

Luna reached her arms up to twine around his neck, and they kept kissing as the snow fell.

Someone started clapping behind them, and more people joined the clapping, and there were calls of "Harry Potter has a girlfriend!" "Harry Potter's kissing someone!" "Look, the Chosen One has chosen one!"

Among the clapping, catcalls and whistles sounded until the whole market seemed to be egging them on. Harry broke off the kiss, turning with an enormous smile on his face just in time to get caught in the blinding flash of a camera.

"Front page news!" someone shouted.

Amid the sea of faces, Harry saw Draco, who looked very, very pleased with himself at having masterminded the whole meeting.

People were shouting out questions, wanting to know how long they had been dating and how they felt about each other. Harry just grinned bashfully, pulling Luna tight against him. She leaned her head on his shoulder, her arm around his waist.

"Kiss her again," someone (probably Draco) yelled.

Harry turned and they kissed again, a long show of lips on lips for several seconds, and then broke apart with a loud kissing noise.

The crowd cheered again, and Harry basked in the glory. He had gotten praise before for his heroic ventures, but never for a romantic display.

He wanted to give a speech, something eloquent to praise Luna's spirit and beauty and character and everything about her, but Harry couldn't do more than grin.

Then, on the edge of the crowd, he saw Snape watching him. Snape's dark eyes stayed on him, and the man glowered menacingly. Obviously, Snape did not like public displays of affection.

But Snape couldn't do anything about it. He couldn't storm into the crowd and grab Harry because that would mean showing people that Snape had a connection to Harry and then people would doubt his loyalties to the Dark Lord. Snape was powerless as long as Harry had the attention, and Harry wondered if he should milk the scene for all it was worth and drag it out to a half hour show or if he should start running and hope Snape didn't catch up to him any time soon.

"Well," Harry finally found his voice, "that's all everyone. Luna and I are dating, and we really would prefer to be alone for now. Thank you and have a very happy holiday."

People clapped again, but Harry grabbed Luna's arm and pulled her out from the center of the crowd. They dashed up the road into the Leaky Caldron.

"I have to go," Harry sighed. "But I'll write to you and maybe I'll see you some more over New Years."

"Are you coming back here for New Years?" Luna asked. "Are you really going to sneak out?"

"I still don't know."

"Poor Harry Potter," Luna put a warm hand on his cold face. "Still so many decisions to make. So many choices."

"I made one right choice," Harry said.

She smiled, and they kissed one more time. She whispered "Goodbye" and skipped off, her hair swinging.

Harry leaned against the wall, savoring the bliss he felt. He hadn't done any shopping, but he thought he had done more towards making it the best Christmas he ever had than he ever thought possible.

He finally made his way back to the room with the fireplace they had used for the Floo. It was deserted except for Draco standing to one side, looking awkward.

"Sorry about staying so long," Harry started to apologize.

A hand clamped down on his shoulder, making him jump.

"Sn-n-nape," he stuttered. "You found us. We were getting worried."

"That's enough out of you," Snape turned him to face the fireplace. He gave him a swat on the bottom to get him going. "We're going home this second and we're going to have a very long conversation about what is appropriate behavior on the streets and what is not."

"Well, I better give you some privacy," Draco stepped back.

"You, too, young man," Snape barked. "You think for a moment that I'm fooled into believing that you didn't have a hand in this, that you didn't plan this, that you weren't orchestrating the whole thing? Both of you, to the manor now."

It was, Harry surmised as he grabbed a handful of Floo powder, rather a wretched end to a date filled with so much excitement and emotion. Such a shame that Snape was too old to remember what it was like to be young and in love.