With Great Yawns and Stretchings
Tags: Romance, Fluff, Angst, Alcohol, Drunkenness, Cat Cafés, Coffeeshop Au, post-HogwartsGrimmauld,
The coffee is very good. Really. And the cats are so cute. That's why Harry goes so often.
"Draco stops short and looks at Harry in quiet surprise. For some reason, Harry feels suddenly bashful. Which literally makes no sense, it's a coffee shop, for Merlin's sake. He shakes it off and smiles.
“I'm sorry, I know it's late.”
Draco seems to pull himself together too. He leans against the counter, mouth quirking into a playful smirk.
“It's fine. We're not closed yet. What can I get you?”
“Oh, nothing. It's too late for caffeine, it's hard enough for me to sleep.”
“Okay, then why are you here?”
“Well, I haven't stopped by in awhile and I was just…wondering how Pepper's doing.”
“Pining for you," Draco says dramatically and guilt shifts in Harry's stomach.
“Well, kind of. The cats certainly have missed you. We thought you'd grown bored with us.”
Draco's tone tapers off into something less playful, something very near sincere, for just a moment. But then he clears his throat and stands up straight.
“Do you want to see them?”
“They don't stay out on the main floor overnight. They have a room in the back.” He walks past the desserts display and gestures for Harry to follow him down a short hallway. “There's all kinds of regulations about keeping their litter and food separate from where people sit and eat.”
They stop at a door with a large cat flap and a sign reading “Cats and Employees Only.” Draco takes out a ring of keys and unlocks it. The room is very large, almost as big as the cafe floor. There are shelves running along all the walls, tall, many branched cat trees, toys of all kinds covering the floor. The farthest wall has a line of litter boxes while the wall closest to the door has a line of food bowls and one large water fountain. The cats are curled up on the trees and cushions, many of them asleep but several perk up at the open door. Harry sees Pepper laying next to Calypso on a large cushion and walks gingerly towards them, not wanting to disturb this sacred cat space.
Harry kneels and gently runs his fingers over Pepper's side. She stretches contentedly and turns over, showing her stomach and purring so loudly he's sure it'll wake the other cats. Harry feels even worse for staying away so long, especially because just petting Pepper makes him feel very good. After a long moment he stands and turns back to Draco. He stops short. Draco's giving him an odd look, as though he's properly looking at Harry for the first time. There's something soft and warm in his eyes. But then he moves to let Harry through and it's gone. After locking the door, they return to the cafe floor. Draco looks at the cat face-shaped clock over the door. Nearly 10:30pm.
“I'm going to close up now, I think. It's been dead the past hour.”
“You can stay if you like.”
Harry can't miss the deliberate, measured way Draco says this, facing away from him. But Harry also can't stop the little leap of joy in his stomach.
“Really? I wouldn't...be in the way or anything?”
Draco looks at him and that strange tension leaves his shoulders.
“I can help you clean up.”
“Not necessary.” Draco bolts the door shut. “I've done most of it already. Do you want some coffee cake? It won't be good tomorrow.”
Harry nods and sits on the squishy couch. There's a certain feeling of naughtiness being in a shop after closing time that the childish part of him finds thrilling and he can't stop smiling.
“You know,” Draco says as he cuts a large slice of cake, “if you really like Pepper all that much, you can adopt her. All these cats are adoptable.”
The thought had never occurred to Harry. He knows these aren't all just Draco's cats even though that's how he often thinks of them. For a brief moment, he envisions what it would be like to have Pepper at Grimmauld Place. Curled up with him in his favorite chair before the fire. It feels nice for a second. But then he remembers how empty and cold most of the house is and it doesn't feel good anymore.
“Oh, no. I'm...too busy for a pet," Harry says, accepting the plate Draco holds out to him.
“Pfft, what do you have going on that's so bloody important,” Draco scoffs as he pulls a chair out from a table and sits across from Harry. He crosses his legs and pushes his hair out of his face, eyes closed for a moment. He looks tired; Harry wonders if it was a busy day. “You're here all the time anyway. Or you were anyway.”
Again there's just a touch of sincerity there and Draco sounds almost sad. Harry smiles wickedly through his bite of cake and swallows.
“Draco, did you miss me?”
Draco looks properly offended and sits up straight.
“I most certainly did not. Like I said, the cats pined for you. And when they pine, they're a nuisance.”
Another fabulous read for Wizards Hearts hosted by @gameofdrarry. As a person who turns into a puddle of cooing goo whenever they see a cat, this fic was definitely easy to love! Coffeeshop Aus in general always have this soft and sensual vibe to them. Combine that with adorable cats and a deliciously handsome barista Draco Malfoy in sweaters (anyone else have a thing for Draco in sweaters??Anyone?? Just me??) and you have yourself an undoubtedly beautiful fic to read while being wrapped in a blanket. Everything about this story just screams comfort! Yes there are hints of little (very little!) angst here and there but that makes the whole thing much more enjoyable to read. Harry with his path to figuring out the things he wants in life (*cough* Draco *cough*) and the whole process of him falling in love is beautiful! All in all it's a total comfort fic, really! If you are in need of love, mugs of coffee, beautiful cats and mind-numbing fluff, this is definitely the fic to read.
