The morning of Christmas Eve dawned crisp and clear, the cold light of the winter sun shining through the window. It was almost ten o'clock, and I had already been awake for hours. I just couldn't sleep. That particular day was The Day. In italics, with a big T and a big D. That was how big the day was. And it wasn't without reason. It was, as had been decided by me, Hermione and Pansy, the day of the final bonding ceremony. It was the last thing standing between me, Draco and the completion of our bond, and, I figured, the ultimate Christmas present. Actually, the only Christmas present I felt would come anywhere near describing just how much Draco had come to mean to me over the last months. It was scary how much my feelings had changed, but I wasn't really about to complain. However much fun fighting with Draco was, it didn't beat kissing him. Now that I think about it, very few things did.I had been sitting in front of the fireplace yet another hour when Draco finally graced the room with his presence. Or rather, came stumbling through the door from his room. "Good morning, sunshine!" I greeted him, and got a sloppy kiss in return. It was a shame really, not even Veela hormones could counteract morning breath. "Sleep well?"
Draco yawned and nodded, slumping down onto the couch. "Yeah, 'twas goodn'uff." He mumbled, his head dropping down onto a pillow. I smiled and mussed up his hair, at which he sent me a bleary glare, just as the portrait flew open revealing Pansy and Hermione.
"Oh, Draco, it was good we found you!" cried Pansy, running over to where the two of us were sitting. Or, in Draco's case, slouching. "Blaise is throwing a real temper tantrum, and you know you're the only one who can calm him down! He's in the Great Hall, please do hurry!"
"Oh, for the love of…" Draco muttered darkly under his breath, before getting to his feet. "I'll be back as soon as possible, love." He said, kissing me lightly before stalking out the portrait hole.
"Take your time!" I called after him, but he was already gone.
"Well, that was the first step, Blaise will keep him busy for hours so we have nothing to worry about," smirked Pansy.
"And if Zabini is not up to the task, we have Lady Sanguina on our side as well." Hermione smiled. "She won't let Draco back in before we're good and ready." I really hoped it wouldn't come to that, I could only imagine the state Draco would be in if he had to wait hours upon hours in front of his own door before being let it. Though, on the other hand, it could be amusing to try once. Just as an experiment, of course.
"Splendid! So, how do we do this?" I asked, looking between the two of them.
"Well, you can actually sit right where you are, and we'll just get started, ok?"
"Sure, my face is at your mercy." I tied my hair back with an elastic band and made myself more comfortable as the two girls set out to make me into what they called 'beauty incarnate'. I highly doubted they would manage anything like it, but I had promised to at least let them try. And I was nothing, if not a man of my word. If I could be considered a man at all after the vultures were finished with me, that is.
After almost an hour of hair removal, lip reddening, eye enlargement, skin cleansing and other unmentionable deeds, my two torturers finally stepped back and deemed me finished. Well, the facial part of it anyway.
"Oh, Harry," sighed Hermione and she looked for a minute as if she wanted to dry a tear. "You look so grown up!"
"Our little man, all beautiful for his first sexual encounter," murmured Pansy, never one for modesty.
Blushing, I glared at her. "Be silent, Parkinson, and hand me that mirror." She laughed at me, but did as she was told. I looked into the shimmering piece of glass, and I wouldn't be lying if I told you that I'd only ever been as shocked by my own reflection once before. The morning of my birthday.
From within the mirror, looking out at me, was an exotic looking creature that had very little to do with Harry Potter. For the sake of this description we will call him Jack. Now, it is true, Jack's hair was tied back by the same band of elastic as mine, but apart from that, he could as well have been from another planet. Where I was a pretty looking bloke with looks that leaned towards the more effeminate, Jack was an androgynous, ethereal being you'd only expect to see in front of a camera. His eyes were shaded in grey and traced in black, giving them a sooty, mysterious look. His lashes were longer, blacker and thicker than mine had ever been, and his skin was pale and matt. Or, as I realised when I leaned closer in, not completely matt. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but something made the skin glow slightly where the light touched it. It was almost as if it sparkled, yet in a very discreet way. If it is even possible to sparkle discreetly. But anyway, his complexion was perfect. His lips were full and pouted, and as red as if he'd just been kissed breathless. All in all, he looked fantastic. And the most fantastic thing of all, was that Jack wasn't just some other boy who'd been trapped inside a mirror. No, wonders of wonders, it was actually me. And believe me; I demanded proof before I trusted Hermione's word for it.
"Like what you see?" Pansy smirked at my wide eyed expression.
"More like don't recognise what I see," I mumbled, but then shook my head and pulled myself together. "It great, guys, really it is. I could never in my wildest dreams have foreseen a result like this."
"I'm glad you like it," smiled Hermione, before turning businesslike again. "Now, we've brought along some clothes we think you should try." She tossed me a pair of pants and I looked down at them, before looking back at her incredulously.
"Leather? You expect me to wear leather?" I spluttered, my face heating up at the mere thought.
"Are you seducing someone, or are you not seducing someone?" Pansy asked, studying her nails.
"Uhm, well, I am, sort of, but that doesn't mean I have to –" I started, but Pansy interrupted me.
"Then you're wearing leather." She looked up from her nails, and I quickly understood that either I put the pants on, or I went without pants. It was as simple as that, and since Hermione was wearing a very similar expression on her face, I figured it was just no use arguing. No matter what I said, they would win. Not only were they two against one, they were both girls as well, which gave them an unfair advantage.
As I pulled the pants up over my hips, I was pleasantly surprised to find that they were quite loose. The minute I saw it was leather I had been afraid they would fit like a second skin, but that was not the case. I had plenty of room to move about in them.
"Sorry if they're a bit big," said Pansy, pulling out her wand. "They're Blaise's, and he's quite a bit larger than you, but we'll fix it with a quick resizing charm." She cast the charm and I instantly understood that my first assumptions concerning leather had been the right ones. They were tight. Very tight.
"Can you move round, or are they too tight?" asked Hermione, she also with her wand out. I tried to move around a little, and amazingly enough, I managed it too. I would never have thought it by the look of them, but they were actually possible to live in. Tight, yes. Causing breathing problems, perhaps. But still possible to live in. Wonders will never cease.
"It's fine," I said to Hermione, and the brunette lowered her wand.
"Wonderful. Now, put on this." She held out a black tank top, and I took it, swiftly pulling it down over my head. "And this." The last item was a green silk shirt, the exact colour of my eyes. I left it hanging open.
"Now, your hair!" said Pansy and had me sitting down at the coffee table so that they could stand behind me. I felt a moment's hesitation at letting the two of them stand behind my back with their wands out, they could have done anything to my poor hair, but I quickly shook it off and sat down. And really, I had nothing to worry about. They conferred back and forth for a while, before finally settling on straightening it out and putting it in a ponytail. Much like Hermione had done for my first date with Draco. After the hair came accessories. Apparently, one can't go anywhere without them. It is even a law against it in some societies, according to Hermione. Not sure I believe her, but anyway, mine included a thin, black choker, several black rubber bands that according to Pansy were bracelets, and a black belt. Last I put on a pair of black boots, and then I was deemed finished at last.
I walked over to the bathroom, taking full advantage of the gigantic mirror Draco had had installed some time ago. The result was, to say the least, interesting.
"So, what do you think?" Pansy asked, grinning out of the mirror from where she was standing right behind my own reflection.
"I look completely and utterly gay."
"Mission accomplished then," said Hermione, and then she did the one thing that told me she'd been spending waaay too much time with Pansy lately. She smirked. And not just any smirk either, it was a fully developed superiority smirk, with just a dash of insolence and self-satisfaction. I felt oddly proud.