Even despite the multitudes of servers manervuering around the crowd taking and bringing drinks orders, the bar still seemed packed with guests. As Harry approached, a large portion seemed to be lingering guests, here too gathering in clusters. Some Harry recognized from the organizational level of the military, and another several guests he had passed on his way there, Harry had seen on the news. It was, above anything else, a mouthful.<br/>However, it soon became clear that this was all a practiced ballet. The crowd seemed fluid, allowing Harry a few feet of vacancy to properly approach the bar without any need to excuse himself to get there. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Harry knew he was the only one invited, who was experiencing this for the first time.<br/>The bar staff just as accustomed to the crowd as the antendees themselves, Harry had barely a time to think before a server was asking for his order.<br/>"A pinot grigio and - uh," he stuttered, more out of reflex than out of hesitation. "A ginger ale. Thank you."<br/>The server had barely whisked away, no doubt in search for the soda, before the woman by Harry's side strung up a line of conversation.<br/>"Pardon me, Lieutenant," she started, though there was barely an apology in her voice.<br/>Caught off guard, Harry turned to face her, surprised, finding the rank both too intimate and foreign when used by a stranger. The polite smile eventually returned, some of his surprise still ghosting across his features in a way that almost made him seem humoured.<br/>"Ma'am."<br/>"Are you in active duty?" she continued, polite and with a smile on her lips.<br/>The woman was proper, in any sense of the word, and Harry could tell the intent of her question before she had asked it, suddenly recognizing her. His lips parted in recognition, as if to speak, but she had continued before he got the chance to come her question in advance.<br/>"See, I only ask, thinking I knew all military members Lucius had invited," she added, the joke in her voice making her sound younger than her age. "But I must stand corrected."<br/>"I'm no longer serving, no, Madam Under-Secretary," Harry replied, properly turning into the conversation. His hand remained on the bar top, grounding himself in the task at hand, yet his smile had grown more genuine. The recognition seemed to please the woman, her smile widening.<br/>"I was discharged several years ago, I am here as a guest of the family, " Harry went on, and for a moment, he seemed to hesitate, deciding which tone to take. Eventually, he smiled. "- but this is the only suit I own."<br/>At that, the Ministry of Defence under-secretary laughed, and for all Harry could tell, the laugh had come genuinely. The woman had only been elected secretary after Harry's discharge.<br/>"Well, then it is no surprise I didn't recognize you, Lieutenant Potter," she replied, noting at the embroidered lettering across Harry's coat.<br/>In the mean time, the server had returned with Harry's ginger ale and an empty wine glass; the sight, evidently, made her look twice.<br/>"You're a guest of Lucius'?" she asked, though that hadn't been the way Harry himself had phrased it. As she once again met his eye, her smile hadn't wavered - not by much, at least.<br/>Harry's, however, widened.<br/>"Yes, madam," he said, turning further away from the bar to properly glance across the crowd he had emerged from. How quickly he spotted Draco in the crowd, was enough to made the hairs on Harry's neck stand.<br/>Though Harry's smile was already wide and bright, it almost became boyish, humoured at the theatrics of it all and thrilled to have someone to share the ridicule with, making a familiar gesture in Draco's direction.<br/>"I'm dating Draco Malfoy," he stated, easily as his eyes yet again found the woman by his side.<br/>The secretary, who<span style="font-style: italic">had</span>been following Harry's line of sight, clearly hadn't put two and two together until Harry had said it out loud. While she had done a spectacular job of keeping her composure over the course of the conversation, her smile completely left her lips. The way her eyes lingered on Draco longer than Harry's did only seemed to confirm that, this time around, the shock hadn't been that Harry was gay - but that Draco was.<br/>When she didn't turn to look at him, Harry too turned to look at Draco; for a moment, Harry seemed like he was all but bursting with laughter.<br/>"Of course," she stumbled, eyes eventually dragging back onto Harry. She, however, seemed to have a hard time focusing on him this time around.<br/>This time, Harry made a point of allowing his gaze to linger, only turning to look at her when he was certain she was looking at him. Once their eyes met, he smiled, thrilled.<br/>"Well, you must excuse me," Harry went on, unaffected. By now, a chilled glass of white wine had appeared onto the bar. He picked both drinks up, before sending her a smile and pleasant parting words.<br/>"I better get going. But I do except to see you again, madam. It was nice meeting you."<br/>She, still appearing startled, attempted to match Harry's smile as he left the bar. "Certainly."