Pictures

Draco opened his eyes and looked at the clock on his bedside table. It was eight in the morning and that meant that he had exactly one hour to prepare for breakfast. Deciding he wasn’t hungry, he snuggled into the brunette next to him. If anyone had told him six months ago that snuggling into Hermione Granger’s sleeping form would bring him a sense of peace, he would have laughed at them outright. However, he had to admit that waking up with her warm, nude body curled next to him was becoming the highlight of his week. Last night’s dance had gone off without a hitch and Draco was extremely proud of the work they’d done.

Since the beginning of their arrangement, Draco had been pleased with the steady amount of mind blowing sex he’d received, but also with how well their work habits had gone. They now studied together in the common room they shared and prefect rounds went much smoother. Draco found they were actually quite similar when it came to dedication to school work and a thirst for knowledge. Besides the damning pictures he had taken their first night together, Draco had taken a few others of the witch in question when she wasn’t looking. The one he had of her reading on the window seat of their common room was his favorite. He had grown accustomed to Hermione and was actually quite nervous about what would happen in a week when they would graduate Hogwarts and their paths would no longer cross.

Having been a loner by nature, Draco had never experienced any kind of intimacy with anyone other than a house elf. His mother loved him, but she remained aloof when it came to her son, his father behaving similarly except when he wanted to prove something to Draco. Draco had grown up hungry for his father’s approval as a result and in desperate want of company. Crabbe and Goyle had sufficed for a time until he had found Blaise Zabini. Blaise was as loyal a friend as he was likely to get when it came to Slytherins, but Draco knew that Blaise never would have bothered with him if it hadn’t been for his influence and money. For this reason, he didn’t really know what friendship was. He’d never been in a situation in which two people met with each other just because they enjoyed the other’s company and not because important alliances had to be formed. Pansy Parkinson had been a good enough companion for awhile, but Draco still felt that same sense of emptiness with her. When Pansy figured out that Draco had no intentions of marrying her, she had moved on to other wealthy sons of Slytherin families, eventually snagging Theodore Nott. This left Draco free to plow his way through most of the girls in his year at Hogwarts. Each girl was willing to let him do as he pleased, because if he happened to fall for one of them or if he got one pregnant, then that girl would live the rest of her life like royalty. Draco slept with these girls, but he never felt ‘intimate’ with them.

His mother and father had never been ‘intimate’ with each other. They shared a bed, but had separate bathrooms and spent most of their time in opposite wings of the house from each other. Their lives didn’t affect each other except when it came to making decisions about Draco. With his newfound ‘relationship’ with Hermione, their lives interconnected quite often. They shared a common room and a bathroom and since the night Draco had insisted upon taking her in the shower, their morning rituals were now shared.

When Draco stepped out of the shower in the mornings, Hermione often absentmindedly handed him a towel as she brushed her teeth. That simple, non-chalant act of consideration affected him more than he cared to admit. At night, as they brushed their teeth together, Draco often marveled at how much he enjoyed sharing his life with another person. Watching Potter’s muggle-born goddess share the most mundane of acts with him made him exceedingly happy. Not only did he know what she looked like when she came apart in his arms, he knew what she looked like when she woke up in the mornings and knew the texture of her skin after she washed her face one final time before bed. This was what ‘intimacy’ meant to Draco. It went far beyond just sharing each other’s bodies, it meant sharing daily routines. That was why he’d gotten so upset at the thought of her being with Dean Thomas. It wasn’t the fact that she might sleep with him that bothered Draco as much as the fact that she would start spending more and more time with Dean, taking with her their morning and evening rituals. She would hold up her end of the bargain sexually, but Draco’s intimacy with another person would forever be gone.

Smiling to himself, Draco knew that as long as he had those pictures he could dictate whatever he wanted and she would comply. Six months was a long time for him to keep shagging the same girl, but it seemed the more they shagged, the more he wanted to have it off with her. She was his personal walking, talking, thinking doll. While he sat there thinking, his doll woke up.

“You know, you’re actually quite attractive when you don’t open your mouth,” she yawned.

‘The same could be said of you, know-it-all.” He pulled her closer to him and she obliged by settling her head on his chest. For a moment Draco wondered what it would be like if she was his girlfriend. What would it feel like to have her here because she wanted to be and not because he made her. She had no interest in his money and his place in society actually seemed to be a hindrance to her like of him. Would she be more attentive? Would they go to Hogsmeade together and would she dress up to please him? It was this line of think that prompted the next phrase that came out of his mouth.

“I think we should go to Italy for a few weeks after graduation.”

Hermione looked up at him, confused. “What do you mean ‘we’? I can’t afford to go to Italy. It would take all of my savings that I was planning on using to get a flat. Why don’t you ask Parkinson if she wants to go.”

“Because not only is she now taken by Nott and I have no desire to die a very painful death, but I would rather grind a cork screw through my eardrums than listen to her screech non-stop for three weeks. Besides, it isn’t as if paying for you is going to put a dent in my wallet, much less my savings. I’ll let the staff at our house in Napoli know we’ll be arriving on first of July.”

“What? You can’t just order my life around like that! What would I tell my parents? What would I tell Harry and the Weasleys?”

“Tell them whatever you want. You’re the brightest witch of your age, I’m sure you’ll think of something.”

“I can’t go to Italy with you.” Hermione was emphatic.

“Then how are you going to fulfill our little bargain when you’re in England and I’m in Napoli? Do you think that graduating is going to make those pictures any less embarrassing? I suppose you could always blame it on the folly of youth.”

“You mean you want this to continue after we leave Hogwarts? How long do you intend to keep this up?”

“Until I get tired of it.” The truth was, Draco didn’t know when it would end and he suddenly dreaded the day that she no longer feared the ramifications of the pictures. She was still young, so they could be very damning, especially if she wanted to work for the ministry. He did not want to lose this closeness they had.

Sighing, Hermione defeatedly replied, “I guess we’re going to Italy then.” She moved to get up and Draco took the chance to admire her nude body as she walked across the room. Picking up his shirt from the night before she put it on and without thinking, handed him his robe. She was conscientious by nature, so she didn’t even notice the small things she did for Draco, but it made his day.

“Would it really be so bad to spend three weeks on an Italian beach with me?” he asked in mock hurt.

“No, actually it wouldn’t. The thing that sours it, however is the fact that I have to hide this trip from my friends and family because I’m being blackmailed into sleeping with you because of one drunken night of lapse of reason.”

“Don’t act like you don’t enjoy it.” He smirked at her and she blushed, rolled her eyes and walked into their bathroom to start her morning shower.

Getting up, he walked into the bathroom behind her and began brushing his teeth. When he was done he clipped his nails while waiting on her to get out of the shower. They chatted through the curtain and for a girl who had been so tight-legged for her seven years at Hogwarts, she was surprisingly comfortable being naked around him. He supposed it was a result of being raised muggle. Maybe they were freer with their bodies. It would make sense since the clothing they wore was so skin-tight and restricting. He hoped that during their vacation he would get to see Granger in more muggle clothing. He was particularly interested in a thing called a ‘bikini’. He had seen them before, of course, but he’d never seen Granger in one and he dearly hoped that her bathing costume wasn’t as covering as the thing with a skirt his mother wore.

When Hermione finished she stepped out of the shower and he stepped in. He spoke to her while she tamed her mass of curls, and he washed his body. Thinking to himself of how much more fun his shower would be if she were in there with him, he pushed the thought aside because he knew she wouldn’t want to get her hair wet again. Besides, she’d already fulfilled her part of the bargain three fold this week. Draco wasn’t positive, but he thought that sometimes she just participated in their sexual activities because she truly wanted to. She was an extremely passionate lover who gave as good as she got. Some girls just lay there and wait for things to happen, or spend so much time worrying about pleasing him, that they never allowed him to give them any kind of pleasure. While he enjoyed being sucked off, he also enjoyed the power trip he got when he could make Hermione come, screaming out his name. She ran the gamut and was open to suggestion.

Italy was going to be wonderful because he could finally squire her around in the open. He didn’t know why, but it was important to him someone, somewhere knew that she was his. He supposed it was because he was her first and only lover. He’d never been with a virgin before. Even Pansy had sought out Marcus Flint before trying her skills out on him. His friend Blaise was the resident cherry picker of Hogwarts and Draco could understand his addiction after being Hermione’s first. He felt a sense of ownership over her because now, every time she spread her legs, she would remember him. No matter how many lovers she had, he would always be remembered, not necessarily for skill, but just because he had gotten there first.

When he emerged from the shower, she was already dressed and waiting on him. Even though once they left their common room they reverted back to the role of bitter strangers, they always left together. As they walked down the hall to the library, Draco caught up with her and moved her hair aside to plant a quick kiss on the back of her neck.

“Next week starts at midnight tonight. I’d advise you not to wear yourself out during the day.” Shivering from the kiss, she gave him a slight smile before heading to her usual table in the library. He knew she would be back early tonight.