Disclaimer: I will continue to not own Harry Potter until I die. There, happy now?

Author's Note: Draco/Pansy is rapidly reaching Sirius/Remus level for me on my all time favorite pairins list. For some reason I just love writing for them. Hope all you Draco/Pansy fans enjoy this little insight. Rated T for kissy scenes and innuendo. Please tell me what you think in a review!

Bare Minimum

It was funny how after knowing someone for a long time (too long of a time to be completely honest) one is able to pick up the subtle hints and true meanings behind the words. This was how it had become for Draco concerning his wife, Pansy once-Parkinson and now Malfoy.

When they were at school together he and Pansy had actually maintained something close to a friendship, or at least as close to a friendship as Slytherins ever got. It was more like an alliance than anything. They were, after all, the two most intelligent Slytherins and the leaders of their respective packs. It made the most amount of sense possible.

This friendship had rapidly deteriorated after their marriage when Draco was nineteen (barely nineteen) and Pansy was eighteen. Now they were both twenty six but Draco felt more like he was thirty. He already had a five year old son and surprise, surprise and congratulations, Pansy had just informed him that she was pregnant.

News that he was going to have another child should have made him happy, and probably would make any other seemingly happily married husband and father happy, but not Draco. Definitely not Draco. It made him want to rip his own heart out and then choke himself with it, and thanks to this nifty ability he had gained from knowing Pansy much too well for his own peace of mind he knew that she felt the same way.

They were in bed right now, each of them pretending to still be asleep. They spent a lot of time in the early hours of the morning like this. Each of them knowing that their partner was restless and most likely needed to talk, but neither of them asking any questions or sharing any information.

He shifted so that he was facing Pansy. She was curled up on her side with her black hair tied back in a loose braid to keep it out of her face as she tried to sleep. Only hours before they had been screaming at each other over dinner.

Draco found it endlessly amusing that they never outright said that they hated each other and that they didn't have to. Both of them could convey the message in other more effective ways. It was the way Pansy would tell him she was going to meet Theodore for lunch so that they could catch up, and it was the way Draco would smile condescendingly at her when people would remark at parties what a step up Pansy had made in society by marrying him.

Everyone was constantly telling them that they were a smart match. Maybe that was the problem, they were too smart of a match for their own good. Draco constantly looked back over the brief glimpses he had of his parent's marriage but found himself faced only with the mask they themselves had put on. He found that it was much too similar to the one he and Pansy wore for his own comfort.

Pansy seemed to feel his eyes on her and turned to face him with a scowl ready on her lips. Draco merely gave her an appraising look and reached up to tug her hair free of the braid. "Leave your hair down," he commented as he did so.

"Fine, Draco, you always get what you want anyway," she replied tersely as she quickly shook her hair free and back into its strait, tumbling locks.

Draco smirked slightly though he figured it would go unnoticed in the dim light. "As it should be," he agreed.

"And what is it that you really want, Mr. Malfoy?" she asked him sarcastically.

"At the moment?" he asked in reply and her eyes glinted in warning. "I want you out of that nightgown."

"Is that so? You didn't seem so keen only a few hours ago when you were informing me of what an ugly bitch I apparently am," she said.

"Do you love me Pansy?" he asked, switching topics.

She rolled her eyes although it was too dim for Draco to see. "You are certainly physically appealing," she paused to rake her eyes over his form "your personality is horrible though that hardly matters as I'm no walk in the park myself. Overall I find you bearable and the sex is quite good."

He let a lazy smile drift onto his face and reached out to loop an arm around her waist. "Is that so Mrs. Malfoy?"

She returned his smile with one of her own. "I'll never get tired of hearing that," she said in a tone that was almost pleasant.

"Like having my last name?" he questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes," she replied. "It reminds me of how rich I am."

He smirked and pulled her in for a kiss. Their lips met in a rush of heat and experience. Draco knew every inch of her mouth by now and knew exactly how to please her as she did him. It was one of the few benefits of that dreadful bond they shared with each other.

Perhaps the reason they never said they hated each other or, at least, not in so few words was because they didn't actually hate each other. Bearable had been Pansy's verdict on what she felt for him on a daily basis and he supposed he felt the same. Except, that is, for all those times she drove him to the brink of insanity with her useless whining about things he had no concern for.

He was a Malfoy and though that came with many perks it also came with responsibility and one of those responsibilities was to have a perfect, pureblood family. Draco knew that he would always carry out his responsibilities to the Malfoy name.

They broke away from the kiss at the exact same time. Both of them knew just how far to go with each other and Draco found himself thinking that this was a comfortable prison for both of them and that no matter how much they might whine about wanting to escape neither of them really wanted that. They were much happier remaining here and doing as they were told, and they both knew this about each other, which was why neither of them had to worry about threats of divorce or adultery. They were safe when they were with each other.

Pansy's nightgown eventually came off, because Draco always gets what he wants. Several hours later they found themselves lying side by side with their naked bodies barely touching. Both of them were pretending to sleep and as always, neither of them made a move to say what needed to be said. After all, they weren't looking for loving they were looking for bearable.