Title: Capturing Her
Author: Carolare Scarletus
Characters: Hermione Granger; Theodore Nott; Marcus Flint; Harry Potter; Ron Weasley; Draco Malfoy; Pansy Parkinson; Blaise Zabini; Severus Snape; Minerva McGonagall
Universe: AU
Warnings: Off and on-screen alcohol consumption, sexual intercourse- including oral, anal, and vaginal, and mention of narcotics.
Summary: When a party in the Slytherin's common room ends with a bet, how will Theo cater to proving the Gryffindor is more than worthy of being captured? "There has to be more than meets the eye, Granger," he breathed, insinuating something far deeper than either of them could begin to imagine. Theo held up his camera, aiming it right at her. "Let me be the one to capture it."
Disclaimer (because I always forget) – I don't own Harry Potter!
Author's Note: My first attempt at this pairing. I hope I live up to everyone expectations! Please read and let me know what you think!
As always, enjoy
-Carolare Scarletus
September 16th, 1997
Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland.
Slytherin Common Room.
Theodore Nott was standing in the back of the common room, toying with his newly acquired camera he had gotten his hands on some months ago. Though his father disapproved, the Pureblood was trying to fix it when someone came up to him and handed him a drink. Marcus Flint, one of the many heartthrobs of the school, was his date and was clearly determined to get him drunk off his arse before the night ended. Though, Theo preferred an inebriated Flint over his own intoxication, which was always an interesting capture. Not to mention, he was the perfect subject for the school's newspaper. McGonagall was sure to have his arse for it, but hey, one only lived once. Marcus had been the one to pull him from his room and down to the party. He was unsociable, especially when it came to his passion. Little did he know that he needn't have to spike his drink or keep pressuring him into taking glasses from him. If he secretly planned to take him all night long, then he was going to enjoy capturing every second of it. Theo took the glass nonetheless, checked it for roofies, and took a long pull of it when he found it safe.
"Will you stop toying with that damn thing?" he hissed in irritation. "I feel like those girls who complain that their dates aren't paying enough attention to them."
"You sound like one of those girls," he murmured, eyeing something on the side of his camera. "Almost done. I must adjust something. Ah! There!"
Something clicked to a close, and Theo held up the old-fashioned camera in his hands triumphantly.
"Will you please put it away?"
Theo looked up at him. "Did you just say 'please'?"
Marcus snarled, and he laughed.
"Alright, I'll put it up. I'll just use another one."
"Another one?" asked the light-haired boy. "For what?"
"When I'm fucking you into the bedpost." Theo grinned as Marcus' eyes widened and looked away.
"Why do you have to say stuff like that?" he hissed. "Do you know what people are saying about us?"
"That we're devilishly good looking, and we should fuck already?"
Marcus didn't laugh.
The taller boy didn't seem to know what he was referring to, or wanted to comment on the matter. In fact, he wasn't thinking about anything except the way he could capture every perfect moment they've shared between them. Even now, as the seconds passed, he was missing valuable opportunities for exploitation. Marcus was his most recent one. Four months of knowing about what happened between him and Malfoy had Theo contemplating a lot of things. One of which, Theo didn't know that Malfoy liked guys until he let it slip during Professor Snape's lecture. A photo of their rendezvous was passed around, giving every girl who's had a crush on the blonde a run for their money. Even Snape looked scandalized. It played almost in the same way. Draco wasn't much for parties, either. Marcus had loved him for years, and continued to pursue him. During a party almost like this, he confronted the blonde in the back of the common room. Of course. The fucking bastard managed to get himself, along with half of the House, drunk and finally confessed to him. One thing led to another and they were surrounded by hundreds of photos, all scattered across his room. It was the most beautiful thing he's ever seen, and the most tragic because the three of them got a month's worth detention for promoting nudity in the school.
Well, second.
The first was of a certain Gryffindor that seemed to think that he didn't exist.
"I don't know why you even bother." Marcus told him softly. He could see the burning desire in his eyes as Theo looked at the witch from across the room, his fingers twitching. He wanted to capture her. "She's not into you."
"That doesn't matter."
"You're not going to tell her, are you?" The older Slytherin had a point. There was no chance in hell that she would even want to be a part of what he was offering. It would be a concept beyond even her brilliant mind. Theo had to at least try, though. One could never know how desperate he was. "How long have you been taking pictures of her?"
"Long enough to make an encyclopedia of them that the old beetle can stuff herself with." Theo tilted his head, considering. "You're right about one thing. I'm think about showing her."
"You can't be serious?" Flint almost dropped the plastic cup he's been holding. He cursed once a splash of the punch got onto his shirt.
He shrugged. "Come on, Marcus. It's out last year. This time next year, we'll all be at different Universities and it'll be the end of all this nonsense. I can't just have her leave without at least showing her. She already thinks a game as it is."
"Is it?" Marcus asked, concerned now. "All this time… I always thought it was a game, mate. Can't see Granger actually falling for those charms."
"They have yet to work on you."
"Well, good luck. If she slaps you don't come running to me, yeah?"
"I won't." He said in a heavy voice.
Marcus knew that voice but chose to ignore it. He turned and walked away, going back to the punch bowl to spike it even more.
One thing he learned after getting to know him was that Marcus was less intimidating than he led on. Theo was no expert, but when it came to guys, it was best just to leave them alone and let them do their own thing. Thus, as to prove a point, he didn't even run off to fix the punch in his friend's absence. He'd really love to see Blaise run naked through the corridors again. That was one thing he'd pay to watch.
Theo walked around with camera in hand and a goofy grin on his face. His vice for the perfect photo had gotten him in a lot of trouble over the years. Detention, slaps across the cheek, and one scandalized Professor Snape. All in all, he's pleased about the spectacles he could capture, all except for one.
Hermione was a very hard subject to capture. Her ambience, her ethereal glow was something that all inspiring photographers desperately wanted to capture. For the longest time, there was nothing that he could have done to let down the girl's walls and see her at her most vulnerable. Not until the first time he saw her at the sorting. She was so excited that her whole body trembled. He thought it odd, strange in some aspect. But, it became evident that he knew he wouldn't be able to tear his eyes from her. He learned very quickly when the moments were best to capture her.
The first time Theodore captured her, she had been in the library. Under the guide of the moon, he snuck into her small nook, exploring the intellectual endeavors that she had come to trample all others in, and the camera just so happened to be aimed at the Muggleborn. One moment lead to another, he pressed a button, and a flash went off. The rest was history, and thus created the need to take a photo of her at every opportunity. She had grown up to be quite the interesting specimen; with wild curly brown hair with streaks of gold woven into her mane, spiced rum eyes and a perfectly matured face, there was no question that Hermione Granger, Golden Girl and Gryffindor's Princess, had blossomed into a beautiful woman. And, he was determined as ever to capture that beauty, only reserved for him, again.
Theo spent most of his time watching her.
If there was one thing he would never admit it would be that he's been taking photos secretly throughout their school time together. What she didn't know, or didn't realize was that she was quite beautiful. As she adamantly advocated, she wasn't photogenic, though he had a very hard time believing it. Maybe it was him, but no matter what camera he used, magical or not, it loved her. He just wanted her to see what he saw when he clicked the button and the photo developed. He wanted to show her just how beautiful she really was.
"Smile, Granger!" he told her as he came up to her and pressed the button to his camera.
A flash of golden light erupted before Hermione's eyes, and once the particles settled and she was finally able to see, she found Theodore Nott smirking smugly in front of her. His camera was poised in front of him, ready to take another shot, but her hands came right up and snatched the dreadful thing from his hands.
"I told you not to take pictures of me," she sneered dangerously.
"Ah," he held up a hand, grinning wildly as he spoke," last time we had this conversation, you told me to stop. Totally a whole different ball-park, sweetheart."
This made the feisty Gryffindor growl.
Whoa, sexy.
The Seventh-year Gryffindor had no time to react as the Slytherin boy positioned his camera and took another unconvincing picture of her. While it developed, he grinned, a kind of twinkling that matched the mischief reaching his eyes. It had been the second time that he caught her off guard, and he was determined to get a good photo of her before the night was through.
This one was looking a bit rough, but he pocketed it anyway.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, Nott?" the girl shrieked.
"What does it look like?" he asked, equally harsh. Theo checked the remaining film. "I'm taking another picture. Now, hold still."
"Not of me, I hope."
"Do you see anyone else here, Granger?"
Granted, there was no one else in their corner of the room. It wasn't his fault that someone idiot invited her to come, only to succumb to Pany's charms just minutes after arriving. They'd been in the broom closet for the better part of an hour, and Theodore knew Hermione was growing restless. She had been walking around for a while and decided that she needed a break from all the excitement. Slytherin House knew how to throw a damn good party, even if there were only a handful of students from the graduating class. That didn't mean she wasn't angry at him for even attempting to take a picture of her. She hated photos, he knew that. She wasn't very fond of them, and if that hasn't gotten through his thick head after seven years, he supposed it never would.
"Suppose you didn't get it, then?" she said, frowning. She never liked to play the game, but that didn't stop her from asking. "Just how many times am I going to have to tell you?"
He loved it when she frowned.
"Do that again."
"W-what?" she stammered, confused.
"Frown," he told her. "It's provocative, and the camera's loving it."
When she unintentionally did, a soft flash ignited between them and Theo grinned at the veracious scowl as it crossed her features.
"You're incorrigible."
Theo shrugged, waving the piece of paper in his hand vigorously. Hermione looked at it with a slight tilt of her head. Despite being Muggleborn, she had no inkling of the type of camera he used, or how long would he have to do that before the photo developed. A couple of minutes he wanted to tell her, but held his tongue. No need to push it just yet.
"Well?"
"I won't know until it develops," he told her, leaning against a wall. He looked at her, taking note of the simple dress, her hair, and lightly dusted cheeks. "Funny."
"What's funny?" she dared to ask.
"You've never worn makeup for me, why now?"
"You noticed?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Of course," he breathed, staring at her now." Makes me want to kiss them…" Of course, Theo wasn't referring to the natural hue gracing her cheeks. His eyes were on her lips, and she flushed once she realized where his eyes had travelled.
Breaking the silence, Theo proposed something that nearly knocked Hermione off her feet.
"Wanna make a bet?"
"Not really."
He smiled. "The bet is, if I can capture a good photo of you, you have to go out with me."
She snorted loudly, finding his proposition too bogus even for her. "Aren't you going out with Flint?"
"Flint is just a fuck buddy." He told her with a dazzling smile. A lie, but hey, it riled her up. He was only trying to piss her off as she had done to him. She seriously thought his pictures as nothing more than a joke. "What do you say, Granger? If I can capture you, you must go out with me.
"Sure, Nott. I'll go out with you. It better be a good photo, though. Or, the bet is off." Hermione had the nerve to laugh at him. She shook her head, sending those curls of hers to dance around her head.
"Why, want to lose the bet that badly?" he asked, quirking his eyebrow. He was stunned that she agreed.
"I'm not photogenic." she simply stated. "And, no. I'm not worried about that stupid bet at all, Nott. I'm just waiting until I prove you wrong."
"Oh, but what if I prove you wrong?"
"Then, I'll give you what you want." She violently slammed the book she was reading and turned to watch him. "Well, has it developed?"
He frowned as he looked down at the photo, cursing softly as he did. "Fuck."
Theodore had told her time and time again that the art of being photographed was strenuous and precise thing, but no one ever warned her about just how dangerous it could be. The heavy and sometimes erotic insinuations, the overwhelming details it took to take just the right picture- none of it mattered the second his eyes landed on those beautiful eyes. Nothing broke his fall as he fell; hell would've gained a notoriously delicious angel.
"Yea," he told her softly, looking at the photo then up at her. His voice cracked a bit, and he covered it up with an indifferent look. "Yeah, it has."
Reaching for something in his back pocket, Theo took out a marker and scribbled something on the front of the polaroid picture. He handed her the photo and watched her assess it. As expected, she didn't see the potential and thrusted it back to him before she had time to reflect upon what he just caught.
"Room of Requirement. I plan of winning this bet, sweetheart."
Theo didn't know then, but he would become addicted to the way those lips fitted against his, and the soft satin of her skin against his fingertips.