Title: The Photograph
Author(s): Demitria Miriam (Rewrite), and VG Jekyll & Dani (Original, The Photo)
Rating: R
Pairing: HPxDM (main)
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and make no money off this piece of fiction; VG Jekyll and Dani own the original story of The Photo as well as the plot of this fic (I have been granted adoption of it since its discontinuation).
Summary: Blaise blackmails Draco Malfoy in an attempt to draw the blond beauty closer to him. The only two obstacles he has? A Draco that holds nothing but contempt for him, and the one the blond truly does want. One Harry freaking Potter. HxD.
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Chapter 1: The Photograph
He stared up at the school Announcement Board, and found it particularly surprising that no one had done this yet; whether it was some drooling fangirl (or boy), one of the many numerous magazines out there wanting this sort of thing simply to have an extra something-something their competitors didn't, or even the prat himself.
That someone hasn't taken it yet... the viewer thought to himself as he stood alone in the corridor. Indeed. That someone hadn't snuck the photo from its pedestal among the other articles and pictures, of events that had transpired that year at Hogwarts that actually mattered.
That this picture was still here, well, it was obviously safe to say that all those ponces that were too afraid to take it off the board were either hesitant due to the gossip and suspicions it would cause the next day upon the discovery that it was missing, or they were simply too frightened at the prospect of actually being caught and then ostracized by their peers at having took it in the first place... He snorted at the mere notion of all those weak peons caring what others thought.
Only a fool would think that way.
Draco Malfoy, Slytherin by heart and blood, stood silently before the board that all students and teachers passed by on a daily basis as they made their way to the Great Hall, never able to not take a glance in the direction of the huge monstrosity that held crumpled papers of gossip, pictures of Quidditch games and players, articles from not only the school's paper but also from Witch Weekly, the Quibbler and numerous others.
But nothing on that stretch of tree bark now stood out as prominently as the regular sized photo that had been expertly positioned on a dark green sheet of border paper. It was neither large nor small, and took up barely any room on the board, and, had it not been placed on that dark sheet of paper, it probably wouldn't have been as eye-catching as it was; it would have been something that no one would have looked at twice had they not been looking carefully. But there it was all the same. Smack dab in the middle of the humongous panel. One small picture that held more attention than any other part of the board...
That picture.
The one of a boy slouched against a wall, wearing nothing but a pair of dark jeans, his arms folded loosely across his chest all the while looking out the window to his side. The maker of the photo had clearly experimented with the light and shading, dramatic shadows covering parts of the ground and wall, as well as the boy in the picture, only adding to the atmosphere of loneliness and longing. The male in the photo would occasionally unfold his arms and put his hands in his pockets, or turn his head towards the camera and offer a half-hearted smile before going back to look out into the night sky, the moon looming beyond the photographer's, or the onlookers, view.
Draco's eyes narrowed. He'd have to admit, aesthetically, the photo was absolutely stunning.
The subject matter, however, well, that was a little less pleasing, in his opinion.
The blond stared intensely at the boy's face as it turned towards him. His skin is so pale..., or is that the work of the photographer?
Onyx hair hung in dark locks covering nearly half of the boy's face, at least until he tilted his head a bit to the side to where the locks fell away to reveal the lightening bolt shaped scar. Of the whole photo, only one thing had color, the blond finally realized.
His eyes, Draco thought suddenly, scrutinizing the work further. He wasn't sure if it was due to the picture centering its focus on the colored eyes while everything else was black and white, or because the photographer was half-way decent and actually captured an aspect of the subject from reality... but whatever it was, the emerald eyes that stared sadly at him now were absolutely compelling, simply vivid. It seemed the effect the photographer wanted for his picture was complete; any audience who looked at it was stuck, mesmerized...
"Such piercing emerald," the young Malfoy murmured to himself. And then the photo-boy started to turn away to look back out the window-
-turning away from him like he didn't exist to the brunette.
Just like he always does, Draco thought bitterly before he reached over and ripped the photo from the wall.
Staring at the picture in hand the Slytherin smirked. Apparently after having been up on the board for months he was the only one with enough guts to take the damn thing down. He'd take it and then rip it up, burn it and then maybe piss on it before throwing it away.
Stupid Potter, the Slytherin growled internally. Take that, he thought with a snort and a grin, nodding to himself in affirmation of his plan. Hmph. Such audacity, thinking you can go around and ignore me the way you always do! Now your oversized ego won't be able to bask in all that attention anymore! The left side of Draco's mouth lifted just a bit with the merriment he felt at having finally found some, albeit small, way of defeating Potter, the sneer looking more like a coy seduction tactic when he had the unfortunate of turning around, only to hear-
"Say cheese!" before he was blinded by a flash. "Haha! Gotcha!" yelled the person behind the camera.
As Draco's vision whirled fuzzy to fuzzier, one thought was as clear as day to him.
Oh, bugger.
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Author's Note: Dundunn! How was it?