Title: Only Time, Chapter Four

Author: frkwerewolf

Fandom: Harry Potter

Pairing: Draco/Neville

Rating: R

Chapter Summary: Draco gets a few pressies.

The morning owls arrived, two weeks before Christmas break. Neville received nothing, for which he was actually thankful. Draco on the other hand had a small package dropped in front of him by an unknown owl. The owl left immediately, leaving Draco to stare at the package. There was no return address, no sign showing who sent it. Just brown paper and his name: Mr. Draco Malfoy.

He waited until after breakfast, on that Sunday, to open it. Outside, in the cold and where no one could see what it was. The brown paper fell to the ground and Draco almost dropped the small box that was in his hand. It couldn't be. Draco did not want to believe that he was holding... This. Narrowing his eyes, he tugged the small bit of parchment out of the box's opening.

He read through it five times before the words actually sunk in. His jaw dropped, his face blushed heavily, and all he could do was run for the Gryffindor Tower. If he was going to be humiliated like this, then Neville would be forced to share it.

"Let me in, you stupid bitch!" Draco screeched at the Fat Lady. The portrait's eyes widened and she let out a frustrated noise, while smoothing down the front of her pink dress. "I'll burn you down, I swear it!"

"Well, honestly. The Headmaster will be hearing about this." With that said, the Fat Lady walked out of her portrait, leaving Draco to fume in the hallway. That is, until the picture swung out, revealing an annoyed Hermione Granger.

"What do you want, Malfoy? We can hear you up in the girl's dorm." Hermione demanded.

"I need to speak with Longbottom." Draco hissed.

"And why would you need to do that?" Hermione asked, crossing her arms.

"Just let me talk to him, Granger." Draco replied, glaring.

"Fine, wait here." Hermione said, spinning on her heel and going back through the portrait hole.

The moment Neville exited the Gryffindor Tower, he was grabbed by a frustrated Slytherin and pulled into the same empty classroom as before. Neville was having a rather good day, so the normal nervousness he seemed to develop when him and Draco were in vicinity of each other dissipated. Of course, the nervousness had been known to disappear during their conversations, if he thought about it.

"When you said your uncle was excited about our engagement, I didn't think you were serious!" Draco said in a horrified tone. Neville's heart dropped into his stomach.

"Oh, no. What did he do?" Neville asked. He should of expected something like this. His uncle was the type to attempt to support a couple, only to break them apart. Not that he and Draco had a choice in the matter.

Draco didn't respond for a moment. Then, slowly, he pulled a box from out of his pocket. Draco tossed it from hand to hand, as thought it was on fire, then literally threw it across the room at Neville. Neville stumbled to grab it, but ended up dropping it on the cobblestone floor. The box stared up at him, it's label a bright orange. Neville stared back.

"Is that..?" Neville trailed off in a hushed voice.

"Yes." Draco replied stiffly.

"And it's...?"

"Yes." Draco repeated. Neville fell back and almost collapsed onto he floor, but Draco saw his movement and without thinking, he pulled out a chair for Neville to fall into.

"My uncle sent you lube." Neville said slowly. He looked back down at the offending box, containing what the label claimed to be a tube of lubrication. "My uncle sent you orange scented lube."

"Yes." Draco said.

"Is that all you have to say?" Neville asked, his face white.

"...Yes."

"Your in shock." Neville informed him.

"Yes." Draco repeated.

"I can't believe he sent you lube! Who would you use it on?" Neville exclaimed.

"Yes... I mean, no." Draco paused for a moment. "I mean, I think he wants me to use it on you."

"What?" Neville stared at the lube as thought it had offended him. "Why would you?"

"Apparently, he's under the impression that I would have sex with my fiancé." Draco replied calmly. Apparently, his moment of shock was over and he was once again sarcastic as ever.

"Why would you want to have sex with me?" Neville said so softly, Draco was certain he wasn't suppose to hear it. So, he did like any Slytherin would do, use that to his advantage.

"What's the matter Longbottom, afraid you won't be good enough for me?" Draco asked snidely. "I must admit, I was thinking the same thing."

"I... I..." Neville struggled a minute with his words, before giving up and looking away from both Draco and the lube. But the lube insisted he stare, it was calling to him. Finally, his eyes drifted back to it. "Orange. Why orange?"

"I rather like oranges. Prefer apple, out of all of the fruit." Draco informed him in a conversational tone. "I suppose you'd eat anything. I should probably take the lube with me. Don't want you getting hungry after all."

Neville glared as Draco bent to pick up the box of lube. He continued to glare as Draco smirked and left the room, sending not a single look back.

xxx

Four days later, another owl came. Draco recognized the tawny owl from earlier and fought not to throw his roll at it before it could be relieved of it's package. It was larger than the last one. Much larger, about the size of the encyclopedia's he had seen that mudblood, Granger, carrying around. Again there was no sign as to who sent it, but the penmanship used to write out his name was proof enough for him.

He waited until after lunch, before Potions, to open it. Sending Neville a pointed look across the Great Hall, he quickly left and made for the nearest empty classroom. Considering the size of the school and the number of classes, this wasn't difficult. Five minutes later, Neville appeared in the doorway. He looked nervous. Not that Draco blamed him. The Slytherin had been harsh towards him since their last meeting, using any opportunity to treat him like the fertilizer he used on his beloved plants.

"I've received another present." Draco told him in a cold tone. "I thought you'd like to open this one."

"Let's not." Neville replied, still hovering by the door.

"No, I'm rather curious." Draco said. He gestured toward the item resting on a desk. "Open it."

"Fine." Neville mumbled, as he walked over to the package. He carefully pried the brown paper off the present. The paper fell away to reveal a book, though Draco couldn't see the cover. He could, however, see the look of horror mixed with a hint of lust in his eyes.

"What is it?" Draco asked, pushing Neville out of the way to look at the cover. "'A Wizard's Karma Sutra for Homosexuals.' Karma Sutra?"

"No, don't ope-" Neville started. But Draco had flipped a few pages into the book and was now staring at a glossy picture. Neville stayed away for a moment, watching the curious tilting of Draco's head, before he stepped forward and peeked at the page. "Oh, Merlin..."

"Is that even possible?" Draco asked in awe, watching the wizard's photograph move and twist in it's strange, yet erotic, position.

"Appears so." Neville whispered. Draco carefully turned the page, revealing yet another picture.

"Wow."

"Wow, indeed." Neville said. Another page was turned and Neville started shifting from foot to foot. Draco's face was flushed.

"Where did this come from?" Draco found himself asking.

"Umm... Well, the Karma Sutra is a muggle book written a while back, I think." Neville answered. "My uncle bought this at one of those... you know... shops about two years ago. He has seven copies."

"You've seen this before." Draco accused in an amused voice. Neville's face turned bright red. Draco fought down a chuckle and returned his gaze to the constantly moving picture. He turned another page and both boys let out a collective gasp. "How is it they are able to do that?"

"Must be flexible." Neville replied, eyes wide.

"Yeah, flexible." Draco said breathlessly. Neville looked over at him. Draco's face looked absurdly red next to his pale blonde hair. Neville had never seen Draco blush before, and decided it wasn't very attractive. But the wide gray eyes on the other hand...

"Huh?" Neville asked, startled into reality when Draco turned toward him with a look of frustration.

"I didn't say anything. You were moaning." Draco declared.

"I was not!" Neville denied.

"Yes, you were." Draco's lips twitched as he fought a smile.

"Look, let's just get rid of this thing." Neville suddenly said, reaching to grab the large volume. Draco, having a sudden need to protect his new present, reached for the book as well. Both grabbed at it, but instead of their fingers wrapping around hard leather and parchment, their hands encircled each other's.

Their eyes locked. Neville's deep brown and Draco's pale steel. Complete opposite colors, connecting for one moment in time. Neville felt a chill down his spine. Draco felt suddenly grounded. Then the moment broke and they looked away. Neither noticed that they were still holding hands.