Inkbound

Chapter 2

After he gave Hermione her tattoo, it was a week before Draco saw anyone again.

No-one summoned him, no-one invited him to dinner, and no-one came to visit him. Hermione and the others were only due to stay in the safe house for a few days, so he knew by now they would have left again.

To pass the time, Draco started working on a new tattoo, this time on his thigh. A great, fiery, burning phoenix was coming to life against his pale skin. He paused to clean the blood from his skin and to take a drink from the tumbler of Firewhisky that sat on the dirty floor next to him.

'Drinking and inking? Is that wise?'

Draco felt the hairs on the back of his arms raise at the sound of that voice. He looked up into the familiar eyes of Hermione Granger.

He smiled slowly. 'It's worked for me so far, Granger,' he said. 'I thought you lot were off saving the world, anyway.'

He turned back to his leg, his wand-tip working on one of the phoenix's wings. Hermione sat down at his desk like last time she was here, using her wand to summon the bottle of Ogden's and another glass.

'We hit a dead end. The vault was cleaned out. We're back for another week or so,' she admitted, pouring a glass of Firewhisky and taking a sip. She nodded to his leg. 'Why a phoenix?'

'Why are you here, Granger?' Draco retorted, finally looking at her properly.

She was wearing an old shirt tied at her waist, the top four or five buttons undone, and he could see the slight flush at the hollow of her throat from the Firewhisky. She wasn't looking at his face, or even his thigh, but her eyes were raking his arm. He was wearing a sleeveless tank and she could finally see the rest of his tattoos.

He sighed and held his arm out for her. 'Come and have a proper look, then.'

Hermione didn't need to be told twice. She placed her glass down on his desk and approached him, waiting while he stood up and pulled off his top completely. Hermione stood toe to toe with him, barely coming up to his collarbone, seemingly unconcerned by him being nearly naked in front of her.

He wished he was feeling just as calm, but when she reached up and ran her hands over his shoulder and the gnarled oak tree that he had created there, he had to take a deep breath to steady himself.

'I want you to do another one for me,' she said finally, letting her hand stray across to the unmarked skin of his chest, fingers settling over the ugly criss-cross of scars from the Sectumsempra curse Potter threw at him the other year.

Well, that was unexpected.

Draco looked down at her. 'You know what they say, Granger,' he said lightly. 'If you get your second tattoo within a year of the first, you'll never stop getting them.'

Her hand moved down, over his pecs and then resting on his stomach. She lifted her chin, looking him straight in the eye. 'Are you going to refuse me?'

Draco shook his head slowly. 'I'll do you another tattoo, but I get to pick. What it is and where it goes.'

Hermione looked away, chewing her lip as she considered his offer.

He placed his hands on her shoulders. 'You're just like the rest of them after all,' he said with a sharp nod to indicate the manor beyond his greenhouse. 'Don't you trust me, Hermione?'

The little lioness, so easily manipulated.

Hermione took a step back and nodded. 'Okay, then,' she said.

Draco narrowed his eyes and he looked her up and down before coming to his decision. 'Take your shirt off and lie on the chaise,' he said.

She obeyed him wordlessly. Her bra today was red and silky and she gave him a smirk as she lay down.