Title: Ashes and Lizard Skin?
Author: Vacuous Girl )
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
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Notes: This was written for the Armchair slash challenge for seasonal ficlets. I did one for winter. Er...I hope this fits the criteria.? I guess the word for it would be pre-slash.
Harry Potter had really ugly hands.
That was, Draco thought, one of Harry Potter's countless faults. It wasn't so much that they were inherently ugly. Rather, they were poorly taken care of. His nails were bitten and jagged and chipped. Some of his nails were non-existent, run down to the quick. Other's were quite long, but jagged, like he couldn't be bothered to file it down. The skin around his nails had horrible hang-nails. And not to mention the dirt and grime on his fingers. It made Draco shudder.
However, it was even worse during the cold, dry winters. Down in the frigid dungeons, Draco noticed that Potter's fingers were bone-white and bloodless, his veins standing out starkly through his almost transparent skin, as he stiffly stirred his cauldron. When he rubbed his hands together for heat, they'd alternately turn bright red and splotchy.
Most annoyingly, however, Potter's skin was horribly, horribly chapped. It was like his hands were covered in lizard skin. The lines on his hands were chalky white, like ashes. Draco was sure his skin would start flaking off, as Potter would occasionally scratch his hands, making them even scalier looking.
Draco, for one, always made sure to carry around a little bottle of hand lotion. He wouldn't be caught dead with hands like Potter's. He staunchly decided that he wouldn't be caught dead with Potter having hands like Potter's.
So when Draco bought Harry a bottle of hand lotion identical to his own, he thought he was just looking out for his own well-being.
When Draco sent Harry the bottle of lotion with a singing Christmas card, he thought he was just being polite.
When Draco caught sight of Potter holding the bottle of hand lotion in his still-chapped hands like it was charmed to explode and proceeded to walk towards him, he thought he was indignantly annoyed that his gift was being questioned.
When Draco poured some of the lotion out and started rubbing it onto Harry's cold, dry hands, he didn't know what the hell he was thinking, except that Harry looking wide-eyed and flushed was extremely satisfying.
"Malfoy?" Harry was staring at him, looking puzzled and red-faced.
Harry pulled his hands back, now warm and properly moisturized. They were clean for once, probably because he'd washed them before going to eat in the Great Hall. Under the dirt, Harry had surprisingly soft skin. Fix the nails and the cuticles and Harry might actually...
"You have nice hands, Potter."
As Draco turned away and walked off, Harry spluttered words behind him. Draco didn't hear the word 'thanks' among them. He rolled his eyes.
Harry Potter didn't know how to take a compliment graciously. That was, Draco thought, another of Harry Potter's countless faults.
Turned out kinda weird... It had seemed like a good idea at the time. Feedback appreciated.
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