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Questionable Heritage

Chapter One - Research

She always wondered if perhaps there was some veela in him. Just like Fleur Weasley, nee Delacour, he was very blonde, very good looking (beautiful, she thought) and also he could reel in the opposite sex like it was nothing. Not that Fleur did that on purpose, but it was true that men always stopped and stared at her, due to her veela heritage. Women stopped and stared at Malfoy too, but unlike the sweet and gentle Fleur, he revelled in the fact of it, and used it to get girls into his bed.

So naturally, Hermione wondered.

One day, though, late in their sixth year, she began to notice a change in Malfoy. He stopped chasing other girls, and letting himself be chased, and seemed to withdraw in on himself. Curious, she tried to figure out what was happening from his behaviour, only to decide that she needed to see him alone, away from others to full understand. Knowing that there was no way this could happen, she grew frustrated and gave up simply because of a continuous lack of opportunity.

But the following year she was made Head Girl, and he was Head Boy, and he still seemed to be withdrawn, and Hermione took up the challenge once more of finding out what was going on with him. As Heads, they would be sharing a common room, with individual dorms connected by staircases. Hermione's was to the left, Malfoy's to the right. The common room was decorated rather tastefully, with polished floors covered in rugs, a fireplace against one wall, and a bookcase against the other. There were three doors other than the entrance, two to their dorms, and one to a little kitchenette where they would be able to make food for themselves if they didn't want to go down to the Great Hall for their meals.

All in all, she really liked it, and now, sitting on one of the comfortable chairs near the fireplace, Hermione felt relaxed. She had a book in her lap, one on pureblood traditions, as she was studying this to see if the answer to Malfoy's antisocial behaviour was in it. So far, no luck. All she'd really learned was that the purebloods in the past had been more stuck-up and bigoted than their descendants these days, if that was at all possible.

The portrait door opened and then slammed shut, signalling Malfoy's return. He gave no indication of knowing that she was there, but Hermione had grown used to this. Malfoy seemed determined to ignore her existence this year, and it was fine with her. It allowed her to observe him, to see if she could figure him out. Sighing, Hermione returned to her book, doubting that the answer lay in it. She was really getting obsessed with this, maybe she needed to stop…

But once she exhausted her other options, she would be looking into veela heritage encyclopaedias.

Sighing, Hermione put away the book, knowing that she wasn't going to be able to get any more done tonight. Her brain could only take so much blood purity nonsense before it threatened to explode, and she needed to start the next day with a clear head, rational thinking. So she packed it all away, making sure to take the books upstairs, not wanting to leave them where Malfoy could find them and get all suspicious on her…

The following morning, Hermione decided that it was time. Time to put away the pureblood books and look into the veela information. So she returned her books to the library and went looking for any book that mentioned veelas, whether in passing or in detail. She separated them into categories, and decided to start with the heavy stuff, checking out three books that dealt with every aspect of the veela habits, rituals, etc…

The rest of the day passed normally, with classes and socialising with other Gryffindors, and then Hermione headed up to her dorm to do her homework. Once it was done, she settled into the common room couch, feeling confident that Malfoy wouldn't be back for awhile, as he had quidditch practice with the Slytherin team, and probably wouldn't be back until just before curfew. How anyone could practice flying around on a stick in the dark was beyond her.

So engrossed in her reading was she that she didn't realise what time it was until Malfoy came slamming his way into the common room, and a quick check of a clock had her noticing that it was well after midnight. Closing her book, Hermione asked, "Curfew ended hours ago, where have you been, Malfoy?"

He glared at her and snapped, "Sod off, Granger."

Hermione stood. "No, I won't 'sod off'," she told him. "I know you didn't have rounds tonight, so where were you?"

Malfoy came close to her then, standing toe to toe with her and he practically growled, "It's none of your damned business, Granger, so leave it alone!"

Then he turned and stalked off, taking the steps up to his room two at a time.

Hermione stared after him a moment then shrugged, turning around and gathering her books up. She really needed to get to bed, since she hadn't realised how late it was. But she'd been so caught up in the book she was reading, and simply hadn't been able to put it back down. Everything she'd read on veela in there had had her riveted. It had had social customs, traditions, and even mating rituals in it. (She blushed reading about those, some of the descriptions were quite explicit, and she wondered why they were even in the school, despite the fact that they were in the Restricted Section.) And now Hermione was convinced more than ever of one simple fact.

Draco Malfoy was indeed part veela.

OoOoO

Ever since she'd decided that Malfoy had veela in him, Hermione had been watching him even more carefully. That's not to say that she started to ignore more important things, like her studying or her friends, but she was definitely paying more attention to her dorm mate than ever before. It was now November, and she was watching for a sign, something one of the books had mentioned.

The reason he was acting the way he had been, according to the books, was because he was searching for his mate. Hermione had no idea if he'd found her or not, or even who she may be, but she knew that he was somehow subconsciously aware of her, and this was why he never even looked at another girl anymore. She also knew that if he didn't find her within a certain amount of time, he would slowly go mad without her.

But who was she?

Hermione might not like Malfoy, but she didn't want him to lose his mind, or even die, in the worst case scenario. So she knew she wanted to help him, but she had no idea how. In fact, how could she help him without talking to him about it? And if she did decide to talk to him, then how in hell would she even bring it up?

An opportunity arose, however, in Defence class, when they were assigned partners for a task. She and Malfoy were assigned together, and the work was to pick a creature that bordered on dark and light, some more on one side than the other, and study the parts of them that were alluded to with Dark Magic. And also, to discuss counteractions to whatever Dark Magicks they possessed. Up on the board were werewolves, vampires, goblins and… veela. Among others, of course.

The Defence Professor, a Cynthia Maloney, asked them to pick what they wanted to do, and Hermione suggested to Malfoy, who'd come to sit with her, "I want to do veela, are you alright with that?"

He looked at her, seeming a little shocked and unsettled, but then mumbled, "Sure, fine, whatever," so she put her hand up, and they got veela.

They were given three weeks for the project, and told that they would have to write an essay on their findings. Hermione had to struggle to contain her excitement, maybe this would be her chance to find out what was going on with Malfoy. (She was really in deep with her obsession, with not much chance of ever getting out without 100% satisfaction.) Of course, she maintained her cool as they studied, not giving away her suspicions.

But everything they found in the books only served to further convince her that he was indeed veela, especially when she brought up the subject of veela mates. Malfoy seemed to stiffen slightly, and he wouldn't meet her eyes until they passed on to the next topic. In the end, the part of the veela they chose to do the assignment on was their reaction to disappointment. Normally that wasn't a big thing, but when veela got mad, they turned nasty, and apparently that little show at the Quidditch World Cup was nothing compared to how they could get.

Veela were rampaging demons when angered, and the only way to calm them was to stun them, render them unconscious so as to remove the threat. That wasn't as easy as it sounded, though, because when they were in their enraged state, they projected an aura that could bounce spells off them, much like a dragon's hide, only a little less so. But there was one spell that got through no matter what, and that was petrificus totalus. No one knew as yet why it worked, but it was generally the only spell with a chance of getting through.

In any case, their research was done, and they wrote the essay up together and presented it to Professor Maloney and received an O for their troubles.

OoOoO

It was torture, being near her, especially when they were doing that blasted assignment. Why did she have to pick veela for their topic? Draco sighed as he lay back in his bed, closing his eyes and thinking over the last three weeks. That professor, the Defence one, she'd assigned the stupid essay, and then Granger had gone and picked veela! Studying with her for that long had tested his restraint, it was all he could do to stop himself from jumping her and taking her right there in the middle of the library. And then when she'd talked about mates…

He knew she'd figured out that he was veela, though how he had no idea. And he knew that she'd figured out that he needed to find his mate soon, but what she didn't know was that he'd already found her. Draco groaned and rolled over on his side, wondering how Granger was going to take it when she figured out his mate was her! She would probably get all noble and stuff considering that she knew that he was going to go insane if he didn't bond with his mate. With her.

He'd known she was his mate since about two months before his birthday in their sixth year.

And then of course he knew that her little friends would try to stop her, say that she should just let him go nuts, but he knew that she wouldn't listen to them. Hermione was too tender hearted to do that, and that was just one of the reasons why he loved her. Yes, he loved her, more than he ever thought would be possible. And it was killing him knowing that she would only come to him out of pity. So he refused to do anything about it. It was crazy of course, but his mind was made up.

Besides, he knew she was crushing on the Weasel, so being with him wouldn't make her happy, and her happiness was all he wanted.

Little did he realise, though, the decision was going to be made for them by the Weasel himself.

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