Disclaimer: HP and its world/ characters do not belong to me.
"Are you certain?" He says out loud. He couldn't possibly be hearing this right…his daughter….a Veela. And not just any Veela, but a rare one at that. A Veela so rare, that it had awoken inside his daughter at the age of eleven. Veela's did not fully mature until the age of 18.
Eleven…his mind echoes. A Malfoy daughter….
He slumps further into his chair, "What does this mean?" He asks, his dusky eyes settling on the Veela and vampire specialists in the room, the two men he sought and paid immensely to portkey, no price was too great for the Malfoy family, he'd sought the infamous men as soon as his wife witnessed and explained the attack. His daughter had attacked a boy during the Malfoy Gala event that happened every year at the Malfoy Mansion. Curious, as Cassiopeia was a gentle and calm child.
Still, Hermione witnessed the attack herself, she'd seen Cassie attack the boy, her mouth on his neck. It was outrageous to think she would do something so outlandish. Hermione had been certain that Cassie had sported elongated fangs when she pulled her and the Rochefort boy apart, but the boy possessed no visible marks. Vampires always left a mark.
Draco had scoffed, after all it was a minor attack and the boy showed no clear signs of an attack. Still, discrepancy's like these would still be kept away from the media. Malfoy affairs were to be kept under wraps, no matter the severity of the claim. They feigned the attack as a simple disagreement between two young children, a minor squabble; it was an easy feat as the boy did not remember the attack nor did he have any form of trauma or physical ailments.
The boy did not respond immediately when Hermione pulled them apart, his eyes seemed glazed over and unfocused. Almost as if he were in a trance. Add the fact that the child had no recollection of what had transpired during the attack. It wasn't just a surge of magical power manifesting itself in children as per tradition calls for; no this was something far more powerful.
"Draco." He hears Hermione's voice over his thoughts. "Want to come back and discuss our daughter, who might just be a Veela?" She says, a little irritation coating her voice.
"Sorry." He mutters, "What were you saying?"
She rolls her eyes, her hands on her hips, "If you were listening, Mr. Morel has just kindly explained that Cassie would need to be evaluated and experimented on. Don't you want to add to that?"
Clearly he should have paid more attention, because his wife was giving him her version of a social queue to intervene whilst being able to somehow telepathically provide the answer that she desired. He clears his throat as he sits up straighter in his chair, "I don't-"
"Do you honestly believe we would allow our daughter to be experimented on Mr. Morel." Hermione interrupts as she swirls around to face the offending man, "You are clearly misinformed. It's barbaric to think humans, regardless of their biology, as some sort of chattel. I do wish you'd behave in a more professional manner."
Draco sighs as Mr. Morel clears his throat in embarrassment, "Mrs. Malfoy if you would allow me to rectify my earlier statement, I only meant that I would need to see what specifically triggered your daughter's reaction to such an event. My fascination with Veela's and their biology has made me impertinent to social cues and lines, forgive me."
"Love." Draco says as he gets up from his chair to steer his maddened wife to her chair, "Surely the man knows what he is doing." Hermione plops into the chair, arms crossed over her chest, a clear sign of her irritation. Draco's steel eyes connect with onyx ones, "After all, if he were being less than honest, his name and company wouldn't last a day should he perform what was insinuated."
Mr. Morel turns a deeper shade of red, "Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy please—"
"It would seem my services are no longer needed." The second man, the vampire specialist, chimes in a drawl. He was a beautiful man, as most vampires were, with his sharp cheekbones and well defined features. It was hard to place an actual age on the man, as vampires had no aging complexion and could be much older than their appearance would suggest, vampires stopped aging at the prime of their lives. "Clearly, your daughter is not a vampire. Our small exchange earlier would inform me she is not of vampire blood."
"You smelled her blood?" Hermione asks, "I've read about how only the strong vampires would be able to smell another vampire's blood, from a reasonable distance of course."
Draco chuckled before whispering, "Swot." This earned him a glare from the brunette.
"How very informed you are Mrs. Malfoy. Yes, we vampires are so few, had your daughter been inclined in such a way, she would have been welcomed with open arms, which would include our services. Such as it is, she is not and therefore I will bid you all a farewell." He tips his head to signal his departure.
"You will not stay?" Hermione says hastily, "Oh, but surely my daughter's drawing of blood is of a noticeable concern? After all, she produced fangs and went for his neck as if to draw blood from him." Hermione supplies, her hands on her lap.
"Not if Mrs. Malfoy, your daughter had blood in the crevices of her gums. Your child did produce fangs, but hers were quite different than those found in any vampire. The boy…" The vampire specialist turns around to face Hermione, his finger in the air, "Did he not have any marks? Any physical sign that showed he withstood such an attack?"
Hermione visibly deflates, "No."
"How do you know what her…" Draco pauses, it was going to take getting used to talking about his eldest daughter in such a way, "Fangs looked like?"
The vampire specialist shrugged, "She showed them to me. I examined them earlier, when I was evaluating your daughters' potential."
The room fell silent.
"She showed them to you?" Hermione says slowly, with an incredulous look on her face.
"Yes, it would seem your child can do many things at will. Have you not spoken to her?"
To this Hermione and Draco exchanged looks.
"We thought it best to let her have a nights rest and speak to both of you first. She seemed quite tired and unwilling to talk to us about what happened. We are of course affected by this, but it is Cassie who has to deal with such a change, I do not begin to know how this will…" Hermione trailed off as she seemed to be talking more to herself towards the end of her rambling, her eyebrows knitted in worry, her gaze to the floor.
"Yes, this I am sure you will learn to deal with in due time. You know how to reach me if I am ever needed." The vampire said, his face betraying no emotion.
"Thank you for coming." Hermione said, her tone filled with worry. She knew what this might lead to and Draco's reaction was not something she wanted to see. The vampire nodded before portkeying out in the middle of the room. There was a suction noise before it became quiet in the room again.
Mr. Morel chuckled in good humor at Hermione's worried gaze, "Mrs. Malfoy, being a Veela is not the end but rather it is a new beginning for your daughter. First we must deduce what triggered the dormant Veela. Cassiopeia shows signs normal witches with the Veela gene do, it is not abnormal for a Veela to show early signs when encountering their mates whilst the Veela is dormant."
At this, Hermione squawked, hands clenching the arms of her chair while Draco turned pale. Had he been sitting, he would have risen in shock.
"Mate?!" Draco says in outrage.
"Ah-h yes." Mr. Morel says, although with trepidation, "She was clearly marking the erm…"
"Luca Rochefort." Hermione supplied in whisper, arms still clinging onto the chair with a visibly strong grip.
"Mr. Rochefort, yes, he was marked as her mate. Although as for the mark disappearing after the bite would indicate where the mystery lies. Veela's bite their mates during the time of their first coupling." At the intense glare being sent not twenty feet away from the father of said Veela, he added, "Which is of course much to early for Cassiopeia and Mr. Rochefort to initiate. There was no coupling, I believe that is why the mark Veela's naturally leave on their mates to show possession was not successful. To put it simply, Mr. Rochefort and Cassiopeia are not mated as of yet."
Draco was already by the fireplace, hands reaching for the firewhiskey on the mantle, he poured the amber liquid into two glass cups. He wouldn't and couldn't say anything until he felt the burning of the liquid going down his throat.
How was he, a Malfoy, supposed to react to his eldest daughter failing to couple the Rochefort boy. He wanted the world to swallow him whole now, he didn't want to know his precious little girl would one day have to mate that…that boy. Lest she be driven mad from rejection. And to have the mark shown on him after the deed was done…was soul crushing. To wear her mark as some sort of trophy. That mark would only tell him they….
There was a crunching of glass. He felt no pain, he was maddened. His ears felt as though he were underwater, in a pit of madness.
"Mr. Malfoy!"
"Oh Draco!" He heard Hermione's alarmed shout before he felt cold hands slide into his "I know exactly where your mind went directly to Draco. For the love of Merlin stop thinking of our daughter in that way and Mr. Morel-," She shot him a glare from across the room, and he had the decency to look a bit shameful, "We have years to come to terms with this and be there for Cassie along the way. It's not going to happen any time soon."
She whispered words of reassurance only Draco could hear while she tended to Draco's glass cut hands. She began mending his hand with a muttering of a spell. Hermione felt reassured when his hand began mending, the blood on his hand was seeping back into the small gashes and closing. Leaving his skin as healthy as it had before he smartly used the glass cup as his victim.
Hermione sighed before pulling the second amber filled glass from Draco's uninjured hand and pulled him with her to their respective seats.
"I meant nothing by it; I only said this to reassure you both. Of course there will be many years in which your daughter will have come to terms with such an ordeal. However, it is widely known that the Veela is deemed as a curse, but that was only how it had begun. There are many beneficial factors to being a Veela, and if you would allow me I will gladly guide your daughter through the process." Mr. Morel added after seeing the Malfoy's calm down.
"I know this must be difficult for you both—" He continued before he was interrupted by Hermione.
"Mr. Morel please, I—we would like to recommence this tomorrow morning, I am afraid both me and my husband are both tired and a little aggravated from the party and just… this entire day has been more than we can handle. Please, if it is not too much trouble." Hermione implored, there was simply no way her or Draco, more so he than her, would be able to handle another minute of this.
"Of course. It is no trouble at all." Mr. Morel said in kind, he knew all too well the strain having a Veela in the family could put on them; it could get quite hideous if not handled with delicacy. A Veela was a life changing effect.
"I apologize for being so short with you tonight Mr. Morel, if my husband was not so shocked by the news I am sure he would say the same. We were not expecting…" Hermione began as her voice quavered a little from overuse, "I am sure we will be much more agreeable in the morning. She gave a strained smile, her hand absentmindedly running circles around Draco's back to comfort him.
"There is no need Mrs. Malfoy, for you or Mr. Malfoy to apologize. A Veela is no small matter. Much more so as it is not a first in the Malfoy family, if I am correct in assuming." Mr. Morel says.
"It is not." Draco says hoarsely. He does not add or look at anything specific as he says this.
Hermione gives a worried glance towards Draco before throwing an apologetic look towards Mr. Morel who smiles in understanding.
"I shall owl you with a portkey in the morning if that is convenient for you Mr. Morel." Hermione says as she gets up from her chair.
"Of course, I am mostly available these days. It was a pleasure meeting you both."
"Of course, the feeling is mutual." Hermione says.
At the sound of the suction noise dimming down, Hermione kneels down by Draco's legs, "You were awfully quiet tonight Draco." She placed a hand on his knee, to catch his attention. She knew he was thinking about Cassiopeia possibly being a Veela, it wasn't confirmed so she wasn't going to assume or say anything outright until it was. Professional opinion or not.
She sighed when he didn't respond. She instead grabbed onto the hand that was already healed and inspected it. "Will you not tell me what it is that you are thinking." She whispered.
Draco gave a tired sigh, "The Malfoy family hasn't had a female born into it for many generations. It was thought that we were cursed to never able to conceive them. The ones that were able to, were not conceived by a Malfoy. As you know, it was an old practice that allowed spouses to have others on the side, so long as it was kept private and away from prying eyes. My grandfather once said that if there were ever a female born unto the family, she would either be extremely powerful, cursed or unhinged like my aunt."
"Draco—"
Draco continued, as if not hearing Hermione, "There was this bit he said that stuck to this day, there was a Veela once in the family, so long ago that it was thought myth. A Malfoy married a Veela woman, he was her mate. This was no normal Veela, she was pure and considered to be one of the most powerful Veela's to ever exist. Naturally, like a true Malfoy…" This Draco said with scorn, "he had a mistress. Veela's are unlike witches or wizards, they do not care for customs or societal rules. This Malfoy was her mate, the man she was supposed to spend eternity with, she felt cheated and was heartbroken." Draco clasped his hand with Hermione's, effectively cutting her absentminded circular motions.
"She laid a curse upon my family, or so the story goes, that if ever a daughter was to be born, she would not be of pure blood. This is of course old views, pureblooded heirs were everything up until now." Draco chuckled, "It's stupid considering my family believed this to be a curse, my father said that whenever a Malfoy woman was with child they would immediately test for the child's gender. They dreaded the birth of a female child, they thought it myth but could not help but believe it. It drove my ancestor mad, but the Veela knew how much pureblood meant to him and sought to destroy him with it."
Hermione's eyes furrowed with worry, "This doesn't explain how Cassiopeia might have inherited a Veela gene unless…"
Draco nodded, "They did have a child. A son. He was partial Veela and was considered to be the last Veela within the family as those that came after him showed no signs of the Veela heritage. Until now…centuries after and when it just so happens to be a Malfoy daughter whose a half-blood."
"Draco, even if that story were true, it does not matter. Cassie being a Veela is just another magical manifestation she will have to go through, albeit not alone. And honestly, if that Veela wanted to really curse the Malfoy's why only target the females?"
"Veela's born from a pureblooded family are stronger, much more so when they are female. I don't think she was cursing the females, but rather making them magically stronger. She was a powerful Veela to begin with." At the look Hermione was shooting him he scoffed, "As much as you don't want to admit this, you know it to be true."
"True or not. Now we might have a daughter who might be a Veela to deal with. Can't we talk about this in the morning? When I am able to process this amount of information." Hermione said with a little exasperation.
A pale eyebrow went up in question, "The brightest witch of our age tires of solving a problem? When will wonder's cease."
"You know I don't like that title. But, seeing as you not as somber and pouty as you were before, up." She patted Draco's arms, willing him to stand from the chair. "Come on Draco, I don't wish to lose any more sleep, I also promised Mr. Morel that I would owl him in the morning. So help me if I wake up mid-afternoon because you refused me any sleep."
Draco snorted, "If we wake up late it's not my fault. Try and deny it love, but you are a heavy sleeper. If your loud snoring is any indication."
Disbelief went through Hermione's face, "I do not snore loudly. If I snore it is because work has me at late hours doing paperwork. And just so you know, you snore loudly too."
Draco gave a shrug as he walked by Hermione's side to their room, "I never denied it. And you know I have the memories to prove you wrong, say the word and you can have them."
Hermione pouted so heavily that Draco couldn't help but smile and reach to pinch her cheeks, "Stop it will you. You'll wake the children, with the way these walls echo." Although her words her stern, her smile betrayed her tone.
"I don't think that will happen. They'll likely stay away if they hear us laughing at this hour, you remember—"
"Don't you dare finish that sentence. I don't think scarring one of our children is something to be so flippant about." Hermione said without a smile.
"Come now. It wasn't nearly as bad as you make it sound." Draco said, he knew this wasn't the words to say. Sometimes he liked to rile Hermione on purpose, it was honestly one of the many reasons he loved her. It was also entertaining.
"Our kitchen counters Draco." Hermione said this whilst she closed her eyes tightly, a hand on her brow, soothing the oncoming irritation.
"Ah yes. If I remember correctly, you were particularly sensitive that night." Draco added, not seeing the clenching of Hermione's jaw.
"Draco, Lacey was only six at the time. She can remember these things, or might just completely erase this from her mind, as it tends to "block" traumatic events from being recalled to protect itself from psychological trauma."
Draco chuckled at Hermione's obvious grievous tone.
"It's in the past. Besides were a lot more careful now. Lesson learned. No point in debating about it." He acquiesced.
Hermione agreed as she opened the large double doors to their room, it was a room fit for a king when she thought about it. The bed itself had a carved wooden frame themed with fairy like creatures on the bedposts, the bed was royal size, custom made to fit a Malfoy's taste, which she played no part in. There was no argument allowed from her when they had first discussed this. She relented when she gave the same attitude about the colors allowed.
She sighed when entering the large bathroom connected to the bedroom, all these thoughts meant nothing when comparing them to what they'd learned. It was going to be a long year.
Tell me what you think.