Choose me. I'm a Veela.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. I do not earn any money for writing this; I simply do it for pleasure.
Main Pairing: Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy
Timeline: Begins 2007 end of the summer holidays in the 7th Harry Potter book
Rating: M and in some cases M+
Summary: In the midst of Battle Draco comes into his inheritance as an extremely powerful male veela discovering his mate to be the most loathed mudblood of them all. He battles to try and keep her safe even though he doesn't know where she is, while carrying out the Dark Lord's tasks, and hiding his true self from his father. Not to mention his mate doesn't even like him and is slowly falling into the clumsy hands of Ronald Weasley. As if being a teenager wasn't hard enough. ROMANCE! LEMONS IN FUTURE!
Draco left his bedroom his ears craning to detect any noise. He heard a very light murmur from downstairs. Very quietly and oh so slowly he left the safeguard of his bedroom and walked down the hallway.
This had become a usual practise for Draco to do every morning after he had woken up and gotten dressed. He had to know who was there, where they were and the general mood of his house. He needed to know because with knowledge came power and with power came fear and respect. He was so young to everyone else; he needed to stand out to save his own life. And his mothers.
"Draco," a soft voice said from behind him. Still he jumped even though he knew it was just his mother. She had this very useful and scary ability to walk without being heard even with all the Manor's creaky floorboards. She didn't look happy today, she never really looked happy anymore though, but the expression on her face was worse and it told Draco everything he needed to know.
"You need to have breakfast and then come to the dining room. I've already got your food laid out. Try to eat quickly. I do not think the Dark Lord is very patient today?" warning received, Draco had an extremely quick breakfast which, though was cooked to perfection with the finest ingredients, still tasted horrible in his mouth and went to the dining room where the rest of the Death Eaters were situated.
He was very glad to find that the room was only half full and many people were speaking together so they were still waiting for others aside from himself. There was almost nothing worse than arriving late when everyone was quiet and waiting when there was big news on. His father had severely punished him for that mistake and he was quite adamant about not doing it again.
He sat in his assigned chair which was next to his mother and father. He sat down without a word ignoring his father who was, as always, in place.
His father looked thin, too thin, but then so did Draco. It was entirely his father's fault that they were in this mess, their house overrun and being used as Voldemort's base, his mother being overly stressed and his own destruction of a nice calm full school free holiday. He blamed his father for everything. And his father knew that.
They sat there together not looking, not speaking, they completely ignored each other. Draco simply watched as the hall began to fill in a very slow boring way. It was only when professor Snape entered that Draco reacted. His mentor gave him a glance and a quick curt nod asking about Draco's wellbeing. Draco gave a small nod in return, just as he felt his mother slip into her chair.
Silence instantly fell and the only noise was of Snape settling into his chair.
"My friends," came an icy voice. Draco felt the usual feeling of dread grow from his stomach and the pressure in his head. The Dark Lord appeared as if from the shadows and sat at the black throne at the top of the table. He was in good mood. I would be too if I owned the most powerful wand in existence Draco thought to himself.
"You may be wondering what has caused for such a meeting. The ministry in completely ours at last. As we speak mudbloods are being horded together and interviewed about how they stole their wands." A great laugh murmured through the Death Eaters. They loved to hear so much about the pain of muggle and mudbloods it was almost sickening.
The Dark Lord went on to explain the new accomplishments and called on his death eaters to share the information they had horded. Not once had the Dark Lord involved him in anything since Dumbledore's death and for that he was entirely grateful. Until the end of the meeting.
"But why, Draco, I almost completely forgot," everyone stopped and stared at him and Draco could feel the icy fear flow through him, paralysing him. "Tomorrow our youngest member will turn 17. He will finally become a man and finally be of some more use to us!" Draco couldn't help the flare of anger that coursed through him. He had not been useless. He had gotten the death eaters into Hogwarts and it cost him so much to do so. He had suffered because of his task.
"But of course we must not forget Draco's excellent part in helping with the invasion of Hogwarts and the death of Dumbledore," a sleazy laugh went through the others. They all mocked him because he hadn't done the entire job. Well fuck them.
"So have a very happy birthday tomorrow Draco and do try to enjoy your last night as a weak child."
His mother entered the room just before midnight. He was in his bed reading but wasn't surprised at the knock at the door. His mother had started checking on him every night before bed. He didn't know whether it was for his benefit or hers but he found himself looking forward to the visits because it was the only time of day where they could properly speak. When she entered Draco felt his hatred of his father started up again. She looked awful. Big black bags under her eyes, her skin so white and sickening with that haunted look in her eyes.
"Mother," he said softly, "you need to get some sleep. It's bad that you're pushing yourself so far," she smiled a weak smile.
"I am an adult Draco. I can look after myself. It's not your job to look after me you know," she sat down on his bed as he sat up. She was so small compared to him. He reached forward and placed a hand on her cheek.
"That's not true mother. I do need to look after you. Father isn't, so now it is my responsibility. You look so ill that I worry," he always told his mother the truth now. The only possible good that had come out of all this mess was the relationship between him and his mother. They had never felt closer. They always had a good relationship when he was a child but after he was sent to Hogwarts it weakened. He would never have considered telling his mother what to do. Looking after her and speaking to her like he did now. But he wasn't a child anymore and all he could do was worry about her.
"Try to get some sleep now," she said leaning forwards to hug him, "I think we'll see if we can get out of the house for your birthday away from all of this madness. Maybe we'll go to that nice beach house in France that we went to when you were 9." His mother left the room and Draco couldn't help the feeling of guilt spread over him. His mother looked after him when she was suffering. How was that fair? He put his book down and waved his wand so the light switched off.
He was left in a dark room to sleep a sleepless night.
It was around midnight when the pain began. At first he did not notice it – he was sleeping after all – and all he did was thrash around a bit. Then it began to fell hot. Really hot. Too hot. He opened his eyes as he was dragged from his dream, his eyes rolling back. Pain had begun to blossom at the back of his head and it strengthened even more to become an ache in his belly.
He groaned and moved his head to the side causing the pain in the back of his head to travel turning to agony. His body buckled and he felt something rise in his throat. He couldn't shout, couldn't make a noise. His mouth opened and he began to pant doing anything to try and stop the burning in his stomach but like the pain in his head it branched out until it had entwined his entire body. It was torture. It was as if his flesh was slowly being shredded and cooked. He couldn't feel his fingers anymore even though they gripped his covers thrashing noiselessly. He was twisting, jerking, panting all over his bed trying to run away from it but it clenched him too hard in an unyielding pain.
Suddenly his back curved upwards, tense and on the verge of breaking. His back was tearing into itself creating something he didn't know. All he knew was pain. Pain, agony and torment. Tears started leaking from his eyes, his breathing became erratic. Was this some sort of punishment from the Dark Lord? Or his father maybe? He didn't know anything not even the soft bumping and shuffles coming from his room that alerted his mother and she had come in and seen him. His eyes were a glowing white blue and his back was still arched painfully and his hands were talons. Talons! It took every piece of self-control for Narcissa not to scream.
She ran over and as soon as her hand touched his skin she flinched backwards. It was beyond freezing! She could not touch him.
She could not do anything but sit there and watch. But she could do that much. He didn't need to be quite so alone. She turned around and shut the door casting a silencing charm on the room. It would not be good for anyone else to find out just yet.
Hermione banged two plates of food in front of two hungry boys. She had just made the dinner now steaming on the plate. It tasted shit and she knew it. She knew cooking was not a skill she possessed but because she was the GIRL of the group it was HER job to cook.
Ron looked slightly ill at the bland thing on his plate. Harry just picked up his fork and began to eat. Not even a thank you!
Ron looked at Harry who was packing his face with the stuff – food he reminded himself – in front of him. If Harry could eat it then it can't be that bad. He picked up his fork and nibbled a side of it. His face turned to one of relief.
"This is quite good Hermione," he complimented happily.
"Is it?! Is it really Ron?! Because you took an awfully long time to eat it!" Ron flushed red in embarrassment.
"Why don't you cook tomorrow Ron?! Why do I always need to cook?! Well I'll tell you why: it's because I'm a girl! Girls cook; boys eat!"
Ron just shut up and turned his attention to his food his ears a bright red colour. Hermione retrieved her own plate of food and viciously began to eat. The kitchen was full of tension and an awkward air. Harry just stayed quiet. He knew the relationship between Hermione and Ron was rocky anyway and he had no intention of getting in the middle of it so he just sat there, quietly and ate.
Ron finished first as he was stuffing his face full every mouthful so he didn't need to speak and pushed his plate away and almost ran out of the room mumbling something about the toilet.
"Ron!" Hermione shouted, furious again, "Are you not going to clean up your plate?!" Hermione was livid. He was so lazy, didn't make his own food and he didn't clean up after himself.
Harry jumped up, "it's fine. I'll clean up, here, give me your plate." Harry quickly washed the dishes then put them on the drying rack. When he looked over at Hermione she looked, tired, unhappy and still a bit mad.
"You look tired," Harry said softly, "You should go to bed." Hermione simply nodded wiping her eyes quickly but didn't move. She seemed to hug herself and Harry could tell something was really wrong, aside from Ron just pissing her off.
"Hey," he said gently pulling at her sleeve, "Are you okay." Hermione nodded and unfolded her arms.
"I'm just worried about what we'll need to do, whether my parents get out of Britain without trouble and whether the death eaters are going to find them. I'm happy I've come with you Harry, and I wouldn't be anywhere else, but that doesn't mean I won't worry about my parents." Harry nodded sadly. He was really shocked when he found out what Hermione did to her parents especially since he knew how much she loved them.
"I'll help you find them after this," Harry promised returning to the dishes. Hermione just smiled and left wondering upstairs to get some sleep.
Draco didn't know when he fell asleep. Perhaps he didn't. Maybe the pain was so overwhelming he lost consciousness. That seemed more likely. All he knew now was he was dreaming. Or was he in a different world? Either way it didn't matter. But he did know something was important. A revelation of sorts but he didn't quite know what. Then it was as if a barrier in his mind collapsed and someone came through.
Draco blinked. Wait he could blink? He had a body? There in the middle of nothingness was his pale hand.
DRACO a voice spoke.
He looked up and there in front of him was…well him. It was a copy with the same eyes and same hair, same everything. Apart from something else. He had wings. Wings! Two white feathery wings like an angles tucked up on the double's back. His body too was different. It looked better, fitter, healthier and maybe even a bit taller. Draco looked down at his own body and scowled. The other guy even had a bigger penis.
Draco opened his mouth to speak. Who are you? He wanted to ask but couldn't. His doubled walked towards him and gestured to his hand. Confused he raised it up. Its movement was so fast that he didn't even think about dodging. Blood dripped down his hand into the black nothingness and Draco's hand really really began to hurt.
He looked up in shock and glared. What the fuck was this guy's problem.
YOU ARE CONFUSED, his copy said, THEN LET ME EXPLAIN. YOUR GREAT GREAT GRANDFATHER WAS A VEELA. A MALE VEELA AND THE VEELA GENE HAS SHOWN ITSELF THROUGH YOU. I AM YOUR VEELA. Well that was very blunt though Draco. Of course it was all ridiculous and this entire situation was finally making sense. He had a fever and was hallucinating. Perfect. Just what he needed. Besides male veela's didn't exist.
The copy or veela, or whatever, raised an eyebrow.
LOOK, he said pointing into the blackness. A red puddle. His blood.
LOOK INSIDE AND SEE THE ONE I HAVE CHOOSEN FOR US.
Draco hesitated. He glanced at the pool. It had shimmered into a perfect circle rippling very slightly like a memory in a pensive. In there was something he knew would change him. He didn't know what. All he knew was that it was going to make things different. He walked – glided?- towards the pool passing his double who watched him with unblinking eyes. Draco didn't look at first, even when he was right in front of it. He looked at his feet instead. He felt the pool slightly pulling him in. It was easy to resist if he wanted to. He just didn't particularly want to.
His double waited patiently behind him as he took one final breath and looked into its depths.
It was dark but he could just make out the side of a pale delicate face pressed into a pillow. It was obviously female judging by her lips, cheekbones and eyes. Her lashes and lips fluttered in her sleep and she began to mumble "daddy".
Draco didn't know why but he suddenly felt very peaceful now. She was just so…indescribable . Such a beauty in such a subtle way.
SHE SHOULD BE OURS, the double told him. Draco accepted that immediately. In fact he never even considered not having her. She was his. No, not his. Theirs.
"Ours," he almost purred gazing down at her. Her mumbles became a little louder and Draco frowned. Was she not sleeping well? Was she having unpleasant dreams? Draco looked up at his double. His veela.
TOGETHER WE WILL FIND HER, LOVE HER, MAKE HER OURS AND THEN SPEND OUT LIVES TOGETHER AS ONE. SHE WILL TAKE OUR MARK, OUR SEED AND OUR CHILD BUT WE MUST PROTECT HER. SHE IS OURS AND OURS ALONE. NO ONE ELSE MUST HAVE OR HARM HER. Draco nodded completely understanding.
"When?"
AS SOON AS CAN BE. YOU RECOGNISE HER DO YOU NOT?
"Of course I recognise her! She's Granger!" He didn't know when that knowledge surrounded him or when he suddenly completely accepted the fact without issue but it was just so. She was his. That was all he needed to know and all he cared about.
In her dream she flinched, her face scrunching up as if in pain. Draco couldn't help the whimper. She was in pain! He looked at his veela.
"Can we do something?!" the veela obviously understood to what he was referring to.
NOT NOW. BUT SOON. OUR AWAKENING HAS NOT FINISHED YET BUT WHEN IT DOES WE WILL STOP HIM.
Draco couldn't help but feel frustrated. Why couldn't he do something now! When she needed help? It was only then he fully comprehended what his veela said.
"Him?!"
Hermione didn't sleep well. She didn't sleep well at all. Stuck at Grimmald Place planning their next moves needed to look after, check, double check, sort and think of everything made life unbearable. They barely had a clue what they were doing and she could see it was impacting the boys. Harry kept going up to Sirius's room, looking at the fake locket and its note. He was mourning and she understood that but they did need something to work with.
Ron was an issue by himself. He had no idea what to do with himself. Yes Harry was quiet and not doing much but she thought that was more to do with him thinking. At least he was thinking or planning or whatever. Ron just sat around, occasionally asking what they actually planned to do but it was like he had no brain to himself. Instead he sat around and did nothing all day.
Hermione kept rereading her book hoping to come across something that might actually help and every time she got Ron to do the same he would huff and puff and sigh and just couldn't control himself.
Things were changing a bit. She knew it. When she woke up from her bad night's sleep she was greeted by the smell of bacon and eggs. She wondered downstairs and discovered Harry at the stove cooking. She couldn't help her mouth dropping. Harry could cook?!
He caught her expression and went a little red, "I had to cook breakfast for Dudley every morning before I found out I was a wizard. Even then I still had to do chores and stuff."
He was trying to make up for her outburst yesterday knowing that things were getting tough. Hermione smiled grabbing two plates ready for Harry to put the food on. Ron was still upstairs sleeping.
Breakfast was really nice that morning, quiet but not the tense quiet that had been held for days. A more relaxed silence.
Harry finally spoke, "we have no idea what we are doing Hermione."
"You're right. We don't."
They continued eating in silence and once finished both got up and cleaned their plates. Ron's portion of the food was cooling down now and she knew if he didn't eat it soon he would make a fuss.
"Go wake him up will you," Hermione said clutching her head. This entire situation was a mess. Harry disappeared without a word and Hermione waiting listening to Harry's steps go up and up and up and up until she finally hear the rumbled voice of Ron being startled awake.
When he finally came downstairs still dressed in his pyjamas yawning loudly. He took one look at the food and frowned. He waddled over and poked at it.
"Hey! It's cold!"
"Well what do you expect when you don't get out of bed," Hermione said calmly even though she felt her anger and annoyance rise under her skin.
"Well why didn't you wake me up?"
"We did wake you up!" her calm was now gone, "Harry got you at least half an hour ago and if that isn't bad enough it almost 12 o'clock! Noon! You shouldn't be sleeping till noon every day! You should be up and dressed-!"
"Hermione! Ron!" Harry's voice shouted downstairs, "I think I know who R.A.B is."
When Draco woke up he didn't open his eyes. He didn't move at all. He felt knackered and preferred just to lie there feeling terrible. At some point during the night his body had come down from its tense arch and flopped back into the covers.
Someone's hand was resting on his wrist pressing the side very slightly. It was the small smooth hand of his mother as she took his pulse. When had she entered? Did she see him all contorted as he burned or was it only later when she found him?
Slowly he raised his eye lids and dropped his head to the side staring at his mother. If he thought she looked bad last night then she looked far worse today. She probably hadn't slept all night and her hair was muzzled, her whole body shaking. Nothing to eat, or drink. She had just sat there the whole night and waited for him.
"You're awake," her voice sounded very croaky and broken as she raised her hand and stroked his cheek. "I'm so sorry Draco, I'm so sorry."
"You have nothing you need to be sorry about," he said pushing himself up, "I can't believe you stayed here all night. That was foolish mother. You'll make yourself sick."
"And leave you here all alone?" Draco gave a frustrated sigh, "I'm fine now mother. You need to go to bed."
"Not before we have a healer see you," Narcissa said jumping up stopping Draco from climbing out the bed, "Not until we know what this is."
"I know what it is-"
"Then we will cure it." Draco sighed putting a finger to his temple.
"Mother this is hereditary," Narcissa froze looking at him, a strange expression on her face.
"Hereditary? What an earth are you talking about. You are perfectly healthy and so were your ancestors."
"It's not a decease mother. It's genetics. It just happened to skip a few generations and now it's shown up in me. I'm a veela mother." If it was possible she became even more pale. Hand shaking she reached for the chair and sat down.
"But you're a man," she said confused, "male veelas don't exist." Draco's brow furrowed.
"Do you not know anything about this?" He was sure she would know something at least. It happened only a few generations before now and surely if something as extraordinary as a male veela happened then the family wouldn't forget about it.
"Not a thing. It must come from your father's side," she said in a daze. Draco's mood darkened. It was his father's fault. Again.
"We are not involving him in this mother," he said darkly. He refused to tell him and have himself somehow abused by his father so he could improve his favour with the dark Lord. He told his mother this very clearly.
"I understand that you don't want him involved Draco but perhaps he knows what this will mean for you. I have no idea how this will affect your life, how it will affect your health and what we need to do about this. I'm not sure we will be able to keep something this big away from the dark lord. And if he finds out we have been keeping this- Draco? What's wrong?"
Draco had turned white. He just realised something. Something truly awful.
"Mother," he said in shaking voice, "we are at war."
"What's wrong. What can I do-?"
Draco sat up clutching his head painfully. They were at war! And on the other side of that war was…
"Mother, veelas have mates. They choose someone, I don't know how but they do, and that person is their mate, their wife. Their other half. My mate is on the other side of this war! Mother! She is in danger!" Draco was becoming truly hysterical now
Narcissa had no idea what to do, what to say. Draco was becoming truly panicked ripping the bed covers away and getting up, pacing up and down the room with his hands in his hair pulling it painfully.
"They'll find her, take her wand away and killer her! But not before having play time! They'd just love a little mudblood to play with, violate! My mate! Our mate!" Draco's who body began to vibrate viciously.
"But we need to stop it. We need to get her, have her. She is ours! We will fight for her!" Draco then began to transform his nails becoming sharp points, his who physic becoming stronger and then out of nowhere two wings sprouted.
"We'll kill anyone who harms her!" he snarled viciously his nails digging into his skull leaving red welts, "We'll take her away to a place no one will find and there we will build a shelter, hunt for her, care for her! No one but us! And he will not stop us!"
"Draco," Narcissa said in shocked horror, "Draco stop it! You're harming yourself!" Narcissa weakly attempted to remove his hands from where they were clawing into him tears beginning to swell in her eyes.
"We will find a way! I promise but let go, Draco, let go!" Finally Draco finally seemed to realise what was going on and he removed his hands his body reverting back to his original form. It was just too much for Narcissa as she began to weep.
"Mother," Draco said drawing her into his arms, "it is fine mother. You have had a very tiring day. We must get you to bed before you sicken," the veela in his head had not backed down easily wanting to leave immediately to find her.
GET HER INTO BED THEN WE CAN LEAVE, his veela ordered grudgingly.
"D-draco I'm sorry-"
"You have nothing to apologise for," Draco said, guilt filling up in his chest.
"Who is she?" Narcissa asked. Draco said with affection, wiping the tears from her cheeks looking into her eyes which mirrored his exactly.
"You won't believe it when I tell you," he warned her.
"That does not mean that I do not wish to know,"
Draco waited a moment debating with his veela whether to say. Finally he said in a quiet voice, "Hermione Granger. Potter's friend," Narcissa now understood Draco's reaction. Were it another girl then perhaps she could have been allowed to live but the famous muggleborn would never be let off.
"We will find a way. I promise," she said softly stroking his cheek.
"Perhaps. But first we must get you to bed. We can discuss this later when you are not about to collapse," He helped his mother out of him room and down the hall.
"But it's your birthday-"
"And your present to me can be getting some sleep and getting better. It's barely 5 o'clock I'm sure you'll be up at noon. Just sleep mother." He left his mother's room, closing the door quietly behind him. He didn't feel tired in fact he felt very physically good. He felt strong! And as a Malfoy and a Wizard that didn't usually happen. Wizards were very lazy and the only sport he did was Quidditch which was him sitting on a broom directing it. Not the most physically taxing sport there was.
NOW WE LEAVE, his veela commandeered rising out again.
No. Let just think about this here. No one has any idea where they are so have some time to plan, to organise. If we do run away we must know where to go, how to get there, the type of defences we will have. That sort of thing. Mother was also correct when she said we had no idea what qualities we have as a magical being.
YOU MAY NOT, BUT I DO!
Then what are they? This doesn't need to be a huge mystery, we are one person after all.
WE ARE PHYSICALLY ABLE TO BE UNAFFECTED BY CERTAIN MAGICS, WE CAN FLY, WE CAN HUNT. WE ARE FAR STRONGER AND FAST THAN AN AVERAGE HUMAN MAN. WHEN WE HAVE OUR MATE WE WILL ALWAYS KNOW WHERE SHE IS, HER CONDITION, HER HAPPINESS.
But we aren't mated yet. We have no idea how to find her.
…
You have an idea don't you?
Harry's discovery set a new, edge to the whole house. They had finally found something, something that they could really use. They remembered the locket they had passed around when cleaning our Grimmald Place, and how they had no clue that in the necklace was a piece of Voldemort's soul.
"Did you not sense anything coming from it Harry?" Hermione asked puzzled. It was obvious that Harry had a kind of bond with Voldemort and Hermione would have assumed that holding a piece of his soul would have effected Harry in some way.
"I don't really think so. It was ages ago though but at least we know what we're looking for and where to find it."
"Stupid bitch," Ron muttered as he dug right back into his food. Food which had been made by Kreacher. The love that Kreacher had for Sirius's brother was heart-breaking. What a poor elf, having to go all through that and though she hated to admit it, Kreacher did look much happier now he was working in the kitchen making them all dinner. The 'stupid bitch' Ron was referring too was the ghastly Umbridge character who had been their defence against the Dark Arts teacher in their fifth year. The entire class was an excuse.
"If it's in the Ministry," Hermione started, "then we have a lot of work to do. We need to know who does what, goes where and at what time. The only way we can do this without revealing ourselves is through Polyjuice potion. I'll start brewing it either tonight or tomorrow so that we're ready for when we-"
"Oh for God's sake Hermione! Calm down! I mean do we really need to do this over dinner?!" Hermione felt she had been slapped in the face. Calm down! After they had discovered something as big as this! He was being irresponsible, acting lazy and thinking only with his stomach! Harry must have seen her murderous expression and quickly intervened .
"I'm happy Kreacher liked the Locket," Harry said quickly. He was smart to appeal to Hermione's care of house elves.
"So am I," Hermione said calming down a bit, "I was really touched by Kreacher's love for Regulus. He must have felt terrible not being able to destroy it and it's been hanging with him for all these years. No wonder he was so unfriendly when the Order was using this as headquarters. Sirius as well must have reminded him of Regulus. Poor Kreacher."
"Well at least now we can do it for him so Regulus's death wouldn't have been in vain and maybe from now on he'll be more bearable,"
And he did become more bearable. Over time his cooking improved, the house slowly became cleaner, his manners to Hermione even improved. The three of them took turns in watching the entrance to the ministry seeing who came from where, who they associated with, what type of security was there and every so often they would be able to snag a newspaper and see what the latest events were, but what she dared not admit allowed was that she almost enjoyed this because finally she had a challenge. Yes the circumstances were very sobering and there was a large threat of being discovered, caught or killed – maybe all three – but she had never done something quite this important or mentally stimulating before. She would spend hours creating a large map, lists, and sheet-spreads of all the knowledge they had collected and slowly created a plan. They had never dared to venture inside the actually ministry though, it was far too dangerous.
However her occupation distracted her from her other worries which would spin round and round her head especially when trying to sleep making her chance of slumber lower and even in her unconscious state she would find herself dreaming of all the consequences of the decisions she had made. Especially the one concerning her parents. That was probably the most effecting of all her decisions.
A noise from the hall way drew her from her thoughts as she heard the familiar voice state "I didn't kill you," to Dumbledore's ghost. Ron quietly came through to the kitchen, making sure not to wake up Sirius's mother, and dropped a copy of the Daily Profit on the table.
"Nothing new," Ron said sitting down rubbing his eye sleepily. Hermione picked up the paper and started scanning through it.
"Kreacher made biscuits," Hermione said pointing to the counter top. Ron's eyebrows went up.
"Biscuits? He's changed his attitude," Hermione simply nodded as she continued reading. Hermione hadn't been as talkative with Ron in the past few days than normal and Ron was starting to feel bad especially with Harry making these very small comments which Ron though were perhaps Harry's way of saying: you need to apologise.
"Ummm Hermione," Ron could feel his face begin to heat up as the words came jerkily out of his mouth, "I'm…um- I just wanted to…" Hermione gave him a pointed look, "Sorry! I, uh, shouldn't have snapped at you." Hermione had an overwhelming urge to ask 'which time' but decided that they needed to keep their peace especially since she was so board of fighting with him.
"It's fine Ron," she heard herself say, "it's a very stressful time for everyone."
Ron, having no idea what to say just returned back to his back up tactic which he used especially around Hermione. Eat. If he had food in his mouth he couldn't talk and if he did talk she would tell him off and the conversation would be diverted and if she did demand an answer he could chew really, really slowly and think up what to say. After a few minutes of eating it was Hermione who broke the silence.
"The Poly juice potion will be ready tomorrow, we can probably go ahead with the plan the day after."
Ron's brow furrowed, "Why not tomorrow?"
"Because," Hermione said in a calm and slightly patronising way, "Tomorrow is Sunday and not as many people go in on a Sunday. We should use the Monday rush and confusion to our advantage."
Ron nodded, "The day after tomorrow then." Things were starting to get tense.
Draco's birthday had passed without too much of a hassle. His mother had, miraculously, managed to get them both to the cottage in France and they had spent the day together, privately, relaxing and talking about his new condition.
"I found a book in the Library which mentioned male Veela. It doesn't say much though." Narcissa passed Draco the extract.
Veela are a race of semi-human, semi-magical hominids. Little is known about their biology; They appear to be young, beautiful human female however male veela, though extremely rare have been known to exist.
A female veela's appearance and especially their dance are magically seductive to almost all male beings causing them to act in strange ways which includes excessive boasting. Veela are thought to have their own type of magic which does not require a wand. When Veela are angry, however, they transform into something more like Harpies – their faces turn into cruel-beaked bird heads and long scaly wings from their shoulders, and they can launch balls of fire from their hands.
Males veela have a distinctly different appearance. They look more like angels with large white feathery wings, indeed it is suspected that the Angel Gabriel in the Christian Story of the Virgin Mary was indeed a male veela however this cannot be proved. The wings are usually only on appearance during fighting, and defensive mode and when courting a mate. Unlike female Veela, male veela takes a mate for life and are 'revealed' who their mate is upon adulthood. How a male veela choses his mate is unknown however the longer he goes on unmated the worse the veela will become until his body slowly deteriorates. If the mate should die, so shall the veela.
Both Draco and Narcissa had been shocked to discover that, Narcissa especially.
"Draco we need to discuss this with someone who has more knowledge on the matter. We cannot simply sit here and do nothing. Your life is tied to hers; we cannot let her fate go amiss."
"We are not talking to Father!" Draco growled.
Narcissa pursed her lips. Why were the Malfoy men always so stubborn?
"very well," she said, a new idea coming to find, "How about Professor Snape?" Draco looked up looking at his mother. Snape. Yes Snape would be a good person to ask.
So now here they were, in Snape's house all sat down with drinks in their hand staring at each other.
Narcissa couldn't help but remember that the last time she had been here she had pushed Snape into making an unbreakable vow.
"I assume," Snape's signature voice said slowly, "you did not simply come for a pleasant drink Narcissa."
"No, we did not. A situation has come up involving Draco. A delicate situation."
"I see. And I assume that you wish for this…delicate situation to remain hidden from the Dark Lord." Narcissa nodded as she swallowed. Getting the words out was harder than she imagined.
"I'm a veela," Draco's voice cut into the silence, "I'm a male veela, I came into my inheritance on the night of my 17th birthday and I discovered that Hermione Granger is my mate. If my mate dies, I die too. Our lives are bonded." Draco tried to keep emotions and feelings for Hermione as separate as possible so that Snape couldn't pick up on them. He wanted Snape to believe he only thought about the selfishness of his own life which would hopefully protect his mate even a little bit.
The expression on Snape's face was frozen and tense shock, though Draco could only tell because the skin around his eyes and mouth was different. Aside from that Snape managed to keep the exact same facial expression.
"Male veela are extremely rare," Snape simply said after a minute.
"We need your help Severus. We have no idea what this means for Draco or how to sort out this situation. The Dark Lord despises Muggleborns, he wants to kill them all especially Harry Potter's closest friend." Snape stood up and walked slowly to the mantel piece.
"I know little about male veela. I know that they have wings, have mates which they are extremely possessive over and they only ever have one mate. I know they have certain magic that doesn't require a wand, are stronger and more resilient than a magical or muggle man. They also have extremely good fighting skills both physical and magical. Aside from that not much is known about them."
They let the information sit in, or at least Narcissa did. Draco already knew all that and more. His veela had been conversing with him almost continuously telling him about himself, remarking on the things he experiences. What was the most strange thing for Draco was that the veela and him were not two different people, they were exactly the same. In fact his veela was more like his conscience.
"As for the situation with Miss Granger I see only one possibility where she can truly survive." Snape turned to face them his hands behind his back.
"You must tell the Dark Lord."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End Chapter~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's notes: This is just the beginning of a story I've had in my head for years. I'm sorry to say though that for me to update each chapter quickly might be a bit of a problem as it will depend on how busy my week will be so I can't give you a precise date or time I will next update. But remember more reviews make me work faster ;)