A/N: A huge THANK YOU to Crazy4wood for assisting me with this story. I made a right mess with my other one, so let's start fresh...shall we?
Hermione had a terrible headache; it was only getting worse as the days dragged into weeks. This new year at Hogwarts had brought back painful memories that she would rather bury under a ton of bricks, but she had made a commitment to herself that she would finish her education. She had quickly found herself the centre of unwelcome attention from every corner of the wizarding world.
Paparazzi from all over swarmed like rabid dogs at the end of Voldemort's reign of terror. Harry, Ron, and herself were hailed as heroes and saviours of the world. It led to uncomfortable conversations and confrontations that she would rather do without. Returning to Hogwarts seemed like the only option to regain any semblance of normalcy in her life, and she had to do it alone. Harry and Ron had work to do that didn't involve academics or completing their education. Harry led the charge in rounding the remaining Death Eaters that managed to escape, and Ron was needed at home for his family.
She couldn't blame them, not really. They had their own lives to live and obligations to fulfill, but she was lonely. The school used to be a place of wonder and peace, but it had become a nightmare. Every day she had to dodge questions from younger students about her year on the run; every day she grew more bitter.
A small comfort, however, came surprisingly in the form of Draco Malfoy. He had returned to Hogwarts to complete his studies as well and had gained similar, if not more, attention for his part in the war. He kept to himself for the most part, but flickers of pain and anguish would cross his features when he looked her way. He would often try to catch her when she managed a moment alone to talk; but she would always find a means of thwarting his efforts by quickly escaping.
Hermione wasn't one hundred percent sure what he could have to say to her, but she did not care to find out. The Wizengamot trials over the summer had been arduous enough by draining her of any remaining kindness for the Malfoys. Harry spoke up on behalf of the Malfoy family stating that the war would have been lost had it not been for Draco and Narcissa. Those trials took longer than others due to the Ministry of Magic's desire to start with a clean slate and not repeat past mistakes.
The jury settled on a provisional freedom deal regarding the family that was incredibly generous. Draco was required to return to Hogwarts and complete his education under strict supervision. He was not permitted to attend Hogsmeade visits and had to report to the Headmistress weekly for behaviour reports. Mrs Malfoy could come and go as she pleased with reports to her parole auror who visited the manor regularly. Mr Malfoy was limited to the manor's grounds only. He was not permitted to leave unless there was an emergency that could not be handled on site. He had to get permission for everything; a job that Ronald Weasley found to be vindictively fulfilling.
Hermione was spending her day sorting through potion tomes; when she heard the aristocratic voice of Draco Malfoy speak to Madame Pince about the book she had her hand on. She quickly shoved her things into her beaded back before jumping up and running out of the library. She was more than halfway down the corridor when she heard someone following her.
"Oi! Granger!" A sharp voice called after Hermione's retreating figure. She glanced over her shoulder and met Malfoy's hard stare. Not wanting to deal with the blonde at that moment; she sped up her pace down the hall only to run face first into a door being flung open suddenly by Peeves.
"Ooh, ickle Gryffindors should watch where they're running, yesssss!" He floated lazily overhead snickering. "You have an admirer bookie bookworm! Yes, you do! A blonde little snake child is running this way. What fun!"
"Shoo Peeves! Float along somewhere else or else I'll sic the Baron on you!" Draco shouted as he ran to where Hermione was planted on the floor. Peeves scowled and stuck his tongue out with a rude hand gesture before floating through the opposite wall and disappearing.
"I'm not overly fond of chasing Gryffindors, but you are becoming increasingly difficult to get alone," he said while gasping for breath. "Can we please have a conversation, Granger?"
Hermione was caught off guard by his tone and managed to hit her head a little too hard to attempt another runner, so she nodded with a quiet sigh.
"Alright, Malfoy. You win. We can talk." She stood up with a groan and felt a little lightheaded. Malfoy had walked ahead of her into an empty classroom where he naturally expected her to follow. He was sitting next to an open window and was staring out into the night when she entered.
"Close the door," he said quietly. "I'd rather not be interrupted by nosey knobs." He had looked back to shoot her a lopsided smirk but was stopped cold by her face. His expression had quickly changed from half-joking to horror in seconds. Hermione had closed the door and shot him a hard glare.
"What's wrong, Malfoy? Did you remember who you were talking to?" She marched farther into the room and plopped down in the chair across from him. His eyes never left hers as he lifted his hand and touched her cheek.
"Ow!"
Draco pulled his hand away and looked at it with a mixture of wonder and confusion. His pale hand held a single drop of crimson that looked as normal blood should, but was giving off an irresistible scent that made Draco's mouth water. Before he could even think about what he was doing, he lifted his palm to his mouth and licked the essence of "Granger." The taste was indescribable; he felt whole. Draco felt like he had lived his entire life just to make it to this moment and taste her. His mate.
Hermione watched Malfoy lick the blood off his hand in disgust. She sat glued to the spot while she watched the young man slowly unhinge. He was making small content sighs with his eyes tightly shut. His body began to glow with a golden sheen of light. Hermione gasped when the realization hit her and she toppled backwards out of the chair when she had moved to stand.
His eyes flashed open with the sound of her fall, and they were instantly trained on her chocolate stare. They were silent for a beat before Hermione whispered in wonder, "You're a veela?"
Peeves, who was floating unnoticed nearby, suddenly cackled. "Oh, this is interesting, isn't it? The blonde twat and the bushy swot! Heehee!" He soared out of the classroom while singing a crude little song about the odd couple.
Draco was stunned into silence. What could he even say? How did this happen? His thoughts were a jumbled mess, but he could do no more than stare at the girl on the floor. She had not moved since she fell and looked like her brain had short-circuited. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he barely had time to register the large pool of blood that was leaking from her head before her eyes closed and her body fell limp.
"Granger? GRANGER?"
Draco flung himself to the floor next to her and attempted to revive her with quick spell work, but he had only managed to make her eyes flutter slightly. He began to panic as he picked her up and ran to the Hospital wing. He burst through the doors and yelled for Madame Pomfrey. The students in bed sat up and stared at the odd display with interest until Madame Pomfrey ran out of her office and shot them all stern looks.
"What happened here, Mr Malfoy?"
"She fell and... and... lost a lot of blood. I tried a few spells, but nothing I know of worked."
"Lay her here," she said pointing to a hidden bed. "I am going to fetch a few things. I need you to start performing CPR on Miss Granger, can you do that?" His mouth opened and closed a few times like a fish out of water before the Medi-witch spoke once more.
"Press down on her chest thirty times, open her mouth, tilt her head, and blow with your mouth." She rushed off before Draco could respond. "Quickly Mr Malfoy!" She shouted from her office.
He did as she instructed and pumped his palms against Granger's chest thirty times before adjusting her head and blowing. When his mouth touched hers, however, it was like a shock had been sent from his body to hers and she immediately sat up, gasping for air. Madame Pomfrey ran out with her arms full of various potions and was stopped short.
"Holy fuck..."
Hermione sat up with a shock and found herself face to face with Draco Malfoy. He was breathing heavily and had begun to glow once more. She heard Madame Pomfrey speak but hardly registered the sound for she was instantly preoccupied with Draco's magnificent mouth. He immediately clung to her with an unbridled urgency which she reciprocated tenfold. She felt like she was floating in calming water, but also sparking with electricity. Nothing in the world mattered if he kept kissing her.
They remained locked together in a heated and urgent embrace until Madame Pomfrey shot a spell at them which broke their hold on each other and glued Draco to the opposite wall. Hermione shook her head out of her daze and glared at the medi-witch. Draco growled with a vicious ferocity that only a veela forced to part from his mate possessed. Madame Pomfrey shot him a threatening look, but his growls just grew in volume until she silenced him with a spell.
"Now is that necessary, Mr Malfoy?" She tutted when wings sprung from the blonde's back and turned to face Hermione. "Miss Granger, would you care too much to explain what on earth has happened?"
"Um...Malfoy is a veela?" She said lamely.
"I can see that, child, but I meant what happened before you got here?"
"Oh...um..." She was interrupted by the sound of the Hospital wing's doors bursting open. Neville, Luna, and Ginny ran in with Professor McGonagall trailing behind. They were immediately halted by the break in Madame Pomfrey's silencing spell on Draco. He was growling and thrashing from his spot across the room causing everyone to raise their wands defensively. McGonagall surveyed the scene before attempting to shoo the other students out of the room.
Neville was the most argumentative, "Oh no, we're not leaving Hermione in here with that," he said pointing his wand towards Draco. He inched towards Hermione's bed which only seemed to increase the tension in the room. Draco had somehow managed to break through his invisible bonds and lunged towards the bed where Hermione was still sitting.
"GET OFF HER!" Ginny shouted.
Five wands were pointed towards the young Malfoy when he hissed and raised his new wings to shield Hermione from view. Hermione tried to think quickly. The scene was escalating too fast. She slowly raised her hand and softly tugged on Malfoy's fingers. His hissing immediately stopped, and his wings lowered. She took that as a good sign and motioned for everyone to lower their wands.
"Sit."
He obeyed after shooting a glare towards everyone in the room and perched himself behind her. His wings wrapped protectively around her body, and he set his chin on her shoulder. He began making the soft contented sighs he was making when he tasted her blood earlier which let her relax a little. She knew enough about veela kind to see that he was calm for the moment.
The rest of the Hospital Wing's occupants summoned chairs and sat around the odd couple with wary expressions. Hermione sighed, she didn't care too much for being the centre of attention. She didn't even know what to make of this development.
"Alright. Malfoy has been trying to talk to me for a while," she started after a long stretch of silence. "I didn't want to deal with any more confrontations, so I ran. I hit my head and started bleeding. The blood caught his attention which, as you know, does with veela mates. The veela mating process can be accomplished a few different ways, but tasting your mate's blood can activate otherwise dormant traits before the full mating process has been completed."
"Wait, wait, wait...are you saying that you're his mate?" Neville choked out.
"It does appear that way doesn't it, Mr Longbottom?" McGonagall said thoughtfully. "The only sure way to tell would be to have her taste some of his blood."
"But that could kill the poor girl if she's not, Minerva." Madame Pomfrey said, eliciting a growl from Draco.
"I didn't say it was a good idea, just a thought." She tapped her wand against her chin lightly. "This does cause a big problem, though."
Madame Pomfrey moved as if to walk back to her office, but Ginny stood up suddenly and shouted, "we can't just leave them like this! You have to do something!" Sparks shot from the tip of her wand causing Draco to hiss dangerously.
"What would you suggest, Miss Weasley?" She tutted. "I am a bloody medi-witch, not a magizoologist. Do you even know what happens when you intervene between veela mates? No? I thought not." She huffed and marched towards her office and slammed the door.
Ginny was fuming, but she deflated when she saw the pleading look on Hermione's face. She sighed and sat back down with a flop. "What was that thing you mentioned about blood, Professor?"
"Well...in veela lore, there are many theories about what can 'activate' a dormant gene. One of the surest and most accurate methods is by ingesting the blood of the veela's true mate as well as the non-veela mate ingesting the blood of their partner." She sighed wearily. "The problem with this method is part of the accuracy. Just one drop of veela blood contains enough deadly poison to kill humans immediately. A veela's true mate has a natural resistance to that particular veela's deadly strain."
"Professor, would Malfoy be displaying this bizarre behaviour if Hermione wasn't his true mate?" Luna asked curiously.
"Technically, yes. Veela kind are very territorial, and the blood of their true mate as well as any mates belonging to a member of that family will elicit the same response."
"Wait," Neville gasped, "does that mean she could be the true mate of Lucius Malfoy?"
Hermione involuntarily shuttered. Draco nuzzled her hair and began humming a soft tune that forced her to relax.
"It is entirely possible, Mr Longbottom. It is also very likely that she could belong to someone in the "Black" bloodline." She stared at the odd couple for a moment before shaking her head slightly. "You lot should get to bed; I need to have a conversation with Mr Malfoy's parents." She turned towards the door to leave but was stopped by Draco finally speaking.
"Granger will remain with me, Professor." It was not a question. His voice was calm, but held a silent threat of danger should he be ignored. The room felt heavy with static and tension. The odd group was facing Draco with wary expressions and defensive stances. McGonagall sighed before nodding her head once and motioning for the two to follow her.
"The rest of you, off to bed now. I will not say it again."
Neville and Ginny shared worried looks with Hermione before they followed Luna out of the Hospital Wing. Draco relaxed, and his wings retracted back into his skin before disappearing entirely. He jumped off the bed and held out his hand for Hermione to take before following the headmistress.
Hermione was pacing nervously in front of McGonagall's desk while muttering to herself with Draco watching mutely. They were awaiting the arrival of Malfoy's parents to sort the situation out, but that did little to comfort the Gryffindor. Her mind was a mess of nonsense; how could this happen? How was this possible? Why did it have to be Malfoy?
She was beating herself up for not studying veela more thoroughly, but how could she have known? She kept pausing her movements to glance towards the floo and then back to the blonde. He had at least resumed a normal demeanour for the time being. She supposed the primal behaviour had to be linked to a threatening situation. What she did know about veela kind was their knack for protecting their own and the need to bond for survival. She shuddered at the thought. What if it wasn't Draco? Could she...bond...with the Malfoy patriarch?
She glanced towards the floo again and sighed. This waiting was going to do her in. McGonagall sent an urgent owl to notify Ron that the Malfoys were needed at the school immediately, but she didn't go into detail to avoid a scene with the young Auror. Ron did not need to know the details, just that Draco's parents were required. A frantic parent is not to be trifled with...especially not a Malfoy, parole or not.
"Granger," she halted her pacing and looked towards her possible mate, "please stop pacing. Come and sit next to me."
She was about to reply when the floo roared to life, and an unnaturally ruffled looking Narcissa Malfoy stepped out of the fireplace followed by an equally ruffled looking Lucius Malfoy. Their eyes immediately landed on their son and closed in on him for inspection. Narcissa was placing her hand on his forehead and cheeks while Lucius was tugging on Draco's ripped shirt.
Professor McGonagall made a small polite cough to get the Malfoys' attention, but they made no move to acknowledge any noise had been made while they hovered over their son for further inspection. Draco let them hover while he kept his eyes firmly planted on Hermione. Mrs Malfoy was the first to notice her son's inattentiveness before following his eyes and spotting Hermione lingering in the corner next to the Slytherin Head of House, Professor Slughorn.
"Draco, darling, what has happened?" She grabbed his cheeks to force him to look at her. She stepped back when he said nothing and looked to Hermione. "You. Miss Granger, what have you done to my son?" She hissed menacingly while stepping towards the girl. Draco moved like lightning and was instantly in front of Hermione with his wings exposed and shielding her from view. He let out a low hiss towards his mother causing her to step back instinctively.
"Malfoy," Hermione gasped, "it's alright. Please calm down." She touched his wing softly. He lowered his wings slightly and turned towards her to pull her into his arms.
"I demand an explanation. Right now." Mr Malfoy shouted.
Professor McGonagall coughed politely once more. "Mr and Mrs Malfoy, why don't you have a seat and we will discuss what has happened." She looked towards Professor Slughorn, who had inched to stand slightly out of view, before facing the Malfoys once more.
The two elder Malfoy's shared a silent conversation in a look before nodding and sitting down. "You have our attention."
"It appears that young Mr Malfoy has inherited a dormant veela gene that has chosen to make an appearance. Were either of you aware of any veela genetics in your bloodline?" She asked seriously.
"Veela?" Narcissa questioned quietly. "Not in the Black's bloodline, no." Mrs Malfoy looked towards her husband uncertainly. "The whole lot of our family's history is based on blood purity. I can't imagine where this comes from...can you, dear?"
Mr Malfoy looked troubled. "How did the gene make an appearance?"
"He tasted Miss Granger's blood," Severus Snape's portrait answered quietly, surprising the room.
Lucius looked sick when he asked, "What on earth possessed you to do that, son? She is..." Narcissa's glare stopped him from speaking further.
Professor McGonagall coughed again. "I believe it was an involuntary response, Mr Malfoy. I have a theory, of course, we'll never know until we test it." She turned towards the youngest Malfoy and motioned for him to bring Hermione to her. "Mr Malfoy, might I borrow your mate for a moment?" He hesitated before walking them both over to McGonagall's desk while keeping his arms secured around Hermione. Professor McGonagall reached for Hermione's arm forcing Draco to reluctantly release her. Within seconds Draco was bound, silenced and glued to a far wall by Professor Slughorn who had hidden himself from view during the conversation.
He was growling and thrashing against his bonds, but could not be heard. Lucius and Narcissa jumped to their feet and instantly trained their wands on the old headmistress.
"Easy now. He's fine, just restrained. It's necessary for what I am about to do." McGonagall answered their questioning looks by pulling out her wand and slashing a thin cut along Hermione's wrist. She winced as a stream of crimson leaked out of the wound before looking up towards the Malfoys.
Both Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy stared transfixed on the spot where McGonagall had cut her. Lucius took an involuntary step forward while Narcissa wrung her hands together slightly.
McGonagall made a soft "hmm" before pushing Hermione lightly towards the two eldest Malfoys. She stood glued to the floor while they approached her slowly. Draco was watching with unwavering attention as Mr Malfoy grabbed Hermione's hand and lifted her wrist to his nose before inhaling deeply. Narcissa stepped up to her husband and did the same.
Hermione had experienced weird in her lifetime, but witnessing Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy lick the blood from her bleeding wrist took the cake for strange. Her body and brain had finally decided to say fuck it to the day, and she passed out.