Chapter Two:
Won't Somebody Come Take Me Home?
Summary: Four years after the war ended, Draco Malfoy now works alongside Harry Potter as an Auror. Along with others, they work together to track down and capture the last remaining followers of the Dark Lord. During one mission, Draco discovers that not only is he a Veela, but he only has until his twenty third birthday to find his mate.
Author's Note: This is my first Veela story, so I apologise for that in advance. I've been planning this one for a long time to make sure I got everything just right.
Featured Review: Ndavis77: Wow! What an exciting first chapter. Well done! That bit with Blaise was hilarious. That is the stereotypical male not listening unless it's important to him. I literally laughed out loud! I'm hooked now and I can't wait to see what happens next! Thanks for this lovely review! I can't tell you how many times it made me smile. I'm glad you liked the bit with Blaise, but truth be told, I didn't write that part aiming for it to be funny. But I'm glad it came across that way! I don't this story to be serious all the time, so I'm glad you got a giggle out of it.
Special Mentions: Percabethbooklion & JoeDanger. You both had very similar reviews, so let me say this: it's not going to be that easy, Draco has a tough time ahead.
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It was so bloody obvious, there ought to have been a sign painted on the door. Of course Greyback would have taken her to the Shrieking Shack. It was the last place Draco would have thought to look. As soon as he was cleared, Draco stormed into the building and started searching all the rooms he could, desperate to find his Mother. He caught a glimpse of Harry and Ron marching up the stairs, wands at the read just in case Greyback had left any defensive charms or booby-traps. He cleared the ground floor in a matter of minutes, then rushed up the stairs to see if Harry had found her. His hopes were soon confirmed when he found himself hearing the sound of Harry's voice calling out to every Auror in the Shrieking Shack, bouncing off the rotting walls.
"I've found her! She's up here!" Harry called. Draco ran as fast as he could, reaching the source of Harry's voice when he entered the last room on the very top floor. Upon entering the room, he found himself struggling to hold back the bile that was forming in his throat. There were three women chained to the wall, all three he recognised. The first was Fleur Weasley, Bill Weasley's wife. The second Luna Lovegood, one of the Wizarding World's leading Zoologists. Shacked in the very corner of the room was his Mother, hair falling messily down her shoulders, cuts all over her body. He didn't hesitate when he ran over to her, cupping her cheeks in his hands to make her look up at him. When he met her face, he was instantly met with the fact she was both unconscious and freezing to the touch. He had to wake her up, get her out of there.
"Mum! Mum, wake up, please!" Draco begged, feeling the tears forming in his eyes. He then looked around the room, trying to find a connection between the three women in the room. He knew Greyback had a grudge against him and his family, the Weasley's too. He knew Lovegood had fought against Voldemort during the final Battle. But what were all three doing there? Why had Greyback taken them? What did he want?
Above his Mother, stuck to the wall were several newspaper clippings and pieces of paper. Most of them were snippets about people who had gone missing, but then noticed something that stood out.
Friday 12th February 1808
MALE VEELA DISCOVERED FOR FIRST TIME IN 300 YEARS
Potioneers and Naturalists demanding to see the specimen for research.
Yesterday evening at roughly seven pm, a male Veela made itself known to the Wizarding World. This is the first time a male Veela has been documented in over three hundred years and Naturalists from all over the world are keen to get up and close with the creature, while Potioneers are keen to study it and find out what natural resources it's body produces. With new research techniques available that weren't three hundred years ago, we can discover much more about this rare gender of the species than we ever hoped. We will keep you informed as this story progresses. Written by Olive West.
Looking up at the small snippet, Draco creased his brow in confusion. Why was Greyback so interested in Veelas? Granted, they were rare and valuable in the black market, but something told him that Greyback wasn't interested in money. It was power he wanted. Glancing at the wall again, he soon found another Veela article.
Saturday 16th July 1808
VEELA UNDER THREAT OF EXTINCTION
Newly discovered Male Veela murdered in cold blood.
Naturalists had been planning to breed the male Veela with several females of it's kind in order to raise the population levels back up, but just last night the creature was found brutally murdered in it's own home. No suspects have been named yet, but Naturalists world wide are severely concerned for the survival of the species. Full Veelas are becoming more and more rare to find, seeing as most female Veelas are now opting to breed with Wizards in order to pass the gene on, meaning the children will be born Half Veela, half Human. In time, the gene could prove to be erased completely and eventually send the Veela into extinction. Written by Olive West.
Fleur was a Veela. Draco remembered Ron and Harry discussing her possessiveness over Bill last Christmas when she refused to leave him alone with any other women. She'd explained to them it was a natural part of being a Veela, once they found their mate they were incredibly protective. He knew a possible sign of someone being a Veela was having pale blonde hair. Looking at the three women, he sighed softly. All three had the exact same shade of hair colour. Why had Greyback brought them here?
"I'm so sorry Mum, I should have got to you sooner." He whispered, tears running down his cheeks. His eyes widened when he heard his Mother cough softly.
"The gene didn't affect me Draco..." The hoarse whisper of his Mother responded.
"Mum! Oh thank god you're awake! I'm going to get you out of here!" Draco stated, using his wand to unlock the shackles on her wrist. He noticed Harry freeing Fleur and Luna in the corner of his eye. Helping his Mother up, Draco hooked his arm around her and guided her towards the door as quickly but as gently as he could.
"Draco listen to me..." She wheezed, but was stopped when a coughing fit halted her words. Frowning slightly, Draco noticed the large red mark covering her throat.
"Mum, don't talk, you'll only make it worse." Draco ordered, leading her out of the room and down the stairs. She was far too weak to apparate, so someone would need to send for a Healer to tend to her wounds before she could travel.
"No, Draco you don't understand...!" Narcissa protested, eyes full of worry and fear.
"It's going to be ok, I promise I'll never let that piece of shit touch you ever again." Draco vowed, anger and drive echoing from his voice. Greyback would pay for this.
"It's not him I'm worried about, Draco please, let me explain...!" Narcissa snapped, wincing slightly when a large shot of pain was sent through her throat.
"Explain what?" Draco asked, looking at her with concern.
"There's Veela blood in our family. One of my ancestors was full Veela and she bred with a wizard. The gene has been passed down our family for generations, but for all that time it has been dormant. Until you. Draco, you're a Veela, and a powerful one at that. I didn't realise until now, when that awful man dragged me into that building and started rambling on about how he was going to create the perfect Veela, one that would obey his every command and make him ever more powerful than the Dark Lord. He said he was going to find the grave of the Male Veela from all those years ago and take some of the D.N.A from it, using some kind of Muggle Contraption. He said there was a way he could impregnate us with it. He became outraged when he discovered that my Veela gene wasn't active, so moved on to those poor young girls. When he discovered Miss Lovegood was not a Veela, his anger only escalated." Narcissa started. Draco was about to intervene and tell his Mother that she was nuts but she stopped him by raising a finger when he opened his mouth to speak. There was no way he could be a Veela. It was impossible. Wasn't it? It had to be.
"He seemed to relax a bit when he confirmed Fleur was a Veela but it's needless to say he wasn't happy that she was only a quarter. When he left to go gather more information, that's when I began to worry you might have active Veela genes, so I asked Fleur what happened when her genes activated. Fleur explained to me she got a really bad fever that lasted for a week when she was sixteen, then had a huge growth spurt out of nowhere. You got sick when you were sixteen Draco, you got that fever that had you bedridden for a month. Then you suddenly shot up like lightning. When she explained the beginning of her transformation to me, I knew, I knew that you had an active gene. I'm sorry Draco, I'm so sorry." Narcissa sobbed, clinging onto her son like he was going to run away if she let him go. Draco slowly wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a hug and closed his eyes as he tried to process the information he'd just received. He was a Veela, the first one to be active in the Malfoy family for generations, and a powerful one according to his Mother. Greyback was trying to create the 'ultimate' Veela by digging up the D.N.A of a Male Veela that had been dead for two hundred years, which he would then inject into active female Veelas. Sighing softly, he rubbed his Mother's back to try and soothe her.
Glancing up, he noticed Harry and Ron standing just a few feet away. The pair had probably heard the entire thing from the way they were staring at him. Fleur and Luna were also looking at him in shock, but awe too. Looking away from them, Draco guided his Mother to a log that rested on the ground and helped her sit down on it. While it wasn't the best form of comfort in the world, it was better than nothing. She needed to rest, and he needed to sit down before he passed out. What the hell was happening? A few hours ago he'd been sleeping in his bed thinking he was a normal guy. Now he was coming to terms with the fact that he was a Veela. A fucking Veela. Of all the things! It didn't take long for the Healers to arrive and begin assessing the three women. While his Mother was being tended to, Draco started walking away from the group. He needed to get away from them, clear his thoughts, make sense of the situation. If Greyback knew Narcissa's gene was inactive, did that mean he'd come for Draco next? In a mixture of rage and confusion, he started punching a nearby tree as hard as he could. It didn't matter to him that he was making absolutely no damage to the tree, but instead was tearing his knuckles to ribbons, he just needed to take his anger out on something. After a few minutes he stopped and fell to his knees, staring at his bleeding knuckles. If he was a Veela, he was going to need to know everything he could about the species. Lovegood knew everything there was to know about Magical Creatures, not to mention Fleur was a living breathing Veela. He could probably get decent information from them, but he also wanted to check his library and look through some books first. Standing up, he took a few moments to prepare himself before he disapparated back to his home. He had a lot of work to do.
