"Where is he?" came the screech as the blonde tore into the hospital wing, white wings tearing through the fabric of his shirt. Madame Pomfrey rushed over, trying to calm the enraged veela down. He refused to listen to anything she was saying, but he turned his attention on her instead. "Where is he? I know he's in here. I can feel him." He growled. "You can't hide him from me. I will find him." He pushed past her, following the pull he had felt since he had entered the school. It was weaker now, as though it thought its job was done because he was so close to his mate. It annoyed him. He wasn't close enough. Not until he found them and made sure that they were completely safe from harm.
A small form lay curled up under the blankets in one of the cots, and Draco stalked over. A rush of calm washed over him as he realized that this was the one he was looking for, his mate. But what was wrong with them? Why were they here? He gently pulled back the blankets so that he could see them. A small, pale body lay there in the standard infirmary pajamas. Cuts had been made in the top, so that his mate's beautiful black wings could stick through. A dark veela. His mate was too thin, he mused. He would have to get them to eat more. Black hair fell over their face, obscuring it from Draco's view, but already he could tell his mate was beautiful. A delicate, beautiful boy, and he was all Draco's.
He raised a hand to gently brush the hair from his mate's face, but he tensed as Madame Pomfrey bustled over. The need to protect his mate from these people rose up again and he began to growl lowly, surprised when she simply rolled her eyes. "Enough Mr. Malfoy. I am only helping him. He was found unconscious a few days ago out on the grounds. He was injured, but he is mostly healed now. His ribs may still be tender. He needs to sleep. He is malnourished and very weak. You'd best be quiet if you are going to stay. I assume from your reaction you are the one we've been waiting for?"
Draco nodded dumbly. So at least his mate would be okay, but he looked so weak, so small on the hospital bed. Well, they would never have to be strong again. Draco would protect them. So, someone here must know something about veela if they had known that the beautiful creature on the bed would have a mate that would come looking for them.
He sniffed his mate, wrapping himself in the smell. Learning it well, so that he would be able to track it at any distance if something ever happened to this being that was now his. He stiffened slightly as he found another smell on his mate. Something other than Madame Pomfrey and the other numerous smells of the hospital wing. Something stronger than the faint smells that he assumed were from his mate's home. One he knew.
At that moment, the owner of the scent walked into the hospital wing. Draco stormed over, demanding to know why his godfather's scent was on his mate. But before he could get a word out, Professor Snape lifted his hand. "Enough. So it is you. I can't say I'm surprised. You are the only student I know with the veela gene. Your mate will have to stay here for a few more days, as I am sure Madame Pomfrey has told you. They need to recover. They are malnourished, exhausted and weak. Do you understand Draco?"
Draco growled lowly, ignoring his godfather. Yes, the nurse had already told him all of this. Well, not that she would be keeping his mate, but Draco had assumed this would be the case. Well, if she thought he was just going to leave his mate here and head to his dorm, she was sadly mistaken.
He turned his mind back to the problem at hand. His godfather. "Why does he smell of you?" he growled lowly. Professor Snape simply nodded, as though he had been expecting this question. "I found him by the lake and brought him here. I am also the only person in the castle who seems to know anything about veela, so I have been instructing Madame Pomfrey in how to look after him. Despite how he may feel towards me Draco, I am not a threat to your mate."
"What do you mean?" Draco screeched. "Why is he afraid of you? I will never let you near him again if you mean him harm."
His godfather sighed. "Draco, I just said that I am not a threat. I just meant that your mate has not been quick to trust me in the past." Seeing Draco's look of confusion. The potions master paused. "Draco, do you even realize who your mate is?" Draco shook his head slowly. No, he hadn't gotten close enough to look. It must be someone he knew though, based on Professor Snape's reaction. His godfather sighed again. "Draco, that boy, it's Harry Potter."
Draco suddenly went still. His mate? Harry Potter? He despised Potter. Although, he knew he would never be able to again. That boy on the bed, the one he had pledged to protect, it didn't matter who he was. Draco would take care of him anyway. Nodding numbly at his godfather, he turned around and headed back to the bed where his mate lay. Professor Snape wordlessly followed, gauging Draco's reaction and watching to make sure the blonde didn't do anything drastic with this new knowledge.
Draco reached down to gently brush the black hair away from his mate's face. It was longer than Potter's usually was, but Draco wasn't sure if it was an effect of his inheritance or if the boy simply hadn't bothered to cut it in a while. It appeared to fall to Potter's shoulders, but it was hard to tell while the boy was lying down.
It didn't really matter that Potter was on the light side of the war. Draco had no wish to join his father's insane master and his mother wasn't a follower either. With his father safely locked up in Azkaban, his mate had little to fear from Draco's family. The veela side of Draco would never have allowed him to put his mate in harm's way anyway. In a way, he was glad that his mate had turned out to be Potter, and not one of the other Death Eater's children. If that had happened, he might have been forced to follow the Dark Lord after all, in an attempt to keep them safe.
Potter, no - Harry, if he was going to spend the rest of his life with his mate, he would have to get used to referring to him as Harry. Harry whimpered as Draco touched him, pushing his face slightly into Draco's hand despite being asleep, as though he needed more of Draco's touch.
There was no mistaking the boy as Harry now that his hair didn't block his face. As he took his hand away, the small boy whimpered again, crying out slightly at the lost of contact. Draco immediately placed his hand on his mate's arm and the boy calmed down. Decision made, Draco kicked off his shoes and climbed into bed with the dark veela, pressing his chest into Harry's back and wings, gently enough not to hurt them, and wrapping his arm around Harry. Any tension in the smaller boy faded immediately at the contact and he slept soundly once more.
Draco glared as his godfather and the nurse, challenging them to dispute his right as Harry's mate. His godfather simply nodded and left, while the nurse simply huffed in an exasperated manner and continued to work.
Lowering his face to press it into the back of Harry's neck, he breathed in the scent of his beautiful mate. It calmed him considerably and soon he followed his mate into sleep.