Draco, after his short vacation with his parents at home, and after having learnt he was a bloody Veela, still couldn't quite believe it. But try as he might, he couldn't deny it. At work, he was unable to concentrate, because he was thinking constantly about his mate and who could she or he be. And he was still quite disgusted at the thought that his mate might be male. He fervently hoped his mate was a she, and not a he. Although, he has fully grown out of his prejudices against Muggle-borns and did view them as Witches and Wizards now, he still had some qualms about homosexuality. He was talking to himself in St-Mungo's, when he was having a quick break.

"Me, a homosexual?" He was asking himself.

"No, absolutely not possible. I've never shown any attraction to guys, only to girls!" He was trying to reassure himself and thinking that fate can't be so mean to him.

Today, at work, he was working on a patient who had a rare insanity disease. He had to report to the Insanity department's Head, who was his boss, in St-Mungo's and wasn't very attentive to him, but rather thinking about who his mate could be.

"Mr. Malfoy, are you listening to me?" His Head asked him.

"No, I'm not, I'm sorry, sir, it won't happen again."

"Sure, so let's go on, what did you learn about Miss Matilda Huggs while you were talking to her?"

"She doesn't know she's a Witch anymore, and has almost forgotten everything she's learnt when she was at Hogwarts. So she does things, the Muggle way."

"Ahh, I see, quite a problem. Some people, after a trauma, don't remember certain things about themselves. What other things have you noted about her?"

"She thinks magic doesn't exist Sir, and even after I've cast some Spells in front of her, she still didn't believe it, and said I was a demon."

"Ah yes, Muggles, as Miss Hermione Granger told me, tend to think Witches and Wizards are demonic, and even sinful creatures because of their religion. Miss Huggs must have been raised in a very religious family, for her to react that way. I want you to partner up with Miss Granger, a Muggle-Born and find a solution to this, without using magic first, because the spells to make someone remember things about himself or herself can permanently damage one's brains and body and soul."

"I understand, sir."

"So I'm going work jointly with Granger, and now I'll know for sure if my mate is her or not her." He thought inwardly. And he was pleased his Department's Head chose her as his partner, because then he could smell her, without any awkwardness.

Hermione Granger was also speaking with her Head and her other colleagues, about Magical creatures and one patient's special situation: Fleur Delacour's, a Veela admitted into the Hospital's care after her marriage to someone who wasn't her mate.

"Hello Mam, how are you today?" said Hermione casually. She and her Head of Department were really close to each other. They both specialized in Care of Magical Creatures.

"I am fine, thank you, Hermione. Please sit yourself down and let's talk about your recent discoveries and the like about Miss Fleur Delacour."

"Well, Fleur Delacour had been admitted into our Hospital for a while, because Bill wasn't her mate, so she's almost losing it right now. She divorced him after almost a year of marriage to him, but she couldn't find her mate and that's the most painful thing for her."

"Yes, for a Veela, it is the must hurtful thing to not be able to find her or his mate. I hope she'll find him or her soon and her ex-husband Bill didn't blame her for leaving him because she must be with her or his mate."

"Veelas can have female or male mates?" asked a curious Hermione.

"Yes. Thank you for taking proper care of her all this time."

"Why are you thanking me? I'm only doing my job as a Healer. Now, if you don't have anything more to say to me, I'll be back to Fleur."

"No wait, Hermione, about that, we've decided someone else should care for Fleur Delacour, somebody who's an expert in Veelas."

"So you've hired someone behind my back to take my job, without telling me eh?" Hermione was now internally very furious.

"Will you calm down, please! I haven't finished! You are reassigned to Matilda Huggs' case, because I and my coworker think it'll be more suitable for you."

"Without consulting me first?"

"Well, I am consulting you now." said her Head of Department smugly.

"May I know why I've been reassigned to her?"

"Because she's a Muggle-born who forgot all about being a Witch after the war. And before you go, let me tell you something else, it's been decided you'll need to work with Draco Malfoy, who is a specialist in the Magical Insanity department."

"Why him and me? You know it very well that he and I can't get along, it'll be worse for the patient, Mam."

"No, I don't think so, with your knowledge about Muggle psychology and mind diseases, and with his expertise on Magical insanity, I'm sure you'll find a way to cure her strange illness. And you can't go against the Insanity Head's decision. He chose you and Malfoy for a reason, and it's because he believes in you both."

After her talk with her manager, she was walking furiously and thinking deeply about it. "Why do they think Malfoy and I would work great together? Do they not know about our history at School? Why are they forcing us to be partners? It's unfair!" She was silently rebelling against her reassignment and her being forced to work with Draco Malfoy, her enemy at school. Although she and he didn't openly insult each other anymore and acted like adults in the Hospital, they still avoided speaking to each other whenever possible. Alas, forced to work with Draco Malfoy, she could no longer escape him.

With these thoughts swirling in her mind, she bumped accidentally into Draco Malfoy, at lunch break, who just got the news as well.

"Just the person I hoped to meet", she said, with sarcasm dripping in her voice.

"Hello to you too, Granger. Did you know about us being partners?"

"Yes, I met my Department's Head a while ago, I suppose you've learnt it the same way as I did."

"Exactly, trust me, it's going to be lots of fun!"

"Lots of fun, what do you mean?"

"Nothing, just that I'm looking forward to working with you." She was utterly taken aback by his civility to her.

"Wow, Malfoy, you're being quite polite to me, what has happened to you?"

"Nothing, I just figured if we were going to work together, I'd better be more polite to you." He lied to her about it. In truth, he was looking forward to get to know her more and to find out if she were his mate or not. He knew she specialized in Magical Creatures at St-Mungo's, and coincidentally, he happened to be a Veela, one of the rarest creatures in the whole Wizarding world.

"Same here. I think it's for the patient's best interests if we got along, and if we didn't kill each other while working together on her case."

"Yes, Granger, you're right." Unknown to Granger, as he was talking to her, he was starting to smell something really delicate in the air. And his sniffing the air around her startled her, so she asked him:

"Malfoy, what are you doing?"

"What I am doing? Nothing!" He tried to hide his sniffing from her. "Oh Merlin, she smells so good! I have to smell more of her!"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, MALFOY! STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!" Granger bellowed this time, not knowing what was going on with her new teammate.

"NOTHING!"

"DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME NOTHING! I saw you sniffing the air, now tell me, why were you doing that?"

"There is no why. You just have no idea how good you smelled to me." answered Malfoy, half-honestly.

"Excuse-me, did you just say how good I smelled to you? It must be my new perfume."

"Yeah, it must be that. Anyways, lunch's over, I'll see you when we'll have to work on Miss Hugg's case together." He sweat dropped after she left. He added to himself:

"Oh Merlin, her smell! That was possibly the best thing ever in the whole world: gingerbread spice and chocolate, my favourites."

For him, it was as Lucius Malfoy, his father, described to him, 2 days ago: when he was around her, her scent was sweetly intoxicating to him. "I think I've found my mate! And thank God it's a she, and not a he! And a stunningly gorgeous she."

Part of him was overjoyed about that, because he didn't have to look any further, and didn't have to suffer Fleur's fate, but part of him told him it wasn't going to be a picnic for him to tell her about it. "She won't believe me if I told her I was a Veela and she is my mate. And she won't be so willing either." He said sadly to himself. He wanted to have her now and to be around her exquisite aroma forever, like his father told him he would, once he's found his soulmate. He slowly fainted because she wasn't around him anymore and he couldn't smell her addicting fragrances anymore. He needed to be around her aroma like he needed to breath.