Enrapture:

The Truth

Chapter Two: The Truth

Words: 2,392

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Life since the war was nothing short of spectacular. The family had made it through, relatively, unscathed and the Wizarding world was beginning to accept them again. Little by little. However, it was a start. It was better than what it had been and that was all they were expecting. Truth be told, they weren't even expecting that.

Money meant little in this post-war age. Family names still held merit but nothing as they had before. Once their name had been cleared and it was revealed that they had all acted as spies for Dumbledore, the Malfoy name was not longer a naughty word hushed and whispered in the darkness. It was quite refreshing to be able to deflate the mask, if only a little.

Surprisingly enough, the air about the Malfoy's didn't change too much. It wasn't all a lie, how they presented themselves. However, they could be seen conversing with normal people.

Narcissa especially. She found comfort in an easy conversation, not having to lie. Not having to hide. Not having to present herself in a way that made her feel guilty. It was true, they were still aristocratic society, but that didn't mean they didn't have hearts. Looking down on the lower class families didn't make other's thing highly of her any more, it made her look like a fool for throwing away her second chance.

She had even reached out to old family, ones that had been shunned in the past. She reached out to who was left and made it her mission to make them feel accepted and wanted in her life. She threw parties, in which she invited any and everyone she wanted. Names didn't mean anything any more. Money was nothing to her. What she wanted was a family. What she wanted was to have friends.

She found it in Molly Weasley, though she didn't dare mention the name to her husband or her son, for fear of how they would see it, how they would react to the sudden change in her. But, she really liked Molly. She liked how simply they lived but how full their lives, their family, really were.

Draco found himself at a loss when he returned to Hogwarts for his final year. McGonagall had gotten rid of the houses. Instead of them competing against each other, they were working together. Everyone was still sorted and sent to houses, but that didn't mean anything, not any more.

Gryffindor was where you ended up if the Sorting Hat was convinced you were courageous, brave and loyal.

You were sent to Hufflepuff if the Sorting Hat thought you were a hard worked, had high tolerance and believed in fair play.

The Sorting Hat sent you to Ravenclaw if it believed you intelligent, creative and witty.

And now, the Sorting Hat sent you to Slytherin if it thought you ambitious, cunning and had the qualities of a leader.

Being Pure Blooded gained you no merit in where you went, it was all up to the Sorting Hat and where it thought you would find a true home.

Fortunately, the suggestion to resort the previous students went unheeded. No one wanted to know if the Sorting Hat had been wrong all those years ago. However, just because you were 'sorted' into a house, didn't mean you weren't encouraged to eat with other houses. The houses were just places to send the students to sleep, give them places to make themselves comfortable and give them the ability to still have Quidditch teams.

It was odd, to say the least. Draco was most unprepared to have a group of Gryffindor's at his dinner table. However, it didn't bother him as much as it should have. And with that new thought in mind, Draco made it through his seventh year and graduated, number two in the class. He was beaten by Hermione Granger and followed closely by Harry Potter. Much to his surprise, that didn't bother him. At all.

As the last year came to a close, Draco approached his godfather and asked if he would be able to stay with him the next year to have special tutelage. Draco wanted to go into Potions, to be come a Potions Master of severe talent. Severus agreed and together they went to McGonagall who embraced the idea of Severus having a teacher's assistant. Draco was thrilled and he worked hard, learning everything he could be taught and taking the potions only to make them his own. Life for the Slytherin Prince was falling into place perfectly.

Until he mother called.

"Draco, I need you to come home," she told him via a fire call. "I have kept something from you for far too long and it's time you know."

That thought alone had Draco's mind racing. What on earth did she deem so important that she needed him to come home before the Christmas break when he only had two weeks left? Granted, it was only for a weekend, but he had students to tutor and potions to perfect. He found out just a few days later.

"Draco, come here," his mother called from the sitting room, a delicate cup of tea in her hands, perched elegantly on a small plate. She smiled softly at her son and motioned for him to take the seat across from her. "Dragon," she began and Draco felt his heart plummet to the bottom of his feet. She never started out a conversation with 'Dragon' unless it was something she knew Draco wasn't going to like.

"Yes, Mother?" he asked, taking a seat and accepting his own cup of tea. "What can I do for you?" he asked softly, a smile pulling at his lips, tilting the corners up alluringly. "Is something wrong?"

"No, Dragon," Narcissa ensured, the smile quivering in its place on her lips. "You don't need to do anything and nothing is really wrong, I just need to... We need to talk."

Draco felt a flush spilling onto his face and he swallowed, taking a small sip of his tea to try to calm his nerves. "What is it, Mother?"

"Darling, you know that I am a Veela," she started, placing her cup on the saucer and settling them both on the table in front of her.

"Yes, Mother," he murmured. Draco had grown up knowing that his mother was a Veela. He knew that his father was a Veela Mate and that made no never mind to him. He was a male and he didn't need to worry about that, right? Right. Veela's only attached themselves to women so that they could seduce men and lure them in. Draco didn't have to worry about that.

"Well, Dragon," she said, taking a deep breath and brushing a nonexistent hair from her face. "Dragon, you are also a Veela. I kept it from you so that you wouldn't have to deal with the effects as a child, so that you wouldn't have to worry about hearing your mate's call. And I am so sorry, Dragon, but you will be turning 18 this year and at midnight, your blood will awaken and there will be nothing more I can do for you..."

Draco's elegant brow ached. "I'm sorry, Mother. But, this isn't funny." He put his cup down and stood up, pacing back and forth in front of the chair. "Veela's mature at 17, mother. I turned 17 last year and I haven't had any occurrences. Why didn't you and Father tell me this? I could have been prepared!" he asked, his voice not a yell but not his normal speaking voice, either.

Narcissa frowned and licked her suddenly dry lips. "Dragon, darling," she whispered, smoothing her hands down her skirt. "Dragon, you are a male Veela. That is so very rare that we didn't think we would have to worry about it. But, the night of your 16th birthday, I felt your power begin to waken. And I hid it from you. I hid it from your father until a few nights ago and he convinced me to tell you now. I should have told you sooner, I know that, Draco, but I was so afraid. I didn't want you to have to deal with this life." Tears glimmered in her eyes but she held them back, her eyes beseeching her son.

"It hit when I was 16?" he asked, incredulous. "Why did you wait two years to tell me?"

"Because, the Dark Lord was still around, Draco. I didn't want him to find out, I didn't want him to try to take your power, to use you..." she explained, her voice tight in her throat.

Draco sat back against the chair and closed his eyes, leaning his head to rest back against the pillows. "What will happen to me, Mother?" he asked, needing to know, needing to be ready to accept it, to fight it if he needed. "What will change?"

"You will come into your power, Draco. You will gain the allure that I have; you will gain everything that makes you a Veela. Your hair will grow, your ear tips will point and you will become one of the strongest Veela's in years. There hasn't been a Veela male in over two hundred years, Dragon. I don't really know what to tell you to expect."

"What of my mate, Mother?" he questioned, his eyes still closed and his chest still too tight to breathe. "What of the person my Veela will call out to? How will I know? How will I feel their call?"

"That, I can tell you," Narcissa whispered, wiping a tear from her cheek. "You will still feel the call like any other Veela. When your mate's soul calls out to you, you will be drawn to them. Your life will be theirs and their life will be yours. It won't matter what they look like, who they are. All that will matter is that your mate will be there and you will be happy."

"Happy?" Draco sneered. "Happy? Is that what you think will happen mother? Someone I've never met before will just become part of me. I won't have a choice! One moment I'll be mine, I'll be me and the next, I'll have them." He couldn't help but hiss the last word as he stood up again and began to pace. "You should have told me!" Draco growled. "You should have told me, Mother. I could have... I could have had all this time to explore! To do everything I've ever wanted to do! But now, now..." he scoffed and turned to face her, his grey eyes sharp. "Now, I'll be drawn to their will. I'll be forced to do what they will for me!"

Narcissa opened her mouth to reply but all that came out was a choked breath. "Draco," she hedged. "Draco, I'm so sorry. I was trying to protect you!"

He shook his head and turned his back to her, starting for the door. "Mother, you didn't protect me from anything. How could you think that this wasn't something I should know! You could have told me last year! After he was gone! You could have told me! I can't change it, I know that, but I could at least, have been studying, I could have found out what to expect, what to be ready for! I'm not ready for a mate, Mother. I'm not ready to settle down! I want to meet my partner at a party, at a club, in a library, at the market. I want to meet the person I'm supposed to be with in a completely random garden! I want to know the person I'm to marry before I'm bound to them! I want all of that, Mother!"

The tears finally fell and Narcissa could do little to stop them. "I'm so sorry, Dragon," she whispered, looking at her lap where her hands were folded, useless. "I'm so sorry. I wish there was more I could do, I wish I could change this Dragon, I do! But, I can't." She sounded defeated and that blatant hurt in her voice washed away some of Draco's fury.

"Mother," he started, moving to sit beside her and gently taking her hand in his. "I'm sorry, Mother. I shouldn't have gotten so upset. I should have and I'm sorry."

She looked at him and gently squeezed his hand in hers, taking a deep breath and forcing it into her lungs. "I will be here to help you, Dragon. You know that," she said, her voice small, unsure, nothing at all the Narcissa Malfoy Draco was used to.

"I know, Mother. I know. And, I'll use my time before I find my mate to learn everything I can. I'll be ready when it comes," he assured her, trying to assure them both. Inside, Draco Malfoy was in a panic.

As soon as he arrived back at Hogwarts, he went straight to the Headmistress's office to inform her of what he had been told. She needed to know, incase his mate was one of the students, one of the other staff members or someone they didn't know. She needed to know, incase things got out of hand. Draco didn't plan for them to get out of hand, but in case they did, he had taken all the necessary precautions he could, for the time being.

Continuing his way to his private quarters, right down the hall from his godfather's, Draco opened a bottle of fire whiskey, poured a healthy glass and allowed himself to think, to really think, what was about to happen to him. By the time the glass was gone, he was feeling better about it. And, by the time the bottle was half-empty, he didn't care.

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I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

I will try to post frequently.

Published: 4-11-11