~A/N~
Haha I just couldn't wait to post this, I know some of you were dying for it.
So, here it is!
I have to say, I looked for hours to find a kind of magical species for the Malfoy's to be, couldn't find anything I really liked.
So, I made it up as I went a long! Sort of. :D
Enjoy!
Let me know what you guys think!
~End of A/N~
1 Hour Later
We were sitting in silence in front of the fireplace, she was drinking a tea and I was drinking a firewhiskey. Once we got into the room and sat down, I had Mitzi bring us some drinks. Granger told me that she needed a minute to collect her thoughts, and so we've been sitting here in silence since. I don't mind though, it's not an uncomfortable silence. Occasionally she would furrow her brow or bite the inside of her cheek, but she hadn't said a word.
I was about done with my firewhiskey when she spoke. She had turned so she was now facing me, she was sitting cross legged on the couch.
"Are you guys Veela's?" She asked, her brow furrowed so slightly that you almost wouldn't be able to tell if you weren't looking directly at her. I chuckled and shook my head.
"No, we're not Veela's. But I can see how you might draw that conclusion. We do have some similarities." She nodded and then her brow really furrowed.
"Then what are you? I can't recall many species that would resemble Veelas. Not that I'm saying you guys are some form of species." I chuckled and raised a hand up.
"It's ok, Granger. We technically are listed under magical species. However, over the last few centuries we've melded into society so much so that almost no one can tell who is one of us and who isn't." She nodded and then looked at me and spoke.
"Does the Ministry monitor your kind like they do Veelas, Werewolves, and others? Do they have a registry?" I nodded.
"Yes, although we aren't as strictly monitored like Werewolves an Animagi are. We struck a truce centuries ago with Ministries in countries we reside in, they allow us to handle any issues between clans and conduct our own trials, uphold our own laws." She nodded and leaned her head on her hand.
"So, you sort of have your own governmental system?" I nodded.
"How is it structured?" I smirked.
"Well, there are clans. Each clan is made up of varying numbers and controlled by one family. The leading families were chosen around the time our kinds numbers swelled. So, the head of each leading family is the one who controls their clan. For instance, the Malfoy's are the head of our clan, which happens to be the largest clan. My father is the leader of our clan. Should an issue arise within our clan, those involved would bring the issue to my father, and he would decide how it is resolved. But if an issue arises involving two or more clans, a meeting is called with all of the clans involved. The leaders of the involved clans, their first born sons, and whoever is directly involved with the conflict will meet at our secret location and work out the issue. Sometimes it's resolved in a day, other times it can take a week or two." She nodded slowly, absorbing the information.
"So, how were things handled when your father was in Azkaban? Surely he couldn't have been in charge while there." I nodded.
"He wasn't. When he was sentenced, and he turned everything over to me, he also had me sit in his place as the head of the clan." She nodded and then chuckled.
"Now I see why you were labelled a recluse. You had your hands full." I chuckled and nodded in agreement.
"It's true, I barely had time to sleep. If it weren't for Blaise, Pansy, and Theo, I wouldn't have been able to handle all of it. I owe them a lot." She gave me a small smile.
"So what exactly are you?" I chuckled again.
"Well, we have many names. Most just call us Lycans, however we're also called Lycanthropes, Loup-garou, wolf-men." She nodded.
"So like Werewolves?" I shook my head.
"Different species. We were born of Werewolves and wizards. While Werewolves are slaves to the moon, we are not. And we do not look like Werewolves when we change. We look like actual wolves, only slightly bigger. We also have control of our change, it takes practice and training though. Typically by the age of ten we can choose how much we change. Whether it is only the eyes, or maybe just our claws, or our teeth. We also, kind of like Veela's, have mates." She nodded.
"So, a subspecies of Werewolves. Mates, as in predestined partners? How similar is it to Veelas?" She asked as she sat her tea on the table.
"We may be a subspecies of Werewolves, but according to testing done by the Ministry, we might be even more powerful. And yes, mates as in a specific person made for us. A person who completes us in every way. My mother is my father's mate." I said with a chuckle. She nodded, now realizing what I meant by my father and mother's separation being so hard on him.
"For Veelas, by a certain age you must find your mate and, well, mate or bond with them. If you do not, or lose your mate, you can die of a broken heart. For us it's different. We do not have a specific age we must find and bond with our mate. And we do not die of heartbreak if we lose them or are separated from them. If we never find them, mind you that rarely happens, or if we lose them whether it be that they die or they just leave us, we do age differently. Depending on our lineage and genetics, we may age a decade faster or we may only age slightly more like a normal muggle. Also, it can weaken us physically and magically. When we find our mate, whether we have actually bonded with them or not, it actually makes us more powerful. So not having them, or losing them, can have the opposite effect. Luckily, there are potions these days that can help slightly sustain us." She nodded and looked like she was thinking.
"So it's less extreme than it is for Veelas. What about you? Won't being married to me make it harder for you to be with your mate?" I just shrugged my shoulders. Telling her now, it just seems like it would be too much to dump on her too fast.
"I'm not worried. I'm young, technically still only a pup. And, I've never been too worried about finding my mate. I don't know if you've noticed Granger, but we've all had other more pressing matters to deal with." I said with my head tilted slightly. She nodded.
"So tell me more about, well Lycans I guess." I chuckled.
"Ok, what do you want to know." I said before finishing my firewhiskey and setting the glass down on the table.
"Well, anything. What is the Lycan's dynamic like? More about mates, how Lycans came to be, where they originated?" I smirked, I should just write her a textbook of information.
"Well, we are extremely loyal to our kind and our families. To us, if you are considered one of us, there isn't anything we wouldn't do to help or protect you. The only person we would put above our clan or others would be our mate." I said before summoning Mitzi and having her refill our drinks.
"Once we've bonded with our mate, our mate then takes on Lycan traits. They can't change or anything but they do have heightened senses. Their strength entirely depends on our individual strength. For example, my father is a powerful Lycan. So when he bonded with my mother, gross, her strength increased to about half of his. It's all linked, however powerful we are as a Lycan that is how powerful our magic is, and vice versa." She nodded and took a sip of her hot tea.
"As for where we originated from, it is a very well kept secret. So, I'm trusting that you'll keep it to yourself." She nodded strongly.
"I swear, I won't tell a soul. You have my word." I smirked slightly and nodded.
"Well, most believe that we originated here in England, and we are fine letting them believe that. But we actually originated in a place called Tønsberg in Norway. When the clans meet, they meet there." Her eyebrows raised and she scoffed.
"Wow, so you're all somewhat Norwegian." I nodded and she motioned for me to continue.
"The story of how we were created goes something like this. A man, who was a wizard, fell in love with a farm girl whose father wanted her to marry a warrior he raided with. This wizard was a merchant, he sold furs and things like that. He wasn't a warrior, he had never been on a raid in his life. He hunted and he sold furs, that was his life. He and his love would run out to the woods to meet, however one night she was attacked by a beast, a Werewolf. It was a full moon. Every full moon after that he would lock her in a stone enclosure so that she wouldn't hurt anyone."
"One night, she didn't show and he had no idea why. The next day, while selling furs he heard that her father was going to marry her to this warrior by the next full moon. The thought of never seeing her again scared him, so he and her met that night to talk."
"They decided to run away together. And they did. Not too long after they discovered that she was pregnant. Fearful that the child would also be a beast, she begged him to cast spells to ensure that the child would not be born a monster. He had no idea what he was doing and accidentally cast a spell that trapped her in her Werewolf form. Scared of what she might do, he spelled her to sleep. He then tied her up and left, never to return. She was cared for by wolves in the area. When she gave birth, the baby looked like a human child."
"However she did not survive. Some hunters came upon her and thought that she was going to hurt the baby, so they killed her and took the child."
"He was raised by a local wizarding family, and when he turned four they realized what he was. He had gotten angry, and instead of magically breaking things, he changed into an actual wolf pup. They were amazed. No one had ever heard of a being that could do that. And by the age of eleven, they discovered that with a single bite, he could turn others into beings like him." Her eyes went wide. Then she slouched against the back of the couch.
"That's a horrible story. Interesting, but horrible." I chuckled and nodded.
"There's more." Her head snapped up and her eyebrows raised.
"More?" I nodded.
"When he was about seventeen, it is said that he had turned at least thirty people by then. And one day, when he was walking through town, he came across a man selling furs. He had a feeling that he was connected to the man, so he went up to him and began asking him about his furs. The man selling the furs was shocked, because the young man had bright blonde hair. Just like his lover who he had abandoned. He also had his lovers eyes."
"After some time, it was revealed that the merchant was his biological father. When the young man's adopted parents learned of what the merchant had done to his pregnant lover, they decided it could never happen to the boy or any of his kind. So they prayed to their gods and cursed the line. Any Lycan, born or bitten, would have a mate. One who was perfect for them in every way. Then as punishment for abandoning his lover and son, the merchant was torn apart, piece by piece, by his sons pack." Her eyebrows about reached her hairline.
"Wow. That's even more horrible. However, the man deserved it." I nodded and she finished her tea.
"Alright, enough about me. I feel like I've been talking for hours. What about you?" I asked as I sat my empty glass down on the table. She shrugged her shoulders.
"Well, I'm still muggle-born. My parents recovered from the obliviate I used on them and are back to a normal life. I am a successful writer, I'm working on my second book. I work at St. Mungo's as a Trauma Healer. And up until a month ago, I was engaged to Ron. Now, I'm married to you." She said holding up her left hand. I nodded.
"Glad your parents are alright. And I hate to pry, but, what happened between you and the Weasel? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I'm just curious." She nodded and gave me a small smile.
"It's ok, I may as well tell you. I started writing my first book after the war ended, as a way to deal with everything. But I was also in school, studying to become a Healer. It caused some tension between he and I. We made it through that, but I had told him beforehand, being a Healer means working a lot. And being a Trauma Healer means even more work. He told me repeatedly that he understood. But we were fighting all the time. It was the same old story, I work too much, I don't pay enough attention to him when I am home, I'm not putting out enough. Every single fight was the same."
"Then about a year and a half ago, he asked me to marry him and I said that I would. But it only got worse. He wanted to marry right away, saying that we'd been together for a long time and there was no reason to wait. But I told him that I wanted to wait. The fighting got so bad that I started staying with Ginny."
"Do you remember the train derailment that happened? Yeah, well I was the on-call lead Trauma Healer at that time. So my workload tripled. I was sleeping in on-call rooms in between rounds. Then a month ago, I came home and heard noises coming from the bedroom. I opened the door to find Ronald screwing one of the secretaries in Harry's department at the Ministry. He tried to tell me she used a potion or spell on him, but I found out from her that they had been sleeping together for over six months. Apparently, I just wasn't putting out enough." She said looking down at her hands on her lap. I grabbed ahold of her hands and she looked up at me.
"There is no excuse for stepping out on the person you're with. I don't care if they've lost the plot, you don't ever do that. My father, no matter how much of a tosser he can be, he has never and will never step out on my mother. Even if you hadn't slept with him the entire time you were together, he has no right and shouldn't ever go looking for it from someone else." I said looking her in the eyes. They had welled up a bit, but I could tell she was trying not to show it. She gave my hand a squeeze and nodded. Then her head tilted to the side.
"I wonder who he got paired with." I narrowed my eyes in a curious way and then smirked.
"I know how we can find out. I can owl Theo and ask him. He can access the information at the Ministry." That's how I found out I was matched with Granger. She smiled and nodded.
"Thanks, Malfoy." I nodded and released her hands.
"No problem, Granger." She nodded and then sighed.
"You keep calling me Granger, technically by law I am a Malfoy now." I chuckled.
"Yeah, old habits die hard. Alright, I'll call you Hermione if you call me Draco. We may as well drop the surnames. Calling each other Malfoy would be confusing." She laughed and nodded before holding her hand out to me to shake, which I did.
"Deal." With our hands still clasped, I turned my head to the door when I heard my father calling my name. She gave me a strange look.
"Sorry, it's my father. He can't find the Zabini's registry information." She looked at the door and then raised her eyebrows.
"That'll be hard to get used to." I chuckled and nodded.
"I'll be right back." I said before standing up and giving her shoulder a squeeze as I walked by and made my way to the door.
~A/N~
Ah-ha! Now you know what they are! Finally! Sorry for the suspense. XD Or maybe I'm not. XP
How will Hermione fair her first night at Malfoy Manor?
Who is Ron paired with?
How will Draco and Hermione's relationship unfold?
And could there possibly be something lurking out there in the dark?
Review and stay tuned! :D
~Cass~
