Chapter 4

"Did you see that young man, Severus?" Lucius questioned as he drove himself and his friend back to his house.

Severus nodded. "The large one? With Draco?" He knew of Dumbledore's friends, and they were all the magical beings Dumbledore had told him of. So either Dumbledore was not aware of the Quilettes or they were simply large muggles, which he doubted. That boy with his godson had oozed power and strength, and Draco was too preoccupied with his illness to probably notice. "You think he's magic?"

"I don't know," Lucius replied, "But I think he's an ally if he is. Did you see the way he looked at my son? We have some research to do."

Severus nodded his concurrance.

TLA

As it turned out, Jacob had all of his classes with Draco, he just hadn't known because he hadn't attended any of them yesterday. Needless to say, he was estatic. Now he could keep an eye on him without seeming like a stalker! He was suddenly very glad that his father made him take all honors courses; Draco was apparently very smart.

There was a puppy inside Jacob that was doing flips and chasing his tail around.

Draco on the other hand was warring with himself. He didn't know what insulted him more, the pitiful looks the teacher shot him or the insanely easy work he was given. What the hell? Did they think he was crippled and retarded?

The urge to bang his head against the nearest hard surface was a strong one.

It was their third class together, the one before lunch when the food could be smelled all over the small campus, that Jacob grew increasingly worried. The more the school began to smell, the greener Draco got. He didn't look good at all, in a completely health related sense. Jacob thought he was amazingly beautiful no matter what, but he looked like he may be sick at any minute.

It didn't seem though that Draco was acknowledging his sickness. He looked queesy but he kept listening to the teacher and writing stuff down. It seemed that he was determined not to get sick. Jacob could tell though that it was a worthless battle. What should he do?

He couldn't raise his hand and ask the teacher if Draco could be excused. He couldn't just stand up and take the boy from the room. Well... he could but that may not be appreciated later... Damn...

What to do? What to do? What to do?

He scribbled on a peice of paper hurriedly and tossed it to the ill-looking boy.

Draco felt terrible. The smell in the damn school was sickening, and his head hurt. His stomach lurched every time he breathed, and there was an aching pressure in his skull. He was even listening to the dimwit teacher and taking notes that he didn't need; anything to distract him.

The crumbled piece of paper that landed in his lap was almost a relief. What was it? A note? From who?

But then again, he probably could have guessed. That large Jacob boy watched him like a hawk. Maybe the guy didn't think Draco would notice, but he was raised to watch his back; he was practically born with the ability to know and feel when he was being watched. And it didn't help that for some reason Draco could tell it was Jacob's eyes on him and not someone else's. How exactly did he know that it wasn't someone else staring at him? Everyone was staring at him, but for some reason he could pick out Jacob. He would need to think on it more when he didn't feel so terrible.

He fiddled with the paper until it was back to a relatively flat shape and tried to decipher the scribble inside.

'you looh a little gneeh'

Huh...? You looh a little gneeh'...? He looked a little harder. Okay, he got the 'you', and the 'a little'. 'Looh'... Was that possibly 'look'? That made sense. 'You look a little... gneeh'? 'Gneeh'... Maybe that was supposed to be an 'r'? And maybe an 'n'? 'You look a little green'?

He turned his head and looked at the larger male who looked pointedly at the door.

Draco turned back around and wrote a reply before he sent the note back.

Jacob grabbed the now neatly folded sheet of paper, albeit wrinkly, and unfolded it.

'I'm not an alien. Kindly mind your own business.'

Jacob rolled his chocolate eyes at the elegantly written reply and scribbled another reply.

'jusl ash to be excuzed. its not hard'

'Who taught you how to write? Half of your letters look like different letters.'

'Well excuse me :P'

Draco was feeling slightly better. He didn't feel like throwing up after every breath now. He hated to admit it, but he had an odd feeling that this Jacob guy was the cause of this lift in his health.

'Well now, that was legible, but childish. A face, really? Silly American.' He found himself smiling when he heard a laugh.

'I told you that I'm smarter than I look. I can write perfectly well, as you can see. its jusl nol lmportdnt :)'

Draco shook his head, fighting off the smile on his face. Wow, he felt a lot better. His head didn't even hurt that much anymore.

He laid the paper down on his desk to reply, but a drop of red suddenly plopped onto the wrinkly white.

What...?

He reached his hand up and wiped at his nose; it came back red. He gasped and placed the hand over his nose.

Jacob had perked up when the smell of blood hit his nose, looking around at his classmates, worried. Then, he heard Draco's gasp and saw him cover his face. His panic mood went into overdrive.

The pale teen seemed to be a little shocked, so Jacob shot his hand into the air. "May I take Draco to the restroom?" he called out.

The teacher looked at Jacob, confused, then looked to Draco and nodded hurriedly.

Jacob was out of his seat and had Draco out the door in record time. He pushed him into the nearest restroom, and grabbed some paper towels.

"Let me see," he instructed, removing Draco's hand from his face. There was a steady trickle of blood; he covered it gently with the paper towels. "Lean your head back," he said, while placing his hand on the boy's forehead and tilting it back.

Draco was freaking out. He'd never had a nosebleed before. "My head was hurting earlier," he said worriedly through the paper towels covering his face, "and my nose isn't broken. Am I dying?" he questioned. His eyes watered. Was the damn potion going to kill him? "Did a vein or artery burst in my head?" He couldn't die yet! He had to make sure his father and Severus got free of Voldemort, and he had to best Harry Potter at quidditch dammit! Angry tears spilled from his eyes.

Jacob hurried to comfort the scared boy. "You're not dying," he said firmly; he honestly needed to hear the words himself. Were nosebleeds new to Draco? Was that a bad sign? "It's just a nosebleed," he said; he moved the paper towels back. "See? It's stopping; you're just fine."

Draco nodded and tried to calm himself. He wiped at his face with his one clean hand, wiping the tears away. Nosebleed, paralysis, and wimpy emotions? What the hell had his life come to?

After another minute or two, Jacob moved the paper towels again; the bleeding had stopped. He sighed in relief. "It stopped," he said, smiling brightly. "Can you lean your head back up for me?"

Draco cautiously raised his head; he was only satisfied when he no longer felt that warm trickling down his face. He matched Jacob's sigh of relief.

Jacob threw the dirty paper towels away and got some fresh ones, wetting them first. He turned back to his mate and began wiping at his face.

Draco itched to snap at the larger boy, and tell him he could take care of himself, but he held himself in check. Jacob had brought him here and got his weakness out of sight of everyone else, and he had calmed him down. He decided that he would allow Jacob to help him for now. And it didn't bother him as much when Jacob did it. He let himself be cleaned up.

Jacob got some more wet paper towels and knelt in front of Draco's chair. He grabbed his bloody hand and began to wipe it clean.

His poor mate, all bloody and freaked out. He seemed to be better now though, which was a plus. And he was allowing Jacob to help him, which pleasantly surprised the shapeshifter. He didn't think the foreigner's pride would allow it, but maybe the imprint was rubbing off on him? Hopefully!

He was about to stand back up and throw the paper towels away when Draco's voice stopped him.

"Thank you, Jacob," he said, his face heating up for some insane reason. He reached up and ruffled Jacob's short hair. It was surprisingly soft, but what was more surprising than that was the pulse that went through him when he made contact with Jacob. The other must have felt it too because his eyes widened, but then he smiled, and it was the biggest one yet that Draco had seen from him.

"You're welcome, Draco," Jacob replied. His smile was threatening to split his face in half.

Draco found himself smiling in return. "Can we go back to class?" he questioned.

Jacob laughed and tossed the paper towels into the trash can. "The bell's about to ring for lunch. Would you prefer to just go there?" And sure enough, before Draco could even reply, the bell rang.

"You're good," Draco smirked, beginning to push himself to the door.

"I know," Jacob said with a laugh, pulling the door open.

TLA

"Look at this Severus. I finally found something."

Severus placed the book he'd been flipping through down on the sofa he was seated on and made his way to his blonde friend who was surrounded by books of his own. "What did you find?" he questioned.

Lucius had a rather large old book opened, which he blew a thick layer of dust from. "After hours of intense study, I have finally found our answer. That young man is either a really large, abnormal boy, or he is a wolfshifter. I support the idea of the latter, especially since you said the old coot's friends were of the cold nature and live relatively close by."

"Yes, you're right," Severus said, looking at the book, not that he needed it now; he wasn't a teacher because he liked children. "Wolfshifters, a branch of their own from the werewolf and shapeshifter root. Born and not made, they were first born from muggles and then passed on the magical gene. They are for the most part muggles unless of course arround vampires or as they call them, cold ones. The scent of the cold one calls to them and if they carry the gene, they can shift into the form of a massive wolf. They grow large, larger than normal humans; they need the extra muscle to tear through steely flesh." He rubbed his chin and thought.

"Sounds like that young man, does it not?" Lucius questioned. "And Draco said there were 'small giants' at the school."

"Hmm... It all fits," Severus replied. "And we did know that the Quilettes were descended from magic."

"There's something else," Lucius said, his eyes skimming down the pages of the book, "about the way he was looking at Draco..." He was about to explain, but Severus beat him to it.

"Oh yes..." the potions master said, like he'd forgotten until just now, "Imprinting... It's something that is unique to the wolfshifter, a way for them to find their soulmates. They are where the term 'love at first sight' originated."

"Yes," Lucius nodded. "And-"

"You think that this boy has imprinted on your son?"

Lucius popped his friend on the head in a very un-Malfoy-like manner. "Will you ever let me talk?" he questioned. It could get really irritating when Severus did that to him, on purpose no doubt. Lucius knew that his friend was smart, but really? He had to use his brains all over Lucius? "That's exactly what I think."

Snape rubbed his head with a slight smirk; just like old times. "But that's impossible Lucius. They only imprint on someone who can help them carry on the line."

With those words, it hit them both, and they remembered what they had been forced to do.

They shared a look of horror and regret.

TLA

Draco watched as the large boy before him wolfed down his entire lunch tray, which was significantly larger than anyone else's. His manners were less than acceptable; he ate like he'd never eaten before in his life; and his friends were no better. One of them wasn't even using a fork, he was just shoveling food into his mouth.

Draco pushed his own tray of food away, which he hadn't even touched; even if he could get that disgusting food past his lips, watching the large friends around him eat would make him bring it back up.

One the boys, Embry maybe? Draco honestly couldn't remember which was which, looked at Draco and then down at his untouched tray. "Not hungry new guy?" he questioned.

Jacob shot his eyes to Draco, worried. "Are you okay?" he questioned next.

Draco waved his hand dismissively. "I'm fine," he said. "However, if I was going to kill myself, then I wouldn't choose food poisoning to do it." He had to bite off the words he had been going to say about how his servants ate better than this, but one: he had no more servants, and second: he just didn't feel like getting crap about it, especially from that Paul fellow. Draco alsmot felt like he had three eyes, the way that guy would stare at him suspiciously.

Jacob smiled. "It's not that bad," he said, eating another spoonful.

Draco fought off his look of disgust. He had fully intended on making his lunch, but after taking that damn medicine he'd forgotten.

"Awe... Poor albino can't even suffer through lunch, someone grab a box of tissues."

Draco sent his best Malfoy glare. "You," he said, pointing with his finger, wishing it could be his wand instead. "Just wait," he continued on with his threat, "When I get out of this wheelchair, I'm going to kick your giant ass."

They all laughed, except Jacob; he had a feeling by that look on his mate's face that maybe he could actually whoop Paul's ass. He had to smile though at the thought.

"I'd love to see you do that Draco," Embry? said, spitting little bits of food from his mouth as he laughed harder.

The other one, Quil?, laughed as well, threatening to lose his drink through his nose.

These imbeciles think I'm joking... Draco smiled to himself. Well, they'll see...

TLA

"Lucius, old friend, you must calm down..."

Lucius was pacing back and forth, running his hands anxiously through his hair. Severus was having a hard time keeping up with the worried man, the way he kept moving around and mumbling.

"Calm down!" Lucius turned on him. "Calm down?" he asked hysterically. "How am I supposed to calm down? Draco is going to hate me! He's going to hate me forever! All that I've done for him... All that I've done to protect him... He'll forget all of it and just see this! He won't even think about it! He won't even see my side! He'll just hate me!" He dropped onto the nearest sofa, bowing his head in defeat. "I've already lost his mother," he said, "I can't lose his as well... I can't..."

Severus ached to see his friend like this. Ever since Narcissa was killed, Lucius hadn't been the same. It seemed like a piece of him had disappeared. It wasn't a large difference, but it was enough for Severus to notice. Lucius had tried to take on Narcissa's role, the loving parent that could do no wrong. It had worked. The Lucius that had done everything for the Dark Lord to protect his family was gone, now he was Lucius who would do everything for Draco regardless of the Dark Lord. He was the father that Severus always thought he would be, and it was sad that they'd had to lose Narcissa for it to happen, but it had happened. Severus didn't believe that Draco would hate his father, but Lucius wouldn't listen to him in the state he was in.

He walked to the sofa that his friend was seated on and sat down next to him. He put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It'll be fine Lucius, you'll see. Just tell Draco the truth, and it'll be fine."

TLA

Draco was glad when the final bell rang. He hated sitting through class after class of note taking. It was like having Professor Binns every hour of the day. It was dreadful. He was also glad that after the nose fiasco, he had felt just fine. He didn't embarass himself anymore. It had been a decent day.

He was waiting outside the school when Jacob came running up behind him. "Wow," he said, "You got out of there fast."

Draco nodded. "I don't like dawdling in the hall. There's no reason for it."

Jacob laughed. "Your uncle picking you up?"

Draco shrugged. "I think my Father is; I don't even know if my uncle can drive."

Jacob laughed again. "Really? That's pretty weird." He looked around. "So... Me and the guys are doing to the beach... Wanna come?" Somewhere in the distance, he could hear some cat-calls and kissing noises. He glared in their general direction.

Draco couldn't hear it, but he did feel his cheeks warm a bit. What the hell was that about? Was it because the big guy felt like he had a fever? Was that the cause of the heat on his face? "The beach?" he questioned, thinking. "I've never been to the beach..."

"What?" Jacob questioned, who hadn't been to the beach? That was insane. He watched as Draco's eyes got a little distant.

"My mom loved the beach... She would tell me about it and how she and I would build sand castles and find shells..." He smiled a small smile that completely dazzled Jacob. "She began planning the perfect beach trip," he said.

"But you didn't go..." Jacob concluded, "Why?"

Draco let out a little sigh, "She died..." And why in the world was he sharing this? He didn't even share this with his Hogwarts friends.

Jacob delfated at those words. Stupid, stupid, stupid, he scolded himself. Curse his lack of knowledge about his mate. "I'm sorry," he said, patting one of Draco's hands.

Draco pulled his hand away, another damn blush on his face. What the hell? "No... It's okay. It was a few years ago... It's fine." He licked his suddenly dry lips. "I'd um..." Um? What's wrong with you Draco? You don't say 'um'. "I'd like to go," he continued, trying to be nonchalant. He was going to add, 'just not right now', but he saw his father pull up in the car. "My Father's here."

Jacob looked disappointed, but then he smiled. "You can come some other time!" he exclaimed.

He picks himself back up quickly, Draco noticed. "See you tomorrow," he said, rolling his chair to the car.

"Bye!" Jacob called, watching as who must have been Draco's father help him in the car. The man looked a lot like Draco but his blonde hair was longer and his eyes were bluer than silver. They made a striking pair though, Jacob had to admit.

When the car pulled away, and his mate was out of sight, he ran off towards the woods. When he broke through the barrier of trees, he began to strip. He used to hate school in general, but with Draco there it was good. Now his only problem with it was the dress code. He had to have a shirt, pants, and shoes on at all times. As a wolf, he preferred not wearing so many clothes.

A couple yards away from the beginning of the forrest, away from the school, he found his pack. They were all half dressed like him, except Leah of course who wore a short skirt and loose tank-top. They were all smirking at him. Then Seth, the youngest and the smallest, puckered up his lips and made smooching sounds. Everyone laughed.

Even Jacob fought off his smile. "Oh," he began, "You guys thought that was funny, did you?" He pounced at the closest one, Embry, and tackled him to the ground. It became a wild free-for-all. Everyone was in on it except Leah who had a tight hold on Seth's neck to keep him out of the fray. She laughed as the boys playfully fought each other, but she really wanted to get to the beach for when the some came out. It was only a few minutes away! Then, they only had about two hours to soak in the few precious rays before night fell and they were reduced to hang around a campfire.

"Hurry you morons!" she called, "The beach is waiting!"

TLA

"What's wrong, Father?" Draco questioned as they pulled into the driveway of their house. The man only sighed and turned the car off, getting out after doing so. Draco watched as the man almost slumped to his side of the car and began to help him out of it. What was wrong with his father? It couldn't be good... "Father. What's the matter?" he demanded.

"Let's get inside first, Son," was the only reply.

Once they were inside, Draco saw that Severus was still there. "Still here, Severus?" he questioned.

The man smiled and nodded. "We found out a bunch of stuff today," he replied. "Something particularily interesting about your large friend."

"Jacob Black?" Draco questioned. "He's not related to that Sirius oaf is he? I thought he was an okay ally; please say there's no relation."

Severus laughed slightly, brightening up the mood a tad. "No, not at all. I'd have you removed from the school."

Draco was glad someone was laughing. Maybe it wasn't that bad after all. "So what's the news then?"

"Well, your new friend is a wolfshifter."

"I knew something was different about him!" Draco exclaimed. "And I thought that story he told me earlier sounded familiar! I love it when something comes together!" He was confused at the glances that his father was giving him. "That's not everything... is it?"

Lucius sighed and began to pace. Severus continued the talking. "It's not everything," he agreed. "What else do you remember about the wolfshifters?"

Draco thought about it for a second. He could remember Severus telling him the story once when he was younger, but that was a long time ago. "They were muggles at first. And later thay became wolfshifters... They could turn into large wolves whenever the threat of a vampire was present; this was what unlocked their magic. There was something else..." he tried to remember. "Hold on... let me think..." There was one more big thing that he'd found interesting about these magical creatures...What was it? Hmmm... "Oh yes!" he exclaimed. "They have a unique way to carry on their bloodline! By imprinting! It's the equivalent to finding their soulmate!"

Severus smiled. "Very good Draco! I'm glad you were paying attention!"

"Yes, but what does that have to do... with... me?" A look of dawning shown in his eyes. "You've got to be kidding me!" he exclaimed. "You think that Jacob bloke has imprinted on me? That's foolish." He scoffed at the idiocy. He was a male; wolfshifters only imprinted on someone who could help them carry on their bloodline. Pfft... Maybe Father and Severus have gone senile like that Dumbledore baffoon.

"Tell him Lucius," Severus commanded.

Draco looked at his father. "Tell me what?"

Lucius looked lost.

"Tell him; get it over with."

"Tell me what!" Draco questioned angrily, glaring at his father.

"Draco..." His father began cautiously, "You can't blame me. Okay? We had to do it. All of us; you couldn't be the exception. But I didn't think it'd be that big of a deal because I didn't know this would happen. I-"

"What. Are. You. Trying. To. Say?" Draco ground out, dread filling him.

"The Dark Lord... He made Severus create a potion... I couldn't possibly tell you how it works, but..." Lucius looked absolutely guilt stricken.

"But...?" Draco encouraged. His father looked like he'd rather chop his own tongue out then tell him.

Severus sighed. "But to summarize the potion, it means that you can bear children."

Draco wasn't sure if he even properly registered those words before he apparated. He had no idea where he was going; he was just going.

That pop to Lucius was like a shot to his soul. "Draco..." He wanted to hurriedly follow his son's trail, but Severus stopped him.

"Let him be, Lucius," the man said, "He needs to think about this. He'll come back; I promise."

TLA

Jacob and his friends were lazing around the campfire when a loud crash made them all jump up in a defensive stance.

He took one whiff of the air and ran towards the sound. "Draco?"

Sasunarutla: Sorry for any and all typos! ^^ Stupid wordpad doesn't have a spell check and what not! And don't worry! just because he can have kids doesn't mean this will be an mpreg! Unless you guys want it to! I can totally do that! Let me know!

and NO jacob isn't iliterate! he just has sloppy handwriting when he doesn't try and his letters look like different letters! lol

I'll try to update soon again!

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