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Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters...

It was funny, Harry thought as he gazed into the large mirror in the bathroom, in a very unfunny way, how he still knew so little about the Wizarding world, despite having been a part of it for the past few years. Then again, five years wasn't a long amount of time at all, so maybe it wasn't as odd as he was thinking it was.

He stared at his reflection, but that reflection no longer matched what he looked like. Or rather, he no longer looked like he once had. There were differences now-just a couple of small ones, but they were obvious to him. And they didn't make any sense.

The first thing he noticed, of course, was that his vision seemed to have improved, because he wasn't wearing his glasses and could still see perfectly clearly. The next thing he noticed were his ears. They were kind of elongated, not quite as long as the ears House-Elves had, but not far from either, but they were pointed at the ends the same way.

He didn't really see anything else odd, from what he could tell. His eyes were the same, and other than maybe feeling a little softer, so was his hair. He was still the same height, he thought, squinting into the mirror. It was possible he was a couple of inches taller, but that could just have been wishful thinking. His skin seemed mostly the same too, maybe just a little clearer. That painful pimple on his chin seemed to be gone, so that was cool at least.

So what the hell was this? What the hell was going on? Harry tugged at one of his ears sharply, and since it hurt, he was pretty sure it really was his ear. But why were they long and pointed and...Elfey like this? Why was his vision better?

Was Voldemort behind this? Was Malfoy? He didn't know for sure-had no answer. So he quickly washed his face and rinsed his mouth, before heading back into the bedroom. He was approaching the door when it opened, causing him to stop in his tracks.

It was Voldemort who walked in, looking far more human than Harry last remembered seeing him. Honestly, the only reason he even knew this was the Dark Lord was because he currently looked like an older version of who he had dubbed 'Diary Tom'-he had a good decade, if not more, on him though.

But for some reason, Voldemort seemed to be as surprised to see him, as Harry himself was.

"What in Salazar's name has happened to your ears?"

Harry blinked, confused. "What? I thought you did this!"

"I did no such thing."

"Well I didn't do this! I just woke up like this!"

"Is everything al-ah." Lucius Malfoy had entered the room now too, and the moment his gaze landed on the teen, he too paused in place, eyes widening. "Well, this is...unexpected."

No one spoke for a moment, before Harry, growing frustrated, said, "Is anyone going to tell me what's happening any time soon?"

Voldemort stared at him for a moment longer, before turning on his heel and leaving the room. Malfoy watched him go, and then sighed and shut the door behind him, before approaching the teen and gesturing to the bed. He waited for Harry to sit down, following suit once he had.

"Have you turned sixteen yet, Harry?" he asked.

Harry blinked, confusion growing. "Er, I guess that'll depend on the date. Is it August yet?"

"It is, yes. The second, specifically."

"I've been here for four days? Er, then yeah, I turned sixteen on the thirty first of July."

Malfoy inclined his head. "That was when you were asleep. You were exhausted when you arrived, which is the reason why you initially slept so much. But after your birthday, you had another reason to continue sleeping. Are you aware of the inheritance magical children go through on the day of their sixteenth birthday?" he asked curiously.

Harry only shook his head. This was nothing he had heard of before, not from anyone, and not in any book he had read-not that that was many. Hermione certainly hadn't said anything, and she had turned sixteen almost a year ago, hadn't she? Ron hadn't said anything either, and his own sixteenth birthday had been back in March, right?

Malfoy didn't seem surprised that he didn't know, or bothered by it either. He simply nodded again and began to explain briefly. "At sixteen, magical children go through a maturity of sorts. It is not the same as coming of age, which takes place at seventeen. The latter of those is judged by law, the former by magic itself."

The teen frowned. "What happens during this maturity thing?"

"This is when one's magical core finally...ceases growing, in a manner of speaking. You start off with a very small magical core when you are born. As you grow, the core does as well. Once a child is four or five years old they begin showing initial signs of having magic. This is the average age. Some children will show signs earlier, some later."

Harry nodded as he listened. That made sense to him so far. Even the beginning to show magic part. He had starting showing signs when he was maybe three, from what he was aware of. Hermione had said she was five when she started, and Ron had been pretty young too-Harry remembered the teddy bear story. Neville had been older though, hadn't he?

"Even when you begin your studies," Malfoy continued, "your magical core continues to grow. This is why children's magic is often erratic-because their core is still changing and growing. Hasn't stabilized yet, for a lack of better words."

"So...so it stabilizes when you turn sixteen?"

"Not quite. The stabilization happens in two phases. At sixteen, your core finally ceases growing, and it goes through the first phase of stabilizing. At this point, you generally also receive an..increase in your magical strength. It may be more obvious in some than others. When you turn twenty two, your core stabilizes further, once more granting an increase in power. When this happens, you have reached your full magical strength, and in most cases, cannot grow stronger in that manner."

"Oh. You can't get stronger at all?" That sounded kind of odd. Did that mean Dumbledore had been as strong as he was since he had been only twenty two? Voldemort too?

"There are..cases," Malfoy replied somewhat hesitantly, "rare ones, that may increase your magical strength later on, but this only happens to few. It is difficult to predict. Many who receive this extra strength consider it a gift from Mother Magic. Most of the time, the larger your magical core is, the stronger your magic is. The smaller your core is, the weaker your magic-there are exceptions to that, naturally."

Harry's brow pinched as it furrowed, his confusion returning again. "So that's what this inheritance thing is?"

"Mostly, yes."

"Mostly?"

Malfoy hesitated. "You are, of course, aware of what magical creatures are?"

"Yeah."

"Some inherit the blood of these creatures."

The teen eyes widened. "Inherit...their blood? What does that mean?"

"They become these creatures themselves."

"B-become? I-is that why-?" His hand rose to one of his ears, before lowering again.

"Yes," Malfoy returned with a nod. "Essentially, what happens is someone in your bloodline in the past-an ancestor, once...mated with a magical creature of some kind. Their child then inherits the blood of whichever parent was the creature, but they may not be the creature themselves. In most cases, the blood remains dormant in future members of this line."

"And when it doesn't?"

"When a member of the line is powerful enough-magically, and their core is large enough, then that creature blood, which has remained dormant in their line, may...awaken during their inheritance at sixteen years old."

"This...what?" Harry frowned, understanding, but at the same time, unable to.

"It can be difficult to explain," Malfoy acknowledged, "however, this is something that I have experienced myself."

Green eyes widened in surprise. "Really?"

"Yes. One of my ancestors, I am unaware of who, once mated with a Veela."

"A-a Veela?" Harry knew what they were, of course, though he hadn't thought men could be one too. Maybe that wasn't all too surprising though, he realized, looking at the man before him.

"Hmm. That Veela blood remained in the Malfoy bloodline, awakening every now and again in other ancestors."

"Is Mal-er, Draco one too? He already turned sixteen too, didn't he?"

"He did, yes, in June, but he is not one. The last before me was my great grandfather, I believe, and perhaps a child Draco has may be one. There is no way of knowing until the child turns sixteen."

Harry nodded here, finally beginning to understand. "What am I, then?" he asked curiously.

"An Elf of some sort, clearly, if we were to go by your ears. There are different races of Elves, House Elves being one of them, though you obviously are not of that particular race. It may take some research to find out for sure, but there are generally signs to help."

"Then...that means that someone in..probably my dad's family..."

"Mated with an Elf of a particular race, yes," the man agreed. "As your mother was a Muggleborn, it is unlikely that it was her-this tends to happen in Pureblood lines most often. That Elf and Potter had a child or children together who held the Elf blood, and these children had children who held the Elf blood. It will have remained in the Potter bloodline ever since, easily skipping generations at a time. And now that Elf blood seems to have awoken in you at your inheritance two days ago."

This was so weird. Harry didn't really know what to think about it. He understood the logistics of it now, sure, but still... "So what does this mean? How does this affect me?"

"You will have to discover which Elf you are first, for that question to be answered. The only thing I can answer, is that you are likely to have a mate."

Harry's head snapped up. "A mate?"

"A...soulmate of sorts, though that is not a word commonly used to describe them. Although it is entirely possible to have more than one. In history up until now, it appears that magical creatures who are also witches or wizards, tend to have mates. It is not known why. You likely know your mate or mates, should you have any, and will already have some sort of relationship with them, positive or negative."

The teen hesitated. He had a question, but wasn't sure he wanted to ask, mainly because it was really awkward. "Do...er, do you..."

"Do I have a mate?" Malfoy spoke, a small smile of amusement on his face. He laughed lightly when Harry nodded, making note of the teen's flushed cheeks, then said, "I do, actually. Two that I am aware of. You know them both. Severus and Marvolo."

If Harry had been drinking something right now, he would have done something very dramatic when he heard this. Instead, his eyes widened almost comically. "Snape and Voldemort? Seriously? You're not about to tell me they're also Veela, are you? And-and what about your wife?"

Malfoy continued smiling, fortunately not offended by the questions. "My wife and I are in a marriage of convenience. It is merely a formality. I needed an heir to continue on the Malfoy line, and as both of my mates are men, it is impossible for them to do anything in that manner, not that they even desire children of their own. Narcissa was expected to marry, though she has long since had a lover her family did not approve of. We married, had our son, and are content with our own partners. Draco is aware of this, and understands it, though I believe he is still too young to truly understand. And no, Severus and Marvolo are not Veela themselves. Severus is a Vampire, and Marvolo an Incubus."

Harry's mind was reeling. This was just so fucking weird! He had thought Malfoy was going to make things easier for him to understand, but now he was even more confused than before.

Malfoy was a Veela, Snape was a Vampire (which he should have expected honestly), Voldemort was some sort of...sex demon? And Harry himself was like, an Elf? And he probably had one or more mate(s) that he already knew in person, but didn't know were mates. And-and-

"Calm down, Harry." Malfoy was leaning in close to him, large hands on the teen's shoulder, brow pinched in concern.

"Sorry, sorry, I'm fine," he spoke quickly, trying to calm himself back down before this could get any worse. "This is just-just-"

"Hard to come to terms with. I understand. Do you require some water?"

"No, it's alright, I'm fine." The teen took a few more breaths, and then looked back up, calm again. "Why did you bring me here?"

Malfoy released him slowly, and leaned back, his brow still furrowed. Why Harry had the sudden urge to smooth those wrinkles he didn't know or even want to think about right now. "I..." But the man trailed off before he could really even begin. Harry didn't know it, but there really wasn't much of an answer to that. He sighed. "Because you don't deserve to hate yourself the way you do."

Harry blinked, and then his expression closed off, even as he brought his arms closer to his body, as if in a show of defence. He didn't want to talk about this right now. Didn't even want to think about it.

"Are you hungry?" Malfoy asked him abruptly.

The teen nodded, though he said nothing, not trusting himself to speak, and a moment later was following the man out of the room and through the manor so he could get something to eat, both of them walking in silence.

There was so much that needed to be said, but neither of them were aware of how to say any of it.

That's it for now. Lots of talking, sorry, but it needed to be done. Also, before you start questioning the creatures they are, I wanted everyone to be something different. Why? Because I felt like it and I'm the one writing this. The Elf thing will be explained more later, of course. Looking forward to reviews! Laterz!