Disclaimer: None of my work belongs to me, it is solely the property of the one and only J.K. Rowling and any other company which has the copyright of Harry Potter, including Warner Bros. Nothing here belongs to me; all the characters are J.K. Rowling's originally, though any new character not part of the Harry Potter series belongs to me.


Title: Always

Author: hpjkrowling4ever

Chapter Seven

Dear Father and Mother,

It is with great joy that I write to tell you that I have at long last found my mate. Please be at Hogwarts at your earliest convenience to meet him.

Yours with love and respect,

Draco Malfoy

"Do you think that will do?" Draco asked anxiously, glancing over at Pansy while his fingers tied it automatically to his owl's leg, who was smiling at his preoccupation. "I don't want to seem standoffish."

"Think, Draco. A few days ago you wouldn't have cared how you worded your letters to your parents, just that you didn't have your mate. Now you do have your mate your life is suddenly back to normal." Pansy raised an eyebrow towards her friend and waited for him to acknowledge her superior intellect. Draco huffed and let the owl fly off before turning back to Pansy.

"My life isn't back to normal. I have my mate, nothing is back to normal, and it's wonderful!" Draco smiled broadly in an uncharacteristic display of emotion that made Pansy smile and Blaise hide his head in his hands and groan in defeat.

"If he continues acting like a lovesick idiot I think I'll be sick." Blaise mumbled.

"Just don't do it on my carpet." Draco said cheerily, and Pansy's face threatened to break open wider she was smiling so much.

"I cannot believe it turned out to be Harry Potter of all people!" Blaise groaned, looking up at Draco for a moment. That turned out to be the wrong plan, because Draco caught his eyes in his and held Blaise's gaze. His eyes had suddenly turned threatening and cold, and Pansy's smile disappeared just as fast as it had appeared.

"Are you threatening my mate?" Draco growled, walking towards Blaise, hearing the exasperation in his voice and seeing it as a threat against his mate. No one was allowed to threaten his mate. No one.

"No! No, Draco, of course not. You know that I think Potter's awesome." Blaise stood up and walked backwards, his hands extended in front of him, protecting him against the Veela.

"You think that my mate is awesome?" Draco asked, seeing all of Blaise's words as a threat to his mate.

Almost as if someone was reading Blaise's panicked expression and hearing his silent prayers for help, someone knocked at the door. It was tentative and quiet, but Draco's head snapped to it, forgetting all about Blaise in his haste to open it. As it flew open, banging against the wall behind it, Harry Potter was revealed.

Pansy looked on in interest. She had never seen a newly bonded Veela couple and was fascinated to see how Draco and Potter would work. Priding herself in knowing all of Hogwarts' gossip, Pansy had known of Potter's seclusion in the library and his apathy throughout the term. She had beat herself up when Draco had hesitantly told them who his mate was two days earlier, the day after he had met Potter in the library.


"Pansy, Blaise, Crabbe, Goyle. How nice to see you." Draco said, smiling widely at them all.

Pansy and Blaise exchanged looks. This was too cheerful for a Veela dying for their mate. The thought that Draco could finally be going insane crossed their minds and their eyes snapped to said Veela, looking for any signs of madness. Oddly, they couldn't see any. His eyes were sparkling, not their usual dull grey, and his hair looked washed and clean for once. In fact, Draco looked like he was in peak health.

"Great to see you too…" Pansy let her voice trail away curiously. Draco smirked in his familiar way at them and her mind grasped towards a solution.

"I'm sure you're all wondering if I'm finally insane."

"Why don't you enlighten us before I go to find Madame Pomfrey?" Blaise asked sarcastically.

"I've found my mate," Draco whispered, and Pansy gasped. That was why he looked so healthy! Immediately her face broke into a wide smile and she had to put aside all of her morals and gave her friend a tight hug, pulling back almost at once. Draco pulled her back into the hug, smiling just as widely. "It's okay to hug me now, Pans." Draco used their childhood nickname and Pansy smiled fondly. "My mate's made it all okay. I'm so happy. Oh, Merlin, if you only knew how amazing it feels to finally be whole!"

Blaise was smiling despite himself and Crabbe and Goyle were grinning goofily, obviously happy that Draco was back on track. However, there was one question Pansy knew they all wanted answering.

"Who is the lucky man, then?" she asked, and then saw Draco's face drop.

"I will always stand by my mate, just so you know that, Pansy, Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle, but I will feel terrible if you can' t accept him."

"It's not Zacharias Smith, is it?" Blaise asked in horror, his eyes widening. "What he wore that other day was worthy of murder! If it's Smith, I'm sorry but I won't be able to help you on this one."

"No, don't worry. I doubt my Veela would have chosen someone so unworthy." Draco sniffed, before smiling widely again. He couldn't seem to hold his joy in and it made Pansy happy. Anyone who did this to Draco was worthy of their acceptance. It was like her friend had had all his limbs returned to him and she vowed not to judge her friend's choice. Slytherins stuck together, after all.

"Spill, then. No one could possibly be as bad as Smith."

"It's Harry Potter."


Draco was an idiot to think that they wouldn't support him. Of course Blaise was disgruntled that Potter was taken –he wasn't exactly ugly, that Gryffindor and all Crabbe and Goyle wanted to know is who they would protect Draco against if it wasn't the Gryffindor and his friends. That had been taken the wrong way at first, until Pansy and Blaise had explained in a painstakingly slow fashion that all Crabbe and Goyle had meant was that they had to have someone to protect Draco against now that it wouldn't be Potter who they had protected Draco against before it turned out that he was his mate.

Drawing away from her musings, Pansy turned to see Draco greeting Harry. It was so painfully shy that she had to turn around to hide her mirth. She could see Blaise looking on stoically, his mouth turned down respectfully, but his shoulders were shaking.

"Hey, Harry," Draco was saying, his hand extended towards his mate. Pansy could see him vibrating on the spot, dying to be closer to Potter but holding himself back in order that Potter wasn't uncomfortable.

"Hi." Potter looked around at the company in the office, tilting his head to acknowledge Pansy and Blaise. Both looked back steadily at Potter until a twitch from Draco had them making their excuses and leaving.

Pansy's only regret was that she hadn't put a charm on the door to hear what they were saying to each other. She would bet good money that it would be an incredibly awkward conversation.


He smelt heavenly. Draco tried not to lean forwards into Harry and instead led him further into his office. On a primal level, his Veela was purring possessively inside him at having his mate deep in his territory, soaking up his scent. Helping Harry to sit down on the sofa, he sat across from him on the other sofa even though he was yearning to sit next to him.

"Erm," his mate said softly, looking so out of place and uncomfortable that all of Draco's instincts roared to the surface. He couldn't let his mate be uncomfortable in his space. This space was now Harry's as well as his and Draco's mission was to make him realise this.

"How are you doing?" Draco asked softly, feeling that teasing his mate about his eloquence could come later in their relationship.

"It's weird." Harry murmured, looking at his hands. There was a long pause. "I mean, it feels better. I don't know!" Harry looked frustrated and it was all Draco could do not to pull him into his arms. Instead, he leant forwards to listen to what his mate was saying. "I felt alone, and like no one bothered or cared with me. Now I feel that people are bothered and that they do care. I'm sort of happy. It's weird."

Draco smiled even wider and tilted his head to the side to observe Harry, who was picking at his fingernails nervously. There was a beat and then Draco took a risk and placed his hand on tops of Harry's. Immediately, the tension in Draco's shoulders seeped out, and he never wanted to let go of Harry.

"Calm down, I won't hurt you." He shivered at the thought. "I wouldn't even think of hurting you."

"You just did." Harry smiled teasingly and Draco grinned in reply, his heart fluttering in his chest –his mate was teasing him! It was the most glorious feeling that Harry was comfortable enough to do so. His hopes were dashed at Harry's next words, though. "Sorry, I didn't mean to say that, it just came out."

"I don't mind." Draco rubbed his thumb across Harry's hand. "What can I do to make you more comfortable?" he mused.

"It's difficult to put behind us all the taunts and jeers from over the years." Harry sighed sadly, and pulled his hands away. Draco almost whimpered at the loss of contact, but felt that it probably wouldn't help Harry to hear him do so. "Well, at least it is for me."

Draco sighed, matching Harry and looked around his room, trying to find something that could help him. He caught sight of his Veela book and stood up, striding towards it and pulling it down. He could feel Harry's curious gaze behind him as he flicked through the pages, looking for the page on Veela wings.

"Here!" Draco cried out triumphantly, walking back to Harry and kneeling on his knees beside his mate. Harry took the book from Draco's hands and stroked the pages reverently, aware that he was holding an old book.

"How old is this book?"

Draco shrugged elegantly unaware of the answer even though his Veela was urging him to satisfy his mate and make him comfortable by telling him the answer.

"Old." Draco touched the page. "Read it."

Harry turned, looking with interest at the page titled Veela Wings.

Not much is known about Veela wings, as they are often kept hidden. What Veela we, as the authors, have managed to talk to have told us this about their wings:

Veela wings are extremely private. They are, in fact, the most private part of the Veela's anatomy and solely for their mate to see. They feel as if they have betrayed their mate, whether or not they have met their mate, if they reveal their wings to anyone other than their mate. In dire or serious circumstances, the soft feathers of the wings will harden into scales that can block out any hex or jinx aimed at their mate. They will only harden into scales for their mate.

The Veela wings are usually pure white but if the Veela has betrayed their mate or been rejected by their mate, they will darken to a black before the Veela dies, in the case of being rejected –in the case of betrayal, they will remain black for the rest of their lives unless the Veela is forgiven by their mate.

Veela wings can make the Veela's mate relax or make them feel cherished and protected by wrapping around their mate. This also helps the Veela relax, as to hold their mate close to them and have them encased in their wings makes them feel secure and calm and that they have succeeded in protecting their mate.

If a Veela's mate touches their wings, it can have certain effects. If the Veela is angry, the wings can usually burst out of their back. If the mate touches them, the Veela will relax and be able to retract the wings –if their mate so wishes it. If the Veela feel aroused, touching the wings can be a source of further arousal.

The Veela's mate is very privileged to be allowed to see and touch these wings mostly unknown to society.

Harry paused at the end of the chapter and read through it again. What was Draco, who was kneeling beside him patiently, trying to tell him? A stray phrase came to mind.


"You can touch them, you know. They were made for you."


Did that mean that Draco was perfectly tailored to him, just as he was perfectly tailored to Draco? Harry shook his head and looked back at the page in front of him. Could he just give in? Could he accept that he was no longer alone?

"Why do you want me as your mate? Why me, and not someone else?" the words had tumbled out of Harry's mouth without his permission and he clamped his hand over his mouth, looking anxiously at the Veela beside him. Said Veela lifted himself up, gently pried Harry's hand away from his mouth and smiled. It was so unlike the Draco Malfoy Harry knew that he suddenly wanted to know this Draco Malfoy, the Draco Malfoy known to his Slytherin friends.

"I don't want you hiding your questions from me. That's what's going to help us move forwards." Draco stood up, letting Harry's hand drop onto the still open page. "Can I sit next to you?" he asked and Harry obligingly shuffled to the side. Draco sat down beside Harry, though he kept a margin of space between them that Harry was thankful for.

"Why did I choose you?" Draco hummed, looking up at the ceiling. "I'm Draco Malfoy. That, in itself, should be self-explanatory. But as you don't know me very well, I'll enlighten you. I like the best and I have always had the best. When I first met you, we didn't hit off. It was the first time that I had thought of someone apart from my parents and myself. I asked myself why you had done that and then I asked myself what I could improve so that you could like me. I should have seen the signs there: I was constantly looking out for you in the corridors, trying to make you feel ashamed of what you'd done by refusing me, but in reality my subconscious knew that you were the perfect person to counter all my selfishness. I was spoilt and I'm guessing you weren't, though I had many doubts about whether or not you were. You're one of the most selfless people I've ever met and I'm probably one of the most selfish. We match Harry, and my Veela knew this before either of us ever did. Now it's time for us to look further and get to know each other the way my subconscious already knows you."

Harry took a tentative shuffle in Draco's direction, so that their legs were touching, all the way down to their feet. He felt Draco's arm move to lie around his shoulders and he found it strangely comforting. Feeling tired after Draco's monologue, he tried putting his head on Draco's shoulder and felt a vibration run down Draco and the sound of rustling feathers. Jumping up, he saw Draco's large wings fanned out behind him and similar to their meeting in the library, Harry extended his hand to touch them.

This time he didn't stop.


A/N: Loved it? Hated it? Something to say about it? Do let me know.