Chapter 8

Hermione felt like she was going to chew through her lip waiting for him to respond. He had stepped through the floo and she had been unable to resist stepping forward and wrapping her arms around him. And then she hadn't wanted to let go. The luxurious feel of his wool robes against her cheek, his sharp clean scent, his strong arms enveloping her; it made it difficult to remember why she'd been so afraid. And he had been great, teasing her through her stumbling apology, making her feel so completely comfortable. She was beginning to wonder if she deserved him. It had been made very clear to her in the past that she was pants at relationships.

Now she was asking even more of him, was it too much? She didn't want him to think that she was ashamed of him, she never would have told Andromeda, a woman she respected and admired above all others, about him if she had been. She just wanted to keep him to herself for a little while so that they could have the opportunity to figure themselves out as a couple before they were subject to public scrutiny.

Once again she felt unnerved by the amount of influence he suddenly had on her. She craved his good opinion. She hated the idea of hurting his feelings. So it was a good thing when, seemingly out of nowhere, he raised his head and smiled at her. Good Godric, but he was beautiful. And apparently he was hers. She wondered how long it would take for her to get used to that.

"Okay, Princess, anything you want," he smirked, "it would be my honor to court you, and I don't mind keeping our relationship quiet for the time being, as long as I get to see you I'll be content."

She huffed and rolled her eyes.

"Princess?" she asked, wrinkling her nose in distaste.

That only made his smirk grow.

"Yes," he said simply.

She decided not to argue, she had a feeling he would only dig his heels in, she also had a feeling that as much as they may be destined to be together he was still going to drive her crazy.

"Anything I want," she wheedled, realizing there was something she very much wanted at the moment, she'd had so many questions about his transformation, she was desperate to see it for herself.

"Oh yes," he practically purred, "after all I am designed to please you."

She felt herself growing hot at his innuendo and knew that she was bright red. She had very little experience with physical intimacy and hoped he didn't expect them to fall right into that aspect of their relationship. She shook the thought away and looked back to him. He chuckled darkly and gave her a knowing look, her thoughts must have been written all over her face.

"You don't have to be so nervous around me, you know," he said, switching rapidly from amused to concerned.

She squirmed uncomfortably before deciding to be starkly honest with him, she raised her chin and squared her shoulders.

"I don't have a lot of experience sexually. None, as a matter of fact. And I just don't know what you expect from me. I'm not sure I'll be ready anytime soon," she confessed, shooting him a look that dared him to challenge her.

But his eyes just softened.

"Oh don't worry about that, I have no expectations, I certainly would never rush you into anything, I just want to be with you," he said, as if it was no matter, "And as much as I enjoyed teasing and making you blush just now, if it makes you uncomfortable I'll stop."

"No," she said abruptly, "I don't mind teasing, I just didn't want there to be any misunderstandings," she didn't want him to hold himself back around her, she liked his easy banter.

He nodded.

"It's not like I have any experience either, I'm not in any rush," he said completely nonchalantly.

She blinked at him uncomprehendingly. Had he just confessed to being a virgin? Not that there was anything wrong with that, but she knew that at their age it was considered more than a little odd, and she just hadn't expected to hear that from a good looking, sought after wizard like Draco. She'd heard the girls at school talk about him from the time they were only twelve or thirteen, he had been quite the heartthrob. And she was well acquainted with teenaged boys, they were not known for turning down opportunities for sexual exploration. Opportunities she was sure Draco had been presented with in droves.

"Is this another veela thing?" she wondered.

"Yes," he said simply, "I always knew I was attracted to women, and I even tried snogging a few, but never enjoyed it enough to want to repeat the experience with the same witch, or take it any further. Even before I was capable of finding you, you were still the only one I was ever going to want," he shrugged, like it was the simplest thing in the world.

"You didn't feel like you were missing out?"

She knew of entire relationships that had been predicated on one or both parties not wanting to be left behind their peers; Ron's with Lavender Brown during their sixth year came to mind.

"Not at all," he said easily.

"Was it the same for me?" she asked, "I mean was there something keeping me from wanting to be with other men because I'm your mate?"

He reached over and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"That I don't know for sure, all of my ancestors' journals are centuries old. As I'm sure you know a woman's virtue was guarded quite assiduously back then, so either their mates simply didn't have any contact with other men, or if they did, they omitted that information to protect their reputations for posterity. So I don't have any information about that. But my hunch says that yes, because of our connection there was something telling you that there was something not quite right with other men. It wouldn't make much sense if you had tied yourself to somebody else before I even had a chance to find you, the magic would want to prevent that, don't you agree?"

Hermione nodded, she actually had a lot more questions on the subject, but she was not yet comfortable enough to have an in depth discussion with him about sex, and she certainly wasn't ready for, nor did she think his temper could handle, an explanation of the events which let to Ronald Weasley believing she was a prude when she knew very well that she was not. Her body worked just fine, her desires were present, he had been the problem. It meshed perfectly with what Draco had just told her.

"Well, when you write your own journal you can include in it that even contemplating any kind of intimacy with another man feels like 'eww' to a veela mate," she said simply.

He sat there staring at her for a long moment and then he threw his head back and laughed.

"'Eww,' it feels like 'eww?!" he choked out, "how descriptive Miss Granger."

"It's accurate and concise," she said primly.

He stopped laughing and looked at her carefully.

"I would apologize for that, but it would be a lie. I am sorry for any problems that feeling may have caused you, however."

She just nodded, she wasn't sorry her instincts had been guiding her away from the wrong men either. If her reaction had been less extreme she feared she would have given in to Ron and then come to regret it.

"I didn't mean just that though Hermione. You were so nervous before, to ask me about courting you. I want you to be comfortable asking for things. I do want to please you, in every way. I have vaults full of gold and an international corporation at my disposal to get you anything you could possibly want. You truly only have to ask."

She shook her head vigorously.

"That's not why I'm here though, I'm here for you, I don't need things from you."

"But if you do, please tell me. Whether it's something material or a request, I want you to be comfortable. And in the meantime I'll just have to spoil you myself."

She huffed.

"But before, it sounded like maybe there was something you did want?" he cajoled.

Well, at least it wasn't something that required vaults full of gold.

"I want to see you transform," she said shyly, biting her lip again and bouncing a little on the sofa cushions in anticipation.

"Oh you do?" he said, his voice deep and warm.

"Draco," she chided impatiently.

His teasing gaze softened immediately.

"I like that," he confessed breathlessly.

She cocked her head in question.

"You said my name," he said simply.

"Oh," she supposed she had, she hadn't even realized, "it would be a bit odd for me to continue calling you 'Malfoy,'" she pointed out.

He nodded and his pupils dilated.

"Especially because I fully intend that one day you will be a Malfoy too," he said huskily.

Her eyes widened. She'd yet to think of it in quite that way. Weren't men supposed to be coy about making those sort of promises? Not, she supposed, veela men.

"Oh," she heard herself murmur.

He suddenly looked very concerned.

"That probably bothers you, doesn't it?" he asked quietly, reaching over and covering her hands with one of his much larger ones.

Suddenly she was bathed in that beautiful warmth. She'd been enjoying just being in his company, but this was so much better. She sighed in pleasure.

"It will just take some getting used to," she said.

She secretly thought that if she continued to feel like this when he touched her then she would willingly get used to anything, but she would never tell him that. She could only marvel at how it might feel when more of their skin was in contact.

"I'd like to make my name into something to be proud of, I would be extremely honored if you would help me with that," he confessed quietly.

She just swallowed thickly, unable to answer, it was simply to much to think about at the moment.

"The transformation?" she encouraged, both to change the subject and because she really was anxious to see.

He winked at her, apparently unperturbed, as he stood up. She really did envy his ease through all of this, she felt like such a mess in comparison.

"What are you doing!" she hissed in a slight panic, when he started unbuttoning his robes.

He let out yet another dark chuckle and she wondered if she would ever get used to the eroticism of that sound.

"I have to take these and my shirt off if I don't want them to get ruined," he explained.

He removed the shirt to reveal a pale, sculpted chest and abdomen which she barely refrained from reaching out and touching. He had scars, just like she did, some she couldn't identify, some she knew were from Harry's sectumsempra, and then there was that terrible blemish on his forearm of the faded Dark Mark; none of them detracted a bit from his unearthly beauty. Suddenly his body began to shimmer in front of her eyes and then he was standing before her looking like some kind of angel come to earth. Huge wings with feathers the same color as his distinctive hair peeked out from behind his back and she estimated that if he stretched them out he would have at least a 10 foot wingspan, and they were beautiful. His ears had changed shape, they now looked almost elfin in nature, his pupils had become slits inside of irises the color of liquid mercury, his canines had lengthened, and she would swear he actually glowed. Something told her that to anybody else he would look dangerous, but sitting before him as he loomed over her she knew she'd never been safer in her life, and would only be even safer in his arms. She could never fear him, she was only in danger of throwing herself at him.

"Oh Draco," she gasped, covering her gaping mouth with her hand, "you are so beautiful."

She couldn't resist any longer, she stood up and put her hands on his chest. She looked up at him and realized that he was staring at her like he'd never seen her before.

"Look who's talking," he said with reverence, "I've known for a long time that you'd become a beautiful woman, but this," he brought his hands up to gently cup her face, "you're the most exquisite creature I've ever seen. Forget princess, you are a goddess. Aphrodite come to life in front of me. Though," his lip quirked in amusement, "Athena would actually be more appropriate for you," he leaned forward and nuzzled her forehead.

She gave a small snort of disbelief.

"Don't malign my mate," he growled and she bit back a small whimper at how sexy he sounded, "my sight is so much better in this form, I can see you so clearly," he explained, voice full of wonder, "my very own brilliant, beautiful, bright-eyed, benevolent goddess."

"I'm not a possession," she asserted, trying to sound petulant and failing miserably as she figuratively melted into his arms.

"Of course you're not, who could hope to own such a being, Hermione?" her name was a prayer on his lips, "you are incandescent, your magic is so powerful, so electrifying, I can actually see it. It's extraordinary, you're…gold. And your eyes practically glow, how have I never seen what a gorgeous cinnamon they are? And your hair," he actually gasped, "it's like it has a life of it's own in the wildest most sensual way."

"Is that what I see around you, your magic? It shimmers, it seems almost silver."

"Is that what you see?" he wondered with a chuckle, "how fitting."

She could only smile and nod at him in return, it was a fitting representation of not just their house loyalties but their personalities as well; she was all warmth and vibrance, he steely strength and reserve.

"May I touch?" she asked politely, reaching out towards his wings, dying to feel them against her fingertips.

"Please," he urged.

He shivered when she began stroking them and closed his eyes. They felt every bit as wonderful as she had imagined, downy soft but fundamentally strong. Merlin, but this was surreal. Was this really happening? Was he standing before her in her living room, a veela, her veela, having offered her everything he had and was? For the first time she felt more excitement than fear at that heady thought, because despite the surreal nature of the situation, there was also something that felt completely right about it. Maybe everything she'd never known she had always been waiting for was standing in front of her. She took a deep breath.

"You can fly," she observed obviously with a wry grin.

"You are, by far, the best thing about all of this. But after that, being able to fly without a broomstick is pretty great," he remarked with an easy grin she'd never seen before.

Her heart rate picked up at the sight, but instead of retreating she settled against his chest, instinctively seeking out the safety to be found there. He wrapped her in his embrace further encapsulating her with his wings, it was the most glorious sensation. There was a part of her that was screaming at her that she was becoming far too comfortable with him far too soon. She knew that part of her was her much vaunted brain. But she had taken Andromeda's word seriously, so she ignored it in favor of her oft overlooked heart.

"I could get used to this," she spoke into his warm skin.

"I already have," he sighed in return.

Author's note: this one fought me, hard. I would love it if you would let me know what you think because I feel like I've lost all perspective (not on the whole story, just this chapter, but it's still driving me crazy). Thanks, you guys are great!