Chapter 9 This Means War
Authors note: Sorry I didn't update yesterday but I plan on doing it tomorrow as well so chill. And I'm very excited for the next chapter. Enjoy!
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Dear Hermione,
First off how is school going? I can only assume top marks! Your father and I will be going on a romantic skiing trip for the two weeks over the Christmas holiday. Which means you will be staying at Hogwarts! I hope you understand … your father and I will make this up to you over the summer. Anyways have a great Christmas honey! We love and miss you!
Love,
Mom
Great, she was stuck at Hogwarts while Harry and Ron got to go to the burrow. It wouldn't be that bad. She could catch up on some homework and do a little light reading.
When the Hogwarts Christmas sheet was first posted, her name was first on the list. Followed by various other students in different houses and years. Surprisingly Draco Malfoy's name was the last to graze the list a day before all the other students would be leaving.
For that very reason she couldn't help it when her gaze meet the face of the ghostly Death Eater she was starting to become friends with.
The night she finally saw the Dark Mark she stood in the corridor crying for over an hour. She wanted to wait until he came out of the room but apparently, she had fallen asleep against the wall. The only part that confused her was the blanket she found on top of her in the morning.
It wasn't that now she hated him for what he was, she was just disappointed. His wings and black eyes grabbed her attention during the first day of school and his mark only heightened that. Draco Malfoy was always on her mind, and she was determined to figure out what he was.
"Are you sure you don't want to come to the Burrow Hermione?" She could tell Harry was feeling guilty about leaving her behind.
"Its fine, honestly."
"But what will you do?"
"Oh well actually I had some research I wanted to do."
Both Ron and Harry rolled their eyes before starting to eat. They remember the 'light reading' she did in first year so many years ago.
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"Honestly guys go or you'll miss the train." She gave Harry and Ron a quick hug before they boarded the Hogwarts Express. Leaving her behind with less than 15 students.
She stood on the platform watching the train get further and further away before heading back inside on this cold December night. Her only plans were to read by the fire with a cup of tea before bed.
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Hermione woke up bright and early to get breakfast. Her only plan today was to sit in the library and research anything on black eyes and wings.
By the time she was seated in her favorite chair a hefty stack of books sat in front of her. Ranging from 'Causes of Mispronouncing Spells' to 'Dark Magic and the Outcomes'.
5 hours later and 10 books later she still didn't have an answer. She found multiple spells that could turn your eyes black but not give you wings. Then spells that could give you wings but not black eyes. She was starting to feel helpless, thinking the library had failed her. When she stopped walking she found herself in the middle of the Magical Creature section. That's when it clicked.
There were werewolves and vampires that were also wizards, maybe Draco was something like that. She made it through 3 more books before opening' A-Z Magical Creatures and Their Traits'.
Page 306 Mermaids
"In special cases a wizard or witch could also be part merman or mermaid. This is due to a parent marrying a mermaid and or merman or going way back into you family line. Resulting in each member carrying mermaid blood within them, giving then the possibility to become part mermaid and or man. Furthermore …"
She could throw water at Draco but the traits in this case did not fit with his.
Page 538 Vampires
"Wizards or witches can become vampires in two ways. Either being a descendent from the first pureblood line or being bitten by one at any age. Common traits consist of heightened senses, red eyes, fangs, and …"
The heightened senses part seemed to fit but his eyes were black not red. She also was never afraid he at any moment wanted to suck her blood.
Page 602 Veela's
"Veela's only originate from genes. Meaning member of the family carry the gene, and or are Veela's themselves. Traits consist of heightened senses, black eyes, fangs, and on rare occasions in male Veela's wings. A Veela is a type of magical creature that is born with a mate. Someone they are destined to love. Every other male or female will seem dull compared to this one person. Failure to begin the bonding ritual by the Veela's 17th birthday will result in death. The mate could also gain similar traits to their Veela. Such as black eyes and stronger senses of smell, hearing, and sight.
There are three stages to the bonding ritual. The first stage consists of the Veela biting their mates neck and drawing blood. Similar to a vampire, but their purpose is no to drink the blood. Only mark their property. The second stage is when the mate this time bites the Veela's neck. Causing their connection to go both ways. And finally, the third and final stage is drinking a goblet of the others blood and proving the bond through intercourse. The most important part is the mates consent. Without it the bond can go sour, leaving you with a life where you hate your soulmate but are drawn to them through the Veela connection. A mate's failure during the third stage when drinking the blood can also lead to a sour bond. Due to the upsetting of the Veela."
Hermione stared down at the book in disbelief. The black eyes, wings, and senses all fit the description of Draco. She hadn't noticed fangs per say but she never looked at his teeth.
The second blow came when she tried to stand up but only ended up on the floor. Did this mean she was Draco Malfoy's mate? He always had black eyes around her, and she was starting to as well. It would also explain the first day when he smelt her and passed out. He must have been smelling his mate, me, for the first time. Everything seemed so clear. She never expected to figure it out this soon and cursed herself for even researching the topic.
"Bloody hell." She was able to announce Ron's catch phrase when she saw Draco enter the library before blacking out and hitting the floor.
"Granger?" Malfoy ran over to Hermione's unconscious body. He flipped her over onto her back and checked for a pulse. She still had one which meant she was fine. He glanced at the book next to her on the floor. Veela's were at the top of the page and the realization hit him. She knew everything now.
"Bloody hell indeed." He placed an arm under her knees and one around her shoulders before carrying her bridal style out of the library. No one was around so he wasn't afraid that anyone would see. He also decided to not take her to the hospital wing and instead to the Room of Requirements, because she would wake up in a few hours and wasn't sick.
Upon entering the room her transfigured an old couch into a king size bed with black and green silk sheets. He carefully placed her under the covers and removed a few curls blocking her face. She sighed into his touch as Draco went back to the first couch he first held her on.
He tried to focus on anything else but the sight of a sleeping Gryffindor princess, his mate, caused his eyes to glue to the bed. She was so beautiful and didn't even realize it. One of her downfalls.
Hours later Hermione's eyes started to flutter open as she looked up at the very high ceiling. She shot up in bed having no clue where she was. Her eyes fell upon a blond Death Eater as all the events came rushing back to her.
She flopped back down and let out a rather large sign as Draco approached the bed. She stated to rub her temples. "I know what you are."
"I knew the Gryffindor princess would figure it out sooner or later." He had a smile on his face as he sat on the end of the bed. By her feet.
"Am I really your …?"
"Mate? Yes." Hermione let out another sigh.
"How long do you have until your birthday?"
"167 days."
"Great." She sat back up and looked at the bed. "Did the colors really have to be Slytherin?"
"Just trying to show house spirt and anyway you look sexy in green."
Hermione blushed as she tried to cover her face with her hair. Draco clearly noticed because he wore a satisfied smirk and moved to sit beside her on the bed. They sat in silence for about 10 minutes before Hermione dramatically threw her head on the pillow again and pulled the soft silk sheets up to her neck.
Moments later Draco slumped down and rested with his hands on his stomach. All the covers were currently being used by his mate.
They laid there staring up at the 60-foot ceiling with thousands of thoughts racing through their minds at a time.
Subconsciously Draco pulled some of the covers over himself, kicking off his shoes and snuggling deeper into the black silk pillow.
Overtime her turned on his side and watched Hermione bury herself in thought. An idea crossed his mind as his hands were already preforming the action.
His pale arms reached out to Hermione's side of the bed. One snaked under her waist and the other over. Locking his hands together in front of her stomach. He swiftly pulled her body to his until she was molded against him.
At first she squealed, then melted further into his frim body. Her shirt lifted a little from the move and he was now drawing small circles on her bare skin, by her waist line. Her eyes started to drift before she realized what was happening.
"Whoa whoa whoa." She grabbed at his hands and tried to remove them but his grip only tightened, pressing her further up against him. In the small space available, she flipped over and became face to face with him. She paced her hands on his chest and started to push away when she saw the lust in his eyes. "Malfoy … no. Now let go."
He only licked his lips and pulled her closer. Causing one of her legs to go between his, and one of his to go over hers. There wasn't an inch of body where they weren't touching.
"Draco!" She started to get worried when both of their eyes changed to black. In a second he was released from his trance and let go. She lingered for a moment before moving back to her side of the bed. A noticeable blush on both of their pale cheeks.
"Um … sorry."
"Its fine." Hermione got up from the bed and decided to go enjoy her own bed before something bad happened in the one Draco was still occupying. She could feel his eyes on her back until she left the room.
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She woke up Christmas eve, third day of break, to the sound of birds chirping. The abyss gave her a sense of peace until the events from the past todays came crashing back like a wave.
She let out a scream before grabbing her wand and storming out of the Gryffindor common room. She was storming down corridors mindlessly blowing up random objects while the paintings ran for their lives.
She only stopped when a lock of blonde hair 50 feet in from of her caught her eye. "Impedimenta!" She watched as Draco started walking in slow motion. Her rage was boiling over when he turned to look at her.
"Flipendo!" Instantly Draco was thrown backwards and collided with the nearest wall, before dropping to his hands and knees trying to catch his breath.
He quickly stood and whipped out his wand, while she stopped 20 feet in front of him.
"Orb" –
"Protegro!"
Draco slashed his wand threw the air and blocked her sticking jinx. Now it was his turn to have some fun. "Avis!"
Small yellow birds shot from his wand and came hurling at Hermione. "Aguamenti!" Her water smacked all the birds, only leaving small feathers falling to the floor.
"Levicorpus!"
"Immobulus!"
Their spells collided in the middle causing a blow knocking Hermione and Draco off their feet.
Draco was the first to stand from the floor and walked over helping Hermione up. Once she was standing right in front of him he placed a hand on her hip. Pulling her closer. He slowly bent down and buried his face into her hair, next to her ear. "This means war Granger." He playfully bite her ear and pulled back, placing a few steps between them.
Hermione placed her hands on her hips and sealed a perfect smirk on her lips. "Try me Malfoy." Her eyes turned black as she let out a devilish laugh and turned, walking away.
Draco stood there a moment wondering what he got himself into, then quickly reminded himself that he was a Malfoy and they never back down.
Without knowing it both went to different areas trying to come up with a plan for their upcoming war.
Hermione hurried to the library and grabbed as many books on spells, charms, jinx's, and hexes. Meanwhile Draco went to the Slytherin common room and found some rather interesting books from home that would work perfectly for his current situation.
Both students were so caught up in their research they completely forgot it was Christmas eve until late that night. Draco however got the best idea right before falling asleep and knew Hermione was bound to fall for it.
Getting the upper hand at the start of something that this was key. And Draco wasn't the type to plan for weeks like Hermione was.
