WHOOOO ANOTHER UPDATE! Unfortunately there's probably going to be a pretty big gap between this one and the next chapter because I'm now in college and it's super busy when you want to be in band, play tennis, AND major in engineering. Also, this chapter is kind of more serious at the end, which is going to probably go into the next chapter, sorry :/ I'm trying to figure out when they're going to shag and it's a serious business :P

Also, I'm updating so quickly because I just got over 3,000 views and it made me super happy! THANK YOU ALL YOU FABULOUS READERS!

Anyhow, same warnings as always and I still don't own Harry Potter. :D

Enjoy and please review if you like it!


Chapter 9: Tranformation

Harry groaned, blinking in the bright sunlight. The last thing he remembered was Draco telling him the story of Rapunzel and the next thing he knew he…he sniffed, inhaling deeply. He could smell dirt and dewy grass, I must be outside, and…and small rodent? Harry turned his head to see a fluffy ball of white fur lying curled up in the grass next to him.

The Gryffindor stretched and stood with a yawn, muscles popping pleasantly. He frowned when he noticed the ground was a LOT closer than it normally was. "Potter!" Harry looked up when he heard a high-pitched squeak to see the fluffy ball of white fur was actually a pure white ferret.

The panther, for that was what Harry was, blinked in confusion, his emerald eyes almost glowing. "Malfoy?" he asked, twitching in surprise when his voice came out a rumbling growl.

"Fuck, that's scary." The ferret murmured, carefully scurrying over to sit on his haunches, tail wrapped around his paws, in front of Harry. "What happened?"

Harry shrugged, his shoulder muscles rippling under his fur again. "No idea. You look cute, though." He snickered, making the ferret chitter angrily. The Panther's brilliant emerald eyes rolled and he chuckled, surprising Draco by dropping his head and nuzzling the fluffy ferret gently. "You're so adorable when you're angry."

Draco rolled his eyes. "And you're adorable with that collar around your neck." He tried to smirk, but sadly ferrets did not have the ability to have that facial expression.

The panther blinked and raised a paw to his neck, pawing at the leather collar that had remained around his throat during the transformation. "Fuck." He growled, trying to get the collar off and failing miserably. If only panthers had opposable thumbs…

Harry was brought out of his musings by more high pitched, angry chattering and a deep, gruff voice he recognized immediately. He turned around and laughed at the sight that met him. Hagrid had picked Draco up and currently the ferret was pawing at the half-giant for dear life. Unfortunately for him, his small claws were doing very little damage except to make Hagrid chortle. "How'd you get here, little guy?" the Care of Magical Creatures professor asked as he scratched Draco behind his fluffy white ears.

"Hagrid!" Harry exclaimed happily, nearly jumping as his voice came out a barking growl. He'd never get used to that.

Hagrid jumped and nearly dropped Draco, though his hold on the ferret loosened enough that he was able to jump down from Hagrid's hands and he scrambled over to Harry, a look of terror on his small rodent face. "He picked me up!" Draco squeaked in outrage. "Did you see, Potter?! That oaf picked me up and he-he petted me! Of all the indecent things!" he grumbled, pawing at the ground nervously.

"Harry?" Hagrid asked in surprise, going over to the panther and looking at him curiously. "Is that really you? What in Merlin's name happened?"

"No idea." Harry shook his head. "Something weird happened and we were knocked out. When we woke up we were like this."

"We?" Hagrid frowned, eyes going to the white ferret, studying it closely. Draco's tail flicked nervously under the scrutiny and he tried to inch over to hide behind Harry. "Who…" Hagrid trailed off before his eyes widened. "Good heavens, is that Malfoy?!"

With a growling laugh Harry nodded, getting back up and stretching out his hind legs. "Yeah. Whoever did this must have really liked Moody's little trick from Fourth Year."

"That wasn't funny." Draco growled, fur bristling. "I still have nightmares about being put down Goyle's pants. Bloody terrifying." He grumbled, snarling as both Harry and Hagrid laughed.

Once he could breathe again Harry nudged the ferret gently with his nose, smiling down at him a bit before he looked up at Hagrid. "As amusing as it is having Malfoy in this state, we really would love to be turned back into humans. Do you have any ideas"

Hagrid thought for a moment before nodding and gesturing for them both to follow him. "Yeah, I think I know who could help."

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Lucius sighed as he sat in his office, running a hand through his luscious air as he flipped through the pile of paperwork he was supposed to be working on. After a rather pleasant evening spent with Severus, during which he had completely forgot about Nellie and her threats, he had come home to find a huge pile of paperwork from the Ministry that needed sorting out. Just brilliant. Work just didn't stop when you were going through what appeared to be a mid-life crisis.

"Lucy!" A sing-song voice came from out in the hallway and Lucius ground his teeth. Just what he needed. Just perfect.

"Yes, Narcissa my love and light of my life?" he called and was rewarded by a girly giggle from right outside the door.

"The Dark Lord is here, Lucius. Should I send him in?" Narcissa asked, for once not sounding overly dreamy.

Lucius sighed, rubbing his eyes before answering. "Yes, dear. Send his Darkness in."

A couple minutes later the office door swung open and Voldemort stepped in. It took Lucius a few moments to register just what he was seeing, and even then he couldn't quite believe it. Voldemort, the great Dark Lord himself, was wearing skinny jeans that left practically nothing to the imagination, and a grey V-neck sweater. Around his neck he had what looked like a small basilisk fang on a silver chain and he had a few multicolored friendship bracelets around his wrists along with two silver chain bracelets. "Do you like it?" Voldemort asked nervously, shifting uncomfortably under Lucius's wide-eyes stare. "The woman at the store said that these clothes would show off my body type the best and that all the men would love them. Especially the bracelets."

Slowly Lucius nodded, slightly relieved that Voldemort had finally admitted to liking men. It had been driving the other Death Eaters crazy having to pretend that they didn't know already, and it was high time all hopes Bellatrix had of getting into Voldemort's pants were dashed one and for all. Quite frankly, her attempts were an embarrassment for all the Death Eaters. "They look fine, My Lord." Lucius smiled slightly. "I'm sure Scabior will love them."

Voldemort smiled, a much handsomer expression now that he had his new body, completely oblivious to the fact that Lucius knew who he was after. "You think?" he asked about as happily as a Dark Lord can ask. "You know, Lucius, I like this muggle's body. He must have worked out a lot to have this much muscle. Honestly, his hair and complexion are perfect…absolutely gorgeous. I feel like I'm sixteen again." He hummed, playing with his wand between his fingers. "And he's not too bad down there, if you know what I mean." He chuckled at Lucius's horrified expression.

"Um, I think that' too much information, My Lord." Lucius muttered, flushing lightly. "How's the quest to kill Potter going?"

With a sigh Voldemort shook his head. "Not so good, Lucius. I never though it would be this hard to kill a teenage boy. He's thwarted me at every turn and ever gaining this new beautiful body hasn't made him hand himself over." Voldemort sighed morosely. "I just don't know what I'm doing wrong, Lucius."

The Lord Malfoy sighed, trying to pretend he was interested in the Dark Lord's problems. Didn't his Darkness realize that he had more important things to deal with than his Harry Potter problems? "Have you actually been trying to kill Potter, My Lord?" Lucius asked, struggling to keep the agitation out of his voice.

"Well, no." Voldemort shook his head, looking confused. "Why on earth would I do that? I've been spending all my time trying to seduce Scabior with this muggle's gorgeous abdominal muscles. Want to them? They're absolutely fantastic!" he exclaimed excitedly, starting to lift up his sweater.

"No, no! That's fine!" Lucius said quickly, a look of horror crossing his face. "I have a mate, My Lord. And I'm married." He added, as if it were an afterthought.

Voldemort sighed and dropped his shirt back down. "Oh fine. And speaking of your mate, how is my loyal minion Severus? Still mucking around with his potions, is he?"

Lucius nodded with a shrug. "He always will be. There's been some trouble up at the school with that girl of yours, Nellie. She caused quite a stir last night." Lucius muttered, brushing a strand of hair out of his face. "She raised an entire bloody tower in the middle of the Quidditch field!"

To Lucius's frustration all Voldemort did was laugh. "Did she really?" he asked in amusement. "She always has had a flare for theatrics. I'm sorry Lucius, but I can't do anything about it. Not even I can control her."

"Then why do you keep her?" Lucius asked curiously, staring at the stacks of paperwork he still had to go through. He shook his head a little, sighing morosely. It looked like he would be having another sleepless night after all, even without the distraction of Severus.

Voldemort shrugged. "She's unpredictable, but she amuses me. Not to mention she promised to help me do my hair." He smiled. Lucius rolled his eyes and, upon seeing the blonde's expression, Voldemort scowled. "She's going to help me get Scabior, Lucius. And I'd appreciate it if you didn't doubt her ability with hair. I heard about what she did with your son and supposedly he's quite the looker not."

"Yeah, if you like blokes with ten feet of hair!" Lucius exclaimed in irritation. He sighed, rubbing his temples in frustration. "I hope you don't mind me asking, My Lord, but is there any reason for your visit. I have paperwork to do." He gestured to the piled of paper that Voldemort just then noticed.

"Oh, of course." The Dark Lord nodded, looking quite affronted. "I'm very sorry for keeping you from your work. I just wanted to stop by and tell you that you, Narcissa, Draco, and I suppose Potter too since he's Draco's mate, are all invited to the annual Death Eater Christmas party. I suppose I can arrange for Potter and your son to get honorary Death Eater passes for the occasion. I'm sure I can find them somewhere." He smiled, looking rather excited.

Lucius sighed, looking rather more careworn than he normally did while talking to the most powerful Dark wizard in the world. "My Lord, that's over a month away, was it really necessary for you to come today?"

Voldemort looked quite confused as he nodded. "Yes, of course it was. You see, I need ample time to prepare for I'm hoping to be able to celebrate my engagement to Scabior then too. I didn't want to forget anyone and I figured that Potter would want plenty of time to prepare to celebrate Christmas dinner with me."

"And you aren't planning on killing him, are you?" Lucius frowned. "Because Draco would be rather unhappy if you did, especially if it's over Christmas."

With a sigh the Dark Lord nodded. "No, I'm not planning on kill him, I don't want to upset the son of my favorite minion. Also, killing people takes so much word and effort and I'm going to have enough to concentrate on and organize with the party plans." Voldemort smiled and stood, adjusting the chain around his neck. "So you'll come? Good." He said before Lucius could answer.. "Please tell Potter as soon as possible, I'll be sending the official, pretty invitations out by owl at the beginning of December." He nodded to Lucius before sweeping out and leaving the blonde man spluttering in his wake.

"Party invites!" Lucius muttered to himself as he started in on the first stack of paper. "That man wastes my time for party invites! And to talk about his new wardrobe." He shook his head as he continued to grumble to himself about the Dark Lord. Not for the first time Lucius was seriously contemplating if the glamour of being a Death Eater was really worth it after all.

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"Her?!" Draco yelped as Hagrid stopped outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom door. "Why her?! She's the one who did this to us!"

"Actually, we don't know that for certain, Malfoy." Harry reminded him with a roll of his eyes. To his amusement he was rewarded with a muttered "shut up, Potter" from Draco. Harry was about to retort again when the door swung open to reveal a very disgruntled Nellie Ultor.

"Yes?" she asked with a yawn, rubbing her eyes and looking for the world like she had just woken up. "May I help you?" she asked Hagrid, not noticing Harry or Draco until the panther growled threateningly. Nellie jumped, eyes widening as she caught sight of the two animals and she tentatively took a step back. "Hagrid, why do you have a panther in the school? It isn't cursed, is it?" she asked worriedly.

Hagrid laughed, a booming sound, and shook his head. "No, not at all. That panther is Harry Potter and the ferret on his back is Draco Malfoy." He chortled.

"Oh!" Nellie giggled and gestured for them to come in. "Simple enchantment reversal, then? I can do that." She smiled at them. Harry couldn't help but notice that she was acting like a completely different person from the day before.

With a smile Hagrid nodded and gestured for Harry and Draco to follow Nellie. "Very good. I'll just leave you to it, I have chickens that need tending." He chuckled and waved, leaving Harry and Draco alone with a woman they were both convinced was legally insane. Harry growled, hackles raised, expecting the Professor to attack them or something like that at any moment.

Instead, Nellie just went to grab her wand and a spell book and had Harry and Draco sit in front of her desk. "Sorry about how I acted yesterday, you two. Someone thought it would be a good idea to put crazy juice in my drink. I suspect Severus." She sighed, flipping through the book for the page she needed. "I promise I normally wouldn't do that, as much as I love pulling tricks on your father, dear." She smiled at the ferret, who seemed to be glaring at her. Harry just sat there silently, waiting to see how this would all play out.

After a few moments Nellie found the page she wanted and she read it over. She tapped both Harry and Draco three times on the head with her wand and in moments Harry found himself sprawled on the floor, luckily with his boxers still on. Nellie giggled as she put the book away. "Looks like you two were having fun. You're free to go." She smiled at them, making a shooing motion. Quickly Draco and Harry scrambled to their feet and hurried out of the classroom without looking back.

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Most of the month of November flew by without further incident, to both of the boy's relief. They'd had enough excitement for one month…or year for that matter. During that time Draco learned how to control his allure enough so his housemates no longer tried to get into his pants. Or at least they weren't quite as persistent as they used to be. Luckily also for Draco, his Veela seemed comfortable with the way his bond was with Harry and the painful heat flashed had disappeared. Now, this didn't mean that he still didn't want to sleep with Harry, he'd always want to do that, it just meant that he was able to be a bit more patient with how he got Harry in bed.

This also meant that Draco was able to concentrate more on befriending Harry instead of just concentrating on trying to shag him. It was hard at first, but slowly the Gryffindor began to trust Draco a little bit more and even allowed the blonde to hug or kiss or cuddle him once in a while. Draco needed little bits of contact like that to keep the Veela happy. They even went on a real date, complete with romantic ambiance, which Harry had to admit he actually really enjoyed.

It was because of this newfound friendship that Draco and Harry found themselves sitting down by the lake on a chilly evening the last week of November. They had been sitting for about a half an hour in silence, just enjoying the small comfort of each other's company.

Finally Draco spoke, keeping his voice quiet as he looked up at the almost full moon. "You know I'll always love you, right, Potter?" he asked, sounding nervous.

Harry blinked, not quite sure how to respond to that confession. No, he actually hadn't known that Draco even loved him now, let alone that he would love him forever. For some odd reason it sent a feeling of warmth spreading through his chest. Actually, it wasn't an odd reason, not to Harry. He knew what that feeling was. That feeling was the rekindling of the hope that at some point someone would love him. Truly love him. "Really?" he finally asked softly. "Really forever?"

Draco nodded with a small smile, glancing over at Harry. He had been unsurprised to find the week earlier that he actually did love Harry, after all it was a Veela requirement that they love their mate unconditionally, forever. What was surprising, however, was that it wasn't just his Veela that loved Harry. Over these last few weeks Draco had found himself slowly but surely falling in love with the dark-haired Gryffindor. He loved the way Harry's hair stuck up all over the place, loved the way he nibbled the end of his quill when he wasn't paying attention in class, loved his slightly lopsided smile that Draco had come to recognize as him being truly happy, and he even loved the way Harry would say "Malfoy" with that exasperated tone and the slight roll of his eyes. So yes, Draco did love Harry and he was pretty sure that wouldn't be changing. "Yes." He smiled. "Forever."

A light blush appeared on Harry's cheeks and he looked over at Draco, a slight frown on his lips that was almost unnoticeable. Draco, of course, noticed it right away. "Why?" Harry asked, pulling his knees to his chest. "Why do you love me? You have no reason to love me."

Immediately Draco frowned and scooted closer to Harry, wrapping an arm around Harry and hoping this was a day and moment when he was allowed to cuddle him. Luckily for the blonde it was and Harry made no move to push Draco away. "I have all the reasons in the world to love you, Harry Potter." He murmured gently. "You're funny and smart and good looking and kind and fun to be around and I just love you so much." He gushed, blushing brightly as the Veela made him go a bit overboard with this proclamation of love.

To Draco's concern Harry just shrugged with a sigh. "Those aren't very good or believable reasons, Malfoy." He muttered.

"But they're true!" Draco protested adamantly, holding Harry close. "It's a rule of Veelas and their mates. Their mate is perfect for them and they'll love everything about them." He smiled, nuzzling Harry's neck sweetly. "I love you more than anything." He professed.

Draco almost flinched as the Gryffindor pushed him away again. "Don't. Just…don't, Malfoy. Don't lie to me, I'm not stupid." He huffed, a tinge of sadness tainting his voice. He couldn't let himself get attached, couldn't let himself believe that the blonde really did love him. Believing would just make it that much more painful when the Slytherin left him. They always left him, everyone he ever loved. Why would they stay with him, after all? He was worthless, not worth their love. He had never been worth it.

A frown appeared on Draco's lips as he felt for Harry's emotions, getting a shock-wave of fear and self-loathing. "Potter?" he asked quietly, worry tingeing his voice. "What's wrong? I'm not lying to you. I can't lie to you." He said earnestly. That definitely was the truth. A Veela could never lie to its mate, especially not if the lie could potentially hurt said mate.

Harry shook his head, scooting away from Draco as he gave off wave upon wave of fear. "No! You can't love me! You can't you can't you can't! No one, no one could love me! I'm a freak, I'm worthless!" he shouted, trembling violently as dark and distant memories flashed through his mind. Harry jumped up. "You can't love me!" he sobbed before taking off running.

A few moments Draco sat in stunned silence, unable to comprehend what had just happened. Everything was going so smoothly and then…that. He shook slightly, the Veela inside him inside him freaking out at his mate's sudden departure. Harry didn't think he could be loved? Or maybe it was just Draco. Maybe he didn't like Draco enough to want to be loved by him in the first place. God he was so stupid. He hadn't even asked Harry, his mate, if he was allowed to love him. What kind of Veela was he, hurting Harry like that?! Draco shook, heaving and throwing up on the grass. He was a terrible, horrible Veela.

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Harry ran until he found himself in the Room of Requirement, this time taking the form of Harry's bedroom at the Dursley's. He collapsed onto the bed, shoulders shaking as he sobbed. He had been so stupid, he was so stupid! Stupid to think Draco really loved him for a moment, stupid to believe him. Stupid to think anyone could love him. What had Vernon always said? That he was worthless, hopeless, a waste of space. No one could ever love him. How could he have forgotten that? Uncle Vernon was right. He was always right.

Looking around his room, vision blurred by tears, Harry felt oddly safe. This was what he knew, this was what he was familiar with. He almost wished he'd hear Vernon shouting from the kitchen for him to come downstairs and make them breakfast. It was almost easier, being called freak and knowing that it was true, knowing they meant it. It was better knowing that than the uncertainty he felt now.

With another choked sob Harry pulled a pillow to his chest, wrapping around it and inhaling its scent. Before, he would have craved it to smell like Draco, a scent that had meant comfort and protection. But now he wasn't sure, he didn't know if he could trust the blonde. If Draco said he loved him then he was obviously lying, right? Nothing else made any sense.

Harry sniffed and closed his eyes, drifting off into a very wet sleep. He was so lost.

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Eventually Draco stood up, continuing to shake violently as the Veela freaked. His stomach was empty, he had thrown up until he dry heaved, and his skin was ashen and sweaty. The Veela in him had almost completely taken over, and with it one thought—find Harry.

Immediately Draco took off, sprinting up to the castle, the Veela's panic spurring him on. He took the stairs up to the Gryffindor tower two at a time, hurdling straight into Hermione on the landing just outside the portrait. Draco yelped in surprise at the sudden impact and was only spared from falling by Hermione grabbing his arm and pulling him back upright.

"Malfoy?!" Hermione gasped in surprise, looking at him with wide eyes, noticing his panicked expression and the tear tracks still on his cheeks. "What's wrong? Where's Harry?"

It took Draco a few moments to calm down enough to speak and even then his voice came out wet and stuttered. "I-I don't kn-know!" he gasped, starting to hyperventilate. "I-I-I just told, told him I l-loved him c-cause, cause I d-do! And-and-and he, he wouldn't bel-lieve me!" he started sobbing again, the Veela a complete and utter wreck.

Hermione frowned, quickly taking the hysterical Slytherin into the Gryffindor Common Room and sitting him down on a couch. "So you told Harry you loved him?" she asked quietly.

Draco nodded, sniffing as he shook. "Y-yeah. A Veela has to love their mate. And I d-do. I love him, s-so much. I'll l-love him for-forever!"

"And he freaked out?" Hermione said gently, waiting for Draco's sad, small nod before she continued. "Oh, Draco…It's not your fault. Harry just…well he doesn't think he deserves to be loved." She murmured softly. "It's all because of the Dursleys and what they did to him, you know."

There was a moment of silence as Draco blinked before he shook his head, rage beginning to boil in his chest. "No, actually, I don't know. What did they do to him? What did they do to my mate?!" he snarled.

Hermione looked utterly terrified as she realized that Draco didn't know. Harry had never told him. "He didn't tell you…" she breathed in horror.

"No. He didn't." Draco snapped, his silver eyes flashing dangerously. "Now tell me, Granger!"

The Gryffindor girl swallowed and shook her head. "I'm sorry. Draco, but I can't tell you. That's Harry's business, not mine."

Draco snarled and jumped to his feet. "Then I'll find out myself. No matter what!" he promised, and with a flash of silver he was gone, running through the castle to find his mate.

With a sigh Hermione rested back in her chair and closed her eyes. "He's not going to like that, Draco." She whispered. "I hope you know what you're getting into."