Finally, another chapter in this very odd tale. Sadly this chapter is not nearly as funny or light-hearted as the others since unfortunately there has to be at least one chapter in every story that is somewhat serious-ish. Also I was just in the mood for some serious writing and Harry and Draco's predicament is rather serious at the moment. Also...for those who are anxious for the consummation of the bond to start... I apologize but you'll have to wait just a little bit longer...like until the beginning of the next chapter. I was planning on it happening in this one but then I got to 6,000+ words and they still hadn't so... I apologize for that. The next chapter will also be more silly than this one, I hope. Anyhow, I hope that you enjoy this chapter anyways for I'm rather proud of it.

WARNING: Yes, this is still slash...amazing that that hasn't changed, isn't it?

DISCLAIMER: Yup, still not mine. If Harry Potter belonged to me things would have ended a lot differently.

PLEASE ENJOY!

Chapter 10: Number 4 Privet Drive, Little Winging, Surrey

When Harry awoke the next morning he immediately groaned, his back and neck sore and hurting from the uncomfortable mattress he had been sleeping on. Why couldn't he have chosen something a little plusher to sleep on? He looked around his old bedroom as he stretched and got up, running a hand through his hair so it was even messier than usually and rubbing his eyes tiredly. Harry sighed as his eyes coasted along the familiar features of his room, each and every one laden with memories, not every one of them good.

There was the dent in the wall from where Vernon had thrown something or other at him in a fit of rage, though he couldn't remember quite what it was that time. And there was the crack in his bedroom window from second year when the Weasleys ripped the bars off of his window. Vernon had refused to get the window fixed, saying that it would be his own fault if he was cold in the winter. Never mind the terrible draft that came through, or the water when it poured.

Sighing, Harry straightened his clothes before leaving the room of requirement, heading up to Gryffindor tower. The entire way there he thought about Draco and what he should do about the Veela. He just couldn't face the Slytherin and his lies; it hurt too much. Making up his mind firmly, Harry decided to avoid the blonde at all costs, then at least he wouldn't have to think about how Draco was lying to him. And he must be lying to him. Harry knew the truth, he knew what the Dursleys had been telling him for the first eleven years of his life before he came to Hogwarts. It must be true, of that he was certain.

Distracted with his contemplation on the best tactics of how to avoid Draco, Harry didn't pay attention as he rounded the corner leading up to Gryffindor tower and knocked someone over. "Sorry." Harry apologized, sticking out his hand to help the person up moments before his brain finally registered whom it was he had run into. How the shock of blonde hair hadn't clued him in immediately he'd never know. "Oh, it's you." He muttered, pulling Draco to his feet anyways.

Draco swallowed hard, the Veela starting to panic again at the look that Harry was giving him. Maybe he didn't want to see his mate? Or…or maybe Harry didn't ever want to see him again! That was always a possibility…maybe Draco had hurt his mate so much that his mate would never want him again and hated him completely and would reject him! Yes, that was probably it, the Veela in Draco decided, freaking out once again. Draco could only stand there, staring at Harry with wide eyes as he fought an internal battle with himself over whether or not Harry would want him to leave or if he would rather he talk to him.

"Look." Harry finally said, running a hand through his hair in exasperation. "Did you run into me just to stare? Because I have class to get to." He said rather harshly as he pushed past Draco and headed up to Gryffindor tower.

At the base of the staircase Draco trembled slightly, tears starting to roll slowly down his cheeks. With a sob he ran off, sprinting up to his normal place of solitude: The Astronomy tower. The Veela in him was yelling, screaming its head off the farther he ran from Harry. By the time he reached the top of the tower he was doubled over in pain, retching. Shaking Draco collapsed against the wall by the window, breathing hard and trying to dull the pain that was consuming him, shooting through his core and very being. It was the pain of separation, of rejection, the pain of a Veela without its love, without its mate. It was the pain of dying and the pain of living. But above all, the pain that Draco felt was the pain of his hatred towards himself.

In Gryffindor tower Harry huffed, anger flaring through him. Who did Draco think he was, wasting his time? Who did he think he was, trying to get Harry to spend so much time with him? Actually, who did Draco think he was thinking at he had any right to spend any time with Harry at all?

Harry knew he was being slightly, if not overly, unreasonable with Draco as he thought those thoughts, but he couldn't help it. He was just so damn angry at the blonde for lying to him(or at least what he thought was lying to him), and nothing could possibly get him to be un-angry with him. It was as if Draco had betrayed him to Voldemort and stabbed him in the back, selling him over to the dark side.

Actually, now that Harry thought about it, that wasn't too far fetched of an idea. Maybe that was what Draco had done. Maybe he had sold Harry out to Voldemort and that was why he was saying that he was in love with him, in order to make sure that he had Harry's trust so that his plan wouldn't be foiled. Well Harry had news for that little blonde snake: no one sold Harry Potter out. No one.

Scowling to himself, Harry stomped up to his dorm, almost running into Hermione as he opened the door to his dorm room. "Hermione?" he gasped in surprise, blinking at her. "What are you doing in here?"

Hermione sighed in relief, pulling him in and closing the door behind him. "I was looking for you. What happened between you and Draco?" she asked in a rush. "He came here last night and was in hysterics!"

"Oh." Harry chuckled weakly, running a hand through his hair. "Well…he kind of started lying to me about stuff and I lost my temper." He shrugged. "It really wasn't my fault, he's the one who started lying to me. And you know I hate liars."

Arching an eyebrow, Hermione gave Harry a look. "And what exactly did he lie about?" she asked.

"Loving me." Harry bit his lip nervously, not sure if he should be telling Hermione this. "He said that he loved me and would forever, which I know can't possibly be true."

Sighing softly, Hermione shook her head. "Harry… how do you know that it can't possibly be true? He's a Veela, he's required to love his mate."

Harry shook his head. "Well then the Veela part of him loves me, but the wizard part of him doesn't. He told me that even he loves me, hence it's a lite. And I know it's not true because no one would ever love me. You know that, Hermione. I mean, you and Ron are great, but you two don't love me romantically. And you must only stay with me out of some moral obligation, not because you really like me. And it's okay, I'm okay with that, and I'm honored that you both stay with me as friends." He said, talking over Hermione's attempts to correct him on every aspect of what he was saying. Harry didn't head any of her short stuttered or attempts to tug at his sleeve and make him stop talking so she could get in opinion, instead moving on with what he had to say. "I know that no one would ever love me romantically, Hermione, because I don't deserve that kind of love and I never will. And I've come to terms with that already, so nothing that you say will possibly change my mind." He finished before turning on his heel and leaving the room without giving Hermione a chance to speak.

"Bloody Dursleys." Hermione muttered, staring at the door Harry had left through. "Messing up Harry's head. Maybe I'll let Malfoy go after you, see how much you like it then." She grumbled, walking out. Hermione hurried through the school, looking everywhere for Draco. She had almost given up hope, thinking that he must be hiding in the Slytherin dorm when she saw a soft light coming from the window at the top of the Astronomy tower. Frowning she studied the light from out the window pain, deducing that it indeed wasn't only a figment of her imagination. Quickly she hurried through the corridors and up to the tower, hoping that she would finally find the blonde up there, even if he was sulking or crying or whatever else Slytherin Veelas did when they were upset and without a mate.

"Draco?" she called softly as she entered the small, circular stone room, one open window set in the opposite wall. Draco was sitting on the ledge of that window, looking out over the grounds, the light that Hermione had seen earlier emanating from a silvery floating orb of light that hung by the ceiling.

Sniffling, Draco looked over at her, shivering slightly. His skin was ashen and sweaty, his eyes red rimmed, and his hair had lost its ethereal shine, instead been dulled to a lank, limp dirty blonde. "What?" he muttered, his shoulders slumping and no venom backing up his question.

Biting her lip, Hermione carefully approached the Veela, making sure not to touch him. "What are you doing up here?" she asked softly, not sure of what to make of Draco's appearance.

"Nothing." Draco muttered, shivering and curling into himself tighter. "Just wallowing in my own self pity." He paused before adding. "And deciding whether it would be worth it to launch myself out the window."

Hermione's eyes widened and she quickly pulled Draco from the window ledge, not caring if he got angry with her for it. "No, it certainly wouldn't be worth it, Malfoy." She huffed. "And I don't want you talking like that. Now, what happened to make you so miserable?"

Draco hid his face, sinking to sit against the stone wall of the tower, his knees pulled tight to his chest. "Harry rej-jected me." He mumbled, sniffling again. "My m-mate hates me. I-I have no m-mate any m-more. I'm w-worthless as a V-veela."

Sighing, Hermione shook her head, carefully pulling Draco into her arms. She relaxed in relief when Draco didn't struggle, letting her hug him, almost limp in her arms, all of the fight worn out of him already. "No you aren't, Draco." She said softly. "And Harry didn't reject you, not really. He just…he doesn't believe that he deserves to be loved, you see?"

"No." Draco shook his head. "I d-don't see. H-he's my mate, of c-course he deserves to be l-loved!"

"But Harry doesn't see it that way." She murmured quietly. "The Dursleys, Harry's relatives that he lives with, they've taught him that he's a freak. For all of his childhood he was called a freak and never was loved. His uncle would beat him, telling him that he didn't deserve love because of his filthy parents and that he never would be loved by anyone. And Harry…well eventually Harry believed them."

Swallowing, Draco slowly nodded. "Like…like how I believe my father?" he asked softly.

Hermione nodded. "Yes, exactly like that. It's so ingrained to his brain that he can't help but believe it. It's all that he's ever known, just like how what your father taught you is all you've ever known."

With another wet sniff, Draco nodded again. "Alright." He whispered, his jaw clenching a bit. "I…where does his uncle and aunt live?" Draco asked quietly, trying to keep his voice almost calm and steady, though he knew Hermione wouldn't buy it even if he did.

For a few moments Hermione hesitated. She knew that Harry would be very angry with her if he found out that she had told Draco…but then again Draco could also give the Dursleys what they deserved. Furiously her mind worked until she came up with an absolutely brilliant idea. One that could both punish the Dursleys and also get Harry and Draco back together. "Little Winging, Surrey." She answered. "Number 4 Privet Drive."

Draco stared at Hermione for a few moments, as if gauging whether she was lying or not before giving a short nod. "Thank you." He whispered, getting up on shaking legs. "I need to get going."

Hermione's eyes widened and she quickly shook her head. "No, you don't. Where are you going, young man?" she asked, trying to sound stern as she put her hands on her hips. "You need to go find Harry and make sure he apologizes to you!"

"No, I don't." Draco shook his head firmly. "He doesn't have to apologize for anything, he did nothing wrong. I forgive him, as I always will. A Veela can never hate their mate, nor can they ever dislike something their mate does." He sighed softly, running a hand through his hair. "Actually…I blamed myself for Harry being upset. I thought that it was my fault that he went all mental, especially since I told him I loved him. I shouldn't have, really." He looked down at his hands. "Not until after I asked him if it was okay or not. If it was okay if I could love him."

Rolling her eyes, Hermione huffed softly. "Draco, you don't need Harry's permission to love him. The best thing for Harry is to have love and to have someone who's willing to show their love to him. Ron and I try our best, but it's a different type of love and we just can't show Harry the affection that he so desperately need. You, however, can."

"And how do I do that?" Draco asked with a soft sigh. "All I want to do now is go and kill the Dursleys for making Harry's life miserable for so many years. In fact," his fists clenched and his face hardened. "I think that that's exactly what I'm going to do." He muttered, pushing past Hermione gently before hurrying out of the tower.

Watching him go, Hermione sighed softly to herself, rubbing her eyes. "Please don't do anything too stupid." She murmured before hurrying off to find and warn Harry.

Draco hurried back down to the Slytherin dorm, grabbing his traveling cloak and a bag of coins. He's have to sneak out of the castle and take the night bus to Little Winging if he wanted to get there in a timely manner. He supposed that he could always fly, but then there could possibly be problems with lacking of cloud cover and muggles seeing him and really that was just way to much trouble to go through to even bother with it. Not to mention sitting on a broom for that long of a trip would be hell and by the end his arse would probably be full of splinters and a splintery arse was something that Draco was not keen on having.

Trying to be as sneaky as possible, Draco crept out of the common room, hurrying quietly down the corridors with his cloak flapping quietly behind him like a cape. He made it down to the front doors and slipped out, trying to act like a shadow as he escaped across the lawn, hoping that no one could see him up in the school. By the time he made it to the front gate he was no longer being sneaky but was walking along, the effort of skulking about becoming to hard to keep up for long. Draco had never really been all that good at skulking, especially since his bright blonde hair made going unnoticed rather difficult.

Quickly he slipped out of the front gates and walked down to the drive, throwing his hand out once he got to the someone road with was mainly just a slight path of dirt. Immediately a huge purple bus came skidding to a halt in front of him, almost tipping over as it lurched.

"Welcome to the nightbus! Magical transport for any stranded witch, wizard, or magical creature! I would like to remind all passangers than werewolves, however, are not allowed onboard on the night of the full moon. In fact, I daresay that it would be an absolutely horrible idea for werewolves to travel on the night of the full moon anyways, no matter if they are taking the Nightbus or not." The driver said cheerfully, looking around and finally spotting Draco on the ground where he had fallen after jumping out of the way. "Watcha doing down there?" Stan Shunpike asked with a goofy grin.

"I-I just fell." Draco mumbled, blushing lightly as he scrambled to his feet. "I…I need to get to Little Winging, Surry. Number 4 Privet Drive, to be exact."

Stan nodded, gesturing for Draco to come up into the bus. "That's oddly specific." He pointed out. "And that's a muggle neighborhood. What business have you got there?"

Draco bit his lip, taking the seat closest to the front and holding onto a pole so that he could continue talking to Stan without sliding around like the rest of the odd assortment of chairs. "Well… you see… I just need to pay the muggles who live there a visit. Make sure that…everything is okay and such." He lied awkwardly, hating that it now was so hard to lie. He used to be so good at it, but now that he was a full blooded Veela it was just so hard. It probably has something to do with being the mate of a goody-two-shoes Gryffindor, he thought bitterly. Hopefully he's not rubbing off on me.

"Oh, that makes sense." Stan nodded, even thought that made no sense at all. Since when did wizards, especially school age wizards make random calls on muggles at their homes just to make sure that they are okay? Not in any of the time that Stan had been alive, that was for sure. "Who are you anyways? I feel like I've seen your picture in the paper quite frequently."

Blushing lightly, Draco nodded, squirming a bit at the penetrating stare that Stan had hit him with. "Well…that's because I've been in the paper quite a bit lately. I'm Draco Malfoy…otherwise known at Harry Potter's Veela." He said quietly, trying not to cringe. It was hard, thinking about his mate, his poor mate who hated him and whose relatives hurt him so much. But that was why he had to do this. That was why he had to make the Dursley's pay for what they had done, for what they had done to Draco's mate. And he had all the right to make them pay. In fact, he had the only right.

"Oh yes!" Stan nodded eagerly, grabbing a paper from the front seat and showing it to Draco. "I remember now! You were on the front page this morning! Supposedly you and Potter have made Witch Weekly's list of the hottest couples of the month. It has you two at… number two! That's quite an honor, too, I must say. Supposedly Witch Weekly is also trying to score an interview with Potter about your sex life, although so far they've come up empty handed. Hey, maybe you could give it to them!" he said eagerly, looking at Draco with a bright grin.

With wide eyes Draco quickly shook his head. Talk about sex with his mate to other people, in an interview?! Draco would never, not to mention technically could never, talk about sex with Harry to anyone! It was a private matter and something only a Veela's mate should be privy too, just like Draco's touch when he's aroused. An aroused Veela's touch was a coveted thing and Draco didn't want that to get out, nor how good it felt to Harry, his mate. "No thank you." He shook his head again. "We actually don't have a sex life." He paused before adding: "Haven't even consummated our mating, yet."

"So you're not properly mated?" Stan asked with an arched eyebrow. "Good to know. Maybe that means Harry's still available."

A low growl erupted from Draco's throat and he glared daggers at Stan, his eyes flashing. "No, he's not still available. Harry is my mate, and mine alone! No one else is allowed to have him!"

To Draco's surprise Stan started laughing, his usual huge grin back on his lips. "I knew it! He really is your mate then. No Veela would freak out that much if the person in question wasn't their mate. And man, you must be head over heels for him, too."

Draco flushed brilliantly and nodded. "I am…rather head over heels for Harry, yes." He admitted. "He's fantastic."

"Oh, I'm sure he is." Stan laughed. "Now where were you headed again?"

"Little Winging, Surrey."

"Ahhh, yes." Stan nodded. "Privet Drive." He said and the bus lurched to a stop. The young man grinned, opening the door and gesturing out it for Draco. "Mr. Malfoy, your muggles await." He teased with the bright grin that seemed to be plastered across his face.

Rolling his eyes, Draco got off of the bus, jumping as his went off with a bang from behind him and disappeared. He looked up at the Dursley's house, studying their immaculate lawn and trimmed bushes. "Bloody muggles." He muttered darkly as he peered into their front window to see the Dursley's eating dinner, not a care in the world. He frowned even more as he saw just how big Dudley was. "Harry's a stick and his cousin is a whale." He murmured, glowering to himself. "What did they do, starve Harry?" he asked himself, even more black rage flooding him at the thought that that would be more than likely.

Trying his hardest not to just blow up the whole bloody house, Draco slowly walked up the front path to the door, knocking on it loudly. The sound of talking and the clatter of silverware against plates immediately stopped and Draco could hear stomping feet coming closer. Moments later Uncle Vernon opened the front door to scowl at Draco. "What do you want? We're not buying anything."

Draco smirked, drawing his wand and entering the house. "Oh, I'm not selling anything." He chuckled darkly. "I've got something to give you." The door slammed closed behind him and the lock clicked threateningly. Not another sound was heard.

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"Hermione?" Harry called, running up to his best friend in the Gryffindor common room. "Where's Draco?" he asked, looking rather worried. After thinking long and hard about it all afternoon Harry decided that it really would be a good idea to forgive Draco and at least talk to him again. As angry as he was at Draco for lying to him, which was very angry, he was starting to get a twisting, guilty feeling in his stomach. Thus he decided that it was about time that he found Draco and apologize for being such a jerk.

Hermione bit her lip nervously, looking anywhere but Harry and proving once again that she was a very, very bad liar. "I…he…" she trailed off, looking very uncomfortable.

"Where is he?" Harry snapped, scowling slightly and becoming even more worried. "Where's Draco?!"

"He's gone to the Dursley's." Hermione whispered, looking down at her hands. "I…I told him where they live. I'm so sorry, Harry, but he was so angry and he didn't know, I didn't realize that you hadn't told him about them and…and I had to tell him." She stuttered out, guilt flaring in her stomach. "I'm so, so sorry…"

Eyes narrowing, Harry's jaw clenched. "He's going to hurt them." He muttered, grabbing his warmest traveling cloak and wand. "I've got to stop him. I'm not going to let him go to Azkaban because of me!"

Hermione's eyes widened and she stood there looking rather stunned as Harry ran out. She didn't even bother to shout after him that he had forgotten to take his broom, but she smirked five minutes later when he came back into the common room and stomped up to his dormitory. "Forgot my broom." He muttered as he stomped back out past Hermione. The portrait hole shut and Hermione smiled proudly to herself. She just hoped that he could get there in time to stop Draco and then make up with him.

Harry flew fast and furious to Little Winging, landing outside the Dursley's house. He was quite glad for the quickly falling darkness that gave him cover as he had flown through the hair on his way here. Glancing at the front door his heart sank. It has crooked on its hinges and seemed like it had been blown open, not by wind or by force, but by a wizard's wand. Slowly he opened it, looking inside the house carefully. "Draco?" he called. He heard noises in the kitchen and walked in to see the Dursley's cowering against the cabinets in a corner as Draco stood in front of them, his wand extended and pointing at Uncle Vernon's head.

Harry's uncle was in bad shape, a spidering bruise covering half of his face and one of his eyes was swollen shut. His aunt didn't seem to be touched, however, and too his surprise neither did Dudley. Then Harry looked closer to see two little pink ears poking out of Dudley's curls of hair and from the way he was holding his buttocks he could only assume that he also had a corkscrew tail. Dudley had been transfigured into a pig…again. "Draco?" Harry asked softly, approaching the Veela cautiously lest he blow up at him.

Uncle Vernon flinched back as Draco stopped glaring at him for a moment to glance at Harry before resuming his glaring. "Hello, Harry." He said calmly, returning his want to its position trained on Uncle Vernon. "Here to watch me finish off this slimy little worm who calls himself a man?"

"Draco, you need to stop." Harry said firmly but gently. "You need to stop right now, you can't hurt them."

"Why not?!" Draco shouted, sparks flying out of his wand and making the Dursley's cower even more. "They hurt you, Harry! It's my right to hurt them!"

"They're my family." Harry explained calmly. "I won't let you hurt them."

"They're not even sorry." Draco growled, his expression darkening. "I hurt that one so much and he still wouldn't say he was sorry." He gestured to Uncle Vernon. "I broke every bone in his body and still he wouldn't have remorse for hurting you. For starving and beating you. Then I mended them and broke them all again and you know what? He still couldn't say he was sorry. He doesn't deserve to live, Harry. I can't let him live. He hurt my mate!"

Carefully Harry put a hand on Draco's shoulder, trying to give him calming vibes. "I know he did, Draco. But your mate forgave him. He forgave him because he is family and family matters. He didn't know what he was doing, Draco. He was scared and people do bad things when they're scared." He sighed softly, glancing at his relatives. "I think that you've hurt them enough, love, they've been punished."

Softly Draco sniffed and Harry realized that he was crying through his anger. "L-love?" he whispered, staring up at Harry with shining eyes. "Love?"

Harry nodded, a small smile sliding onto his lips. "Yes, love." He whispered, kissing Draco lightly on the lips. "Now repair the damage that you've done, they've learned their lesson. And I'm sure they'll never hurt anyone like the hurt me again, right?" he asked, turning to look at his relatives.

Quickly his family members nodded, Dudley sniffling softly. "R-right." Uncle Vernon said gruffly. "As long as he keeps that bloody sorcerer away from us!"

Immediately Harry growled, drawing his own wand and brandishing it at Vernon. "You don't call him that, okay? He's Draco, my mate."

"Oh, so he made you queer as well." Vernon sneered at Harry, trying not to shift too much and irritate the wounds that Draco had happily given him. "Not surprised. You never could be normal, Potter. Never."

Draco growled and leapt at Vernon, his fingers clenching around the man's beefy throat. "Don't you dare insult him." He growled, his skin starting to shine and his eyes glow. "Don't you dare say anything bad about my mate of I swear I'll kill you." He threatened and brilliant white wings sprouted from his back, splaying from his shoulders.

Vernon's eyes widened. "Bloody hell." He muttered in shock, cowering back even more as Draco's teeth turned sharp and his nails turned to claws. "Even your boyfriend's a freak!" he could help himself from exclaiming. Another rumbling growl emanated from Draco's throat and his hands squeezed Vernon's throat more.

"I will kill you." Draco hissed, fire burning within his eyes as he fully transformed, his guise more terrifying and somehow even more beautiful than before. "You insulted my mate. You hurt my mate. That gives me the right under Veela law to kill you and curse your family forever."

"Then why don't you?" Vernon hissed, his anger and pride getting the better of him. "Just see how much Harry will love you once you've killed his only remaining family."

"Which is why I'm not going to kill you." Draco snapped, his teeth bared. "But I'm not doing it to you or because I think I think that you should live. Nor am I too much of a coward to kill you, I've killed before. I'm doing it for Harry because he would never forgive me if I had your blood on my hands. But if you ever treat anyone else like you treated him I will track you down and then not even Harry would be able to save you. Am I clear?" he snarled.

"Crystal." Vernon sneered, though Draco could see fear deep within his eyes. Slowly the Veela let go of him and straightened up, putting the kitchen back how it was with a wave of his hand. With another wave Dudley's tail and ears were gone, though Vernon's bruises and cuts weren't removed.

"I will leave those as a reminder of what you have done and what will happen if you hurt again." Draco said calmly, his wings folding neatly against his back. "You will never, ever see Harry for the rest of your lives unless he requests it. And if he does then you had better treat him with as much love, care, and respect as you do your own son. If you don't then I will know." He said before turning and leaving the house without another word.

Quickly Harry followed after Draco, catching his arm when they were outside, snow starting to fall from the sky. "Draco, wait."

Draco whirled around, his eyes still shining with fire as he looked at Harry. "What, Harry? Want to defend them again, scold me for doing what was right?"

"No." Harry said quietly, shaking his head. "That's not what I'm going to do." He whispered, pulling Draco close and kissing him softly. He ran his fingers lightly over the feathers of Draco's wings and smiled as he was rewarded with a purring sound. After a while Harry pulled away to breathe, smiling up at the Veela. "You really shouldn't have gotten so angry." He murmured, stroking Draco's hair. "Now I'm going to have to calm you down."

Swallowing, Draco quickly shook his head. "No, you don't have to Harry. I-I couldn't make you do that, and-and you don't have to." He looked down, his wings furling around his body in an act of protection. "I-I'm okay looking like this, it's fine."

Harry shook his head again, taking Draco's hand and entwining their fingers. "No…I want to." He whispered. "I want our bond to be complete."

A small flashed across Draco's lip and he took Harry into his arms, picking him up off of the ground. "Are you sure?" he asked, cradling Harry against his chest. He waited until the Gryffindor had nodded before he took to the air, flying high over the houses and into the cloud cover.

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In the depths of Riddle Manor Voldemort was very busy putting together his invitations to the annual Death Eater's Christmas party. The envelopes were embossed with black, green, and silver swirlies that Voldemort was rather fond of, and the invitations he made were printed on his specialized stationary, complete with a Dark Mark watermark in the background. On the foreground of the stationary he had printed some holly and a nice little Christmas tree with tinsel sparkling on it that really did sparkle with little lights.

The invitations announced when the party was as well as what was being served and what activities they would be having. The activities included a secret santa gift exchange, a wreath making craft, dinner and dessert, as well as a dance in the ballroom of Riddle Manor.

For the past week Voldemort had been getting the Manor ready for the guests. The preparations included cleaning the Manor from the basement and dungeons to the attic and rooftop, making sure that everything was squeaky clean and that there wasn't a speck of dirt in sight. In fact, the Manor was so clean that some of the surfaces, especially the wooden ones, seemed to shine and reflect the light from their surroundings. All of the mirrors shone brightly, not a single fingerprint visible on their surfaces.

The preparations also included decorating the Manor for Christmas and there Voldemort had really outdone himself. On every mantel their were beautiful custom made Death Eater stockings and on every railing their were lighted garlands that hung with satin, dark red bows. There were lights tastefully placed around the outside of the Manor, including fairies that glowed and floated around the courtyards. In the courtyards and gardens there with glass orbs that glowed with different colors of light and sat in the branches of the pine trees.

Out of all the decorations that Voldemort had slaved over putting up his proudest one was the gigantic Christmas tree that sat in one corner of the grand ballroom. It was decked out from its top to its trunk with ornaments and lights and tinsel and cranberries and even had a brilliant, brightly lit star that shone at the very top of the tree. Around the base was a small train set, complete with working lights and smoke that came out in the shape of the Dark Mark. Voldemort hadn't spared any expenses in the preparations for his Christmas party.

As he sent out the last of the invitations, Voldemort sighed happily, rubbing his eyes tiredly. It was really lots of fun, arranging this party, although it was rather exhausting. Just so much work went into it. But at least Voldemort was hoping to get something in return out of it. He had made sure that his secret santa was Scabior and thus had gotten the other man the best present he could. It was also on the night of the party that Voldemort planned on wooing the other Death Eater and landing him in his bed, or so he hoped.

Speaking on landing a handsome bloke in his bed, Voldemort realized that he hadn't gotten Draco or Harry their honorary Death Eater passes needed to get into his annual Christmas party. As much as it pained him to have to invite his worst enemy Harry Potter to his party, he had promised Lucius that he would, especially since Lucius's son was mated to Harry, and Voldemort most certainly did not want to upset his best Death Eater and ally.

Quickly Voldemort went to Diagon Alley, searching through the stationary at the magical paper store until he found the honorary Death Eater passes and quickly bought a couple, getting some extra just in case he would ever need to invite some non-Death Eaters to his party in the future.

Once again home Voldemort sent Harry and Draco their passes before finally sitting in his study with a cup of tea to relax. He smiled in content to himself, looking down at him most beautiful and sexy body and congratulated himself on a job well done. With this much planning absolutely nothing could possibly go wrong.

NEXT CHAPTER PREVIEW:

Draco's wings furled around the two of them as he held Harry close, keeping their naked bodies warm. He kissed over Harry's skin, unable to get enough of his mate on top of him. "Love you so much." he breathed, moving slowly against him.

"Love you too." Harry murmured, arching his head up to kiss Draco deeply. "And I'm going to calm you down, love. I promise."