Draco had been tossing and turning restlessly in his bed for an hour. Exhausted but unable to sleep, he finally gave up and decided to do something to get his energy out and didn't bother to put on a shirt.

He ended up in his hard won additional room, decorating it in a way he hoped Hermione would appreciate. He had already made sure to have electrical outlets put in so she could charge her electronics, but now he was changing the furniture and color scheme, adding bookcases and shelves for her belongings, enlarging the closet for her clothes. The overtaxing magic finally was too much and he had to stop.

He had known that his magic would be weakening by denying the Veela for as long as he had been, but it was speeding up much faster than he had anticipated. It would all come back and be even stronger once he and Hermione went through the marking ceremony. Of course, hers would never actually weaken, but she would have a great increase of power in her magical core.

He sighed, wishing for the thousandth time that he could have been different in his childhood. That he could have been anything other than a racist asshole to her before he knew she was his mate. If he could have been, he would never have found himself in this predicament.

A clatter of wood called him out of his regret filled examination of the room and he found a pile of wood sitting in the corner with instructions on how to put something called a 'cat house' together. He frowned, unsure what this was. Who had sent it?

He picked up the instructions and a piece of parchment sailed to the floor from between the pages. Picking it up, he read:

Mr. Malfoy,

I hope this finds you well. I'm becoming increasingly concerned about your case. Let me emphasise that although it is my opinion you should have acted sooner, you are only responsible for the following insofar as your inaction has caused. You are not in trouble, nor am I in any way angry with you, for I do understand your delay.

There have been several fights between boys and four girls have fainted over the last two days. After examining the students and all of the facts, Madam Pomfrey and I have determined the most likely reason for these occurrences is in response to your emotional turmoil. However, since I believe you will be rectifying this situation soon, I will simply say to continue with your plans.

Mr. Potter has informed me that you are planning to reveal yourself tonight, and once she accepts (for I truly believe that she will) I'm certain these instances will stop.

In the meantime, it may be advantageous for you to have a break from magic for a few hours. It may help to keep these types of instances from continuing throughout the school.

I've enclosed this cat house to give you something to focus on, in hopes that it will help you to both please your mate and calm yourself.

Let me reiterate, there is nothing you could have done except to act sooner. You've made your decision. These are the unfortunate but temporary effects of the decision you have made. None of the students have been seriously injured and none of the student body will ever know that it was related to anything other than close quarters and teenage angst.

Do try not to worry overmuch.

Good luck,

Minerva McGonagall

Draco read the letter twice, expecting something to change. He couldn't possibly have caused so much turmoil as to cause fights to break out between students, could he? Surely not.

He remembered Hermione telling him two students had broken into a fight in her classroom. Remembered the whispering about one of the popular girls in the school fainting in his last class.

He ran a hand through his hair and looked at the cat house. He grimaced. He detested cats. Still frowning, he got to work building the damn thing, imagining that maybe after Hermione accepted him and he marked her, he might convince her to keep the cat in here.

While he worked he planned out how he would tell Granger about his heritage and only ask her to accept him tonight. He was physically more than ready to mark her, but she was likely not emotionally ready. He had known that from the first.

When McGonagall had offered him the position, Draco had told her of his heritage and they had negotiated how Hermione was to live with Draco between the time of acceptance and marking. They couldn't live apart, as it would cause Draco to become quite ill to be separate from her for more than a few hours. So McGonagall and Draco had worked out how to extend the single apartment that was normally given to teachers into a double for the year. He had also insisted on having a larger kitchen so that in the days following the marking, they would not have to leave. He was concerned that Hermione would want to allow the bite to heal completely before going out in public.

He really didn't know exactly where the mark would be placed. Usually, it was on the neck, but sometimes it would be on the thigh or shoulder.

He finished hammering the last pad into place and checked the instructions. Now he needed to start putting the whole thing together. It looked like it would be as tall as him, if not taller once it was all put together, and for some reason this made Draco happy.

He wondered how long it would take for Hermione to be ready to allow him to mark her. He really wasn't sure how much longer he could hold out. He had been waiting his whole life for her. He had only ever kissed one other girl in his life, and that experience was a mistake.

He had become violently ill afterward and poor Pansy had to wonder if she was really that bad of a kisser for almost an hour until he could compose himself enough to explain. Her designs to be the next Lady Malfoy had evaporated in a few minutes and she had agreed to keep her mouth shut for the sake of their friendship.

Of course he knew how to please a woman, as it was part of his private tutoring from his late teenage years… well in theory he knew how. The Veela instincts and their bond would take care of the rest… he hoped.

He shook his head in irritation. He was supposed to be planning how to tell her he was Veela not wondering if he would be sufficient in the bedroom.

The walk to Hogsmeade would be a bad time to say anything. Maybe once the party was in full swing he could pull her outside and just… let her know. No, of course not. That would be awful. Maybe it would be better if he told her on the way back?

What would he do if Weasley tried to start something? How would he control the Veela then?

Hermione was fully capable of taking care of herself, but he really needed to figure out how not to transform if he tried putting his hands on her or something. Not to mention his weakening magic would make it difficult to protect her if anything got out of hand without transforming.

He hammered away and considered his options carefully. He heard the clock chime and realized it was time to head to Hermione's room for dinner. He smiled to himself and took some extra time to complete the project then clean up. As he was crossing to his own bedroom, there came a knock at the door.

Surprised, he went and opened the door. Hermione was there, smiling. "You're late for dinner, " She said. Then her eyes looked from his face to his bare chest and she blushed. "Sorry, I just thought…"

He crossed his arms, leaned against the doorframe, and waited, smirking at her.

She mentally shook herself and focused on his face, and definitely not his bare chest. "I thought you… uh," It was really hard to concentrate with all those muscles glaring at her. "I wasn't sure if you remembered where my room was at but I guess… uh… you're just busy?"

He looked at her for a moment, memorizing her flush and realizing that Potter was right, she was pretty obviously attracted to him. How had he missed that? "Sorry, I was just running late after working on a project. Please allow me to change. Would you like to come in?"

She smiled shyly, her blush fading. "Sure, I guess that would be ok." What the hell, mouth, this is so improper! Hermione screamed at herself as she stepped over the threshold of his living quarters. "What? Ugh, your room is bigger than mine. No fair." Hermione said jokingly as she walked into the living space.

"Oh, is it?" Draco said, trying to figure out if she should wonder about it or if he should derail her thoughts.

"Yeah, and your kitchen is huge compared to mine!" She put her hands on her hips, pretending to be angry. "How come yours is so big?"

He had walked into his room, but heard her. He poked his head through the door and said with a smirk, "I negotiated, Granger."

She scoffed and went to his bookcase while he washed his hands and face then dressed quickly.

He was happy and stressed at the same time. She liked the sitting room at least. This was such a bad idea. Why had he invited her in? The whole place was covered in his pheromones and he really didn't want her to glance at the door to her room or need to use the restroom or… he took a deep breath, trying to get his emotions under control. He remembered what McGonagall had written, his tumultuous emotions were putting others in danger. He needed to be calm.

He sprayed his cologne absently and then walked out of his room. Hermione was sitting on the floor next to his coffee table with a large book open on top of the table. He cleared his throat, trying to ignore the nerves at how quickly she had made herself at home and the nearness she had come to seeing his personal journal and also the large collection of Veela books for reference. She only had a photo album of his childhood.

Wait.

"Draco, look at how cute you used to be!" She said giggling when she looked up and realized she was caught.

He scoffed, "Used to be?"

She grinned, "Well, I mean… you're mildly attractive of course, but you were such a cute little baby! Look at how fat your cheeks were!"

Draco smiled, feeling very happy. "Turn the page, I was fatter afterward."

Hermione looked up at him, shocked. Then she grinned devilishly and turned the page, laughing at all the baby rolls little Draco her favorite picture of the bunch, he was rolling around on the floor trying to grab his little toes but he was so fat he couldn't bend enough to reach them. At the end of the loop of the picture, little Draco gave up and flopped dramatically onto his back and started making little bubbles with his mouth. "Such a cute little kid you were!" She said, laughing. "How old were you here?"

"Two. Come along Granger, your friends will think the worst of me if we take much longer."

Hermione puzzled over what he meant by that while she stood. "Well I hope you like Chinese food, because that's what Harry ordered," She said, shrugging his last comment off. "Hey, how come you have an extra room?" She said when she noticed the door behind him.

Draco froze. Shit. "I told you. I negotiated. Come along now Granger."

She frowned at him, noticing that he had avoided her question in a charming way, but it was still avoiding it. Then she turned and went to the door, ignoring pang of sadness in her heart at the likelihood of that room being for his fiancee. She sighed as she opened the door and put the thought behind her. If she wasn't sure that she really needed to get over this crush before, she was now.

Tomorrow I can start the plan to keep him at a little bit of a distance and that should help. Stupid heart. Stupid head thinking he would be interested in me of all people.

Somehow Draco felt less exhausted than he had earlier, even without having taken a nap. Maybe the exhaustion was from pushing his weakening magic too far and that was all. McGonagall was probably right, so maybe he should use less magic.

"So how was your lunch with Weasley?" He asked as they walked.

"It was wonderful. She's engaged to Oliver Wood! I'm so happy for her, but if I'm to be honest I'm a bit surprised. She never really seemed interested in the whole marriage thing. Well, not after Harry anyway."

"What do you mean? I thought she and Potter broke up amicably?"

"They did, but… well Ginny always thought she would marry him. Once they realized they really weren't right for each other, Ginny decided maybe set relationships were really not for her either. So she's been experimenting… that makes it sound horrible. She's just been in more casual relationships, is what I mean. So because of that, I thought she intended to never get married, too."

Draco nodded, "It's a logical conclusion, given the facts. Wood always seemed like a good bloke. I'm sure they'll make each other happy."

She gave him a strange look, "Draco, are you like… secretly romantic? I thought all Malfoys hated all Weasleys?"

He snorted. "No. Just the ones who have no manners and no tact. Ginevra has always- what?"

Hermione had burst out laughing. "Just imagining what Ginny will do if she hears her full name come out of your mouth."

"What should I call her? Ginevra is her name." He meant for that to come out as less haughty and definitely less like she had offended him, but there wasn't anything he could do to change the tone that had come out.

"I'm sorry I laughed. I actually don't know what you should call her. What were you saying?"

"It's fine, I'm not upset. I was saying that she's the least classless and mannerless of her siblings and so I don't have a problem with her."

Hermione felt a little bad. She had been a bit rude by laughing at him. "Well that's true. Though Percy has impeccable manners, to be sure."

"Oh, I had forgotten about that pinched little shit." Draco said, trying to keep a straight face. It was worth it when Hermione started laughing hard. She grabbed his arm to support herself because she was laughing so hard and Draco chuckled with her at his own joke.

They turned the corner toward her room and she gasped out between giggles, "Draco you're incorrigible."

He smirked, thinking of how beautiful she was in her joy. She went ahead of him to open the door.

Ginny and Harry were in the chairs surrounding the coffee table and playing a card game. When Hermione came closer, she saw it was Harry's favorite Muggle game, gin rummy.

"Finally," The bespeckled savior of the Wizarding world said in an irritated tone. "Let's eat."

"He's only trying to stop playing because I'm kicking his ass," Ginny said with a smirk.

Harry glared at her, "Yes, you've beaten me once in all the times we've played together and here I am being a spoil sport about it. Can we eat? I'm to meet Hannah in half an hour and I really don't want to be late."

"Sorry about that Potter, I got caught up putting something together," Draco said, calmly, bordering on apologetically.

They sat down and ate hurriedly, talking only a little. Harry left with only a few minutes to spare before he was late by his own calculations. In his absence, Hermione, Ginny, and Draco decided that once they had finished up, the girls would get ready and Draco would go change while he waited.

"We're going to be later than I'd planned, but not so late that it'll be rude," Hermione assured them.

"Does it take so long to get ready?" Draco asked idly, unsure what the protocol was for this kind of situation.

"Not really, but I want to make sure I can do my hair."

Ginny groaned, "It takes forever to do your hair."

Hermione giggled, "Not so much now. I've got a new potion for it. It works ever so much faster."

"I didn't know you did anything to that…" Draco started but Hermione interrupted.

"Watch it," She growled, looking testy.

"Beautiful mess, I was going to say."

Hermione grinned and Ginny stared at Draco with a strange expression. Hermione answered, "Of course I do. I just don't pump it full of a ton of stuff because it's bad for it. Do you still want to meet in the entrance hall?"

Draco nodded and finished his food. He went back to his room, intending to shower quickly and change his clothes into more appropriate attire.

Finally, after a mere eternity, it was time to meet Hermione to go to the party.

A/N: Hey! Thanks for all the reviews and favorites and follows! This chapter is a little more fast paced than normal, but I'm getting a little tired of the anticipation. I'm sure some of you all are too. I just needed to get what Draco had going on while the girls were chatting and move the story more.