Chapter 14

A/N: Hello readers! It's 5:30 am here and I'm somehow awake... Which is strange because I didn't get to sleep until almost three.

If you're going to tell me something is 'stupid' tell me why, or at least leave a signed review so I can ask. I welcome constructive criticism, but someone obviously needs to look up the definition of that word. The rest of you reviewers are just amazing of course, and I completely adore reading what you have to say. *tries to hug reviewers but only ends up awkwardly hugging computer*

As always, thanks to Claire96 and Bulba-chan for their lovely beta work. They spend their spare time making this story better, and if it had worked before with the reviewers, I'd have given them hugs as well.

*nosewrinkle* Apparently sleep-deprivation makes me a hugging fiend, which is strange for me. I'm going to just post this and try to get some more sleep, I think.

~Frosty

"It is a Veela bite," the brunette mumbled. She hadn't really had time to process the change in her relationship with Malfoy herself, much less managed to think of what she was going to tell her friends.

"I'm missing something," Harry said, looking at the mark on his friend's neck and wincing. Compared to what it must have felt like for her to fall off the tower, the pain was probably nothing, but that bite looked like it had hurt – hell, it looked like it still hurt.

"I've been reading up on Veelas; they have fangs to bite their mate and bind them to themselves forever. If Malfoy bit Hermione, it means their bonding is official, she can't back out," Ginny said. "They're stuck with each other until they die."

Harry and Ron looked to their bedridden friend, horrified.

"It's true. Veela venom actually has the ability to heal their mate, but to everyone else it's highly toxic. The only reason I'm alive is because Malfoy bit me," Hermione told them. If they were grateful to Malfoy for her survival, then they were more likely to forgive him for the next insulting thing he said about them – and Hermione wasn't optimistic enough to think there wasn't going to be a next time.

"There's something else that his parents told me while they were visiting," she held up a hand to stop the outrage both Harry and Ron were practically bursting to express. "They think that it's unusual that both Malfoy and I got into serious accidents so close together. Lucius had a curse cast on him that he believes Malfoy may have inherited."

Hermione gave them a minute to digest the news while she played with the edge of her sheets, trying to think of a way to ask her next question. She decided that the direct approach was best. "I need to make an appointment for Malfoy and me with Bill. Do you think he'd take a look at us and see what he can do?"

Ron looked disturbed that she wanted to bring Malfoy anywhere near his family, but Ginny looked to be considering the idea. "I'll send him a letter today and ask," she told her friend, patting the other girl on the arm. "I don't think my poor heart can take another night of wondering if you're going to survive."

"Thank you, Ginny," the brunette said with a genuine smile.

Tentatively, Hermione started to pull herself into a sitting position. Despite being almost completely free of injuries, her body still ached like she'd fallen out of a tower. Her friends all hovered anxiously and voiced half-formed protests, but none of them actually tried to stop her, knowing it was a pointless endeavour to stop Hermione Granger once her stubborn mind was set on something.

"Help me out of the bed?" she asked once it became obvious that she wasn't going to be able to complete the task under her own power.

They weren't happy about it, but both Harry and Ginny each took one of her arms over their shoulders and levered her gently out of the bed. They helped her across the room while Ron held the door open.

"What's going on here?" Madam Pomfrey demanded the moment they'd stepped into the main part of the Hospital Wing. "Why are you out of bed Miss Granger?"

"I have to talk to Malfoy and he's ignoring me," Hermione explained truthfully. "I can rest just as well in my own bed as this one – probably better. Rest is all I need, isn't it?"

The Mediwitch pursed her lips, but she couldn't argue. Turning her back on the students for a moment, she pulled out a vial of a numbing potion. "Take this for the residual pain, the dosage is on the bottle," she said, making her disapproval obvious.

Gratefully, Hermione accepted the vial and limped out of the room with the assistance of her friends. She realized that she must have been talking with the Malfoys and staring at the wall longer than she thought, because it was dark outside. Apparently, Time flies when you're having awkward conversations with the parents of your significant other.

They travelled through the halls and arrived at the Head Dorms without incident. Hermione spoke the password to let them through the portrait hole. Once again, Ron held it open while the other two helped Hermione inside.

"What's that sound?" Ginny asked, looking around the room for the source of the strange noise.

Hermione tilted her head and listened, then frowned. "Purring, and I'm doubting it's because he's happy." She looked around the room, but Malfoy's silvery head was not visible. Where was he?

Ginny and Harry shared a confused look with each other and then Ron, but they all nodded as if they understood when Hermione glanced their way.

"Malfoy?" she called, looking around for him. Her three friends joined her in searching the room, but they couldn't find the source of the purring.

Hermione let them look, leaning heavily on the kitchen table to support herself. When she nearly tripped over a shoe, she glanced down. Ah, it was still attached to a leg. What was he doing under the table?

"Malfoy?" she said again, painfully kneeling down so she could see his face.

The Slytherin was flat on his back, staring vacantly at the wooden underside of the table.

"You have too many feelingsh," he slurred. "It's resh-ridiculous. I'm bonded to you, but it doesn't' mean I understand what's going through that bushy head of yours." He reached slightly to her left and made a petting motion.

"Malfoy, are you drunk?"

He nodded sagely. "I tried to get to my room to sleep, but I fell down. Then I deshided that here worksss too."

"I found him!" Hermione called to her friends. They gathered at the edge of the table and leant down to see the pair under it.

"Is he drunk?" Ginny asked.

"Help me get him to his room," the brunette said as she stiffly crawled out from under the table.

Harry and Ron looked disgusted, but they reluctantly grabbed one of his arms each and dragged him out to where they could get a grip under his arms and help him to his feet.

"Unhand me you pheasants!" Malfoy ordered, trying to struggle but only succeeding in making Harry step on his foot.

"I think he means peasants," Ginny mumbled as she followed the boys up the stairs supporting Hermione. They split up at the landing, the boys going into Malfoy's room and the girls into Hermione's.

"Are you sure you're going to be fine here alone? Malfoy's not exactly in any condition to take care of you if you need something."

Hermione waved off her concern. "I hardly think I'm going to need any help sleeping. I'll be fine."

It took some convincing, but eventually, Ginny left her there. Harry and Ron stuck their heads around her door to wish her good night before they left, muttering about the decadence of Malfoy's bedroom and how someone so evil didn't deserve to be spoilt like that.

Happy to be back in her own bed, Hermione fell asleep almost instantly.

It couldn't have been more than a few short hours later that she woke up again; something was off. Hermione blinked her bleary eyes open to see a figure standing in the doorway. "Malfoy?" she asked.

He staggered into her room and crawled into her bed. "Don' feel good," he mumbled, snuggling against her back and pressing his nose in her hair. "And Granger doesn't want me; she was disgusted that I bit her."

Hermione was pleased to feel that most of the aches she'd been experiencing had receded. She was less pleased to have a drunken Veela in her bed.

"First off: if you throw up in here, I'm going to strangle you. Second: I never rejected you; it wasn't disgust I was feeling, it was horror that you'd been forced to bite me. I knew it would have been an unpleasant experience for you."

She thought about telling him about the curse as well, but he was so out of it that she'd just have to do it again in the morning. He just didn't have the processing power at the moment to deal with any more bad news.

Her only answer was the happy humming sound he made before he started purring.

"You better not throw up," she mumbled, relaxing against him. She knew it would be pointless to attempt to get him out of her bed, so she decided to yell at him for it in the morning.

A groaning sound coming from right beside her woke her up. She rolled over and propped her head up on her elbow to watch Malfoy pressing a palm to his forehead.

"That's what you get for drinking so much," Hermione said primly.

"You're all right?" he asked as he buried his head underneath one of the many pillows she liked to have scattered across her bed.

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "You're rolling around on the bed groaning because of a hangover and you want to know if I'm all right?"

He shrugged. "It's my Veela, he's a selfless bastard." His voice was muffled by the pillow, but she heard him all the same.

Hermione wasn't so sure it was just the Veela part of him anymore, but she wasn't going to have that argument when she'd just woken up.

"Speaking of my Veela," Malfoy said, shifting the pillow slightly so he could peek out at her from under the edge. "I'm not worried about you rejecting me anymore, but I can't seem to remember why."

She understood the question he was implying with his statement. "You're an idiot. I was never going to reject you; you just jumped to conclusions."

The pillow lurched slightly as he nodded, not feeling up to having a long conversation about how it was that he had misinterpreted her emotions.

Hermione frowned at him; if she was only feeling a fraction of what he was, then she couldn't imagine how horrible he felt. Alcohol was evil and he was an idiot for abusing it so thoroughly.

"I'm guessing you're not going to be attending your morning classes?" she asked.

The amused snort confirmed her suspicions.

Since she still felt exhausted even after a full night's sleep, Hermione figured no one would mind if she missed some classes as well. It wasn't like she'd fall behind unless they somehow managed to cover three weeks worth of work in one day. Her friends would be shocked if they knew how un-Hermione her thoughts were at the moment, but sometimes she just needed to take a break.

She got out of bed and padded to the kitchenette attached to the common room. If she was going to have a conversation with him, then she needed to get some coffee into Malfoy. And probably a Pepper Up potion - preferably in the coffee.

With a cup of tea for herself and Malfoy's altered coffee, she went back into her room.

The blond was sound asleep in her bed, his face still under the pillow. It was a wonder he didn't suffocate sleeping like that.

Hermione set her the beverages down on the nightstand and pulled the pillow off of his face.

"Malfoy, you need to wake up, we have to talk," she said firmly.

"It can't wait until the hippogriffs currently stampeding on my head have given up?"

Grabbing the coffee and putting it in his hand, Hermione settled on the bed beside him. "No, it's important. Your parents came to visit me in the Hospital Wing after you had stormed off. They told me something disturbing."

He held up a hand to stop her from explaining further. Bringing the steaming cup to his lips, he sucked back half the glass in one big gulp. His face contorted into a grimace of pain as the hot liquid scalded his mouth and tongue. "Okay, continue," he said, blinking away the tears that had formed from the pain.

"Apparently, your family is cursed; your parents think our accidents were encouraged by this curse and they're only going to escalate if we get closer." Hermione retold the story as she'd heard it, including the origins of the curse.

She waited for a reaction, but was disappointed when Malfoy didn't say anything. "You look like you've swallowed a lemon," she observed when the silence became too much.

"My father's a bigger hypocrite than I thought. First we're not technically 'pure' and now I find he had no problem fraternising with Muggles when he was young."

Hermione felt like someone had punched her in the stomach as she came to a realization: if she ever wanted to have children, Malfoy would be their father. She didn't put any stock in blood purity, but like it or not, the wizading world would. The first half-blood Malfoys ever would be her children. Unbidden, her arms came up and wrapped around her waist, as if she could protect those hypothetical future children with the gesture.

A clink signified Malfoy setting down his coffee cut. He gently pulled her arms down to her side and pressed a kiss to her stomach before resting his head there and looking up at her face. "Don't ever worry about what people will think. They'll be Malfoys, and capable of dealing with anything. And should something come along that they can't handle, Veelas are listed as magical creatures and as such, can't be tried for murder."

"I'm almost certain that you only count as a magical creature in the eyes of the law while you're under the influence of your instincts. It doesn't exclude you from cold-blooded murder." Regardless of her disapproval of his tactics, Hermione was strangely comforted.

"Admit it, you're falling for my charm," Malfoy said smugly, having felt her comfort.

Absently, Hermione flicked him in the forehead. Her mind was already working on another issue that had been bothering her. "How is it that you're always in my head, but I rarely get a spare thought from you?" she asked, giving in to the temptation and touching his soft hair. Why was it that boys were always the ones who got the amazing hair and she just got a pouf-ball?

"I'll tell you if you don't stop," he mumbled. His eyes had drifted shut and a blissful expression had made its way onto his face.

Surprised, Hermione looked down. While she'd been internally ranting about hair, her hand had started stroking his soft locks like she would have done to Crookshanks had he been resting on her stomach like Malfoy was.

"I don't appreciate being compared to your cat."

Hermione just kept stroking and raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for the answer she'd been promised.

"Occulmency. Between Snape and Aunt Bellatrix, I was taught to be a very accomplished Occulmens."

"So if you hadn't been so accomplished in Occulmency, then I'd be in your head just as much as you're in mine?"

"Yes."

Harry had tried to teach her Occulmency second hand from Snape, but his grasp of it wasn't the best and she'd become too frustrated with his lack of knowledge to continue the lessons. There was only so much she was able to do with the help of books, so she'd done her best and prayed it was enough should she ever get captured.

She looked down at Malfoy, who was suddenly less relaxed and happy than he'd been a moment ago. It only took her a moment to realize what it was that had his knickers in a twist. "There was nothing you could have done," she soothed, knowing he was thinking back to the incident with his aunt. "It barely even bothers me anymore."

"Granger, I'm inside your mind, it's not like you can lie to me."

His head was lifted by her stomach as she took a deep breath. "Can you take your walls down so I can see inside your mind as well?"

Malfoy hesitated and Hermione could feel his trepidation at letting her see something so personal. If he couldn't trust her, than he obviously couldn't trust anyone.

Narrowing his silver eyes, he looked up at her. "It's not that I don't trust you, it's that I'm not sure you're going to like what you find in there.

Hermione squared her shoulders. "Try me."

He stared deep into her eyes for a moment, trying to judge if she really wanted to do something so personal as rifle around in his head. Finding that she was resolute in her decision, he let out a long breath, bringing down the barriers that had become second nature for him to hold steady.

She was unprepared for the river of information that was suddenly battering her brain. Memories, feelings, thoughts and ideas not her own were fighting with the things already occupying her mind. Her eyes closed in an effort to manage it.

Through sheer force of will, she managed to fight back and organize what he was giving her into a semblance of order. The first thing that hit her was the affection towards herself that was predominant in his recent memories. He couldn't claim it was just his Veela anymore, she's seen and felt that he was starting to care.

Her eyes snapped open and met the worried ones of Malfoy. He'd sat up and had his hands on her shoulders, as if he was about to shake her.

"That wasn't a pleasant experience," Hermione said, trying to calm her breathing that she hadn't even realized was elevated. There were still fragments of thoughts and feelings in her mind, as if some of them had broken off and caught there, tangled with her emotions and notions within her head.

"For either of us," he muttered, looking away.

"Does that mean our bond is sour?" Hermione asked fearfully.

Malfoy was briefly worried, but then he calmed and shook his head. "No, I think letting anyone see most of your life in a condensed form would be uncomfortable, even for a Veela and his mate."

"So we're okay?" She knew she sounded like one of those girls always asking her partner if their relationship was healthy, but he was the one better prepared to make an educated guess.

His fingers ran over the place he's bitten her, sending shivers down her spine. What had been a sore wound when Ron first noticed it had completely healed while she slept. The mark had changed to two small puncture marks that were the shiny white of old scars.

"We still have time for the bond to become corrupted, but for the moment, we're okay." He pulled her closer, as if the motion could shelter her from any forces that might try to tear them apart in the future. "We'll be okay," he said. Hermione wasn't sure whether he was trying to reassure her or himself.