Chapter 14. Truth Behold

"There are many creatures both the magical kind and the non that believe that mating is just the simple act of either out of lust/love or just an act of survival in nature. But with magical creatures it is much different than what is shown. Mating involves many steps, such as claiming, marking and of course the physical mating process. What many people/creatures see is only the physical aspect, but there is much more to that. After the proper mate is found (this can span from days to even years) the creature itself (be it Dracken, Veela, Werewolf or otherwise) will do anything to be near their mate. These creatures have such a high need that it is only natural that the mate will reciprocate their feelings. This is the claiming process, the marking process is simply one of the few people know of. Marking is the essential bite/blood drawn part of mating in which the mates will partake of each other's own life giving blood. This bonding process includes the blood ceremony where the blood of those being bonded will be placed under a charm; this charm only further protects each of the mates, ensures fidelity and deepens the connection between them."

-A History of Creatures by Florielle Denbury

Kill her, kill the mud blood. She deserves to die. Look at what she has done to you.

The crazy voices in his head beckoned him. The constant onslaught of screaming or yelling voices were enough to make anyone insane. At first it wasn't that bad, just a low constant buzzing noise that would fill his ears. Sure, it was annoying but it could be looked past. But soon the seconds turned into minutes that turned into hours into days and weeks and even months the noises only further increased. The buzzing turned into shallow whispers that escalated into voice that further increased into shouting insanities.

It was enough to make any person insane. Yet it was constantly there and it was driving him into the brink of insanity one more noise and he would not pause to turn his wand on himself.

She has chosen sides with your enemy, who does she think she is? No longer is she faithful to you, she has found people better than you. To her you'll always be the worthless, pathetic sidekick. Why would she choose you when she could have a hero?

The evil voices chimed in his head once more only infuriating him even further. These voices reminded him of the ones the Horcrux made when he and Harry destroyed it just a few months ago. But what made them worse was this time he knew without a doubt that what the voices screamed were nothing but the very truth.

But now he had to sit here and listened to ugly old hag as berated and lectured him for the next forty five minutes of the train ride to Hogwarts. 'Blah, blah, nag, nag, nag yadda yaddah.' Whatever.

The only thing he really had to worry about was Snape's punishment, ever since the last time he did something bad Snape punished him for days. But the redhead smirked, there were ways around that.

For now he would let Hermione win this battle for it wouldn't be long until he would win the war.

~W~

Meanwhile much farther away Rodolphus smiled evilly. His plan was nothing short of perfection. Unbeknownst to everyone during the war, after Fenrir Greyback's cronies captured the Golden Trio he had placed a charm upon the redhead. With a certain spell and flick of his wand it would eventually cause the victim to fall into sheer insanity. The magic cast imaginary voices into the victims head making them deranged. It was similar to an 'imperius' of the mind control but this one was more subtle and took time for the caster's control to build up. As time went by the voice became stronger and demanding, even shouting frequent profanities. Judging by the young man's strong temper, Rodolphus knew that he was the perfect victim for his games. At the time he felt that the spell may have been used in vain but now he knew what he had to do. victim for his games. At the time he felt that the spell may have been used in vain but now he knew what he had to do.

Rodolphus laughed one more time; he was going to finally get his revenge.

~W~

Rabastan LeStrange looked back at Ian Nott incredulous, many questions crossed his head. But why? Why did it have to be like this?

Finally after the awkward moment of silence Rabastan spoke. "Hermione Granger, the one who's been known as a filthy little mud blood for so long? The poor girl who was attacked by my former sister in law! What do you mean?"

Ian only calmly took a sip of his rich black coffee before answering the angry wizard. "Rabastan listen, Angelica and I never fit in, in the Wizarding world. We couldn't stand the prejudice our families held towards others, we always had to act accordingly, dress accordingly, speak accordingly, walk accordingly, and be smart accordingly. There were stupid freaking rules for everything, something I couldn't stand. Neither could Angelica, but at the time we were under pressure from many Pureblood families.

It was either die or disappear forever and we both chose the latter of the two. When Melody sent Hermione over to us I had no idea they knew of our plans to leave the Wizarding world for good. Angelica told me it was only for a short while, right before the dread work broke out and the Potter's were murdered. But then word got around that your sister was killed," Ian excused himself for a brief moment to pick something up from the other room.

Rabastan looked around the muggle styled kitchen meekly, a weird box like thing sat on the counter by the big stainless steel machine, Rabastan watched bemused as a timer went off counting down time until a sudden 'ding' went off surprising the former Death eater. To say it surprised the former Death eater was bit off, it was more of scared him enough to unsettle the very hot black liquid in his mug. Rabastan swore loudly as the burning drink spilt on his hands and then looked around the room for something to clean it up.

A few minutes later Ian returned with an aged newspaper in his hands, Ian then took note of Rabastan's current situation then went to find a dishcloth and take the cookies out of the microwave. Angelica made them the other day and they were only good when warmed up for a few seconds. After cleaning up the coffee he turned to Rabastan and handed the wrinkled pages of the newspaper reading the bold print titles before him.

Young Couple Crash or Murder?

It was a dark night on the busy intersection of Broad St. and Main, when the young couple, Melody (25) and Eric Weston (28) of town, were heading home after a visiting a friend's house. Unfortunately the dark mists grew cloudy that night making it hard to even comprehend oncoming traffic. Mr. Weston was driving home in great condition, though the other driver of the other car was not. Stated as 'John Doe' due to the unidentified man found on the scene had more than five times the legal drinking limit of toxins in his blood. This reason played a big role that resulted in the head on collision of the two cars; unfortunately all three were killed upon impact when found by authorities only a few hours later.

At first claims were to be a drunk driver as the main reason for this horrible accident that has tragically affected our town. But recent leads and authorities still question otherwise. Autopsy reports claim that due to the mere perfect conditions of the bodies of Melody and Eric Weston that a car crash couldn't have simply been the main reason of death. Authorities suggest foul play though not many people so much as hate the Weston couple. Just two years ago Melody and Eric Weston married in town. Sources say the young couple though a bit eccentric were the kindest souls anyone would ever meet. Others claim that Mrs. Weston had just announced that she was expecting, but autopsy reports say otherwise. Funeral arrangements have been made for next week. All are welcome to say their respects to the young Weston couple as they rest in peace. This case has been put on high alert, if you happen to know anything please call the county police station.

"Murder?" Rabastan whispered looking back at Ian who was dunking his cookie into his own mug of coffee. "They were murdered?" Rabastan practically gasped out.

"It appears so; they also found this at the scene of the crime." Ian held out his shaking hand after reaching for something in his pocket.

Rabastan looked at the magical item that Ian placed in his hands. Then he cursed loudly to himself.

Damn the bitch, Bellatrix!

~W~

Severus Snape thought about all the diabolical choices of punishment for the youngest Weasely son. It had to be evil, it had to be just. No one should ever strike a girl like that! His thoughts turned toward his much younger cousin who was sketching something with dark charcoal. He couldn't really see it from his view but as long as she enjoyed the labour of work. Apparently all she wanted was to find a place where it was quiet enough to finish her drawing; the other cabins were just too crowded.

Madam Pomfrey's voice finally quieted down and Snape could hear her footsteps as she came closer and closer to his own private cabin. "Severus, Nyx," the mediwitch greeted the two in the cabin. Nyx looked at her briefly then went on into her artwork, the charcoal heard rubbing harshly against the special paper. "I suppose you heard all that?" the older witch asked.

"It was a bit impossible to not hear." Severus replied reaching for the book closest to him. He just needed to finish this last page otherwise he wouldn't have time to do it later, especially since it was only the first day back. There was still so much to do.

"Well you didn't have to deal with Miss Granger and her two bodyguards. Misters Malfoy and Zabini wouldn't even let me leave her side the whole time I was tending to her injuries. Nothing was broken thankfully but I fear she might have a slight concussion; I'll have to head back soon to check on her and give her a couple of potions for the pain. Whatever was Mr. Weasely thinking; I fear something is wrong with the boy Severus? Make sure to do something drastic, I still don't understand why he would ever do such a thing, Miss Granger was his best friend for the past couple of years." With that the mediwitch left the room to give the unconscious girl her medications if she happened wake up by now.

Severus sighed and pulled his free hand through his dark hair, untangling a few strands in the process (he also pulled out a bit too). His younger cousin giggled slightly, Severus turned to glare at the girl.

"If you keep doing that, Cousin Severus, you just might go bald." The girl smirked then went back into her intricate drawing. Severus Snape huffed then opened the leather bound book in his hands.

But that gave him an excellent idea. Along with many others that would fit as proper punishment to the boy. Wand taken away except for classes? A confession made in front of the school, to set as example of behaviour requirements? A restraining order? Crucio up to a thousand times? Slave for the year? Snape inwardly smiled at the idea of that. Or perhaps the most embarrassing and painful of them all, his mother. Just the very idea was enough to make Snape smirk. The Weasely matron was a sight to behold when she was severely angry or put off, no one would dare stand in her path. But then again he could always just let Draco and Blaise just deal with the issue themselves.

~W~

"Malfoy, would you please explain why you suddenly kissed me earlier though?" immediately Blaise saw red, not just Weasely hair red but blood red. What did Draco do to Mía? What did the young man do to his loveable girlfriend? Blaise stiffened and turned to glare once more upon his best friend. Draco only paled even more.

The next second both of the young Drackens took on fighting defense mode, both were willing to fight to the death over the very beautiful brunette witch. Before Hermione could even blink the two young men were already in a battle of fisticuffs, in the proper lighting Hermione could just make out the outlines for their scaled covered wings.

But why would the two boys be fighting over her? Hermione contemplated not really listening in on her boyfriend and Draco's conversation.

"You kissed my girlfriend!"

"I'm a Malfoy, it doesn't really matter!"

"She's MY girl, Drake, not yours. So keep your claws off of her, we all know you have an affinity for women."

"I can't help it if I happen to look this way. It's not my fault girls just throw themselves on their feet for me."

"Just put a bag over your head, no one would see the difference!"

"That's not how your girlfriend reacted." Draco smirked at Blaise noticing the scales that were appearing all over both of their bodies. Their inner Drackens were ready to kill their enemy opponent in order to get the proper mate.

"I'm so going to kill you!" Blaise roared his wings outstretching to the entire width of the medium sides cabin.

Hermione turned her head to look back at the two boys; Blaise had his hand in a vice like grip on Draco's neck. It wouldn't take much Dracken strength to easily cut off a normal human being's airway, but being a Dracken made it a bit harder for Draco to actually suffocate.

Hermione could only look on with sheer horror as the two young men continued to bicker, her recent thoughts flashed through her head. It could only mean one thing if the two boys gave her such feelings and if they both felt the same way about her. What was it that Draco had said to her before she passed out? 'You're a Dracken too?'

Of course! It all made perfect sense now! Both of the boys were Drackens…but both of the boys were fighting over her which could lead to one of a few things a) one of them kills the other, b)one of them seriously harms the other, or c) they both take her as their mate.

Before Hermione had a chance to respond Madam Pomfrey burst through the door with a huff and immediately the two Drackens separated and acted as if a war was not occurring.

"Mr. Zabini, Mr. Malfoy I thought I told you two to leave once I was done tending to Miss Granger's injuries." The mediwitch berated the two young Slytherin men and turned to face the brunette. "How are you feeling dearie? That Mr. Weasely sure did something, that he did, it's a good thing I gave him a piece of my mind, that I did. Here's some Pepper Up Potion for your head?" The witch immediately pulled out a vial to give to the girl.

Neither Blaise nor Draco moved from their spot, it was like they were rooted there. Madam Pomfrey turned to face them once again. "Go on, don't worry Mr. Zabini your girlfriend will be fine with me, okay? Mr. Malfoy I suggest you head back to the cabin, we should be arriving fairly soon. I expect that you should fulfill your duties as Head Boy." With that the witch ushered the two boys out of the room, who left shortly albeit reluctantly.

Hermione let the calming effects of the medicinal potion flow throughout her body. Her head no lingered throbbed and the slight dizzy sensations lightened so she was able to see straight. But something in her chest, more specifically her heart ached.

"I thought those two boys would never leave by the way they were looking at you, dearie. But you need your rest, just take it easy until we arrive." Hermione only watched with a horrifying feeling as she felt the drowsy effects of another potion. Madam Pomfrey must have slipped in Dreamless Sleep Draught into the potion she gave her.

Maybe this time she would have no nightmares.

~W~

"Harry what does this mean?" Ginny asked her boyfriend looking up from the crumpled letter that she had just read.

"Well besides the obvious, Hermione is a Dracken, but she's not the only one. Apparently Malfoy is too, so much for the Pureblood reign." Harry put in trying to make sense of everything. Did this mean that Hermione was really a Pureblood and that she was really adopted the whole time?

"Seriously, Harry don't you know how rare Drackens are? People have hunted them for centuries their magic is almost unattainable! This means that if any rogue Death eaters find out they will after Hermione faster than the killing curse!" Ginny pointed out the obvious turning to Harry.

"But who's going to find out, Hermione hasn't even told us about her secret heritage?" Harry answered. He understood why Hermione would hold back such a secret. But why couldn't she trust them enough to tell it to their faces?

"How would you like if Ron acted that way towards you, lest you need a reminder of what happened a few years back?" Ginny stated pointing out back to that time when he and Ron were at odds for a long time.

"We should go talk to her when she wakes up then, otherwise Ron will have a field day."

"A what?"

"Never mind, let's just go before the others wonder where we are at."

~W~

"This isn't over Zabini." Draco muttered under his breath as he head towards their cabin. Pomfrey had delayed him from attacking Blaise in response, Hermione would be his mate.

"Too bad that it already is, Mía is mine." Blaise huffed in response. The inner Dracken already staked its claim upon the girl all he had to do was seal it with the proper mating courtship.

"Well she can only have one mate, and I say that we should have a little wager on that. The first one, who can get Hermione's heart, wins." Draco suggested there nothing either boy could resist besides a battle against each other, especially over a girl.

"Mía wouldn't like this Drake we could both end up losing her." Blaise answered sincerely, he may be the Italian Stallion but he still had a heart, most of the time.

"It is either we get a mate or we die, which of the two do you prefer?" Draco replied, already his inner Dracken urged for the girl. Her dark curly locks, her deep brown eyes, eyes so deep one could drown in. That laughter, the sweet tinkling of bells, dear Merlin when had he ever felt so twitter pated? Malfoys would never fawn over a girl like that, or would they?

"Then may the best man win." Blaise shook Draco's hand and the deal was struck.

~W~

Here are the new characters that will be introduced into the story later.

Name: Nyx Ariella Black

Age: 17

Gryffindor 7th year

A shy and timid girl who spends most her time in the library. On beautiful sunny days she can be found by the lake reading a book and enjoying the rays. She is a relative of Sirius Black but just came back from spending time in Italy with her mother's side grandparents.

Looks: a slender girl with curves in all the right places. 5'7 dark brown hair the frames her face, while it cascades in ringlets down her back. Her skin is kind of pale but with a glow about her, she has pale blue eyes that look into your soul.

By: Moonlitechild91

Name: Marisol Rose Steele

Age: 17

Gender: Female
House: Slytherin
Grade: Final
Quiet person, rarely talks but is a very good listener, helps anyone who needs it but won't take any crap, can be very sarcastic and bitchy to people who treat her or her friends badly. She's a good guy but hides it with her silence and glares. She's very pale and has got long straight brown hair that reaches her waist her straight fringe reaches just above her eyes making them stand out more and blue/grey eyes that are so close to white [reason her glares work so well] she's petite in frame but has her curves. The only make up she ever wears is black eye liner and mascara. Doesn't find herself attracted to any of the guys she has met but she's not a lesbian, she just hasn't found the one. Like Hermione she prefers a book over company yet her friends try to get her to socialize, she wishes to become an Auror when she finishes school.

By: Nala Moon

Name: Nyx Star Snape, formerly Nyx Persephone Smythe (cousin of Severus Snape through his father-her grandfather)

Age: 16

Gender: female

House: Slytherin

Grade: Sixth Year

Villain/Misunderstood 'bad guy'/Good Guy: Misunderstood 'bad guy' because of her house placement

Little about the character: She is wheelchair bound and lives with Severus in Spinner's End when not attending Hogwarts. Most people in the other houses believe her to be just as Dark and evil as anyone else in Slytherin, more so because her cousin/adopted Father is Severus. Severus adopted her from a Muggle orphanage when she was eleven and with Filius Flitwicks help, they charmed her wheelchair so that she can go up and down steps without help. She reads lots of fiction and draws many pencil drawings. She puts off her homework until the last minute, but still does fairly well, usually placing around 15th for her year. She has long semi-curly black hair and dark ruby colored eyes. Many of the other Slytherins don't think she belongs in Slytherin because she doesn't show her cruel Slytherin traits often, but she was well placed.

By: Eternal Cosmic Sailor Saturn

Sorry about this guys but I finally finished school for the year. But I curse myself for taking AP Chem, AP English, and PreCalc next year...evil summer homework.

Great thanks for those of you who commented on the last chapter, this new chapter is dedicated to you guys! About 163 favouriters, 296 alerters, thank you guys so very very much!

Can we please get 30 reviews for this chapter? Please? Maybe I can finally set something up for Ron's punishment/demise...whatever you want to put it. You guys had many very good ideas, I don't know who had the best one.

If you want to make your own character for this story, follow the template and go ahead.

Now that Blaise and Draco are fighting over Hermione, should Draco win the first battle or should it be Blaise? Hmmm.

Thanks for reading, I do not own anything. Story adopted from tltharp 11 and Dracken theme from StarLight Massacre, used with permission.