Albus was well aware he wasn't omniscient, no matter what anyone thought, yet he still prided himself on his ability to predict the actions of all of the people around him. If you had lived as long as Albus had and spent most of that time carefully observing everyone you'd ever met, you gained that ability almost without effort.
Yet Albus was forced to admit that he had not seen this coming. Not from any possible angle. Then again, judging by the scowl on his face, even Severus hadn't been able to predict the current events and he was a great deal closer to Draco Malfoy.
There was a soft knock on the door of Albus' office. "Harry, do come in," Albus said, knowing Harry wouldn't hesitate to come to Albus the moment he was summoned.
Harry pushed the door open with a quiet creak and shuffled inside the office, looking between Narcissa and Draco Malfoy with wide, curious eyes. Narcissa sat straight and kept still, almost like a statue as she stared resolutely at nothing at all. Beside her, Draco Malfoy looked wan and grey, as though he hadn't been sleeping well for months now. Of course, Albus had noticed that the Malfoy boy looked sickly from the start of the year, but he'd chalked that up to the impossible order Draco had received from Lord Voldemort over the summer.
"Take a seat, my boy." Albus waved Harry towards the last remaining seat in front of his desk and then folded his hands on top of the wooden surface, carefully looking for the words he needed to convince Harry to essentially sign his life away. He knew Harry was stubborn in nature and would probably react with nothing by stroppiness at the idea of being bonded with Draco Malfoy out of the blue.
"What's going on, Professor?" Harry asked as he slowly lowered himself in his seat. Severus scowled in response and Draco Malfoy sniffled while giving Harry a look full of despair.
"Something has been brought to my attention that only you can help me with," Albus started, deciding to appeal to Harry's innate desire to help those around him. A desire Albus had encouraged in the boy ever since he'd stepped foot in Hogwarts, since at some point in the future Harry would need to push his own survival instincts aside and fulfil the prophecy once and for all. "Are you familiar with Veela?"
Harry frowned for a few moments before giving a single, brief nod. "Sure. Fleur is one, right?"
"Miss Delacour is indeed part Veela," Albus said with a genial smile. "Veela are not human, though they do bond with them. Veela need to find their mate, and when they do, they need to bond with them or they will die a slow and painful death."
"Alright," Harry said with an unconcerned shrug, proving he was still very much a teenager no matter how mature he acted whenever someone needed saving. "What's that got to do with me?"
"Mr Malfoy is part Veela and somehow the instinct to mate has been awakened in him," Albus continued, ignoring the quiet snort of disbelief coming from Severus, who was standing to his left against the wall. Severus had been sceptical about this whole thing, claiming Harry was far too selfish to ever go along with anything that was meant to save Draco Malfoy's life. "Those instincts have selected you to be his mate, Harry."
Harry blinked a few times, face a blank mask while Draco released a strangled sob and buried his face in his trembling hands. "What?" Harry finally asked, staring in Dumbledore in obvious disbelief. "Is this some kind of joke?"
"I'm afraid not." Albus gestured at Draco, who still wouldn't meet anyone's eyes. "I'm sure you've noticed Mr Malfoy's not been looking his best this year. It's because he's been trying to suppress his Veela instincts and keep his distance from you."
"Since when is Draco Malfoy a bloody Veela?" Harry all but shouted while gesturing wildly at the boy sitting beside him. "Have you considered that he's just doing this to get me in trouble?"
"How dare you," Narcissa Malfoy spat while giving Harry a glare that spoke volumes of how much she despised the boy. "My son is in despair and constant distress over you against his will and you dare accuse him of playing a schoolboy prank?"
"All Malfoy's ever done is try to get me into trouble!" Harry almost rose from his seat and only Severus' snarl kept him in place.
"I'm sorry," Draco Malfoy muttered against his hands, face still hidden. "I don't want this anymore than you do, Potter, but I can't stop my instincts. It's horrible. So I'm sorry, alright? Please just…please don't let me die."
That brought Harry up short and he sagged in his seat, suddenly looking exhausted. "I don't like you, Malfoy, but I also don't want you to die."
"I'm very pleased to hear that, Harry," Albus said, utterly relieved Harry seemed to calm down quickly enough. If they could get Harry and Draco bonded, Narcissa would follow her son over to their side, Albus was sure of that. And even Lucius, though he was still stuck in Azkaban for the time being, would undoubtedly turn his back on Voldemort once he got out of prison. While Albus felt sorry for Harry in some ways, the thought of taking away two powerful and wealthy supporters from Voldemort made Albus determined to see this whole thing through, no matter what it meant for Harry's future.
A future that might very well be quite short-lived if Albus' theories about how to remove the horcrux in Harry's scar turned out to be wrong.
"You will need to bond with Mr Malfoy as soon as possible," Albus said, giving Harry an utterly serious look.
"What does that mean, bonding?" Harry asked, face set in a dubious mask. He shifted in his seat, giving Draco a few furtive glances before scowling at Severus.
"It means that you'll essentially get married, only you'll use a magical bond for the marriage ritual," Albus explained, making sure to keep his tone reasonable.
"No." Harry crossed his arms while he glared at Albus with a mulish frown. "I'm not marrying bloody Malfoy. I might not even like boys, have you even thought of that?"
Albus blinked and sat back a little. He hadn't actually considered that, but he blamed that on the fact that he'd seen none of this coming and had to act quickly without a plan of any sort. It was only to be expected that he might have missed a few of the finer details. But before Albus could respond, Draco turned in his seat to glare at Harry.
"My magic wouldn't have chosen you to be my mate if you weren't attracted to the same sex, Potter, so you're going to have to come up with a better excuse to sign my death warrant," Draco said with a sneer that conveyed perfectly how he really felt about having Harry Potter for a mate.
"Just because I don't mind snogging some boys doesn't mean I want to spend the rest of my life with you, you twat!" Harry looked ready to go for his wand and hex the Malfoy boy silly, so Albus quickly cleared his throat to draw the attention back to himself.
"Harry, my dear boy, I understand that this is all very sudden," Albus said, once again trying to appeal to Harry's innate instincts to help anyone that needed help. "But if you don't agree to this, Draco Malfoy will die. I'm sorry to surprise you with all of this, but his life is now in your hands."
"Fucking hell," Harry muttered, leaning forward in his chair and rubbing his hands over his face, glasses almost falling off. He pushed them back on his nose and inhaled a deep breath before giving Draco a weary glance.
"I promise I won't make your life miserable," Draco pleaded, eyes wide and bottom lip trembling. His face had lost what little colour it had to begin with and the boy truly looked like he needed to be admitted to the hospital wing as soon as possible. "I swear it, Potter…Harry. Please don't let me die." Draco released a strangled sob and suddenly yanked up the sleeve of his left arm, exposing the Dark Mark Albus had suspected was there.
"What the hell, Malfoy?" Harry drew back in his seat as Draco held out the arm with the Dark Mark on it. "You're a bloody Death Eater?"
"Against my will!" Draco wailed, eyes filling with desperate tears. "I never wanted it, I swear it, Harry. They forced me over the summer." Draco hiccupped and swallowed a few times while he slowly lowered his sleeve again. "That's why magic has selected you as my mate, I'm sure of it. Because you're the only one who can protect me from the Dark Lord."
"Voldemort," Harry snapped, jaws clenched. "If you're to be my bonded, you'll have to say his name, Draco."
"V-V-V-Voldemort," Draco finally managed to whisper and then looked up with terror shining in his eyes. "Please don't make me do that again. You don't know what it's like, what he's like. He tortured me."
Harry gave a nod full of understanding. "The Cruciatus?"
"Yeah," Draco said so quietly Albus could hardly hear him. "He used that a lot."
"He cursed me, too, at the graveyard. It hurt like nothing I've felt before," Harry said, looking away from everyone else and staring out the window.
Albus filled with warm pride for the boy. Harry seemed to be coming around, as Albus had hoped he would. Harry had so much compassion, especially for those who were hurt by Voldemort. "I suggest you two gentlemen spend the next two weeks getting to know each other a bit better and we'll plan the bonding for the first Sunday in February."
"I haven't agreed yet, Professor," Harry said while giving Albus an affronted look, drawing himself up a little more.
"Stop being selfish for a moment, Potter," Severus snarled, stepping forward from the shadows and looming closer to Harry. "And do what you're told to save a fellow student's life."
"There is no need for any hostility," Albus said quickly, knowing only too well how volatile the relationship between Harry and Severus truly was. "Harry, I cannot imagine you're willing to let Draco die if you can stop it."
Sagging in his chair, Harry lowered his head. "You're right, I'm not. But I don't have to like it."
"Thank you," Draco said, looking as though he wanted to reach out a hand to Harry but thinking better of it at the last second. Narcissa wrinkled her nose in quiet disgust, but she didn't object. She couldn't, no matter how much she obviously despised the idea of her only son marrying the Boy Who Lived. It was the only way her son would survive, so she simply didn't have any choice in it.
"Don't." Harry shook his head a few times and then pushed himself up from his chair. "I'll do it, but I need time to… not want to curse Draco into very small pieces."
"Certainly." Albus also got up from his seat and gave Harry a warm, grateful smile. "Take some time to process this and then spend some time with Mr Malfoy. Perhaps you two could go flying together in a day or two."
"Sure." And without giving Draco any last looks, Harry marched out of the office with stiff shoulders, face full of quiet anger.
It ultimately didn't matter how Harry felt, as long as he agreed to marry Draco and thus helped to deal Voldemort a very painful blow by taking away two prized followers. Albus turned to Draco and Narcissa. "Now that Harry has agreed to save your son, Mrs Malfoy, I believe it's time to make some plans."
000000
Harry pulled the invisibility cloak over himself and snuck out of Gryffindor Tower after Ron had gone to bed. Harry had told Ron and Hermione about the unexpected news he'd received that day, of course, but now he needed a little time away from his best friends. Ron and Hermione had reacted as Harry had thought they would.
Ron had ranted and raved and was ready to go and curse Draco Malfoy to within an inch of his life. Hermione had instantly gone into research mode and disappeared to the library to find anything and everything she could about Veela and their human mates. And Harry simply sat back and let it happen, knowing that this was something his friends needed to go through before they could accept the situation.
With the help of the Marauder's Map, Harry made it to the seventh floor without encountering anyone else, and he quickly called for the right door to appear in the blank stretch of wall. The moment Harry pushed open the heavy door and stepped inside the Room of Requirement he was attacked by a blond menace.
"Harry!" Draco wrapped his arms around Harry in an embrace so tight Harry saw stars for a moment from lack of oxygen. "We did it, Harry!"
Pulling back a little, Harry gave his boyfriend a disbelieving look. "I cannot believe they fell for that. I seriously cannot believe it."
"I told you!" Draco grabbed Harry's hand with his own and pulled him along to the huge four-poster bed that stood in the cosy room Draco had created for them. "Wizardkind is weird when it comes to Veela. They'll believe anything."
"You're not even a Veela," Harry said in between chuckles, following Draco along across the room.
"I have a Veela ancestor," Draco said with a perfectly straight face. "It's distant, but it's there. Who's to say that being marked by Dark Magic over the summer didn't trigger any latent Veela instincts?"
"Bit presumptuous, isn't it?" Harry nodded at the huge bed and then quirked an eyebrow at Draco.
"Pfft." Draco sniffed and threw himself on the bed, bouncing up and down a few times. "Like you're not going to fuck me into oblivion after our clear victory."
Yeah, okay, Harry could find no fault in that plan and he jumped onto the bed as well, landing on his front right next to Draco. "I still can't believe we pulled it off." And Harry was suddenly overcome with laughter, his shoulders shaking as he buried his face in the soft covers beneath him.
Harry had never, ever in a million, trillion years expected to one day end up engaged to Draco Malfoy, but life was funny that way. After Draco broke Harry's nose in the Hogwarts Express at the start of the year, Harry had gone hunting for Draco, wanting to exact a little revenge. He'd found Draco right in the middle of a panic attack in Myrtle's bathroom and Harry wasn't about to curse an enemy when he was down. So instead he'd sat with Draco and listened to what had happened to him over the summer.
That one encounter led to many more meetings where they talked and told each other about some of the lowest points in their lives. And that in turn had eventually led to lots of snogging and lots of unbelievably good blowjobs and Harry getting fucked and fucking Draco in return.
They'd given the Room of Requirement a very thorough workout over the first months of the schoolyear.
And at some point during their meetings Harry realized he'd fallen head over heels in love with Draco bloody Malfoy, much to his own surprise. Thankfully, Draco returned those feelings completely and that made them seriously consider their future together.
As long as Draco was expected to serve Voldemort they had no future together, they quickly realized. The whole star-crossed lovers on opposite sides of a conflict thing was fun and romantic in theory, but in practice it was an absolute nightmare. Harry had spent a few weeks full of despair at the idea that he'd found someone he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, but that Voldemort would keep them apart. Not to mention that Draco was in very real danger of losing his life if the Dark Lord decided to throw a temper tantrum while Draco was in the room with him.
Then Draco had come up with the most ridiculous, outrageous idea that included him pretending to be a Veela who'd found his mate in Harry Potter.
Harry had never thought it would work, but he'd gone along with it because they had no other workable ideas and they were truly desperate at that point.
And what do you know? Dumbledore had eaten it up, just like Draco had predicted.
"Mother wasn't best pleased when I told her our plan," Draco said while giving Harry a fond smile. "But she'll come around soon enough. She's secretly very happy to get me away from the Dark Lord, but she wasn't about to admit that in a room full of enemies."
Harry rolled on his side and ran his fingers through Draco's soft hair. As it turned out, Harry had a thing for hair. Especially Draco's, which was so much softer than it looked.
"And Severus suspected something," Draco continued while he leaned into Harry's touch. "But it looks like your Occlumency held up just fine, so he won't be able to get the truth from your mind anytime soon."
Before they'd implemented their insane plan, Draco had given Harry a crash course in Occlumency, so he'd at least be able to meet the eyes of Dumbledore and Snape for a few seconds without having to worry about them pulling every single secret from his mind.
"And now all we have to do is put up a bit of an act for a few weeks, of rivals slowly becoming friends, and then we're good to go public with our relationship." Harry leaned closer and pressed a long kiss to Draco's lips. "I can't wait to do that everywhere I want to."
"How did Weasley take it?" Draco asked as he licked his lips, giving Harry a heated look.
"As expected. He wants to curse you but he'll come around." Harry pushed himself up on an elbow and leaned over Draco. "But enough talking. I really need to fuck you right now, Draco."
"I'm all yours," Draco whispered while rolling on his back in a clear invitation.
"Yes, you are." Harry tightened his fingers in Draco's hair and gave him a good, deep snogging while his other hand travelled south to undo Draco's trousers.
No matter what the future would bring, they'd found a way to spend it together and that was all that mattered in the end.
The End.