A/N Thank you all for your kind words. And a special thanx to my beta. You are great!

ENJOY!

Chapter Five

Hermione Granger felt confused. She had no idea what the lot of them was on about. Why was Lucius Malfoy shouting to the Ferret at her mere presence? Like in some slow motion Hermione saw in one of the muggle movie while visiting her parents for the holiday, she watched Lucius reach into his robes for his wand. The last thing Hermione saw before blacking out was Lucius mouthing some kind of curse and a second later a shimmering white light immerge from the tip of his wand. She heard a very faint 'no'. It was in a whisper but she was sure it was intended to be a scream; a whispering scream.

As soon as the white light engulfed his mate, Draco screamed: "NOOOOOOOO!" He was too far from Hermione to brake her fall for when she hit the hard floor. The instance she fell, Draco was at her side. He backed away to the side of the room so he could lean against a wall for support, dragging Hermione with him. Draco scooped her up and placed her over his lap. He cradled her motionless body tightly against his own body, moving back and forth. He started sniffing her hair, face and neck. "Please wake up," he started to chant. "Wake up…wake up…wake up…" When she still didn't respond he turned his head to the forgotten adults and yelled at his father. "What have you done to her?"

Lucius couldn't believe what he was seeing. His only son and the heir to all the Malfoy fortune, was cradling a mudblood as though she was some wee babe. He was disgusted at the sight of it all. Lucius wanted nothing more than to separate the two but couldn't at the moment. He turned his head to the left and then the right, to make sure the two wands were still pointed at him. One move and he knew that Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape would send him to hell where, he knew, they thought he belonged.

At this point Professor McGonagall stepped into the office. One look at her brightest student sent her running towards Hermione and Draco. "My goodness, what happened?" She was almost there when she abruptly stopped. Draco had gotten his wand out and was presently pointing at her.

"Don't come closer!" Draco ordered menacingly. "Don't you touch her!"

"What? …" Minerva was speechless. In all her years as the professor at the school of witchcraft and wizardry no student has ever had a nerve to contradict her let alone threaten her with a wand. "Mr. Malfoy, explain your self!" In reply, Draco put his wand on the wooden floor next to him and resumed rocking his mate. Seeing as how Draco wasn't going to give her the answers she was seeking, Professor McGonagall finally turned to the other occupants in the room. Her eyes widened at the picture in front of her.
The headmaster and the potion master were pointing their wands at Lucius Malfoy, who was presently on his knees. Narcissa Malfoy was standing not too far from them; another wand was on the floor beside her fancy shoes. She looked back at the men, "Albus? Severus?" She questioned.

"Minerva, please make sure that Ms. Granger is okay." Albus said in concern.

"He won't let me," she motioned to Draco who resumed his protecting his mate.

The headmaster turned toward the young couple huddled in the corner and said, "Draco, please let Professor McGonagall to look over Hermione." Draco shook his head as McGonagall came and kneeled in front of them.

"No!" Draco replied irrationally. Before McGonagall could do anything, Draco pointed his wand at her again.

"I promise I won't hurt her, Mr. Malfoy." She tried to reason. "We need to get her to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey will know what to do." Somehow, Minerva got a hold of Hermione's wrist and quickly checked for her pulse. She paled and said, "Her pulse is fading. Please. She needs help now."

Severus was losing his patience. "For Merlin's sake, Draco, if you don't want to die then don't let her die." He turned to the headmaster. "Albus?" The headmaster nodded, shifted his wand to the fireplace, mumbled something and a second later to fireplace began to shimmer and twirl. "Draco, you must take Ms. Granger to the hospital wing. Now!"

For the first time, Mrs. Malfoy spoke, "Severus, what do you mean if she dies then he dies." The threat of her son dying was ruining her composure. "Are you threatening my son?"

"I am not threatening, Narcissa, I am promising." Snape assured. "If she dies, he joins her."

"How dare you…" Narcissa began but was cut off by Minerva,

"Please, Mrs. Malfoy. We have to get her to the hospital. Make your son understand that no harm will come to his mate. He is in a protective stance. He can't think rationally. You have to make him trust you."

"He does trust me," Narcissa said, a bit insulted, walked to her son and knelt down. "Draco," she started as she gently ran her hand over his face. "You know that I would never hurt you, or anything that you possess, right?" Draco nodded without a second thought. He always did have a soft spot for his mother. Without another word, Draco stood up and walked to the fireplace. "Professor McGonagall," Narcissa said behind her son. As soon as the Minerva went through the twirling wall, Draco followed with a still Hermione in his arms. The fireplace stopped swirling right after Narcissa went through it.

"Get up, you stubborn bastard." Snape said angrily, still pointing his wand at his old friend. Lucius complied as he rose slowly, not giving the angry professors any reasons to hex him.

"Please, take a seat, Mr. Malfoy," said Albus; barely restraining him self from ripping Voldemort's lap dog's head off. Lucius is going to pay for cursing one of Hogwarts most promising students and in front of witnesses at that, Albus will make sure of that.
Again Lucius did as he was told. He carefully scanned the floor for his lost wand and cursed under his breath when he found it to be far beyond his reach. "Do you know what you just have done, Lucius?"

"I did the world a favor," Lucius stated proudly.

"No," Snape corrected. "You just signed your own son's death warrant."

"Are you telling me," Lucius took a step toward Snape. "That if that mudblood doesn't survive you will kill my son…your own godson?"

"No, you did that on your own, Lucius," Snape shook his head.

"The last time I saw my son, which was a second a go, he was perfectly fine, a bit paler than usual, but fine."

"You better hope that there is a counter spell to the one you just preformed on Ms. Granger."

"And if there isn't?" Lucius goaded the two wizards.

"Then, Lucius," Albus replied. "The last of the Malfoys will be gone for ever."

"What are you…?"

"She is his mate, you git," Snape bit out bitterly. "His Veela mate."

"Please, Lucius," Albus said. "I beg you to listen to everything Severus has to say before you do anything else we all might regret later." Biting back his tongue, Lucius lowered himself onto one of the many chairs in the headmaster's office. He nodded his head to indicate that he was all ears.

"I ask you again, Lucius," said Snape. "Is there a counter spell?" Lucius slowly nodded. "Do you know it now?" Lucius nodded again. "Please provide all the necessary information for the headmaster so he can revive Ms. Granger." After a moment of silence Severus said, "If you don't want to bury your own son by tonight's sunset I suggest you provide us with information."

Not knowing what any of this had to do with his son's well being but not wanting to take any chances, Lucius provided all the information as to what to do and say to revive the mudblood. As soon as Albus got all the imprudence for Poppy to brew, he opened the port in the fireplace and stepped through it.

"Tell me everything," Lucius said when the wall of the fireplace looked to be solid again. "Why does that mudblood's life has to do with my son's life?"

"This is the exact reason why I had to owl you," Severus replied and then set on the chair opposite Lucius. "Lucius, whether you like it or not, your son is a Veela, his blood test results from last night confirmed that. He became a Veela on the night of his eighteenth birthday."

"That was nearly one month ago." Lucius added.

"Yes. Tomorrow night will be exactly one month," Snape ran both of his hands through his raven fair before continuing. "Draco is lucky enough to have found his mate," Lucius snorted at that. "Regardless whether you approve that his mate is a muggle born…she is still his mate and he has until tomorrow night, the latest, to mark her as his, with her agreement of course."

"And if he doesn't mark her by tomorrow night?"

"He will perish."

"'Perish'?" Lucius scoffed. "What do you mean 'perish'?"

"Poof." Snape made a sound at the way Draco might perish. "Just like Vampires parish at the sight of the sun, Draco will perish from not completing the Veela bond."

"Where are you getting your sources from, Severus?" Lucius narrowed his eyes in speculation. "Is there something you have been hiding from the world, old friend?"

"No, I am not a Veela, if that is what you're asking," Snape assured. "I did however know two."

"Did?" Lucius asked confused. "Did they perish, then?"

"One - perished years ago; sad really. He never found his mate and therefore died one month later of his eighteenth birthday."

Lucius breathed a sigh of relief. If Draco found his mate, mudblood or not, he was safe…wasn't he? "And the other one?" He finally asked.

"The other one was lucky to find his mate and mark her before the time was up. They married about two years ago." Snape's features darkened. "I have tried to reach them last night. And this morning," Snape set up and took a tan colored letter, "This came."

"What is it?" Lucius asked impatiently.

"It's a reply from the Veela's father," Snape put the letter away again. "Unfortunately, the Veela's mate had some sort of accident. She didn't make it. As soon as she was pronounced dead, the Veela followed."

"Followed?"

"Yes, he died that same night."

"Are you telling me all Veela and their mates are linked?" Lucius looked sickened at the thought of his son being dependent on the mudblood.

"They only become linked when the bond is sealed," Before Lucius could interrupt, Severus raised his hand to let him finish first. "I don't know anything about the Veela bonding, if that is what you wish to know. I do know however, bonded or not, your son's life depends on Hermione Granger."

TBC…

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