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Cyrna followed her family as they made their way over to the Slytherin table to sit down. The hall was as noisy as usual, and everything seemed quite normal. Most of the school was in attendance, despite the fact that it was somewhat late in the morning. It was, after all, Saturday and most of the school tended to eat later.

She willed herself not to immediately stare at everyone in the hall, instead taking calming breaths before inhaling deeply. She searched the air for the scent of her mate, desperately hoping that… 'Oh Merlin! I smell him, my mate! He's here!' She looked up, following the direction the smell seemed to be coming from. Her eyes locked with him. She knew he was her mate. She wanted to run to him, throw herself into his arms.

She felt herself beginning to stand up.

"Cyrna, what's wrong? Sit back down!" Lucius hissed quietly, not wanting to make a scene in front of the entire school.

"My mate." She said quietly. "He's here, and I know who he is."

Cyrna was staring at one particular spot in the Great Hall, her eyes never wavering. Her father now held her arm, forcing her to remain in her seat.

Harry followed the direction of Cyrna's gaze, wondering who it was that was making her act this way. She looked desperate, almost on the verge of tears at being held away from her mate, and she had only ever been strong before.

He gasped as he saw who she was looking at. This was not good. "Cyrna, you can't go to him here. Trust me, it will NOT make him happy if you throw yourself at him in front of everyone. Lets just get you out of here, you can go to him later." Harry said quietly, urgency filling his voice. Draco tightened his hold around Harry's waist, unconsciously wanting to protect him from every bad emotion.

Cyrna reluctantly ripped her gaze away. She didn't want to admit it but Harry was right. The Great Hall was no place for the conversation that she was going to have to have.

"Lets just get you out of here, ok?" Harry suggested, pulling out of Draco's grasp and helping Cyrna up. Draco growled quietly, but Harry shot him a warning glance and lead his friend out of the hall. Right now she needed his help, and he intended to give it to her. Neither of the two noticed who happened to be staring at Cyrna as she fled the room, shock and happiness written across his face.

Lucius and Narcissa turned confused eyes to each other. "Who was she looking at? I didn't see." Narcissa asked.

Lucius shook his head. "I didn't see either. I was paying more attention to our daughter. I certainly didn't expect her to react so strongly as soon as we sat down. To be quite honest, I didn't expect her to notice anything today at all." He sighed. "I guess Harry is the only one besides Cyrna who knows." He shot a glance at Draco, who was glaring at the doors out of the hall. "I'm guessing our son here was too preoccupied to see who she was looking at. And even if he had, there is a chance that she mistook her mate if he was sitting too closely to someone else."

Narcissa nodded her agreement. "Lets go try and find them. If Cyrna can't approach her mate herself, it must be someone they feel doesn't like her, or someone they don't think we will approve of." The three remaining Malfoys hurried out of the hall, but Lucius couldn't help but silently vow that neither situation would arise for his daughter. No matter who her mate was, they would accept her, and he would in turn accept her mate. Everything would be perfect for the daughter that he had so far failed so miserably. A Malfoy never failed, and he was going to make up for this near miss if it was the last thing he did.

"I'm so dead Harry! How am I supposed to convince him to bond with me! He's my godfather now, and my teacher, he's going to hate me for this! My mate will hate me!" Cyrna whimpered rather pathetically.

"Cyr, it'll be ok. If anyone can convince Snape to bond with them its you. And you have very good reasons why he should." Harry said reasonably.

"But what on earth do I tell him! He's my father's best friend and my god father!" She asked hysterically.

"Well, he may be your father's best friend and you god father, but you haven't known him in that capacity. You've always been just another student, and you've always defended him and said he was a good teacher." Harry grimaced. There was no way in hell that he thought Snape was a good teacher, but Cyrna needed his reassurance right now, so he'd give it to her as much as possible. "He's not really your godfather now so there's no reason why he can't say yes. Besides Cyr, its not like he has a choice. Remember what you know about mates? Its not like he's only your soul mate, you're his too. He needs you just as you need him. Neither of you could be happy without the other. Remind him of that, explain the nature of veelas and soul mates to him and he can't say no. You can do it Cyr."

Cyrna nodded sadly, slowly getting herself back under control, but before she could respond she was interrupted.

"Who won't be able t say no?" Lucius asked sternly. "And I want an answer now. We need to know if you want us to help you." Cyrna gulped. As bad as she knew Snape would take this news, Lucius was going to be ten times worse.

"Mr. Malfoy? Maybe it would be better if you let her think about things a little first." Harry suggested quietly as a desperate looking Draco ran to his side and wrapped his arms around Harry's waist.

"Why wouldn't she want to tell us? Who is it?" Narcissa asked, worried. What if it was that dreadful Ron boy after all.

"She just needs-" Harry began, only to be cut off by Cyrna.

"No, its ok Harry. They do need to know." She took a deep breath. "Mother, Father, my mate is Severus Snape." 'There,' she thought, 'nice and blunt, get everything out in the open right away.'

Narcissa gasped and Lucius looked deeply disturbed. "Did you just say that your soul mate is Severus SNAPE! As in my best friend and your godfather!" Lucius practically bellowed.

Cyrna nodded meekly.

"But he's my age! He could be your father!" Lucius yelled.

Narcissa seemed to have collected herself a little, for she glared at Lucius. "If Cyrna's mate is Severus we will simply have to deal with it. We can't change the situation, however unfortunate it may be. Cyrna didn't choose her mate, they are simply meant for each other. Really, Lucius you know that!" She chided.

"Darling, if Severus is truly your mate we shall do everything we can to help you." Narcissa continued, though the 'you're going to need it' was heard in the room as if she had said it out loud rather than in her head.

"Thanks Mother. I- I know this can't be the most pleasant situation for you. And I'm sorry." Cyrna said, lowering her eyes. Narcissa immediately swept over and gathered the distraught girl in her arms. Tears came to Cyrna's eyes as her mother attempted to comfort her. Narcissa threw a dirty look at Lucius, who promptly cleared his throat.

"Yes, of course. It truly doesn't matter who your mate is. We'll help you no matter what." He spoke somewhat stiffly, but Narcissa gave him an approving look and he relaxed. He had no desire to be in the dog house.

"Darling, what are you going to do about Severus? We should create a battle plan." Narcissa asked softly.

"I haven't really thought about it yet. I didn't know what I'd do no matter who it was though, but this makes it harder." Cyrna answered, sniffling slightly.

"Maybe you should just ask if you can talk to him after classes. Make sure he doesn't have to deal with victims, er, students directly after." Harry suggested.

Cyrna glared at him fiercely, and he hastened to fix his slip up. "It'd be a lot for anyone to deal with, he'll need time to think about it without interruptions." Harry said quickly. Cyrna appeared slightly mollified, but Lucius could not help but smirk at her reaction. Veela were notoriously protective of their mates (as Draco was so wonderfully demonstrating) and would often become angry at the first perceived slight, even if it was only spoken.

Draco spoke at last, "Perhaps it would be better if Father spoke with him first, or if the whole family was there. Uncle Sev won't want to go against Lucius, they are best friends, so if he knows Lucius already approves things might go better." Lucius nodded slowly, amazed that Draco was able to think so clearly after finding his mate, especially as he had been unable of coherent thought since he had woken up.

"We should let him know that if he were to agree to the bond we would accept him with open arms." Narcissa began, before fixing a stern look on her husband, "But we need to make sure he doesn't feel pressured by the two of us. He has to know that this is his decision. At least on the surface." Lucius began to protest, but Narcissa held up her hand and continued. "I have no intention of letting our daughter die, Lucius. We will make sure that he bonds with her, and soon, but he needs to think he came to that decision on his own. You know how stubborn he is." Lucius gave a slight nod, acknowledging that she was correct.

"We shall speak to him after he has finished with breakfast, and let him know our stance on the situation. Knowing Severus, even if we tell him it is his decision whether or not he bonds with Cyrna he will realize he has little choice. If he does not bond with her she will die and he will as well. I will NOT let the man who killed my daughter live." Lucius growled.

Cyrna could not help but blush. Lucius was so protective of her and they had just found her. She knew it wasn't easy for him to accept the bond, as it was his best friend, but he was now insisting on it. 'I know that veela's are protective of their mates… but what did I read about children…' Cyrna struggled with the memory, she could almost see the words on the page in that book on magical creatures… what had it said? 'Oh, that's it!' She realized. 'It said that veela are incredibly protective and possessive of their mates but are even more protective of their children. They refuse to let any harm come to them, and often spoil them as a result. Well, I guess that explains why they love me so much already. Its engrained into them. They couldn't not love me and protect me once they knew who I was.' Cyrna sighed. Things made a lot more sense now. She hadn't fully understood why she felt such a bond to her parents right away. From what she had read adopted children most often hated the parent who abandoned them, but she had loved hers right away, immediately becoming part of the family. The fact that her grandfather had been willing to get rid of her despite the fact that children meant so much to veela made her hate him even more. If that man wasn't already dead she would kill him herself.

"I think it might be a good idea if only Lucius went to talk to Snape at first, and then Cyrna went. If everyone goes he might feel kind of ambushed. This way it's a little more relaxed." Harry said. Draco's arms were still tight around him, and Draco was currently nuzzling into his neck. It was truly amazing how strong a veela's emotions for their mates were if Draco was anything to judge by. Harry knew that he should have felt smothered. Draco had barely let go of him since they had woken up, but instead he felt safe. He supposed this was due to his lovely submissive vampire genes, but he somehow couldn't bring himself to care that he was letting Draco protect him. He WANTED Draco to protect him, and he was no longer willing to fight for his independence.

Lucius nodded. "I think that would be best. Cyrna, you'll accompany me to his chambers, and I shall inform him of the situation and then allow the two of you to talk. I would recommend that you tell him some of the details of soul mates, as he may not know them. All though…" Lucius paused. There was something Severus had once said… something about never finding his mate, and how bitter it had made him once he realized he probably never would. After all it had been over a decade since… Lucius coughed, almost choking as he realized why exactly Severus had been looking for a mate.

"What is it, Lucius?" Narcissa asked worriedly.

"I just remember a rather disturbing conversation that I had with Severus many years ago. I cannot believe I forgot something so important!" Lucius spat, angry at himself for not remembering such a major detail of his friend's life.

"What is it? He doesn't already have a mate does he?" Cyrna asked worriedly, wrapping her arms around herself. As the tension increased in the room, Draco tightened his hold on Harry. He did not like how helpless he felt to protect Harry from emotional danger. Physical danger was hard enough to protect him from, but did everyone have to be so dramatic? He couldn't save Harry from that!

"Shh, Cyrna, its not that. In fact, I think it may be a good thing for you. He won't be able to say no to you at all. He's been looking for you since he turned 16." Lucius attempted to soothe Cyrna, drawing her into a hug.

"What do you mean?" Cyrna asked, pulling away, eyes wide. Severus had been looking for her? But that would mean…

"He's a Dark Elf. I simply cannot believe that I forgot that. He was… upset… when he could not find his mate all of those years ago. I dare say it is what has made him so bitter to the students over the years. Dark Elves are even more dependent on their mates than veela. They feed off of the emotions of their mates, positive emotions allowing them happiness and negative emotions forcing them to protect their mate. With no emotions to feed from, Severus has become rather apathetic about emotions in general, especially those of others. Its what made him such a good spy against the Dark Lord."

Thoughts were swirling through Cyrna's head. 'He'll want me then. No matter what. He'll love me.' She couldn't help but be elated by this news. Inside, she felt like dancing a jig.

Narcissa cast a quick tempus charm. "Lucius, Severus should be done with breakfast by now. Perhaps we should take her to him as quickly as possible. He will not thank us for keeping them apart any longer than necessary." Narcissa spoke quietly, but Lucius immediately agreed, having no desire to further anger his wife.

"Draco, if we allow you to take Harry back to your room alone, you must promise not to bond." Narcissa said sternly. Draco looked rather sullen at this news, but none the less he nodded, and gently guided Harry back to his family's rooms. He wanted to know what happened with his sister and her mate as soon as possible.

"Are you ready, Cyrna?" Lucius asked quietly.

"Yes!" Cyrna whispered fervently. Her father placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, and the family headed out of the classroom that they had temporarily commandeered and towards the dungeons.

When they arrived at the portrait that Lucius knew lead to Severus' chambers (aptly a portrait of Salazar Slytherin) Lucius stepped in front of his daughter, hiding her from view, and prepared to knock. Before he could, however, the portrait was flung open.

"Where is she?" Severus demanded. He sniffed delicately. "I smell her. Where is she?" The quiet desperation in his voice startled Cyrna.

"I'm right here." She whispered. Lucius quickly stepped aside, not wanting to interfere. Severus swept her into his arms, never intending to let her go. All these years he had searched for her, never truly believing he would find his mate, and now she was in his arms.

"I just wish I had gotten to see you as a baby before you were taken away. Maybe then I would have had some hope that this day would come." Snape whispered, stroking her cheek. He could already feel the emotions flooding off of her. There was happiness, relief, attraction. He moaned slightly and nuzzled into her neck. He knew that he was not in the ideal situation, this was after all, a student and the daughter of his closest friend, but with the presence of the emotions he had always lacked he could not force himself to think rationally.

Finally, he was able to pull himself away, though he kept his arms around her waist. Lucius could not help but chuckle. At Severus' confused look he explained. "You reminded me of Draco. Earlier he would not let go of Harry at all, hiding him behind his wings. I suppose we should be grateful Dark Elves have no wings otherwise Cyrna would be behind them right now."

Severus' mouth opened in shock. "Draco and Potter?" He spluttered.

"Surely you noticed that Draco would not take his arms off of Harry at breakfast this morning?" Lucius asked dryly.

"No, I was rather preoccupied controlling myself after I caught a certain scent." Severus replied indignantly. "Though I must say the thought that Potter is a submissive is rather entertaining. I cannot wait to see that." he chuckled darkly.

"Not simply a submissive. A submissive vampire." Lucius smirked.

Severus gaped, inwardly of course, for he was far to composed to do anything so undignified as gaping. "But Sanguine Season is in a month!"

"Yes, Narcissa has her work cut out for her as we intend to see them married before they bond." Lucius replied, a small amused smile on his face at having shocked his friend to such an extent.

"Good luck with that. I doubt Draco will last a day without bonding. Where are they now anyway?" Severus asked curiously, having regained his composure.

"We let them return to their rooms under strict orders not to complete the bond." Narcissa answered.

"Are you kidding!" Severus exclaimed. "Its not as if Draco's mate is a human who will want to resist the bond! Potter has submissive instincts telling him he'll be safer with Draco, especially once they've bonded! If they're left alone together its almost certain they'll bond! And if that wasn't bad enough, Sanguine Season is in a month, and Potter must sense that he'll need his mate more than ever then! He might even want to feed from Draco, and once he's done that and completed the vampire side of the bond he'll be able to become pregnant with Draco's child naturally Sanguine Season or not! And I'm fairly certain that Potter doesn't realize vampires can get pregnant while not in heat, heat just makes it more likely!"

Abruptly, Severus stopped speaking. Wordlessly, he drew Cyrna further into his arms and stroked her cheek with one hand. He could feel the worry and fear rolling off of his mate, and the fact that it was his words that were affecting her so filled him with despair. "Its all right," he whispered in her ear, "we'll go get them before they do anything stupid."

Cyrna shivered as her mate's voice rolled over her ear. She really couldn't believe her luck. She had been imagining a difficult scene where she had had to beg Severus, explain to him the history of mates, and how important they were and why veela couldn't live without their mates, and here she was being comforted by her mate, held in his arms as he soothed her fears away.

"Severus is right." Lucius said sternly. "We need to get the boys right away. There is too much that can go wrong if they are left alone." With that, he turned on his heel and swept from the room, Narcissa close behind.

"I suppose we should follow them." Severus whispered. "Do you think you're up to it?" His voice was filled with tenderness. He could feel Cyrna's worries slipping away and being replaced by the love she already had for him, and Merlin it felt good! He had known his was missing something without those emotions to feed from, but he hadn't known he was missing THIS! It felt heavenly. Nothing was going to come between him and his mate.

Harry moaned as Draco licked at his neck. "Draco," he panted, "We promised not to bond. You need to stop." Draco's arms tightened their hold around Harry's waist. "Draco, I want this as much as you do, but we have to wait. Its only a month till we can be together. But I am not going to explain to your parents why we had sex before our wedding!"

Draco looked up at Harry, pulling away slightly. "Spoilsport," he grumbled.

"But you love me anyway," Harry teased.

"Mmm…" Draco agreed, pulling Harry into his lap as he sat up. "I can't seem to help myself. I liked you before the transformation, and now I simply can't help myself with all of these Veela hormones backing me up. I'm sure Father will understand if we completed the bond now." Draco purred seductively, one hand stroking Harry's cheek. Harry moaned appreciatively.

"Draco, we need to st-" Harry attempted to stop Draco, but found his lips covered in a determined kiss from the blonde veela. He soon lost himself in the wonderful kisses. Who was he to say no to his mate?

"Draco Malfoy! Stop that this instant!" An enraged voice yelled from the direction of the door. Harry quickly jumped away from Draco, staring at the door in horror. The entire Malfoy family, with the addition of Snape, were standing there. All looking quite upset, and for good reason. Harry's shirt was completely off and Draco's was already half unbuttoned. Love bites were quite apparent all across Harry's chest and on Draco's neck.

"What part of 'no bonding until the wedding' do you not understand?" Lucius asked quietly, in a tone of voice that had Harry shivering in fear.

"I… apologize Father," Draco said slowly, shaking his head to get rid of the lust that had clouded him since he had begun kissing his mate. "I'm not sure what happened. I simply… lost control, I supposes."

"Obviously," Snape snorted rather indelicately. Cyrna hid a chuckle, turning her head from the rest of the room until she regained control.

"And Harry, I thought you knew better!" Cyrna said mock sternly.

Harry smiled sheepishly as he pulled his shirt back on. "Draco was rather persuasive."

"I'm sure he was." Narcissa said gently. "But that does not excuse your actions, boys. If we cannot trust you to not bond, than we will not be able to leave you alone together."

Draco's eyes widened in fear, and he grabbed Harry's wrist and pulled him into the embrace of his arms, quickly whipping his wings out to hide him within their protective embrace.

"Draco! Honestly!" Lucius groaned. "We were not going to take him away from you! We will simply make sure that until the wedding you are not left alone. Calm down and release Harry. I can't imagine that he wants to be separated from his friend." Lucius kept his tone quiet and soothing, hoping to calm Draco, but his wings did not loosen.

"I see what you mean now Lucius. He is quite overprotective." Severus chuckled slightly, but failed to notice that he too had his mate wrapped in a protective embrace. Cyrna leaned back onto his chest and laughed inwardly. She understood why Harry allowed Draco to be so protective. It felt amazing to have someone care so much about your safety and happiness.

Harry turned in Draco's arms to face him. "Draco, its ok! They won't separate us. Neither of us will let them." He stroked Draco's chest and placed soft kisses on his neck. "Take your wings down, love, I want to see Cyrna."

Draco reluctantly lowered his wings, and slowly pulled them back in. "Sorry… I can't really control myself yet." He said softly, still holding Harry in his arms, and determined not to let him go.

"You'll get it eventually, dear. It certainly took your father a while to calm his instincts, but even he has managed it." Narcissa said, grinning at her husband.

Lucius smirked. "Though someone was a little disappointed when he did manage to do so." Narcissa mock glared at her husband, putting her hands on her hips.

"Fine. I guess someone else can just sleep on the couch tonight." She huffed as indignantly as was possible while trying to laugh at the same time.

"No!" Lucius said hastily. "I take it back!"

Narcissa pretended to consider this for a minute before replying, "If you are on your best behavior than perhaps I shall reconsider." Lucius nodded fervently, and the rest of the room burst out into laughter. The usually icy Lucius Malfoy, while always a normal person around the rest of his family, still never begged or conceded so easily in front of them.

Before Lucius could yell at the rest of the room's occupants, Narcissa quickly spoke up. "Darling, how about you, Sev, and I all go on a little walk. I'm sure Cyrna and Harry would like to talk."

"That sounds fine, love." Lucius replied. "There are a few details that I need to work out with Severus anyway." He turned to Cyrna. "You, young lady, are being left with an important responsibility. Those two," Lucius smirked, pointing at the two boys, still wrapped around each other, "are not to bond or be left alone in any fashion. Do you accept your mission?"

"Of course, Father," Cyrna smirked back. "I won't let anything happen between them."

"Good. Then we shall be on our way. Boys, behave." Lucius said sternly, before turning and offering his arm to his wife and heading to leave the room.

Severus turned Cyrna in his arms and planted a quick, chaste kiss on her lips. "I'll be back soon." he whispered. He didn't want to leave his mate, but he knew that he needed to regain control on himself. He never lost control in this manner. He never acted so disgustingly human, and emotional. 'I suppose I was never emotional before because I did not have me mate to feed from. Blast it! I'm going to have to work hard to maintain my image as a bastard…' Severus nodded at Harry and Draco and turned and followed Lucius and Narcissa out of the room.

"I guess it went well?" Harry asked teasingly.

"I suppose you could say that," Cyrna replied loftily, refusing to allow herself to blush. "He accepted the bond even faster than I had imagined. I… I can't describe how amazing it feels. This morning I felt so lost and alone, and now I have someone to love, to protect me. I won't say that I'm not surprised at my mate's identity, but I couldn't be happier. The veela in me knows how strong a man Severus is… I don't know how to explain it," she said, her face screwed up in confusion. It was so difficult to label the emotions that she was feeling.

"I think I understand actually," Harry said softly. "You just know that you're safe and that they can protect you, and could protect any family you might create," Harry blushed deeply.

"Unnh…" Draco groaned. "Harry can you not mention creating a family when we aren't allowed to bond? Its definitely not helping to prevent me from pouncing you."

"Sorry," Harry said, his blush intensifying. "I want to bond too," he whispered, wrapping his arms around Draco's waist. "You wouldn't believe how much. But we can't. Not yet." Harry whimpered softly, laying his head on Draco's shoulder, and letting the blond hold him.

"Harry, you have less than a month to wait! Everything will be fine!" Cyrna said sternly, in an attempt to reassure him. Harry turned slightly watery eyes to his best friend.

"I'm sorry! Its just… Sanguine Season is so soon… the vampire in me is so desperate to bond and make sure I'm safe before it comes. You have no idea how difficult it is to have to control these animal instincts!" Harry said loudly, almost yelling by the end.

Two blond-haired veela looked at him like he was insane. "Uh, Harry, love, think about who you're talking to." Draco said gently. "Everyone in my family is a veela, so we all get the 'must bond with mate and shag like bunnies' urge, and Severus is a Dark Elf, so he gets the urge for the mate too. Besides, didn't you know that almost every pureblood has some type of magical creature in their blood? Its one of the ways we keep our lines from dying out magically. I think the Weasley's may be the only pure blood wizarding family to not have some sort of creature inheritance. Didn't it seem a little strange that Snape just happens to be a creature with a need for a mate too?"

Harry stood, dumbstruck, staring at his mate. "So… everyone has to deal with this? How did I not know?"

"I'm not sure Harry," Cyrna answered, "but didn't you ever notice how young people married? Almost everyone is married by 17! That's not even legal by muggle standards, and yet its common practice for wizards because everyone wants to be married before they bond. You aren't the exception or 'freak' in this case. What you are only makes you more normal."

Harry started laughing, but his laughs quickly turned into small hiccupping sobs, causing the two Malfoys to look at him in concern. "I'm normal for once! I can't believe no one told me! I wouldn't have been so… I don't know, withdrawn, moody."

"That's right love. You're my normal little dark lord defeating mate." Draco said.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you Harry. I just assumed you knew I guess… the perils of being such a genius, you assume others around you have at least some measure of intelligence." Cyrna said lightly, sticking her nose up in the air in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"Hey!" Harry said indignantly. "Its not my fault that I was raised by muggles and then didn't spend five years in the library in an attempt to catch up!"

"You just keep telling yourself that Harry. Whatever makes you feel better." She said, tossing her hair over her shoulder.

"I'm going to get you for that Malfoy!" Harry teased, glaring at his friend.

"I'm sure you will, Harry." Cyrna replied soothingly, as if she were speaking to a small child. "And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go get a book and read." She glanced over at the two boys, who were still holding on to each other and sending each other looks which radiated 'let's have sex'. "On second thought, why don't you come with me?" She asked, before reaching over and grabbing each other their arm's and dragging them out of the room. There was no way she was going to let them bond and face Lucius' wrath. She wasn't a Malfoy for nothing, and she knew how to protect herself.