ENTHRALL
By Yih

Beta: SeparatriX (thanks to her this chapter is about as good grammar and word construction wise as it's probably gonna get!)

Chapter 5
Follow Your Heart

Everything Draco had said was true. While the book had gone into more detail, it hadn't contradicted what Draco had said. Veelas needed their mates like they needed oxygen. The same could be said for the mate wanting the veela. Harry supposed it was a safeguard mechanism, the mate lusting for their veela. There had to be some hold that the veela had on their mate, especially since it was obvious that the veela was the one that felt more deeply. Veelas lived for their mates. Their mates were everything. But Draco certainly didn't act like a veela that was madly in love with his soulmate. And that's what a mate was, their soulmate.

But hadn't he asked for a kiss? That was something, wasn't it? And why the hell did he even want Draco to need him like that?

Because, truth be told, it was nice to be wanted, to be needed by someone for just himself. If it were anybody but Draco (other than Voldemort or anyone else that wanted him dead), he would not have been unhappy with the prospect. He actually thought he might even be happy about it. The choice might be eliminated, yet he would be certain that they were meant for each other. The book theorized that a veela found their mate through a combination of smell, auras, and just plain intuition. They just knew. To Harry the concept sounded a lot like love at first sight.

"You know Ron," he heard Hermione's voice entering into the double room that he shared with Ron since they were 7th years, "you really ought to study more. The NEWTs are coming up in a few weeks, and you still haven't really cracked open a book."

"I guess I'm such a bad, bad boy, aren't I? I guess you'll have to punish me, won't you?" Oh Merlin, he wasn't hearing this, was he? "What will it be this time?" Ron opened a drawer. "The ropes or the handcuffs?" Hermione was probably pointing at one of them, but Harry didn't want to know which. "Mmm… my room or yours?" Yours, he prayed hard, yours.

"I think we should go to my room just to be safe," she remarked thoughtfully. "I thought I saw Harry in the library, studying which is really what you ought to be doing, and I have no idea how long he'll stay in there. You said he's been staying there pretty late at night. I suppose that's because Aureole and Snape take up most of his evenings. But right now I need to run to my Astronomy class before I'm late. Meet me in my room later, all right?"

"All right," Ron agreed. "I'll see you then."

"Ron…"

"I know, I know. I'll try to get some work done while you're gone. Don't worry."

"And…"

"I won't forget anything."

"I…"

"You love me," he finished. "I know."

"And you love me."

Harry heard the distinct sound of some very passionate snogging. He was blushing a very, very bright pink from his chair at the far corner of the room where he was hidden from view. If he was lucky, Ron would get whatever books and stuff he needed to get some work done and go straight over to Hermione's Head Girl room. He really, really didn't want Ron to stay in the room because there was no way that he was going to be able to pretend to be not there for an hour. Sooner or later Ron was going to discover him and find out exactly what he'd overheard. How mortifying!

That was a lot of info about their sex life than he ever needed to know.

Ron was breathing hard. "You'd best go."

"I'll see you tonight."

"I'll be waiting."

Ron stood there after the door closed. Harry didn't know why he was just standing there. He wanted Ron to do something, anything as long as it got him away from the room as soon as possible. Go to Hermione's room, he begged in his head. Go anywhere; just don't stay here!

And thankfully, Ron left.

Not wanting to think of the mess he was in, he dosed himself with a Dreamless Sleep Potion that he'd gotten from Madame Pomfrey and climbed into bed. He hoped he wouldn't have any visions tonight. He really did need some respite after the restlessness of last night. Let me rest, he pleaded, let me rest…

-

Fridays were both good and bad. They were good because they were the last day before the weekend, and who didn't like the prospect of having no school for two days? But it also meant he had Potions bright and early at 8:00. He could still hear Ron snoring rather loudly. The lucky git's first class wasn't until Charms at 11:00.

He really didn't want to get out of bed, but it was already 7:15 and it would take at least a couple minutes to get Ron up. The only consolation was that even though Ron didn't need to go to class until 11:00, that didn't mean that he didn't have to get up. If he wanted to get some breakfast into his stomach, he had to be in the Great Hall by 8:00. Harry dragged himself out of bed and went to brush his teeth, shower, and change before he came back to the room to wake Ron up. Ron always complained that the morning wakeup call was too early, so Harry waited until the last viable moment to wake him up.

"Ron! RON! Get up Ron!"

Ron turned in his bed and mumbled something before he started snoring again. Well, that left the Charm that never failed. Ron kept telling him not to use it, but there was really no timely way to get Ron out of bed other than this infallible spell. Ron was going to scream bloody murder, Harry knew. It was worth it though. The expression on his face when he woke up to the sensation of many crawling legs was too good to miss out on. Ron might blame him, but Hermione had taught him the spell.

"Creare aranea!" he whispered, pointing his wand at Ron and watching a black stream of magic flood around Ron and drop down as spiders. This was rather cruel of him, to use Ron's worst fear as his wakeup call, but it was highly effective. Any minute now…

"HARRY POTTER, YOU BLOODY PRAT!" Ron yelped, jerking his body in uncomfortable positions until he fell out of his bed. "How many sodding times do I have to tell you not to use that spell to wake me up?"

Harry blinked innocently. "It works, doesn't it?"

Ron glared and then whimpered as he saw there were still spiders crawling on him. "Get rid of them."

"Finite Incantatem."

The spiders disappeared and Ron was still bright red in anger. Harry was thinking it was time to make his getaway. Ron was smoking in rage. Yup, definitely time to make his escape. "I'll see you down for breakfast!"

The door was his shield against Ron's vomiting hex.

-

"You woke him up with the creare aranea charm, didn't you?" Hermione inquired as they were walking rapidly to Potions. Harry could hear her carefully veiled amusement. She might have been sympathetic in her boyfriend's presence, but that didn't mean she didn't find it hilarious that Ron's greatest fear were spiders. It was rather ridiculous, actually. With all the horrors in the world, Ron was afraid of mere spiders.

"Whatever made you guess that?" His words were more sarcastic than he'd meant. He winced inside, but kept his expression neutral when Hermione turned her keen eyes toward him. She knew about his special Divination classes with Daphne Aureole, but she didn't really know about his other special lessons with Severus Snape. Dumbledore and Snape had made it clear that no one should find out about these, since they were teaching him spells that weren't quite legal. But they were necessary if he had a hope of coming out alive in a confrontation against Voldemort. What didn't help was that he had started picking up Snape's caustic bite.

"I think you've had far too many detentions with Professor Snape recently," she remarked. "You're starting to sound a little like him."

"I don't mean to…"

She sighed. "I suppose it's not a bad thing if he were to rub off on you a little…"

Harry's eyes snapped wide open. "Hermione!"

"You're going to say, 'I'm nothing like that greasy git!'" she predicted with her uncanny intuition. "What I'm saying is that it's not necessarily that bad is it? I mean, he's a brilliant Potions Master and a first-rate duelist. He's one of the strongest wizards that the Light Side has, so it's not bad if he were to rub off on you a bit. It's just that I could do without you acquiring his vile tongue. If you were to get some of his magical attributes, well then that'd be fine with me."

Well, that was good to hear. But what would Hermione think if she knew that Snape had been teaching him the Unforgivables? Not to mention other lesser-known dark curses that only a strong wizard would be able to perform. He'd been dipping into some deep shit, ever since the beginning of this year. Thinking of awaited him next Tuesday when he saw Snape was enough to make his stomach feel his nerves.

"I'll try my best not to have his biting tongue rub off on me."

"If you didn't have detention with him, then you wouldn't have to try not to," she responded pointedly. "You know he's always more critical with you than the others, even though it's not really fair. But you know that, and you should make an effort to act more carefully around him. All those detentions are really a waste of time when you should be studying for your NEWTs. I know that you've gotten a lot better since 5th year about opening books, but you could still do more reading."

He groaned. Hermione was persistent to the point of unease. That had to be the reason she'd ended up in Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw. "Hermione, it's not like I try to get into detention with him. And you do know that part of the reason that he gives me detention is to suitably cover up my whereabouts in the evenings when I go to the Divination sessions with Daphne."

"I know, but didn't you tell Ron and me that you sometimes went to the dungeons to clean cauldrons for him?"

He had, but only because he'd come back particularly filthy one night after Snape had tried to teach him the merits of being able to brew a vile but effective pain-killing potion. Since he'd come back smelling of a potions accident (though he'd done the potion correctly that even Snape had been satisfied), he had to explain that. The only reasoning that he could give that made any sense was to say that one of the 'cover up' detentions had unfortunately been real.

"You know Snape wouldn't do anything for nothing," Harry muttered. "He's a Slytherin, and if he's going to give me detentions to help me, he's going to want something out of it too. It's not that bad, 'Mione. All I do is go in and clean a few cauldrons sometimes. It's nothing major."

He was lying, and yet he didn't feel the least bit guilty about it. He'd been keeping up with the secrecy act since the 6th year and was all but used to having to lie about this. It didn't mean he didn't feel guilty when he lied about other stuff, but he didn't feel guilty about lying about this. It was necessary. If Hermione and Ron knew what he was learning, not only would it horrify them, but it would also be dangerous for them. The less they knew, the less they could tell Voldemort if they were ever captured and the better off he would be.

"If you say so…"

He gave her a cheeky smile. "You don't sound like you believe me."

"Now why do I find it hard to believe that the Harry Potter that I've spent the last 7 years at Hogwarts with would not enjoy cleaning cauldrons for Professor Snape?" she questioned. "Huh? Would you like to tell me?"

His only answer was to laugh.

-

Potions was excruciating. It didn't matter that he'd done nothing wrong with the intermediate step of the Wolfsbane Potion. One more class, the upcoming Monday class, and they would finally be learning the final step in making the breakthrough new potion. It didn't even matter that the only person he had left that counted as real family would have a better cure. What mattered was that Draco, supposedly his veela, was working in front of him.

Harry knew something was off the moment Draco Malfoy had walked into the classroom. There was something about him that mesmerized Harry. It had to be the innate attraction that veelas had to attract their mate, which only confirmed double-fold that he was Draco's mate. He'd been hoping that Draco was just wrong with his instincts; with whatever he'd used to determine that he was his mate. That had been a vain hope because according to the book, veelas were never wrong.

What puzzled Harry was that the other students in the class didn't seem to be reacting to Draco at all. Hadn't the students reacted to Fleur Delacour in his 4th year? It seemed to Harry that if Draco had turned on his veela attraction to lure his mate, the other students must be going at least half as crazy as he was. He had to be going crazy if he thought Draco Malfoy was the most beautiful creature on this Earth. But they weren't. Maybe Draco could control it? He hadn't read anything about that, but it did make sense. If he thought about it, the wild lust he'd felt for Draco in the Astronomy Tower had been much worse than the lightheadedness he was feeling now.

How much control did Draco have? Draco had to have some, or else he wouldn't be feeling a difference. Did it have something to do with the age that Draco had matured? The book had vaguely mentioned that most veelas matured by their 16th year and found their mates not long after. If Draco was only seeking him out now, he must be 18 and thus had matured later than most veelas. Age might explain why he had more control, Harry supposed.

"Mr. Potter," Snape sneered, "I would think that you'd be most glad to get out of my class when I've dismissed it. But if you want to stay, I can always give you a detention during Charms."

Harry saw Hermione's panicked eyes and Draco's amusement from just outside the classroom. He bit the inside of his mouth and didn't say a word in response. Instead, he shook his head calmly though he mentally shook himself a lot harder. He got the feeling that Draco knew what had been distracting him. Oh but of course, since Draco had probably sought to distract him. That bloody bastard!

"No? Then why are you still standing here? GO!" Snape roared.

Harry didn't have to be told twice.

-

Defense against the Dark Arts was a waste of his time. Harry often thought that thought. It was a pity that he had to take the class to take the NEWT. He really could have done without it. All the stuff they learned from a competent but not brilliant Professor was what Snape had taught him in the first few weeks of his 6th year. He was so far beyond the material that was being taught, though he pretended that he was just learning the supposedly new spells. Sometimes, he couldn't mess up the demonstrations enough but he hoped everyone attributed it to his natural affinity for Defense and not that he'd already learned it.

What he didn't understand was that if Dumbledore could make the exception that he didn't have to be in Trelawney's Divinations class to take the NEWT, then why not Defense? Harry guessed that two exceptions would have been too much and too suspicious, especially when he wasn't supposed to be anything more than an above average wizard. It was best to keep that impression. Think of how surprised Voldemort was going to be when he learned the truth. That not only was Harry a natural seer, but also an extremely proficient wizard in both the Light and Dark Arts.

"Now tell me, Harry," Daphne murmured, "about this Draco Malfoy who claims that you are his mate."

Harry fidgeted with his hands. He was always a little unnerved when Daphne knew exactly what was going on in his life because of her sight. He knew she did this for his benefit. By looking into his future, she could warn him of any foreboding events that would occur. "There's nothing much to say," he muttered, "especially since you probably already saw everything that has or will happen."

Daphne cackled, sounding very, very old for a moment. Harry sometimes found it hard to believe that she was nearly Dumbledore's age. She didn't look as old as Dumbledore, though she did look about McGonagall's age. He didn't know if it was because of a Glamour (seers were known to be vain), or if her otherworldly sight had somehow given her a more youthful appearance than a witch of her age should look like.

"Oh, but there are your feelings that you could tell me of," she remarked. "I may see into what your future may be, but I can only guess at what you feel and how you feel about him. So why don't you enlighten me, my protégé?"

"I… don't really know," he confessed.

"Harry…" she warned, knowing instinctively that he wasn't telling her what was really on his mind. Harry knew what tone that was, and cringed, because he'd heard it many, many times in the past. She wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer.

"I'm confused."

"Over?"

"My feelings for Draco."

She nodded. "Because ever since your 1st year, you've hated him."

"Yes, and now I'm supposedly his mate and we're supposed to be together. Do you know how bloody ridiculous that is? That we're meant to be? I mean, I feel like I've woken up to a very, very bad dream."

Daphne paused and she got that look in her eyes, a faraway gaze that meant she was going to say something was going to knock the breath out of him. "Did you enjoy your kiss?"

He hadn't told her that, and she was no master at Legilimens. She must have seen that in her reading two nights ago. He would have appreciated a better warning than she'd given him, but what could he do if she wasn't inclined to say anything? Force it out of her? Like anyone could force Daphne Aureole to do anything that she didn't want to do. She was a stubborn old bat.

"Well, did you?"

He could feel his face heating up, blazing red. "I didn't not enjoy it."

"I thought it was a pretty passionate snog," she remarked. "I don't think he's a bad fit for you, but…"

"But what?" Harry inquired. "Do you have some advice for me?"

"Do you really want my advice, given what I know that could very well happen?" she asked cryptically.

"I know better than to ask what will happen," Harry began, "but do you have any words of advice?"

"Would 'follow your heart' be too cliché?" she inquired.

"Is that your advice?"

"Yes."

"Then no, it wouldn't be," he responded. "You're the anti-definition of cliché."

"It's unfortunate," Daphne remarked wryly, "that I've been reduced to clichés."

"Indeed."

Author's Note: I really, really thought I'd get past the 5 chapter muse block but alas… I've waited and waited for 3 weeks and I have no desire to write any further thus far. I'm hoping your reviews will resuscitate my muse, if not well I won't be continuing this story. If that case should arise, I will be posting the outline that I've made for this story as well as my notes at my personal archive: stranged DOT tk. Either way, I do apologize for how long it's taken to post this considering this was done three weeks ago when I was still writing this story. I basically wrote 5 chapters in 2 weeks, and my muse has I think collapsed from exhaustion. Ah well… I really just don't see a point to writing this even if this has a rather inspired plot for a veela story. Thanks for your reviews and I was hoping I'd get enough of a muse kick in the head to finish this (so I could write a long Harry/Draco series) but alas it doesn't look like it's gonna happen.

Feel free to feed the dead muse. (sometimes it lives again).