Chapter Seven
Malfoy Manor
"It's time to eat, Hermione. Come on."
She snorted at the sound of Harry's voice, marking the page she was on and closing the book.
"How many Veela books do you plan to read?" Ron asked, glancing down at the cover.
It was the fifth book she'd taken out of Malfoy Manor, with Draco's permission. And it was the fifth book where she couldn't find anything useful.
"As many as I can. There's barely any detail about their lives or the bond they form with their mates. It's as if... as if no one knows."
"I guess the only people who really know are them. And I bet you they prefer that humans like us don't know all the details," Harry added quietly as they stepped out into the corridor on the fourth floor of the Ministry.
"You're probably right, magical creatures don't tend to trust us. I'm having a hard time finding any that want to support my bill," Hermione commented with a sigh.
The three of them entered one of the lifts, grabbing hold of the golden ropes on the ceiling as soon as it began to move.
"At least now you have one who will support you," Ron replied with a smirk.
Hermione nudged him.
"Don't say that. Malfoy isn't a creature, he's a human being."
"And a very idiotic one," Ron muttered, wrinkling his nose.
Hermione rolled her eyes and Harry held back a laugh.
"He's not like that anymore, Ron. He saved us, remember? We'd be dead without his help."
"Help? All he did was not confirm that it was us."
"And that gave us time to get out of there. He didn't want us to die and he helped us in his own way."
"I'm sure he did it so he wouldn't have to wipe our blood off the marble floor of his beloved mansion afterwards."
"Ronald!"
"I'm joking, Hermione. I know you and Harry want me to give him another chance, and I will, but I still have to get used to the idea."
"Well, do that in silence or Hermione will beat you until you shut up," Harry muttered under his breath.
The three of them laughed and Ron shook his head as they walked into the cafeteria.
"I still can't believe my mother is so close to that woman now."
Harry narrowed his eyes at his friend.
"Narcissa's not a bad person, Ron."
"I know, I know. But the Weasleys and the Malfoys have hated each other for generations."
"Now is a good time to change that. We can't go on hating each other forever, then the war would have been for nothing," Hermione added.
"And your mother understands very well what Narcissa is feeling. She too has a son with non-human blood, and she almost lost him too," Harry whispered.
Ron frowned.
"Bill isn't a werewolf. He wasn't bitten."
"No, though he does some different things since he was attacked by one... doesn't he?" Hermione questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"He prefers to eat raw meat now, but... but he doesn't transform! He's still human," Ron hissed angrily.
"And so is Malfoy," Hermione grunted through her teeth.
"Yes, he's the same as ever," said Harry, laughing softly.
Ron sighed.
"You spend your afternoons in his manor's library now, right?"
"Yes. It's huge, I think it's almost as big as Hogwarts library," Hermione replied with sparkling eyes.
Harry and Ron exchanged a glance, rolling their eyes.
"I think I'm going to start studying other half-human creatures that also bond with their mates... like werewolves and mermaids. If I can find a way to break those bonds, maybe it'll work on Veelas," Hermione mumbled, stirring her plate of salad absently.
"Is that what you're looking for? To break the bond?" Harry asked, lifting his brow.
She nodded.
"It's the best option. Then Malfoy will be free to be with whoever he wants to be with, and so will I."
Harry frowned, biting the inside of his cheek.
"I think you should talk to Narcissa. After all, she is the mate of a human with Veela blood."
Hermione held back the shiver that ran through her body at the thought of Lucius Malfoy.
"That's good advice. I might just do that."
"This is just stupid, Mother."
Narcissa snorted, folding her arms.
"No, it isn't. You two have been cooped up in the library for a week and you need some air."
The two of them were on the grounds of the manor, strolling through the garden.
"I feel fine, and all Granger wants to do is read all the books about magical creatures we have here," Draco grunted, looking away and staring at the huge willow tree in the distance.
Narcissa sighed, clutching his right arm.
"Hermione would like having tea here, too. You can go back to the library later but here you can talk to her for a bit."
Draco narrowed his eyes.
"I'd rather not, it's hard for me to lie to her. Besides, she can look all she wants... she's not going to find anything."
He reached inside his black jacket, pulling out a small silver book.
"All the information about the bond with our mates is in here," Draco whispered, shaking the book gently. "And she's never going to read it."
"I understand that you don't trust her yet, Draco, but you should tell her the truth."
He shook his head vigorously, putting the book back in his pocket.
"I don't want her to agree to be with me out of pity, Mother. The decision has to be hers and Granger doesn't want to be my mate. She's determined to find a way out of it."
"Well, if you want her to be interested in you, start by being nice to her. This is a good start," she replied, pointing to the table where all sorts of biscuits and scones surrounded a large teapot.
Draco rolled his eyes.
"I'm always nice to her."
Narcissa clicked her tongue.
"I am," Draco insisted, clenching his fists.
"You're also cold and distant. You're not going to get anywhere like that."
Draco snorted, glaring at his mother.
"No matter how hard I try, there's no way she'll..."
Narcissa tightened her grip and Draco hissed. Following his mother's gaze, he saw that Granger was coming down the stairs to the back door of the manor, accompanied by one of the house elves.
She smiled at them and Draco felt a slight tightening in his chest. He frowned, unable to understand why his body reacted like that.
"Hello, Mal... Draco. Hello, Mrs Malfoy," Hermione greeted as she got closer to them.
Narcissa let go of Draco and walked over to her, holding her hands.
"Call me Narcissa, dear. May I call you Hermione?"
She nodded, trying to hide her surprise, and Draco shot a hateful glare at his mother.
"I hope you enjoy having tea here. It's one of our favourite spots."
Hermione looked around, noticing the glass table full of food.
"Oh. I... you shouldn't have bothered."
"It's no bother at all. Besides, it was Draco's idea," the woman replied.
Draco gritted his teeth and Narcissa took advantage of being at Hermione's back to wink at her son.
"I'll leave you both to it," she added, walking away in the direction of the manor.
Hermione clutched the notebook she always carried with her when visiting the manor to her chest.
"Won't you stay with us? I'd like to talk to you, I have a few questions."
"Not today. Another day we'll talk as much as you want, and alone. Okay?"
Hermione nodded, smiling, and Narcissa smiled back. The woman turned away again and Draco cleared his throat.
"Shall we sit down?"
She walked to the table, sitting in one of the chairs. Draco took a seat across from her.
"Why did you want to meet here today?"
"We've spent the last week in the library, Granger. It's nice to have a change of scenery."
"But I want to keep searching, I haven't found anything yet..."
"We'll go there later if that's what you want, don't worry. But right now I don't want to think about books or laws."
Hermione nodded, blushing as Draco poured her a cup of tea.
"How do you know black tea is my favourite?" she asked, looking up and staring into his grey eyes.
He shrugged.
"It's what you ordered in that coffee shop. It's my favourite too."
Hermione blinked several times, surprised that he remembered.
"How was your weekend? Are you all right?" she said, scanning his face with her gaze.
The dark circles under his eyes were almost gone and his skin looked much healthier than the day he left Azkaban.
Draco nodded.
"I'm fine."
She grinned, picking up one of the cinnamon buns.
"Did you read the draft I gave you, Draco?"
"Yes."
"And what do you think?"
"I think it's very... ambitious. You won't get the Wizengamot to pass something like that."
Hermione set her mug down on the table with more force than usual.
"I will, but I need the help of someone like... like you for that."
Draco narrowed his eyes, biting his tongue to keep from answering, and she stared at him.
"Don't look at me like that, you know you're still the same to me as before. So... Are you going to help me?"
He sighed.
"Yes, Granger. I'll help you."
She smiled, reaching out to place her hand on his.
"Thank you! I'm sure I'll get it with your help, I know that it will be much easier to get those closed-minded people to agree with me if someone affected by this problem is by my side. Maybe in a few months..."
Hermione paused when she saw him staring down at their joined hands.
"Does it bother you?"
Draco looked up.
"I told you that I don't mind, Granger. But I find it odd that you're so... affectionate with me."
"I am like this with my friends."
He lifted his brow.
"I told you we're friends now, Draco. You didn't believe me?"
"I thought you were just talking."
Hermione pursed her lips, shaking her head.
"I meant it. Now that you're not so... you know, we can get along. I think we would have been friends at Hogwarts if you'd been brought up differently."
A small smile curved his lips.
"I agree."
Hermione looked down to hide her blush, taking another sip of tea.
Why was she getting so nervous lately every time she saw him smile? She had spent five afternoons alone with Draco, browsing the shelves of his home library and talking about their favourite authors and books, but her heart every time she had to go to Malfoy Manor... and it wasn't because of the excitement of seeing all those books.
She cleared her throat, remembering what she wanted to ask him.
"Hey, Draco... Do you know if your family has any books about werewolves?"
He frowned.
"I guess so. Why?"
"I've read something about them finding a partner among humans, too. They call them paramours, and maybe the bond they have with them is similar to the one Veelas form. If I can find some ritual to break that bond, it might work with us."
Draco's face darkened and all traces of his smile disappeared.
"You are my mate, Granger. Not a paramour or whatever it is you said."
"I know, but..."
"No. Don't ever compare me to a werewolf again, you have no fucking idea," he snarled in a husky voice.
He stood up and Hermione gasped in surprise.
"I'll wait for you in the library," he added, walking towards the door of his manor.
Hermione watched his figure walk through the flowers until she lost sight of him.
What the hell had just happened, and why was he getting so angry?
She leaned her elbows on the table and sighed, dropping her head onto her arms. There was something Draco wasn't telling her, or that she didn't understand, and she wouldn't stop until she found out what it was.
Draco stormed into the library, pushing the door hard. He strode down the straight corridor in quick strides, clenching and unclenching his fists.
He needed to relax. Granger hadn't meant it in a bad way.
She couldn't have been more wrong. Werewolf partners were just that, partners. They were attracted to them because they could smell their hormones and know how fertile they were, but it wasn't like that in the case of Veelas.
It was a much deeper bond, not just something physical.
Draco pulled the book out of his jacket pocket, where he carried it since his mother gave it to him. He turned the pages until he came to the paragraph he had read the night before in the penultimate chapter.
'Le compagne delle Veelas sono le loro anime gemelle. Se la trovi, significa che è la persona perfetta per te. Non c'è nessuno migliore, e il giorno in cui saprai chi è non penserai più a nessun altro.'
Draco closed the book, leaning his back against one of the shelves and closing his eyes.
"Fuck," he muttered, banging his fists on the wood several times.
Three books fell to the floor and Draco cursed under his breath, picking them up and putting them back where they belonged. He missed being able to use his wand.
It wasn't long before he heard the library door open, and he peeked out to see her coming in.
The same thing happened to Granger every day. She would stand with her mouth open as she entered the library, staring up at the twenty-foot-high shelves full of books in awe and walking between them without knowing where she was going.
Draco bit his lip to keep from smiling, approaching her.
"This still impress you?"
Hermione jumped in surprise. She'd been so captivated by the books that she hadn't noticed him standing nearby.
"I don't think I'll ever be able to walk in without being impressed. This is..." she swallowed, searching for the words. "I envy you for growing up with this. I would have given anything to have a library like this in my house."
Hermione looked up at him when she heard him laugh.
"You're not angry anymore?"
Draco's laughter stopped.
"Yes. And I don't want to talk about it."
"What's been bothering you so much? Tell me, I need to know."
"Why?"
"So I won't bring it up again."
Draco sighed.
"Just... don't compare me to werewolves."
Hermione stared into his eyes, biting her bottom lip nervously.
"Can I... can I look up books about them without upsetting you?"
He shrugged.
"It won't do you any good. The relationships they have with their women have nothing to do with a Veela and his mate, but you can do what you want."
Hermione narrowed her eyes.
"There are things you're not telling me."
"We all have our secrets, Granger. And I'm not about to tell you my family's," Draco replied gravely, crossing his arms.
"Then how am I going to help you?"
"You've helped me more than enough."
"We have to sort this out, Draco. You can't be doomed to be around me forever, there has to be a solution."
Draco wrinkled his nose at that word again. Solution.
He held out an arm, pointing to the three shelves filled with books about magical creatures, and Hermione smiled.
"We'll do the same thing we did last week. As soon as we find ten books that talk about Veelas, we'll stop and read them to see if there's any information about their mates."
Draco rolled his eyes, nodding.
He placed a hand on his chest when she turned away, checking that the silver book was safely tucked away. Whatever happened, Granger could never read it.
As soon as her figure was lost between the green flames of the huge fireplace, Draco dropped onto one of the sofas in that room.
He sighed, shaking his head and running a hand through his platinum hair. Everything was going from bad to worse and, besides, he would soon have to accompany Granger when she presented her bill to the Wizengamot for the first time.
"Tough day, Malfoy?"
Draco looked up at the sound of the mocking voice and saw Potter standing in the doorway leading into the hall, next to his mother.
"Potter," he greeted, averting his gaze and clenching his jaw.
Narcissa hid a smile, holding Harry's arm.
"See you another day, dear," she murmured, kissing his cheek before walking away.
Harry raised an eyebrow and glanced at Malfoy, who still didn't move. He rolled his eyes and walked over to the sofa where he was sitting, taking a seat next to him.
Draco wrinkled his nose, pulling away slightly.
"What's the matter with you? I thought spending time with Hermione was going to help but you're still in a bad mood."
Draco glared at him.
"My life is none of your business, Potter. And yes, I'm better."
"So?"
"It's complicated."
"Test me," Harry whispered, wiggling his eyebrows.
Draco narrowed his eyes.
"I don't trust you. You betrayed me once, I'm not going to tell you anything."
Harry sighed.
"I did it for your own good, Malfoy. You're free and alive now so stop whining."
Draco gritted his teeth, glaring at him.
"All she is doing is looking for a way to stop being my mate. And that's impossible, Potter. This magic is very old and, once it's activated, there's no going back."
"Why don't you tell her?"
"Because she'd feel obligated to be with me and I don't want that," Draco replied, looking away.
Harry scratched the back of his head, blinking a few times as he ran his tongue over his teeth.
"Maybe you could get her to fall in love with you. That way she wouldn't do it out of obligation."
Draco glanced at him again, his eyes going wide.
"Have you gone mad? You were the first one who didn't want us to be together."
"I'm changing my mind. I'm starting to like you," Harry murmured, smirking at him.
Draco rolled his eyes and got to his feet.
"Shut up, Potter. I don't want to know what my mother and you are up to," he snarled, storming out of the room.
Harry grinned, fixing his gaze on the black stone fireplace.
"I really like Malfoy... What a surprise," he commented, shaking his head before standing up and grabbing a handful of Floo powder.
'Le compagne delle Veelas sono le loro anime gemelle. Se la trovi, significa che è la persona perfetta per te. Non c'è nessuno migliore, e il giorno in cui saprai chi è non penserai più a nessun altro.'
Translation: Veelas' mates are their soulmates. If you find her, it means she is the perfect person for you. There's no one better, and the day you know who she is you will no longer think of anyone else.