Thank you to ALL who read and review.

Thank you to my BETA's: Merlin, GoldenSunnyGrl, Malombra.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Co. belong to JKR. I am not JKR. Therefore, Harry Potter and Co. are just here for me to play with. And I do so love to play…

Pairing: Harry/Draco so this is SLASH.

No MPREG in this story though it is IMPLIED that it happens in the future. If, by some odd reason, I change my mind, I do apologize now.

Also, Blaise Zabini is a girl in this story of mine. I know that in book 6, JKR finally reveals the gender of Blaise, but this was started before book 6 and anyways, I am not JKR so anything, ANYTHING, I write here is AU.

MY STORY IS AU.

ENJOY!

CHAPTER NINE

HISTORY OF VEELAS cont.

There is little known about the reproductive means of a male/male or female/female Veela mating. It is common place in their society to have such pairings, but it is a closely guarded secret as to how the line is kept going. Veelan medical personnel are all trained, and live, at the Royal Palace. At all times there are only three doctors and four nurses to take care of any and all pregnancies.

All that is known is that children are born and have the same characteristics of both parents, no matter the pairing. It is logical to assume that a Veela is able to either, impregnate their mate, or become pregnant themselves. No data has ever been accumulated to prove or disprove this theory.

Excerpt from : Veela- Myth and Legend Revealed

By: Cason Gunera

Information courtesy of The Hogwart's Library

anno domini merlin 1976.

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Consequences. Every action, thought, wish, desire-has a consequence. If one weighs the consequence and can live with the outcome, is the action, thought, wish or desire achievable? How do you weigh another's feelings for your consequence? A Veela isn't allowed to make that decision. They do everything in their power, once a mate is found, to make sure that the consequence benefits them…even to their own detriment. If the Alona denies the claim…the Veela dies.

Action, thought, desire, and consequence.

As Lucius Malfoy, proud pureblood and High Lord of his Clan, stood outside Harry Potter's door waiting for the Potion's Master to arrive, he thought long and hard about the consequences of his spying, Ginny's insinuations, Harry's hatred for this world, and the implications of who his son's mate was and how it was going to impact the Veela world and the Wizard world.

And hoped that they could all live with them.

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Sin flushed as she sat on the trunk at the end of the bed. She gently folded her hands in her lap and gifted him with an intense look before sighing. Her voice, when she started to speak, was soft and tinged with a sadness that was palpable. "You see…Harry didn't know he was a Wizard until two weeks before the start of his years at Hogwarts. He was given no time to decide whether or not he even wanted to come here. He was thrust into this world unaware of the expectations placed on him. At first he was happy making friends he never had before, but gradually, disillusionment after disillusionment worked to make him cold and all he wanted to do was to crawl back into the hole his family had forced him to live in for 11 years."

"He was so…enamored with our world when he first came here. The only reason he is still here is that he feels responsible for Voldemort still being around. As if he could have, or should have, defeated him the first time around." Sin drew a sharp breath in as she tried to control her own anger. She had gone to the Headmaster numerous times to keep Harry away from those despicable people that the old fool called his family, and each time she had been denied. She had never told Harry she had tried, why hurt him more than he already was by having to return to them each summer.

Sin watched Draco's face as she talked. She knew that as a Veela he would be angered on behalf of his soon-to-be mate. She watched as his head slowly nodded and a shaking hand reached up to push Harry's bangs from his forehead so he could lay a gentle kiss on his unconscious mate's scarred forehead.

"I met Harry his second year here and already he was wanting to run and hide. I know things about him that no other in this or the Muggle world knows. But still, even I, have only scratched the surface."

The look she levelled at Draco was filled with her own personal sorrow at her inability to help Harry. She had done what she could but knew it would never be enough. Sin made her voice as cold as she could make it when she spoke again. "We have been close ever since. I would do everything in my power to make him happy, Mr. Malfoy, even going so far as to keep from turning him over to you."

"I love him." Draco snapped at her assumption. His eyes flashed brightly for a second as the Veela reared its head in him.

"Your Veela side loves him." Sin pointed out gently. "Your Human side doesn't know him."

Draco sighed heavily, "that's not true."

"Isn't it?"

"No!"

"Tell me, Mr. Malfoy, do you understand what he will have to do in the coming months?"

Draco flinched but he gave a short nod of his head.

"You understand what it will do to him?"

Once again he only nodded his head in reply.

"And will you let him do what he feels is his duty?"

Draco drew a sharp breath. He knew why she was pressuring him to see this now, before Harry woke. His Veela side would fight against what Harry knew he needed to do. And all that would go against everything a Veela would want for its mate. He knew he couldn't stop Harry from fulfilling his destiny, and he knew with all his heart that he would be standing right beside him when that time came. The childish tantrum he had thrown just weeks ago make him flush in shame, to think he, a Veela, hadn't wanted to find its mate because of what he had wanted to do with his life. Draco sighed heavily. "War is a profession by which a man cannot live honorably; an employment by which the soldier, if he would reap any profit, is obliged to be false, rapacious, and cruel."

"Machiavelli…I am impressed."

Draco gave a small grin, "Father insisted."

"I have always thought Lord Malfoy was smarter than he seemed." Sin said in a clear tongue-in-cheek manner.

Both of them grinned at each other before Draco's face grew serious once again. "He won't stay will he?"

"Not if he survives, no."

"Can I keep him here?"

"Not if you want him to be happy."

"I see."

"Harry is magic, Draco, he will always be that way. He will leave but he will also come back. He has his own dreams, fears, and desires, just as you do." She tried to keep her voice gentle but she was unable to contain all of her censure. She knew it was going to be hard for a Veela to give in to the wants of their mate over their own, but this Veela was going to have to start. And starting now would save a lot of time, energy, and anger.

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It was Pansy stiffening beside him that drew his attention to the approaching footsteps. Lucius forced his face into an expressionless mask and his apprehensive thoughts aside as the Potions Master rounded the corner. He watched as a slight hesitation to the footsteps of the man walking up to them was all that showed his surprise at the gathering he was seeing.

"Lucius," Snape said, ignoring everyone else though he did nod to the Headmaster, "I am surprised to see you here."

"You know the reason, Severus." Lucius kept his voice even and his expression cold. "My son has found his mate." Only Lucius saw the quick glance at the door behind him and the faint tightening around the other man's mouth.

"I see."

"Yes, we are here to keep things as quiet and uneventful for Draco's mate as possible. But there was an injury that needs attention." Lucius didn't even try to keep his tone free of hostility. "You were called for help."

Severus nodded; it was clear from where they were all standing who was the injured one. It was also clear that the Malfoy's would expect him to be on his best behavior. Any other time he would have refused help, seeing as how he hated this person, but he knew that he would help, or forfeit his life once Draco found out he had refused. He inclined his head slowly toward the elder Veela and with a twitch of his hand his wand was concealed up his sleeve. It was the only show of compliance he was willing to make.

"Shall we?"

Lucius nodded and when the Potion's Master made to walk around him stopped him with a hand on his elbow, "it may be best if you hold your tongue." It wasn't a request. The order was accompanied by a tight grip on the Dark Mark on the dark haired man's arm.

Severus drew in a sharp breath but answered with only a nod, as requested.

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"A mask is just a way to hide ones true feelings and Harry has a great mask. If I didn't know him as well as I did…" Sin smiled gently at the Veela laying beside the one she considered as a son. "He has a saying that he loves to tell me, whenever I ask him why he feels that he must do what he can against Voldemort even though he truly feels it is not just his fight, but anyone's who wants to be free. The act of nobility is not a birth-right, but is defined by one's own actions. I don't think he completely understands why the saying affects him so."

"If that is so, then he," Draco motioned to the unconscious boy beside him, "is a King among Kings."

"He will not see it that way, Draco."

"I know, and that makes him that much more powerful."

"Powerful he is, yes, but that also makes him more vulnerable. He has had to shield himself from hurt for far too many years for it not to have effected him in some small way." Sin moved her hand surreptitiously, the wards had been breached and it seemed that they were about to have company.

Draco was silent for a moment as he thought about what she was trying to tell him, in a round about way. Harry was here, fighting, only out of a sense of his own personal obligations, not because of anything he felt he owed this world.

"You are Lord Dracon Lucien Malvolio, a Lord of the Veela Realm and a fine and powerful Wizard. You are used to it. He is not."

"He's Harry Potter, Boy Who Lived."

"No, he's Harry, just Harry."

Sin watched as the Veela's face clouded in his confusion. It was several minutes before she saw understanding blossom. She heaved a great sigh, though their journey together would be filled with peril, she was confident that Draco was what Harry needed. She watched as he was so lost in his thoughts that the young Veela didn't see the flutter of the unconscious boy's eyes. Harry was waking up. Slowly, and as quietly as she could, Sin stood and walked to Harry's side of the bed.

"S-sin?" Harry whispered, voice weak and shaky.

Draco stiffened in shock and his arms tightened uncontrollably around the boy in his arms.

As Harry's befuddled mind tried to make sense of why Sin was in his room and why it felt like a heard of elephants were tramping through his head, he felt someone's arms wrap tight around him. He slowly turned his aching head to meet concerned eyes in a face so close to his own it was at first unrecognizable. Brow furrowed he whispered, "Draco?"

Before either could say anything, the door to the bedroom opened and in walked Lucius Malfoy, Madam Pomfrey, Severus Snape, and Pansy Parkinson.

"Huh?" Harry grunted before slipping back into unconsciousness.

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I am sorry that a lot of you did not like the chapter on the History. I will not do that again, thank you all that were honest with me about it. I am so happy that so many of you read this story and like it enough to leave me a review.

I still need a suitable revenge for Ginny. Something…Slytherin. Any suggestions?

I hope that this chapter answered some of your questions, though, if I did my job right- it only created more. Thank you SO much for your reviews and interest in this story.

War is a profession by which a man cannot live honorably; an employment by which the soldier, if he would reap any profit, is obliged to be false, rapacious, and cruel.
Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527)

ENJOY!

LMG