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Chapter 3: Dumbledore's Dear Boy
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The next two months passed painfully slowly. Malfoy seemed to suddenly have fallen in love with Hermione, and sat next to her at the Gryffindor table every day. Every morning he would present her with a new piece of jewelry, proving to everyone that the Malfoys had no shame in flaunting their ever-present money. Nobody else seemed to have a problem with this except for Harry. In fact, Hermione herself had confessed to Harry just the other day that she thought she was falling in love with the ferret.
"But I thought your mate was Crookshanks?"
"It doesn't matter who my mate is. If I'm Drakey's mate, and I love him, our bond becomes strong enough to outweigh my connection to Crookshanks."
"But that makes absolutely no sense!"
"It's called magic, Harry."
Harry rolled his eyes, having heard this answer too many times in the past few weeks to his liking. Just as he was about to leave the common room, though, he realized just what Hermione had said.
"So you mean to say that if I was to be someone's mate, and I loved them, my own mate wouldn't technically be my mate anymore?"
"Well, yes."
"So all I need to do is find someone who has me as their mate! And then I'm free from Malfoy's clutches!"
"…What?"
"Nothing."
"I'm sure it was something, Harry."
"I'm sure you were wrong, Hermione. Anyway, I'm off to scour the castle for willing girls!"
As Harry ran out, Hermione shook her head and quietly spoke.
"Dear Merlin, he's turned into a man whore."
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As Harry ran through the halls, he stopped when he heard the raised voice of none other than Blaise Zabini. Curiously, he edged forward, hiding behind a quite conveniently placed pillar to eavesdrop on the conversation.
"For the last time, I refuse to be your mate!"
"But why? It is our destiny, my dear boy!"
"I'm not your dear boy, you old coot! If anything, I'm Luna's dear boy! We've been going out for a month now, and I'll have you know that she's actually quite lovely! Either way, there's no way that I'd ever accept being the mate of a three hundred year old man who is my headmaster!"
"And why not?"
There was a pause filled only with the furious and exasperated sputtering of Zabini.
"Did you know, my dear boy, that when you get very angry you start to resemble the beautiful Italian girl you once were?"
"I AM NOT YOUR DEAR BOY!"
Harry quickly hid as Zabini ran past, his hair suddenly longer and his skin now showing that he had indeed reverted back to an Italian. Within a few seconds, Zabini's footsteps could no longer be heard. The only thing that Harry could make out was Dumbledore's sigh as he walked away.
"He will see in time that we are destined for each other. After all, the cauldron never lies."
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Not to be hindered by so disturbing an event, Harry continued his journey to search for a Veela girl to be his mate. Anyone would do, as long as they weren't a tall albino male ferret that was lusting after Hermione Granger. Soon enough, his prayers were granted as he collided with Ginny Weasley. After apologizing and helping her up, he remembered the purpose of his quest.
"Ginny, you're a Veela, aren't you?"
"Yes… why?"
"Who's your mate?"
"I'm not sure why you want to know this."
"It doesn't matter why, just tell me, why don't you?"
Ginny let out an exasperated sigh before fixing her hand on her hip.
"Fine. My mate is Cornelius Fudge."
The girl waited for a few seconds for a response, but soon realized that, judging by Harry's open mouth and look of hopelessness, she wouldn't get one any time soon, Ginny walked away.
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It was with dread that Harry woke up the next morning. He went through his daily ritual of stepping over the immense pile of food that surrounded Ron's bed as he went on his way to the bathroom. He brushed his teeth mindlessly, not bothering to look in the mirror, as the only thing he would see was a depressed and angst ridden teenager, much like the one that had faced him for the entirety of fifth year.
He walked into the Great Hall without bothering to even look up. Harry kept his eyes on the floor, muttering all the curses he could think of as he dragged his feet to the Gryffindor table. He only looked up once he sat down, surprised to see the school in panic as owls flew everywhere. The students and teachers were speaking quickly and with animated gestures, confused and annoyed looks on their faces. Harry turned to face Hermione, voicing his bewilderment.
"What's going on here?"
"You haven't heard? It's all the latest news! We just found out an hour ago."
"Does this have to do with almost the whole school being Veelas?"
Hermione scoffed, as she seemed to be doing quite frequently over the past few weeks.
"Veelas? None of us are Veelas, Harry; I don't know where you came up with that idea. Everyone knows that Veelas are extremely rare. I guess you were dreaming about them and haven't fully woken up. I'd stop dreaming about them, though. Last time Fleur heard you and Ron talking about your dreams, and she didn't come out of her room for a week, that's how horrified and scarred she was."
"Wait, what? Disregarding all of the last sentences, of course. What do you mean, none of us are Veelas? Are you trying to tell me you were all pulling a giant prank on me since October?"
"Do stop babbling and listen to the news."
"Fine, fine, I'll let it slide. What's the big news, anyway?"
Hermione's face lit up in excitement as she leaned closer and confidentially whispered:
"The Ministry of Magic has just announced that there's to be a marriage law for all the wizards and witches, starting at seventeen years old!"
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And that's the end of "Mating Season"! No, seriously, it is.
I know it's only the third chapter, but I never thought this would be a long story, and I'm quite happy with where it ended.
I'd like to thank the following for reviewing since I posted the last chapter: gaara1223, PoppiiD, and digigirl02. You guys are awesome! Also, thanks to everyone who favorited or put this on story alert.
Since this is the last chapter, I'd love to get all of your final thoughts on this story.
Until next story,
ItsOnMars :)