Engagement Season; Chapter Seven

Pansy was finally able to slip away from her mother, the woman so caught up in ranting to her father that she hadn't noticed when her daughter had slipped from the room. She moved swiftly through the halls, hoping to reach their classroom before anyone noticed her. Heaving a sigh of relief, she slipped into the room closing the door behind her, and turned to look at the wizard who had his wand pointed at the door over her shoulder.

"Well?" anxious blue eyes begged her.

Pansy grinned, flying across the classroom into the wizards arms. "It worked. Not one of the dominants came near me. My mother is furious about it, especially since this mysterious submissive showed up in the forest just as the 'run' started."

"The forest?" her companion choked.

Pansy raised an eyebrow in question. "Yes the forest, why?"

"Harry Potter was sent to gather potions ingredients in the forest as a detention."

Pansy's lips twitched, as she tried to hold herself in check. Damn, she would have given just about anything to see the innocent boy-who-lived running away from a pack of crazed mating dominants. Her lips twitched again, and she finally gave in, laughing heartily. "Po-Potter? Are you serious? For the guy who killed a dark lord, he is so innocently naïve it's painful."

"Yes well, Harry just isn't your average wizard."

"Are the rumors true?" Pansy asked big brown eyes cautiously curious.

The wizard smiled sadly. "The one's about the cupboard, locked room, and little food, yes. He never admitted to being physically abused or anything, he did used to come back each year with bruises, but always said the he and his cousin got into it. I am inclined to believe him." The wizard took the witch into his arms, pulling her close and inhaling her scent. "Do you have to go back tomorrow? Do I need to reapply the spell?"

Pansy nodded into the strong shoulder. "I don't want to be anyone but yours. My father promised that I wouldn't have to attend any other Gatherings this year as long as I participated in this one. I-I don't know if he will accept you; I know my mother won't. She still seems to think that I will be the next Lady Malfoy or Zabini."

Arms tightened around the veela's small waist, a hand moving up to twine in her soft hair. He tilted her head back to meet his eyes, before lowering his head and capturing her lips. They kissed softly, tenderly. Gone was the frantic passion mixed with the fear of separation; in its place was the promise of love, caring adoration, and intense pleasure. "If it was right, I would take you now. But I refuse to do that to you. I will wait, we will reapply the spell. If someone dares to approach you, use the ring and I will come; I promise love. You are mine!"

Pansy closed her eyes and swallowed back happy tears. "I love you too."

~oOo~

Charlie burst through the front doors of the school and hurried up to Gryffindor tower. He was sure he would find Ron there, most likely out cold from shock, or close to it. Half running, half walking through the halls, he finally made it, and barking out the password to the fat lady, entered the sea of red and gold to find an entire house sitting silently in shock.

Hermione looked up wide eyed, "I'm not entirely sure what he was talking about, but when he started to hyperventilate and turn blue I stunned him." She pointed to Ron who was currently laid out on the couch before the fire.

Charlie raised an eyebrow, shaking his head at his second youngest brother. "What did he manage to get out?"

Hermione turned bright red and started coughing much to room's amusement.

"What she means to say," Seamus stood up and rolled his eyes. "Is that Ron told us our dear little Harry was out in the Maze getting molested by a pack full of mating veela."

"Well, I'd say it has probably narrowed down to at least two by now, but yes, tomorrow we will find out who our Harry has managed to become engaged to."

A loud wailing scream of outrage cut through the room, the occupants twisting frantically in their seats, searching for the source of the noise. "No," Ginny Weasley screamed, "No! Harry is Mine! He's just confused right now, I know he is." She slumped on the stairs and buried her head in her hands. "He's not gay, he's not. We're supposed to get married; I'm supposed to have his babies! Me!"

"For someone who isn't gay, he sure knows how to kiss a bloke," Seamus muttered out of the corner of his mouth.

Charlie shook his head tiredly, chuckling at the Irish Gryffindor, and then turned his thoughts to his little sister who was still slumped on the stairs muttering to herself. After Harry's birthday that summer, and the subsequent article she had been a part of, their mother had finally agreed to send Ginny to a Mind Healer. They had all thought she was doing better. Ginny had apologized to Harry, and had been seen making an effort to get to know him again. Charlie, the twins, and Ron, had all thought she was moving too fast; but their parents and Ginny's healer had been delighted. Today though, this was definitely an indication of how far Ginny's delusions had gone. She was still firmly convinced that Harry would change his mind, and they would be together.

"I've got to make a few floo calls, would you mind keeping an eye on him Hermione," Charlie pointed to the still unconscious boy on the couch.

Hermione moved from her perch on a nearby chair, to sit on the floor near Ron's head. "Yeah," she said reaching out to take one of the redhead's large hands, "I'll watch him."

Charlie nodded in thanks and turned to leave, "Ginerva," he stopped by the portrait hole to look at his little sister. "Go take a nap. I'll talk to Mum."

Ginny stood up unsteadily, nodding her head. "Talk to Mum, she'll know how to fix him." The mumbled words were clearly audible across the room, so Charlie turned to look enquiringly at Demelza Robins, a friend of Ginny's, who nodded in understanding and moved to follow the distraught girl up to their dormitory.

"Go Charlie," Hermione smiled wearily at the burly man. "We'll take care of things here for now. I'll get Neville to tell the ones who don't know, about what's going on."

Charlie nodded once more, than moved to leave the Tower and head for his rooms.

~oOo~

"Is he… did they, Oh dear," Molly bit her lip in distress. "He's going to be very frightened in the morning."

"He'll be just fine Mum," Charlie soothed her as best he could through the floo connection. "His dominant will do everything he can to make Harry comfortable, and to help him understand."

"Not all of them are like that Charlie," Molly argued. "The poor dear could end up with someone who doesn't hold with the old ways."

"Most of the old ways are based on the dominants instincts Mum. Harry would never have mated with someone who would hurt him."

"You know who?" Molly accused, her eyes visibly emitting sparks even in the fire.

Charlie grimaced. "We have an idea, but there are two possibilities."

"Who?" she demanded.

"Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini; at the time I left, neither had left the Maze. But," and Charlie held a hand up, "there were also the dominants who hadn't left the Maze in the first place. There's a possibility that another dominant came into the fight later."

Molly sat quietly for a moment before shaking her head. "No, it'll be Draco Malfoy; mark my words." She grinned mysteriously.

Charlie raised an eyebrow. "And you are certain because… why?"

"I am a mother Charlie. Even if the child is not my own, I know what I'm looking at. And last summer when the Malfoy family showed up at Headquarters, it was Harry who held young Draco's attention. They've always had a passionate relationship, I believe even without the aid of a Veela inheritance, Draco Malfoy would have pursued Harry."

Charlie spluttered. "You're kidding me!"

Molly smiled. "A mother knows."

"Cliché much," Charlie rolled his eyes. "Ok, ok. I concede your point about their prior interactions. But for a veela to leave the Maze and pursue someone without the submissive calling is almost unheard of."

"Your father and I will come out tomorrow to deal with Ginny and check on Harry. I expect that after he's calmed from the initial shock, he'll be quite happy." She ignored Charlie's rambling.

With a wave goodbye, his mother reminded him to find Percy at some point to let him know what was going on, and then she was gone in a flash of green flames.

Charlie sat back on his heels deep in thought. The veela descended were highly ruled by their instincts. The drive to mate with a powerful submissive and have a family was intense. To go against their instincts and pursue someone of none descent means the veela must have such powerful feelings for this person, that they completely override their natural instincts; it happened, but usually it was a submissive. A submissive's instincts had to be awoken, like Harry's had been. If they then chose to forgo the Gathering and managed to bond with another before a dominant could scent them, then… But a dominant, that was highly usual. If anything Charlie was disappointed because now he would never know if it would have happened that way.

~oOo~

"Come in."

Charlie stuck his head through the door and smiled at his brother. "Are you expecting any more students, or do you have a moment to talk?"

Percy waved his elder brother in with a smile, "Something up?"

Charlie took a seat and the cup of tea Percy held out for him. "Harry has managed to do it again."

A red eyebrow raised and smirk formed on a freckled face. "Really…"

"While working his detention this morning, Harry happened to be within scenting range of the Maze. Apparently he had a veela inheritance that no one knew about."

Percy nodded his head.

"You don't look very surprised," Charlie said amused.

"A few of my students who dropped by for some extra help mentioned it earlier. They seemed quite enchanted with the idea, the girls especially, sighing about how romantic it was."

Charlie snorted in amusement, "I guess they've never seen a mating fight."

"Have you contacted Mother and Father?"

"Yes, but we also have another problem. Ginny was most distressed when she heard about Harry."

Percy sighed. "I thought the Healer said she was getting better?"

Charlie shook his head. "A few of us thought the Healer was being overly optimistic. I think she needs more help than a once weekly meeting and few anti depressant potions."

"You think she needs to be committed."

"Yes," Charlie agreed. "Ginny needs help and she's not getting that here. I think there is probably more going on than just a simple obsession with a boy. You know she never saw anyone after what happened in her first year."

"You think it goes back that far?" Percy asked clearly surprised.

"I do."

~oOo~

Blaise Zabini casually strolled into the front tent looking like he had gone three rounds with the Dark Lord himself. He nodded to the silent group of people sitting in the middle of the tent and made his way over to his parents.

"Blaise," Calandra hugged her only child. "It is Draco then?"

Blaise nodded and moved to the seat his father indicated.

"And is there no one else?"

Blaise sneered. "They were barely passable."

Basilio smiled knowingly. "And you my son, have never settled for merely adequate."

Blaise nodded in agreement, wincing as his wounds pulled.

Lucius watched the family interact for a few minutes before walking over. "May I?" he indicated a chair at the table.

Basilio nodded, smirking at the blond aristocrat.

Lucius turned molten silver eyes on the Zabini heir and tilted his head in question.

"We herded Harry into a proper tent; he went most willingly. Then we started our fight. At one point we ended up outside the tent and landed in a crowd of other dominants. I… became distracted when Harry began to trill and Draco was able to pin me. None of the others dared to fight us, Draco went uncontested."

Lucius stood with a bow. "Thank you Master Zabini," he said before returning to his group.

"Well?" Narcissa demanded once her mate retook his seat.

Lucius inclined his head and Narcissa shrieked happily.

"What?" Sirius demanded.

Severus rolled his eyes and turned to his partner. "Harry has mated with Draco."

Sirius sat for a moment unblinking, and then toppled over in a dead faint.

"Is he ok?" Albus looked over the edge of the table worriedly.

Severus sighed and moved to pick the animagus up. "He'll be fine tomorrow I am sure.

Remus moved to follow the potions master, "I'll pen a note to Petunia this evening. Hopefully she will consent to talk with us within the next few days."

"Thank you," one of the officials said. "I will get in touch with the Archivist and he will begin a search for those few families whose children were never found."

"Oh Luc, Harry's just going to look magnificent in pure white robes with those big green eyes of his." Narcissa was sitting in her seat staring out into nothingness with a dreamy expression on her face.

The others stopped to stare at the woman for a moment before indulgently shaking their heads and leaving to go about their tasks.

"With silver embroidery along the trim?" Albus turned sparkling blue eyes to the besotted woman.

Narcissa clapped excitedly. "Do think we could use the grounds Albus dear? Draco has mentioned this rose garden he came across a few years ago that he absolutely loves. And I believe that Harry would also like to get bonded here at Hogwarts."

"I think that's a wonderful idea my dear." Albus stood up and held out a hand for Lady Malfoy. "I believe we would be more comfortable in my office, and we would also be able to contact Molly from there. She'll have my head if we were to plan Harry and Draco's bonding without her."

Narcissa took his hand to get up from her chair and then tucked her hand in his elbow to allow him to lead her from the tent. "Do you think she would mind making that cheesecake of hers as their bonding cake?"

"I believe she would be delighted."

Lucius watched bemused as his mate and the headmaster walked from the tent together completely captivated with planning the children's bonding ceremony. Draco, familiar with his mother's antics, wouldn't expect anything less, but Harry… The poor child would most likely be completely overwhelmed.

"You'll want to talk to the council that is present about tomorrow and getting Madame Pomfrey to attend Harry and Draco."

Lucius looked over his shoulder and met Blaise Zabini's eyes. "I will?"

Blaise nodded. "Harry is famous for hating all Healers but Madame Pomfrey. He is already going to be confused enough, letting someone in there who he is not familiar with, will only frighten him more."

Lucius inclined his head in thanks. "I will speak with both the council members and Madame Pomfrey immediately."

Blaise smiled at the blond Lord before turning to meet his parents at the tent entrance. "Congratulations Lord Malfoy," he called before disappearing into the night.

Lucius smirked, looking back over to the entrance to the Maze. Congratulations indeed.