Disclaimer: I do not own the world of Harry Potter. If I did the books would have looked a bit different and I wouldn't be writing this.

Chapter 5

The man in front of her, dressed in black, takes a few steps closer, effectively cutting off any chances of escape.

He doesn't say anything but stares at her, his silver eyes absorbing every detail of her face. His broom hangs forgotten in his hand, the sight of her being the probable the reason.

Hermione watches him in shock. Shock because that he has found her and shock because of his state. He looks pale, even for him. His eyes have huge dark circles under them. They are even more pronounced then hers.

The silence lasts only for a heartbeat. Then the broom falls to the ground, not making a sound on the soft grass, as at the same time Draco breaths, "Sophia."

Then she is in his arms, as he holds her close to him, his face buried in her hair.

Too startled, Hermione doesn't push him away or yell. She stiffness as she hears a distant yell and a shout coming from the open window a few yards away. They must have discovered that she isn't in the room anymore. A sick feeling is settling in the pit of her stomach and then with a jolt she realizes she should have been feeling this a few moments ago. Instead she feels comfortable and she feels a lot better than she has felt in the last few weeks.

Draco releases her at that moment but keeps a hold on her by her upper arms.

He is smiling now. A little colour has returned to his formerly pallid face, but the fatigue is still there. "How did you get here?" he asks.

"I was abducted but just escaped through the window," she hears herself say. Why she is being honest she doesn't know. Perhaps it is because she, weirdly enough, feels safe with him.

Draco casts a quick look at the window. It is now silent there. He hadn't heard the yelling a few moments ago.

When he looks at her again a smirk is playing on his lips. "So much for escaping then." His smirk turns into a smile, taking Hermione's breath away. She has never in her life, or at least as far as she can remember, seen him smile. He'd always had a smirk or a scowl on his features.

"Now, in we go." The smile is still playing on his lips.

He takes her hand, picks up his broom, and drags her through the well-kept garden and into the house through an open door.

Dragging her in almost the same way Blaise had done a few minutes ago.

Walking down the hall with Draco Malfoy evokes strange feelings within Hermione. Somehow she feels safe and she has the feeling that she can trust him. When she knows she mustn't. It almost seems like a warm glow is floating between their hands. Coming to that thought, she shakes the feeling off her. Something is going on and she wants to know what it is. She wants to know why she is wanted unharmed, for a much higher price than Harry.

She decides to take a few quick steps so that she is walking next to Draco instead of behind him. Looking at him, Hermione sees that he is still smiling and not even looking at her.

"Where are we going?" she tries, speaking in a normal voice and not the whiny one she had tried with Blaise.

"Looking for the rest of my family, who are probably now looking for you." Suddenly he stops and his grey eyes look at her. "Mentioning that. Who exactly brought you here?" They are now standing in a bright hallway, light from the glass outside door brightening up the pale yellow walls and the white marble floor. It is strange what a huge contrast it is compared to the room she was put in.

"Zabini abducted me at the hospital," she says, not looking at him but at the wall behind him.

"Then we certainly need to find him," he commands, still sounding happy. Draco starts walking again and this time she goes with him so that he doesn't have to tow her around.

"And when is it I will be told what on earth is going on?" She had first hoped her question of where they were going would enlighten her, but it is too much to hope for. Hermione also wonders why he is not asking questions as to who she is, or had been for most of her life, before that letter changed everything.

Now Draco stops again and looks at her, shocked. "They still didn't tell you?"

Frustrated, she throws up one hand (the other is still stuck in his hand and it doesn't seem he will let go) in the air. "I always get to hear later! If I'm not here because I'm a Naberrie then what in Merlin's name is going on?"

Draco looks surprised. "You know you're actually named Naberrie?"

So he does know that she knows nothing about her past. But that much seems obvious, otherwise she might have tried to find them, if they were indeed the people she knew in her past.

"Yes! And that's also the only thing, let me tell you that, so don't you insult me like Zabini did. Blaming me about knowing something. I know nothing. I got a letter a few days ago explaining I was a Naberrie and Ginny found a little information in books, but that's all I really know." Hermione is breathing deeply, in and out. It is a good way, she has learned, to calm herself.

Draco looks a bit taken aback by her outburst. It doesn't take long though before he finds his composure. Taking a step closer to her, he brushes his free hand lightly over her face. "Calm down, love, and don't worry. I shall first explain everything to you."

Hermione's breathing staggers when he touches her. Why is he calling her 'love'?
He does seem to wonder when she mentions Ginny but he has been more focussed on calming her down than ask her for explanations. She can see on his face the wonder of that situation.

"Let's go to the library," he adds brightly, not noticing her discomfort by his familiarity.

"The library?" she asks, surprised.

"Yes, it will be much easier to explain by the hand of well informed books."

XXXX

Hermione is relieved that they don't see a soul while they walk to the library. Draco has taken her up a set of stairs and through the main hall right in front of another set of stairs. He has told her that the west wing was the wing of his parents and the east wing was his own. He has added, with a wink and a smile, that it is also her wing. She doesn't understand what he means so she keeps quiet and follows him through a grand door into the library.

When they enter she halts in awe, looking at the grand room with walls full off books. There is even a tiny set of stairs which lead to another level where there are more rows of books. In the middle are deep blue sofas placed upon fluffy carpet in the same color. There is also a grand fireplace, which Hermione thought would give a cozy and warm feeling in the winter evenings.

The wooden floor is a deep warm brown color and the walls are painted white with blue accents. The library almost looks like heaven.

Hermione loves books. She loves cuddling up in a sofa with a blanket and reading a good fantasy book or a romance book. Unlike in her Hogwarts time, when she was a bookworm and would have read almost every book, she now has a specific taste. She had always thought she had inherited that from her mother, but now she isn't so sure anymore.

"Do you like it?" Draco asks her.

She can only nod and a smile graces Draco's features again.

He takes her to one of the sofas and lets her take a seat, while he sits on the armrest, still holding her hand. She tries now to get her hand free, but to no avail. He has an even stronger hold on her now. Is he still afraid she will run? She has nowhere to go, so why should she run from here?

"Now tell me. What do you know about Veela?"

His thumb is now making little circles on her hand. She doesn't like the fact that it soothes her.

"Veela?" she asks, confused. "They are girls who are very beautiful and attractive to men. During the Triwizard Tournament at school there was this girl Fleur who was part Veela. She is now married to Bill."

Draco grimaces at that. "Right, married to a weasel."

Hermione rolls her eyes and lounges back in the sofa. They are very comfortable and now that she is finally sitting she starts feeling how tired she actually is.

"Is that all you know?" he asks, taking the liberty of stroking her hair with his other hand.

She slaps his hand away and sits up immediately, moving to sit on the other side of the chair. It is still not far enough away for her liking because he is still sitting on the armrest.

"Okay then." He doesn't seem to have realised that she's slapped him away, that her eyes are burning with questions about his behavior.

Taking out his wand, he summons, "Accio book, 'The Male Veela'." A blue leather book comes flying into his hand and he places it on her lap.

She moves so she that is in the middle of the chair again as he opens the book and lays it open to a page, signing to her that she should read. She gives one more dismissive wave with her hand and is relieved that he finally lets go. Casting her eyes down to read, she feels him again stroking her hair. She tries to shake him off again and he sighs. "Just read the damn text, Sophia, and let me."

"Why?" She looks up and stares daggers at him. She is so on edge because she feels comfortable with him and that scares her.

"Read it and you will know," he snaps right back.

Casting her eyes down again - and feeling his hand in her hair again - she starts reading.

Male Veela are very rare in their kind and are protected by the ministry. In contrary to female Veela, which are also more common, male Veela need their mate to survive. They need her before they become fully of age at the age of twenty-one.

Symptoms begin to occur in the month before the Veela's twenty-first birthday. If the Veela and his mate are not together, they will both feel different symptoms. Insomnia, dizziness, headaches and a feeling off loss are a few of the symptoms which can occur. It is not known if each symptom will affect the mate but a minimum of two of them will always be experienced.

If the mate and the Veela are together, he will feel a constant need to touch her as if to reassure him that she is still there. Even after mating occurs, the male Veela will feel the need to continue it, although it will be less pronounced if they're together from the start than if they come together just before the Veela's twenty-first birthdayS. This also affects the possessiveness and dominance of the Veela.

When the mate is with someone else, the Veela will feel an unbearable pain. It is, for this reason, very important to keep the mate away from other men, unless it is a man who the Veela will trust with his life. This is mostly only one or two men, usually his father and best friend. Such men are the only ones able to touch the mate. Even after the mating, no men should touch the mate or the Veela will suffer severely. It is necessary to mention that the mate needs to be a virgin before the mating, due to the above mentioned reasons. If the male Veela hasn't mated with his mate by his twenty-first birthday, he will suffer more and more until he ultimately dies. His mate, on the other hand, will recover after a month without any lasting symptoms.

A male Veela isn't free to choose who his mate it. It is chosen for him, decided by magic. A seer is mostly asked for at the birth of an Veela. Such a person is talented to foresee the future and has the talent to see who the Veela's mate is. This comes in handy for the family of the boy seeing as they can take measures to take care of the girl.

Veela males are very dominant and easily become jealous, but they are also known to love and cherish their mate their whole life. They are also known to have some power over their mate (to be discussed in later chapters) and this view is mostly seen as only fair, given that the mate has the power of life and death over her Veela. Veelas are one of the most loyal creatures ever known in the magical world.

More information can be found in later chapters.

Hermione stares at the page a little more. It is a short introductory chapter of a book about male Veela. She has even never heard of such a thing, let alone thought they existed.
In the meantime, Draco is still brushing her hair with his hand, seeming very content in doing only that.

She gasps when she suddenly understands and gets up so fast that the book tumbles to the ground. Draco watches her in surprise, his hand still hanging in the place where her head had been only a few moments before.

"You're a male Veela? Oh, don't tell I'm your mate." She points her finger at him and her mouth is still hanging open, rather unattractively, from shock.

A smirk spreads on Draco's face again. "Then I won't tell you."

XXX

AN: I posted a lot sooner then I normally would, but I'm going on a holiday for two weeks. So it will take a while before something will be posted again. That's why I'm giving you this chapter already =)
Hope you liked it!

AN2: This chapter has one again been corrected by the lovely Sarah Liz B. Who is also my beta throughout this story.