AN. I love how all of you are very divisive about Hermione, Draco, and Goldstein. Also, I found out that Sims 4 could make an exciting fan stimulation game.
I have no excuses. I have been lazy this summer. So I wrote you guys the longest chapter I ever wrote.
Ch. 12
The first thing Hermione did when she woke up as she read Malfoy's card. Call it her veela instincts, but Hermione sensed that the white tulips right beside her were from her mate. She felt his presence as soon as she woke up, and knew instinctively that Draco must have been there recently. She spotted the bouquet of flowers and gingerly read the small note placed next to it.
Malfoy's apology and his invitation to meet in person caused a lump to form on her throat. Hermione forcibly had to stop herself from picking up a quill and immediately inviting her mate to a French restaurant. Even if Malfoy only wanted to apologize, she knew deep down that her veela would do whatever it would take to stay with her mate as soon as possible. Hermione did not want that. She had to cut ties with Malfoy as quickly as possible.
As far as Hermione's logical brain was concerned, Malfoy apologized and gave her flowers. She just needed to accept his apology and move on with her life. Hermione forced herself to sit back down and forget about the growing itch to reply to Malfoy's note.
Wait; was it rude not to reply to Malfoy's apology? Should she write a thank, you note for the flowers and move on with her life? Should she thank him face to face after all? No, that would be a horrible idea. Hermione decided that she would write a thank you note instead. However, should she write a formal letter, or should she keep the note casual?
Hermione decided to write a small thank you note to Draco for the tulips, telling him that they would be lovely and pleasant. However, she must decline his invitation for lunch citing scheduling conflicts and that she was sorry about her inability to see him in person.
Writing that note took a lot more self-control, and discipline than Hermione could imagine. Hermione left her room to send her thank you note through owl, but Professor Smethwick caught her and insisted that she remained in bed rest. Instead, she instructed one of St. Mungo's little helpers to send the owl for her, half convinced that Draco would just throw it away while the other half hoped that he would feel bad that she could not meet with him.
As her physician, Professor Smethwick insisted that Hermione stayed under his care for a couple more days to make sure that she is in perfectly good health. He was also still curious about what caused her fainting spell. Still, Hermione already had some ideas she was not interested in addressing. Looking for answers would not lighten her workload, and her mate already took up enough of her time.
Hermione's workload did not make bed-rest comfortable either. Hermione was now behind schedule of all her work because of her coma. The Healers and attendants at St. Mungo's were really making it difficult for her to study or even work. She had to hide her books under her bed and pillows while keeping an eye on the door.
Thankfully, Anthony ransacked her apartment and gathered everything she would need during her stay. He also drafted a proposal to the Minister while she was in a coma. All Hermione had to do was go over the plan, schedule a meeting with the Minister, finish reading her textbooks, and memorize the genetic code.
"You don't have to memorize the genetic code," Anthony reminded her as he helped her pack on her move-out day.
"I know," Hermione said. "But memorizing them seemed like a basic requirement for a geneticist, doesn't it?"
Anthony shook his head in disappointment.
"With your busy schedule, I would think that you would take any opportunity to cut down on the workload. You haven't even visited your parents yet from the holidays."
"I know," Hermione said.
"You hadn't contacted them two weeks ago. They're going to be really worried," Anthony, scolded.
"I already sent them a letter telling them what happened…" Hermione said.
"But you still haven't visited them yet," Anthony said.
"I know, that's my plan as soon as I finally leave this place," Hermione said.
"Okay then, but you still need to finish your first draft of the presentation and find someone who would be willing to be your practice audience."
Even though the proposal was almost finished, Hermione could not schedule a meeting with the Minister anytime soon. Minister Shacklebolt's secretary told her that the next available appointment was in March. In the meanwhile, Hermione needed to practice how she would present complicated muggle biology to a room full of purebloods.
"I'm already thinking of practicing my presentation on Harry," Hermione said. "He owes me. The least he could do is to let me practice my presentation on him."
"You never told me what Harry did," Anthony said. "He's been very apologetic every time he visited you."
Hermione sighed.
"Let's just say that he told someone one of my secrets."
Anthony did not ask any questions. He picked up Hermione's luggage instead to help her carry it out to her home despite Hermione's protest that she could carry her own bags. Anthony ignored her protests as they passed by the receptionists' table, where the receptionist shyly gave them a wave.
"She likes you, you know," Hermione said as soon as they left the building.
"Who?"
"The receptionist," Hermione said teasingly. "She was eyeing you since you left the elevator."
Anthony chuckled awkwardly.
"What makes you think that she would be interested?" Anthony asked. "Besides, it's not that I have time to date somebody new right now."
"I know she's interested because she could barely look at your face when we passed by," Hermione said. "And who wouldn't want someone as sweet as you?"
Anthony blushed at the compliment. Though in the back of her mind, Hermione hoped that Anthony already got over his little crush so he could find somebody else he could fancy.
"Come on," Hermione said. "I haven't seen you date anybody ever since we entered the Healer program. There's a bunch of girls right who are just waiting for you to notice them."
"I don't have time to date anybody right now," Anthony insisted.
"That's your excuse every time a cute girl shows any remote interest in liking you," Hermione said. "You said that before we entered the Healer program. You said that after we finished the Healer program because you wanted to 'settle in' first. Now it has been a year, you are an established Healer. You got to stop disappointing other women and stop your self-inflicted exile from the dating field."
"'Self-inflicted exile from the dating field?'" Anthony repeated. "Is that what the muggles calling it now?"
"Don't distract me," Hermione said. "The point being, I never saw you fancy any girl even though a lot of girls fancy you. I haven't even seen you take a girl out on a date."
"I took you out on a date," Anthony said.
"Yeah, but that doesn't count," Hermione said. "We both know that it was just for fun."
"True," Anthony said. "I did give flowers to one of my patients. She was adorable."
"Little girls who are about to die do not count," Hermione said.
"Fine, I'll go on a date with the next girl who asks me out," Anthony said. "If you promise to let me treat you to a meal at our old spot across the street."
"No," Hermione said. "I want to go to the Leaky Cauldron."
St. Mungo's new Healer Theodore Nott accepted his old housemate's invitation to lunch. He asked to meet each other at the Leaky Cauldron. The last time they talked to each other was a brief small talk they had during the Victory Ball, the Nott household hosted a couple of years ago. It turned out that Theo was very busy after the war. He went back to Hogwarts to finish his degree only because it was a requirement to enter St. Mungo's healer program.
"It has been really hectic for me," Theo said.
"From the way that you describe it," Draco Malfoy said as they sat across each other after ordering lunch. "I did not expect that you would take up my offer to lunch."
"What made you think that I would refuse a lunch-date with the great Draco Malfoy?" Theo asked. "After all these years, you finally noticed me and asked me out for lunch."
Theo batted his eyes and gave Draco a playful grin.
"Don't even joke about that," Draco drawled. "It seemed to me that the only thing people want to know about me is my dating life. It's the last thing I want to talk about right now."
"I see," Theo said. "What's going on in your life since we 'graduated' from Hogwarts?"
"I've been fine," Draco said. "Just enjoying the things life could bring. I have been traveling a lot and seeing the world. I have visited France, Germany, Italy, Austria, and Sweden. You know the usual spots."
"I hardly call visiting just Europe as exploring the world," Theo said. "We've traveled around Europe at least five times since we were children, and a lot of it is getting old. I hear from my patients that Asia is the place to be right now."
"I would try Asia if the place is not filled with flies," Draco sneered. "And the people there hardly speak English."
"There are some wizarding places to check out if you want," Theo said. "I'm planning on taking Daphne with me around Japan and Korea sometime soon. There's a decent wizarding population there, and they're pretty civilized parts."
"Are you referring to Daphne Greengrass?" Draco asked.
"That's the only Daphne that I know."
"You and Daphne Greengrass?" Draco said. "I never saw that coming."
Theodore Nott was notoriously a loner back at Hogwarts. He preferred to keep to himself and his books instead of socializing with anyone other than himself.
"How did this happen?" Draco asked. "How did you even manage to have enough time to take Daphne out on a date?'
"My father betrothed me to a Daphne Greengrass," Theo said matter-of-factly. "He wanted to make sure that he sees a grandchild before he passed away rotting in Azkaban."
After the second wizarding wary, Aurors rounded up as many Death Eaters possible after the last wizarding war. Aurors did not spare even the wealthiest Death Eater. If Potter did not intervene on their behalf, Draco could have been spending life in Azkaban, as much as the thought disturbed him.
However, it did not surprise Draco that there were still Aurors corrupt enough to assist richer Death Eaters.
"How exactly did your father arranged an engagement while still in prison?" Draco asked.
"When that man wants something," Theo said. "He really goes for it. Even though he's in Azkaban right now, he's still making a decision like he is still the head of the household."
Draco could understand that. He had met Nott Sr. a couple of times in his life, and the man was even more old-fashioned and restricting that Draco's own father.
"So about you and Daphne Greengrass," Draco said. "Do you guys at least get along, or did she turn out to be a nightmare like Pansy?"
"It's been decent," Theo said. "She's one of the few people who I had time to talk to outside work. I do not really remember her much back in our Hogwarts days. She's a good company, though, but it could be just that a year's worth of talking to only sick people and Healers makes anybody's company tolerable."
On the corner of his eyes, he spotted Granger and her lackey Goldstein as they entered the Leaky Cauldron. The two of them were talking good-naturedly with each other as they sat on a booth all the way across the pub. The two of them were having a good time joking around as they speak with one another in hushed tones. The waitress came over and took their order
Their jovial conversation stopped when Granger's body tensed for a moment and looked towards his direction. For a moment, they made eye contact. Granger quickly turned away, but Draco's eyes still bore on her skull.
"You're staring pretty intensely toward that table over there," Theo said. "And I heard that you've been around the hospital lately, do you want to tell me what's going on?"
Draco did not answer immediately; instead, he steeled his eyes on Goldstein and Granger. Goldstein got up and prepared to leave, but Granger grabbed his hands and stopped him. Goldstein sat back down and continued his conversation with Hermione.
"So, do you have a beef with one of my colleagues?" Nott asked. "I don't really care, but it's nice to know why you're ignoring my presence right now."
"It's nothing," Draco said. "I just have unsettled business with Granger."
"With the mudblood?" Theo asked. "Why? Did you need to catch up on your teasing?"
"No," Draco said, practically offended that Theo would think of him that way. "Please, it's been years since Hogwarts. I have long outgrown schoolyard teasing. Granger and I needed to have a chat, and she's been avoiding me."
Goldstein's laughter echoed throughout the bar that warranted a glare from Draco.
"Do you know what's going on between Granger and Goldstein?" Draco asked.
Nott looked at him suspiciously. He probably thought that he would do something malicious towards Granger and Goldstein.
"Nothing much, I just knew Granger and Goldstein were pretty close back when we were training to be Healers," Theo said. "They used to do everything together. They ate together, they were lab partners, and sometimes they bathe together."
The last comment caused Draco to raise his eyebrows all the way up to his hairline. Even with his vast sexual experience, he had yet to bathe with anybody.
"I wouldn't know for sure," Nott said. "But I wouldn't be surprised if they did seeing that they're so close to each other. They still seem close, though, despite the circumstances. Goldstein was practically living in her room while she was at St. Mungo's."
"What circumstances?" Draco said.
"Granger pretty much disappeared after she got her Healer license," Nott said. "Goldstein, on the other hand, is a colleague at the hospital, and he's as busy as I am. Despite this, they seemed as close as they are now as they did back when during Healer training. "
Nott indicated towards Granger and Goldstein's seat. Goldstein had his arm wrapped around Granger as they whispered to each other. Granger had a small genuine smile on her face that mirrored the smile Goldstein had. The sight unsettled him, but he could not help but look.
Realizing that he had been staring, Draco tried to steer his conversation with Nott back towards them. He asked about how Nott was dealing with wedding preparations. Still, he felt silly since Daphne was in charge of the wedding preparations. He wondered about Nott's work, but sick people did not interest him. The last thing Draco wanted to talk about was his conquests, for the lack of a better term. Draco also hated talking about their years back at Hogwarts because that conversation will definitely lead to the war or seeming like his glory days were behind him.
Every now and again, Draco glanced back at Granger and he felt disgusted just watching Granger flirting with Goldstein. That was until he looked around and found that he was not the only one. Draco spotted at least three people, taking a quick glance at Granger and Goldstein whenever they could.
"This always happens when Granger is around," Theo said. "Since she's a war heroine and famous, people flock to her as soon as somebody recognizes her."
"I guess wizards don't recognize filth once it faces is plastered across the wall," Draco said.
Nott whistled and clicked his tongue in disappointment.
"That's a bit harsh," Theo said. "She graduated a semester ahead, and at the top of her class, you know."
"A mudblood with a medal is still a mudblood," Draco said.
Granger excused herself and headed towards the loo. Draco shortly followed her. He waited for her outside the ladies' room. A few people passed that gave him curious looks, but Draco ignored all of them.
When Granger got out of the ladies' room, Draco quickly grabbed her hand and cornered her with his arms against the wall.
"I see that you had time to fool around with Goldstein, but you can't talk to me," Draco said.
Granger took one look at him and refused to look him straight on his eyes. Instead, she kept her eyes on the floor. From what he could see, Draco decided that Hermione was not beautiful, Draco agreed, but she was pretty. Her face was clear of any imperfection, and she had a delicate enough bone structure.
"Could you please let me go, Malfoy?" Hermione asked in a hushed tone.
"Not until you give me an explanation why you give Goldstein the time of day when you can't even meet with me so I could apologize in person," Draco said. "Do you hate me that much?"
"No, I don't hate you," Hermione said. "You apologized, and I don't feel the need to discuss things any further."
"Then why won't you give me the time of day?" Draco asked.
"We have nothing to discuss anymore,"
"Nothing to discuss," Draco said. "You don't think that we should talk about this veela-mate situation?"
"Yes," Hermione said shakily.
"Why are you so intent on avoiding me?" Draco said. "Was it because I acted an arse the last time we talked? I am sorry, I said horrible things to you, and it was ungentlemanly for me to do. I promise that it would not happen again."
"No," Hermione said. "I'm not avoiding you because of that; in fact, I'm not avoiding you at all."
"I apologize, nonetheless. I was an ass back then," Draco apologized anyway.
He knew he was an ass during his Hogwarts years. He had no problem apologizing for his childish actions if it meant he would get answers.
"No, Malfoy," Granger said. "I don't hate you for what you did back when we were children. It has been years since Hogwarts and what's done are done."
"Then what is it? Bloody hell Granger," Draco said. "I am your mate! You should have run to me as soon as you found out. Its common courtesy to let me know-"
"But I don't want you to know," Hermione admitted, but Draco already knew.
"What makes our sweet little self-righteous Gryffindor so afraid?" Draco drawled. "So afraid that you would hide something so big from me?"
Draco caressed Granger's hair, reveling at the scared look she gave him.
"Was it because the thought of being with me make your skin crawl?" Draco asked. "Do you find me that physically repulsive?"
"No," Hermione said. "I find you to be an extremely appealing man. The most appealing man I ever met."
Draco's eyes widened, and Hermione's face was very red.
"Of... Of course, I find you extremely attractive," Granger stammered. She looked like she was about to hide behind her own bushy hair. "You are my mate, everything about you appeals to me. Your voice, your mannerism, your…"
She shook her head to stop herself from saying anything else.
"If none of these was a problem for you," Draco said. "Then why didn't you just tell me from the beginning?"
That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Granger glared at him.
"Oh, was I supposed to rush into your doorstep and tell you that I'm a veela and that you're my mate then?" Hermione asked. "Was I supposed to somehow track you down, convince you to talk to me in private, and tell you about something I wasn't even comfortable about telling my best friend? And for what? You and I both know that you are not going to stop philandering around to marry a mudblood like me. "
Throughout her ramblings, her eyes kept flickering to his mouth. Draco smirked. Draco leaned up close to Hermione's face. He let his lips hover over hers for a minute before asking.
"Do you want to kiss me?" He asked.
Draco's voice was teasing and playful. He watched as Granger gulped, took a breath, and answered.
"Yes," Granger said shyly in her lust-laced voice. She inched towards her face but stopped. "But, I won't." She looked away, embarrassed.
"Why," Draco said forcefully. "I know that you're not worried about cheating on the oaf you came in with."
"I don't kiss you because," Granger's eyes welled up with tears. "Because kissing you would mean a lot more to me than it would to you."
Granger tried her best to hide her face as she weakly tried to push him away. Draco let her, more out of shock, to see Granger crying for the first time. She gathered herself and decided to leave.
"It could happen," Draco said to console the crying chit. "Kissing you could mean as much to me as it would to you."
Granger shook her head.
"No, you won't," Granger said, touching her lips. "With things as they are right now, I could never see you kiss me the way I want you to."
Draco watched as she tried to wipe away the tears and headed towards her booth with Goldstein. Goldstein wrapped his arms around Granger protectively, almost lovingly. Goldstein gave her a hug and murmured to her consoling words. He leaned into her face, an invasion of privacy that she did not mind, and kissed away her tears. Granger slightly leaned over and returned Goldstein's kisses.
Draco felt sick to his stomach. He thought that he was watching an intimate exchange between lovers, and he was the third wheel invading their space. He could never imagine himself acting that way towards anyone, especially not with Granger. Draco now understood precisely what type of kisses Granger wanted from him, and he did not know if he could give it to her. Draco could no longer think nor feel as he walked back to his and Nott's table.
"So how did it turned out with the mudblood?" Nott asked.
"We came to an understanding," Draco lied.
He allowed himself one last glance towards Granger. She and Goldstein were leaving the restaurant. She looked back at him and gave him a tight-lipped smile and a longing glance. Was it an apology? Was she yearning for something he could not provide?
The last thing Draco wanted to talk about was Granger and this veela-mate bond thing when he got home. So, of course, he had to rehash his entire experience with his parents.
His mother was waiting for him in the living room when he got home instead of having tea with her friends like those that he expected.
"There you are, Draco," Narcissa Malfoy said as she walked over and kissed his cheek.
"Hello, mother," Draco said.
"I expected you to come home quite a while ago," Narcissa said.
"I was out with Theodore Nott, Mother."
"That sounds lovely," Narcissa said. "How is Theodore?"
"He's doing alright," Draco said. "Did you know he's engaged now to Daphne Greengrass?"
"Ah yes," his mother said as if she just remembered something inconsequential. "Daphne's mother told me that over tea a couple of weeks back."
Draco wondered why his mother did not tell him as soon as possible. His mother used to say to him even the most inconsequential fact she learned during her tea parties.
His mother ushered him upstairs, down the hall and towards his father's study where his father was waiting for him. Lucius Malfoy was sitting casually behind his desk, reading a book. The war and his stint at Azkaban had worn down Lucius a bit, but he still had the poise Draco always associated with him.
"Sit down, son," Lucius said. "I received a curious note."
Draco sat down at one of the study room's couches with his mother. Narcissa Malfoy summoned a house-elf and asked for some chamomile tea. Draco waited politely for his father to discuss what his father wanted to talk to him about. His mother started the discussion.
"Son, we know that you are hiding things from us." His mother said delicately.
"I heard numerous reports that you were seen visiting Ms. Granger at the hospital lately," his father drawled. "Our banker also told me that you paid a hefty sum to three different lawyers in the past week. I do hope it did not mean that you are having legal troubles with the chit. I may have regained some of my political power, but I fear that a friend of Potter's like Ms. Granger would be harder to squash than most people."
"It is nothing, father," Draco said. "I just have some private business with Ms. Granger."
"What business could you possibly have with her?" His mother said. "I don't think you even mentioned her for years now."
"We just had an old score to settle," Draco lied smoothly.
"Whatever this old score you needed to settle with Ms. Granger must be really important to warrant three lawyers," His father said. "Do I have to track down these three lawyers and interrogate them one by one to get a satisfactory answer?"
"There would be no need for that father," Draco said. "We were just discussing a recent development between Ms. Granger and me."
"And what is this recent development?" Lucius Malfoy asked.
"Recently, I have been informed that Ms. Granger is a veela," Draco said calmly.
"That is interesting news," Lucius said. "Are you sure about it?"
"I heard about it from Potter's mouth himself," Draco said. "I also had the pleasure of witnessing her turn into a bird in the middle of a party."
"That is interesting, darling," Narcissa said. "But I fail to see how you are involved."
"I also learned that I am Ms. Granger's mate," Draco said.
Both of his parents did not react immediately. His father raised his eyebrow, and his mother sipped her tea.
"That is an interesting development," his mother said.
"Quite," Lucius said. "Well, I guess a meeting with Ms. Granger is required. Draco, could you contact the lawyers you have hired. Narcissa, could you instruct the house elves to prepare a room for Ms. Granger to stay in."
"I'm surprised, father," Draco said. "That you would even consider welcoming Ms. Granger in our household."
"It's called practicality," Lucius said. "Since Ms. Granger's veela chose you, any action to discourage a possible relationship between you two would be only denying the inevitable. Chances are, it would do more harm than good. The best course of action right now is to mitigate the situation."
His mother nodded in agreement and sipped her tea.
"We need to contact the lawyers that you hired to make sure that our demands are met. Anybody with a First Class Oder of Merlin is welcome in our household, but there need to be some caveats. Primarily, we have to make sure that Ms. Granger understands she will not bear the Malfoy heir."
Draco practically choked on his tea at his father's demands.
"I don't know a lot about veelas and their mates," Lucius said. "If possible, we'll make it so that Ms. Granger understands that she would not officially be a member of this household," Lucius added.
In other words, his father hoped that Granger would be Draco's mistress.
"I think we could convince Ms. Granger that she won't bear the Malfoy heir," Narcissa said. "But I don't think she would be willing to become a… extra in this household."
"You're probably right," Lucius said. "Still, it would not hurt to put it in as a bargaining chip to take out later."
"You might be overestimating Granger's sensible side, father," Draco said. "Granger is a Gryffindor through and through. She'd sooner run away from the negotiating table than hear out those terms."
"Normally, I would agree that Gryffindors make up in temper what they lack in a sense," Lucius said. "But, I suspect that Ms. Granger's veela would make her more agreeable to your wishes."
Draco did not correct his father that he did not want to suggest Granger as his mistress. He did not want to be at the receiving end of Granger's reaction. That chit was not a war heroine for nothing.
"I'm regretful to say that I could not even convince Ms. Granger to talk to me," Draco said. "I had to ambush her at St. Mungo's to get a chance to talk to her."
"Why is that dear?" his mother asked.
"Ms. Granger is very keen on avoiding me," Draco said. "I tried addressing the situation with her multiple times, but she is insistent that she won't talk to me. I even sent a note asking a meeting to discuss the situation at hand, but she declined. Next thing I knew, I bumped into her with another bloke at Leaky Cauldron."
His parent's jaw practically dropped on the floor in shock, or at least they would if they were not so poised. The news took aback his father while his mother's eyes widened in surprise.
"Did Ms. Granger tell you why she declined your invitation?" His mother asked.
Draco blushed. While the question was innocent enough, he did not want to share Granger's answer to his parents.
"She told me some sorry excuse that I would never feel the same way about her as I should."
"By any chance," his mother said. "Was Ms. Granger with Anthony Goldstein?"
"Yes, mother," Draco confirmed. "How did you know about Granger and Goldstein?"
"Both the Daily Prophet and Witch Weekly wrote about Mr. Goldstein's dedication to Ms. Granger during her stay at St. Mungo's," Narcissa said. "It was all of my friends' teenage girls could talk about during tea. They all wanted to find someone who would visit them at the hospital every day."
The thought of teenage girls gushing over Goldstein's treatment of Granger irritated Draco. In Draco's opinion, Goldstein was a possessive prick who managed to manipulate Granger in a relationship.
"If that is the case, then I could understand Ms. Granger's choice," Narcissa said to Draco's ire. "While I love you, I could easily see how your womanizing ways might have deterred her," Narcissa said.
Draco tensed. His mother always criticized him for his habits. His mother, for her part, sipped her tea as if she just commented on the weather.
"I could also see why Ms. Granger would choose to date Mr. Goldstein instead," His mother said. "Mr. Goldstein is as educated as her; he has a very respectable job and has been loyal to her. Comparatively, Mr. Goldstein is a wholesome and tame alternative to you."
"Thanks for the boost of support, mother," Draco mumbled, which he instantly regretted.
His mother placed a hand on top of his, an action she probably thought was comforting. Draco kept his mouth shut and his face straight as he prepared for the lecture that would undoubtedly come.
"I could see how this," His mother said in a hushed tone. "But if only you did not philander around and worked in your father's business like we asked, then we would be at a better negotiating position with Ms. Granger."
"Now, Narcissa," Lucius intervened. "There's no use criticizing the boy over what he should have done."
Lucius crossed the room and sat down at the couch right across from them. He refilled his cup of tea, though Draco could sense that he much preferred to have brandy right now, or a whole bottle of vodka.
"How many people know that you are Ms. Granger's mate?" His father asked.
Draco counted on his head. Potter knew, and so does Goldstein as well as Blaise. There was also a myriad of spectators at Potter's party, but who knows how many of them figured out that he was Granger's mate.
"Not including us, at least three people," Draco said.
"At least three people?" Lucius raised his eyebrows.
"I do not exactly know how many there are," Draco said. "I don't know how many people Granger told, nor do I know how many people figured it out from Potter's party."
His father tightened his grip at the teacup that Draco was afraid his father would break the cup, and Draco had to be at the receiving end of a lecture.
"Narcissa," Lucius said as he turned to his wife. "I think we need to talk to veela experts instead of lawyers. Do you happen to know any, my love?"
"The only respectable Magizoologist that I know of is Newt Scamander and his brood," Narcissa replied. "I heard his son took up magical zoology, but he now refers to himself as a wizarding naturalist."
"Please contact the family if you can," Lucius said before turning to Draco. "I want you to stop dating around those mudbloods. I also want you to stop dating around purebloods as well. From now on, you would avoid any possible romantic entanglements."
Draco wanted to argue against his father's orders but wisely chose not to open it up.
"Your mother is right to point out that your womanizing ways scared off Ms. Granger," Lucius said. "We may have restored some of our social standings, but there are numerous people out there who are eager to tear this family back down. The last thing this family needs right now are rumors that our womanizing son is the only veela mate in history rejected by a veela."