A.N. In my years of reading fanfiction, there's often that one hookup scene that would make all the angst and anxiety between two characters wash away. I hated it. I always wanted to write a hookup scene that would make readers shake their heads in disappointment rather than rejoice.

Ch. 16

She left before dawn broke. It was a mistake, it was a horrible mistake. She should have stood firm. She shouldn't have given in. She shouldn't have dragged him to that room. She shouldn't have removed his clothes. The biggest mistake was kissing him, touching him, and holding his hands.

No, she stopped herself from thinking about last night even further. She shouldn't have glanced at him. She shouldn't have grabbed his hands. She shouldn't have kissed him. She shouldn't have taken off his clothes. She should have just left as soon as she felt his presence.

The worst part was that she didn't even cum once. Hermione tried, she really did. She experimented with multiple positions and different paces, but she just couldn't cum. Why didn't she orgasm with her own mate? She had no problems letting go with Anthony and Charlie, so why didn't she orgasm with her mate? Hermione tried different positions and different paces all night, but she just didn't reach her peak.

She planned to write down all her findings as soon as she headed back to her dorm room and come up with a hypothesis that should explain this unusual turn of events. That plan was thrown away when she saw Blaise Zabini in her room. How did he even enter the room? Did he use the Unlocking charm? In front of muggles? And how come Zabini visited her more than Harry? Didn't he have a life of his own?

"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked.

"I came here to help you out with your proposal," Zabini said casually as if he didn't just break into her dorm room. "I put my name on the line to get you this meeting. I am going to make sure your proposal is going to blow away Minister Podadera."

"It is early in the morning," Hermione said.

"And you had a million of things to do," Zabini said. "I see that you haven't done your grocery shopping yet."

"That's what the dining hall is for," Hermione said, feeling defensive that Zabini was criticizing her lifestyle yet again.

"And you haven't done your laundry," Zabini said, ignoring her comment. "Honestly, I don't know why you don't have a time-turner on hand so you could have more time in the day."

"I live in Muggle London," Hermione deadpanned. "I couldn't risk using magic that powerful."

"Well, lucky for you, I'm here," Zabini said. "Now, let's get going."

Zabini cast a couple of cleaning spells, turning Hermione's tidy room into one worthy of college brochures. Hermione was vaguely sure that they were breaking a couple of laws about the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy. She was also convinced that Zabini did not care.

Hermione was not in the mood for this. But she was British, and Zabini had a point. It was the British way to stuff her emotions down until a more convenient time. She did need help. As much as she hated it, Zabini's negligence of the International Wizarding Law was helpful for her. It would be foolish of her not to accept her now… what were they? Friends? Acquaintances? Business Partners? Distant relatives?

Before she joined Zabini and his quest to turn her dorm room into a hotel room, Hermione grabbed an emergency contraception pill from her dresser and discreetly popped it on her mouth. Though Hermione made sure she cast a contraceptive spell after sex—and before whenever she remembered—she uses birth control pill just in case.

Some muggles use two types of contraception to make sure that they didn't get pregnant and avoid sexually transmitted infections. But Hermione was a witch. Therefore she wanted to use both magical, and muggle means for contraception. The only question was if birth control works between a veela and her mate.

It should work, right? Hermione didn't research it, and she doubted that there would be any records of it anyway. Maybe she should ask Zabini, he seemed to know a lot about veelas. Then again, Zabini and Malfoy were friends. How could she bring up the topic of conversation without telling him that she slept with Malfoy yesterday? Whatever relationship they have was still recent while his and Malfoy's must have been decades already. It would be idiotic of her to think that he would be impartial in that matter. It would also be foolish of her to believe that he would prioritize Malfoy's interests over hers. No, she needed a neutral veela expert.

Hermione placed the thought at the back of her head to focus on the task at hand. She needed to make a beautiful presentation to live up to Zabini's promises. Her work had been lacking lately, but today was different. She felt energetic, ideas were flowing through her. She bantered with Zabini when he was mildly annoying before.

Was it because of last night?

Hermione imagined getting together with her mate for years. The reality was nothing like she could imagine, in the most exciting way. She felt her fatigue web away, her body filling with life that she forgot existed. However, she never reached orgasm. Why was that?

Hermione entertained the thought of asking Zabini once more. Maybe she was overthinking this. Perhaps Zabini was the type of guy who did not care about other people's love lives. She had so many questions after last night, and should she really be worried what side Zabini was on if the end result was that her problems would be answered.

No, that won't do. They were working on a presentation right now. It would not be useful to bring up a question that private. She would have to wait until later at a more opportune time.

"Something is bothering you," Zabini stated.

"Oh, it's nothing," Hermione said.

"You're enthusiastic about your work, but you're not exactly focused on it," Zabini said. "You keep glancing at me like you wanted to tell me something. We are not going to progress unless you spit it out."

"No, it's nothing," Hermione insisted.

She tried to focus on the work at hand, but her mind kept wandering to her mate. Last night was just… confusing, exhilarating, and heartbreaking all at the same time. She wondered if it was the same for Malfoy. Was he curious that she was not next to her when he woke up? Did he crave her presence? Or did he expected her to leave, even prefer it? Or did he even care that she was gone? She wished she was there to see his reaction, to know what he was feeling like an adequately mated veela.

Oh god, she left as soon as possible. That was the rudest thing she had ever done.

Zabini dropped his quill once more.

"Come on, Granger," Zabini said. "You are clearly distracted, and this project is not going anywhere. We're no longer sad and broody teenagers who think that it's us against the world. Well, literally, in your case. There's a whole world of people out there willing to support you. A lot of people are still willing to kill you, I admit, but I have faith in your ability to defend yourself. But there are a lot of people out there willing to help you out. All you need to do is reach out."

Hermione tried to brush off the offer but stopped herself. Who was she kidding?

"I've made a mistake Zabini," Hermione said. "Malfoy sat at the bar with me last night. I…I don't know what happened and what came over me, but the next thing I knew we… we…"

Blaise knew what had happened without her finishing the sentence.

"Well, isn't it exciting?" Blaise asked carefully.

"No, it's horrible," Hermione said, and tears start flowing down her face. "Last night was beautiful. It was everything I could ever dream of, but by the end of it, I have to remind myself that he doesn't love me."

Snot started drooling down her face along with tears. Hermione knew that she looked unattractive right now and tried to wipe away her tears with her sleeve, but the tears kept flowing. Blaise, the sweetheart that he was, hugged her gently, and he hid her face on his shoulder. He cast a silencing charm in the room so that nobody could disturb them. Blaise gently scratched her back while he whispered for her to calm down.

"It's so cruel," Hermione cried as drool flowed along with tears. God, she must have looked horrendous. "The veela inside me couldn't be happier, but I have to tell myself that it was just something physical. That nothing was going on between us and that he doesn't love me. And I keep telling myself over and over that he doesn't love me and that it doesn't mean anything to him and that it shouldn't mean anything to me, but it's hard… Blaise, it's hard."

Blaise allowed Hermione to cry on his shoulder until her tears seeped through layers of clothing. He didn't mind, Hermione needed this right now.

Her chest hurt, and she could feel hiccups forming. God, she had to stop crying, she willed herself to stop. She needed to stop crying.

"Don't hold yourself back," Blaise said. "It's alright."

Hermione let go of what little restraint she had left. Blaise was terrific the entire time. He made her cry until her lungs gave out. He brought her water when she started to hiccup. He scratched her back whenever he could. He put away all of Hermione's stuff, insisting that the day should be focused on rest rather than work. She should sleep, he asked, she had a long night.

Last. Night. Was. Brilliant. Granger was wild and experimental one moment to gentle during one round and sweet the next. The months of frustration Draco felt ever since he found out about Granger's veela heritage was finally released in a passionate night. The best part, Draco did absolutely nothing to encourage the chit. No words were exchanged between them the entire night other than cries of passion, their bodies just knew what to do. Last night was pure unadulterated animalistic lust. Finally, things were going Draco's way.

Well, sort off. Given a choice, Draco preferred to screw Granger at the comfort of his own room rather than the dinky suite Granger dragged him into. He really needed to talk with her about her habit of ravaging men at the Leaky Cauldron. These rooms could not be hygienic, nor cost-effective, nor in any way comfortable. Though it was useful for a spur of the moment rendezvous. The next time would definitely be different.

Granger was nowhere to be seen when he woke up, which was fine with Draco. She was probably going around thinking that last night was a mistake. But she'll come around. He knew from the moment he found out that she was a veela and he was her mate, that the two of them would end up sleeping with one another. It was inevitable, why delay it? Finally, things were heading in the right direction.

Draco grabbed some breakfast before leaving Leak Cauldron, thinking that it shouldn't be a big deal. He quickly learned his mistake when Pansy Parkinson of all people stepped into the pub.

"So, this is where you screw your mudlblood whores," Pansy said.

"Classy," Draco said sarcastically.

"You're right," Pansy said, sitting right across from him. "You're a changed man from what I've heard. There's only one mudblood you had an eye on lately, and of all people, it's the bushy headed Granger who is dating that Goldstein."

Draco did not bother asking what idiot told Pansy such sensitive information. Secrets and rumors were the Slytherin way. Instead, Draco focused on rewriting the narrative.

"They're not dating," Draco insisted. They couldn't have, Goldstein was only a placeholder for him.

"They've been together for years," Pansy said. "From what I learned from Witch Weekly's obsessive coverage of Potter's friends Granger and Goldstein go on dates, visit each other at the hospital. From what I heard from Nott, they also sleep with each other. They sound like they're dating to me."

Draco tried to remain calm, but his utensils dug harder against his palms than expected.

"They were the picture of a healthy relationship. Little girls are holding them up as the ideal couple. Which left the question, why you spotted sitting next to Granger at this very establishment last night? If you're trying to split them up, I want in."

"I must admire your vindictiveness," Draco said. "But I do not need your help to woo any bird, especially Granger."

Because she's already mine, Draco thought.

"It's not your charms skills that I have no confidence in," Pansy said. "But let's face it. Years of teasing Granger back at Hogwarts and your reputation as a womanizer does not put you in a great position in the first place."

Draco could see her logic, but what Pansy didn't know was that Granger was a veela. And that changes everything.

"May I ask why you're so eager to split up Granger and Goldstein?" The last three words left a horrible taste in his mouth.

"Why I want her humiliated, of course," Pansy said. "What could be more humiliating for the brightest mudblood of her age than to leave behind a seemingly picturesque relationship to be with a man everybody knew would eventually settle down with a pureblood."

Draco remained tight-lipped as he ignored Pansy. He said his goodbyes after finishing his meal and headed home. He took a shower and planned to stay in bed all day when Blaise appeared his room through the floo.

"Expelliarmus," Blaise said. "Stupefy."

Draco's wand flew out from his hand before he was hit by the stunning curse which blasted him across the room.

"What the bloody hell, Blaise?" Draco asked.

Draco never saw Blaise so angry before. He knew that this day was not going to be as good as he had hoped.