Chapter 7 - The Compartment
Draco froze the minute the door slid open and the duo entered. Harry wasn't as quick to catch on to their entrance and continued to laugh, trying to push Draco off of him. Harry eventually noticed the tenseness almost pulsing off Draco's skin and he stopped squirming and pushed himself up on his elbows – quite a difficult task when one is being sat on.
"What's the matter Princess, got your crown in a knot?" he asked cheekily, thinking that he was just being a prat. When he realised that this was not in fact the case, his eyebrows furrowed inquisitively "Draco? What's-"
"STUPEFY!" As Draco flew backwards, slamming into the glass window, Harry was practically hauled into a standing position with Ron standing protectively in front of him, his wand drawn.
"RON!" Hermione and Harry shouted.
"What the in the hell did you do that for!"
"You can't go around stunning people Ronald!" They cried simultaneously. Ron looked over his shoulder at them, both furious and flabbergasted.
"That blood ferret was attacking you! I just saved you, you ungrateful sod!"
"Draco wasn't attacking me you twit!"
"DRACO?" Hermione and Ron looked at each other as Draco groaned from the floor.
"Potter I think your weasel got out of its cage." He grumbled. Harry pushed past the redhead and went to kneel beside the bruised blonde. "Is that how you trained your stooges to welcome people, by stunning them on sight?"
"Get up," Harry hoisted him up by his arms "you couldn't have hit your head that hard if you're able to grumble." Draco harrumphed and shrugged out of Harry's grip. His eyes flittered down to the shattered quill on the ground before turning a stormy grey.
He snarled at Ron and whipped out his wand "Apologise to me Weasel." Harry face palmed, Draco really was a prissy little princess.
"APOLOGISE! To a DEATHER EATER!"
Draco growled "The war is over blood traitor, and I'm an ex-Death Eater." He flicked his wand at Ron "Now apologise to me."
Ron cried out in outrage "You lost the war Blondie, you ran like the filthy ferret you are remember? To go hide behind your pathetic mother's skirt no doubt, your mother is no more than your filthy fathers trophy wife, if you and-"
Harry laid a firm hand on Draco's trembling shoulder and stopped him from throwing himself at Ron. "I would stop now Ron." Ron's eyes flickered down Harry's free arm, to where his wand now sat steadfastly in his palm.
"What is wrong with you Harry?" the redhead yelled "All Malfoy's are the bloody same! Slimy, cold and manipulative." He sneered at Draco "What's the matter momma's boy? Don't want your slag mother being taken down another peg?" Ron laughed as Draco shook with pure rage.
Harry flicked his wand, pointing it at Ron whose eyes widened in shock. "Stop Ron."
"…Harry…what's wrong with your eyes?" What Harry had failed to noticed was the fact that he himself had become increasingly annoyed at the comments Ron was making, resulting in a lack of control over his controls. His eyes were now a swirling mass of emerald and silver, looking at Hermione, flummoxed.
"Huh?"
"Your eyes Veela-boy…you really need to get the hang of that." Draco snorted.
"Oh!" Harry exclaimed "...oh…" Harry tugged at a piece of hair hanging lose around his face, pulling it in front of his eyes.
"Yeah, 'oh'. Really Potter, didn't you listen to a word mother said?"
Harry groaned and scuffed his feet on the floor "I know, I know. Control my emotions, meditate, blah blah blah….stuff like that anyway. It's not my fault you know!" he said indignantly.
"WHAT?" Ron shouted, effectively cutting of their tiff. "Veela…mother…what in Merlin's name am I missing here!" Harry had the good manners to look both apologetic and guilty. Ron paused as he noticed he didn't have to look down quite so much to look at Harry in the eye anymore "You're taller." He stated. "Why are you taller?"
Hermione sighed "It's quite obvious Ronald…"
"Harry's a Veela." Hermione and Draco both chimed in with the answer at the same time.
Draco sneered at Hermione "It's as the Mudblood-OW!" he shot daggers at Harry rubbing his arm, where the punch had landed "the Granger girl," he said, still glaring at Harry "said – to an extent anyway. Harry's a Veela."
"Quarter."
"Yeah, quarter Veela, but a Veela none the less."
Ron furrowed his brows "But…that's really rare!"
"What is?" Hermione asked, Harry's eyes asked the same question.
Ron paused "Hold on…you don't know?" Hermione shook her head "I know something…that you – Hermione Granger – don't…I know something you don't?" he said slowly as his girlfriend rolled her eyes. "Wicked." He grinned.
"Oh just tell me Ronald!"
"Well, full Veela don't tend to be male….a male Veela of any extent is a very rare thing. Veela almost always give birth to females." He paused to take a breath "Veela – in itself – is a rare species and for a male to be born…that's a big thing. 'Cause as long as the mother is a full-blooded Veela, her first born will also be a proper Veela. The father doesn't even matter. If the first born is male, it's more often than not that the Veela inheritance skips that generation. I've heard of the gene lying dormant in lesser bloodlines, weakening the actual strength of the Veela gene…but still. " Ron looked almost awed "Bloody hell Harry, you're a Veela."
Harry cocked his head to the side "How do you know so much about Veela anyway?"
"Fleur." That summed it up pretty well, considering he practically stalked the poor girl and her classmates in fourth year.
"So what you're saying is that the Veela gene has been lying dormant in Harry's bloodstream for generations…weakening it… because a few generations ago a Veela's first born was a male? In turn, making that the reason he's not a full Veela."
Ron nodded "Yeah, that and male Veela are never as powerful as female Veela anyway. They are still stronger than the average wizard though." Ron gave Harry the quick once over "It also explains the remodelling of your face…"
Harry groaned and sat back down in the window seat "I can't even do a bloody inheritance right?"
Draco smirked and sat down opposite him, resuming their original position, with his feet on Harry's lap "Of course not Potty, you're the 'Wizarding world saviour', you gotta do everything differently."
"Shut up Draco." He grumbled smacking his ankles lightly.
Draco snorted, rolling his eyes. He opened his mouth to make a sharp retort but was cut off by an outraged cry.
"WHAT!" Harry and Draco turned to Ron, who was turning a rather unattractive shade of puce. "Explain…what are you…Malfoy…WHAT!" Ron was squeaking indignantly at this point, his confusion brought back into light at the sight of his best friend and the blonde.
Hermione sighed and ran a hand through her brown locks and look at the two boys sceptically "I would like to know the answer to that as well. Brining us back to our original point, just what is going on here?" It was only because Harry had known Hermione for so long that he could tell that Hermione was thoroughly irritated by not knowing something.
"Nothing, we are just sitting…"
"WE?" Ron shrieked shrilly at Harry's words "Since when has there ever been a 'we'? What the hell is going on here! When we walked in…he…he…he was attacking you!" he shook his finger at Draco, as he recollected the scene he had just so recently – and conveniently - forgotten.
"Put a stopper in it Weasel before you turn an even nastier shade of red; really your terrible complexion can't take much more of it." A strange gurgling sound erupted from Ron's mouth "For your information I was not attacking Potter, I was merely retrieving something of mine."
Harry smirked "I bought it you twit; it was mine to begin with. It was never yours to 'retrieve'." Draco snarled as Harry made finger quotes in the air, mocking him.
"Harry," Hermione spoke as if she were speaking to a five year old "we are obviously missing something, which I can tell. Will you please tell us what exactly has happened," he shot a look at the gurgling redhead who seemed to be rooted to the spot "or I think Ron will blow a gasket." Harry smiled at the muggle phrase.
"What in Salazar's name is a gasket?" Draco piped up.
"Oh," Hermione's eyes lighted up at the chance to explain the muggle device "it's a small little – "
"NO!" shouted Ron "Stop distracting her you slimy snake!" He flicked his wand in Draco's direction "Now answer the question before I send your pasty arse through the window!"
Draco tutted "Really Weasel, even you should know that these windows have an unbreakable charm on them. You can't throw me through the window."
Ron howled in rage as he fired a hex at Draco in a blind rage. Harry jumped in front of the blonde before the hex could hit and raised a shield, protecting them both from the inevitable blast. The compartment shook as the hex blasted against Harry's shield and bounced off onto the walls of the Prefect's carriage. Ron stared angrily at Harry, wand still raised and chest heaving. He stared at his best friend as he held the shield steady in front of the two, not dropping it for a second.
"Lower your wand Ron." Harry's words came out calm, steady and quiet but even Ron was able to hear the animalistic warning that lay hidden in his words. He also was not one to miss the way the air had started to slowly swirl around the two boys – the wind using Harry's as it centre point. Both Hermione and Ron barely held in their gasps as they looked Harry in the eyes. His scowling eyes a complete mass of swirling silver, not even a glimpse of emerald was left to be seen within their murky depths. Hermione stepped up quietly behind the redhead, keeping her eyes solely on Harry as not to startle the creature that had taken residence inside of her best friend's body. She placed a gentle hand on Ron's wrist and pushing his arms down until his wand tip was pointing to the ground.
She stepped in front of Ron and took a small step towards Harry. He noticed the movement and growled quietly pushing Draco back behind him until he was pressed up against the windowpane.
Hermione stopped dead in her tracks and held up her hands "…Harry?" the Veela boy stepped backwards, completely shielding Draco from the two with his body. He narrowed his gleaming eyes at the now unfamiliar girl and growled.
It was blatantly obvious to Hermione that Harry was more Veela than human right now, he was giving into his more primal instincts as he shielded the blonde from them; but what she couldn't even to begin to understand was why his primal instinct would be the protection of Draco.
"We won't hurt you Harry," Harry crouched slightly in a protective manner "please Harry, just calm down. No one is going to do anything." Hermione slowly withdrew her wand from her holster, keeping eyes contact with Harry; she put her wand down on the ground beside her feet and raised her hands in a sign of submission once more. She risked a glance at her boyfriend behind her who was still keeping his wand firmly in his grasp.
Ron's eyes followed Hermione's every movement. He took his queue and slowly crouched to the ground and dropped his wand at his feet.
Harry took a tentative step towards and duo as he sniffed the air; what could only be described as a pleased, rumbling growl was his response.
"What's wrong with him?" Ron asked quietly as he watched Harry crouch in front of Draco protectively.
Draco tried to take a step away from the dangerous Veela but Harry turned and growled at him, warning Draco to stay put. Harry scanned the surrounding compartment with his eyes. Apparently he deemed the room still unsafe as he pushed Draco back against the glass with his arm and stood defensively in front of him.
"Remember he only came into his inheritance a few weeks ago, he isn't used to the Veela yet. When his emotions are on high, this," he waved his hand in Harry's direction "happens. Though this is the first time I've seen him so…defensive. He usually just lets his magic go wild. The bloody idio-" Draco was cut short as the wind was knocked out of him. Harry had not taken his irritated tone well. He was pushing Draco back against the window forcefully as he growled at his friends.
What Harry did not notice was that he was effectively cutting off the blonde's air supply. Hermione noticed Draco's gasping breaths and took a step forward. This resulted in Harry pushing Draco harder against the glass, thinking he was protecting the blonde from the oncoming danger.
"Harry…" Hermione said gently "…you're hurting him." Harry froze and ceased his growling, his brow furrowing. Hermione let out a silent breath of relief as it seemed her words were getting through to him. However Harry had still not moved.
"Potter…MOVE." Draco gasped. In an instant Harry jumped away from Draco as he fell to the ground. The wind swirling around the two of them dropped suddenly and his eyes were pure emerald in a flash. Draco lent up against the wall of the compartment gasping for breath.
Draco's angry eyes swivelled over to Harry, who had pushed himself up against the wall in fear "You need a god damned leash."
Harry's eyes were wide and frantic as he realised when he had just come close to doing. He spun his head to look at his friends whose faces were mixes of blatant fear and worry. He pushed himself further back into the plush seat as he sat on his haunches. Draco glared at him as he held his abused chest.
The silence was deafening, no one knew what to say. No one would have spoken, even if they had anything to say; they were all keeping their silence in case they would startle the creature, perched up on the seats.
"I'm a freak." The words were mumbled and almost missed by the occupants in the room. Harry pulled his knees up to his chest and tucked his head into his knees, letting his fine hair fall over his face. Hermione took a hesitant step towards her friend "Harry," she murmured, making sure to keep her voice calm and steady as not to startle the poor boy "are you…are you ok?"
Harry made no move to show that he had heard the girl and kept his face hidden behind his hair and knees. She walked over slowly and knelt down beside the seat, so that she was eye level with his knees.
"'Mione…" Ron took a step towards her, but she kept her eyes locked on Harry and she held up a hand to stop him in his tracks.
Hermione could hear his laboured breath and his unintelligible, incessant mumbling. She reached out a manicured hand to touch his arm, but Draco snatched her hand from the air seconds before it reached Harry.
"Don't touch him." He roughly shoved Hermione's hand back to her side. "He's not Potter."
"What?"
Draco glared at Ron "Every time the Veela takes control it takes a while for Potter to regain control. He hasn't learnt self-bloody-restraint OR control yet. This is the worst I've seen him." He glanced at Harry – he hadn't moved an inch "Last time I had to throw him to the floor and hold him there before he stopped." Ron scowled at the thought of Draco pinning his friend to the floor.
All eyes turned to Harry as he emitted a slow and quiet whine. He sounded like a wounded animal, caged and afraid. They watched as he dug his nails into his calves and he pulled his legs closer in one himself, trying to make himself seem impossibly smaller.
The silence in the room only seemed to amplify the litany of words that fell from Harry's mouth as he whimpered "I'm sorry, forgive me. I'm sorry, forgive me. I'm sorry - "
Hermione leaned in closer to her friend; he sensed the movement and became even smaller as the sound of his begging increased.
"What are we supposed to do? People will have to come in here eventually and we can't let them see him like this." Draco looked down and sneered at Hermione as he threw her hand back into her face.
"He will stop snivelling when he's gotten control of himself." He lowered his head down to Harry's ear and yelled "The melodramatic freak can't even tell that he didn't do any harm!"
Hermione was about to berate him, but before she could she was shoved out form her seat on the floor by scrambling legs and arms. Harry jumped up from his seat and stood unsteadily, nose to nose with Draco.
"Really…I…I didn't hurt you?" Though his voice was soft, it wasn't difficult to hear amongst the dense silence that hung in the air.
"No you twat." He tilted his chin and sniffed "You're invading in on my personal space, I suggest you move before I deck you Potter."
Harry blushed sheepishly "Sorry." He mumbled as he sat back down on the seat, uncomfortable with the stare directed his way.
Ron's dramatic sigh caught their attention and everyone turned to him "And I thought after defeating You-Know-Who our lives would get easier."
Hermione covered her mouth to stifle a giggle as Harry snorted "I guess not."
Draco rolled his eyes and sat down on the cushioned seats. "As sickeningly heart-warming as this display of friendship may be, life would be a lot more agreeable if I didn't have to spend my time with you three."
"So why are you still here Malfoy, this is the Prefects carriage after all."
"Um, guys…" Harry's voice caught their attention and Hermione and Ron spun around to face their Veela friend to see him tapping on the empty lapel of his school uniform. Realisation dawned on their faces and they turned to see a smug Draco angled his badge so that the light reflected off of it and harshly into their eyes.
"No-WAY!"
"Yes way Granger, you're looking at your Head Boy."
"But how could they let a bloody Death Eater become HEAD BOY!"
"Say it don't spray it Weasel."
"Malfoy…"
"Growl at me all you want, it's not going to change the fact they didn't pick you or your saintly Potter."
"It's selected by scores." Everyone looked at Harry at the sound of his quite voice "It's chosen primarily by the best academic record." He looked at Draco and Hermione "You and 'Mione were top of the year right? So you would be Head Boy and Girl."
Brown curls bounced as Hermione nodded "That does make sense I suppose."
"I still don't like it."
"You don't have to like it Weasel. It's not your concern." He nodded towards the door "Now I suggest you plebeians leave before the meeting starts, wouldn't want to get in trouble before you even arrive at Hogwarts now would you?" Ron scowled at the blonde's sneering face.
"You alright if we leave 'Mione?"
"It's ok Ro-"
"I'm sure it will do your girlfriend a great deal of good not seeing your mug for a while Weasel. Leave."
Ron growled and turned to Harry "You good to go mate?"
"Don't call me that."
"Huh?"
Harry looked at Ron sheepishly "Mate. It…it just feels weird…I can't explain it." No one noticed the way Hermione's eyes narrowed suspiciously at the words.
"…Whatever." Ron shrugged and headed towards the compartment door "Come on Harry, let's go before we catch whatever diseases this ferret has."
Harry grabbed his elbow and dragged him the rest of the way to the door "Don't start anything Ron, it's not worth it."
Just as the two were leaving they caught ear of Hermione asked hurriedly "Now you have to tell me all about Veela's! What happened to Harry? How did you get involved?" Ron snorted as her questions just kept on coming.
"You know I almost feel sorry for the slime ball. When Hermione's gets like that there's no stopping her. The only way I can keep up with her like that is with a bottle of Ogden's by my side."
The proverbial light bulb appeared above Harry's head and he spun to face Ron "You stay right there, I'll be back in a sec, I forgot something!" Before Ron could stop him, Harry was pelting his way back to the compartment.
As he threw the door open he could tell that Draco was already seemed frazzled by Hermione's unending spiel of questions.
"What do you want now Potter?" Draco growled.
With a smile Harry stuck his hand into his pocket "Got something for you, trust me, you'll need it." Without giving him time to ask, Harry pulled two sugar quills from his pocket and threw them at Draco who caught them with a precision that only a Seeker could possess.
"I'll see you later ok?" The two in the compartment watched on stunned, as the raven haired teen dashed off once again from the compartment doorway.
As soon as he was gone and the door was once more closed, Draco slashed the packaging off of the confectionary and latched onto the end of a quill, trying desperately not to notice the almost motherly smile the muggleborn was sending his way.
"Wipe that smirk of your face woman and just ask me your damned questions…"
TBC
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Sorry about the long delay. I have had a serious writers block and an overload of assingments. It has been beyond crazy. But I'm half way on the latest chapter right now so don't worry guys. They next chapter will be on its way soon.
And just a little tidbit to keep you on edge until the next chapter - the next release will be featuring a little look into the mind of Severus Snape and the mind of Miss Evergreen.
Big cliff hanger coming your way guys.
R&R
Love you all