𝐄𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐖𝐚𝐢𝐭

Draco found himself dropping outside the Slytherin dormitory and barely managed to steady himself . Looking around for any presence but finding none , he concluded that it must be the early hours of the day .

Silently whispering the password and walking inside , Draco somehow managed to get into his bed without waking anyone up . Now , under the covers , He lazily thought about the classes of tomorrow and the homeworks when he found himself wondering if anyone can sense Luar's magic or presence . If anyone , especially Dumbledore or Voldemort , did then the result would be disastrous . Just thinking about it gave him goosebumps . Doubting himself , he silently whispered , " Hey , Papa ?"

" Yes " ; Luar's voice sounded in Draco's ear .

" What if someone powerful senses you ?"

" They can't . My magic is far superior to anyone in this castle . If there had been someone like that here , I would have already sensed him the moment I got out was of the buried treasury ."

" Oh . Wait , You can sense the people around you ? How ?"

" It's like an extra sense you get when your magic is powerful enough ."

"............."

Please don't parade your 5 course menu when people only have bread !!!! Tsk ! Such a show-off !!!!

" Also , you might have noticed that your magic seems more free and at ease than before ?"

This garnered Draco's attention as he subconsciously felt the magic in his body and around it , finding that his magic did feel more at ease . It was like before his magic could not move very fluidly in his body but now it moved around more freely and his body lost some of its rigidity . He was not particularly rigid , in fact , was physically very flexible , but he did not feel very comfortable in his own skin before . Now , his muscles were loose and his magic was more adapted . Overall , it felt much better .

Seeing Draco's happy expression and as if dumping cold water on his head , Luar explained ," Due to constant pressure , nervousness and unstable emotions , your body and magic were in a highly alert state for a long time . Adding to that , you are in your growing stage where your magic is particularly active as it adapts to nature , tries to form bonds and become stronger , same as yourself . But due to these circumstances , it's behaviour changed according to your emotions , making your body somewhat reject it , making it harder to move within and ultimately , making it harder to grow stronger . "

Draco didn't seem surprised at this . He had read about this before but did not expect that he himself was suffering from the same condition . He was slightly above average among his peers and thought that was his original strength . Above that , he did not notice any symptoms at all . Looking at the curtains covering the top of the bed , he blinked and remained silent , urging Luar to keep going .

Understanding him , Luar continued ," Over that is the anomaly of your soulbonds which makes it worse . If you go like this , the consequences will be bad . It can even handicap your magic , making you a squib . We should first treat this before our next step ."

Growing solemnly , Draco said in a decided tone ," No , I don't have time for this . I need to do so much . This will only delay things , it won't make anything better ."

Luar , who was troubled by Draco's words , sounded ," You don't understand , Draco . Let alone defend yourself , you won't even be able to survive removing that slave mark !! "

" What does this have to do with removing the dark mark ?" ; Losing his temper , Draco hissed angrily . If not for his roommates sleeping just beyond the covers , he would have shouted it out .

" The slave marks are embedded in your magic , removing them will feel like removing a parasite stuck on your skin . We have to cut away the chunk of magic it is stuck on , so that not even a bit of it remains within . And at that time your magic will start slipping away , it will bleed . Doing it with such a condition will kill you . " ; Voice still calm , Luar said .

Giving up , he asked ," Is there no other way ? Anyway to do it faster ?"

Understanding Draco's thinking , Luar said ," Recovery and treatment cannot hurry , Draco . It is a process . Doing it faster or with an alternative will only mess it up. What you can do is to find the cure as well as train yourself to be stronger . So when the time comes you can be ready and not lacking."

Draco gave a resigned sigh and remained quiet . Was fate playing with him ? First giving him a disaster and then a fortune but not letting him do anything . It was ridiculous . Utterly ridiculous , How his whole life has come to be .

But it felt nice to have someone worry about him and give him advice . It felt nice to be cared for . Thinking this , he fell asleep , thanking and resenting fate .

__________

Harry woke up to a hand shaking him roughly . Opening his eyes , he gave the offender a harsh glare but still sat up .

" Mate , get up . It's almost breakfast ." ; Seeing he was up , Ron informed but shut up as soon as he met with Harry's glare .

Bathing and getting ready , Harry made his way to the great hall with Ron and Hermione in tow .

Sitting at the Gryffindor table , He started having his food with frowned brows and a tight jaw .

From the lack of acknowledgment , Ron as well as Hermione's silence and the look in Harry's eyes , people understood that it was better to stay away from him today .

Roaming his eyes over the hall , Harry's eyes rested on Draco who was silently eating his food with bags beneath his eyes , looking a bit less perfect and bit more human .

Harry's thoughts drifted towards all the possible thoughts why . Had Malfoy not slept enough ? Did he have insomnia like Harry ? Nightmares maybe ? And then thinking about the possibility of Draco not trying to sleep at all and doing something else , like plotting schemes and possible murders or maybe a pleasant night with a lover , had Harry's eyes visibly darkening . But a big part of him was bothered about Draco being with another person , with a lover having a moonlit tryst . ' So he was up to something last night ? What a fool I was to think that Malfoy was anything other than a shrew .' , he thought as a grim smile stretched across his face .

At this point , Harry had terrified the whole gryffindor table and some students in his proximity even had cold sweat dripping down their back . Sitting beside him , Ron had a HD+ and ultra definition view of the horror scene . It was a miracle he did not start crying like Neville four seats ahead .

The gryffindor table was oddly silent today and this did not escape Draco as he racked his eyes around them . Catching Harry's eyes , Draco almost jerked back from fright but caught himself and forcibly retracted his gaze . But this did not stop Harry from staring at him . And Draco felt a heavy gloom surround him , finding the reason for the silence at the other side . Hasty but mannered , Draco finished his breakfast and fled to the first class . Seeing Draco finish , Blaise and pansy rushed to follow him . Now-a-days, he had learnt not to try and decipher the saviour's glares towards him . They can cause extreme fright , nightmares and if in a bad shape , even fainting is possible .

The day went as always even with the helpful inputs from Luar every now and then . Draco had been somewhat absent these days , thinking about the information he read , his condition and the dark mark . This did not go unnoticed by Blaise and Pansy , who silently approached him in the potions classroom .

" Draco , Are you alright ?" , Pansy asked with a frown and worried eyes .

" Ah - yes . Don't worry . I am fine . " ; Draco said , blinking out from his daze .

" Draco , we know that a lot is going on and you are trying but please don't make yourself sick . We as well as you cannot afford it ." Blaise followed practically .

Giving them a very rare and small smile , Draco placated them ," I am fine . It's nothing a nap cannot cure. Just found some very interesting books yesterday and spent the night reading them ."

Giving him a worried glance but choosing to believe him , Blaise and Pansy continued their work . Unknown to them , Harry , who was seated just behind them , had heard their conversation and also seen Draco's smile , making his mood slightly better than before . It was better enough that people did not run away seeing his face but not better enough that they will willingly stay there . Harry was not fully convinced by this , it seems . For the next days , He always had an eye on Draco , thoroughly observing him , searching for anything different .

Draco has been feeling eyes on him for some time now . Given his hypersensitivity to a certain Savior-slash-golden boy-turned-stalker , he knew exactly to whom these eyes belonged . This had Draco sighing in exaggeration .He knew how Harry saw him and of his guard against Draco . Putting it bluntly , he knew why Harry did all of this . And this did nothing other than Luar demanding to curse the supposed saviour to save his son from a perverse stalker who , according to him , was going to corner Draco and then dirty his precious body and ruin his prestige by ravaging him . OH!!!! Such a tragedy ! Though certain people would definitely rejoice that . As to who , you and I both know that , don't we ?

(T/N - I would definitely rejoice . Comment your opinion about an early smut scene .)

After much coddling and reassurance to Potter's integrity , Luar finally continued his daily lessons . He had already started steadily improving his magic and also learning from Luar . It was when Luar started teaching him that Draco realised that he was a natural talent . Relaying the same to Luar , he waited for an answer .

" A natural talent cannot be identified just by looking at the face , Draco . It is something that will be known when you finally master it - if you master it . And by that time , even if you are , it's of no use . Talent can be cultivated but determination cannot . That's what you need Draco ."

Frowning , Draco nodded and continued . He agreed with Luar . Then though about Potter being natural at , let's say , everything that could attract a harem of top notch beauties and gave a scowl-pout-sneer hybrid which looked positively cute and negatively weird .

Turning his attention back to the book in his hands , he started reading. According to it , healing was not just about spells and potions . A potent healer should know everything that harms a wizard and should be able to reverse it as well . That includes curses , spells , physical and mental injuries , mind attacks , legilimens , occlumens , potions , etc . It was a very wide , if not infinite , study . Thus , there can always be a good healer , a miraculous healer but never a perfect healer .

Another thing Draco noticed was that it did not distinguish between light and dark magic . It was all in there and it was all helpful . It seems people from ancient times did not differentiate between dark and light magic . It was all the same to them .

It was becoming a habit for Draco to learn from Luar's books and then try the cures on the small animals that so needed it . There was not a shortage of them in the school gardens or at the edge of forbidden forest . Draco did not go in there , better to be safe as it was a delicate time . Days passed as Luar's personal library was falling short on Draco's progress and now Draco scanned the Hogward's library as well. Him and Luar had noticed that every time they wandered by him , Harry's eyes always followed them till out of sight . It was up to the point that it was starting to get creepy and harder to ignore. He chose to ignore it as Potter did not do anything else other than stare . Confronting Potter right now will be making an enemy out of the whole wizarding world . Potter had an unparalleled importance in this time . Draco cannot afford to offend him . Maintaining his distance is the only option and safe retreat .

Well , it wasn't everyday you get the golden boy as your stalker !!! Draco swore that it was a medal worthy feat !!!!

Draco had a very sound understanding on his position . Right now , the thing he needed the most was knowledge . And he was snatching it from wherever possible . At this point , Draco had almost raided some of the most vast libraries in the world . The only ones remaining was the black library and the lost library of Pennsylvania , if that fairytale was real . Raiding Hogward's library , including restricted section was as easy as swallowing a dozen of his mother's vanilla pudding . Ahh !!! He could feel the saliva dripping from his mouth just by remembering the taste . Well , that luxury is for another time .

It has almost been two months since the bathroom incident . The time was spent effectively and not wasted but the thing needed was still not obtained. The information on the marks were so rare that he had only found about 5-6 books with anything about them and most of them repeated the same theory . It was all the same as Luar's book . Nothing more was ever sighted but less was frequently found . Almost all of the ancient magic was lost and Luar's texts would easily pass for a treasure .

_______

Draco was on his own on the edge of forbidden forest trying remedy spells on small injured and infected animals .

In front of him was an infected eagle with swollen wings which he stumbled upon some time ago . Apparently lep it had caught an infection from an injury . Fortunately , it was fairly common and easy to cure . Draco closed his eyes and waved his hand over the wary bird as he let his magic cover it , telling it that he meant no harm . Slowly lowering his hand and resting it on the bird , he let his magic flow in it's body and kill the infection in it , gently healing the worst wounds and letting the small ones heal on their own . Taking the herbs he bought from Hogsmead last week , he crushed them in his hands before lathering it on the wounds . The eagle looked up at Draco with its beady eyes and he thought that it might not leave . It felt like the bird was silently thanking him . But this proves wrong as it flew away . Draco looked as it flew higher and higher . Someday he will be the same. He will heal all his wounds and fly higher than anyone and nothing could stop him then .

A twig crunched behind him . Draco turned back and found a very confused potter there standing there . Stunned , Draco stood there , staring at Potter as he stared back . His mind in a panick as he wondered if Potter saw what him perform wandless magic but then decided against it and struggled to squash his anxiety .A small moment from potter brought him back as he quickly analysed his situation and decided on getting out of here as fast as possible .

Schooling his face to put on the usual cold and expressionless mask , Draco moved past Potter to get back to the castle . He did not wish to speak or banter with Potter right now . He had better things to do . It was then that he felt a rough hand grab his elbow and a slight intrusion in his mind . Draco broadened his occlumens sheild as he looked back at Potter and demanded ," What is the meaning of this ,Potter ?"

" How did you do that ?" ; Voice only a hushed whisper , Potter asked .

Your mother's eggs* !!! He saw !!! What to do now ??!!

(Your mother's eggs*- just a stupid slang i made myself .)

Feigning negligence , Draco replied ," Do what , Potter? And would you mind letting my arm go ? This is highly inappropriate . "

Harry stoned his face as he stared at Draco with cold and unmoving eyes. Trying to unveil what he actually was .

Harry let his magic surround Draco trapping him there , unable to move . It crackled in the air around as it let Draco feel it's power . Draco was stunned at this .

Fuck !!! Your father's eggs* !!!! He even knew how to use it !!! With this Draco felt his legs trembling slightly .

(Your father's eggs*- another stupid slang .)

How did Potter do this ? Draco knew about this phenomenon . But using wandless magic like this was nothing more that a fairytale in this age . He was able to do it because of Luar's help . How did Potter know this ?

Draco's eyes flashed a calculative gleam as he again assessed Potter from head to toe . It was better not to provoke him . Draco didn't want any attention to himself right now . Revealing the tip of the iceberg did not seem a bad option if it meant getting Potter's hands and eyes off him . It was seriously scaring him .Looking in his eyes , Draco spoke ," What do you want to know ?"

" Why did you become a death Eater ?" This was the question that had been up in Harry's head for a long time , it had been there like a poison , slowly flowing through his blood , spreading across his body , as it maddened him more and more everyday .

Draco was momentarily dazed . He didn't expect Potter to ask this . It seem that Gryffindors were even more stupid than a fat pig !!! Hitting right on the sore spot !!! He was tempted to bite back but closed his mouth and replied ," Destiny is not as kind to everyone as it is to you "

Draco lowered his head as his eyes turned dark and hazy , lost at the bottom of an ocean of memories , dark , isolated and cold . He did not have any care for his pureblood image anymore . All he wanted was to get out , get away .

Harry looked at the silver head , something unpredictable swirling in his eyes . Slightly letting loose the grip on Draco's wrist .

Draco wanked his hand back and gave Harry a seething glare as he walked past him as he followed Draco . Jumbled in their own emotions , none of them noticed that they were making their way right into the beast's stomach , right into the forbidden forest .

Draco kept walking and Harry kept following . Why was Potter following him ? Was interrogating him not enough , that now he needed to escort him as well ? He was too busy in his gloating that he did not notice Harry lifting his head and looking around with wary eyes .

Harry walked to Draco , grasping his shoulder ,said ," Draco , wait "

Draco shrugged his hand off and turned around to face him . His eyes were glowing as if containing silver embers . Mouth set in a scowl and muscles all over his body tight as he said ," keep your hand to yourself , Potter . They won't be attached to your body the next time " ; His voice low and tight .

Draco had finally lost it . He knew that Potter was stronger than him , knew that he could not afford to offend him , but it did nothing to stop him. Draco could keep his cool even in the face of death but could not do it in front of Potter , could do nothing to stop himself . If Potter was a bright spark than Draco was a lush forest . Just a touch was enough to destroy his every barrier , every resolution . It was enough to burn him down to dust and he could do nothing to stop it , because it wasn't the spark that fuels the fire but the forest itself .

The threat did not even faze Harry as his eyes remained the same , hard , cold and resolut . He looked right in Draco's eyes as he grabbed his forearm and pulled him . Draco's back collided with a hard chest . Harry had his right hand holding Draco's left wrist trapping his waist and his left hand on Draco's mouth . This position had entirely trapped Draco .

Draco was already screaming in his head ' I have never been disrespected like this before !!! How dare he hold me as such !??!! Shameless !! Pervert !!! Molester !!! You fraud of a saviour !! Such things might be fine in muggles but such behaviour towards a pureblood is absolutely indecent !!! ' Draco had his eyes wide as he struggled to get free . He realised his magic and tried to push himself forward but it was promptly suppressed by Harry .

It was then that Luar , sensing the disturbance , woke up from his sleep and immediately knew something was wrong .

Voice serious , he said ," Draco , wait . Something's not right . Don't struggle . "

Hearing Luar's voice in his head , Draco calmed down slightly as Harry said into his ear ," Don't move and take a look around . Don't be stupid enough to invite your own doom "

Looking around , Draco was surprised to see the thick canopy of trees and plants . He did not even notice walking into the forbidden forest . By the size of tree trunks they were deep into the forest , possibly right at the center of it . But this was not what caught his attention , it was the slight purple hue on the tree trunks and the leaves of plants that intrigued him . These species of plants are not supposed to develop any kind of hues . Curious , he tries to move forward but was immediately tugged back , entirely plastered against the one and only Harry Potter . Right now he felt like the bread dough made by , Jack , a house elf back at the Malfoy manor . When he made bread , he would tug , turn and sqaush the dough harshly every time as if it was his worst enemy there instead of a dough . He felt the same being manhandled by Potter . But he did not protest and stayed still as Harry cautiously tugged him forwards towards a clearing .

Draco noticed more of the purple hue but now on the ground as it made a trail ending inside a dark cave nearby .

Silently entering the cave , they already had their wands pointing ahead . Reaching deeper in the cave a bizarre sight made its way into their eyes .

An enchanting and beautiful woman was laying on the hard ground , curled up against a huge egg . She was cleary wounded greatly by the blood polling around her . The sight was gruesome but beautiful in a sick and bloody way . A blood-bathed beauty .

Draco walked closer and this time Harry did not stop him but stood in place keeping his eyes on the woman for any movement . He knelt beside her and lightly felt her pulse and found a thin and very weak pulse . He couldn't have noticed if not for his recent practice on different species of creatures . She was still alive but only barely . Looking again at her , he noticed that she had two slanted wounds in her shoulder bone . Her bone was clearly visible and looked like a piece of it was ripped out .

" A veela . It seems whatever happened to her seemed to aim for either torture or her life . Maybe both . It was because of her that the magic around here was unstable . It was her magic doing that " ; Luar's voice sounded .

Draco closed his eyes and infused his magic inside her , trying to maybe heal some of her injuries . He knew that Harry was there and exposing himself like this can bring unimaginable consequences , but all his life he had seen people died . Just like that , their eyes losing the light and body crumpling down . He always wished to do something , save someone but could not . This time there was no one stopping him , he could atleast try to save her . And for Harry , what was the worst thing that could happen ? He would have a additional tension on his head but he knew that no matter what , Harry will not sell him out .

He could hear Luar screaming in his head to not expose himself but Draco ignored him and continued . He quickly stopped the bleeding and tried to heal the internal injuries . Realising that only his magic will not do the job , he opened his bag to take out all the herbs and potions he had. Crushing some herbs and lathering it in her wounds and force-feeding her the potions , he finally moved back . He noticed that Luar had stopped talking , looks like he gave up . Turning his head to see a cold but burning gaze directed at him , Draco almost toppled back but steeled himself rigid . Catching Potter's gaze , he looked right into his eyes , not willing to admit defeat .

Seeing Malfoy keeping his gaze , Harry felt his eyebrows twitch . It was always like this .Each and every time . Those silver eyes always did something to him . It gave him the illusion that Draco was like a prey staring at his predator . He was so innocent , thinking he can take Harry on , thinking that he was a hunter and Harry was his catch . If anything he should be thankful that he thought so . If he showed even a grain of fear ….. if he just dared to turn his eyes away , Harry knew that he would pounce on him like a lion on his prey , aiming for his throat , aiming for a kill .

Harry's throat bobbed up and down as he gulped , thinking of his teeth sinking in the Draco's throat .

" -cough-cough- " ; a feeble sound came from behind Draco drawing their attention .

Harry walked forward and knelt beside Draco . He looked as the woman barely opened her eyes and looked at them . She seemed startled and clutched the egg tighter to scramble back . Draco leant forward with his hand outstretched as though to bring her back . But seeing the terrified look in her eyes stopped and lightly let loose his magic , covering her , caressing her , comforting her . The woman relaxed slightly but was still wary .

She looked at the herbs on her body and looked back up . Her eyes turned from wary to confused and to grateful as realisation dawned on her .

Struggling to lift herself up , she moved and squirmed . Seeing her difficulty , Harry gently lifted her to sit up and let her back rest on the stone wall behind her .

" Did you help me ?" ; Still holding the egg , she asked . The egg seemed very important to her .

"Yes" , it was Harry's voice that replied .

"Thank you , but I don't have much time . The poison is still in my body . It cannot be cured . Half of my body is already useless . I am sorry to waste your efforts -cough-"

Draco hurriedly soothed her back , saying," Don't speak if it hurts . Just lie down ."

She smiled wryly as Draco again washed her with his soothing magic .

" You are good people , aren't you ? -cough- Fortunately , I met you here . Please-cough-cough-help me . Please take him and hide him. "

Now she was wheezing but still unwilling to leave her sentence incomplete . Her hand clutched Draco as she pleaded them .

Her request shocked both of them as they looked at each other before she continued .

" Please . I cannot live anymore . haaaa-cough- save him . Please save my child " She wheezed with tears running down her bloody cheeks . Her breath grew laboured as she tried to force her words out . It was then that her neck rapidly started turning purple and she clutched it in a frenzy , her arms and legs thrashing around , withering from agony .

The sudden change panicked Draco and Harry as they tried to find what was wrong . Draco kept giving his magic as it kept bouncing back and her pulse kept growing weaker.

At a point it completely stopped as did the woman's thrashing . Draco slowly backed away . Still dazed from the suddenness of all of this . The egg was still there . He looked at it and remembered the woman's words "please save my child " Was this her child ? How could there be a child inside this egg ? Draco first thought that it was a creature's egg but did not expect it was the veela's . He knew that veela's gave birth and were not oviparous . Maybe it was adopted .

Harry was looking at the egg as well and he could hear a faint heartbeat from it . He was sure that something was inside it . Casting a lumos , he put the wand tip on the egg . The inside of the egg became somewhat visible . The egg had a translucent yellow substance inside it with a dense irregular shape in the center with red branches coming from it to spread in the egg .

A gasp was heard from Draco . Draco looked at the sight in wonder . Putting his magic in the egg he tried to examine what it was . But as soon as his magic entered the egg it was rapidly absorbed by it .

Jerking his hand back , he looked wide-eyed at the egg and turned his eyes to Harry . Understanding his intentions , Harry repeated what Draco did and soon mirrored his expression .

"What should we do ?" Harry asked .

" She is already dead . We can only take it back . " ; Draco said in a small voice .

"Hhmmm" Harry replied as he stood up and handed the egg to Draco . He soon dug a pit to bury the woman . After burying her , both he and draco knelt in front of the grave and silently paid their respects .

Heading out , Draco held the egg in both his arms . The egg was as big as a person's torso and was hard and smooth shelled . It gave off a peculiar warmth . It was a soft and gentle warmth . The kind newborn babies give off. Well , it was a newborn baby just with a shell over it .

Thinking that inside of this is a baby made Draco feel a sweet warmth in his chest as he tucked the egg inside his robes to keep it warm .

It was then that he heard a chuckle from beside him that he remembered that he wasn't alone . Glaring at Harry , he squinted his eyes as he tucked the egg even closer , making it completely disappear in his robes , leaving only and big bump on his torso . He thought ,' I am a Malfoy and Malfoys did what they promised even if it was extremely embarrassing !!! HMPH !! '

Harry who had been watching the aristocratic pureblood coddle an egg like a real child could not help but chuckle . And his chuckle turned into a laugh when the same aristocrat turned to glare at him and somehow held the egg like he wasn't holding an egg but a pregnant tummy . In all of this he did not miss the bright red Labrinth of his ears hiding behind silver hair . It pleased him greatly to see such a different Malfoy .

' Malfoy is different after all . All these years I saw what he showed me . And now that I really see who he is , it seems surreal . I was such an idiot to not see his real self sooner ' Harry thought as he smiled at the scowling Draco as he buried his head behind the egg .