Chapter 6
Harry places his head in his hands tuning out Hermione's lecture. She had been going off for close to twenty minutes now, and Harry definitely got the gist in the first ten. Veela allure, bad. Using it on Malfoy, worse. There has got to be something better for her to be doing than shouting at him right now.
“Harry, don’t make me get the ministry to put you on leave again.” She kicks the desk he was leaning on, “I thought you said that you were controlling yourself better after your absence.”
“I am ‘Mione…” Harry sighs.
“Well, it sure as hell doesn’t seem like it.” She slumped in the seat across from his desk, her tone softening, “If I were him, I’d file an HR report, Harry. You must see how weird it’s gotta look from the outside.”
“He was in danger, I couldn’t just leave him there.” Harry defends, “He tried to put out an electrical fire with water.”
“Nobody would’ve left him to burn the ministry down.”
She wasn’t wrong, but he was also just so scared. How could Harry have possibly left him like that?
“I understand it’s probably hard to resist but you’re going to scare him away.”
Harry doesn’t see how she could possibly understand any of this. He barely understands it, and he’s living through it. How could anyone describe the intense, painful need to help him? To make him feel safe. Harry doubts any of the books Hermione had found had even started to cover how overwhelming it was.
Harry sighed, “I really did try, ‘Mione,”
Hermione smiles sympathetically.
***
Draco had always loved the Malfoy Manor library. It was timeless and elegant and unlike the single public magical library (a small building with three shelves max.) There was a book for every topic he could want and a custom searching charm for it.
He took a deep breath and headed towards his favorite chair, a well-loved cushiony leather armchair. It barely held a cushioning charm anymore, and there were mug rings permanently etched into the arms of the chair.
It had been there for decades, and it was a small miracle the stabilizing charms still held, but the best heating charms Draco had ever felt were imbued in the leather.
He sank into the chair and removed his wand from its holster. The charm will only need to be cast once, but after that, the books will come as he summons by merely speaking some keywords.
“Codex Evoco.” He feels the library respond to the charm with a creaking, “Now I didn’t exactly think about how to describe this, did I…”
A dictionary lands in his lap.
“Very funny.” Draco rolls his eyes, tossing the book to the side.
He leans his head back against the chair and reflects on the coffee machine incident.
“Safe, new trust, person, dangerous.” The library flexes around him, meaning he needs to be more specific.
He sighs, “Clear.”
“Sickly, protective, unusually pale, stare, hover, safe,” He tries after a moment of thought.
A thick book on creature mates lands in his lap. Draco blinks. That was the last thing he was expecting. He opens the book and flips straight to the table of contents.
It’s organized by creature type, but the preface seems to offer some general information.
“Whilst every creature's experience is different, there are a few similarities with all of them. Each creature will be overcome with a desire to protect their mate and feel ill when left away from them for too long. Seeing their mate in danger often evokes a stronger bout of magic and physical strength. For each type of creature mentioned in this book, two more specific books will be suggested to understand more about both the creature and the creature's mate.”
Draco looked back at the table of contents and skims it. He would definitely have to do more research to know where to even start…
***
When Harry finally escapes Hermiones rant, he Apperates directly home collapsing face down into his bed. Still the perfect organized mess it’s been since his Veela inheritance started peaking out.
The second he is sat in the center of it he feels calmer. It was almost comfortable except for the tingling feeling that something was missing ever present at the back of his skull.
He adjusts Malfoy's sweaters in hopes of some relief, guided entirely by instinct. He moves things around until he is more frustrated than anything else. Something in him says it's perfect with only one flaw. If only he could know the one flaw, it would be everything he needs.
Harry wants to punch something or scream. The strong desire to burn his own house down reignites inside of him.
Instead, he settles for taking a scorching shower. Letting the hot water burn the discomfort off. When he returns to his bedroom, settling back into the perfect circle the mess had created, he cracks open the romance novel he had been reading since the first day and settles in.
It really had started to get good now. The Veela’s mate was kidnapped, and they were about to go on a rampage for them.
“‘Who did this to you.’ The Veela had a steel grip on their lover's chin, glimpsing the bruise on the side of their face. Even in a dream, being near them soothed the fear that was ever growing in the wixens chest.
‘I don’t know…’ The wixen averted their eyes from the Veelas intense stare, ‘It happened while I was unconscious.’
The Veela growled, pressing their forehead to their mates. ‘They won’t live for much longer. I promise’
The wixen felt the tentacles of wakefulness pulling at them.’Be safe my love. Make it to me in one piece.’
The Veela pulled their mate in close to their chest and breathed in the phantom of their earthy scent even as they disappeared from their arms.
‘Fuck-’ ”
“Merlin, I can’t wait until they reunite…” Harry flips the page eagerly.