Prologue
August 20, 1991
“Draco darling, you are about to head to Hogwarts and your father and I need to discuss some things with you.” Narcissa told her son. She led Draco down the hall to Lucius’ study. She pushed her reluctant son through the door.
“Please son, there is no reason to be so weary. We just need to tell you about your heritage before you enter Hogwarts.” Lucius said.
Draco gulped, thinking about what his parents might say to him.
“Well my dragon, we have a bit of a family secret… your father is part veela and so am I.”
Mouth hanging open, all he could do was stare. Once he composed himself he asked, “What?”
“Your mother is telling you the truth Draco. We believe that because we are both part veela you may inherit some of the traits.” Lucius trailed off.
“Traits?”
“Yes, traits. Veela are known to be magical beings. Because of this we have hidden this information from others in our circle. The ministry of course is aware of our status. We do not want your status to be broadcasted to your peers. You will need to use discretion at Hogwarts. It should not be an issue as your veela traits, if you have any, will not present until you turn 18. However, there will be signs if you are looking. Not to alarm you in any way but veelas have mates.” Lucius paused to let this be absorbed.
“Mates?” Draco asked quietly.
“Yes. This means that if you do present, you will be drawn to someone. That person will likely be your mate. If you start to feel a pull towards a witch you should let us know immediately. Once you turn 18, your bond will be intense and all encompassing. There is no changing once your mate has been chosen. Because of this, we will not be entering you into any marriage contracts. Your friends will likely have questions on why you aren’t, you can not tell them about our heritage. If the people in our circle knew they could use this against us. Do you understand Draco?” Lucius looked at him intensely, searching his face.
Draco nodded and Lucius continued, “Now son we must continue to uphold the Malfoy image. That means while at Hogwarts you must not be seen with any mudbloods or the likes.”
“But father, what if my mate is a mudblood?” Draco spat the question out with a look of disgust on his face.
“Draco, dear, your mate will be your exact equal in every way. Veelas do not care about blood status. One of the reasons you must not tell anyone is because the veela status makes us halfbloods.”
At this revelation Draco stood abruptly, “WHAT? What do you mean we are halfbloods?”
“Sit down and listen to your mother.” Lucius commanded.
Draco sat slowly back in the chair.
Narcissa continued, “Yes Draco, we are considered halfbloods. But that is not what matters. What matters is that your mate will be whoever is your perfect match. You will not be able to stop the love and need to protect you will feel. You must also complete the mate bond before your 19th birthday. Draco, my dragon, you need to accept whoever it is that you are to be mated to.”
“With that being said Draco you must keep your distance from the mudbloods while in school. We can not have our acquaintances seeing you being friendly with them. You need to keep your distance. People must still believe that we think mudbloods are filthy, nasty creatures. This is important for our survival. If your mate happens to be a mudblood we will address that when you are older.” Lucius said.
“Yes, father.” Draco said dejectedly. He thought that his parents would never allow a mudblood to sully the Malfoy line. Now they are telling him that it was okay if he was mated to one. The fact that the Malfoys were considered halfbloods was worse news than potentially being a veela. At least as a veela he had special abilities. Lucius cleared his throat to bring Draco out of his thoughts.
“Draco you need to make sure no one knows of our heritage. It is a serious matter. Our lives are at risk if anyone were to find out.” His father said.
Draco huffed, “I understand. I will not tell anyone.” He didn’t really understand but he knew that the look on his fathers face brokered no argument. He knew that his father was a political figure. He knew that he had important friends. What he didn’t know was why it was a life or death situation.
Narcissa said, “Well, I believe you will no longer need me for the rest of this talk. My dragon, if you have any questions about what being part veela may mean for you, feel free to ask me dear. Do not however ask me in a letter. Write down your questions and call Mipsy to get it from you.” And with that she swept from the room, closing the door behind herself.
Draco turned his attention back to his father who looked slightly uncomfortable. “Draco, I know it may come as a surprise to you that we are not worried about the blood status of your potential mate. I can assure you that blood means nothing when your Veela chooses your other half. I think it is important as a Malfoy man to understand what is going to happen as you get older. You may have witches who want to be with you romantically but Draco you will not be able to be with them.”
Draco could feel his cheeks growing warm with the implication his father was making. They had already had the talk. Draco wasn’t sure what he should say in response so he sat quietly.
Lucius continued, “Many of your friends may be rOr anti ally involved as you get older. You, however, will never have that urge. As part Veela, your body will only allow you to be with one person. You may find that you are even repulsed by witches that are not your mate. Even before your 18th birthday, your body will know on a basic level. Son, if you ever have any questions, do as your mother has instructed you and call upon Mipsy. I know this is a lot to take in but just know I am here to help.”
September 1, 1991
Draco stood at platform 9 ¾ staring at the Hogwarts Express as his mother smoothed his hair one more time.
”Now remember dear we are only an owl away should you need anything at all. I love you my dragon. Please be safe and careful.” She kissed the top of his head with a sniffle.
”I will, mother. I love you too.” He said and then turned to his father.
Lucius, ever stoic, nodded curtly and said, “You best be off. Owl us as soon as you can. You wouldn’t want your mother to worry.”
Draco nodded and with that he turned to board the train.
-
After settling in with some of his friends in a compartment, he looked out the window and gave his parents on last little wave.
Pansy and Theo were arguing over who got the other window seat across from Draco. When Theo finally relented and gave the seat to Pansy she stuck her nose up and with a sniff said, “That’s what I thought Nott.”
Rolling his eyes, Theo sat down next to her and looked at Draco.
”So mate, how was your summer? I didn’t see you much after your birthday.”
Draco huffed, “It was alright. Did a right lot of flying around the manor. What about you? I hear you were at the Greengrass’ pretty often…”
It was no secret that Theo’s dad was a terrible person. Because of this Theo usually spent a lot of time at Greengrass Manor. Daphne was the older of the two sisters. She would be in their class this year at Hogwarts. Astoria would be two years behind them. Florian and Adorabella, their parents, had taken Theo in as a surrogate son. Theodore Nott Sr was not only a bad person, but he was very clearly a bad father. Draco was fortunate to have only seen Nott Sr once. The once was more than enough.
Pansy and Theo bickered a bit more about who was Daphne’s favorite when the door opened to show the girl in question. As soon as Pansy saw her, she shoved Theo out of the way and patted the seat next to her for Daphne to sit.
Theo got up with a huff, rolling his eyes. “Geez Pans,” He said, “I would have moved if you had asked nicely.”
It was Pansy’s turn to roll her eyes, “Yeah right,” She said and then turned to Daphne to catch up.
“It’s okay Theo you can sit next to me.” Draco said with a smile. Theo was Draco's best friend after all.
About an hour into the ride the door to their compartment opened. Standing there was a short girl with a mane of bushy brown curls and bright coffee eyes. Draco stared at her for a moment, breath caught in his throat. The girl stared back. Pansy cleared her throat and haughtily asked, ”Can we help you?”
Shocked from the interruption Draco stood and held out his hand, “Hi, I am Draco Malfoy and these are my friends, Pansy Parkinson, Daphne Greengrass, and Theo Nott. It’s nice to meet you.”
The girl shook his hand, blushing. Draco thought she looked quite pretty hop close. He could see she had a few freckles across her nose and cheekbones. After a moment too long they dropped hands as if realizing they had been shaking them for far too long.
“Hi, I’m Hermione Granger. I was just helping look for a toad. I kid named Neville has seemed to have lost him.” She never stopped looking at Draco.
Pansy had stood at some point and was now behind Draco looking at the girl. “Granger… Hmmm. Are you related to the potioneer, Hector Dagworth-Granger?”
“Oh umm,” finally breaking eye contact with Draco she looked at Pansy. “No. I am not. My parents are both muggles.”
”Oh.” Pansy answered shortly.
Draco's heart had dropped into his stomach. He thought for sure after everything his parents had told him about Veela, that this girl was important somehow. Now he knew he would have to stay away from her. She was a mud blood. Annoyed that he couldn’t talk to her anymore he sneered and said, “Looks about right.”
She looked dumbstruck by his sudden abrasiveness. Her face morphed into incredulity before turning with a huff and stating as she left, “Do let me know if you find another toad in your compartment. I see you already have one.” She flicked her eyes up to meet him before slamming the door and flouncing off.
Draco was quiet the rest of the train ride staring out of the window. The pit in his stomach seemed to grow as he thought about the next year ahead of him.
-
The years following he knew without a shadow of a doubt that someday if he manifested any Veela traits, his mate would be Hermione Granger. He also knew that he would never and could never deserve her. He did everything he could to protect her but she had still ended up on the floor of the manor. Her screams would forever haunt him.