Fake

True love bears all, endures all and triumphs. – Dada Vaswani

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"Draco!"

"Draco!"

Draco felt a light slap at the back of his head and turned towards the offender with a glaring gaze snapping out of his angry dream.

That's when reality hit him, hard, as he found himself standing on his feet and the remains of his broken spoon in his veiny hands.

The bench on which he had previously been sitting on along with a bunch of other Slytherin students was pushed back a few noticeable inches with some still on it while others found themselves on the floor. The whole of Slytherin table and half the Ravenclaws were staring at him along with the teachers while the rest remained blissfully ignorant.

He met Blaise's gaze, dropping the spoon on the table walked out of the great hall, leaving his distressed friend to scoop up the last bite of his food in his mouth and follow him.

"What was that?" Blaise questioned as he caught up with Draco.Draco just shrugged his shoulders mouth set in a frown.

"Draco, mate." Blaise started, "You have got to tone it down a bit. I mean Granger's just barely gotten to know about this bond and, if we see through her perspective, it has been forced upon her. You've got to communicate with her and build a relationship between you two. That is certainly not possible if you keep going all possessive whenever she is around other males. The girl has got two boys as her best mates for goodness' sake and also she has become quite the looker, can't blame the moths who keep flying around her."

Draco growled at his friend before he could even finished the last sentence causing Blaise to shuffle a bit away from the Veela and raise his two arms in a surrendering gesture.

"Calm down! She is all yours." Blaise screeched, genuinely afraid for his life and desperate to calm the blonde boy.

All mine Draco repeated in his mind causing a small smile to escape his lips and a shine to enter his eyes.

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After the afternoon classes, Draco found himself walking through the corridors towards his new living quarters. The lessons seemed to have gotten over very quickly, considering he had spent quite a while studying Hermione's back profile. Giddy at the thought of seeing her again, he fastened his pace to reach his destination.

Hermione was sitting on an armchair that she had already deemed as her favorite spot. She wanted to sit and properly think about her feelings. Finding out that Draco is a Veela and that, his sworn enemy now somewhat of an acquaintance, is her mate, Hermione was furious. Angry, because she has become tied in a bond which she never wanted and with a person, she never thought of even seeing again. Sad, because she no longer has the opportunity of falling in love and the right to choose her future partner. Confused, because she has no idea what this mate bond has in store for her.

She turned her head as she heard the sound of a door opening and saw Draco walk in.

"Malfoy, we need to talk."

"I agree.", he said simply and moved to sit in front of her with a blank face.

"Granger," He started, holding her gaze with his eyes, "Let's restart. I want to apologize for all my past actions. I did not know about the Veela heritage of my family and how it affects my life. I had to follow my instincts and find my mate because she is supposed to determine my future. I barely know anything about this bond. I cannot and will not ask you to sacrifice your future for my sake, but still, I do want to ask you to give me a chance. I have genuine respect and admiration for you. It might be the bond I don't know, I have these feelings that were never there before. I feel attracted to you. All the time, you are the only one I can ever think of Hermione. I like your smile, I like your scent, I like your beautiful eyes and wavy hair, your small button nose, cute ears. I marvel at your intelligence and maturity. I admire your bravery, humbleness and the love you have for your friends and family. You're affectionate, kind, caring and the prettiest girl I have ever seen. I like everything about you, to sum it up because I think I have said too much and should stop now. But before I do that, I like you."

'I like you.'

Draco felt glad that he had controlled his word vomit before he could have blurted out the word love.

Now that was something he did not want.

Had he thought this confession out? Hell no! It was just the spur of the moment that caught him and made him confess his feelings. The result, well, now he couldn't even look at Hermione. He had drifted his currently closed eyes towards his fisted hands on his lap at the end of his speech, waiting for the verdict.

Hermione blinked. Once, twice and once again.

She could not believe her ears any more than she could trust her eyes which, held the astonishing sight of a Malfoy with his head bowed before her, eyes closed as he waited for her reply with bated breath.

Draco Malfoy likes her a muggle-born? The fact was something unimaginable and unexpected. He had even called her Hermione, not Granger!

"How can you like me, Draco? It isn't something that happens in a day or two. Isn't it just the bond speaking through you?" Hermione asked the question which had been at the foremost in her mind.

Draco lifted his head at her soft voice, once again joining his gaze with hers. He searched his mind for the answer. Was it the bond? Did it alone make him have feelings for the girl sitting in front of him?

Hermione couldn't control anymore. " Do you have genuine feelings for me? How do you know it is not only the bond making you feel like this? Is it only fake? Even if we do come to accept our relationship, won't it just be fake love?"

Draco felt his heartbreaking, seeing the pain in her eyes. His inner conscious, it seemed to be fighting to break free and make him take his mate in his arms and soothe all her worries and take all her troubles away.

"I do not know what having a mate means or what this bond holds in store for us. But what I do know for sure is that it's not fake. It never can and never will be fake love."

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