Ch. 17

She almost wasn't sure she had heard him correctly.

"A Veela." She repeated.

He nodded. She let out a breath that she didn't realize she was holding and began thinking immediately. It almost all made sense. His attitude growing up, his father's attitude, the fact that he was abnormally attractive.

She shook that last thought away and chewed on her bottom lip. He watched her quietly as she took in and analyzed everything he had told her. He actually enjoyed watching her think; the way her face would just slightly change expressions, her cheek would twitch just slightly every so often, and of course her chewing on her lip. He found it quite adorable.

"So," She started slowly. "You and Blaise are both Veelas. I can understand everything else that you have told me, but I'm not sure what this all has to do with me."

"Well, you and Ginny," He corrected in a light tone. "Blaise had the same issue with wanting to tell Ginny, but his situation was slightly more difficult since she was still with Potter. And of course, telling one of you girls meant the other one would know and-"

"What do Ginny and I have to do with this?" She interrupted impatiently, an edgy tone in her voice.

His Veela bristled slightly as he felt her anger but he tried to calm both himself and her as he went on, "This is where it gets a little touchy. Like I said, Blaise and I wanted this to happen naturally, but unfortunately given the circumstances that would not be fair to you or Ginny."

"Draco Malfoy, if you don't tell me right now..." She fumed.

He tried to hide his smile by chewing on the inside of his cheek. She was extremely attractive when she was flushed and angry, if he was honest with himself. "I trust you've researched Veelas in the past, correct?"

"It's been a little while, I'll admit, but I do know a little bit about them," She replied in a quick manner. She wanted to know where he was going with it.

"Well then I'm sure you read that Veelas have one person that they are mated to."

She froze, her mind bursting in a whirlwind of thoughts.

Draco noticed her freeze. He groaned inwardly and hoped he could save it. "This is partially why I wanted it to happen naturally. I didn't want you to feel pressured into anything, or that you were forced to be with me against your will. But, Hermione, you are the person my Veela has decided is its mate. And Ginny is Blaise's."

He was prepared for almost any reaction she could have. Any reaction except the silence that she was giving him then. She simply stared at him, blinking every so often before looking down at the table. This unnerved him more than anything as she gave no clue in her expression as to what she was thinking. But by the feelings she was giving off, he knew that she was, for lack of a better term, shocked.

There were many feelings mixed together; confusion, which he noted she seemed to be confused a lot lately and he couldn't blame her; apprehension; amazement; relief? He wasn't quite sure if it was relief or not, maybe more relief of her questions actually being answered and the comfort of the fact that she was no longer in the dark.

He started to grow restless after minutes of silence, shifting uncomfortably in his seat as he panicked and said, "I know this is probably a lot to take in in such a short amount of time, but like I said, it wouldn't have been fair to you if I didn't tell you before too long."

She only nodded slightly in response. Her breathing was shallow, but not to the point of him being too concerned about it. He knew she was still thinking.

After another few moments, he sighed and looked down as he ran a hand through his hair nervously. "I don't want you to feel pressured into being with me. I know this is a bit of a shock and to be honest, I wasn't entirely expecting it to be you either, but I will say that I am happy it's you."

She looked up at him for the first time in a few minutes. Her expression was still unreadable but his smiled slightly when he realized that she had a small wave of happiness roll off her. She took a deep breath and started slowly, "How long have you known that it was me?"

"I first knew, officially knew, that it was you at King's Cross when we boarded the train on the first," He replied. "But deep down, I was hoping it was you ever since I found out what I was."

"And you have had feelings for me since before you found out, right?" She went on, watching him nod in response.

"Why?" She asked then curiously. It caught him off guard slightly but he quickly regained his bearings.

"All those years ago, back when we were on the Hogwarts Express for the very first time and you came into my compartment asking if I had seen Longbottom's toad, I could see how bright you were. I'll admit, your knowledge and excitement to learn really attracted me to you. And you did kind of have a haughty attitude that made me think you were pureblood," He added.

She smiled slightly despite herself. "I was a bit prideful back then."

"But there's nothing wrong with that. You were smart and you knew it. You just wanted to prove it to everyone else, and I really liked that about you." He sighed before shifting in his seat and continuing. "But once I found out that you were a muggleborn, I knew that my father would not allow it. I tried hard to hide the fact that you were not pureblood when I told him and my mother about you, but he eventually asked and I couldn't lie to him. As soon as he found out, he was furious. He forbade me from ever showing an interest in you, from ever talking about you again and being nice to you."

"That would explain his behavior to me in Flourish and Blotts second year," Hermione said sadly.

Draco nodded. "It really pained me to treat you how I did. I didn't want to, but I knew that if I went against his wishes, he would know. He had ways of finding things out."

"So, what's different now?" Hermione asked.

Draco looked at her, smiling slightly. "I don't really care what he thinks anymore. That, and the fact that he can't really control who my mate is."

She shifted at the use of that term, not sure if she was quite comfortable with the idea. He made a note to hold off on calling her that until she decided what she wanted to do.

He watched her as she thought more to herself. She kept opening her mouth as if she were going to say something and then deciding against it, closing her mouth shortly after. Finally, after about a minute of doing this her brow furrowed and she finally asked, "So...how does your being a Veela affect me?"

"What do you mean?" He asked.

She struggled for a few more moments to form her question. "Well, when Fleur was here for the tournament, men were practically falling all over her. It's no secret that girls here at Hogwarts have been swooning after you, and somehow I've not been affected. Same with Ginny not being affected by Blaise, and yet other girls went after him too. Are any feelings I develop towards you going to be brought about because of the fact that you're a Veela?"

"I think I understand," He said, taking in what she said. "You're basically asking if you're only going to start liking me because of the fact that you're my...significant other?"

She nodded and he smiled as he said, "As far as I know, the fact that you were not one of the girls falling over themselves to get to me means that no, your feelings are not affected by my being a Veela. Anything you have for me would be genuine."

Her cheek twitched slightly as she tried to hide a smile. Then she asked, "What about any feelings you have for me? Are those only because you're a Veela?"