Veelas and Mates(Slow Updates)

12. Meetings

Harry and Draco chatted for what felt like hours, conversing about mundane things.

"And that was when Remus stumbled out of Sirius's room," Harry finished the story, smiling. Draco was losing it beside him.

"He really said that?" Draco wheezed. He laughed even harder as Harry nodded.

"Ah, Killian told me I'd find you here. You're late to our meeting, Potter," Snape drawled, but a glint of something unfamiliar shone in his eyes upon seeing them.

"Sev!" Draco jumped in surprise.

"Good evening, Professor. Sorry, we lost track of time."

"It's fine. Do you have an answer for me?"

"I'll do it," Harry grinned with an air of finality.

"Do what?" Draco asked, confused.

Harry looked to Severus who looked back in exasperation.

"He's your mate," was the drawled response to Harry's silent question. Draco looked to Harry expectantly. Harry flushed under the attention.

"I- uh- we- uh," Harry stammered.

"For Merlin's sake..." Severus huffed, "I gave Potter the choice of having a secret dorm with you or not. He decided to go ahead with it."

"Really? You really didn't have to do that!" Draco said.

"I want to," Harry said.

Draco launched himself onto Harry, embracing him in a tight hug. The latter was glad he had set down his tea mug only minutes prior as he wrapped his arms around the blond.

"Thank you, Harry."

Draco pulled away with a grin.

"I'll get to the arrangements then," Severus said.

The rest of their evening together was a comfortable conversation. By the end of it, they were closer on the couch than when they had started. Harry was proud of them. They definitely had a good foundation started.

∆∆∆

George wasn't entirely sure why Killian was so quick to forgive but he wasn't complaining. He enjoyed the feeling of Killian holding his hand or arm along with the occasional hug, especially with the confirmation that there was nothing there for him to fear from the elf's appearance. Fred was certainly pleased with it as well, face growing red with every affectionate gesture from Killian. George was aware of how hard Fred was falling for the elf, and fast, but he couldn't quite bring himself to worry anymore. Perhaps it was his own strange aromatic way of falling for people--platonically, obviously--or maybe it was the pull of the platonic mating that made him happy to accept the elf, now that he was proven not to be a threat.

It's how Killian easily convinced him to join him and Fred for god knows what. All he knew was that Killian was holding his hand and he and Fred were being lead through the forest by the school. The grin on Killian's face would probably unnerve anyone else but instead George just found himself smiling and picking up the pace to not be left behind by him and Fred.

They came to a stop by an elven tent, the one that Fred had found Killian in a couple days before.

"C'mon. Since Harry and his mate are in the Room of Requirement I thought we could have our own spot out here," Killian said. He let go of the twins' hands to pull back the flaps of the extravagant tent. It was in shades of green and brown but it took inspiration from medieval tents in shape. And it was quite large, an obvious magic aid making it even bigger on the inside. Inside there was a double bed, a desk, and a small kitchenette, looking less like a tent and a bit more like the interior of a house aside from the walls of fabric. By the desk, there was a huge bookshelf filled with books, maps and a number of messily piled papers. And beside that, there was a chest for clothes and weapons. A couple of comfortable chairs and a table took up the remaining dead space.

Fred and George walked in, continuing to look around. Fred, despite having already been there once before, continued to be awed by the familiar yet alien feel of the tent. It was like the magical tents they had yet different, more Killian.

Killian came in behind them and let the flaps down and they watched with fascination as the flaps became one with the rest of the tent's fabric walls, keeping out unwanted guests. The brunette made his way to the kitchenette and put a kettle on, going through the little wire shelving system he had on the counter for a tea bag he wanted.

"Make yourselves at home, darlings," Killian told them. They both nodded and Fred went and sat in one of the plush chairs that he had sat in last time. George scoured the bookshelf, disappointed to find it all written in the elven dialect.

"Killian?" George called for the elf's attention. Killian turned to look at him.

"Hmm?"

"Could you teach me elvish?"

"I could," Killian said, "It's quite difficult though. Translating it to make it slightly easier to learn is easier said than done. You sure you want to drag yourself through that? At this point we only write in the old language, even then rarely, so many of us have mated with non-elves."

George nodded.

"Alright then," Killian said, a smirk playing on his lips as he muttered something in elvish.

"What did that mean?" Fred asked. A familiar mischievous glint made its way into Killian's eyes.

"That's for me to know, and for you to find out if you succeed in learning."

"Well, we have a good teacher so we'll find out. Sooner or later," Fred said.

"If you use it for writing only now, how come you speak it?" George asked.

"The Potters are quite a prevalent and old family among elves. We work closely with the Queens nowadays in their court so we are required to speak elvish."

"Queens?" The twins asked.

"Queen Annalise and her mate, Queen Helena. They've been successfully reigning for nearly 90 years now."

The twins nodded, wanting to ask more about elvish history and culture. Before they could continue, the kettle whistled and Killian turned away again, pouring the hot water into the awaiting tea pot.