Veelas and Mates(Slow Updates)

17. Pasts

"How so?" Harry asked.

"Well, like I said, Rem had no other magic aside from changing shape. The Blacks hated that. Worse still, Rem was a good friend of Sirius Black, whom the family already very much hated," Draco explained. "They arranged my mother's marriage to another Veela, my father. My father, his mate is Severus. The Malfoy's didn't want their son to be mated to a man who could not given them a child. My mother and my father made an agreement. They would be friends and give them what they wanted, an heir to the family, but they would remain with their own mates secretly. They covered for each other so they could safely spend time with their mates. It worked for a while. Then the first wizarding war got bad. Rem fought against the death eaters only armed with muggle weapons. It worked, for a while. But somewhere along the line, the death eaters got smart against guns. Rem was killed."

Harry was horrified. Draco took a shuddering breath before continuing.

"My mother had to bury her mate. And she would've followed them. But, she found out she was pregnant with me soon after. Her Veela instincts tied her to me. She couldn't follow her mate. It's why she's been so hesitant with you, I'm sure you've noticed. You're a prime candidate for dying. She doesn't want history to repeat itself."

Harry nodded in understanding, linking their hands and squeezing comfortingly.

"I promise I'll do my best to stay alive for you."

"I'm not sure either of us can safely promise we'll survive this, but, thank you."

"I guess I finally understand why Professor Snape said you were his son now. Confused me but I wasn't about to bring it up and risk his irritation when he's talking about something important."

"Yeah, Lucius is my father, and while I call Severus my uncle, he's really just my second father by the fact his mate is my father."

"I'm sorry, Draco."

"For what?"

"I'm sorry you're stuck with me for a mate. I know I'll bring you pain."

Draco's eyes widened and he looked at Harry, eyes boring into the guilty male.

"I would never want a different mate, Harry. I won't regret it for a second."

The honesty in Draco's words filled Harry with a warmth he'd grown quite accustomed to these last few months. Happiness. Happiness that he felt he belonged with Draco. With Killian and Draco, he felt happier than ever. Terrible situations or otherwise, this was something he would never let go.

It seemed Draco noticed the effect his words took on Harry. Harry's eyes had misted slightly and he felt slightly weak.

"Harry? Are you okay?"

"I'm okay. It's just...I'm not used to people caring for me like you do."

"What about that elf-boy? You seemed plenty caring with him."

Harry coughed to hide his obvious amusement at the jealousy in Draco's tone.

"It's a different affection with him, you idiot."

Draco was going to retort but stopped himself. The smile Harry had on his face was too soft for him to gather the words to refute the mockery of his intellect. Instead, he laced his hand with Harry's, providing a soft squeeze.

Had you told either of them a few months ago they'd be holding hands in the Room of Requirement in the firelight, Harry would've checked you into St. Mungo's and Draco would've laughed before asking if your head was screwed on right. But seeing where they were now, it was heartwarming. Enemies for years, friends for only a few months now. They wouldn't mind spending the rest of their days like this. And maybe, just maybe, work to more than friends.

∆∆∆

The next morning, the twins and Killian were missing from breakfast. Luckily, it was a Sunday so there were no classes but it was strange not to see them at the breakfast table, chatting up a storm with Luna and Ginny.

"Where are they?" Ron asked, looking around.

"I have no idea," Hermione answered, looking a bit bewildered at the lack of the nearly always present presence of Killian. Though neither elf had told them of their actual relationship, both had adjusted to the pretend hatred Harry would show in public but discard the moment they were in private, opting to crawl into Killian's arms. It would often end up with them studying in the Room of Requirement, a very frequent spot for them nowadays, with Harry lying on Killian's chest while Killian read.

Harry joined the other two in looking around before leaning over to whisper.

"I think Killian said something about the forest when he left last night."

The golden trio shared a look before abandoning their breakfasts to see if they could find the mated trio.

They entered the forest a bit nervously. The three of them had nowhere to begin looking.

Harry thought back to what Killian had said before. How he had hid in the forest originally as an attempt to find him. That means where he is is probably somewhat close to the school, but not so close Hagrid would come across it and alert Dumbledore. It narrowed the search area a tiny bit. He pushed on ahead, Hermione and Ron trailing after him.

It took about fifteen minutes of wandering for them to find the tent. It was well hidden. Had they not been looking for it, they wouldn't have seen it.

Harry's hand brushed over what he assumed to be the entrance, surprised when it unsealed itself and opened for him. The trio shared a look again and ducked inside.

Immediately, they saw the three they were looking for sound asleep on the bed. George had curled a bit closer in his sleep and Fred's head was tucked under Killian's chin. Light from the open flap shone on George's face, rousing the male. He blinked groggily and sat up. Noticing the three of them and the two sleeping beside him, he brought a finger to his lips and motioned towards the chairs with his head.

The Golden trio did as they were told and sat in the chairs. All three watched with curious eyes as George silently magicked a sound blocking curtain around the bed and walked towards the kitchenette, grabbing a mug as he brewed coffee.