𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐕𝐄𝐄𝐋𝐀 𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐌𝐀

Chapter 13

Chapter Warnings: none

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The Veela Enigma

Chapter 13: The Plot Thickens

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Far away from Hogwarts, where Harry and Draco lay peacefully sleeping, Lucius Malfoy was walking through Riddle Manor, absolutely dreading the conversation to come.

It wasn't like he wanted to tell the Dark Lord about his and Draco's veela heritage.  Quite the contrary.  He had no choice, however.  In order to get the charges against Draco dropped, the MacMillians and their lawyers had to be told the truth about Draco's heritage.  Lucius wasn't such a fool to believe that juicy gossip like that would stay hidden for very long.

And so it was inevitable that the Malfoys would be "outed," so to speak, about their veela genes to the wizarding world.  Lucius knew that the Dark Lord would be very upset if he were to find out the truth from the Daily Prophet, so he took a deep breath and crossed the threshold into the room where Voldemort was waiting.

Lord Voldemort was seated in an armchair in front of a fireplace, Nagini curled up at his feet.  She merely looked up when Lucius entered the room before dropping her head back down to its coils.  Lucius was the only one of Voldemort's Death Eaters that Nagini never hissed at, and now Lucius had a pretty good idea of why that was.

Lucius dropped down to one knee onto the dusty rug on the floor.  "My Lord," he said humbly, and the Dark Lord gave him an almost fond look.

"Rise, Malfoy," he said, and patiently watched as Lucius stood up.  "What news could have possibly brought you here in such an urgent manner?"

"My Lord, I have received some interesting information concerning myself and my family."

"Is that so?" Voldemort remarked with curiosity.  "Sit and tell me about it."  He gestured to the armchair across from his own by the fireplace, and with a feeling of trepidation, Lucius sat down, took a deep breath, and explained the entire story to Lord Voldemort.

After finishing, he looked up nervously, wondering how the Dark Lord would react to learning that one of his right hand men was not the pureblood he had believed.

Voldemort said nothing for a few moments, but instead stood up and wandered over to the window to look out at the night sky.  Lucius watched and waited.

"I've always been rather fond of veela," the Dark Lord finally said softly, his eyes burning red in the darkness.

"I'm sorry?" Lucius said anxiously, not sure if this was good or not.

Lord Voldemort looked back at him and stared for a moment, as if seeing him in a whole new light. 

"Of course," he said, almost to himself, scrutinizing Lucius.  "That would explain so much."

"My Lord?" Lucius asked, starting to feel slightly nervous.  The Dark Lord had studied him at length, had looked at him closely before, but never as intensely as he was right now.

"Tell me, Lucius," Voldemort said, moving back towards the fire and Lucius' chair. For some reason, Lucius didn't like his tone of voice. "What do you know about veela?"

Lucius took a deep breath as Lord Voldemort approached him and continued to stare, an almost hungry look beginning to form on his face.  "They…they're considered by some to be very beautiful," he said haltingly, and the Dark Lord nodded.