Masked

(2) Research

Draco made his way to the entrance of platform nine and three-quarters, his mother walking quietly beside him. He had done a lot of research and discovered many things about his species. Draco's mother had, in fact, known that Draco was part feline and had immediately removed Draco's masking charm upon his arrival in the dining room the morning of his birthday. Narcissa had been all over Draco, much to his annoyance, telling him how cute he looked and how perfectly white his fur is. His mother then proceeded to tell Draco some basic facts about wizard-human-feline-hybrids which answered some of the many questions Draco had.

Narcissa had informed Draco that he had the ability to fully transform into a cat, but when in human form, he would always have cat ears and a tail. Draco had immediately attempted to transform and was proud to say that he accomplished it after only 3 tries. His mother then explained some basic guidelines as to his new diet, making sure Draco remembered that cats are lactose intolerant and therefore he is too. She told him that he was like this and she wasn't because of a recessive gene blah blah blah biology.

The piece of information given to him by his mother that had shocked and worried Draco the most was that he has a mate. All feline hybrids have mates. Draco was worried that his mate wouldn't like him or he wouldn't like his mate. Narcissa explained that he can choose whether or not to mate with his mate. She said it is ideal to mate in order to be happy because he will never be able to be with anyone else, even if he doesn't really get along with his mate. His mate can be with other people but will never truly feel satisfied with anyone but Draco. Narcissa said to be careful because his mate might think they are fully satisfied with someone else if they are never with Draco because they won't know what it feels like to actually be complete.

That word sacred Draco immensely: complete. As if he was missing something. As if he was a half of one whole that might never be whole.

Draco did a lot of research after the conversation with his mother and he discovered a whole lot of information. He now knows that he will be able to recognize his mate when they touch, but he wasn't sure how he would recognize them. His mate will also realize there is a connection between them, but it is unlikely they will know what said connection is. It doesn't matter if he has touched his mate before because they can only feel the connection after the 18th anniversary of the hybrid.

The two Malfoys passed through the magical barrier and strolled down the platform. Draco kept looking at the people around him to make sure they didn't see anything different about him. He knew he was being paranoid because he had researched and perfected the masking charm he was using until it was absolutely impenetrable. The only way to remove the charm was if Draco himself said finite incantantem and it could not be performed wandless or non-verbally for this purpose. He had made the charm so that it could remain on at all times without harming him in any way.

The platform was extremely crowded, but Draco managed to spot Blaise and Pansy getting ready to board at one of the doors towards the back of the train.

"Remember, Draco, you cannot tell anyone. Not even Blaise and Pansy, alright?"

"Yes, mother," Draco answered with a sigh, "I know. I won't tell anyone and I'll remain masked at all times."

"Good. Hopefully you will find your mate this year and don't forget to tell me if you do. Also, send me regular owls with updates or I will bribe a Hogwarts elf to spy on you."

Draco was used to this after 7 years but he gulped nonetheless, "Yes, of course, mother."

"Alright, now. Be good! I shall see you for the Christmas Holidays."

"Bye, mother!" Draco gave Narcissa a quick hug and then sped off to find his friends aboard the Hogwarts Express.

As Draco made his way along the train, he opened the doors to each compartment, looking for Blaise and Pansy. He opened the door to the second to last compartment and his jaw dropped. Draco was looking directly into the green eyes of Harry Potter, but what really shocked him was that Potter was shirtless.