The courting

Chapter 30. A master vampire and a family's magical core

Draco POV

I was sitting in my potions lab when Toppy informed me that a guest was on my door. I took off my gloves and went upstairs. I hadn't expected someone today, so I was curious to find out who was on the door. 

When I arrived on the entrance hall I was rather surprised to see an old friend standing there. His dark skin made him stand out next to the crème walls.
Blaise was wearing a dark green shirt and some jeans while he leaned one foot against a small table. 

"Blaise, old friend! What brought you here, bloodsucker?" I asked him while giving him a hug.
I was smaller than him by two inches, but that didn't surprise me, he was the master of a coven after all. "Hello you too, birdie! I wanted to ask if you had a bed for me to sleep in and maybe a warm meal?"
"Inviting yourself again?" I asked and led him into the living room and made him sit down while Toppy prepared a little afternoon snack.

"How's the coven?" I asked him and leaned back. "Getting uneasy. You know, you Veelas do have it easy, you can choose your mate. I need to find my intended! There is only so much my babies can give me."
Against muggle believes, vampires didn't suck random peoples blood, they needed their intended's blood to survive. Before they are able to go to search them, they feed of their parents and later of the people they turned, but it will never sedate their hunger for long. 

"I know your coven is in Ireland, so why are you here, near London?" I asked him and took the plate Toppy gave me.
I noticed that she had cleaned the rug she was wearing and redone her bow. Now I understood why she had asked for an afternoon off. I hoped he was worth it. 

"My coven and I are hunting Dumbledore's horcrux-crew. The bounty that was put on their heads seems like the thing I need."
I didn't look up what reward the dark Lord put up for their heads, but when Blaise left the safety of his coven to hunt them, it had to be quite a sum. 

"I send my younglings to check Ireland and the adults are searching through Scotland. I didn't want them in England, because of the ministry. Them and their: What if a vampire bites a muggle?-shit" He shook his head and drank his glass of wine.
"All in all, you will have me out of your hair by tomorrow, I just got tired of sleeping in the woods." 

Blaise was uneasy, he hated it when his coven wasn't together at one place. "Any specific reason you send your whole coven for this hunt?" I asked, trying not to seem suspicious.
"The reward for them is a big piece of land near the coven, and I can keep one of them. Maybe the Granger girl would make a good guinea pig for my younglings, so I can ween them off me a little."
I nodded again, but I felt there was more to it. Still, I let him be and showed him his room for tonight. 

I left Blaise to rest and went into my study. I still had some letters to write, to my relatives. Mother and father had already agreed to come home from their trip to China for next weekend, and my grandparents had agreed to.
My aunt was still sceptical, but I hoped she would come. Harry had informed me of the last challenge: Introducing the family. I knew this would come sooner or later. 

At least I knew my opponents and their weaknesses, and I would make the mistakes they would make.

Harry POV

"What?! How is this possible?!" grandmother shouted when I answered her questions with no. She was going up and down in the kitchen and looking at me up and down.
"You are really sure you weren't taught Veela magic?" I nodded my head and pulled my knees up to my chest. 

Angry people always scared me. When grandma saw that she stopped immediately and hugged me.
"I am sorry Harry. It's just, I feel like the biggest failure because I didn't provide you with the care you needed in your youth. It's the job of the head of the family to teach young Veelas their magic, you know?" I nodded my head in her neck and she lead me to the living room.
She knelt on the ground, and I did the same. 

"Each Veela family has their own type of magic, and for you to mate properly, you need to learn your own magic and compare it to the one of your potential mate." I nodded and folded my hands.
"And how do I know that?" Grandmother took my hands and placed them in her lap. 

"Through touch. When you have access to your family magic core, you will need to touch your suitor and let a little of your magic out. If you aren't compatible, it will feel like you were hit in the stomach. If you are compatible, you will feel a huge happiness. But that is all in the future, little one. Let's focus on the present, hm?" she explained and told me to sit crisscross.
"Close your eyes Harry, and just listen to me talk. Whatever happens, don't fight it." She instructed and I did as told.

 "Harry, I won't be able to teach you the magic of your father, the Gaunt magical dominant core, fired by the power they are holding. But I can teach you the magic of your mother, the Prince submissive core, fired by the bond they have with each other." 

I felt how she touched my shoulder, and I felt like I was pulled out of my body, entering a new dimension.
I remembered grandmother's words, and let everything happen to me.

I was standing in a white room, and on the walls, videos were running. By what grandma had said, I figured they must show the life of the Prince submissives before me. I tried to find my own, but I was interrupted from a voice coming out of nothing.
"This is the core of our magic. A part of each Prince is stuck in here, and you need to be accepted by each one, so you can bond with them. Just be yourself when they ask you questions." I nodded my head and smoothed out my dress when I felt the room spinning and all the videos disappeared, and built one person. 

She was wearing a dark red dress and a tiara. Even though her appearance was the one of a young adult, her eyes looked like the one of an old woman.
"Hello dear. My name is Luisa Prinz, the first member of the Prince family. Now tell me, what is your name?"
I was taken back for a second. Prinz? My family originated in Germany? I realized I was asked a question and collected myself. 

"My name is Harry. Harry Prince-Gaunt." The woman nodded and as quick as she appeared, she left.
Next, a young man appeared. But he didn't ask me anything, just looked me up and down, nodded and disappeared. Again, the scene changed, and another man appeared. I couldn't put his clothes into any historical context. 

"Hello there, youngling. I am Cornelius Prinz, your first ancestor that lived in Great Britain. Tell me, have you been honest with your family?" he asked and I just nodded.
All this went on for two more family members, when the walls began to move even faster than before, and I was thrown around, until all I saw was black and I realized that I had my eyes closed. 

I slowly opened it to see my grandmother breathing hard. I rushed to her side and tried to help her.
"Do you need to lie down, should I bring you some medicine?" I asked her while sitting her down on the sofa. 

"It's nothing Harry, the ritual just takes a lot of my energy, especially the first ancestors, because they are so deep down in our magic. We will have to do this thing again quite some times, but it will get easier."
She just caught her breath when I felt a tug in my mind. "Is it normal that I feel like someone is tugging on my brain?" I asked her, but she looked at me shocked. 

"I feel it too. NEVILLE!" She shouted and the brunette ran into the living room quickly. "Yes, Eileen?" 

"We need to leave, now. Severus is calling us." 

A/N: What do you think, why is Blaise searching the trio? And what might the magical core of Draco and his opponents be?

MeineKeime