Claim for Life

Disclaimer, I do not own these characters, I'm just having fun writing and not making money.

I really do underestimate myself sometimes, next chapter....
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Chapter 10

Anthony was pissed. Where the hell was Hermione? Why wasn’t she in the library? And where were her two dimwitted friends? This day definitely wasn’t going the way he had planned. How was he supposed to get the Head Girl to give up her virginity to him if she kept managing to avoid him like this? He briefly wondered if she had somehow managed to find out about the bet, but he disregarded that thought immediately. Ravenclaws knew better than to broadcast their business to the rest of the school, especially when word could somehow filter back to the person in question, in this case Hermione. No, there was no way she knew, unless she somehow took that comment of Malfoy’s to heart, but why would she listen to that git? No, he must of misjudged their destination. Come to think of it the youngest Weasley had Charms right after lunch, maybe they walked her to the classroom before heading to their next location, which could be anywhere. Anthony scowled and walked up to a group of other 7th year Ravenclaws studying at a table near the back. He dropped his bag beside the table and pulled up a chair, sharing a few brief greetings with his housemates before opening his bag and pulling out some of his homework. He would try again with Hermione that night in the common room.

Anthony briefly glanced up when Malfoy and Zabini barged into the library, and like many of his housemates gave the Slytherin’s a dirty look. He still hadn’t figured out what was up with them and Granger, but he felt secure enough that they wouldn’t be much of an obstacle for him. But if they made her cry maybe he could be there to comfort her, among other things. He smirked to himself as images of him jumping in between an argument between Hermione and Malfoy, and sending the pale git running off with his tail between his legs as Hermione thanked him by taking him into her bedroom and letting him ravish her into the bed. Anthony shook himself out of the day dream as he felt his cock begin to twitch. He definitely had to have her soon.

***
Harry kept one of his eyes on Hermione for the rest of the day, making sure she didn’t relapse into another fit of tears. He knew she wasn’t completely alright yet, but he didn’t know what exactly he could do. So he decided to keep by her and be supportive until after class when they could find Ginny, she always knew how to cheer Hermione up. Satisfied with his line of action, Harry turned his attention back to the professor, only to find himself zoning out and losing track of the lecture within minutes.

Hermione tried to concentrate on the class, but found her attention lacking. She was still very shaken from Ron’s attack, but she still couldn’t bring herself miss any classes. She knew Harry was keeping an eye on her and she was grateful he hadn’t tried to force her to miss class and talk. She also couldn’t decide whether she should tell Harry about Blaise and Draco. She had originally wanted to wait until at least after she had spoken with her boys, but now she didn’t know if it was such a good idea. She knew Harry would support her, but was she really ready to admit to one of her best friends that the real reason she couldn’t date their other best friend was because she was the destined mate of two of their enemies? She didn’t know if she could handle telling him just yet. Gods, she couldn’t wait until she could talk to Ginny again. She knew Harry had the same idea. Ginny was the only person outside of the so called ‘Golden Trio’ that actually knew as much about them as they did themselves, the ‘Golden Quartette’ would have been a more appropriate title, but most people seemed to forget the youngest Weasley sibling, even if she was dating the famous Harry Potter. Hermione wondered briefly where and when the term ‘Golden Trio’ had originated but found that she hadn’t the slightest clue.

‘I wonder what people will call Draco, Blaise and I when we finally get together,’ she wondered idly to herself. For the first time since Hermione came to Hogwarts she found herself counting down the minutes until class was over. She knew that Blaise and Draco were aware of her distress on some level because she kept getting pangs of emotions she knew weren’t hers, hate and rage being the most powerful of the plethora that were distracting her.

When the bell finally rang, signaling the end of classes for the day Hermione and Harry were the first to leave, avoiding the questions their roommates tossed at them concerning the missing red head. Harry and Hermione made their way down the hall way, away from the class but when Hermione turned to go to her own Head Dorms Harry stopped her.

“Hermione, do you want to come to the Gryffindor common room? Everyone’s expecting you.” Harry started, “If you’re not up to it I can tell everyone you wanted to finish writing that essay for Sprout.”

“Nonsense Harry, I finished that essay yesterday,” Hermione retorted, slightly scandalized, “I will come up to the common room though, if only to find Ginny, but if Ron is there I am not going in and I am not talking to him, ok?”

“Hermione, if you hadn’t said anything I would have insisted. Don’t worry, Ron’s not going to get anywhere near you until you say so.” Harry assured her warmly, “You know, I’m kind of afraid for Ron when Ginny finds out. She’s not going to take this lightly or let it slide,” he mused.

“She’ll probably threaten to castrate him, and then she’ll tell the rest of her family and they WILL castrate him,” Hermione said, “No more than he deserves.”

Harry winced at this last comment, “You don’t mean that, do you?” he asked.

Hermione sighed, “At this moment, yes I do mean it. Maybe I will forgive him one day, I don’t know yet. What I do know is things will never be the way they were ever again.” She glanced up at Harry and then stopped walking. Harry had taken a few more steps before he too stopped and looked back at the weary and emotional Head Girl, “Look Harry, I don’t want to put you in a bad position here. Ron is your best friend, if you think it will cause too much of a problem, you don’t have to be friends with me.”

“What on Earth are you talking about, Hermione?” Harry asked, flabbergasted, “You are my friend as much as Ron is, even more so right now because of what he did to you. I am not going to abandon you, especially since you’ve been hurt, and by Ron none the less. Oh no, I’m not going anywhere, and if you were trying to get rid of me, tough luck.”

Hermione smiled at Harry’s heartfelt declaration, “You really mean it?” she asked timidly, and in response Harry wrapped his arms around her in another comforting hug.

“Always Hermione,” he promised.

“Thank you” she whispered. They stood there for a few more moments until Hermione regained her composure.

“Now, let’s go find Ginny, and talk to the rest of our house about this problem with the Head Boy,” Harry offered Hermione his arm with a grin.

Hermione smiled and linked her arm with his, “Sounds like a good plan to me.”

***
Blaise and Draco rushed out of their final period Astronomy class as soon as the bell rung, focused on finding Hermione to make sure she was still ok before they retreated to Draco’s room to await the delivery from Honeydukes. When they caught sight of her Harry Potter had his arms around her again, a fact that caused them both to growl with frustration, but they watched another man comfort their mate. They both breathed a sigh of relief when Harry pulled back, but an soft, but audible snarl, escaped Draco’s lips as Hermione linked arms with Harry and headed off in the direction of Gryffindor Tower. Draco made to follow them but Blaise stopped him, pulling him in the direction of the dungeons.

“She’s safe with Potter, we can leave them,” he stated.

“Are you sure?” Draco questioned.

Blaise nodded once, “We saw how they interact earlier, Potter is keeping her safe right now, we may not like him but she trusts him. He’s the one who needs to be with her right now. And besides, Potter’s got Weaselette, he’s not about the start moving in on our territory.”

“Interesting that the Gryffindors are planning something to do with the Head Boy.” Draco observed.

“Which is exactly what you had in mind when you let that little bet slip to Weaselette,” Blaise countered with a smirk.

Draco smirked right back, “First lesson in never getting caught, never do your own dirty work. This is why we’re in Slytherin, and they are in Gryffindor,” he added with a laugh.

“There is that, but then there is also the saying, if you want something done right, do it yourself. I don’t trust them to do a full job, but they certainly will keep the git occupied.”

Draco raised an eyebrow, “You have another plan?”

“Is your basic potions set fully stocked?” Blaise asked, purposefully remaining vague. Draco nodded slowly, still eyeing the beautiful Italian, “Then let us go brew up a bit of mischief for the Head Boy. I think I know a wonderfully uncomfortable flavorless concoction that will keep our foe quite preoccupied.” Draco smirked, thinking of the numerous possibilities, each more excruciating than the last. He was brought out of his ruminations as Blaise continued speaking, “Once we deal with him we can start planning on revenge on the Weasel.” Draco’s face hardened and he nodded. The Weasel had gone too far and he was going to pay, in a very slow and painful way, but for now there were more pressing concerns. Draco glanced out the window and saw two huge barn owls carrying oversized packages and heading for the owl entrance to his private room, he indicated to Blaise and the two of them picking up their pace.

***
The owls were sitting on Draco’s bed when they entered the room, awaiting payment for the packages and their services. Draco grabbed a money bag off his maple desk and fastened it to one of the owls, before offering each of them an owl treat and thanking them for the delivery. The owls glided out of the room satisfied. Draco turned to the packages on his bed. One of them was wrapped in Ravenclaw blue cellophane, the other red. Both had blank cards attached to them, which he removed, turning back to his desk. He grabbed a quill and a bottle of emerald ink from his drawer and began to forge the cards.

Meanwhile, Blaise had pulled out the potion they finished earlier and Draco’s potion set, adding water in the caldron and conjuring a small blue flame to heat it, he began to select ingredients, chopping or grinding them as necessary before adding them to the bubbling water, making sure to not let himself inhale any of the noxious fumes.

When Draco finished his writing, he examined his handiwork. If he hadn’t known better he would have thought they were official. A job well done indeed. After preening for a few more moments over his accomplishment Draco turned to join Blaise who was adding the last few ingredients to the potion.

“So love, what concoction did you decide to go with?” Draco asked, eyeing the volatile ingredients warily.

“Let’s just say Goldstein isn’t going to be dropping his trousers for any girls anytime in the near future.” Blaise replied with a wicked grin. Draco eyed the potion even more warily, before stepping back.

“A shrivel potion then? Or is it for impotence?” He asked.

“Shrivel” Blaise responded simply as if he were commenting on the weather, “Though from what I’ve heard some of the Slytherin girls say there’s not much there to begin with.”

Draco snorted, “Not surprising really, his other head is too big, things have to balance out after all.”

Blaise laughed, added the last ingredient and set a quick timer spell, “There, that just needs to simmer for a few minutes. Let’s add the finishing touch to our lovers basket shall we?”

Blaise snatched up the bottle of potion the two of them had completed earlier that day. If made and administered properly it caused the drinker to seek out the person whose blood was used while they slept. Blaise and Draco both had discussed how they thought Hermione was going to react that first morning when she woke up in bed next to both of them. Draco worried it would be too shocking for her, but Blaise merely brushed off his concerns, telling him to wait and see, convinced she wouldn’t have a problem with that turn of events. Draco was still not completely sure, but he knew better than to question Blaise. He had gone this long without a punishment today and he was keen on keeping it that way, especially if Hermione was to be joining them later. Blaise unwrapped the red cellophane from the first basket and pulled the cork off the top of the potion bottle, tilting it over the basket and slowly letting it drip onto the mouthwatering selection of chocolates and toffees. He rewrapped the package with a spell and moved set it aside, turning around to find Draco staring lustfully at his ass. Draco raised his lust laced eyes to Blaise’s and found himself being pulled into a forceful and passionate kiss, only pulling back when the timer spell rang out it’s completion. Blaise pulled back and slightly pushed Draco towards the simmering cauldron while he unwrapped the blue package. Draco grabbed a small ladle and scooped out a portion of the potion. He stepped up beside his counterpart and slowly began to pour the potion onto the chocolates. They both grinned evilly as it sizzled and cracked before absorbing into confections leaving no sign of tampering. Blaise rewrapped the package, placed a spell on it so no one could open it except the addressee and, while Draco reattached the cards, he called for an elf. Dobby was the one who appeared, and yelped when he saw Draco.

“Dobby?” Draco eyed the elf curiously, “What are you doing here?”

Dobby bowed low, his entire body shaking, “I is working here Master Draco, Professor Dumbledore pays Dobby for his work and is kind to him.” The tremor was also apparent in his voice, “What can Dobby do for the young Masters?”

Draco started to question the elf further but Blaise cut him off, “These two packages,” he said, indicating the spiked candies, “were sent here by accident, they were suppose to be taken to the Head Dorms, they’re from the school governors.”

Dobby turned his gaze to the red and blue covered baskets, and eyed them suspiciously. He began to question the orders when Blaise cut him off.

“Now get them out of my sight before I am temped to destroy them for amusement,” he barked.

Dobby yelped and quickly jumped up to grab the baskets; aparating out of the room with a CRACK! Blaise and Draco shared a triumphant smirk, before Draco found himself pushed back on the bed, with a hot, needy body covering him and demanding his attention. He immediately surrendered himself to his lovers kisses are caresses.

***
On the other side of the castle, in the Gryffindor common room Hermione was once again being forced to relive her trauma from earlier that day. Every shocked eye in the room was on the distraught Head Girl, who was currently sobbing into Ginny’s shoulder. When Hermione finished talking Harry stood up and addressed the room.

“This is getting ridiculous! I would expect this kind of behavior from a Slytherin, not one of our own, or the Head Boy.” Harry looked around the room levelly, searching they eyes for something, guilt, resigned knowledge, anything that would give him a clue as to Ron’s behavior, “Ron betrayed Hermione’s trust in a horrid way, but what’s worse is in doing do he also betrayed the trust of the rest of us, and for the life of me I can’t figure out why.”

“I think I can answer that.” Harry jumped and turned, coming face to face with his Head of House, Professor McGonnagal, who was eyeing Hermione sympathetically, “Mr. Weasley was just transferred to St. Mungos, apparently he has been using an incorrectly made potion which has been slowly poisoning his mind. Not to worry though, the Healers are confident they will be able to set him right, though he will not be with us for a few months at least. This potion has a strong hold on his body. Now I am going to ask this next question only once,” the professor turned to stare down the rest of the students in her house, “Does anyone know where Mr. Weasley got the ingredients to make a Reve Bellum potion?”

The was a collective gasp from room. The Reve Bellum potion had been made illegal the day after its introduction into the wizarding world. It was an intense and powerfully addictive hallucinogen that temporarily altered the user’s reality so they felt like their dreams were real. Everyone in the room exchanged looks, trying to find out if someone else knew, but no one spoke.

“Very well then, if anyone does happen to hear anything or you do not wish to speak in front of your peers, I urge you to come see me or Professor Dumbledore privately.” McGonagal finished gravely. She went to leave, but then turned back to Hermione, who had stopped crying and was looking shocked at the revelation of Ron’s substance abuse, and to Ginny who was still comforting the Head Girl, and who looked distinctly outraged, yet nervous, “Miss Weasley, you don’t have to worry about informing your parents, they have already been informed. And Miss Granger, if you want to see Mme. Pomfrey I believe she has a calming draught prepared if you feel you need it. Also if you have any requests or concerns please come to me immediately. I apologize profusely for this breach of trust that had occurred. The staff will do all they can to make sure nothing of this nature happens again.” When she saw Hermione’s faint nod, McGonagal turned and strode out of the room.

As soon as the portrait was closed, the room exploded with conversation. Harry sat down on the couch, completely astounded. After a few moments of silence on his part he turned to Ginny, “Did you have any…”

Ginny cut him off, shaking her head, “I noticed him change, but I thought that was just because of the break up and the stress of the war.” They lapsed back into silence, unsure of what to say to Hermione.

Hermione glanced up at the room; everyone’s eyes were on her again as they gossiped about Ron and her. She turned to face her friends, “I’m going to go to my dorm, I don’t want to be here right now. Will you come with me?” She asked, imploring them with her eyes.

“You don’t even have to ask, ‘Mione,” Harry reassured as he stood up and grabbed his and Hermione’s bag, stumbling slightly under the weight of the latter, “Gods, Hermione, you do keep a miniature library in here, don’t you?” he joked, eliciting a small smile from the depressed brunette.

“You know me, Harry” she said simply before Ginny linked her arm through Hermione’s and started leading her towards the door, Harry following, sending one last look at his roommates, warning them not to upset Hermione, lest they wish to deal with him, before following the girls out of the room.

Ginny leaned over to Hermione as they walked down the hall, Harry a few feet behind, “Are you going to tell him?” she whispered, meaningfully.

Hermione shot her a startled look, before lapsing into a contemplative silence for a few moments before slowly saying, “I should…”

“You should what?” Harry asked coming up beside his curly haired friend, looking down at her 5’4” frame questioningly.

Hermione sighed and looked up at the wizarding world’s hero, her best friend, and sighed, “I’ll tell you when we get to the Head Dorms,” she said, resigned. Harry shot Ginny a questioning look but her face was unreadable. They made the rest of the journey in a slightly awkward silence.

When they entered the Head Dorm Anthony was sitting on one of the large sofas with his homework spread out over the coffee table. He looked up when the Gryffindor’s and scowled when he saw Hermione wasn’t alone. He covered it quickly and tried to greet them warmly, only to be shut up by glares from both Harry and Ginny. Hermione didn’t even raise her eyes to look at him, which managed to piss him off even more. No, he would have no mercy on the girl when he finally got her alone, he vowed as he watched the trio make their way up to Hermione’s bed room. As soon as the door was closed Anthony was on his feet following the path of the Gryffindors. He stood outside of the Head Girls door and pressed his ear up against the door, but heard nothing.

“Damn it,” he muttered to himself, turning away from the door. They obviously had put a silencing charm on the room. He briefly wondered what they were doing or discussing as he returned to his homework. The only thing he could do was sit and wait for them to exit, maybe they would let something slip when they left that could assist him in his plans. He grinned smugly to himself as he picked up his potions test once again.

***
Once they had entered the room, Hermione immediately put a silencing charm up and locked and warded every entrance to the room before settling down on her bed and wrapping her arms around herself. They sat in silence for 10 extremely long minutes, Hermione staring off into space, not moving, with Harry and Ginny watching her, fidgeting and occasionally sharing significant glances.

Harry knew Ginny knew whatever it was Hermione had to tell him, but for the life of him he couldn’t figure out what it had to do with. It wasn’t about Ron or Anthony; she would have said something before. Harry’s eyebrows knit together as he tried to decipher what was wrong with his intelligent friend.

“What do you know about Veela?” Hermione asked quietly, startling Harry out of his ruminations.

“Veela?” he asked, verifying he was hearing her correctly, when she nodded, looking him straight in the eye, he began to answer, “Not much. Fleur is quarter Veela, and has some of the powers. They’re creatures of lust and can seduce anyone. I think they are usually female. That’s about all I know, sorry it’s not much.” Hermione nodded again.

“There are two variety of Veela,” Hermione explained, her voice giving no indication of where she was going with this so Harry listened avidly, “Southern and Northern, and although most Veela are female there are some males. Veelas also have pre-destined life mates, whom they are dependent on and are required to bond with; failure to do so causes them to slip into insanity and slowly die. So needless to say they are very possessive and protective of their mates, and of course as you know, they are extremely sexual creatures, their driving instinct is to reproduce.”

“This is interesting Hermione, but I don’t see what any of this had to do with you.” Harry asked, casting a glance at Ginny who was studying his reactions closely.

Hermione sighed and continued, “I found out…” she broke off, unsure how to word her revelation. She continued as Harry urged her on, “I found out that there are two male Veela in the school.” She looked at her friend expectantly.

Harry was eyeing her strangely, “And?” he urged.

“I also found out that I am their mate.” Hermione finished in a rush, looking away from Harry before sneaking a glance at his reaction.

Harry looked confused, “Their mate?” Hermione nodded, “Both of them?” he reiterated, Hermione nodded again. Harry glanced at Ginny for confirmation, she was nodding gravely. Harry turned back to Hermione, “How is that possible? How can you be the predestined mate of two Veela? And how did you find out about this mate business anyway?”

“It’s not unheard of for a Veela to have a mate of the same sex as them. But if this happens they will also have a third, of the opposite sex. Triads are very powerful, and I think that once we bond we’ll be a great advantage to the light in this war.” Hermione explained.

“Dumbledore knows,” Ginny piped in, “We went to ask him after Hermione found a book in her bag she didn’t remember checking out of the library.”

“Is that how you found out, a book left in your bag?” Harry asked.

“Sort of,” Hermione began, “I sort of had a few encounters with them the last few days. They sort of, um, accosted me. Once in the library, the second time on my rounds.”

“Accosted?” Harry asked, suspicious. Hermione blushed and pulled back her collar, picking up her wand and removing the spells from the hickeys on. They had healed slightly, but still seemed to pop out from her skin. Harry stared, shocked, with his mouth hanging open. He swallowed, before returning his gaze to Hermione’s face, “Who?”

Hermione dropped her head and murmured sometime Harry didn’t quite hear.

“Oh, come on ‘Mione” Ginny scoffed, “He’s gotta find out sometime. And that sometime had better be soon.”

“Alright, alright,” Hermione took a deep breath before raising her eyes to meet Harry’s, “It’s Blaise Zabini and Draco Malfoy.”

Harry was floored, “Malfoy and Zabini? You can’t be serious!” jumped to his feet, looking back and forth between the girls, half expected one of them to jump up and yell ‘Jokes!’ and fall over laughing. But that didn’t happen, both girls looked at him seriously and silently as he let the declaration sink in. Harry sat back down, at a loss of what to say, “Well that is…unexpected.” Both Hermione and Ginny let out snorts of laughter at that understatement.

Harry turned back to Hermione, “So what does this bonding involve? Or are you allowed to say?”

“Actually, I don’t know much about the bonding,” Hermione admitted, “There’s not much written on the subject. Supposedly Veela are also very secretive when it comes to bonding.”

“So, I assume then that this hasn’t finished going through then?” he asked.

Hermione shook her head, “I haven’t actually spoken to them yet. So far it’s just been brief encounters, dreams and assaults on the senses. It’s part of the courting process, I read about it in a few books Mme. Pince recommended to me” Hermione explained as she saw the confused look on her friends face.

“But aren’t they Death Eaters? Or Death Eaters to be?” he queried.

“According to Dumbledore they have both declared neutrality in the war. I think they want me to do the same, but I down right refuse to leave this fight.” Hermione declared with conviction. She began to say more but was cut off by a rumbling in her stomach.

Ginny glanced up at the clock, “Well at least its dinner time,” she laughed, “Shall we go?”

Harry nodded and turned to Hermione and placed his hands on her shoulders, looking her directly in the eyes, “Listen ‘Mione, I don’t like Malfoy and I don’t like Zabini. I can’t just forgive them for the way they treated you over the last 6 years, nor can I forget how they treated me, Ron and Ginny. But you don’t have a choice about this do you?” When Hermione nodded her ascent he continued, “Then I am going to support you. I may never like those to Slytherin gits, but you will always be my friend and I will always back you. So if they get on your case and you need someone to take care of a few things, I’m your guy. Got it?”

Hermione’s face broke into the first real smile since Ron had attacked her. “Thank you, Harry,” she said as she wrapped her arms around her friend in a big hug.

“I mean it Hermione, now, let’s go get some food into you. You never got to eat that sandwich the elves gave you.” Harry said, pulling away and smiling down at Hermione.

Hermione gasped, “Oh! I hope the elves weren’t insulted I never got to eat it.”

Ginny laughed, “Don’t worry about it Hermione, go down later and I’m sure they’ll be happy to give you another 100 sandwiches if you asked. But for now lets go to the Great Hall, I’m as starved as you remember?”

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A/N: REVIEW

That being said, 4500 hits and 100 reviews in the 5 days since I joined this wonderful writing community. Still writing, still trying to figure out what comes next, but I do have a question for all you readers. New name possibility, Triple Destiny, what do you think? Let me know, thanks. and enjoy. More soon. Ciao!