Everything But Mine

So loveys, here’s some veela love for you. Warning! There’s a little bit of lime flavour in the end!

Draco was in despair all day long, since she left to meet that idiot. Sure, he couldn’t forbid her to see her friends, but then again, he’d give her all the time she’d want with Weasley or Potter, as those though stupid, were harmless. They weren’t after his mate. Krum had definitely set his greedy little eyes on Draco’s Angel, and the veela wanted to go and beat the contender into a shivering bloody pulp.

Draco didn’t like this trait of his veela part, but he understood why it was like this. He felt an ache in his heart every minute she was away, and at some moments, the veela’s suggestion that giving Krum just a tiny beating would be so good felt intriguing.

Draco knew that he was an emotional wreck, all due to the fact that he had decided to be noble for once in his life. He didn’t want to force her into the reality that she was his veela mate and that her decline to be with him would mean his soon death.

That would be the easy route, making her face the facts and pull on her pity string. But then she would be with him just because she had a duty to save the veela. Draco wanted her to love him as a man, not the creature.

Unlike Krum, Draco’s love would be pure and without any self-gain motives. He wanted her to love him back, that was all…

Suppressing the veela’s various suggestions of possibilities of giving lots of bodily harm to Viktor Krum, Draco had buried himself in looking through reports from the several companies he now owned.

For a moment he had thought to seek advice from Severus, but even though Severus had a golden heart underneath the dark scowl, Draco was sure he had no idea what to do about relationships.

Going through the lists of his international holdings and companies finally gave him a brilliant idea of how to charm the mate without violence. To his surprise, it had turned out that he owned a large chain of pet stores throughout France he hadn’t known about previously.

A bright idea struck him and he Flooed the chain’s managing director and asked him to find an orange half-kneazle cat with green eyes. It had taken only a few hours till a little kneazle kitten was portkeyed to his study.

And the kitten was the orange ball jumping at Hermione now. Draco’s Seeker reflexes kicked in and he caught the kitten just before Hermione unsheathed her wand.

For a moment, Hermione stood still, looking at Draco and trying to figure out what the furry thing he held in his arms was. Her gaze drifted from the orange ball to Draco’s face. He looked like a fallen angel with his impish grin and tousled hair. Even more gorgeous than all the hunks in the woman’s magazines her mother kept on forwarding to her so she could stay up to date with what’s going on in the Muggle world.

It was illogical to admire Draco’s beauty when she already had a boyfriend. Sure, Viktor was nowhere close to Draco’s almost fairy-like radiance, but what did it matter to her? Draco was her charge, she had to take care of him and not leer at him. She had Viktor for the exploration of the intimate aspects between a man and a woman.

Just for a break of a second Draco thought that Hermione had been looking at him in a different way. Not the way a guardian checks if their charge is alright. Her gaze had been different, like she was eyeing him like an attractive man. Draco wished he had looked better for that. The pale blue shirt and slacks were not really making him look suave, they were just casual. Was casual enough to impress the mate? The veela in him was nervous again and wanted to and change into some more impressive outfit. The veela didn’t want to miss any chance to impress the mate after all.

The kitten in Draco’s arms wiggled and tried to escape. ‘Meow!’ the kitten protested when all escape plans had been rendered futile.

‘Who is that?’ Hermione asked as she was the first one to take notice of the fur ball.

‘It’s… a cat, actually a half-kneazle.’ Draco mumbled and blushed. All the speeches he had thought of giving about the cat and how much work it was to obtain that specimen were lost to him. He was still very confident around other people, like the his French Employees, but when it came to his mate, his confidence was lost to a mush of veela insecurity. Once they are mated, however, he could be sure of what she thinks of him and be less nervous.

‘Powr!’ the kitten raised its voice again, as it couldn’t understand why the two humans were just standing there and staring at each other.

‘Can I hold the kitten for a moment?’ Hermione asked, absolutely mesmerized by the little kitten. It looked so much like her late beloved Crookshanks that it made her heart ache.

Draco handed her the kitten and Hermione reveled in the feel of the fluffy fur and the content purring.

‘What’s his name?’ she asked Draco, her eyes never leaving the orange fluff ball.

‘Actually, it’s a girl-kitten. She doesn’t have a chosen name yet, but at the pet store they called her Venus Furball.’

‘Venus Furball? What a silly name!’ Hermione giggled as the kitten licked her hand with her velvet sandpaper tongue.
‘And she is yours. You can name her whatever you like,’ Draco added, making sure that she knew whose cat it was.

‘Mine? Are you sure?’ Hermione asked, surprised that he would give her such a gem of a cat.

‘Yes, I got her especially for you.’

‘Oh, Draco, that’s so sweet of you!’ Hermione stepped forward and pressed a friendly kiss on his cheek. ‘I always kept on looking for that kind of cat, but none of the stores ever had one like her.’

‘I got her from my pet store chain in France. I guess I was just lucky…’ Draco said and blushed. Once again the veela’s insecurity was taking over. ‘The elves said something about setting up a cat room. Would you like to take a look at what they’ve done?’

‘Of course!’ she cradled the kitten in her arms and followed Draco to the mysterious cat room.

The room itself was cat paradise. A mountain of all kinds of cat toys was set out in one corner, silver bowls with the Malfoy crest emblazoned on them awaited the hungry kitten on a pedestal, one bowl with water, another with milk and the third with some kind of creamy food. The most amazing cat climbing tree system was installed, with a net and slide leading to an opulent four poster single bed, littered in plush pillows.

The kitten managed to wriggle out of Hermione’s grasp and run to explore the playground. Hermione watched the kitten in amazement, too overwhelmed for words.

‘Do you like it? If there’s something you don’t like, I will make them replace it with something else,’ Draco offered, hoping that she liked some things in the room though.

‘Do you realise how much this cost?’ Hermione gasped as she walked around the spacious room, looking at all the things a cat lover wanted to get for their pet but never could afford.

‘I have no idea. I just wanted to give you a pet complete with everything it might need.’

‘A tin of mashed tuna and an old pillow for the cat to sleep on would’ve been enough.’

‘So you don’t like this?’ Draco asked his voice sadder. He had hoped she’d be charmed by the kitten and the toys for it.

‘Of course, I love it, you prat!’ she giggled and pushed him to the cat bed. Her action had taken him by surprise, but somehow he had managed to grab her with him during his fall and they both tumbled onto the overly fluffy and bouncy bed.

‘So you’re not annoyed at me for this?’ he asked, just to be sure.

‘Of course, I’m not annoyed. But you didn’t need to spend an obscene amount of money on a cat.’

The veela felt like in heaven. Without realising it, Hermione was straddling him. He liked the way her weight felt on top of him, how her gorgeous unruly hair caressed his cheek. If only her prefect lips would descend to his for a kiss. A veela could dream, right?

‘Hermione, money is not what matters to me. All I care for is that you’re happy here.’

‘Oh, Draco, That’s so sweet of you.’

He smiled back at her, wishing that he was the only man she’d be interested in. Right now it seemed to be true, at least for that tiny moment. His breathing hitched because she looking at him with such intensity. There was that appraising look again, as if she was considering kissing him.

Just as the moment had started it ended as the vivacious kitten crashed into their side. Hermione got off of Draco What they had done just yet was like from a romance novel she had read, but the heroes in the book had began to kiss and…

Taking the kitten in her lap Hermione was glad that she had a good reason not to look at Draco.

The veela wanted to pull her back to the position they had landed and preferably kiss. Slowly, tenderly…
But he had felt her discomfort and that’s why he let her go and busy herself with the kitten. He liked to watch her pamper the little fur ball, and it assured him that she would make a brilliant mother for their children one day.

All the time whilst she was grooming the cat she felt Draco’s gaze linger on her, so she concentrated on the lavish accessories the cat had. The brush easily glided through the kitten’s fur, maybe the extra-fluff powder was a little too much, but at least she didn’t use the cat perfume she found on the dresser next to the bed.

But Hermione couldn’t resist the diamante collar she found on the dresser next to the brushes. It was so nice to have a cat again, especially one so much like her late beloved feline.

Little Venus purred appreciatively and licked her hand, then got up from Hermione’s lap and strolled over to the cat food pedestal.

‘Would you like to get something to eat as well?’ Draco asked, catching her unawares. He was so close, his breath ghosting over her neck was sending tingles down her spine. Maybe she was just catching a cold, Hermione though, as she rarely felt shivers from someone’s presence.

‘Don’t worry about the kitten, a young elf is set to watch her and make sure she’s safe. If she wants to find you she’ll be guided to you, don’t worry.’

‘I guess dinner would be good then,’ Hermione answered, feeling a little light headed. Maybe it was the strain of the day which had finally manifested itself.

‘The elves said they’ve set out dinner in the garden next to the pond. They thought that the evening’s too nice to be sitting inside.’ Draco received a little missive from the elves asking him whether he’d liked a special dinner setting, so he had scribbled back a note saying that he wished it to be as romantic as possible. It wasn’t that he was working behind her back; he just wanted to get a chance with her.

‘I wouldn’t want to disappoint the elves,’ Hermione said and stood up to escape the heat coming from Draco’s body. Hermione hadn’t felt like this when she had been with Viktor, so it wasn’t the problem of closeness to Draco, she reasoned.

However, she didn’t shake off Draco’s hand when he took hers, as she didn’t want to hurt his feelings. After all, she was there to help him and rejecting his innocent touch would be just plain cruel to his fragile emotional state.

Draco was happy that his beloved mate wanted to spend time in his company. Sure, holding her hand for the short walk to the estate’s picturesque pond was not enough for the veela to be satisfied but it was more than nothing. The veela wanted more, though, and Draco felt the mild hum of veela magic in the air. It was just enough to make her relax.

Hermione started to feel at ease again. The dinner was set out perfectly on elevated trays and the seating area was set out on the lawn, on a cushioning charm enhanced blanket. They ate in silence, enjoying the wide selection of grilled meats and vegetables.

Hermione was quiet because she didn’t know what to talk about. Her day with Viktor had been fantastic, but did Draco really need to know that she had now a boyfriend?

Draco, on the other hand, was silent because he had to keep the veela at bay. The veela wanted to tell her that she is his mate and that they should make love and live happily ever after. He was too chicken to her that now. it wasn’t the right time now, he hadn’t yet charmed her enough to love him.

Watching her eat the dessert was truly excruciating. The way her lips closed around the little pieces of chocolate dipped fruit made the veela want to pull her close and kiss her sweet mouth and then make even sweeter love to her.

As he couldn’t yet do that, he just watched her covertly, enjoying even their quiet time together, as she was there with him and not with idiot Krum.

Draco was so lost in thought that when he looked at her once again, he saw that she was fast asleep. Her chest rose and fell in slow motions, and she looked so cute to him. Not wasting any time, Draco scooped her up in his arms and carried her back to the house. Even though it was a warm night it would do no good for her to catch a cold.

The veela was rather happy about this task. Being close to the mate like this, protecting her from the cold was perfect in the veela’s love obsessed mind. Draco didn’t feel his mate’s weight at all; it was like carrying a feather. His heart beat faster when Hermione snuggled closer into his chest and sighed sleepily.

It didn’t take Draco long to decide to take her to his bed. He rushed to change into his pyjamas, this time discarding the pyjama top. He wanted to feel her close to his heart, without the barrier of the fabric. Veelas were very touchy feely and Draco didn’t mind that aspect of his new self. It was nice to feel her every touch amplified to jolts of electrifying pleasure.

The pyjama Draco had changed her into was more to his liking than the ones she usually wore to bed. The little strappy tank top and hot pants left little to his imagination, the pink hearts print only adding to her alluring innocence. Slipping under the covers next to her, Draco wrapped his arms around her and fell into blissful sleep within seconds.

Hermione woke slowly; it was too nice to jump out of bed straight away. Her head was resting on a nicely defined chest, and even though she knew that she was resting against Draco it didn’t feel wrong somehow, because their relationship was special.

She wiggled a little to get more comfortable, but something hard was poking her thigh. Maybe the poor boy had forgotten his wand in his pocket after changing her into the pyjama. Hermione wanted Draco to sleep comfortable, so she reached down and started searching for the wand, intending to put it on the dresser…

Her hand travelled lower, over his thighs till she reached the bulge. Her fingers moved over the silk of his pyjama bottoms till she reached the hardness. It was definitely hotter and thicker then a wand…

Draco moaned audibly, and suddenly the realization hit Hermione like a Bludger. Gods, she had been touching him… or better yet, molesting him when he trusted her.

She scurried off the bed and run to the door. She heard him call after her, but she didn’t look back as she was just too embarrassed.

So what should our star-crossed lovers do next? Veela loves reviews, remember?