Veela Inheritance Problems

Chapter 07

The whole room was quiet; nobody was sure of what would happen next. Harry blinked a few times unsure of what to do, he could see that the whole DA was tensing up as if they were preparing for a fight and Hermione was analyzing the Slytherin. Ron was the one who surprised him though; he was looking at Harry, waiting for his decision. Harry took a deep breath and moved to greet Draco at the door, but Ron held him in place muttering that ‘it wouldn’t be proper’ and to leave it to him and to everybody’s surprise, Ron with his wand firmly placed in his pocket was the first to move walking straight up to Draco’s group.

Now, on a normal day Ron wouldn’t mind the whole DA ganging up and beating the Slytherins into a bloody pulp, but the normal days were officially over now that Malfoy had laid his claim on Harry… and Harry accepted. Nope. No more happy pummeling days and as Harry was the closest thing to a family member without actually being one that he had, he knew exactly what he had to do. At least his parents would be proud of his manners, Ron thought bowing his head as he greeted them.

“Welcome to the DA. We are about to start, would you give us the pleasure of your company this evening?”

Harry and Hermione exchanged glances as the rest of the muggle borns in the DA gasped.

“Polyjuice?” mouthed Harry watching his friend.

“Etiquette... I think, either that or shock” muttered Hermione. Harry just raised an eyebrow and was about to say something else when the answer from the Slytherin group caught his attention.

“We are pleased to be here, may this be a joyous meeting,” Offered Nott also bowing his head and extending a basket full of colorful little packages. “The Malfoy family has sent you and yours this token of friendship.”

“The Weasley family, on behalf our son and brother, Harry Potter, head of the Potter family, is pleased with the visit and honored by your friendship. May our bond grow in happiness.” Answered Ron taking the basket and gesturing for the group to enter “Please make yourselves comfortable, we are about to begin.”

Nott bowed his head a bit and they all made their way to Harry who was still standing in the middle of the room a bit shocked with the whole scene. Ron formally handed Harry the basket.

“Thank you” was all that Harry could say feeling very out of place with the large bundle in his hands. ‘Oh, great, now I’ll need etiquette lessons to learn how to say thank you’.

Ron once again saved the moment offering his hand to Draco. “Welcome to D.A., Malfoy. Perhaps we should start the meeting already?”

Draco took Ron’s hand without hesitation. Harry felt like he had been struck by lightning, he turned around to talk to Hermione and she was looking pretty much like him.

'At least I know I’m not insane or something. Ron DID just shake hands with Draco Malfoy. Merlin, could this day became any more bizarre?'

It turned out it could.

All the pureblood members of the DA, and most of the half-bloods, recovered pretty quickly after the initial shock and accepted the Slytherins as if they had been since the very first meeting. They were still a bit awkward about trusting the snakes, but accepted their presence with question.

The muggle-borns took a little longer, but Hermione made a big scene of welcoming Malfoy in to the fold – and was treated politely by the Slytherin prince – what helped a bit, so the night went better than Harry could expect even though very little actual practice was done. The Slytherin were introduced to the rules of the D.A. and brought up to speed with the spells practiced so far.

The group then was divided in to pairs to train a bit so Harry could judge their strengths and weakness but whenever he tried to get near Draco, Ron and Nott would drop whatever they were doing to stand by them. Finally, Harry dragged Ron to a corner of the room.

“Ok. What is going on? I though you were ok with this mate thing between Malfoy and me. What’s changed?” demanded Harry.

“I am! I am very ok with this bonding. That is why I am chaperoning you.”

“You are what to whom?”

“Harry,” Ron explained as if he was talking to a child, “When did you ever see a pure blood behaving in a less than appropriate way? Potions classes and Quidditch matches excluded”

“Well, a certain hunting party at the forbidden forest comes to mind, but that is over, right?”

“Yes, that is completely over as far as you and Malfoy are concern. Now comes the second part of the bonding”

“Second part? What second part?” Harry asked beginning to have the feeling he was not going to like the answer, “we did it. You know… IT. What else is there to be done?”

“Well, it is traditional to honor the magical creature that contributed to the strength of your house, hence the gathering, but no pureblood likes to be reminded that they are not exactly pure, if you know what I mean.”

Harry snorted, 'Yeah, after so many years picking on Hermione because of her parents. Serves him right not to be totally human.'

“That is why there is a second part on the bonding. The wizard part.” Ron added and seeing the look on Harry’s face, he completed, “basically you have to be on your best behavior for a few weeks and then there is this big wedding party… unless you are with a child, then they simply make a grand wedding out of the whole thing and get done with it.”

Harry gulped “When will I know?”

“When will you know what?” asked Ron not quite understanding what Harry was so nervous about.

“When will I know if I am p… wait, I’m a male. I can’t get… Oh! Yeah, I forgot, I guess I can get pregnant… Oh! Gods, I can get pregnant… what if I’m pregnant?” Harry was working himself in to a panic when Ron decided to put him out of his misery.

“You are not pregnant. We would already know if you were” he offered calmly.

“How?”

“Mme. Pomfrey scanned you when she saw you this morning. It’s standard procedure at any gathering.” Ron said matter-of-factly “If you were with a child we would be dancing at your wedding right now.”

“Oh” Harry felt a bit better but it also reminded him of how much he didn’t know of his new situation. “So… What happens now?”

“Well, I sort of took over the chaperone role for the evening because it was an informal meeting amongst people our age and not an intentional meeting between you and Malfoy so he could court you, but you need an adult to take over from now on. It’s a very prestigious job to chaperone an heir and there is a lot of responsibilities involved” Ron hesitated a bit.

“There is more to it, isn’t it?” prompt Harry.

“Well, you are not supposed to be alone anymore, especially not alone with Malfoy, a chaperone makes sure of that and that you are properly behaved and dressed and all that stuff. Remember our third year, there was this one brunette in Ravenclaw who was always with an elderly lady around her, and that Chaser from Slytherin had this funny looking guy with him all the time?”

Harry strained his memory. That was the year Sirius was running around Hogwarts so he had other things in mind, but he vaguely remember those two. “Yes, I remember. What about them?”

“They were engaged. The gathering was in Ireland that year if memory serves but anyway, she didn’t get pregnant at the gathering and they had to be chaperoned for the rest of the school year”

“And why would I need that?”

“Well, while it is expected for young veelas to mate and get intimate right away, proper young wizards and witches wait until they are married. So purebloods tend to see the gatherings as engagement parties and take it from there. And since they want to prove they are better and purer than the rest of us common folks the rules are a bit more strict.”

“Tell me you’re joking” Harry begged.

“Sorry, mate.”

“It’s a nightmare” Harry signed.

Draco was still practicing with Nott when he noticed his mate talking to Weasley on the corner. His mate seemed distressed and he walked over to find out what that stupid redhead was going to get killed for, chaperone or not nobody distressed his mate. Nott was hot on his heels.

“What is going on here? Is there a problem Weasley?” Draco’s wand felt hot in his hands, his mate looked even more distressed up close.

“Malfoy,” Harry answered “I can’t do it. I don’t even know where to begin with all this tradition and proper manners stuff. There is no way. I can’t do it!”

Draco blinked a couple of times while his mate’s problem finally sank in. He wanted to put his arms around his mate and sooth his worries, but Nott wouldn’t allow it and held Draco’s arm preventing him from going to Harry.

“It will be alright, Potter. Mrs. Malfoy already arranged for a cousin of hers come to Hogwarts and teach you what you need.” Nott assured him, “If that is alright with you Weasley” he added immediately.

“It’s not for me to decide. I’m only chaperoning for the evening as Harry is yet to decide who his chaperone will be.”

“Am I the one who decides?” Harry was confused; it would appear the wizard word saw him as an unprepared teenager in one moment and a fully responsible adult in the other.

“As head of the Potter House is up to you to decide who will fulfill the role of chaperone for the family heir.” Explained Ron

“Which is also you.” Added Nott.

“I see,” said Harry deciding that the whole thing was way too insane to be understood and considered his options. “Is the chaperone always a member of the family?”

“Not always, you could always call a respected friend assuming this person is old enough and well versed in the traditions. It’s a full time job and a very demanding one but it’s a sign of great esteem to be invited to become ones chaperone.” Offered Draco, he already knew who Harry was going to nominate his chaperon and was resigned to his fate, later on he would talk to his mother and get her to convince Mrs. Weasley to take a backseat and let cousin Rebecca take over as a chaperone.

“Ok, then. When do you think your mother can be here, Ron?” Harry asked.

Ron beamed at his friend “Just you wait, mate, she will be here as soon as you invite her and be a total nightmare like a proper chaperone should be.”

Harry sighed “That was what I was afraid of.”

-------

In no time, everybody was surprise to see how well they all got along and the Slytherin were now an official part of the D.A. and even making some suggestions as how they could improve their practice.

Draco suggested a ‘War Game’ to test not only the individual skills but also the ability to work in a team. The D.A. would be divided in small groups and they would have to go through a maze facing off not only whatever Hogwarts would throw at them but also the other teams. They were to use either the Room of Requirement or set a maze on the grounds with the permission of the headmaster.

The idea was eagerly accepted by everyone and they ended the meeting with the promise that Hermione would send them the rules over the week so they could prepare. They were so taken by the idea and so eager to discuss strategy that no one noticed Draco cornering Harry in the far end of the room.

Harry, who was checking some books didn’t notice Draco until a voice sounded very close to his ear making him jump in surprise.

“Pretty good job you are doing here, love” said Draco way too close to comfort.

“Malfoy, I though we were not supposed to be by ourselves anymore” Harry tried to back way but he was standing against the bookshelf already.

“Why are you calling me Malfoy again?” Draco smirked, he could see his mate’s blush deepen as he spoke.

“I… we… would not… I mean… Ron, Ron said we were not supposed to be alone and that you can not touch me again… He said it’s tradition.” Harry was smacking himself over the head mentally. Could he sound more like a blubbering idiot?

“But we are not alone right now, are we?” asked Draco moving even closer, “we are in a room full of people. Your chaperone is 20 feet way. This is totally right and proper. I am allowed to talk to my mate. Am I not?”

“I suppose…” Harry hesitated feeling confused, half of him wanted to agree with anything Draco said and the other half was reciting the correct way to perform an expelliarmus followed very close by a stupefy and get Malfoy away from him as fast as possible. When exactly did he start to accept his bonding thing anyway? Just yesterday he was very happy hating Malfoy with all his heart, thank you very much; he was even serving detention because of him. Then the said git and a bunch of his friends decided to re-enact part of his childhood and declared open season for Harry Hunting and then the fight and the… well, that with Dra.. Malfoy and a visit from the medi-witch and breakfast and the meeting with Dumbledore and the tea party and now Draco was kissing him again and when did he had time to think about the whole thing and… wait, KISSING?

Draco’s arms went around Harry’s smaller frame and held him closer and he deepened the kiss. His mate was melting in his arms just like he was supposed to when all of the suddenly he started to fight against the embrace.

“Malfoy, STOP!” Harry managed to get way long enough to protest and with that all the attention in the room was directed at them.

“What do you think you’re doing, Malfoy?” a very irate Ron was heard.

“Draco, unhand Mr. Potter at once.” Nott’s voice didn’t sound much better.

'Damn. I’ll never hear the end of this one.' Draco could already see his mother telling this at family reunions, just like grandmother used to do telling all the stunts his own father had pulled while trying to see his mother before they were married, but then he took one look at the raven-haired beauty in front of him with big emerald green eyes and understood the smile on his father’s face when those stories were told.

That kiss was worth all the teasing.