DISCLAIMER: Hermione, Severus, Draco and all their friends
belong to JK Rowling, Scholastic Books and everyone else with a copyright.
I'm
just letting them out to play a bit 'til the next book or movie comes out
and
they have to get back to their day jobs.
A/N: This has been posted preveiously at aff.net, but I have been requested to make a more um, accessible version as well for posting here. Since I haven't yet written the love scenes, it seems a simple thing to do.
Chapter 1
Draco tried to ignore the stares of Parkinson, Ellsworth and Kenyon as he passed through the Slytherin common room. Damn Uncle Severus and his schedule; he had almost left it too long this time. The girls were looking at him like he was a jumbo box of Honeyduke's Chocolate Ecstasy Truffles, and he found it unnerving, to say the least. He stepped through the portrait hole and hurried down the corridor, resisting the urge to break into a run.
Malfoys didn't run; even hurrying was reserved for emergencies only, and judging by the look on Hannah Abbott's face, this was an emergency.
"Draco." Her voice was low and filled with longing and he could feel her eyes on his back as he pushed past her rudely without acknowledging her presence. He stepped up his pace, assuring himself that he was *not* running.
Yet.
He knocked on the door of the Potions Master's office, relaxing slightly upon hearing a curt "Enter!" Closing the door carefully behind him, he crossed to join the professor at the worktable where he was carefully decanting a glowing violet liquid into a goblet.
"Is it ready?" Draco was pleased to note that his voice was calm and cool, as usual.
"Really, Draco. Such deplorable manners. What would your mother say? No 'Good afternoon, Uncle Severus. How are you this fine day?'"
Draco snorted. "Good afternoon, Uncle Severus. How are you this fine day? Is it ready?"
Severus Snape raised a single eyebrow. "Almost. It needs to cool a bit first. What, may I inquire, is your hurry? There is another week before the month is up."
Draco paced back and forth, his hands in his pockets. "It's started already. I need to take the potion now, as soon as it's cooled."
Severus watched the boy pace as he examined his condition. Disheveled appearance, dark circles under his eyes indicating a distinct lack of sleep, a sense of controlled preoccupation. Coupled with the diminished efficacy of the potion, it could only mean one thing.
"You've found her." It was a statement, not a question.
"Yes, at long last I've bloody well found her." Draco's words were bitter. "Right on schedule and right here at Hogwarts."
Severus frowned. "I would think you would be overjoyed at the chance to put all this" - he waved a hand at the goblet on the table - "behind you."
Draco stopped his pacing and turned to face the older man. "I would love nothing more than to be able to be normal again, to stop drinking that foul concoction of yours every damn month to keep the female population of Hogwarts from losing what few wits they have every time they look at me. Unfortunately, it's not quite that easy. I can't exactly walk up to her, throw her over my shoulder, take her to my room and ravish her until she agrees to be mine forever."
Severus decided not to point out that, if he wished, Draco could use his inherent magnetism and do precisely that. "Are you quite sure you have found the right one?"
Draco snorted inelegantly in response. "Believe me, she's the one. I can barely stand to be in the same room with her. She.glows, like a beacon in a storm. And the way she smells." Draco shook his head, trying to clear it of the remembered scent of rain and roses, overlayed with the musky scent of a woman. "She's definitely the one, Merlin help me. I always thought they were exaggerating when they said that I would know her when the time came, that my body and soul would cry out for her, but they weren't." He turned haunted eyes to his godfather. "It's everything they said it was and more, Uncle Severus. It really is enough to drive one mad."
"No one will be going mad anytime soon, Draco." Severus stood and placed his hands on the younger man's shoulders, holding him still. "Your mother dealt with this successfully, and so will you. You are a Malfoy, boy, and a Malfoy is not easily driven mad, even if he is part veela."
"You know how mother dealt with this, Uncle Severus." Draco couldn't hide his revulsion.
"Lucius loves your mother, Draco," Severus reminded him.
"He had no choice, and you know it! She *made* him love her, or at least believe he does! She took him into her bed as soon as she realized who he was, and he had no choice after that. She'll never know if he *truly* loves her, or if he's with her because she gave him no choice in the matter. I won't do that, Uncle Severus. I can't. She deserves better."
Severus sighed as he recognized the look on the boy's face. "You're in love with her, aren't you? Well, that certainly complicates things." He thought for a moment. "You'll simply have to see to it that she falls in love with you as well. Most of the silly girls in this school are half in love with you already, even with the potion in effect. I'm sure if you woo her properly, it won't take long."
Draco interrupted. "She can't stand me, Uncle Severus, and I really can't blame her." Severus eyes widened in horror and realization. Draco nodded in the affirmative. "Yes. Granger is the one I am destined for. Going mad is beginning to look like a distinct possibility, isn't it?"
A/N: This has been posted preveiously at aff.net, but I have been requested to make a more um, accessible version as well for posting here. Since I haven't yet written the love scenes, it seems a simple thing to do.
Chapter 1
Draco tried to ignore the stares of Parkinson, Ellsworth and Kenyon as he passed through the Slytherin common room. Damn Uncle Severus and his schedule; he had almost left it too long this time. The girls were looking at him like he was a jumbo box of Honeyduke's Chocolate Ecstasy Truffles, and he found it unnerving, to say the least. He stepped through the portrait hole and hurried down the corridor, resisting the urge to break into a run.
Malfoys didn't run; even hurrying was reserved for emergencies only, and judging by the look on Hannah Abbott's face, this was an emergency.
"Draco." Her voice was low and filled with longing and he could feel her eyes on his back as he pushed past her rudely without acknowledging her presence. He stepped up his pace, assuring himself that he was *not* running.
Yet.
He knocked on the door of the Potions Master's office, relaxing slightly upon hearing a curt "Enter!" Closing the door carefully behind him, he crossed to join the professor at the worktable where he was carefully decanting a glowing violet liquid into a goblet.
"Is it ready?" Draco was pleased to note that his voice was calm and cool, as usual.
"Really, Draco. Such deplorable manners. What would your mother say? No 'Good afternoon, Uncle Severus. How are you this fine day?'"
Draco snorted. "Good afternoon, Uncle Severus. How are you this fine day? Is it ready?"
Severus Snape raised a single eyebrow. "Almost. It needs to cool a bit first. What, may I inquire, is your hurry? There is another week before the month is up."
Draco paced back and forth, his hands in his pockets. "It's started already. I need to take the potion now, as soon as it's cooled."
Severus watched the boy pace as he examined his condition. Disheveled appearance, dark circles under his eyes indicating a distinct lack of sleep, a sense of controlled preoccupation. Coupled with the diminished efficacy of the potion, it could only mean one thing.
"You've found her." It was a statement, not a question.
"Yes, at long last I've bloody well found her." Draco's words were bitter. "Right on schedule and right here at Hogwarts."
Severus frowned. "I would think you would be overjoyed at the chance to put all this" - he waved a hand at the goblet on the table - "behind you."
Draco stopped his pacing and turned to face the older man. "I would love nothing more than to be able to be normal again, to stop drinking that foul concoction of yours every damn month to keep the female population of Hogwarts from losing what few wits they have every time they look at me. Unfortunately, it's not quite that easy. I can't exactly walk up to her, throw her over my shoulder, take her to my room and ravish her until she agrees to be mine forever."
Severus decided not to point out that, if he wished, Draco could use his inherent magnetism and do precisely that. "Are you quite sure you have found the right one?"
Draco snorted inelegantly in response. "Believe me, she's the one. I can barely stand to be in the same room with her. She.glows, like a beacon in a storm. And the way she smells." Draco shook his head, trying to clear it of the remembered scent of rain and roses, overlayed with the musky scent of a woman. "She's definitely the one, Merlin help me. I always thought they were exaggerating when they said that I would know her when the time came, that my body and soul would cry out for her, but they weren't." He turned haunted eyes to his godfather. "It's everything they said it was and more, Uncle Severus. It really is enough to drive one mad."
"No one will be going mad anytime soon, Draco." Severus stood and placed his hands on the younger man's shoulders, holding him still. "Your mother dealt with this successfully, and so will you. You are a Malfoy, boy, and a Malfoy is not easily driven mad, even if he is part veela."
"You know how mother dealt with this, Uncle Severus." Draco couldn't hide his revulsion.
"Lucius loves your mother, Draco," Severus reminded him.
"He had no choice, and you know it! She *made* him love her, or at least believe he does! She took him into her bed as soon as she realized who he was, and he had no choice after that. She'll never know if he *truly* loves her, or if he's with her because she gave him no choice in the matter. I won't do that, Uncle Severus. I can't. She deserves better."
Severus sighed as he recognized the look on the boy's face. "You're in love with her, aren't you? Well, that certainly complicates things." He thought for a moment. "You'll simply have to see to it that she falls in love with you as well. Most of the silly girls in this school are half in love with you already, even with the potion in effect. I'm sure if you woo her properly, it won't take long."
Draco interrupted. "She can't stand me, Uncle Severus, and I really can't blame her." Severus eyes widened in horror and realization. Draco nodded in the affirmative. "Yes. Granger is the one I am destined for. Going mad is beginning to look like a distinct possibility, isn't it?"