As the clock chimed to signal the beginning of June 5th, the pain that tore through his body came as no surprise to Draco Malfoy. He had known for years that his sixteenth birthday would be accompanied by his inheritance and the changes that came with it. As pure white wings erupted from his back, he screeched in agony. He could feel the blood sliding down his back, dripping from his new feathers, but the pain rushing through his body distracted him from the sensation. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, it was over. He collapsed onto his bed, exhausted, as the intense pain faded from his body.

He could feel a whole new ache forming in his heart. The need for his mate. It wasn't too painful yet, and there was no accompanying tugging sensation, so it was doubtful that his mate had come into their inheritance. Yet. He sighed heavily. His mate could be anyone with veela blood. They wouldn't necessarily be a light veela like himself, they could just as easily be a dark veela.

He hoped that they were similar in age to himself. It was possible for his mate to be several years his junior, but it wasn't all that likely. It really depended on how many veela there were in the world a similar age to himself. His mate would be a perfect match for him, but only because the second mate was always created that way. While the second mate was in the womb, the first mate's magic would call out to them, allowing the second mate's magic to recognize them. This formed the bond between the mates and ensured that their magic was compatible.

He did know that they were already born or he wouldn't feel the ache at all. He really didn't want to wait years for his mate though. Even before his mate came into their inheritance, prolonged absence from his mate would slowly drive him insane. It would be much more of a danger once his mate reached their sixteenth birthday.

He drifted off to sleep, knowing that there was nothing he could do until his mate reached their own sixteenth birthday and came into their veela inheritance. For now, he needed to rest.

DMHP

Harry shrieked in pain. He had been staying awake to welcome his sixteenth birthday, as was his tradition, when the pain had struck. It was horrible and seemed to literally tear through his body, focusing on his back. He could feel something tearing through the skin, and it felt like a live animal trying to escape his flesh. Jet black wings tore themselves from his skin.

As the pain faded, he reflected that it was a good thing that his relatives were out of town for a few weeks. He shuddered to think how they would have reacted to being woken up in the middle of the night by his screams to find that he had grown wings. As he drifted off to sleep, the last thing he noticed was an ache forming in his chest.

DMHP

Draco snapped awake, the ache in his chest reaching an entirely new level. He gasped for breath. So his mate had come into their inheritance. He would have to find them, soon. He smiled, at least his mate was less than two months his junior. If they attended Hogwarts, then they should be in his year. He would go to Hogwarts then. If his mate was not there, he would make visits to all the major wizarding schools, such as Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to search. He should find his mate by Christmas.

Which was very necessary. After six months passed following his mate's birthday, if they still weren't mated, they would both begin to lose their minds. Hmmm… He wondered who his mate could be. It was impossible to say whether or not he already knew them. They were most likely male, as he was usually attracted to men. However, strange things had been known to happen. At least there was only a month until Hogwarts. He would know whether his mate was there soon enough.

DMHP

Harry sighed. It had been three weeks since he had grown the feathery black wings and he still had no idea of how to get rid of them. He had taken to not wearing a shirt while he was inside during the day, as his wings weren't comfortable that way. The ache in his chest had also failed to go away. His relatives were coming back today and he doubted that their reaction to his new appendages would be positive. At least he had managed to get everything done on the list that they had left him. He had also spent hours making sure the garden and the house were perfect. They would have little to complain about otherwise.

Harry cringed as he heard the car pull into the driveway. They were back. He hurried up the stairs and threw on one of Dudley's hand-me-down shirts. Hopefully the baggy t-shirt would conceal his wings enough that the Dursleys wouldn't notice them right away.

""Boy!" Came the shout from downstairs. "Come get the bags!" Harry ran down the stairs and headed out to the car to unload the Dursleys belongings. He made several trips to get them all in the house before turning to lug his relatives' suitcases up to their rooms. Unfortunately, his Uncle Vernon noticed the strange lump in the back of his shirt. "What's the matter with your back, boy?" He reached out, grabbing one of Harry's wings harshly. Harry shrieked in pain, dropping the suitcases.

Vernon tore off the shirt to investigate, revealing Harry's black, feathered wings. "What have you done now boy!" he growled. "You're an even bigger freak than before! Your not even allowed to use your freakish powers here! How did you do it?" He threw Harry to the ground, kicking him hard in the side. He kicked Harry again, who began to crawl towards the kitchen, trying to get away from his uncle. His side was beginning to really hurt and one of his wings seemed to be bent funny, from when his uncle had grabbed it through his shirt.

"Get out of my house, you freak!" his uncle thundered, throwing open the back door. "Vernon! Quiet! The neighbours will hear you!" Petunia looked around outside, checking for witnesses. "What if they see him?" she hissed.

"I've had it Petunia! This is the last time that that boy will ever be in my house you hear me! That freak doesn't belong here!" He kicked Harry in the back, sending him crashing into the back yard, causing further pain to shoot through his damaged wing.

As Harry started to lose consciousness, he found himself wishing desperately that he was somewhere safe, somewhere is relatives couldn't get to him. He just wanted to be safe. That was his final thought as his world faded to black.

Aunt Petunia stormed past her husband into the backyard. She had no problem getting rid of her good-for-nothing nephew, but why couldn't Vernon have kicked the boy out at night? What if the neighbours saw him? However, once in the backyard she couldn't find him anyway. The freak had seemed to be in bad shape, where could he have gotten to so fast? But try as she might, she couldn't find the boy anywhere.

DMHP

It was too hot, Professor Snape grumbled to himself as he headed back towards the castle. Despite the fact that it was summer break, he was still dressed in his usual long, black robes and they were far too heavy in the heat of the summer sun. At least today had been productive. He had gathered up numerous ingredients from the Forbidden Forest in order to stock up his supplies. As he looked over the deserted grounds, he reflected that there was at least one part of summer he liked. The absence of the noisy brats known as his students.

As he passed the lake, he noticed a strange lump lying not far from the water's edge. Had one of the creatures of the forest wandered this far? Was it injured? As he got closer, he realized that is was a boy. And not just any boy. Closer inspection revealed two dark wings sticking out of his back. A dark veela. The potions master swore under his breath and hurried over.

The veela appeared to be unconscious and one of its wings was bent at a dangerous angle. There also appeared to be some severe bruising on the boy's side. It didn't look much older than sixteen and he suspected that it had only come into its inheritance that summer. But what was an injured veela doing on the Hogwarts grounds?

He scooped up the injured boy, unsure of what effect his magic would have on the dark veela's natural shadow magic. He headed for the hospital wing, knowing that Madame Pomphrey had returned to the school a week early to prepare for the upcoming year. As he lifted the boy, the tousled, black hair fell out of the veela's face. Professor Snape nearly dropped him in surprise.

It was Harry Potter.

DMHP

Draco paced the train car, extremely agitated. The ache in his chest was no less painful than it had been for this past month. That alone told him that his mate was not on the Hogwarts Express. The ache would have lessened as he had gotten closer to his mate, as the veela bond would be more content. So either his mate was using a different method of transportation to get to Hogwarts, or they didn't attend his school at all.

He sighed, frustrated, and flopped down on one of the seats. He had taken a compartment to himself and locked the door. He didn't want to see his friends or anyone else right now. He didn't want to have to explain anything to anyone until he found his mate and had assured himself that they were safe.

His back itched uncomfortably. His mother had taught him how to draw his wings into his body so that he could blend in, but that didn't mean it was comfortable. He decided to try and get some sleep. He wouldn't be able to do anything about trying to find his mate until they arrived at Hogwarts. And if his mate wasn't there, then he would have to go look for them. He would find them. Somewhere. He had to.

DMHP

As Draco entered the castle, he instantly felt the ache in his chest give way. His mate was here. Instead of heading to the great hall, he turned, following the faint tugging sensation in his chest, and sprinted down the hallway. The ache continued to fade, replaced by a warm, safe feeling. As he neared his mate, he started to panic. He was heading for the hospital wing.