Chapter One

Friday 5 June 1998

Draco

I took every single precaution I could to prepare for my inheritance, and it rather abruptly becomes apparent that there is no precaution I could have taken that would have prepared me for this.

I thought I had felt pain before. I thought that with the Dark Lord living in my house and torturing me and my family on the daily, I would have understood what pain felt like. I was wrong.

This feels, very literally, like I have burst into flames. As if my blood has turned to lava flowing through my veins, melting my skin like candle wax. Every breath I take feels as though I'm inhaling acid which is corroding my lungs until there is a gaping hole in the centre of my chest. This feels like a hundred scalding hot knives are being thoroughly acquainted with my back, slicing through the skin so much there won't be any left.

This is pain.

But, to be quite honest, this is worth it.

Because after this short period of agony- because what is half an hour, really, in the grand scheme of things?- I will be a real Veela. Not the enchantresses that most wizards consider Veela to be (they're not wrong, just ignoring the fact there are three Veela species), not our close half-bird relatives, but a Royal Veela, which is, in my (completely not biased, you shut up) opinion, the best kind.

I'll meet my Veela half, my brother, my best friend, for the first time. I'll have the body I was born to have, with wings and talons and scent glands. I'll have power; as a dominant, I'll finally feel in control, strong. But, most of all, best of all, I'll find my mate.

For these things, I'm willing to go through the half an hour of pain that comes with a dominant inheritance. But suddenly, inexplicably, the pain goes, leaving only darkness and quiet in its wake.

---

When I wake up, my vision is swimming, and my head is pounding.

Hi! I'm Alex, I'm your Veela, oh I'm so excited to meet you! Are you alright? You were passed out for ages, longer than I was expecting. But it's okay, you're awake now! We can go out and fly around! Can I meet our family, they're here right?

What... what is happening?

Was I rambling? I'm sorry, I was excited, I should give you a moment, you just woke up and all...

Um, no, no, it's okay. I shake my head, to try and clear it, but it simply makes it ache more.

"Draco?"

Draco, is that your name? Oh, that's so cool, you know it means dragon in Latin! And it's a constellation!

Yeah, yeah I know what my name means. I've had it for eighteen years.

Right, of course, you do, I... I'm sorry.

It's, uh, it's fine.

"Draco?" I realise it's my mother's voice, and I'm drawn to it more than I usually am. It makes me feel warm and safe.

I manage to blink my eyes open, and immediately slam them shut again as the light almost blinds me. Daylight has never been this bright, Merlin. I try again, slowly, and am greeted by Mother sitting on the edge of my bed, smiling widely, wings flittering with excitement behind her.

That's our mother? She's so pretty, I can't wait to meet her!

"Mother?" I murmur, blinking up at her.

"Hi, sweetheart. How are you feeling?" She leans forward to stroke my hair, and a contented twitter flies out of my mouth. It takes me a second to realise that I made the sound. I blush, and instead of leaning into her hand like I want to, I bat her away.

"I'm okay. Groggy, and I ache a bit. Did... did I pass out?"

"You did, longer than submissives normally do, but not enough to..."

"Submissives?" I say, cutting her off, which immediately makes me feel bad for being rude, but I ignore it. Why did she compare me to a sub?

"I know you wanted to be a dom, Draco, but really it's-"

"What do you mean? I am a dom, of course I am!"

What are you talking about, Draco?

I expect my mother to agree with me- how could she not?- but she sighs, looking upset.

"Come with me, I'll show you what you look like." I know she's trying to distract me, and I try not to fall for it but fail miserably. I want to see what I really look like! I've been waiting to feel comfortable with what I see in the mirror for years, ever since I realised that uncomfortable feeling was a disconnect. That wasn't my body, but this is! I'll ask her what she meant afterwards.

I follow my mother into my en suite bathroom and gape at the full body mirror. At first, I'm thrilled. This is me, this feels like me, this feels right. But then... this can't be right. Father told me that dominants grow after their inheritance, get taller, more muscled. They become harder, stronger. Handsome. I'm not handsome. I'm... pretty.

You seem giddy. Look at us Draco! We're beautiful! Look at our eyes, they're so blue! And, oh, wouldn't our hair look so good braided?  Draco, don't you think?

I'm... short. And curvy. Delicate. Alex, we look like we would shatter if someone prodded us.

I know!

Why do you sound happy?

Then I understand. I must be so dominant that I don't need to look strong! I don't need to convince others of my strength, they'll notice it by my aura, by how many people I've fought and won. I can't wait to see the look on stupid Potter's face when someone shorter than him has him on his arse in two seconds flat.

Maybe I would prefer to look a bit like a traditional dominant, but it won't make much of a difference. My aura will be intimidating enough.

What are you talking about? I don't understand, Draco...

I turn around to face my mother, who notices the smile on my face and seems to relax.

"Look, spread your wings."

I try, but they're heavy as anything, so Mother helps by lifting them slightly. Once I can see them, I gape. I knew what they would look like, of course I did, having seen them on my parents my whole life, but seeing them growing out of my back, responding to my will...

They look like an angel's wings, but grey, each huge feather a different shade to make a collage of all the colours of grey; a monotone rainbow. They point downwards and are actually on the smaller side for Royal Veela, both typically submissive traits, but I assume this is for the same reason as my deceiving appearance. I run a hand through the feathers. They're silky smooth, almost as if I was running a hand through cream, but I know that at the slightest threat they'll turn knife sharp.

They're beautiful.

"How do you feel?" Mother asks.

"Different. But a good different, I think." Now that I think about it, I don't feel like I expected to. There's something I need, something missing, something that I need before I can be happy. "I... I don't know, I feel weird. Kind of like there should be something else, something I'm missing."

"Ah. That would be your mate."

Mate mate mate mate mate, you mumble in my head, over and over.

"Mate!" The word slips out of my mouth before I can stop it, something inside me needing to feel the shape of it on my lips.

"That empty feeling is the beginning of mate-pains. Unfortunately, they'll only get worse from here on out."

It's okay, we'll find them before they get too bad. At least I hope so, oh I can't wait to find them, can you? Someone who's perfect for us...

"Do you think she'll be at Hogwarts?" Even though I'm eighteen, and should be finishing up my last year now, McGonagall, who has taken over as headmistress, is allowing my year to re-do our seventh year, after it was... disrupted.

"They're not necessarily a she Dray." I frown. Of course she'll be female.

No, they won't, why would you think that?

"What do you mean?"

"You never know who your mate is until you meet them, you know this. And besides, it's very unlikely for a male submissive to be mated with a female dominant." Submissive? Is she calling me a sub?

"Mother, I'm not submissive."

Draco, of course, we-

I am not submissive!

Your whimpering fills my head at my outburst, but I refuse to take it back. I have been training as a dominant Veela my entire life. Every male Malfoy has been dominant for as long as anyone can remember. Longer. If I was a submissive... I would be a disgrace.

Your whimpering grows louder.

"I thought we cleared that up, sweetheart. You fainted during your inheritance, and you have all the characteristics of a sub."

"There are perfectly reasonable explanations for those things!" I argue. Because there has to be. I am dominant, so there has to be.

"There's nothing wrong with being submissive-"

"What are you talking about? I'm a Malfoy, I can't be a sub."

"It's not about your family name, you know this, Draco. It's about which role your natural nature would compliment-"

"Hence why I'm a dominant!"

"Whatever role you are, you will be happy in it, whether you believe it now or not. It's how your inheritance works," Mother says with a sigh.

She's right Draco, we're submissive, I- I thought you knew this, I would have told you before...

Shut up! And inexplicably, you do.

I know my mother doesn't believe me, but that's fine. She just doesn't understand. She will, eventually.

"I'm going to practice my stances," I say, beginning to leave the room. "I want to see how naturally it comes now that I've actually had my inheritance!"

---

I have trained my whole life to be what I am- a dominant Veela. But somehow, it doesn't feel right.

You know what that means-

Yes. I do know what that means. I'm just not trying hard enough.

Draco, suppressing me won't do anything-

I'm ignoring you. I shift my stance so it's predatory, and attempt a growl. It's slightly feeble.

Slightly? Listen, Dray-

Don't call me that.

Let me take over. I can help you learn how to do this. It's natural for me, even if I'm not in the situation.

I don't trust you. I feel you wince at that, and frown. Why do you care if I trust you or not?

We're part of a whole. We're supposed to work together.

I roll my eyes, but I know you're right. Fine, you can have control.

Being co-conscious is strange. I can see and feel and hear everything, but I can't control my body. You stretch out my- your? Our? Mine when I'm in control, yours when you are- limbs, supposedly getting used to being in control.

Now, listen to me Draco. You are not a dominant.

Will you stop with this bull! There's nothing else I can be apart from a dom, I've told you this!

How am I going to convince you..? I think you need to be around a dominant. Understand what your reaction is, and how different you are.

That's ridiculous... But then you start moving. Where are you going?

I'm going to talk to our mother. Ask her what she can do.

No! Stop walking! Give me control back! You don't reply, just keep walking to the kitchen, where you find Mother.

"Draco?"

"My name's Alex, I'm Draco's Veela. It's nice to meet you." You sound shy.

Well, I want her to like me!

Mother's face lights up, and she rushes around the island to hug you tightly, which you return. I can feel you practically glowing at her affection as you nuzzle into her neck, chirping happily.

"Draco-" don't tell her! "-refuses to acknowledge that we're submissive." Stop talking!

Mother pulls away, frowning.

"Ah, yes. I encountered that problem. Well, at least you know. I was worried you both would deny it, and we would be in a right mess."

"I'm scared," you say, voice small, ducking your head.

"Oh, chick." Mother hugs you again, even tighter than before.

"What... what if he thinks he can get into a fight and gets hurt? What if he's mean to a sub who talks to him?" I feel you starting to cry, and so does Mother when she notices you shaking in her arms and your tears on her shoulder.

"Oh, love, it's going to be alright..."

"What if he doesn't accept our mate because they're dominant? What if..." Your tears turn to sobs. "What if they reject us?" Could that happen?

"Oh, my chick." All that distinguishes Mother from her Veela is their tone, but having spent my whole life around them, I know that Mum has control.

My father was always formal with me when I was a hatchling. He didn't want me to embarrass him in front of his colleagues at the ministry, or worse, fellow Death Eaters, and I grew up calling him Father, and my mother Mother. Their Veela counterparts, however, were incredibly resistant to this. Mother was too, to be fair, but she obeyed Father's wishes. My Father and his Veela are incredibly different. Father was- is (he's in Azkaban, Draco, he's not dead, stop it)- ambitious, power orientated. His Veela couldn't care less about the wizarding world and its politics. He cared about me and his mate more than Father ever did. Well, maybe that's not fair. Father cares, I know he does, just in a different way. But it's his Veela- my dad- who I'm close to, who raised me.

"Quiet, chick, you're alright. Hush, now, I'm here." Mum chirps softly at you, grooming our wings, and lets you inhale her scent to calm down. Once you do, you look up at her and twitter gratefully. She chirps in acknowledgement and gives Mother control back.

"Are you alright chick?" she asks gently, wiping away tears. You nod.

"I, um, I came in here to tell you that I think Draco needs to meet a dom. It will be obvious then, I think."

I don't want to do this, please stop talking, please, Alex, I'm a dom, I don't need to do this.

My mother nods. "That's a good idea." She sighs. "If his father was here, but..."

"What about your family?"

"I could talk to my father in law, but I don't know whether he'll... he's very adamant that males should be dominant. Oh! Lucius has a brother. He's kind of estranged, the family doesn't like him. But I can probably contact him. I think he's already mated though."

Mated he wouldn't give off the same pheromones-

Are you talking to me?

I'm thinking, Draco. But, I suppose it would be better than nothing... "Would his mate be okay with that?"

"I'm not entirely sure; I've never met either of them. I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to ask." You nod, and I feel you fully relax.

"Thank you so much."

"You're my chick. You needn't thank me." You beam, and mother heads to the downstairs living room to use the fireplace. I can't believe you just did that.

It's for your own good, Draco.

Bull. I don't need to talk to this supposed Uncle who I've never met. Father already trained me, and it's not going to prove I'm a sub because I'm not-

Well, then there's no harm in trying. Besides, even if, for some impossible reason, we are a dom (which we're not, so don't get all huffy), there's always something you can learn.

I begrudgingly acknowledge that you're right. Fine. I guess I'll be meeting my uncle shortly.

2654 words

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