Chapter 1

Before It Began

X

Quinn Fabray remembered the moment she saw Rachel Berry for the first time. It was a vague recollection from when they were first year being sorted into their houses, Rachel had ended up being Slytherin. Quinn, herself, was sorted into Ravenclaw house when she finally made it up to the stool for being sorted by the sorting hat after it said its verse about the four houses of Hogwarts.

She remembered looking on at the faces of the many kids standing around her. Some looked around with excitement, some with slight trepidation, and some looked curious about what the process would entail in order to be sorted into their respective houses. When the process started she was one of the first students to be sorted because her last name started with a B. It took longer than most everyone else around for her to be sorted into a house with the sorting hat sitting on her head for about two minutes before finally declaring, "Slytherin!" to the applause of the table of green and silver. Quinn's sorting experience had only taken about half a minute when she was sitting on the stool to be sorted and the table of blue and gray erupted in cheers. That was the first time she ever saw the girl but it certainly wasn't the last time.

Over the years they had many classes together from being in the same year together. They had Charms, Flying, and Defense Against the Dark Arts together as first years. They attended Potions, Herbology, and Transfiguration classes together during their second year at Hogwarts. Their third year consisted of Care of Magical Creatures, Muggle Studies, Potions, and Defense Against the Dark Arts together. And their fourth year they had Care of Magical Creatures, Herbology, and Muggle Studies together. Despite having so many classes in common and learning in the same room together, year after year, they still didn't interact with each other at all. It was almost as if they didn't notice each other despite being in such close quarters with each other in all of their classes. If anyone were looking and paying attention it would almost seem deliberate, though it really wasn't.

They had some friends in common but weren't friends themselves despite that fact. It was like their lives intertwined with each other in a way without ever overlapping directly somehow despite the many ways it could and did. Yes, they had some friends who were also friends with each other. Noah Puckerman Puck, another Slytherin with Rachel, was also a friend of Quinn's, Brittany Pierce, a Gryffindor girl was Quinn's closest female friend, Mike Chang, another Ravenclaw was more Quinn's friend than Rachel's but he was both of their friends, Mercedes Jones, was part of Hufflepuff and was the second strongest female vocal in the choir, and Kurt Hummel, another Gryffindor among their circle of friends. They all ended up joining the school's choir together a few years later after being recruited for one reason or another, the walls did talk and if anyone with a moderately nice voice was found a painting of the school was sure to inform the choir director of it and he would seek them out to join.

Aside from friends they also had a few classes together over the years and after finding out that they both had some talent they became enemies on the Quidditch pitch during their second year after trying out. Quinn was the main chaser for her team while Rachel was her team's seeker. They didn't interact much since they were both too busy doing different things on their teams with their respective roles. Somehow despite having ample opportunities show up for them to talk to each other they certainly never did. Neither person seemed to notice the other in all of their commonalities, having a few classes together didn't make much of a difference. Quidditch was something else they had in common but being a seeker and chaser made it so that they didn't really interact much with each other since they would be concentrated on doing completely different things on the Quidditch pitch when they had matches against each other. Their choir practices were about the only time they really could interact with each other if they so desired but they never approached each other during that time. There was just never any real reason to do so.

Their fourth year was spent relatively normally. One major change was the fact that Quinn's Veela blood started to attract a lot of unwanted attention amongst students in her year and many in the years above as well but it was more towards the end of her fourth year, just a few short months after she turned 15 in fact. Another major development was, towards the end of their fourth year Rachel was dating a Hufflepuff boy who was also a part of his house Quidditch team and the school choir, the Harking Hogwarts, and so it was only natural that they dated after spending quite a bit of time together and having similar interests. His name was Finn Hudson and he was the male lead vocalist of their school choir. That little fact soon became one of the worst things to have ever happened to Quinn. It was put first before the second worst thing that had ever occurred to the beautiful Veela. It wasn't until their fifth year as students that Quinn actually took notice of Rachel. They finally met each other as prefects who did patrols together during their fifth year and that was when it all started for Quinn. The second worst thing that Quinn had ever experienced in her life, though the order in which they ensued was in the opposite order of how they should have arisen, or at least if it had it would have made things easier. As it were, it had it not.

All of these years there were so many opportunities for them to actually notice and acknowledge each other and somehow it never seemed to happen. In all of these years they seemed to purposefully ignore each other's presence and continued to pass each other by in every way their lives intertwined and overlapped as the years of ignorance and bliss slowly came closer and closer to ending for them, for Quinn at least anyways. It was only a matter of time before that would not be the case anymore, when Quinn's heritage finally came into play. It had already started because she was receiving quite a bit of unwanted attention from others already and they were mostly aware of the reason why after she was no longer near the drooling masses. The muggle born students reacting to her would ask their wizarding friends about it once their minds cleared of the trance-like stupidity induced by her Veela thrall.

X

A week before Quinn, and all other students, were due to meet at platform 9 and ¾ at King's Cross Station Quinn, along with 7 other chosen students in their fifth year, had received a letter and a badge stating that they were now one of two prefects for their upcoming fifth year as students of Hogwarts. The badge, a beautiful Blue and Gray to match with her house colors, had a large P printed on it and brought a smile to Quinn's face and Quinn's parents cooed over the badge and gave her proud hugs and words of encouragement. Quinn's parents couldn't calm down from how proud they were of her for becoming a prefect just like her sister had before her and her own father had been a prefect. Quinn's mother, being French, had gone to a different school entirely, Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. Quinn wasn't sure what system Beauxbatons had for exemplary students. Her mother never told her and Quinn never asked either.

While Quinn was on the train she was happy to find that Mike Chang would be a prefect with her and they traded smiles and hugs over the good news. During the short walk to the compartment that the prefect meeting would take place everything had been okay, normal and all right. As she sat waiting with Mike on one side of the compartment she was still just fine as they exchanged some stories about their summer off. They had been the first two prefects to arrive and the next pair had been Brittany and Kurt from Gryffindor followed closely by Mercedes and Blaine Anderson from their own year, both from Hufflepuff. Not long after Brody Weston and Jesse St. James, from a year above them and a Gryffindor and Hufflepuff respectively, showed up with Sunshine Corazon, a Hufflepuff as well, Matt Rutherford, and Elliot Gilbert, two Ravenclaws, entered next. Adam Crawford, a Gryffindor, Sebastian Smythe, and Hunter Clarington, both Slytherins, entered the compartment next. And then they were all just waiting for the last pair to come in who ended up being Rachel Berry and Santana Lopez, surprisingly enough. The compartment shouldn't have been able to fit sixteen people but because it was magical it fit everyone comfortably enough for them to have elbow room if needed.

And that was when it hit Quinn. As soon as Rachel entered and locked eyes with Quinn, she knew, she realized. That was when her Veela heritage made itself known in another way that was more forthcoming than the unwanted attention she got from almost half of the school. That was the moment when her Veela chose the one who would be her mate and the moment Quinn, herself, agreed with it and said 'yes, I love you,' in agreement to who her Veela had chosen. Rachel had looked her right in the eyes, something that had only ever happened maybe once or twice before in all of their years of schooling together and then Quinn knew. Rachel had to be the one person who was completely immune to her Veela thrall, the one that her Veela side whispered into her heart, mind, and soul as the one who should be with her as her mate forever no matter what it took to get her.

Quinn was more than aware that she needed to write to her parents soon, to tell them that it had finally occurred. They had asked her over the summer if she had found her mate yet and she had answered that no one that she could think of had caused her Veela to speak to her in that way yet. Her parents had described it as a moment that she would never forget because there was no way it could be mistaken for anything else. She would feel it in her entire biology the moment it happened, the moment the change occurred within her to tell her that she had met her chosen mate. It would be unmistakable because it felt like nothing else had ever felt before until the courtship ritual was completed anyways. They would both know, as in her Veela side as well as her human side, and the desire to be sealed would strike her swiftly and fiercely. It was something unforgettable and it would be wonderful, at least for her parents it had been.

All of those things her parents had told her just a few weeks ago certainly did happen and it certainly did feel the way they said it would but there was something else that came with it that Quinn didn't like in the least. She knew that Rachel was dating Finn Hudson and had been for the last four or five months and that complicated things greatly for her, her Veela didn't care about such details from what she could see though. Her Veela wanted Rachel to claim her right at that very moment but Quinn knew it wasn't possible. She resolved to write to her parents as soon as she got to the Great Hall before the first years' ceremony and sorting into houses started. Since they had to take boats to the castle it would give her some time to write her letter before she could actually pass it over to her owl, Lothaire, to deliver.

Her letter was detailed about the situation but also a bit simple, due to her rush to finish before the first years arrived to the castle to be sorted into their respective houses.

Dear Mom and Dad,

I have finally discovered my mate. I met her during our first year as we are in the same year but over the last few years before I had matured into my Veela heritage I didn't feel any interest towards her. As you both know I didn't mature into being ready for Veela love until just about two months before our summer break and we didn't really see each other during that time despite having a few classes together. Maybe it was because we never really looked at each other before today. It happened during the train ride to Hogwarts during our prefects meeting together. Yes, yes, she is also a prefect which probably makes her someone you approve of already. Yes, I rolled my eyes as I wrote that. I need to finish this letter quickly before the first years arrive to be sorted into their houses. I just … I knew the moment our eyes met on the train ride here and I felt it in the oneness I felt with my Veela, in the way my whole body felt it when I laid eyes on her as soon as she entered the train compartment and she looked me in the eyes, too. It was a wonderful moment of feeling completion, fulfillment, something like just being one with my heritage. I fell in love with her in that moment. I said yes and I loved her instantly, as we do, as a Veela does when we find the one person immune to our thrall. That is the good news.

Her name … her name is Rachel Barbra Berry and she is beautiful to me but she is also … she's also dating a Hufflepuff boy and has been for some time now. I believe they might have been dating for at least the last four or five months and I think that she might be in love with him. His name is Finn Hudson and he's the same year as us but dumber than a sack of bricks. I'm not sure how he is even capable of passing any of the classes he has with his seriously lacking intelligence but … that's a subject for another day, or never really. In short, I know who my chosen is but she is … beyond my reach right now and I don't know what to do about it. Please reply back to me as soon as possible! Also, don't forget to feed Lothaire a treat! He flew for me quite late into the night since I wrote this right before the feast. I had to wait until I'd had some dinner before sneaking off to the owlery to find him and I did manage to give him a bit of bacon for his efforts. He only gave the slightest fuss because he was a tad grumpy but in the end he still did it for me.

Love,

Quinn

X

As soon as Quinn was approached by Rachel where they were designated to meet as prefects together she had felt it again, the whispering of rightness, of complete want for Rachel, for her to say the words 'I love you' back without even knowing her at all. A major complication in the grand scheme of things to say the least. The moment Quinn had laid eyes upon and Rachel had looked at her Quinn had felt the change her parents had told her about, she felt the way her Veela blood called out to Rachel and it seemed as if everything else was a blur around Rachel's approaching figure. In that single moment a fulfilling clarity passed over Quinn and she felt her Veela side sing its approval at the sight before her. She wanted Rachel to be her mate, she had said 'yes, I love you' the moment that she saw Rachel again for the first time in months, for the first time in her entire life really. She was partially sealed the girl standing before her, a girl unaware of what had transpired earlier on the train when she had entered the compartment for the prefect meeting. Quinn was at a loss for what to do, how to act around someone she was already completely in love with in the cruelest twist of fate and inconvenience called eternal love, Veela love.

"Quinn? Are you all right?" Rachel asked when she noticed that Quinn had yet to move and seemed frozen on the spot. When Quinn's continued silence went on for a little too long Rachel stepped forward and touched Quinn's arm, causing whatever trance she was in to completely break and she flinched away from Rachel's touch. That simple touch had ignited something in Quinn and she felt her eyes change for a split second from their normal hazel to something else that she wasn't quite sure of herself. She had never experienced anything quite like it before and she made a mental note to ask her parents about it later.

"I apologize. I … I was preoccupied by something else. We should go." And with that she moved ahead without another word to Rachel. Rachel tried to strike up a conversation with Quinn but Quinn was giving her monosyllabic answers in response, something not entirely unusual of the quiet blonde. Rachel didn't seem to notice since anyone who knew Quinn knew she was the silent type to begin with and so her short answers weren't strange to Rachel in the least, though she wished Quinn would talk a bit more and was slightly more receptive to her conversation. Rachel was aware that the person Quinn spoke to the most out of all of her friends was Mike Chang, both of them being intellectuals in Ravenclaw. She didn't talk much even then though.

As they went through their predetermined route they had found a few amorous couples, several lost first year students, an aggressive seventh year who claimed that he would win Quinn over no matter what, and Peeves the poltergeist attempted to throw something at them when they were passing him by, something suspiciously similar to a firecracker. Overall their patrol was actually rather exciting for the first day back in school. As soon as the hour was up they parted ways, or rather Quinn tried to run away from Rachel as quickly as possible. Rachel caught her by the hand though, before she could run too far, and attempted to speak to her one last time. Her eyes spoke volumes for what her words did not reveal.

"Are you sure you're all right Quinn?" Quinn, ever the introvert, merely nodded in response to the question. "Well, if you ever need anyone to talk to … you can always talk to me Quinn. I wish you the sweetest dreams tonight." Rachel let go with that and heard a barely mumbled 'you, too,' before Quinn quickly disappeared around the corner to her dormitory. It was the worst and best day of Quinn's life. Rachel, for her part, felt a curiosity spark over the mysterious Ravenclaw she had been paired up with for their prefect patrols. There was something about Quinn that seemed to draw Rachel to her in ways that she couldn't quite explain to herself verbally. Emotionally she felt a certain interest in the enigmatic blonde who spoke so little and seldom seemed to actually interact with others, even those she deemed to be a friend. Rachel couldn't explain why she wanted to be her friend so much, why she felt such a need to figure the blonde out so much after just a single meeting. She also had to admit that she quite liked Quinn's Irish accent. Her brogue was quite charming if slightly difficult to understand when she spoke quickly.

The next day Quinn acted as though nothing had happened at all and everything was just fine and dandy. She was sitting at breakfast mulling over the letter she had written to her parents the night before and wondering if she would see Lothaire arrive with the other owls who came in to deliver the Daily Prophet to the students in the Great Hall every morning. She had told them everything about what had transpired when they had come face to face with each other for the first time in months and though it should have been a joyous occasion it was actually a rather bittersweet event for the half Veela.

While Quinn had been silently eating a piece of toast, not having much of an appetite for very much at the moment, Lothaire came to her table and gave her an affectionate peck on the finger before holding his leg out for her diligently. She smiled at him and offered him a piece of bacon, Lothaire liked bacon as much as Quinn herself did, after removing the letter from his leg gently. Giving Lothaire an affectionate pat on the head and feeling him nuzzle into her hand, Quinn leaned forward and gave her owl a chaste peck on the cheek and Lothaire gave her an owl's equivalent of a smile. Lothaire was a beautiful owl with white feathers and fur dotted with a flurry of black and striking blue eyes. Their letter consisted of their worry for her, in her mother's writing as her father had nearly illegible scrawl that only he could understand, and things she needed to know as a half Veela in love. They told her to owl them as soon as she started feeling any of the symptoms they described from another relative who had had a similar experience with having to wait for their chosen to free up on dating someone else, a non-Veela chosen. They explained that should she feel any symptoms that ranged from shortness of breath, arrhythmia, extreme fatigue, dizziness from low blood pressure, or either feeling faint or actually fainting they needed to know instantly. They also attached a potion recipe to be given to the school healer, Madam Pomfrey, and they also made sure she was more than aware that she was to tell her of her situation immediately. The sooner, the better! She had explained the situation to them in great detail and they gave her just as much back to insure her safety and wellbeing. Quinn's letter from her parents was heartwarming for her to read after having the stress of discovering a taken mate.

Dear Quinn,

We are so happy to hear about you finding your mate and her being a prefect is definitely a bonus for us! We like her already just because of that alone! What house is she though? You told us that the boy she is dating is a Hufflepuff boy named Finn Hudson but you didn't tell us which house she is in herself. Is she also in Hufflepuff or is she perhaps in the same house as you? A different house even? We need to know these things, these details, Quinn, so we have a better idea of who this girl you've chosen is! And don't you roll your eyes at us young lady! We only want what is best for you and if your mate had ended up being some kind of delinquent, well … we'd have no choice really in the matter either way but we would prefer you to have someone who we can trust will be good to you sweetheart! Franny's mate wasn't what we had been expecting at first, what with him having quite a few tattoos and that dreadful nose piercing! We're so glad that he turned out to be a nice young man, a perfect gentleman in the end. It does help that he got rid of that dreadful nose piercing loop that was rather … unpleasant to look at and the new one to replace it is much more tasteful! Enough about that though.

We wanted to take the time to tell you that there are many dangers to not being able to claim your mate within a certain time period because we never had that problem like you did. Your father's niece, Alice, had had a similar problem with finding her mate but having the trouble of waiting for her mate to be free of their previous boyfriend. She's actually more Veela than you and so her symptoms started more quickly than yours will and they became worse at a very quick rate. Her blood is more diluted than a full blooded Veela but she is still three quarter Veela and so her story was almost tragic. Her mate, a young woman by the name of Isabella, was already dating someone else, a young man name Paul, at the time that Alice first saw her. When their eyes met she knew but she was also aware of Isabella already being taken by someone else and so her situation was tricky and nearly dire for her. It took about three weeks for her, after being partially sealed, to start getting sick from having unrequited love for her mate. Her symptoms were that of shortness of breath, heart arrhythmia, extreme fatigue, low blood pressure which provoked bouts of vertigo, and the most dangerous was fainting. It didn't happen all at once, of course. The first symptom she felt was just small bouts of lightheadedness in the first three weeks of having unreciprocated love. What came next was her steadily becoming winded more easily and as the weeks went by she got worse and worse.

She attempted to slow the symptoms down with a Veela potion made for this very purpose, to help slow down the process of a deteriorating heart of a Veela in unrequited love but her being so close to full exacerbated and accelerated the symptoms of her weakening heart. She had befriended Isabella as soon as she knew that she was her chosen mate and she moved slowly from there. It wasn't until nearly two and a half months later that other people started to take notice of her illness, especially her friend Isabella. Alice, at the time when it had come out, had kept saying that she was only ill with a long persisting cold, unable to utter the true depths of her feelings for Isabella at the time. Isabella's boyfriend, Paul, had taken an instant dislike to Alice and didn't trust her at all, not knowing that she was nearly a full blooded Veela, and thought that she was purposefully pretending to be sick to draw Isabella away from him to spend more time with her. He had taken notice of the longing looks Alice gave Isabella but he hadn't thought anything of it at first. As time went on though, he knew, he realized what it was Alice truly felt for Isabella and they started fighting more and more. He kept trying to keep Isabella away from Alice but the more he tried the more worried she became for Alice who was only becoming sicker and sicker as time passed on and they still weren't fully sealed.

It was around the time that four months had passed since Alice first became partially sealed to Isabella that she finally broke up with Paul in favor of attempting to care for Alice, who barely had any strength left despite her potions and efforts to slow down her failing heart. A week later Isabella, thinking that Alice was going to die, told her that she loved her more than anything and asked Alice to keep holding on, to not die because she couldn't possibly live without her and those words saved Alice. After her confession they were fully sealed and Alice's health improved slightly but she was still sick because the courtship ritual hadn't been completed yet and Alice told her why it was she was sick only a few days after Isabella confessed her love for Alice. It only took a few more days for the courtship ritual to be completed and now Alice is well again.

The whole point of this story was for you to get an idea of how long you have to complete both the sealing process and the courtship ritual, separately if need be. Being that Alice is so close to full blooded she was much quicker to fall to her declining health as a result from having unrequited love. You need to make sure that your school's healer is aware of this and to give her the attached recipe for the potion that Alice took before her love was returned, Quinn. Please be safe and make sure you owl us and tell your healer as soon as you feel any symptoms that we told you about in the letter!

Love,

Mom and Dad

Quinn's parents had responded as soon as they got the letter but sent Lothaire later, early on in the morning, so that he had a chance to rest before making the journey back to Quinn. Just knowing that her parents were aware of the situation was a good thing but what their response was, was something she loathed. She was told that she should make sure that Madam Pomfrey was aware of the situation and should start making a certain potion in case she needed it. She knew that she would need it soon. Being a half Veela made it so that she was very close to a full Veela and full Veelas felt symptoms as early as within a day or as late as within a week of not having their love requited, from not being fully sealed to their chosen. Quinn was half so she had more time because of her diluted blood but she knew her time was running out faster than if she was only a quarter Veela. If Alice had started feeling symptoms as quickly as within three weeks, how much more time did Quinn, herself have, before the illness started attacking her?

The next chance she had available she had told Madam Pomfrey all about her condition and shown her the potion recipe her parents had sent along with their letter back to her and she was told to come to her as soon as the symptoms started. She did not tell her who her chosen love was, she couldn't even admit to herself sometimes that it was Rachel Berry. Mostly, she didn't like this match because Rachel was already in love with someone else and she would most likely die from this love. She could guess that being as she only became partially sealed the day before she had a few weeks, maybe two months at most, before she would start to feel any kind of symptom that would be caused by her Veela's need for Rachel, for her need for mutual love.

She hoped that her situation wouldn't be similar to Alice's dangerously long wait for reciprocated love. Her situation, as her parents had said, had been rather dire and she had almost died waiting for 'I love you, too,' but it at least things turned out okay for them and their courtship ritual was completed pretty quickly after they were completely sealed. Quinn could only hope that her love story would be a bit smoother than that.

X

Okay, so I'd been reading too many Fleur and Hermione fics from the Harry Potter archives lately and I came up with this idea. I had asked for D. Geheimnis for their permission to use their version of Veela love because I liked theirs so much. If anyone is interested in my absolute favorite Fleur x Hermione fics is Aucune Defense Pour Toi, a fic I've read at least 6 times and recently re-read because it's just such a beautifully written story. Anywho, this was the first chapter! Please R & R!

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