While the students were saying goodbye to their parents in London, the professors were having their annual beginning of term meeting in the rolling hills surrounding Hogwarts. This year, the biggest news was four new professors were taking over for their aging counterparts.

Hermione Granger would be taking over History of Magic, despite Professor Binns' objection that he was nowhere near retirement age, yet… even though he was a ghost.

Harry Potter would be taking over the coveted Defense against the Dark Arts position from the latest Professor who had decided to retire.

Draco Malfoy would be taking over the Potions position from the cranky old witch who had been pleased to take over for Professor Slughorn, but had found she quite hated children in the years since.

Finally, Pavarti Patil would be taking over for the ever absent-minded Professor Trelawny, who had decided that her fate lay in another country.

Neville Longbottom was to be returning as well, but he would arrive with the students, as he was merely to finish his apprenticeship with Professor Sprout. They wrapped up the meeting with plans to make the meetings biweekly.

It was strange, thought Headmistress McGonagall. It was strange that these four would be the ones to come back.

The headmistress watched as Miss Granger and Mr. Potter walked together to their classrooms, and noted with a frown that Mr. Malfoy watched the pair as well. He wore an indescribable emotion on his face and McGonagall made a quick decision to call him over to her.

"Yes, Headmistress?" Draco asked as he arrived next to her.

She looked up at him from her wheelchair and asked him, "How have you been getting on so far? Are your potion stores stocked to your satisfaction?"

"Yes, madam. Professor Sprout and I have an arrangement for some of the more expensive items to be grown in connection with her Seventh Year students. Hagrid has also been working with some of the animals to volunteer some other ingredients later in the fall when they begin to molt."

"That is very good. And are your accommodations appropriate for you? I am quite sorry I did not get a chance to greet you when you arrived yesterday."

He smiled softly, "It's quite alright, it's just that the transformation must happen every year, else wise I'm apt to lose my mind over not having her yet. This year, it took... too long." He looked away from her for a moment, at the door as he seemed to re energize himself. "I feel she may be close though. Perhaps I'll be able to speak to her soon."

At 17, Draco had found out he was a descendant of the Veela. In the years since, he had discovered as well that his mate was the one and only Hermione Granger. He had been slowly ticking away at her hatred of him by following her from Hogwarts, to university, and finally here to Hogwarts again. At first, she ignored him outright.

That lasted a full year.

Then she had come up to him one night, blind drunk at some party, and demanded to know why he was such an arse. He doubted that she remembered he had answered with an embarrassing blurt which contained his love for her and an awkward apology for mistreating her in the past. In that order. Maybe it was just that he really hoped she didn't remember that incident.

The next year had her in a few classes with him.

During midterms, he had found himself across a study desk from her one windy October night, when he looked up from his notes to find her suddenly sitting before him, her own notes spread out and yet she still said nothing to him.

This pattern continued for a week leading up to midterms. His stress levels had decreased immediately from just having her near and he had made- for the first time in their whole school career- higher marks than her in something.

Some person had asked him if he got an award for something like that, but Draco had been more concerned about if she was upset.

The first time he saw her after their grades were posted, she had looked at him. Looked right at him. It wasn't disgust in her gaze, it was... appraisal. She had seemed to re evaluate him for the first time ever.

They had studied together for every major exam after that. Again, they were outright academic rivals.

Their instructors noticed.

Their peers noticed.

They still hadn't spoken to one another until the finals in Spring. She had simply looked up at him and asked, "How long is the average wingspan of a newborn phoenix?"

He had been so startled he had reflexively answered. She smiled at him and told him thanks.

The next year had seen her relationship with the Weasel blow up in the middle of the courtyard near her dorm. Draco would have not known had it not been for everyone in the entire school, every Wizarding publication, and even the instructors talking about it.

Weasley had cheated on her.

The idiot had announced to the whole school that Hermione Granger was apparently had no interest in sex. He even went so far as to call her an asexual virgin in an interview for the Daily Prophet.

Draco was studying in the library after this article came out and Hermione had sat down across from him with a similar tome to his own. Even though her face was blotchy and her eyes red rimmed from crying, she studied. He longed to enfold her in his arms and comfort her through her pain. He could not. He knew she didn't want that from him... yet.

He set his book down and slid his hand across the desk. He pushed her book down and took her hand in his. She looked up at him, both frightened and grateful. He told her, "He never deserved you, and I think you know it. He doesn't deserve your tears, Hermione." He squeezed her hand and picked his book back up, ignoring the bliss his tongue felt at speaking her name aloud. Ignoring the feeling of confused happiness coming across the table in waves.

The rest of the year had been wonderful. She chose to stay studying with him every day. They still rarely said anything. He knew she was comforted by his presence as much as he was by hers. Every day he told himself he needed to talk to her about something. Anything. But he found himself to be unwilling to give up the companionable silence.

Since he had found out about his heritage, he had been taking a special potion to keep the Veela part of himself lying dormant. He could be in her presence without affecting her or himself other than a mild pleasant feeling they both had in each others company.

He felt that he needed to resist the call of the Veela for a little while longer. She was only just beginning to trust him. She only sort of liked him.

If he told her everything and she rejected him, it was his life which would end. That alone kept him from actively manipulating her. She needed to come of her own volition and if he manipulated his way into her heart and she found out, she would- without question- reject him.

She had finished her degree before him, simply because it was a shorter program in which she had been enrolled. She traveled and he miserably finished his degree.

He had the Veela remain dormant, of course, but that didn't mean he wasn't also affected by her absence. He simply missed her as a regular staple in his life. He had either forgotten what it was like for her to be so far away, or it was worse because she was there so much and now was gone.

He had finally graduated and immediately applied for Hogwarts. He knew she would go there, even if they had never spoken of it. In his meeting with McGonagall to accept his position, he informed the headmistress of his ancestry.

He knew he would have a whole month in her company before the school year started. This caused him to spend much of the first month out of college daydreaming about how he would seduce her and them mark her and they would be able to meet between classes and snog and he would mark her again and then they could read in bed, snuggled around each other. He had finally decided to act.

Then his birthday came and his transformation took a whole month of his humanity. He was locked in the dungeons for the transformation, as always. The elves fed him, like always. And when he came back to himself, he discovered it was already the end of July. He had needed another month to recover from the damage he had done to himself when his Veela side had found they could not escape the bonds to mate.

Now, he was in the castle with her and he was content again. Having her nearby was a soothing balm to his withering soul. He would even be able to eat in the same room with her! Mere meters from her! His Veela purred in contentment within him.

Draco frowned. "I worry that the potion may not work as well in these last few years," He said to McGonagall after a few minutes of reminiscing.

"Last few? I was under the impression that you had decided to act this year," The headmistress answered.

"I have, but it is a slow process. Shall we?" He asked gesturing before him to show her he wanted her to go before him.

"Yes. Would a walk outdoors be alright?"

"Yes. That sounds quite pleasant. Would you like me to...?" Dravo asked, uncertain if it would be offensive to her for him to push her chair.

"Thank you, but there is a spell. Locomotium," She said, with a flick of her wand.

They went to the outdoor gardens, east of the stadium and spoke about the upcoming year and many other things before they came back to his heritage.

"Might I suggest to you a way to make her comfortable in your presence?" McGonagall asked.

"Certainly." He answered, feeling excited to be speaking of his mate again.

"She often reads near the piano room on the third floor. Do you remember that one?"

Draco smiled fondly. "Of course. I often played that piano as a boy."

"She has always read near there," The headmistress reiterated.

He stared at her for a moment, astonished. "Really?"

"Indeed." She said, smiling thinly herself. "Perhaps there is less adversity between you two than you believe."

"Maybe there is," Draco said, distracted.

At the beginning of term feast, Draco felt Hermione's eyes on him several times. He ate quietly and spoke hesitantly to Patil as she nervously prattled on about being too young for the job and other such nonsense. Draco paid her little mind other than to nod and 'mmhmm' in the right places.

He glanced at Hermione once and noted her blush before he saw that she had been caught staring at him and she was awkwardly waving at him with a nervous smile. He smiled back, more confidently than he felt. He gave her a little nod and she turned away to say something to Harry Potter.

When she turned, he followed the smooth line of her neck to her shoulder and absently began to think about kissing down that delicate tendon to her collarbone and how she would sigh contentedly into his shoulder. He wanted to pick her up and deposit her into his lap...

"Mmm, what's that smell?" Pavarti asked, her voice sounding... husky.

Draco cleared his throat, realizing he had unintentionally begun to become aroused. "Oh, I don't smell anything. Could it perhaps be a vision coming on?" He asked, trying to distract her.

"Oh, good point. I ought to do my meditation..." her head fell forward and she stayed silent long enough for Draco to calm himself down. Several other women within a few feet of him also began to look around as though trying to discover the origin of some smell. He called for a cup of coffee and the aroma of the coffee overwhelmed the pheromones he had released by accident.

The last announcements were made and the students dismissed to their houses shortly afterward.

Draco bade his fellow teachers a good night and escaped to his room. He decided to bury himself in a book to distract himself from seeking her out. He was so desperate to escape thoughts of her, he read until almost midnight before realizing the time. He bathed, dressed himself in his usual silk pajama bottoms, and lay down in bed to try to sleep.

Draco tentatively relaxed in his covers, worrying over the closeness of his mate and how that would affect him. Soon he began to drift off to sleep, despite his worrying. He was jerked to full wakefulness an hour later.

Oh, gods. He could feel Hermione's arousal, even this far away. He knew she was touching herself through their tentative bond, even all the way across the castle. He felt himself salivating at the thought of her scent.

There was a jolt through him as he unconsciously focused on her emotions, something he had been refusing to do. He bit his lip to stifle a groan as the feelings flowed through him. Draco picked up his wand and cast a silencing charm and then a privacy shield on his bed hangings, even though he had the whole set of rooms to himself. Only then did he give in totally to the arousal pumping through his veins. Was it his or hers? Did it matter?

He gasped at the feeling, regardless. His mate was very passionate, he could tell. He just knew that she would be dripping for him, and when that thought hit him, he was suddenly so hard that even the feeling of his silk pajamas was agonizing. He let out a shuddering breath and then pulled the offending pajamas off. When he looked down, he was unsurprised by how swollen and red his erection was. He touched the tip shyly with his finger, trying to imagine it was her spreading his precum around gently.

When he closed his eyes, the image came to him clearly and suddenly, his hips bucked and he heard himself growl.

That bushy hair didn't look so unappealing, now. He longed to bury his fingers in those wild locks and pull her up for a kiss before he urged her soft lips over his swollen head.

He groaned again, gripping the shaft as the images and longings swirled in his head. He ached to fly across the castle and mark her so they could mate properly, but it was too early by far. He felt his fangs had descended, despite his negation if that plan.

A sudden thought came to him which was so appealing he had no choice but to act on it immediately.

He reached out through their bond, sharing his own fantasies with her. He imagined for her the feeling of his hands on her soft body, stroking along her lean form. His lips on her throat, his warmth enfolding her nude form. She would be tied to the bed, blindfolded, and Draco was surprised to find that this image was not from him. He could barely contain himself at his mate's fantasy. He pinched her nipple in his mind, first softly and then quite hard, curious of her reaction. In his mind, he heard her strangled moan of pleasure and saw her fingers pressed deep into her slit.

He took over again, helping her to imagine him taking her roughly with his mouth, nipping gently at her clit with his teeth. Her own whirlwind of pleasure skyrocketed suddenly, and he knew she was close to orgasm. Her hips rocked against the bed, wishing he were there, even if she didn't know who he was yet.

He stroked himself faster, her coming orgasm bringing his own quickly. He brought the completion suddenly as he imagined for her that just as she was about to cum, he would thrust himself into her waiting opening. He could practically feel her milking his hard cock as she came all around him. He heard her scream in ecstasy through the bond and finally felt his orgasm rip through him.

He could still hear her whimpering in pleasure through the bond as she brought herself to completion once more. His Veela was still incredibly aroused at the knowledge of their shared orgasms. The Veela was battling for dominance, trying to break free of Draco's hold on it, trying to convince Draco to run to Hermione and take her for his own.

Draco refused it.

The Veela strengthened the bond and showed that Hermione was thinking about him- him, Draco Malfoy- and smiling softly in her bed.

Draco's heart gave a sad lurch that he wasn't there. But he knew a manipulation when he saw one. He sent soothing emotions through their bond, determined that he would speak to her tomorrow and she would eventually decide she wanted to be with him, rather than be coerced into loving him. The Veela seemed to understand, and grumpily resigned to the human's decision.

For now.

A/N: Well, here we are again. I have no idea where this little bunny is going, but I suppose we will find out together.