So this is my first shot at the whole veela trope. I thought it might be fun to give it a go with a Christmas theme. I hope you'll enjoy it. Please read and review. Happy holidays!

Veela for Christmas

The sounds of the ball assaulted his eardrums as he retreated further into the Manor and away from the excitement. His mother had been insistent on having a Yule ball two weeks before the actual holiday. Narcissa felt certain he'd find her here tonight.

She went all out and invited practically every Ministry employee, all the major magical society groups, and as many of his former classmates as she could find. It was to be the event of the season. Only he'd escaped at the first opportunity.

He'd not told his mother that he'd found the woman just after his twenty-fourth birthday and had been avoiding her for the last six months.

He could still see the way her eyes had widened in confusion when he made his hasty retreat from her office, claiming food poisoning or some other rubbish. He'd only communicated via owl or Ministry memos since, darting out of the room any time she was within sight.

Truthfully, he didn't want to find out how she'd react if she learned the truth about him. It had been a well-guarded secret during his adolescence and he'd even begun to wonder post-war when nothing had happened by the time he'd turned twenty-one as it had with others like him. However, three years later and it hit him with full force. The physical pain, the hunger, and constant longing that made him want to slit his own wrists wracked him nearly constantly.

Six more months and then the window of opportunity would close and she'd be free. He'd never fall in love and he'd never have a family but he was just Malfoy enough not to want to face her imminent rejection.

They'd become friendly over the last five years working together in the Ministry. After apologizing for his sins and receiving forgiveness, he'd taken to flirting with her incessantly much to the annoyance of that daft redhead she insisted on dating. She'd blush and swat at him and he'd smirk and enjoy her boyfriend turning the same shade of his hair.

Despite it all, were they even really friends? Sure, she sought him out at work functions to argue over some legislation or scoff at his latest reading material. However, he wouldn't be surprised if deep down she only talked to him to be nice or just to prove a point to Weasley that she could speak to whomever she liked. It wasn't like he had a large social circle and he tended to stay outside of the fray when at social gatherings. She was just the type to pity him and save him from standing by himself.

It was for that reason that he wouldn't subject her to this ancient magic. Magic she wouldn't be able to escape once she was ensnared and had accepted it. She was already taken, by her choice, and he wasn't going to ruin her happiness.

Draco reached to loosen his bowtie as he rounded the corner and pushed past the double doors of the library. He waved his wand automatically and lit several candles, washing the elaborate room with their flame. He poured himself a small drink from the decanter his father had always kept there and collapsed into a plush chair in a dark corner.

He swirled the liquid before taking a generous sip and rested it on the arm of the chair. He rested his head against the back of it and sighed tiredly. He was always tired these days. He was wasting away from the inside.

He lifted his glass to his lips once more but stopped short as his chest constricted painfully when he smelled her. She was in here. And he was trapped. No one could apparate within the Manor and he literally had his back against the wall.

Shit.

Hermione Granger edged into the room cautiously, eyes focused less so on where her feet were taking her and more on the mass of old volumes lining the shelves of the vast library.

"You still make a habit of snooping then, Granger?"

Hermione whirled around to find the blonde sitting in a dark corner of the library. Only a slim shaft of moonlight illuminated him enough to make out the basics of his features as he sat swirling a glass of what she guessed was firewhiskey.

She crossed her arms with a frown. "I'm not snooping. Your mother offered for me to have a look around."

Draco scowled at that. His mother was scheming again. She sent the witch here knowing full and well by now that he'd be hiding from the party down below. She must have sensed why he didn't want to run into her. That meant she knew.

His mother had planned this little run-in then. Taking the decision away from him. And his mate.

Hermione approached him hesitantly as she wasn't quite sure about him considering he'd been avoiding people like the plague for the last six months. It was a bit drafty in the room and she now wished she'd not let Ginny talk her into wearing a dress with so much skin visible. Nearly her whole back was exposed and she was cold now. Draco's cool stare wasn't helping the situation.

She'd thought they were at least on somewhat friendly terms but after he'd bolted from her office one day months ago, claiming he was sick, she'd not really seen him up close since. It was quite clear he was avoiding her. Avoiding most people really. She was rather curious as what made had made him withdraw so suddenly.

"What are you doing in here," she asked finally.

He shrugged, "What's it look like? Avoiding that blasted ball my mother insisted on putting together to celebrate the Yule season."

Hermione tipped her head curiously as she approached a little closer, trying to see him better while he remained in the shadows.

"You don't like Christmas?"

"I like it well enough," he sighed. "I just don't feel the urge to participate in such fanciful displays of frivolity."

She snorted but nodded in agreement. She did love the holiday, she really did but the way some people acted at these things really rubbed her the wrong way. People could be so fake. That's why she'd actually always liked talking to him at these sorts of things at work. He generally made her blush with his flirting when he wasn't annoying her with his obstinate opinions about her legislation but she never took it seriously. He only did it to annoy Ron anyway. She enjoyed his wit and sarcasm, usually seeking him out as he remained on the outer circle observing.

Kind of like right now. She'd given up on finding out why he'd started avoiding her and most everyone else. But it had seemed to start with her. Now she was somewhat relieved to be talking to him again.

She drew closer to continue the conversation and felt an odd wave of emotion wash over her suddenly. Something, some longing, seemed to constrict her chest for a moment but it loosened almost as quickly as it came.

"How've you been," Hermione tried again. Usually he tried more to make conversation with her but he was rather quiet tonight.

Draco eyed her from his chair, fighting the urge to go to her and close the distance. That dress was sinful. Red silk wrapped around her slender body like she'd been sown into it. That deep cut between her breasts showing him a generous amount of smooth skin lit his blood aflame. How the hell she wasn't cold was beyond him.

"Alright," he managed to speak against his dry throat. He clutched at the arm of one chair, not trusting himself. "Busy," he added.

She paused as she finally caught sight of him better, a shaft of light slashed across his face and she nearly gasped.

"Draco, your eyes…" she shook her head and stopped short of approaching any closer.

Something, some sort of magical string was pulling her towards him. Almost as if someone had tied an anchor to her magical core and his and was slowly reducing the distance until they could consume one another. She wanted him…inside her.

It didn't make sense.

"What about them," he asked evenly.

"They're…well I swear they're amber."

Draco swallowed against the lump in his throat. She smelled incredible. It wasn't just a fragrance or some sweet scent she'd spritzed on, he could quite literally smell the essence of her.

"Yes, they likely are," he agreed with a casual shrug. He felt dangerously calm. "You work with magical creatures, Granger. Surely you can put two and two together."

He wasn't going to spoon feed it to her. Her decision had been taken away and, frankly, he was rather pissed about that. One step closer and she'd be ensnared in the magic between them. She'd start to crave him and not understand why. He at least needed her to figure it out while her mind could still function properly without ancient magic clouding her thoughts.

Hermione blinked quickly as she sifted through the mass of information in her head. Suspicions about what could cause that leaked to the surface but she needed more information to be sure.

"You've been avoiding me," she finally noted aloud.

He lifted a pale brow and reached for his drink to take a small sip. The liquid burned the back of his throat as it went down but it was enough to keep him grounded.

"Yes," he admitted unapologetically.

She scoffed at his short answer. "Are you going to elaborate as to why? Last time I saw you, Malfoy, you were fleeing my office claiming food poisoning. All correspondence between us has been limited to your owls and Ministry memos."

Draco drew a deep breath, her scent flooding his nose and stood slowly. He set his drink down gently on the nearby table and took a small step forwards, closer into the light.

"Because if I got this close to you then this would happen."

He watched as her brown eyes widened while she took him in. Her heels had her head just under his nose but he knew without them that he'd dwarf her by a good foot. She nearly stumbled as she took a hesitant step backwards.

Hermione's hand lifted on its own to press to her chest, her heart beating erratically inside her. His eyes were the color of bourbon, amber and shining under the dim candlelight. Fangs were protruding just under the edge of his full upper lip. She had the horrible suspicion that if she were to check under his shirt, he'd likely have grown wings.

"This is my mother's fault," he growled under his breath. "I don't know how she figured it out but I certainly never confirmed her suspicions after I first realized it was you."

"You…you're a veela," she whispered.

"Give the witch a prize," he snarled as he turned away from her to put some distance between them. He stepped over towards the nearest window and leaned against it. "I'd thought for a while that I'd be lucky and the genes would pass me over. Not every generation is afflicted but my mother had been certain I would be since I was thirteen." He glanced over his shoulder. "Since you slapped me and I did nothing to retaliate which was unusual for me. Actually, that must be how she knew it was you."

He watched her lips part in surprise and fought the urge to devour her on the spot. He could make her want him if he wanted to. He could make her crave him. Some honorable part of himself stopped him. Beyond the magical pull between them that even he couldn't control, he would do nothing to entice her. She would have to make the final decision for herself. Plus, there was still her annoying boyfriend to consider.

"I should have known there was a reason she urged me to check out your blasted library," she muttered, half to herself.

"I think you can still walk away," he told her without looking away from the window. "I know you felt the pull between us the moment you came in here but I think you can still choose to walk away."

Hermione looked stricken when he chanced a glance at her and he nearly snorted. Of course she'd be concerned over him, just like she had been over every other useless magical creature.

"But what would happen to you?"

Draco shrugged and shifted to face her, his arms crossed tightly over his chest. "After another six months, the connection breaks. You'd be free."

She frowned at him and hesitantly took a step toward him. "That doesn't answer the question. What would happen to you?"

He'd been taking small breaths because with every deep breath he drew her scent assaulted his senses. He knew it was worse for him than it was for her but bloody hell it was horrible.

"I'll never be able to fall in love with anyone else. Never be able to procreate. The urge for either will be non-existent with anyone else. My magic will weaken and my lifespan will be cut in half." He shrugged again. "I'm prepared for it. Why do you think I've been avoiding you?"

Hermione blinked against the moisture collecting in the corners of her eyes and tore her gaze from his. That sounded just horrible to her. Who would enjoy such an existence, let alone choose it?

But clearly he'd made the decision intentionally without consulting with her first. Not even giving her the choice for herself.

"Is the prospect of accepting me as your mate that repulsive, Draco?"

He pushed away from the window then but maintained some distance between them. "I apologized ages ago for being a prick to you growing up but perhaps I should have made it clear that you're the least repulsive person to me, regardless of our souls connecting. Had it occurred to you in that brilliant mind that perhaps I was avoiding your rejection?" He laughed, hollow and cold. "Why in Merlin's name would Hermione Granger willingly choose me? You can do better, Hermione, and I'm just humble enough to admit it. Even that ginger pest would likely be a better choice."

Hermione stared at him in shock, words failing her for once. She'd not once considered that angle.

"We broke up," she told him after a beat and nearly laughed at the shocked expression that crossed his features. "Not long after you ran from my office actually. Something just felt…off. I knew it was time to end it."

Draco drew a deep breath at that admission. Merlin help him. She was single.

"And he let you go? Just like that?"

She swallowed and frowned. "He had his eyes on someone else apparently. Pissed his mum off but that's not my problem."

She stepped towards him hesitantly, finally closing that space between them. She felt the magical pull on her, their souls trying desperately to align, and the need to touch him grew but she still had her wits about her. She watched him watch her through those amber colored eyes that just moments before unnerved her greatly.

She lifted a hand but stopped short of touching him. "I think I deserve to know how it would feel," she asserted with as much conviction as she could muster. "You're not going to bite me if I kiss you, are you?"

Draco had the grace to snort amusedly. "That's not exactly how it works."

Her brown eyes narrowed in confusion. "I thought you'd have to mark me to make it official."

An arrogant smirk tilted one corner of his mouth as he stared down at her. It was taking every fiber in his being not to take her in his arms and start the seal on their connection. She was wading through dangerous waters. One taste and they'd be done for.

"I do, but a simple bite won't do." When she didn't put two and two together, he elaborated, "Sex, Granger. That's when the marking happens and not before."

Heat flooded her cheeks and she mentally berated herself for not knowing that. However, veela were rather secretive about how their bonding worked, particularly how a mate was marked. She only knew the basics.

"I'm not offering that," she told him quickly.

"Didn't think you were."

She nodded slowly, still rather nervous but she needed to know what it was going to feel like with him before she told him that she would accept him. Logic told her it would be foolish not to give this a chance. One thing that was well known was that veela mates were highly cherished. He'd spend his entire life trying to make her happy and, if the rumors were true, the sex would blow her mind. Not that she'd have anything to compare him to anyway.

Regardless, she couldn't subject him to a life of misery. Not when she'd had a bit of a crush on him all along anyway. She'd sought him out over the last few years because he was good conversation but also because she just liked his presence. He listened to her. Laughed at her stupid, academic jokes. Paid her attention that Ron never had.

Without giving herself any more time to doubt her decision, she stood her on her toes and pressed her lips gently to his. He froze under her touch and she nearly pulled away before two strong arms enveloped her and pressed her tightly to his chest.

Draco growled appreciatively when he felt the smooth skin of her back under his hands. The little vixen was hotter than fire.

Her hand lifted and her fingertips trailed along the edge of his jaw hesitantly. She nibbled gently at his lower lip and was surprised that he allowed her tender teasing. The tip of her tongue darted out to press against the seam of his lips and he wasted no time in parting them for her. She swiped along the sensitive insides of his lips before she finally grazed those fangs. Something new ignited in her blood then.

Draco lost it and brought a hand up to cup the back of her head as he slipped his tongue past her lips to taste her finally. It was heaven and sin all at once. As if he could taste her magic. It was indescribable.

Hermione sighed blissfully as he moved his mouth from hers and began peppering her jaw and neck with soft, tingling kisses. She knew he could make her happy if she let him. She could feel it in the depths of her bones.

Merlin, he belonged to her. And she to him.

She pulled his head from the spot he was nipping on her neck and met his eyes. The amber had drained from them, his fangs receded.

"You can control it?"

Draco swallowed and ran his tongue over his bottom lip, enjoying her lingering taste there. "Yes, more so when I'm allowed to touch you."

She nodded as she reached up to wipe her lipstick from his lip. The look in his grey eyes nearly undid her. She could tell he still didn't believe she'd accept him. Didn't believe she'd choose this for herself.

He watched her and no matter how good that kiss felt or how much his desire flared and licked at the edges of her own, he wasn't confident. He didn't like not being confident in anything but Hermione Granger was entirely different territory. This woman could make or break him. And he'd let her.

"Okay."

He nearly blanched at her easy response. He stared at her, considering every little detail of her expression. Wide, chocolate eyes he was already pitifully drowning in and the nervous bite of her lower lip he'd plumped with his kiss.

"Just like that?"

"I'd be a fool to say no just because of our past when I know that you can make me happy, Draco. You deserve to be happy, too. And it's the past for a reason."

He leaned down to press another kiss to her swollen lips. "Thank God," he muttered.

"There is one thing." She bit her lip hesitantly when he arched a questioning brow. "I'm…I've never—"

He looked at her in complete wonder for a moment. He seemed to understand and squeezed her to him gently. "You've been waiting for marriage?"

She shrugged self-consciously, "Not intentionally but…well I kind of like the idea."

He nodded and untangled his arms from around her, allowing her to drop back to her heels again. Losing her warmth stung but he knew it wouldn't be for long. He reached into his pocket and fumbled for a small, black box.

"I don't know what possessed me to do it but that first week when I knew it was you, I went off and commissioned this. Of course, I decided quickly afterward not to approach you. As far as I knew, you'd be married to the damn Weasel soon enough. I suppose it's good now that I had it done anyway."

Hermione watched with wide eyes, a hand pressed over her beating heart, as he opened the black box and withdrew a ring. A large emerald cut ruby sat incased by smaller diamonds all around in a platinum band. She tore her focus from the ring to see him. Really see him.

Draco held his breath as those brown eyes took him in. She'd seen what he was. Seen what he'd been hiding from her.

He felt a bit foolish realizing she'd felt it, too. So much so that she'd broken off a years-long relationship because of it, even if she didn't know it at the time.

"Is the promise of what I can give you enough to agree to spend your life with me now instead of waiting," he asked softly.

Hermione shook her head quickly, "I don't want your money, Draco."

His mouth pulled into a slight smirk, a more familiar twisting of his features. "You can have that, too, but I meant this relationship." He enjoyed the way her cheeks bloomed with a fresh blush and she bit her lip to hide her embarrassment. "I can love you unlike any other man ever would, Hermione. You just have to say yes. Be my mate but also be my wife."

Despite her heart hammering in her chest, she tipped her head curiously as she studied him. His grey eyes were softer than she remembered, and strong shoulders pulled taut as he waited with bated breath for her answer.

"Is it just the veela in you that wants me? Or do you think you really want me?"

"They're the same. I think I wanted you before I started to change. But you know me. I'd have been too stubborn to admit it without a bit of prodding."

She couldn't explain it. Didn't quite understand why she wanted what he was offering her but something felt like it was clicking into place when she kissed him. A passion she'd been seeking but had never able to find before with Ron.

Harry would likely check her to make sure Draco hadn't put her under the Imperius curse. Ron would be livid but he'd live. Ginny…well she'd probably find the whole thing hilarious and romantic.

But none of that mattered at the moment.

"Yes."

He slipped the ring on her finger before he dove in to kiss her again. He then spent the better part of the evening with her seated across his lap in that dark corner…keeping her warm in the drafty Malfoy family library.

By the end of the evening and all the guests gone, he escorted her past the ballroom, ignoring his mother smiling over the staircase at them from the second floor, and to the fireplace to floo home.

Draco brought both of her hands to his mouth and pressed a kiss over her knuckles, lingering over her new ring on her left hand.

"She won't mind," Hermione asked quietly. They'd done more than snogged each other senseless and discussed what would happen next. Though she was pleased to say she found she quite enjoyed the snogging part.

Draco glanced over his shoulder at his mother lingering over the staircase and the witch had the good grace to bugger off to her rooms when she realized they knew she was there.

"Oh, she'll complain and beg for us to wait longer but she'll get over it when she realizes she'll have a daughter-in-law in time for Christmas."

"Hmm," she hummed happily when he leaned down to kiss her again. She was becoming quite addicted to him already. She could hardly remember what it was like before she'd first felt that magical pull to him and didn't relish the idea of having never known. "She's going to make us have a proper ceremony anyway, isn't she?"

"Likely," he smirked down at her.

He stepped closer to the fireplace with her but stopped her from going through. Hermione turned back to see why he'd stopped her and followed his eyes to the sprig of mistletoe magically growing from above and hanging low.

He kissed her before she could say anything more. She was on an emotional high when he sent her back through the floo and promised to see her first thing in the morning.

Nothing but his final words to her rang through her head as she laid her head on her pillow.

"I will make you so happy."

Two weeks later found the new couple seated by a crackling fire Christmas Eve night as his mother, the Weasleys, and Harry milled about the spacious main sitting room in Malfoy Manor. The news had come as a bit of a shock to Harry and the rest of the Weasleys, but especially Ron. It had taken Harry, Ginny, and his parents all a rather frustrating afternoon of discussing the matter to make him agree to not cause a scene.

Granted, if it weren't for the fact that the bond was due to Draco being a Veela none of them would have been on board so easily. However, one encounter with Draco in full protective mode with his eyes changed and his fangs present when he walked in on Harry hugging Hermione, no one could doubt that this was real.

"I still don't like your friends," Draco grumped as he sipped his eggnog.

Hermione rolled her eyes at his side and moved to sit across his lap. His resounding groan only encouraged her further as she now knew what it did to him. She made certain not to abuse her power over him but as his wife, she just had to have some pull in getting him to behave around her friends.

"You know what's waiting for you later if you behave, Draco."

His eyes flashed a now familiar amber before he controlled himself. "Would figure I'd be mated to the most frustrating witch in existence," he grumbled, but not before squeezing her hips teasingly. "And the Weasel is drinking my best firewhiskey."

Hermione glanced over his shoulder at her ex who was in fact drinking heavily as he stood by the Christmas tree with George and Harry. He'd been relatively well-behaved all things considered so she wasn't about to rock that boat.

"Let him have his drink," she whispered as she leaned forward. "You have me."

She swore he nearly purred as he closed the distance between their mouths and kissed her hotly.