Please note - all mistakes are my own. I do not currently have a Beta/Alpha to help me correct my horrible grammar.

I do not own the characters created by JK Rowling, nor do I make any profit from this fanfiction.

This is all just fun for me.

Chapter Six -

Draco stood outside the book shop as the drizzle of the rain pelted down. He had arrived a few minutes early but he hesitated knocking even though he saw a light coming from within the store. He thought perhaps she may leave a light going in the store all night but the beast under his skin was quite content to wait. Draco surmised that meant she was nearby because so far, the only time he felt content anymore was when he had been near her. The last few days had been sheer torture attempting to keep the beast contained within the walls of the manor when all he felt like doing was going to see her. What he thought would help for a while only caused him to want to see her more frequently. It actually was becoming quite the problem as he had business meetings to attend and all he could concentrate on was trying to hold still.

Finally, after yesterday, he had his secretary reschedule all his meetings a few weeks out until he could figure out what to do with his present condition. His mother was growing more and more worried with each passing day. Commenting on the hollowness in his face, the lack of color, and his ever-growing quick temper, she tried to reason with him. He knew she was doing it because she worried about him. He supposed that's what mother's do. She'd done it all her life – in her own way.

The door before him creaked open shaking him from his thoughts. From the sliver of light on this dreary day he was shone the honey brown eyes of Hermione Granger peering up at him. The spark of life he had hoped to see was still gone causing a feeling of unrest to rise up in him.

"Malfoy? Um, you're here early... why didn't you knock?"

He brushed passed her. "You don't open until ten." He watched her follow behind him before she jetted off behind the counter.

"That doesn't mean you couldn't have - never mind." She shook her head. Her curls falling all around her face. She huffed with indignation as fly away strands brushed her against her cheek. Quickly, she threw it up in a messy bun atop her head. His eyes followed her movements and he had to grit his teeth when he watched her sleeve draw down to reveal the word "Mudblood". She however drew his thoughts away when she reached out to push a book in front of her. "I think this might be what you're looking for, or rather, I hope it is. I read a bit of it, hard to unscramble Latin, and it had a lot of informative things to say." She glanced up from the book to see his eyes studying her. She hesitated though not knowing if he looked annoyed by her reading parts of it or oddly amused. It was hard to tell with Malfoy.

"Such as?"

She startled. "Um, such as most Veela are not pure Veela anymore – for obvious reasons. And the Veela Gene is Recessive. So, it can lay dormant for a few generations." He nodded slowly. It made sense since he was the first in many generations to show the trait in his bloodline. "That they're volatile when they can't find their mate, or are forced to be separated... It's a fate worse than death." She shivered as she remembered a few tales she had read about this exact circumstance. "What truly amazed me is that they can produce wings in times of extreme circumstances! Can you believe that?!" She looked up into his startled face.

"Wings?" He scoffed. "That sounds like a fairy tale, Granger."

"It does – but can you imagine seeing it in person?"

"You're painting a picture of an Angel-like creature; Veelas are not that."

Shaking her head quickly, she took the book back from him and started flipping through the pages. "You misunderstand – Veela are amazing! They're..." She paused in search of the right word. Using the finger nail of her thumb, she ran it across her bottom lip. Glancing up, she met his eyes across the counter with a smile spreading over her lips. Her eyes gleamed in excitement. "Magnificent for lack of a better term. They're like shifters that can sprout wings and claws in extreme conditions." The pages stopped flipping and she pointed her finger to the picture printed in front of him. Spinning it around to face him she pushed it forward. The print showed a Veela– Draco's assumption at their Final Form. The Veela in the picture was very obviously female but from her back were wings that reached toward the sky. The picture, or rather painting, was only in black and white so he couldn't guess what color the wings were but he was pleasantly surprised by how well the painting was depicted. It almost looked like a photo but without movement.

Draco flipped the page over and started perusing over the pages. Certain words would pop out at him, but despite the temptation to read it in that moment he hesitated reading in front of Hermione. He could feel her eyes on him and he didn't want her to look farther into his soul and see just what he was currently hiding.

"How much do I owe you?" He glanced up and saw the hesitation in her eyes. "You told me you would come up with a sum once you had the book," he reminded. His voice gruff and final

She rattled off a number as she wrote a receipt slip up for him. When she finished to hand it to him, he slipped some coins into her hand. The brush of his fingers against her palm made her jump as if a bold of lighting just traveled up her arm. Her neck craned up to look at him, but she was not surprised to find his face was a blank mask. A mask she hadn't seen since sixth year. When his eyes seemed to darken, she glanced back down into her palm and frowned. "This is too-" She heard the door shut at the front of the shop and couldn't help the corner of her mouth turning up in amusement.

Hermione worked around the shop for the next couple of hours. A new stock of books had come in and she took the time to place their titles in her archives before taking them to the front. Her arms full of books, she began to wander around the shop to place them in their rightful place. Weaving in and out since no one was around, she took the time to reorganize the shelves as she went. Dusting as well to keep the patrons from sneezing and getting their cooties on the books because she didn't care how magical one was, germs were germs.

It took a couple hours and a few breaks to help the witches and wizards that wondered in, but she was able to finish before the end of the day. It was a good feeling that she could stop at a decent hour and make it home in time to finish her own reading. While she appreciated the literature on all things magical, a good muggle book was waiting for her and her bath tub with a glass of wine. It sounded perfect for a night in for the bookworm herself.

Making her way around the bookstore, she set about manually locking the front door before going about and setting her protective wards. it was common knowledge who owned Discordia. It wasn't uncommon either for those who still believed in blood purity to attempt to vandalize or destroy her store. Harry had been there the first time she found Mudblood written across her store front. It took a lot of guesswork to try to undo the damage the spell work had casted but luckily, the brightest witch of her age was not just a title only. Harry had been furious when she told him, but she had persuaded him to ignore it and not go on a rampage. It was hard for him; she knew that even though the war had ended, he was more protective of his loved ones. Like he'd blink and they'd be gone and he'd be back facing off against the Dark Lord but lose this time. She had brought up counseling – she knew a squib in the muggle world who knew about the second Wizarding War that would be perfect for a person like Harry but he always brushed it off. Eventually, she stopped mentioning it. She would be a hypocrite if she pushed him and couldn't push herself to go.

A quick flick of the wrist, once glance to make sure everything was in its proper place, and she apparated home. Quickly, to get out of the rain, she rushed inside after releasing the correct spells to get inside her apartment.

"Hello, crooks," she murmured as he came rubbing up against her leg. She reached down, letting her bag slide off her shoulder to the floor, and picked up the fluffy creature. His purr was feint but she heard it as she went to the kitchen to feed her mangy beast.

It didn't take long to feed him and herself before she found herself wandering to her office and grabbing her current read. It was resting on her desk where she left it. Swiping it into her hands, she turned right back around and shut the door behind her before going into her bathroom and turning the water on. She stripped down from her work clothes, leaving a puddle by the door before slipping into the warm water. Sinking down into the heat, she closed her eyes for a moment. Her mind went racing over her day and how it had begun with her Slytherin... former arch nemesis? Malfoy had definitely been strange and it was even stranger that she had him coming to her on such a strange subject. True, Veela lore was quite elusive but to reach out to her? It had to be out of desperation right, she thought to herself as her brow furrowed in concentration. But why would he need to know about Veelas...

Her mind started reeling from all the thoughts running through her head. If Harry or Ron were around, she was sure they'd be saying that smoke was escaping through her ears. They never understood how she could keep track of all the information that she absorbed and file it away for future use, but they had been very thankful for it during the war. She scoffed to herself as her thoughts were interrupted by thoughts of the two of them. She didn't get a chance to see much of them anymore – one by choice, the other not. One deep breath, breathing in the fumes of the sweet citrus smell from the bubble bath she had put in the water. A few moments of emptying her brain from what the world had labeled the Golden trio and she was back to thinking about the Slytherin Prince who had her wondering more and more about his sudden infatuation – no, curiosity? - about the Veela. Did it come from an infatuation from when the Veela from Beaxbouton had visited for the Triwizard tournament? Had he come across a Veela in his travels? Did he travel? She had known that he was excused from going to Azkabhan since he had been a child during the war – so long as he stayed out of trouble in the future as well. His family was constantly making donations to the rebuilding of the community and to the school, but if she was honest, she hadn't realized what he had been doing for the past year. He hadn't really been mentioned in the Daily Prophet.

A deep breath and she pushed herself down into the warm water and took a moment to be still. Draco Malfoy was smart. Second in her classes – following right behind her. So his interest in finding out more about the Veela was curious. Hermione was sure that the Malfoy family had more connections then she did in the book world – money did talk even in the wizarding world. Why would he come to me? Unless he needed the anonymity. This led Hermione's brain down a whole new spiral of questions and before she realized it the bath water had turned cold and her fingertips and toes were pruny.

She pushed herself out of the tub, letting the water drain out as she toweled herself dry. Her hair was thrown in a messy bun atop her head so the wet strands wouldn't cling to her skin. Once she finished drying, she made her way to her bedroom and pulled on her parent's dental t-shirt and a pair of shorts before crawling into her bed. The warmth of the covers didn't take long to drag her down into the world of sleep and rest.

A/N:

I apologize in the delay! I took the month of July off because I was participating in Camp Nanowrimo! My goal for the month was to write 25,000 words. However I only made it to 15,131. Still quite the accomplishment since the last few years I've only managed to write MAYBE 5,000 words. I've got at least five more chapters to post so that's a happy thing. I hope you guys are enjoying my take on a Veela fic. I'm having fun writing it.

Anyway, happy August!