A deafening silence fell over the two Gryffindors. They stood like stone, facing each other. No one said a word for what felt like an eternity.

Harry took a deep breath. "What?" he eventually croaked out. "That's not possible."

Hermione sighed in response. "It is, Harry. And it's true. I'm sorry you had to find out this way." She looked down at the floor.

Turning away from her, Harry ran a hand through his hair, beads of sweat forming on the surface of his forehead as the news sank in. There was no way. Just no way. It was impossible. He wouldn't accept it, not until he had proof.

He let out a humourless laugh, "No. I don't believe you Hermione, Draco would have told me!" He exclaimed, whipping back round to face her. Wouldn't he? But Hermione wouldn't lie to him. She was his best friend.

"He wouldn't keep this a secret from me," Harry continued, but he was more trying to convince himself than Hermione.

"Are you sure?" Hermione looked a Harry, desperately trying not to crush his last piece of happiness.

Harry wasn't sure. He had no idea about anything anymore. So was it all just a lie? Had Draco concocted their whole relationship in order to capture him just because Harry was his mate?

This couldn't happen. Harry had heard awful stories growing up about the Veela race, and he assumed the Veriae were similar. He knew that many of those who are mates of a Veela are treated awfully, made slaves to their masters or mistresses. There was no love involved between a Veela and his mate.

"Hermione, if this is true..." Harry looked her in the eyes, and Hermione realised that behind all the anger, all the denial... was fear. Harry was frightened.

"If this is true... I'll be a slave. A slave to Draco, the whole of the Malfoy family! Probably even Voldemort himself!" Harry threw up his arms to emphasise his point, trying desperately not to let panic overtake him.

"There's no free will involved in Veela-mate relationship. I have all my reasons to believe a Veriae is the exact same." Harry's voice cracked and he put his head in his hands, slumping down on the bed. He was done for.

"Harry, listen." Hermione came over to sit beside him, trying to calm him down.

"Those are Veela relationships." She continued. "It's a myth that the Veriae are the same. It's true, yes, that some involve little free-will, but it's also widely known that the Veriae are one of the most caring creatures in the magical realm. They're supposed to protect their mate, make them feel safe, love them..." Hermione trailed off.

She hoped against hope that Draco was one of these Veriae's - the good kind. From what she could tell, seeing the way he treated Harry, she was sure he was. But a little seed of doubt planted its way into her mind. She knew Harry's emotions were going haywire, but the boy had to know the implications and seriousness of this situation. The fact that Draco hadn't told him anything about this rang alarm bells in Hermione's head.

Harry scoffed. "And you suppose Draco is going to care for me and protect me? He's been lying, Hermione, this whole time!" He felt his voice hitch in his throat. "He's reeled me in, made me fall for him, in order to get what he wants: A slave!"

The idea that his and Draco's relationship had been a lie made Harry want to break down inside and cry and cry until he couldn't cry anymore. I've been made a fool of, Harry thought.

"Fallen for him?" Hermione echoed Harry's words, her eyes wide.

Harry only just registered what he'd blurted out, and stood up abruptly.

"Harry wait," Hermione tried to grab the boy's arm as he stood, but he shook it off.

"Don't talk to me Hermione. Don't come looking for me either. I need to prepare for the third task, alone."

"Harry, please, at least take this first," Hermione retrieved an old looking book from the bed and handed it to him. Harry hadn't even noticed it sitting there through all the commotion. It was the book from the library Hermione had found. A book all about Veriaes.

Without saying a word, Harry grabbed it and proceeded to gather his invisibility cloak into his arms and, wrapping it around himself, headed towards the dormitory door.

"Wait! Harry, wait, there's something you need to know! If you reject Draco he'll-"

But the boy had already vanished.

-----------------------------------------------------

The past few days, Draco had been a giddy, smiley, sappy mess. He couldn't stop grinning, much to the annoyance of his friends. But he didn't care. He and Harry had finally said the 'L' word to each other. Draco felt like he could squeal every time he thought back to their date.

He hadn't seen the boy since then, though, and as much as Draco's Veriae instincts tried to yell at him that something was wrong, that Harry could be in danger, or something had happened, Draco quelled them each time. He'd gotten quite good at ignoring them, which helped to put his mind at rest. He hated living in a state of panic 24/7.

Anyway, Draco gathered, it was the day of the third task, the boy was probably preparing as best he could. He wouldn't want Draco getting in the way. He'd see him at the beginning, Draco thought, satisfied.

Making their way down to the arena, Draco, Pansy and Blaise walked in silence - the two friends knew Draco was nervous and didn't want to aggravate him further. They'd made that mistake twice already now.

Although anxiety was beginning to descend on Draco, he was feeling a little calmer than the two tasks previous. He'd come to realise that his mate was special - of course, he was the chosen one - but Draco had never quite understood what this meant. Harry was a powerful wizard, and was excellent at escaping death by the edge of his teeth. Draco was certainly proud of him, and a new admiration for the boy surfaced inside the blond, making him fall even harder for the Gryffindor.

Draco was pulled from his thoughts as the three Slytherins got to the entrance to the arena, and began to climb their way up the stands. Draco wanted to get as best a view he could of his mate, before he entered the maze. Of course, word had spread beforehand about what the task would involve, and although Draco knew Harry would most likely be one hundred percent safe, a niggling feeling at the pit of his stomach just wouldn't go away.

Reaching their seats, the three sat down, and Draco peered over the edge of the railings, trying to catch a glimpse of his Gryffindor.

Where is he? Draco wondered, looking down below.

Grey eyes scanned the surface of the pitch below, and stopped once they'd located a certain raven-haired boy. There he was.

Why must he always look so adorable? A voice in the back of Draco's head said. Another grin spread across the blond's face, remembering back to their date a few days previous.

He remembered soft touches, kisses and shallow breaths. He remembered darkness, but welcoming darkness, as he was encased in Harry's arms, his scent engulfing Draco like his favourite weighted blanket. He remembered shared laughs and giggles, rough touches and tastes. He remembered the feeling of Harry's skin next to his, soft and delicate, his touch gentle and loving. He couldn't get enough of the boy.

Draco stood in the racks, gripping the bar tightly, trying to make eye contact with his mate before he entered his final task.

He noticed Harry seemed to be searching for someone too. Draco's heart fluttered as he realised it must be him.

He watched Harry's emerald green eyes scan the rows of students, before coming to a stop to lock with his own.

But what Draco found behind those eyes were not the gentle and loving ones he'd come to know and love, but instead, a hard, cold stare was piercing into him, sending an ice-cold jolt down his wingspan.

He watched in shock as Harry kept his eyes trained on Draco, unmoving and unsmiling, simply staring deadly into Draco's soul.

Shifting uncomfortably, Draco furrowed his eyebrows at Harry in confusion, trying to have a conversation with his eyes, asking Harry what was wrong.

But the boy simply refused to acknowledge his question. He turned, shooting Draco one last, spiteful stare, and made his way into the maze, the bushes closing up behind him.

Draco didn't move for a few seconds. What on earth was that all about? He felt a sharp pain shoot through his chest as he slumped in his chair.

"Did you guys see that?" he asked, turning to Blaise and Pansy. The two nodded in silence, confirming what Draco had seen. So he wasn't going crazy then.

Putting his head in his hands, Draco started to tug at his hair, not caring who was looking. The pain he was feeling deep inside was growing worse and panic was starting to settle in, the Veriae inside of him screaming for the love of his mate to return.

Draco knew who he needed to see.

"I have to go," he shot up abruptly, turning to face Blaise and Pansy. "There's something I need to do. Something's wrong."

----------------------------------------------------

Draco made his way past the rest of the students sitting in the stands waiting for the first triwizard to reach the finish.

He concluded that there was no point sitting around worrying about this situation. He had to find the answers for himself.

Coming to a stop below the Gryffindor partition of the arena, he scanned his eyes across the rows of students, trying to locate the one he was searching for.

Spotting her just a few rows up, Draco began to climb the stairs by the side, ignoring the confused glances and stares he received.

Making his way down row four, Draco came to a stand-still in front of the student he was looking for.

"Granger," he greeted, with a nod of his head. He didn't particularly fancy speaking to the Mudblood right now, but knew it was his best chance at receiving the answers he seeked.

Hermione looked up from her conversation with Ron, raising her eyebrows at the newcomer, surprised.

"May I speak with you please?" Draco continued, not meeting her eyes. He felt slightly embarrassed that he was being seen speaking civilly to a Gryffindor, and a Mudblood one, no less. "Now," he grit through his teeth, hating the growing attention from the rest of the Gryffindors lingering on him.

Hermione opened her mouth to answer but Ron cut across her.

"As if she's going anywhere with you, Malfoy," he bit at him, shoving his way between the two, almost protectively.

Draco smiled inwardly despite the situation. The two of them had a strange similarity between the way him and Harry behaved together.

"What could you possibly need to speak to her about anyway?" Ron continued, folding his arms defensively.

"Unfortunately for you, Weasel, this matter doesn't concern you," he sneered, "Only Granger, who I wish to speak to now, please." He looked pointedly at her, trying not to let his politeness towards a Mudblood gross him out. "It's about Harry..." he said quietly, trying not to let anyone overhear.

Hermione sighed, a look of recognition passed over her face. Turning to Ron she said quietly, "I'll be two minutes, it's fine."

Ron's jaw locked, but nodded in defeat, dismissing them. He knew better than to argue with Hermione. He was sure she'd put Draco in his place, whatever the matter was.

Climbing quickly down the steps, Draco made for the exit, desperate to peel the sticky stares off of his back. Glancing behind him, he checked that Granger was following him. She was. Good.

The two stopped just outside of the exit where they couldn't be overheard.

"Granger, I- I need to talk to you," Draco started, unsure of how to word his concerns about Harry without giving anything away. "Is Harry okay?" He asked finally, not looking into the girl's eyes. Merlin, this was embarrassing.

A long silence followed in which Hermione regarded him carefully.

Finally, a statement rang from Hermione's lips which caused Draco's world to shatter.

"He knows, Malfoy."

Draco looked at her. "Knows what?" He sneered, but he had a bad feeling he knew exactly what.

"You know what," Hermione looked like she was about to cry. She hated being between the both of them, being the messenger. She hated feeling like she was causing a mess. But it had to be done. She had needed to tell Harry. He had to know the consequences and almost certain danger that it took to be Draco's mate.

"How do you know about that?" Draco whispered menacingly, his grey eyes piercing into Hermione, flashing a brilliant shade of silver.

"I noticed the clues," Hermione replied quietly. "The angel gifts you gave him, the feather - I found one in the library. I assumed it had fallen from you."

She was right. Draco's feathers had been tender for a few days after Harry had accidentally hit them - one was bound to fall out somewhere. How could he have been so careless?

She held up her finger to show Draco the scar it had left behind after she'd touched it. Draco's eyes widened. He'd never seen his feathers in action before. Despite the situation at present, a small sense of pride encased him. Pushing his thoughts aside, he returned to the matter at hand.

"So, you decided it would be best to tell him before me?!" Draco almost yelled in frustration.

"As if you were going to!" Hermione spat back at him, anger spilling from her. "I didn't want him finding out from me but you were just going to leave it! Let it all play out like a little game. That's what this is to you Malfoy, isn't it? It's all just one big, fat game!"

Draco turned from her, anger coursing through his veins. He had half a mind to hex the girl before him, how dare she make accusations like this! But he knew that wouldn't earn him any points from his mate.

"Then I found a book in the library," Hermione continued.

Draco froze, and any pride he had felt before now ebbed away at an alarming rate.

"A book?" Draco said lowly. It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yes," Hermione regarded him, confused at his sudden change in demeanour. "It was shoved far away at the back, it's pages were coming lose. It was black and very old - no one would have seen it if they weren't trying to look for it."

Draco sucked in a deep breath. This was bad, oh so very bad.

"Where is this book now?" He grit through his teeth. He could feel his palms sweating as he curled them into fists, his nails digging.

"I gave it to Harry..." Hermione replied, not looking Draco in the eye.

"You what?" Draco hissed venomously at her.

"He had to know!" Hermione cried, distraught now. "He had to know the dangers of being your mate! I knew that him being with you would put him in terrible danger - what if the Dark Lord comes looking for him? You know he's been after Harry for years! What will you do then, Malfoy? How will you protect him? You're not strong enough and you know it!" The girl cried, tears forming in her eyes.

Draco took a step back, stunned. He could feel tears forming in his own eyes, but he pushed the emotion down and took a deep breath, swallowing hard.

"I told Harry I would protect him with his life and I meant it. He means everything to me. This is far from a game to me, Granger. How dare you tell Harry when this has nothing to do with you," Draco said coldly. "You have no idea what you've just done."

----------------------------------------------------

It had been weeks, nearing months since the end of the third task, and it was nearly the end of the school year.

Draco hadn't seen Harry for what felt like infinity. It seemed no one had, even Granger and the Weasel. It was concerning to say the least.

Draco understood Hermione's reasoning for telling Harry, but the anger he felt towards her was on another level. He understood that she wanted to keep Harry from danger, but what she didn't understand was that that was Draco's only intention with the boy. That's all he wanted. And it was eating him up inside that he couldn't even speak to him. It was agony.

But as much as Draco intended to protect Harry, he knew, that by Harry being his mate, he was already in serious danger.

Draco hadn't slept in weeks. Being away from Harry was physically draining, and it was starting to show on his face. He needed to feel the touch of the boy's skin, his soft, dark hair. He so badly wanted to feel the soft sensation of his kisses and electric touches.

Now, Draco was on his way to his last Potions lesson of the year. He was afraid he would never see Harry again, at least not before the summer. And that thought scared him almost to death. He needed his mate, he craved him. He would do anything to see him, just to hold him one last time. To explain that everything would be okay, that he didn't have anything to be afraid of.

Tears welled in Draco's eyes as he hurried towards the dungeons, thankful that he was late so no one was around to see.

Barely being able to see where he was going due to the tears blurring his eyes, Draco stumbled into another student who was hurrying in the opposite direction.

"Oof!" The two went tumbling to the floor, colliding one on top of the other.

Wiping his eyes, Draco looked up into the face of the one and only Harry Potter. His breath hitched as he looked past the scratched glasses into the pearly green emerald eyes he'd missed for so long.

The latter scrambled off Draco as yet another sense of déjà vu devoured them both, standing up to face each other.

Draco could have cried at the loss of touch. He searched Harry's face desperately - the boy looked withered, almost aged. He had dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept a wink, just like himself.

Draco knew Harry was still grieving the death of the Diggory boy, whom he had won the third task with. He'd also heard on the grapevine that the boy had had an encounter with you-know-who, and that scared Draco immensely. He wished he could be there to help Harry, to protect him, to take the demons away. But what scared Draco the most was that he knew he wasn't strong enough. He knew he wasn't enough to protect Harry. Not when the Dark Lord was back. He didn't stand a chance.

As much as he hated to admit it, Granger was right. He couldn't protect Harry. Not like this. He was weak, vulnerable. He was of no use to him. It was torturous to accept.

Harry got to his feet, surveying Draco carefully. It had been a long time since he'd seen him. The night of the third task had been the hardest of his life. He didn't even know where to begin with processing the information. He had lost Cedric, and Voldemort had turned up to torture him, not to mention tried his hand at killing him again. And with the whole Draco situation on top...? It was just too much to handle.

"Harry..." Draco whispered into the silence. He trailed off, having no idea what to say. Harry spoke for him.

"Is it true?"

Draco looked up, startled. They hadn't had any chance to speak since their date.

"Is it true?" Harry repeated, staring defiantly at Draco. "What Hermione said.. about you being a..." He couldn't finish the sentence.

"Yes." There was no point trying to deny it. The truth was out. And as much as he hated knowing he could lose Harry forever in this second, a tiny sliver of hope made its way to the surface. Maybe Harry wouldn't reject him. Maybe they could go on, and he could protect him as best he could. They'd work out what to do, together. Maybe they could go on dates again, and share loving kisses like before... An ache in Draco's heart made itself known.

"Prove it," Harry said, folding his arms, but gripping his wand at the same time. He was on guard, to say the least.

Draco inhaled deeply. So this was it. He was about to show Harry the truth. Potions wasn't happening today then, he supposed.

Closing his eyes, Draco clenched his hands into fists, and brought up all the terrible emotion he'd felt over the past month. As if in response, his wings retracted from his back, opening out through his shirt, eagle-like, spreading wide across the corridor, almost touching the walls.

Harry's mouth gaped open in awe. They were incredible. Thousands of black feathers tinged with emerald green looked down on him, calling to him. Just like the feather Draco had gifted him.

"Wow," Harry breathed in shock. Draco gave him a small smile despite the awkwardness. He couldn't believe he was finally showing his mate his wings. He'd hoped it would be under better circumstances, but alas, that kind of luck didn't find Draco easily.

"Can I..." Harry whispered, unsure how to word the question. "Can I touch them?" he swallowed, still in absolute awe of the Veriae in front of him.

Draco smiled and nodded in silence, turning his back to Harry so that his wings were in reach.

Maybe this will turn out okay after all, Draco thought, smiling as the seed of hope started to grow inside him.

Draco felt Harry's soft fingertips collide with his feathers, and a jolt of electricity ran down the ridges as his hand brushed through them carefully. He was so gentle.

But the hand dropped from Draco's wings as quickly as it had arrived, and the words Draco had been dreading poured from the shorter boy's mouth, piercing Draco's heart.

"You lied to me," Harry said, no emotion in his voice.

Draco turned, his heart sinking, to face Harry. His face contained the same, emotionless expression. That wasn't good - he'd seen that look before.

"Harry, just give me a chance to expla-"

"You. LIED!" Harry roared, his voice echoing through the dungeons.

"I couldn't tell you at first!" Draco cried desperately, feeling that seed of hope diminish with every passing second. "Please, Harry, I wanted to tell you, but it was too dangerous! I didn't know how you'd react."

"Oh," Harry scoffed, all awe for Draco long gone from his face. "And you thought that now, I'd just be okay with it?"

"I-"

"You're not even human, Malfoy!" Harry shouted, trying not to let his emotions show. "You're a creature! A creature that uses people! For slavery! That's what you want from me isn't it? That's what you want, a slave! This whole time it was all a lie. You just used me!" Harry was openly crying now, unable to contain his hurt. He had fallen for Draco, hard. And now, he was breaking his heart.

"Harry, please, I promise that isn't my intention!" Draco was crying along with him, tears streaming down his face. Could this hurt any less? "I only want to protect you, to help you! I want you to be mine, to be my mate. Please, Harry..please don't reject me..."

He tried to reach forward and grab Harry's hand, but to no avail. The boy pulled back quickly, as if he'd been electrocuted. Draco couldn't contain his sobs. "You said you loved me..."

Harry swallowed dryly. A long silence followed, broken only by Draco's sobs, before Harry stepped forward and whispered,

"I guess I wasn't the only one lying."

With that, Harry left his Veriae in the middle of the dungeons, tears streaming down both boys' faces as two hearts shattered at exactly the same time.