Not your usual Veela mate [Chapters 39-69]

Coming Together [68]

Friday, Sep. 20
"

So..." Harry said when the silence in the room had begun to get to him. "How is it that you arrived so timely to save the day?"
Shayell gave the Elf a bright smile. "I was visiting with a dear friend of mine when Lucius' letter reached me. Once I was made aware of how utterly out of control matters had become here at Hogwarts I immediately packed up my bags to come here.
"How could I possibly stay away? I have never been fond of Albus Dumbledore, the man is too much of a meddler for my taste, but I never in a million years would have thought that he would actually actively attempt to interfere with a Veela bond," Shayell said, shaking her head in wonder.
This was not like the Albus Dumbledore she knew at all. Albus had never been able to keep his beak out of other people's business, but for most parts he never openly interfered with matters like this. Dumbledore usually opted to use much more subtle ways of manipulations, using a person's conscience against them. No, Albus Dumbledore was not above using guilt and misguided honour to get his way.
But to openly threaten a Veela and their bonded? Especially when the Veela in questions was a Malfoy? That didn't sound like Albus Dumbledore at all.
"Your thoughts, gentlemen? What exactly have been going on at Hogwarts for Albus Dumbledore to act so out of character? And I am not thinking of the mood enhancer you boys fed him. From what I've been told, Dumbledore's odd behaviour began long before the deplorable events of this morning," Shayell stated before Silverwind's grandson could start apologising again.
Lucius and Severus shared a look, a volume of matters being passed back and forth, before Severus sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"It is my belief that Albus has become so used to meeting no resistance to his plots and plans that he is incapable of dealing with the fact that his Golden Boy no longer feels beholden to him," Severus began slowly, carefully considering what he wished to say, and how much he wanted to reveal to the visiting royal, not wanting to betray any of the things Harry had told them in confidence.
"And what happened to cause such a rift between Harry Potter and his mentor?" Shayell asked curiously. As queen of the Veela nation she made sure to be well informed of the events taking place in the wizarding world, and it was a well established fact that the Boy Who Lived was completely in Albus Dumbledore's pocket.
Clearly something monumental must have happened for the boy to break his ties to the Headmaster so completely.
Harry snorted when Dumbledore was described as his mentor. When he was younger he probably would have agreed to that description, but having spent a month with Lucius Malfoy, and to some lesser degree with Severus Snape, Harry was slowly beginning to realise what a mentor was, and Albus Dumbledore had never fulfilled that role in his life.
"You do not agree?" Shayell asked, arching an intrigued eyebrow.
"Dumbledore has never been my mentor," Harry said with conviction. "None of the professor here at Hogwarts has done anything to support me outside the classroom. Quite the opposite, actually," Harry mused, recalling the times he had gone to McGonagall for aid, never seeing the way Severus flinched at the accusation.
"As for what happened to cause such a rift between us..." Harry trailed off, staring off into space as he considered what to say, carefully weighing how much he should make known about the issues he had with the master meddler trying to rule his life.
Coming to a decision, Harry settled more comfortable in his seat and turned his full attention on the Veela queen. "It all began the night after the third task of the Triwizard tournament.
"Most think this is some resent rebellion I'm amusing myself with, but in reality it began that night. Or rather, the morning after that night," Harry admitted, noting with wry amusement that he had actually managed to surprise his three Slytherins with that admission.
"Mrs Weasley and her oldest son were allowed to stay with me in the hospital wing while I recovered from the after effects of being forced to participate in the rebirth of the Dark Lord.
"But once morning came, Mrs Weasley returned to her own family, taking Bill with her. I didn't really care since I still had my godfather with me, and I was just about to ask him to stay close to the Dursleys for a while so I could talk to him about stuff.
"But before I could even begin to work out how to ask him, Sirius informed me that he and Remus was going to head out and round up the old crowd, leaving me on my own before I could even get one word of protest out of my mouth," Harry all but snarled, forcing himself to take a moment to breathe deeply, not wanting to lose his temper now. He hadn't even begun to tell his story, for Merlin's sake.
"Anyway, Dumbledore sent me back to my relatives and all but imposed an information blackout, denying me any knowledge of what was going on in the magical world.
"I had thought that things would change once I was reunited with my friends and godfather, but I swiftly learned differently. Dumbledore had ordered his Order to not 'burden' me with such knowledge, so I continued to be in the dark about what the Dark Lord and his minions were up to," Harry said, unable to keep a sneer off his face.
"Then fifth year began, and from day one Umbridge was on my case, calling me a liar to my face, subjecting me to torture just because I had the gall to tell the truth and by doing that put 'dear' Cornelius in a bad spot." Harry snorted as he recalled the simpering manners of the bitch that had made his fifth year hell.
"I guess I could have handled matters better if I had had any support from the other teachers, but McGonagall merely told me to keep my head down and my mouth shut when I approached her for help. She didn't even listen long enough to learn why I was complaining about Umbridge," Harry snarled, once again being forced to take a pause to get his rising temper under control. He always felt ready to explode every time he thought about the things Umbridge had done, and on the things his other professors hadn't done.
"But that is nothing, nothing compared to the pain Dumbledore caused me. First, he avoids me the entire year, wouldn't even as much as look at me, causing me to think that he blamed me for Voldemort's return, why else would he suddenly refuse to acknowledge me?
"Then the mess at the Ministry happened, and it was then, the very night that Sirius died, that Dumbledore finally told me what it was all about. True, he apologised to me, but one tiny 'I'm sorry, my boy' does not heal over a year's worth of hurt.
"I guess that in time I would have forgiven him, but when I told him that the Dursleys had tried to kill me, he did nothing. In fact, I'm not even sure he believed me," Harry huffed, feeling his emotions stir once more.
"The final straw, at least for me, was when I found out that I am Draco's mate. Dumbledore all but told me to whore myself to the Malfoys, all so that Dumbledore could have another spy in the Dark Lord's camp. He didn't care for me at all. He didn't care about my thoughts or feelings. All he cared about was getting the Malfoys to spy for him, so no, I am not Dumbledore's Golden Boy anymore. I will leave the wizarding world all together before I willingly work with that man again."
"He actually told you to whore yourself?" Shayell asked incredulous, not believing her ears.
"He wasn't that crude, but Dumbledore made it very clear to me that I should use any means at my disposal to make sure that Malfoy turned away from the Dark Lord, since it would set Tom back considerably if he was to lose his right hand man," Harry said with a shrug, no longer as bothered by that demand as he was with other things the Headmaster had said and done.
"Lucius, you are to take your son and his mate as far away from this school as possible," Shayell commanded. Giving the blond a dark look she added, "In fact, you can begin by explaining to me why you haven't already removed the boys from that infuriating man's influence.
"For that matter, why didn't you contact me immediately when you realised that a human was attempting to interfere with your son's bond?"
"Because they didn't know what Dumbledore had told me," Harry said, attempting to redirect the queen's ire away from the Malfoys. "Besides, things weren't that bad in the beginning," Harry added with a shrug.
"Nonetheless, this matter should have been brought before me the moment it became clear that Dumbledore would not leave the two of you alone," Shayell stated, not about to allow a slight against her people to slide.
"Your majesty, we did inform you the moment we realised just how far the Headmaster was willing to go to get his own way," Lucius said stiffly, infuriated that Shayell even dared to hint that he wasn't taking his responsibilities toward his son and his mate seriously.
"What I want to know is what you have done to punish these Dursleys who dared to attempt to kill one of my subjects," a soft voice said. The words might be softly spoken, but the fury behind them could be felt by everyone present in the room, causing the Elven guards to shift uneasily.
"The Dursleys?" Shayell echoed nonplussed, but then she recollected the words Harry had spoken so causally and she flew into a fury, rounding on the elder Malfoy, all but roaring, "WHY WAS I NOT INFORMED THAT SOMEONE HAS ATTEMPTED TO KILL THE BOY?"
Gritting his teeth, Lucius replied, "With all due respect, your majesty, but it has only been nineteen bloody days since Draco found out who his mate was." He then completely lost his temper and ended up roaring, "WHEN WAS I SUPPOSED TO HAVE THE TIME TO DEAL WITH WORTHLESS MUGGLES WHEN I HAD OTHER, MORE PRESSING, DETAILS TO ATTEND TO?"
Severus, fearing that the situation would spiral completely out of control, stepped up and placed a calming hand on the older Veela's shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze.
"My apologies, your majesty, but we simply haven't had the time," Lucius managed to say through gritted teeth, his hands clenching and unclenching into tight fists.
"I apologise as well," Shayell said with some difficulty, still within the grips of her fury. Not to mention that she hated apologising.
"Why don't we sit down again and you can tell us everything that has happened since the moment Draco identified his mate?" the cloaked figure said, projecting a calming aura, which helped immensely to calm the raging tempers.
"I quite agree," Severus swiftly said, steering his Veela towards the table, figuring some refreshments could only help keeping everyone's temper in check.
"Begging your pardon, sir, but who are you?" Draco asked, wrapping himself protectively around his mate, eyeing the cloaked figure with suspicion.
"My apologies, young Veela, how remiss of me. I am Silverwind, the King of the Elven realm, and that young one's grandfather," Silverwind said with a slight chuckle, pushing the hood of his cloak down before removing the cloak altogether.
"G-grandson?" Draco managed to croak before his legs gave out on him and he ended up in a heap on the floor. This was not how he had envisioned the meeting with the Elven king.
"Oh, my, that was unexpected, Silverwind commented with a chuckle, a mischievous glint dancing in his green eyes.
For a moment complete silence rang through the room, then Harry dropped to his knees pulling Draco close, eyeing the Elven king uneasily. Would he take Draco from him? Could he take Draco from him? Feeling his heart clench, Harry pulled the blond teen tighter against his chest. He would not give up what he had found with Draco, he refused.
Sensing the Elf's distress, Lucius sprang forward, placing himself protectively between the boys and the one who threatened their happiness, unaware that he was growling softly deep in his chest.
Severus rolled his eyes and stepped around the older Malfoy so that he could reach the younger one, figuring the situation would lessen somewhat if Draco was aware enough to help support his mate before he too suffered from a nervous meltdown.
Feeling his mate's distress rallied the blond teen like nothing else could and with a possessive growl Draco surged to his feet, wrapped his arms around his Elf and turned them around so that his back was to the others, adding his wings to more fully shelter his mate from those wanting him harm.
Relative or not, if the king wished to separate the two of them, then there would be hell to pay, because Draco had no intention of allowing anyone or anything to separate him from Harry. Not when the two of them had overcome so much already.
Silverwind couldn't help but chuckle when he saw the possessive gesture. Clearly a strong bond had already formed between the two of them, which was only of the good since Silvers tended to need a strong bond to prevent their magic from getting out of hand whenever emotions got high.
"Peace, my children, I have no intentions of separating you. That will only happen if I believe that there is a danger for either of you," Silverwind said, shaking his head when his words earned him twin glares. Ah, youths, they had so much to learn still.
Forcing himself out of his stupor, who would have thought that Harry Potter came from such noble blood? It couldn't be from the Potters or James would have told the entire world of his elven blood. Lily? But everyone thought her to be a Mudblood.
Shaking his head, Lucius summoned one of the house-elves from the Manor and asked, "Would you like some refreshments? It would seem we all have a story to tell and I know for a fact that our tale will take quite a while to disclose."
"I believe you are quite correct," Shayell said, eyeing the king thoughtfully. Not once had Silverwind hinted that the Elf her subject was courting was his grandson. Not sure if she should feel insulted or not, Shayell made her way to the table, requesting her favourite beverage and pastries.
HPDM
Sitting at the table, toying with a mug of hot cocoa, Harry kept shooting glances towards the Elven king. Wow, a grandfather. That was a development Harry hadn't foreseen. The teen was still uncertain whether he thought the relationship a good thing or not.
In his, admittedly, limited experience, relatives were not a good thing to have. Just look at the Dursleys and the way they had treated him for all of his life. Then again, Harry doubted very much that the Elf would treat him like a freak just because he had magic.
But grandson... How was that even possible? Did that mean that Lily had been an Elf too? But shouldn't someone have known if she'd been one? And if they'd known, then why hadn't anyone told him?
Sighing softly, Harry pushed such ponderings to the back of his mind. It was useless wondering why no one had ever told him anything. Most likely Dumbledore had some convoluted, utterly-logical-only-to-him, reason for keeping him in the dark. And considering the way Harry felt about the Headmaster these days, he wasn't about to ask the man for his reasons. Dumbledore simply didn't matter anymore.
Sitting back in his chair, Harry closed his eyes and allowed Lucius' voice to wash over him and soothe him. The adult Malfoy was telling the visiting royalties about everything that had taken place since the morning in the Great Hall when Draco had finally managed to locate just who his mate was.
Funny, but it doesn't feel like only three weeks to me. So much has happened that six months should be a much more accurate time span. Merlin, and to think that all I wanted this year was to find a way to get away from Ron and Hermione and to figure out what I wanted to do with my future.
I should have known that the Fates wouldn't leave me alone. When have I ever had a calm, orderly existence? Harry asked himself with a wry smile, leaning slightly into Draco's side when the blond wrapped a supporting arm around his shoulders. Feeling the other's tenseness, Harry figured Lucius was retelling something unpleasant, but he wasn't interested enough to tune in to the actual words. He had lived through that shit once, he didn't need to hear it again to remember how utterly crap his life was.
Stifling a sigh, Harry opened his eyes and regarded the Elven king with curious eyes. The king was tall, not that that was surprising. According to all the books Harry had read, Elves were a tall, regal looking people. The king fitted that description perfectly, and for a moment Harry pouted, knowing that due to the maltreatment he'd been subjected to as a child he would never achieve his proper height. Damn those Dursleys to the deepest hell.
For a moment Harry lost himself in his memories, his eyes glazing over as he felt extremely sorry for himself.
Sighing deeply, the Elf pushed the memories away and returned his attention on the king. Blushing slightly as he realised that startling green eyes were regarding him curiously.
That was one thing that connected the two of them. The king had the same jewel green eyes that Harry had. A shade of green that Harry had only ever seen in the mirror and in the photos of his mother. Making Silverwind's claim of grandfather/grandson that much more believable.
But other than the eyes, Harry couldn't see much likeness between himself and his... grandfather. The king's hair was the colour of moonbeams, and the shape of his face was totally different to Harry's as well. Although the ears were the same, but then again, how much difference was there to ears anyway?
But other than the eyes, Harry just couldn't see any family resemblance, and that bothered him a little. But it unsettled him more that he didn't know how the Elven king would react to his presence.
It seemed that the king was happy to see him, but what if it was only a ruse? The Dursleys had taken pride in the fact that he didn't look anything like them. Taking it as another proof that he was nothing a normal person would ever want to associate with willingly.
The wizarding world, on the other hand, had welcomed him with open arms. But that was only because he was the Boy Who Lived. None of them cared particularly about the boy who was just Harry.
The wizards had delighted in the fact that he looked so much like his parents. It was as if, to them, James and Lily Potter weren't really gone. They could see them living through their son. Was that why no one had cared overly much about the orphan? Only seeing the parents and never the boy when they looked at him?
Great, I'm thinking myself into a migraine! Harry groused, reaching up to rub at a pounding temple. He had so many questions but no real answers. And he had no one he could ask. At least no one who would give him an honest answer.
Sighing, Harry closed his eyes and slouched down in his seat so that he could rest more comfortably against Draco's shoulder. The blond immediately shifted to accommodate him, tightening the arm resting around his shoulders. Smiling, Harry allowed himself to relax. At least he wasn't alone anymore. No matter what happened with his supposed grandfather, he wouldn't be alone, because the Malfoys wouldn't leave him, that, Harry was abso-posi-you better believe it certain of.
HPDM
Silverwind found his attention divided between the tale the elder Malfoy was telling and observing his grandson.
The black hair was something of a surprise, since no Silver had ever been born with black hair, which, if you considered it, was somewhat strange since over half, if not all Silvers tended to be Dark Elves. All of them certainly had the temperament of a Dark Elf, something the court officials had bemoaned more than once after butting heads with them.
The boy has the Silver eyes, a certain indication that this is my grandson, and, if I'm not mistaken, the future king of the Elven realm. I wonder how his mate will react when he is told? For that matter, I wonder how my grandson will react when he learns of his destiny? Silverwind thought with an internal chuckle. Somehow, I have a feeling that the boy will react much the way my beloved daughter reacted. But who are we to argue with Magic herself?
Allowing his eyes to devour the young Elf sitting opposite to him, Silverwind had no difficulties picking out family traits in the child's features and posture. The slant of the eyes, the shape of the cheekbones, the stubborn jutting of the chin, and the fire banked in startling green eyes, just waiting to erupt along with the famous Silver temper, the signs were all there.
And from what his Seeker had observed, the Elf possessed the Silver stubborn conviction to do what they felt was right no matter what the cost to themselves. The very trait that had lost him Silversky. Silverwind could only hope and pray that he was not destined to lose his grandson the way he had lost his daughter.
Seeing the way the youth relaxed against his Veela mate, Silverwind felt his heart unclench. Maybe it was Magic whispering in his heart, but somehow the Elven king felt certain that the boys would be coming home with him.
Relaxing for the first time since he received the news of his grandson's attack, Silverwind allowed himself to hope that everything was going to end well.