A Veela's Mate || Draco Malfoy

I Dᴏɴ'ᴛ Kɴᴏᴡ Iғ I Cᴀɴ Tʀᴜsᴛ Aɴʏᴏɴᴇ

Monday, September 2

Iris woke slowly to the sound of soft humming. Whoever it was had a beautiful voice and she kept still for a long time with her eyes closed just listening to it. Eventually, she had to move and with a sigh of regret she opened her eyes and sat up. As she had feared, the humming immediately stopped.

"How do you feel?" Draco asked, looking up from the sketchpad on his lap.

"You have a beautiful voice, Draco," Iris said, standing up and stretching the kinks out of her back.

There was a moment of silence. "Thank you," Draco replied, both startled and touched at the same time. "So how do you feel?" he asked again, returning to safer grounds.

"Better, I think. I really need the bathroom though, be back in a sec," Iris said, hurrying towards her room.

Once her bladder had been dealt with, she walked back into the bedroom and a genuine smile came to her face. This was much better. The furniture was all done in black and the textiles were in different harmonious shades of blue and green. All in all, much better than the hideous room Iris had seen when first opening the door.

"They did a great job on the rooms, don't you think?" Iris asked, walking back to the living room, settling back on the couch.

"Yes, they did. I take it you like your new room?" Draco asked. He had taken a peek through the open door and was pleased with what Severus had done to it, happy his godfather had forgone any desires for revenge while doing the decorating.

"Yeah, this is much better. I wonder who did it the first time. It can't have been the Headmaster, although the style definitely is something that would match his tastes. Unless he knew from the beginning it would be you and me?" Iris mused.

"Does it matter?" Draco asked, wanting to pull his mate out of her unpleasant thoughts.

"I guess not."

"Don't worry, he can't manipulate you any longer. You are a Malfoy now, and Father automatically is your guardian now that you and I are mates."

Iris's eyebrows rose of their own volition. "Even if we aren't bonded yet?"

"That is only a matter of time, and, in legal matters, only a technicality. We will bond, not today, perhaps not even this year, but it will happen, so yes, the moment I identified it was your scent that was driving me crazy, Father became your guardian," Draco explained, doing his best to get all the details out without spooking his mate.

"Wicked!" Iris smirked, a gleam in her eyes. "I'm going to like being your mate, Draco. Only..." She became serious and looked over to where the boy was sitting. "I don't want to be cruel or anything, but I don't think I can fully bond with you, not right now, I mean," she hurried to add when Draco's face began to crumble. "Crap! This is coming out all wrong!"

"Calm down, Iris," Draco said, getting up from his armchair and settling beside Iris, wrapping his arms around her. Magic was crackling in the air and a small breeze was blowing around the room. "Take a deep breath, Iris, come on. In, out, that's it. Calm down. I'm not angry. Just take your time and say what you need to tell me. I promise I won't be angry or anything," Draco crooned, praying he would be able to keep his promise.

After several minutes of deep breathing, the wild magic disappeared and the breeze died down. Draco reveled in having his mate resting against him, eyes closed and relaxed. He continued to run his hand up and down Iris's arm and asked softly, "What was it you wanted to tell me?"

Instantly Iris tensed up and tried to pull away.

"No, love, relax. I won't be angry, remember? I promised. Just take your time. If we are going to get to know each other, we need to start talking, don't you think? Not to mention listen. We are strangers to each other, Iris, I know this. I don't know you, and you don't know me. We will take this slow, as slow as you need it to be. Just... please, don't shut me out, let me in. Can you do that?" Draco asked softly, fearing the answer.