A Veela's Mate || Draco Malfoy

A Iʀɪs Sɪᴢᴇᴅ Hᴇᴀᴅᴀᴄʜᴇ

Thursday, September 19

"My, my, my, what have you two been up to?" Ginny asked, taking in Iris's windblown looks and the happy grin on her face as she slid into a seat opposite her at the Gryffindor table, Draco still on her shoulder in his bird form.

Iris gave her a saucy wink. "Why, nothing much. I just took my boyfriend flying," she replied easily, surveying the food spread out before her, trying to decide what she was in the mood for.

"Flying? Are you telling me that you manage to sneak out of the hospital wing? From right under Madam Pomfrey's nose? How in Merlin's name did you manage to do that?!" Ginny asked, astonished.

Iris gave her a confused look, then she chuckled. "We didn't have to sneak out, Ginny, we just walked out. To tell you the truth, the hardest part was convincing Lucius to come flying with us." Iris shook her head at the memory. Why someone so graceful on a broom had been so adamant against going flying was beyond her.

"You just walked out? Iris James Potter, what in the world did you do to the Dragon Lady? She never allows her patients to just walk out and well you know it!" Ginny said in some exasperation.

Iris gave her a confused look, but then her face cleared. Turning slightly to the impatient bird who was shifting restlessly from foot to foot she asked, "Is lamb chops okay with you, or would you rather have-"

Draco nipped his mate gently on the ear, and Iris nodded once before reaching for the lamb, piling some onto a plate for the Veela. Draco swiftly and gracefully jumped down onto the table and began to eat hungrily, making those around him a bit nauseous at the way he was ripping into the meat.

Iris wasn't faced in the least as she piled some onto her own plate, along with some wild rice and broccoli. Glancing up at the fuming redhead, she grinned and decided to start explaining before she was subjected to her famous Bat-Bogey Hex. "Pomfrey kicked us all out."

Ginny gaped at her. "She did what?"

Iris shrugged lightly, filling her goblet with pumpkin juice, not lifting an eyebrow as Draco hopped over to it and drank his fill before going back to tearing up another lamb chop, his sharp claws and beak making the task easy. "She kicked us all out."

"Iris," Ginny groaned in annoyance, not appreciating her odd sense of humor at the moment. Honestly, getting information out of the brunet was sometimes as difficult as pulling teeth off a hen!

Iris chuckled and relented. "After Pomfrey had checked all the falcons out, pronouncing them healthy and fit, she was about to tell them to find a perch and take things easy until the potion had run its course, or until Professor Snape had made the antidote. However, some of the birds figured that what could be done in the Great Hall could be done in the infirmary as well, and they started a mock skirmish or something. I'm not that skilled at bird language," Iris added with another chuckle. "Pomfrey was not amused, so she kicked us all out, even the birds, stating that they could rest and recuperate just as well in the Slytherin common room, giving everyone stern orders to make sure they weren't that far above ground unless they wanted to break their fool neck."

Iris grinned at the memory of the flustered nurse as half of the Quidditch team began flying around, attempting to have a pillow fight. There wasn't much of a fight, since the pillows turned out to be much too heavy. However, since the sharp claws penetrated and tore up the fabric, feathers still flew through the air, and the birds found much amusement in making as many feathers fly as possible.

"And yet you took Draco flying? Wasn't that dangerous?" Ginny wanted to know, giving the falcon a concerned look.

"Nah, according from what Professor Snape said, there should be a tingling sensation as the potion wears off, giving the transformed person plenty of time to land on solid ground. Besides, why do you think I pestered Lucius Malfoy into coming with us?" Iris asked, finally getting to start eating her meal.