Draco jolted awake. A dimly lit room spun at odd angles. He reached to rub his eye and yanked at the invisible bindings. He couldn't lift his feet higher than an inch.
He sighed, and let his head fall. A few minutes later he blinked, regaining his vision, and squinted at the details of the room.
It seemed to be a dungeon of sorts. There was one cell to his far right, and a wooden door a few yards in front of him. To his left was an elaborate potions station. He turned his head slightly trying to distinguish the objects—all he could see was fuchsia potion bubbling dangerously close to the brim of the cauldron.
He noticed the platform he laid on was reclined. Above his right wrist was a long thin tube filled with a red liquid. His eyes bulged as he realized the red liquid was his blood. He followed the tube as far as he could. It appeared to lead to a big rack filled with vials of blood.
He heard chattering outside the door and pretended to be unconscious. The door's hinges squeaked open and heavy footsteps echoed in the room. He listened intently. The footsteps went straight to the potion and dropped something in with an audible 'plop', then sighed. They crept close to Draco and seemed to stop a foot away from him.
"Such a pity Draco." The voice commented thoughtfully. "My little princess was so fond of you, nearly broke her to bring you in."
Draco focused on the voice, even though it had been a while since he heard it, he knew that haughty tone and pity sigh, it was none other than Mr. Parkinson.
"She knew it was for the best. I say you turned into quite a strapping young lad," he paused, "not to worry as it turns out-
Draco heard his footsteps move away from him toward his right and flick a piece of glass. "There is a way to save you...and it would be quite beneficial for both of us if I do say so myself." He finished with a small chuckle.
Draco felt his bandage come off and winced. He heard Mr. Parkinson take one step forward and felt breath across his face. Draco stiffened. The man cleared his throat and pointed the wand to his chest. "Stupefy".
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Hermione chewed her lip as she maneuvered through the crowded halls of Hogwarts. As soon as she made it to her room she rapidly flipped through pages of a newspaper nicking her finger in the process. She laid the paper on her desk spread open. She sucked the bleeding area of her finger while reading the small section. It was just a single missing person's add.
Her heart sank. If people were missing, only one of the twenty had any real connection with someone; or at least someone willing to file a report. She drummed her other hand on the table. Should she believe some fourteen-year-olds about a wild story? She sat back; her eyes caught a picture she had framed on her wall of Ron, Harry, and her in their third year, then the others. She smirked. If anyone should believe them it should be her. To top it off, she had a feeling in her core, something was wrong.
"Something internal," she whispered to herself. She automatically went to the bond but shook her head. Wouldn't she know if that was the case? She felt normal. She walked toward her mirror, bumping into the side of her bed.
She roamed her eyes over her body. She looked normal; the same brown eyes, the same slightly tanned skin, her hair was even the same shade of brown she'd been born with. Alarms went off in her head as she grabbed a piece of her hair. She straightened her back. She was shorter too.
Her heart was pounding and her thoughts were everywhere. Hermione grabbed fistfuls of her dark brown locks and took several breaths. The effects of the bond were almost non-existent. They shouldn't have disappeared if anything they should be stronger.
She took a deep breath and tried clearing her mind. She should still be able to feel his emotions if she concentrated hard enough. She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly. She tried reaching out to him, longing to feel something; irritation, happiness, anything.
"Oh no, oh no," she whispered looking back to the mirror, "what have I done?"
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Draco gasped and shot up from the bed. He panted and whipped his head around the large room.
"Master Draco?" Called a house elf.
Draco snapped his head toward the voice. "Mippy is sorry to have scared you." She said calmly.
Draco furrowed his brows and stared warily at his house-elf. "Where am I Mippy?"
The older house-elf quirked their brows in curiosity. "You're in the Malfoy Manor."
Draco blinked and examined his surroundings. In the corner were his old brooms framed onto the wall, a bookcase, and a large window. He looked down and realized he was tucked into his old bed. He sat up slowly. "Accio wand".
His wand zipped to him from the nightstand, making him even more confused. "Mippy what time did I get here?"
The old elf scratched her head. "Mippy does not remember, Mippy was on break. Master's mother might know."
"Could you get her for me please?" The elf nodded left with a 'pop'.
Draco got out from under the covers and strode around his room. His trunk, bag, and wand were here. He checked his bag, the vials and maps were gone. He looked at his arm; there was no mark or line where the bandage was. He heard his mother's heels click and turned toward the door. "Oh good, you're up."
She walked toward him with ease and brought her arms up to hug him. He complied but was still on edge. She noticed and raised her fine brow. "You seem distressed. What is it my dragon?"
"Mother...When did I get here?"
She turned her head thoughtfully, "I'm not quite sure seeing as you snuck in without greeting me, but it was sometime yesterday." Seeing his confusion, she continued. "One of the elves found you asleep on a chair in the library with a book. It seems you were quite tired. I can't blame you for that; your new situation isn't exactly easy."
Draco raked a hand through his hair and stared at her incredulously. "Are you sure?"
He saw something flash in his mother's eye, but just like it appeared it left. "I think you're still recovering from your nap." She punctuated with a pat to his cheek. "Now put on some clothes and join me for breakfast."
He couldn't help wonder what she was hiding. Nevertheless, he did as told.
He nodded toward his mother and joined her at the table. As soon as he sat down his stomach growled. While still keeping his manners, he ate with fervor. "How have you been mother?" He asked while picking up his orange juice.
She stared off before forcing a smile. "I've had better days... Other than a few pesky visitors, my son becoming a creature, and passing out before he sees me, I've been well."
Draco smiled grimly, he hadn't thought about his new 'situation'. "Now Draco, I'm still far better than before. I just had a trip to Milan recently—I picked up some beautiful things for you and your mate. How is she by the way?"
"She's been fine I suppose. Nothing has changed, she still hangs out in the library, does her work weeks in advance, and of course, she's read everything about veela and their mates."
That seemed to please her. "I did hope she would adapt to this easily." She glanced at Draco for a few seconds before getting up. "I'll go get the bags from my trip."
Draco nodded and watched as his mother disappeared behind a corner. He decided to check the library while she was gone. He carefully tiptoed down the hall into the room and made his way to the spot he was sure he went yesterday. On the desk were the two maps he had discarded, and a book.
He picked it up cautiously. It was one he read when he was a teenager, about a city of gold. Draco shook his head. He had gone to the lake and filled a cup with water from it. He ran a hand through his hair trying to remember. He turned around in the room and stopped dead in his tracks. He saw a glimpse of his father's brown dragon hide shoe in the doorway.
His father was supposed to be in Azkaban.
Draco yanked his wand out from his pocket and held it defensively, but as soon as he faced the doorway, it was gone.
Draco ran back to his room and shut the door. He put protection wards around and threw open his satchel. He rummaged through every compartment and swore. The list of ingredients was gone. He heard muttering outside the door and tried to listen. His veela hearing should've picked up on it. Why couldn't he hear them? Draco took a step back and ran a hand through his hair. It didn't make any sense. He turned toward a mirror on the far wall and peered at his reflection. He looked like his normal self.
He heard two knocks on the door. "Master, master's mum is waiting for him in the sitting area."
He let out a breath, "thank you Mippy."
Draco grabbed his hair then shook his hands.
"Mother," he called as he stepped into the room. She turned her head toward him. "I'm afraid I will not be staying another night."
A/N: Hey guysssss so this chapter was actually way longer but I didn't want it being too much so I've separated it into two chapters. I'll be publishing the second one soon. Really quick-- thank you so much for reading and voting on the chapters!!! And commenting-- its a great motivator :)
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