A Veela's Mate || Draco Malfoy

Sʜᴏᴜʟᴅ I Sᴛᴀʏ ᴏʀ Sʜᴏᴜʟᴅ I Gᴏ?

Wednesday, September 18

"How is she?" Severus asked quietly, coming to stand behind Lucius, putting his hands on slumped shoulders.

"Not good. And I haven't got the faintest idea how to help her," Lucius replied, sounding tired and defeated. "I summoned Fawkes, hoping that he could go and get help, but he has just been crying tears into Iris's mouth. But, Sev, the tears aren't enough!" Lucius said, starting to get agitated. Under his hands, Severus could feel the Veela's muscles clenching and unclenching, as if he was about to battle the damage done to the Elf himself if only he knew how.

Tightening his grip, Severus did what he could to try and offer some comfort. "Did you cast a diagnostic charm? What did the scan say?" the Potions master asked, trying to approach the problem with a professional air, his mind shying away from what would happen if Iris did die.

Lucius glanced at his son who was too focused on helping his mate to pay them any attention. "I didn't want to say anything to Draco, but Iris is slipping away from us, and I don't know how to stop it. I don't know why, Sev, but she was very badly affected by that curse. It is like nothing I have ever seen before. I mean, it isn't a pleasant spell, far from it, but it takes prolonged exposure to it to become insane," Lucius said with a tired sigh, reaching up and grabbed hold of one of his mate's hands, needing the grounding contact more than ever.

"We both know that the Cruciatus causes some damage to the nerves. Salazar knows that I have consumed gallons of that foul potion of yours over the years. However, for true damage to be done you again need prolonged exposure to it, and Iris was only hit with it for a few seconds, a minute at the most. And yet, somehow, the damaged to her nerves are just too severe. They seem to be... unraveling, and..." Lucius broke off, too choked up to continue.

Severus got a pensive look on his face, watching the Phoenix as he cried. Snapping his fingers, the Potions master summoned a house-elf, which arrived promptly.

"Tikky, I want you to go to my stores and gather up three bottles of Phoenix tears," he ordered. And moments later the bottles had arrived, delivered by a deep-bowing house-elf who cast an uncertain look at Iris and then popped away, tears in her eyes.

"Here, let us see if a larger dose of the tears will help," Severus said, doing his best to sound cheerful. They couldn't all fall apart. It was enough that the Malfoys were. Someone had to remain strong, or Iris would surely be lost.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Severus gently coaxed Draco into letting go of his mate. It took a while, but eventually the devastated Veela allowed the other man to hold the precious bundle. Resting Iris's head against the crook of his neck, Severus carefully placed the top of the bottle against the Elf's lips, tipping the vial enough so that the expensive drops trickled into Iris's mouth.

Draco moved closer, unable to stay away. Severus welcomed him and encouraged the teen to massage the brunet's throat to help encourage her to swallow.

It felt like an eternity, and they were down to the last dregs of the third bottle when Iris finally began to stir. Taking a deep breath, she was unable to hold back a slight moan from the discomfort she was feeling.

"Iris?" Draco asked, reaching up to caress the nearest cheek. "Iris, can you hear me?"

Iris blinked her eyes open, breaking into a wide grin when her searching eyes landed on the Veela. "Draco..." she whispered, her voice barely more than a soft breath.

"Don't you dare scaring me like that ever again!" Draco scolded, pulling his mate from Severus' arms and into a bone crushing hug. "I thought for sure I was going to lose you, and it was tearing me apart," he admitted, whispering the words meant only for the Elf to hear.