A Veela's Mate || Draco Malfoy

Tʜᴇ Vᴀʟᴜᴇ Oғ A Gᴏᴏᴅ Bᴏᴏᴋ

Thursday, September 19

It was Severus who first noted when Iris returned to the living room, trailed by a chuckling blond. Taking in the bounce in the step, the sparkle in green eyes, not to mention the book clutched in the girl's hands, Severus groaned and stated in a clear voice, "Iris James Potter, if you are trying to claim that you learned how to do a Druidic ritual through a book I shall not believe you. Preciously little of the Druid's scriptures have survived to our days, and what little texts we do have are written in a language no one alive today knows how to comprehend."

Instead of looking chastened, Iris just nodded her head vigorously, her eyes dancing with laughter. "You are absolutely right, Severus. No one alive today knows how to read Druid," she said cheerfully. Far too cheerfully for Severus' peace of mind. "Lucius? Can't you do something about her?" he asked, almost plaintively.

"Me? What makes you think that she responds to anything I say?" Lucius asked innocently, his eyes dancing with amusement.

"Because you are her father-in-law?" Severus asked overly sweetly.

"What have you got there, Iris?" Draco asked, too taken in with his mate's delight to worry much about the cause of said good cheer. He also ignored the byplay made by the adults. Who could understand what they were thinking anyway?

"Oh, nothing much, just an old book," Iris said with studied nonchalance.

Lucius studied the teen for a moment, trying to get a feel for what was going through the Elf's mind. He might have accompanied Iris down the trunk to retrieve the book she was clutching so protectively, but that didn't mean that he had a clue as to what was going on. Admitting defeat, he shook his head, doing his best to fight down the smile tugging at his lips. "Might one ask who the author of that old book is?" he asked mildly, steering Iris towards the table and the food sitting and waiting on it.

"Oh, just a young boy named Auric," Iris replied, obediently settling down into a chair and eyeing the bowl of soup before her balefully. She truly wasn't hungry, but she had a feeling that Draco was not about to listen to her if she stated that fact out loud. For someone so intelligent and bright, Draco could be extremely dense and obtuse, not to mention stubborn, if he thought his mate wasn't taking good enough care of herself.

"And just who is or was that Auric?" Severus asked, figuring he would play along with Iris's game for now. "And you might as well start eating. That is something you will just have to get used to, Iris. A Veela is like a force of nature when it comes to caring for their mate. They are forever interrupting you, demanding that you take a break to eat and sleep. It is most annoying, but I suppose one can overlook that unfortunate trait," Severus said with a longsuffering sigh, slanting Lucius a teasing glance.

Lucius merely snorted, returning the glance with a glower. "No matter what you try to tell yourself, Severus Snape, you are terrible when it comes to looking after yourself. Just look at you! Thin as a rail, there isn't an ounce of fat cushioning those bones. Not to mention that you are working all hours of the day, not getting enough sleep at night, and we both know that your personality suffers even more when you are sleep deprived." Lucius leaned back in his seat, a smug little smile playing on his lips, convinced that he had gotten the last word.

It was Severus turn to snort. "I happen to be lean, Lucius, as you well know. There is nothing wrong with my weight, I do not require to be fattened up," he stated, blithely pushing to the back of his mind the many arguments Poppy and he had had on that subject. "And you have always been obsessing with my sleeping habits. If I had a suspicious mind I would think that you were merely plotting on how to get me into your bed," Severus said ending his arguments with flourish, causing both Iris and Draco to choke on their soup.