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Chapter Text

“I know Quidditch isn’t meant to be a tickle fest, but if we could just make it through one game with all of the players keeping their limbs intact, I think I would cry tears of joy. My hands are screaming from all of the ‘Episkeys’ I have done this game. And this is only the Hufflepuff vs. Ravenclaw game for Godric’s sake!” Hermione Granger grumbled more to herself than anyone else as she ran back to the sidelines of the field next to Madam Pomfrey.

The September sun made it perfect weather for the first game of the season. The stands were packed as the Alpha dominated sport was one of the favorite pass times of the wizarding world to give them a chance to blow off steam. It was chock full of opportunities for Alphas to show off their well-known traits: aggression, possessive behavior, and an on-going battle for dominance, all while searching for a shiny small object that if found could win them the game. Hermione mentally snorted when she made the verbal connection from snitch to clit. It sounded too similar to her to be just merely a coincidence. Quidditch couldn’t be more a euphemism for sex if they tried.

Hermione checked to make sure that her hair was holding in the quick braid she threw it in this morning and scanned the stands to find Harry Potter, her best, and if she was being honest with herself, only friend. She connected with his vivid green eyes across the field and gave him a small wave, which he returned with significantly more enthusiasm forcing a smile onto Hermione’s lips. He was sandwiched in between Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom and was currently being forced to eat popcorn by Weasley who took on the role of some sort of mother hen to him whenever they were at Hogwarts. She was glad he was being kept warm. Even though it was sunny, she and Harry always ran cold and the Scottish Highlands seemed to make it their personal mission to make her question her circulatory system every year. Even now, she was wearing gloves and a scarf, as was Harry. The Alphas sprinkled throughout the game and stands were only a couple of articles of clothing away from being indecent. Hermione had long ago stated cheekily to Harry that they were probably cold because the giant hot airbags that were Alphas not only had the monopoly on height but body heat as well. Bastards got all the good things. Being 5’1” and frozen while trying to heal a 6’2” sweaty Quidditch player always felt like a math problem first and then a healing session second. The Pythagorean theorem in a real-life application...

Hermione could understand Harry’s friendship with Longbottom. He was an Alpha but managed to display more kind vibes than kill ones. He was always quick with an easy smile and his skills in herbology definitely deviated from what you normally think of when you think “Alpha”. Plus, he was always kind to her. He made sure she had her favorite tea in the morning if she was late down to breakfast and would always be one of the first ones to volunteer to partner with her in class if Harry was taken by someone else. However, Hermione could absolutely not wrap her brain around why Harry would associate with the brute Weasley. He was boorish, boring, and belittling. The epitome of a bully and Hermione tried to avoid him like the plague. The fact that they were all Gryffindors and were basically forced together at every turn, like all houses, made her nauseous almost daily. He wasn’t per say mean to Hermione, but he was not what you would call friendly either. She felt the only reason he wasn’t an outright ass to her was he liked to use his “friendship” with her to piss off other Alphas, especially Draco Malfoy.

When that name popped into her brain, she allowed her eyes to venture from Harry’s to search for his trademark blonde hair in the stands. Not like he was hard to find. By far the tallest, most commanding Alpha in the school, if not all of wizarding Britain, was Draco Malfoy. He walked around with pomp and circumstance to where she could literally visualize him courting them. That did not detract from the fact that he was a genius and built like a walking wet dream. 6’6” and lean muscle, not bulk, that made you want to climb him like the tree that he is. It really wasn’t fair that one man be so close to perfect it hurt. But then he opened his mouth… The problem with a smart Alpha is not only is he aggressive, but his scathing comments could maim you and leave you lying in the halls for dead before you even knew what happened. He was quick-witted with an even quicker temper and Weasley and Malfoy seemed to be out for blood with Malfoy constantly coming out the victor thanks to Weasley being about as smart as a bag of hammers. The only defense that Weasley ever seemed to use that stopped Malfoy in his tracks was when he made assertions eluding to him and Hermione being a couple.

It was complete rubbish, but house loyalty made her bite her tongue and allow Weasley to save some sort of face as long as he did not take it too far. You stuck to your house and that was that. An arm over her shoulder and a kiss to her temple seemed to be enough to deter Malfoy from continuing his verbal massacre of Weasley. Hermione chalked it up to his pureblood gentleman tendencies and not wanting to be insulting in front of a lady. Old-fashioned in her mind, but if it gave her peace and quiet to study, she would take it. Beggars should not be choosers when it comes to how they find their serenity.

Hermione’s eyes finally landed on Malfoy’s hulking frame. He was surrounded by his Slytherin court of fellow Alphas and the few unfortunate purebloods who were Betas like herself. Being a pureblood and a Beta was like being a donkey in an Abraxan stable, just sort of sad. Not that there was anything wrong with being a donkey, of course, but purebloods were bred to be the best, not basic. Hermione thanked the gods again that she was a muggle-born. There were no Alpha expectations of muggle-borns. In fact, they were more or less expected to be born Betas. There was always the off chance that one of these pureblood Betas could miraculously present as an Omega, but in the past 17 years, that has yet to happen, so Beta Burros they would remain for now.

Malfoy must have felt Hermione trying to be sneaky looking at him as he looked down and gave her his famous smirk. That smirk could be interpreted a myriad of ways based on the way his eyes accompanied it. Everything from mischievous to annoyed could come from that smirk and it made her knees a little weak. For some reason, she always wanted to kiss the little pull up of his lips when he did that. Then lick his mouth, down to his neck… Hermione paused. When did that little kiss she always envisioned evolve into a full-on mouth molestation? She needed to get a grip. It was just a lip. A delicious, plump lip belonging to a tree of a man who exuded confidence and sex and made her stomach and lady parts tingle a bit. She shook her head to try and clear her thoughts, but it just made Malfoy’s smirk deepen as though he could read her thoughts. She blushed as she ducked away and was just in time to see the 5th year Hufflepuff Chaser, Sinclair Heathrow, get vaulted from his broom after a clear foul hit from the Ravenclaw Beater, Artemis Radley, who had used his body, instead of his beater bat, to stop Heathrow from making the goal.

Madam Hooch whistled the foul, pausing the play, but nothing could stop the players' transition into their version of gladiators, fighting to maim each other and show who was in charge. Blows left and right were being thrown and brooms, bats, and balls became their weapons of choice with the game itself forgotten. Thank the gods they forgot they were wizards with wands at that moment, providing a small reprieve from the possible damage they could all do. The stands were in an uproar and Hermione was grateful that Madam Pomfrey had kept her head to stop Heathrow’s decent with a well-timed spell as the chaos broke out above them. Alpha pheromones were everywhere and the Alphas in the stands were starting to clamber to the field to get in on the action. It was looking to turn into a bloodbath and another reminder to Hermione why she decided to apprentice with Pomfrey as a Healer. She refused to stand idly by and let the Alpha idiots run everything for the Betas. This used to just be a game, and now, like everything else, it was becoming a war.

Pomfrey shouted to her to get Heathrow off of the field and take him to the infirmary to start running diagnostics on him while she started to prepare for more injuries. Hermione nodded her acquiesces and took over levitating him to the castle. The cacophony of sound coming from the pitch was deafening. Animalistic in its origin, grunts, and growls, and even a howl or two could be heard as the young Alphas tried to battle it out with the teachers trying to regain some sort of control. She continued her trek back to the castle with only a quick look behind and saw that most of the Betas had fled the field and that only Malfoy and his fellow Slytherins remained in their seats. His dominance did not need to be proven. He was a predator. A smart one. Let the hoi polloi wear themselves out. He would wait for the dust to settle and claim what was rightfully his then. The thought of him being so in charge, regardless of the situation, made Hermione wear a smirk of her own. She picked up the pace to the castle and removed Malfoy from her thoughts. She had a patient to think about and did not want to get caught in the pandemonium escaping from the pitch.

She settled Heathrow down into the bed in the infirmary and started running the basic scans on him. Two broken ribs, a shoulder out of socket, and a broken elbow. Not as bad as it could have been, but he had a rough night of healing ahead of him and Hermione did not envy him one bit. She wished she could be more help and not just react to the Alpha violence, but find a way to stop it, or at least make it more manageable. She just wanted to shout with a Sonorous charm from the top of the Astronomy tower that all the Alphas should just fuck and get it over with, but she thought that could be easily misinterpreted to them thinking she was offering when she most certainly wasn’t. Well, not to every Alpha anyway...

She busied herself with getting the necessary potions for him lined up and removed him from the medically induced sleep that Pomfrey put him in to start him taking them all when she heard a small noise right behind her. She thought it was just Heathrow trying to get more comfortable.

“Heathrow, the more you wiggle, the more you are going to hate yourself, so just stay put until I get all these ready for you. They taste like shite, but at least your arm will be useable in a few hours. Maybe the foul taste will discourage you from acting like a baboon next time you play.”

Her tirade was met with silence, so she turned around to check to see if her spell worked to remove him from his sleep. She nearly jumped 10 feet in the air when she turned around to find herself nose to chest with Headmaster Dumbledore. He snickered at her involuntary little scream and his eyes twinkled as he looked down at her and asked, “Miss Granger, would you be interested in assisting me with a project concerning our abundance of Alphas and lack of Omega situation?”

She cocked her head. The timing was too suspicious for her to not pause for a moment. She narrowed her eyes and looked up at the supposedly heroic Headmaster, without making actual eye contact. She would not give him the chance to use legilimency on her. Hermione did not trust the man, but her desire to be a part of an actual solution weighed out. A slight nod towards the Dumbledore was all she would give him.

“I would, sir, but first, let me sort out Heathrow and check-in with Madam Pomfrey. The match today was vicious, and we will need every wand we can get to heal the injuries that the Alphas created today. Your assistance would be appreciated, as I am sure you can imagine the type of melee the pitch was in today.” She said respectfully tinged with annoyance.

He stood stock still for a moment, abashed that this little beta witch would even dare to ask him to help, but knew an outright refusal wouldn’t bode well in this situation. “Very well, Miss Granger. As Headmaster, student’s health and safety is my top concern. I will check in with Madam Pomfrey and get started on getting students sorted down there. I will owl you regarding the Omega project. Your reputation with research proceeds you and together, we might just make a real difference.” A silent pop indicated that he had apparated away, a privilege of being the Headmaster, leaving Hermione silently quivering in his wake.

She was on edge and needed to refocus. Now was not the time to allow the Headmaster to get under her skin. She turned back around to check the potions she pulled out and walked back to Heathrow.

Apparently, her spell worked just fine to lift him from his sleep and she was met with a wide-eyed look from her patient. Pain and a little bit of awe were reflected in his eyes. “Granger, did you just dictate to the Headmaster that he should put his wand to use and how?”

“I did. He is of better use there then yapping to me about a possible project. Time and place, Heathrow. Time and place.”

“Granger, you are a badass. Clearly crazy. But a badass. I've never seen a Beta give an Alpha an order like that. Who knew under all of that nerd was a feisty fox? You are certainly a surprise. Maybe us Hufflepuffs should hang out with your Gryffindors more often if that is what you all mean by bravery. Now please give me the shite tasting potions you were talking about earlier before we were so rudely interrupted by the Headmaster propositioning you to save the world.” Heathrow said in a voice laced with agony.

"Oh Heathrow, don't you know that the man might be the head, but the woman is the neck? She can move the head wherever she wants." With a wink and a smile, she handed him the first vial and watched him grimace as he downed the pain potion. The look on his face after he swallowed, followed by a sound laugh made the next vial go down a lot easier. He was completely baffled by this Beta. A slip of a thing with the true spirit of a lion. He could see why the Headmaster reached out to her.

Hermione ignored the curious stares from him. Save the world? Feisty fox? Mixing houses? She ran another scan to see if he had a concussion because he was clearly talking nonsense.

Chapter Text

Breakfast in the Great Hall that morning was a familiar scene. Hermione clearly absorbed into a book while eating a light breakfast and sipping on tea while Ron was piling his and Harry’s plate with enough food to make her question the integrity of the plates that they used at Hogwarts. 

Hermione’s current book that was holding her attention captive was the one that Dumbledore loaned her during their first meeting on him roping her into his Omega project. She was so lost in its pages that she did not even notice the ferocity of Ron’s abhorrent eating habits and plate packing practices until Harry commented that any more bacon on his plate provided by Ron would allow him to actually reconstruct the pig from which it came from.

At that startling statement, Hermione turned to see about 2 feet high of bacon sitting on Harry’s plate. She didn’t know if Ron was trying to fatten Harry up for Christmas or if he was just saving it for later for himself. Either way, no one person should eat that much bacon. It clogged her arteries just looking at it.

“Ron, what are you intending to do? Give him a heart attack?” Hermione asked incredulously.

 Ron looked at Harry with a pout and a bit of shock as he himself finally looked at Harry’s plate and saw the bacon edifice he had created and mumbled to them something that sounded like, “A little bacon never killed anyone…” and after a slight intermission, allowing him to shift some of the bacon back to his own plate, nodded at the book in Hermione’s hand and asked “Whaff’s fthat?” spraying food that he just shoveled into his mouth all across her table setting and on to the almost pig on Harry’s platter earning him a side eye of annoyance from both of them.

Hermione grabbed the napkin off of her lap and as she proceeded to clean up the disgusting remnants of scrambled egg that escaped Ron’s never closing maw, she lifted the book and turned the cover to the two of them and explained, “This is from Dumbledore. He has asked me to do some researching for a project that he and I are working on. We are in the tentative discovery phase, but the question has been lingering for a while now. Why have no new magical Omegas presented in England for the past 17 years?”

That statement caused the table to pause. Forks midair, drinks lingering near mouths, quill scratching stopped… everything and everyone froze and turned to look at her with wide eyes as to why she was so openly talking about such a sensitive subject right in the middle of breakfast.

Ron choked on his eggs and Harry proceeded to thump on his back causing more food shrapnel to launch across the table.

Neville went a little pale and his eyebrows met his hairline. Seamus’s would have if he hadn’t burnt them off again in Potions the day before.

All of the Gryffindor Alphas displayed some version of shock or interest towards Hermione and the project that she announced.

Hermione took in the sudden silence with limited surprise. She knew the topic was a bit taboo for open discussion, but taciturnity was not her nature. Curiosity was her normal mode, which was why Dumbledore reached out to her to begin with. If it hadn’t been for her hot temper, she clearly would have been a Ravenclaw.

 Murmuring rippled down the table. Once Ron dislodged the food stuck in his windpipe, he asked, “How does Dumbledore think that you are going to help with this? I mean, I know you are smart ‘Mione, but isn’t this a bit over your head?” 

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him and tossed her curls over her shoulder and was poised to respond when Neville interjected, “Hermione isn’t just smart. She is brilliant. In the 7 years we have been in school together, she has been the top of our class the entire time. And not just in Gryffindor, the whole school. I am sure if anyone can figure this out, it would be her. I mean, she is training to be healer, for Merlin’s sake. She already knows what she wants to do while the rest of us 7th-year students still have to go through career planning.”

At the conclusion of his defense statement, he reached over and handed her a perfectly crafted cup of tea with a nod towards Dean who proceeds to hand her a scone in show of support. Hermione raised her eyebrow slightly at the gesture from the two Alphas but accepted their standard food offerings with a smile. Despite it being 7 years of this, she still stumbled over the way Alphas seemed to force their “assistance” on the rest of them. 

“Ron, I know being a Beta I can’t understand the need you might have for an Omega, but I would think that you would want a solution to this, and any help would be appreciated, especially from a brain like Hermione’s.” Harry stated quietly.

Hermione grinned at her best friend and began gathering up her books as the volume at the table had reached headache level and she was eager to escape to her favorite domain, the library. 

Lavender stage-whispered to Parvati as Hermione walked by, “I heard the lack of Omega presentation was due to the Florentine deficiency in the water here in UK.” 

“It’s FLUORIDE and if that was the case, why are non-magical Omegas presenting just fine?” Hermione retorted while mumbling, “You twit…” under her breath. 

A slight blush tinged Lavender’s face. “I’m not the one trying to solve this. I was just trying to share what I heard. You don’t have to be such a swot all of the time.” She snapped. 

Tiny Colin Creevey, sandwiched between Seamus and Dean, piped up, “Maybe it’s a gluten thing?”

With that “profound” addition to the conversation, Hermione continued to make her exit from the Great Hall to the library. Gossip was not on her agenda for the day.

Silver eyes followed her departure and she felt the stare on the back of her neck, forcing her to whip around looking for the source. She scanned the room but came up empty.

Chalking it up to her housemates eager for her to leave the space and take her uncomfortable breakfast conversation with her, she squared her shoulders and sauntered on into the drafty hallways of the castle.

Shivering, she settled into her favorite table in the stacks of the library, hiding from the watchful eyes of Madam Pince. The librarian and her had a close relationship, considering that the library was her second home at Hogwarts, but she needed silence and space for this research project and was in no mood for interruptions. 

She pulled out the book Dumbledore gave her and looked at the name on the cover. Tom Marvolo Riddle. It was his personal diary that showcased his descent into madness. It started off normal enough, but it rapidly became apparent that while he was brilliant, he was clearly unstable. Turning to where she left off from the Great Hall, she thought back to when Dumbledore handed it to her.

“Miss Granger, tell me what you think you know about Alphas and Omegas.” Dumbledore asked after offering her tea.

He, interestingly enough, had a full English tea set up in his office ready for her when she arrived, cucumber sandwiches and all. He had sent her an owl the following morning after the Quidditch game to meet him that afternoon, evidently eager to begin their project.

Hermione accepted the tea but ignored the food spread in favor of answering his question. In her lecture and best know-it-all voice, she answered “The world, non-magical and magical alike, is comprised of Alphas, Betas, and Omegas. Alphas are born. They are about a quarter of the population, regardless of magical or not. The rest are Betas and then Omegas should present in puberty or magical maturity near their intended mates. The exact science behind presentation is not confirmed, as a myriad of variables play into it, such as scents, distances from an intended mate, pheromones, magical status, ectara…  

Omegas have been presenting in other countries besides the United Kingdom just fine, but no magical Omega has presented in England in about 17 years. Healers across the magical community have been actively working together to come up with a cure or a solution, depending on their point of view of the problem. Purebloods are getting desperate and are even considering branching out into the muggle communities to see if any of their Betas will present as Omega mates for magical Alphas, a daring step for them to take, considering they basically still live in the 18^th century, fashion included. “  

Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled as she spoke, clearly impressed with her well thought out answer. “And what do you know of a man called Lord Voldemort?”  

Confused by the tangential conversation leap, she slowly responded, “He was a very powerful Alpha wizard who was pushing anti-mate propaganda. He believed that an Omega made an Alpha weaker and viewed affection as an Achilles heel as it were. He preached that there was no need for an Omega to anchor an Alpha, or vica versa. Limiting yourself to being attached to only one person was siphoning an Alpha’s power and he worked to prove himself to be the fiercest and most feared Alpha all without an Omega.”

She hesitated with the rest of her reply, clearly uncomfortable with finishing her answer. “It backfired though, and while he was certainly a formidable wizard, he ended up being defeated by a mated Alpha and Omega pair.” She looked down at her twisted hands.

Dumbledore spoke with reverence “Lily and James Potter were active members of a group of wizards and witches who were working with the Ministry of Magic to contain the power of these unmated Alphas, as it was causing disruption in both the magical and muggle worlds. The longer an Alpha remained unmated, the worse their core disintegrated, and it would eventually lead to their death. His small band of followers refused to believe that, and it was causing an outbreak of insanity in his ranks. Bellatrix Lestrange was a great example of that.  She was a very strong Alpha and refused to take an Omega.  Before she was sentenced to life in Azkaban, she started torturing mated Omegas, which in turn, would drive their Alpha’s insane. Frank and Alice Longbottom, the most notable of her victims, were the reason she was finally caught and sentenced. A cruel woman who devoted her life to the teachings of a cruel man. The Potters, being high ranking officials, became the target of Voldemort’s ire. He made it his mission to destroy them. On Halloween in 1981, he broke into their home in Godric’s Hollow and quickly killed James Potter. Lily Potter was upstairs with 1-year old Harry. Voldemort killed Lily and tried to kill Harry to wipe out the entire Potter line as proof of his supremacy. When he threw the Killing Curse at Harry, it rebounded at him and caused him to implode, completely eradicating his magical core and eliminated him. Voldemort was no more due to Lily’s sacrifice of a mother’s love.”

Silence filled the office. Not even the portraits dared to speak at the conclusion of Dumbledore’s story.

Tears threatened to spill from Hermione’s eyes. She knew a small portion of what happened to the Potters, but Harry being so young and it being such a delicate topic, her intel was limited to what he felt comfortable sharing. It was a night that changed his life and she refused to pry, despite her innate curiosity.

“This book was Voldemort’s diary. I first knew him as Tom Marvolo Riddle. He was a student here at Hogwarts when I was a teacher. He was brilliant. Very powerful. Clearly an Alpha, but something concerned me even then. He had a darkness that surrounded him.” Dumbledore explained as he handed her the book.

Hermione took it cautiously, her mind already filled to the brim with questions as to the relation between this story and the problem at hand. Clearly, there was a connection, but how?

Dumbledore could see the gears turning in her head. “Before we continue this conversation, read the diary. Some answers are contained within and I know more questions will be created.

I hope with your assistance, we can complete this puzzle. Lemon drop?”           

Sitting in the library, rubbing her frozen palms together, Hermione snarked to herself, “Every time he mentions giving out candy, I think of white vans. No, Dumbledore, I don’t want your beard pocket candy!”

All of a sudden, a rush of warm air encircled her. Her shivering stopped and she looked up into the mirth filled eyes of one Draco Malfoy. 

“Staring off into space, shaking like a leaf isn’t like you, Granger. Do Gryffindor’s not learn warming charms?” He asked with his head cocked like a confused very large puppy. 

Annoyed and chagrined, “Yes, we learn them” she gritted out. “I was more focused on my work than myself. Not everyone is surrounded by a posse of people all of the time to take care of them. Speaking of which, where’s yours and what are you doing here?” 

“The library does not belong to you alone, Granger. I am allowed to do research for my Charms paper here just as much as you are.” Draco said nonchalantly, indicating with his arms spread and a quick look around him, that he was, in fact, alone. “But I have a soft spot for sad, cold, little lions.” 

He winked at her, shot her a trademark smirk, grabbed a book, and disappeared back into the library. 

Hermione’s cheeks flush a bit. She paused for a moment and looked around. She was seated in the History of Magic section. What book here would help with Charms? And more concerning, what Charms homework? Did she somehow forget a lesson? Worry wiggled into her brain and she dove into her bookbag to grab her agenda to confirm. No upcoming assignments were listed. Strange. Very strange. As he was the second-ranked student in the school, she doubted he was behind on his lessons, but what did she know of the study habits of a snake? 

The bell rang out through the castle announcing the next period. With a sigh, she packed up her bag and made her way to Transfiguration. On her way out, she saw the same book Draco grabbed sitting on the library counter, waiting to be returned. Maybe it was just a coincidence...      

Chapter Text

Hermione paced in a large figure 8, her riotous curls piled on top of her head in what might be considered a bun. The gravity-defying level it was reaching was quite impressive and it was clear that magic had to be involved to keep it from tumbling and creating a mane reminiscent of the mascot of her house. 

Reading glasses perched precariously on the end of her nose as she pinned another name up on the corkboard she had conjured. It was full of names, places, dates, and a collection of Alpha and Omega facts from all over the world. Yarn and pushpins were connecting various items together in what could only be described as a complicated web.

A pen in her mouth, a quill behind her ear, and her wand in her hair, she juggled holding a notebook while returning to reading Tom Riddle’s diary and with a wave of her hand, yarn and pins moved around the board, slowly untangling the chaotic mess she was working through.

Crookshanks was batting the yarn hanging down from the board while his intelligent eyes followed Hermione’s erratic walking to avoid her stepping on his tail. 

Cold cups of tea and book stacks almost as high as her created towers that looked like a half-assed recreation of Hogwarts itself, encroached on the whole Gryffindor common room, much to the frustration of the rest of her housemates.

Harry entered the room and made his way through the minefield of Alpha “chess” (an aggressive version of what used to be a mainly sedentary sport; a means for them to work both mental and actual muscles) to investigate the interpretive art structure Hermione had slowly created over the past two weeks, while taking in the conspiracy theory board and the rest of the disarray that was surrounding her. “Hermione…” he asked tentatively, “When did you last sleep in your bed or eat an actual meal? I know that you are still going to classes, but I am worried about you.”

She squinted as she considered his question while ignoring his concern, “What day is it today?”

“Thursday.” He responded while smelling a questionable looking sandwich he found resting on top of a pile of blankets. 

“Maybe Monday?” She answered, more of a question than a statement. “What time is it now?” 

“It’s 8:30 in the evening. You missed dinner, again. And what in the world am I looking at?” Harry queried. 

Before she could answer, a teacup went crashing to the ground and a mountain of books wavered as Cormac Mclaggen was tossed their direction by a very red face Ron. Cormac got back up and charged towards Ron, catching him low, and slammed him to the ground while promptly putting him in a headlock. 

“Ronald! My research! Keep your chess game under control or keep it out of my area!” Hermione screeched. 

Both boys turned and looked at her. “Your ‘area’ is taking up the whole damn common room! How about you control your trash pile? It’s beginning to look like a quarantine zone and your barmy board is disturbing.” Ron barked back to her.

Hermione lifted one brow at the use of “quarantine” by Ron, the multisyllabic word enough to shake her from the undeterred concentrated haze she was in to finally take in the space she had created. “My board is not barmy, Ronald” she defended as she waved her hand to start banishing the cups and spoiled food from her self-created fort, refusing to dislodge her wand from her hair configuration.

As Hermione continued to clean up, Harry turned and asked, “Why the headlock, Mclaggen?” 

“He checked my queen.” He simply stated. 

“I thought that meant a leg lock?” Harry questioned.

“Oh yeah!” Mclaggen immediately flipped and tried to grab Ron’s legs to place him in a figure four leg lock while Ron was baring his teeth and refusing to yield. “You know the rules, Ron! A queen check equals a leg lock!” as he continued to wrap his legs around him and force him into a pretzel shape.

With a roll of his eyes, Harry turned back to Hermione. The once untidy area was now practically spotless with the exception of a very full corkboard that could only be navigated by a brain like Hermione’s.

The houses all listed, prominent Alpha and Omega couples recorded with string connecting them, dates of their pairings, ages, various family trees, locations of the Alphas and the Omegas prior to their pairing, copied diary sections, and possible hypotheses decorated the board.

The yarn was charmed to be different colors for different meanings, but the legend was locked in Hermione’s mind. She reentered the “zone”, ignoring the sounds behind her. Paths and data shifted around on the board as thoughts rotated through her head, theories discredited while new ones added.

Harry could almost smell her brain burning, the cogs moving so fast that it was making him dizzy just looking at her. He started to actually read what she was moving around on the board and his eyes were drawn to his parent’s name and his own name, circled in big red marker, underlined numerous times. 

“Why is my name up there like a suspect?” His green eyes flashed with concern. 

“The Potters appear multiple times in Riddle’s diary. He was obsessed with them.” She mumbled; a pen stuck between her teeth again, eyes drifting back and forth, not realizing the complete lack of sympathy in her statement. 

A look of surprise and pain crossed Harry’s face. “He was obsessed?! And what? Now you are? I know he was my parent’s murderer, but you are making it seem like there is a lot more to it then the known story. I am sure if there was, Dumbledore would have told me by now. Or Sirius. Or Remus.” He paused. His eyes shiny as he thought about his parents for a moment. The years had made it easier to talk about, but it would always hurt. It was the worst day of his life and the emotional and physical scars he carried from that day were a constant reminder.  He absentmindedly rubbed the lightning bolt scar on his forehead, a tick that showcased itself whenever he thought of that day. “Hermione, you are dead on your feet. I want to know what you know, especially more about my parents and why Riddle targeted them, but if you keep this pace up, you are going to crash. Come on, you need to rest. Ron, come help me untangle her.”

Hermione looked down at her feet. Crookshanks, in an effort to get her to stop her incessant meandering, had wound his way with the yarn between her feet.  Harry gently took the quill from behind her ear out and forced her to release the pen between her teeth. Ron ambled over, and instead of helping gazed at the board, a look of confusion and curiosity forming on his face. 

Ron’s eyes perused all of the families listed on the board and then scanned all of the listed pairings. His eyes focused in on the families and houses. “I bet it's one of them Slytherin bastards!” He exclaimed. “I bet the Malfoys have something to do with it.” 

Hermione stopped untangling her legs and Harry paused, a pen and two quills so far confiscated from her, “How in the name of Godric did you make that leap?” 

“Seriously, think about it!” he said excitedly. “They would want to make everyone else miserable. Draco does that just by breathing.” He smiled triumphantly, “I’ve connected the dots!”

“Ron, you haven’t connected shit.” Hermione said exasperatedly, shaking her head at the pure stupidity that he spewed out of his mouth.

“I’ve connected them!” he declared again, puffing his chest out with pride, refusing to be dissuaded from his solution. 

“Why would the Malfoys, a mated Alpha and Omega couple, want to deny their only son, an Alpha, happiness and watch, again, their only son suffer and lose him to madness?? They are one of the main advocates of venturing into the muggle world to see if any of the Betas there will present as Omegas just so they can save their son. Really, Ronald, you need to think past your own prejudice of Draco.” Hermione argued somewhat gently.

He frowned and deflated a bit, the mention of being without a mate and losing one’s sanity was a rather sobering thought. “Well still, we know those Slytherins are assholes. One of them has to be the cause of all of this shit.” He says stubbornly. 

“Alright, you two, off to bed,” Harry ordered. “No more pens. You are turning into a chicken with all of the quills I keep finding on you!” as he took one more out of Hermione’s hair. “And, Ron, unbind Mclaggen. Your chess game is over. You clearly won.”

“It’s only 9:30, Harry, and I’m not tired!” Ron whined. “Besides, you haven’t had your late-night snack. Let me summon a house-elf to get you something. And where is your jacket?”

Harry angled his neck up to look Ron in the face. “Ron, I am not hungry. I am wearing my jacket. It’s under my robes.” Ron lifted up his robes to peak, pulling his hand back as Harry smacked it. “And it is time for bed. It’s almost curfew. We can pick up this conversation tomorrow. Hermione, you will tell me what you think you know about Riddle and my parents. If you know something, I want in.” His voice full of determination. “I will help however I can.”

Hermione disillusioned her board and followed Harry towards the dorms. “Harry?” 

He looked over his shoulder at her. “Yes?”

“I am so sorry for getting so lost in this project and speaking without thinking. Of course, we will talk tomorrow and I will get you up to speed. I really feel like I am close to unlocking all of this and your help would be sincerely appreciated.” She stated remorsefully. “And Ronald, leave Harry’s robes alone! Yes, he really is wearing his jacket!” 

Hermione snuggled down into her bed, her thoughts berating her brain, puzzle pieces shifting, connecting, and evolving as she continued to process everything that she had read, an image slowly emerging. She was close. She could taste it. She wondered if she snuck back downstairs to her board if Harry would know. Silently, she put slippers on and her robe to make her way down.

“Don’t even think about it, Hermione. Harry warned all of us in the dorm that you would try to slip back downstairs, and we were authorized to do anything we had to to keep you in bed. He even had me ward your bed to let him know if you got out of it. He was very thorough. Go to sleep. You will be more useful when you have slept for more than two hours at a time”. Lavender chided from the next bed over, followed by a muttering under her breath of “And maybe we can get the stench out of the common room…” 

Thoroughly chastised, Hermione sheepishly crawled back into bed. She supposed a few hours away from her contemplations might do her some good and the fact that Harry cared that much was actually very sweet. A slight smile fashioned itself on her face and she attempted to allow herself to be carried off to sleep. 

The next morning, Hermione woke up with a start. Her dreams were filled with images of the night that Riddle killed the Potters and his haunting words in his diary leading up to that night. It was certainly not a restful evening. She forced herself to get up and get ready for the day, praying that a shower would transfigure her into a more human state. 

Stumbling down the stairs from the dorm to the common room, dark bags under her eyes, she resisted the urge to look at her board and joined Harry and Ron to head down to breakfast. Harry cataloged her face. “I was hoping you would actually sleep, but clearly you lost that battle, didn’t you?” he questioned. 

“Sleep definitely evaded me, but I am grateful for you trying to make sure I got some rest. Maybe sitting down to actually eat will help me break out of the mental funk I am in.” Hermione admitted.

The three of them, along with the rest of the horde of Gryffindors, made their way to the Great Hall, moving pack like, complete House solidarity as customary. It was a mass of red and gold and just as they were about to reach the doors of the Hall, they collided with the organized assembly of green and silver, the Slytherins unquestionably being led by Draco Malfoy with the rest of his Alpha assembly trailing behind him in rank and file order. 

The disciplined fashion of the Slytherins was in direct contrast to the haphazard congregation of Gryffindors, displaying one of the many differences between the two houses. The Slytherins exuded fine breeding and etiquette that always made Hermione think of a Jane Austin novel, and if she was being honest with herself, she was a bit envious of how polished they always seemed. 

With a single lifting of his hand, Malfoy stopped the entire procession of Slytherins. Pheromones and aggressive waves were rolling off all of the Alphas in the immediate area and the Betas, like Hermione and Harry, began to brace for impact at the extreme possibility of an Alpha showdown. Anything viewed as a slight could translate to a fight and that was not how Hermione wanted to start her day. Being a Healer apprentice, she was oath bounded to stay in the immediate area to help any possibly injured, but she was beginning to get hangry and could feel her own fiery temper come to the surface. She knew that if the situation was not diffused soon, her desire for a nice cup of tea and porridge before the double Defense of the Dark Arts class that was starting soon would be dashed.

Draco coolly leveled a look around at the group of Gryffindors, a smirk on his face and a decision slowly developing in his eyes. “Go ahead. You were technically at the door first. I would hate for so many Betas to not get breakfast.” he drawled.

The dig at her House was subtle, but enough for it to raise a few hackles on the Alphas next to her. She had to give it to him. His tongue really was wicked. He asserted in a veiled way Slytherin superiority due to their House having more Alphas and was clearly goaded the Gryffindors into starting something so they would be held responsible if violence erupted. 

Being near the front of the crowd, his steel colored eyes settled on her. He scanned her features in such a manner that she could not avoid the blush that found its way to her face and when his eyes connected with hers again, there was a flash of anger, a thunderstorm barely contained. It made her feel exposed. His eyes were piercing, and she was baffled by the heat she discovered in them, but she refused to drop her gaze. Silence encased them as they stood there, eyes fixed on one another. She was about to speak when suddenly, Ron’s arms were around her shoulders and whatever spell they were both under was broken. 

“Thanks for the allowance to enter the Hall first, Malfoy. So glad we have your permission.” Ron said acidicly, sarcasm dripping off of his every word, baring his elongated canines as he spoke. He was itching for a fight and Malfoy was his favorite target. Not that he stood a snowball’s chance in hell of winning, but Ron refused to acknowledge that. 

Hermione decided that breakfast was her main priority and pleaded with her eyes with Harry to help her diffuse this situation so they could move on with their lives. 

He perceptibly picked up on the silent imploring message that she was sending him. “Yes, thank you, Malfoy. Guys, let’s just go in. No one was injured. I’m starving. Hermione’s starving. Seamus is starving and it’s freezing in this hallway.” Harry stated. 

That seemed to do the trick as most of the Gryffindor Betas started moving again, crossing the entrance of the Great Hall and started to situate themselves at their long table. The Alphas slowly moving, torn between wanting to settle the score with Slytherin and wanting to take care of the Betas. Once Harry entered the Hall, the rest of the pride followed suite with Hermione and Ron now making up the rear of the pack. 

Hermione was purposely dragging her feet, creating more of a distance between her and Ron as she entered the Hall. 

“You know, Granger, if the lions can’t take care of you, there is always room for you in the snake pit.” His voice was pure silk in her ear and his warmth was pressed against her back. His breath tickling her curls in a way that immediately fabricated an image of another set of curls on her his breath could tickle. The blush from his gaze earlier deepened to a crimson resonating that of her House colors.   

She quickly turned around, a retort balancing on her tongue, but he was already gone. He had made his way to his “throne” at the Slytherin table sitting dead center with his whole house waiting for him to sit prior to them settling in. Pansy Parkinson, his alleged girlfriend, with Theo Nott and Blaise Zabini, his lieutenants, forming his inner circle. Goyle and Crabbe flanking them on the outside, providing another layer of Alphas around Malfoy. 

His eyes met hers once again right as he was about to sit down. He drank in the sight of her heated skin and his nostrils flared. With an elegant raise of his eyebrow and the hint of an actual smile attempting to escape his lips, Hermione had a strange feeling that he knew about the erotic thoughts currently invading her mind that featured him in a starring role. 

Blushing a bit further thinking that he might know what she was thinking, she finally made her way to the Gryffindor table and sat down next to Neville, her back to Malfoy. She did not think she could actually eat if he kept looking at her like that. She felt like he was trying to make her his breakfast, and while that thought was extremely tempting, it just wasn’t done. He was a Slytherin and he supposedly had a girlfriend. It didn’t matter that just being near him made her body sing with desire. He was off-limits. Houses did not mix, much to her vexation. 

That fact was actually one of the other reasons she had chosen to become a Healer. She loved her fellow Gryffindors but being able to interact with the other Houses in a non-hostile manner was a sincere interest of hers. She liked that she was able to cross House lines and break out of the homogenous culture the wizarding world had crafted. Once you were sorted, that was it. That was your home. It determined everything about you in the wizarding world, from what colors you could wear to what jobs you could have and who you could associate with. Hermione couldn’t help but scratch at the intellectual itch surrounding the segregation. Coming from the muggle world, she couldn’t’ wrap her brain around the concept and her chosen career path gave her an opportunity to circumnavigate the status quo.

Dean handed her a piece of toast and Cormac put fruit on her plate, Alpha instincts fully engaged after the almost tussle with the Slytherins. She wanted to snap at them that she didn’t need their care but knew that it was a battle for another day.

“What was that with Malfoy just now, Hermione?” Neville probed, handing her a cup of tea. “Was he out of line with you? Want me to say something to him?”

Hermione turned to him, accepting the offered drink from him. “It was nothing. He was just being Malfoy. Nothing I can’t handle.” she assured her Housemate. “How are you this morning? Your herbology project going well, I assume?” she inquired, actively trying to change the subject.

Silence followed her question. Hermione looked up and followed Neville’s gaze. The Ravenclaw House had just entered the Hall and his eyes were keenly fixed on the movements of a certain blonde part of that House. She knew that was Luna Lovegood, a sweet, but strange girl one year below them. Hermione had talked to her a couple of times in the library and found her to be lovely. Luna had a dreamy quality about her that made her seem ditzy, but in reality, she was deeply insightful and kind. A secret sad smile came to Hermione’s lips. Apparently, she was not the only one cursed with a crush that could never be…

“Neville...?” Hermione prompted again.

“Sorry, Hermione. What was the question? Herbology?” Neville distractedly asked, still tracking Luna from across the room.

“No worries, Nev. Enjoy your breakfast. I’m going to read. You might want to make sure the food actually makes it to your mouth, though. Your porridge is forming a puddle in your lap.” Hermione teased. “And her name is Luna, in case you didn’t already know.”  She muttered to him secretly. 

“Luna…” He exhaled in a dreamy fashion matching the girl in question, porridge still in his lap. Hermione smirked and performed a wandless wordless “Scourgify” on him as she pulled out the Riddle diary to pass the time before DADA.

A few moments later, the bell rang signally first period and the Houses got up to move according to their respective timetables. Hermione pondered the passage of Riddle’s diary she just read as she allowed Ron and Harry to lead her to class. 

Maybe Lupin, being a friend of the Potters, a DADA instructor, and an Alpha himself, could be a sounding board for her latest theory, Hermione mused as she walked.

Lupin came into class and instantly the blackboard up front filled with the lesson plan for the day. “Today, we are diving into the dangerous world of curses. More specifically, the ramifications of curses and how to identify curses so a counter curse or cure can be created.”

Hermione perked up, panicking slightly. This was not in the course material. She had read her DADA book during the summer vacation and knew it backward and forwards as it was essential for her Healer training. Of course she had done significant independent studying of curses, refusing to allow herself to be behind as she worked through her apprenticeship, and prided herself on being able to correctly identify all of the maladies she had encountered thus far in her training, but Lupin springing this lesson on them felt too coincidental considering his connection to Dumbledore. 

“Sir?” Hermione asked raising her hand. “This is not included in the current DADA books. Will you be providing additional resource material for this section? And will there be any other modifications to our syllabuses?” A quill and parchment posed in her hand to write his response, already mentally reworking her study schedule.

Lupin looked at her with amusement in his ocher eyes. “Miss Granger, I apologize for the surprise. This was a last-minute addition by our Headmaster for me to include, finally receiving approval to add it to the curriculum from the Governor’s Board. Seeing as you are all 7th-year NEWT students, he felt that you could handle the more advanced subject matter without much fanfare.”  He began levitating out to each student a copy of, “Curses and Cures” by Matilda Merriweather.

Suspicion clouded Hermione’s thoughts. Exactly as she figured, it was not a coincidence. She accepted the book and opened it to the page written on the blackboard. Her brain started to compartmentalize the additional theories that she would be adding to her board once she was able to get back to the Gryffindor common room. Biting her tongue to keep her thoughts from rolling off of it, she shook her head and refocused on the class. Now was not the time to allow herself to be distracted. This was exactly the information she needed.

“A curse is a dark charm and is a form of dark magic. As we all know,  intent is one of the driving factors of magic and determines the results of a spell. Any charm can be used for evil if that is the intent of the castor.” Lupin lectured. “Once a curse is cast, it leaves a mark, or a scar if you will, regardless if it hits its target or not. The intent was to harm, and once it leaves the wand of its castor, it will do everything in its power to do just that.”

As Lupin continued to work through the lesson, Hermione’s eyes drifted over to Harry. His head was propped up on his hand, pushing his fringe out of his face as he took notes, understandably engrossed in the lesson from his favorite teacher.

She turned her eyes back to her own notes, reflective of her long-established shorthand and grateful for her eidetic memory. Once she absorbed this book, one that she imagined would take her just a couple of evenings to read, she would be right as rain. Rain…thunder… lightening….

Curses leave scars… Hermione was half-listening to Lupin and then she gasped; eyes wide as she flicked them back to Harry taking in his infamous lightning-shaped scar. Of course!

Riddle was intent on destroying the Potter line as he cast his curses that night, but there was another force at play and the intent of Harry’s parents to protect him was clearly stronger than Riddle’s intent to kill him. 

Hermione knew it in her bones right then that the scar that Harry hated, the constant reminder of his parent’s death, was more than that. It was the key to solving it all. She just hoped that lightning didn’t strike twice as she worked through how to cure him, and maybe save them all.

Chapter Text

Later that day, Hermione and Harry curled up in front of the fire in the Common Room after dinner. True to her promise, Hermione quickly cast a “Muffliato” around them and reviewed with Harry her findings from the past two weeks, including this morning’s epiphany.

“So basically, what you are saying is, I’m cursed?” Harry questioned. “And because I’m cursed, no Omegas are presenting.”

“Exactly,” Hermione answered succinctly. “I think it’s because your Alpha is being suppressed.”

“Wow… I’m not sure how to process that information.” Harry exhaled.

“I know! But I know a solution is within reach. I can see it, but…just… ahhhhhh!” Hermione says exasperatedly, throwing her hands in the air with frustration. Her hair was crackling with magic, doing a wonderful impersonation of Medusa, curls out of control and Harry was grateful at that moment that he was a Parseltongue. 

Harry hissed, “Sssssssettle….” at her curls with his hands in a placating manner. 

Hermione was not amused by Harry’s antics. “This is serious, Harry!” She hesitated. “Speaking of that, how is Sirius?” 

“That is a loaded question...” Harry thought for a moment on how to answer that. After his parents were killed, Sirius Black, Harry’s godfather, stepped up and raised him. Harry was thankful that he was not forced to go and live with his mom’s sister and her family. They were the worst type of muggles. Unfortunately, Sirius was an unmated Alpha and his mental stability had been rapidly declining. Mix that with the fact that he was an animagus that took on the form of a Grim, fundamentally a large black dog, Harry was constantly dealing with awkward and uncomfortable situations revolving around Sirius. 

“Tonks is watching him for me while I am at school. She is making sure he goes out on his daily walks and is keeping up on his flea treatment. I mean, did you ever have to suspect that your godfather has fleas?? I had to take him to the vet for it and had to convivence them not to neuter my pet dogfather. I mean godfather. It was a rough summer… But when he is in human form, he is withdrawn and just reads a lot. He is pushing me away and I am not certain how to help him. I feel him fading away and it scares me. If I am the cause of his suffering, even inadvertently, I am willing to do anything I can to save him. He is my family and all I have left.” 

Hermione looked at her best friend and saw the sadness that sat on his shoulders. She wrapped him in a hug and whispered with resolve, “We will solve this. We seem to know what the problem is now and knowing is half the battle.” She readjusted her hold on him to look him in the eyes and said firmly, “And just so you know, he isn’t your only family. You’re my brother in everything but blood. Don’t ever forget that.” 

Harry smiled at her. He loved how fierce his friend was and despite not quite knowing how to handle the fact that the horrible scar on his forehead might be the reason that Omegas were not presenting, he knew that Hermione would fight with all that she had to save him and the rest of the world. A bleeding heart with a brilliant mind was the only way to describe her. “Have you shared your theory with Dumbledore?” Harry asked. 

“Not yet. However, if I am being honest with myself, I think he has already arrived at the same conclusion. Today’s DADA lesson was not an accident. He clearly planned that.” Hermione stated, annoyance tangible in her tone. She hated the feeling that she was being manipulated but lacked the proof at the moment to call out the Headmaster on his actions. She would need to play his game for a bit longer now that she was on the board.

Harry pondered her words for a moment. “What about Remus then? And on the subject of Remus, how did Tonks present as an Omega for him? It was after I was cursed, so what is the loophole there? I remember when she presented, everyone thought it was solved, but then it was radio silence again, so it was determined to be a fluke.” 

Hermione jumped up with a look of inspiration. “To the board, Harry! And grab your jacket before Ron says something. We don't need his nagging.” 

She waved her hand over the disillusioned board and the concealed data came rearing to life, pins and yarn and information sliding in accordance to the new thoughts populating her head. 

The names of Remus and Tonks presented themselves front and center. The words “werewolf” and “metamorphmagus” were added to their names under their designations. She contemplated the word “werewolf” and another set of names came forward. Bill Weasley and his mate, Fleur Delacour, displayed themselves under Remus and Tonks. 

“Is it werewolf…?” Turning to look at Harry, questions clearly present in her caramel-colored eyes.

“Maybe… but Fleur is a quarter Veela. Could that play into it?” Harry responded.

“Veela…and French, so no, not them. She’s not English, so the curse does not apply to her. Them meeting at the Yule Ball was pure luck.” She waved her hand and their names returned to their original locations on the board. “But Tonks is English… so, werewolf?”

“Let’s ask Remus tomorrow. It’s late and your hair is scaring me. You don’t like when I talk to it in Parseltongue and I don’t like when it looks like it’s going to strike at me.” 

Hermione scowled at him, playfulness dancing in her eyes. “Fine. Me and my sssssnake hair will call it a night.” She harrumphed and sauntered up towards the girl’s dormitories, concealing the board again on her way up and sent a Patronus message to Lupin asking to meet with him tomorrow during their morning free period.

******************************************************************************

“So basically, what you are saying is Harry’s cursed?” Lupin questioned as he handed them tea and offered them biscuits the following morning in his office. 

“That’s what I said!” Harry exclaimed, looking at Hermione, his green eyes a glow. 

“Yes, Harry. We are all on the same page.” Hermione replied, putting her hand out in a stop motion, forcing Harry to back up a bit. “While that is the main topic, we wanted to ask how did you and Tonks… or how did you end up mated… or…ummmm…. Harry? Help?” Hermione asked awkwardly.   

Remus gave them a small smile. “Because werewolf,” pointing at himself.

“I knew it! I connected it!” Hermione announced with a happy clap, which produced an internal eye roll from Harry as recalled the previous conversation when Ron declared the same thing. 

“The werewolf community has not had a problem with finding mates. Not all werewolves are wizards and witches. Our genetic base is our wolf and that is what allows us to find our mates. We are not restricted to the laws of man. Tonks is a metamorphmagus, not just a witch. She is not strictly bound by the laws of magic.” 

“So, because you are both more than just a wizard and witch, it created a magical loophole. That makes sense.” Hermione concluded. “But going back to Harry being cursed and causing the lack of Omega presentation devastation, what are your thoughts on that?”

Harry interjected, “Hey! Like it’s my fault?? I didn’t do this! Blame Riddle!”

 Lupin looked between the two teens, startled. “Riddle? Tom Riddle? Voldemort, you mean? How do you two know that name?”

“Dumbledore gave me Riddle’s diary as part of the research he asked me to do. He told me about being one of his teachers during his time at Hogwarts and how he was concerned about the apparent darkness that was swallowing him.” Hermione sat for a moment, a thoughtful expression trespassing on her pretty features. “Reading his diary, I feel that Tom was more lonely than dark. It was filled with incoherent ramblings, but between the lines, I was able to decipher his desire for a mate, but he refused to acknowledge it. He viewed it as a weakness and I think the strength and happiness that the Potters had perplexed him, causing him to have an unhealthy obsession with them that mutated to hatred. When he visited the Potter’s that Halloween night, his intent was to destroy them and if Lily hadn’t sacrificed herself, he would have.” Hermione explained solemnly, glancing at Harry as she spoke. This was all part of their discussion last night but hearing again about why a madman killed your parents simply because they were happy was devasting. She could not imagine the pain Harry was in. She grabbed his hand, rubbing soothing circles into it, trying to transmit some sort of strength to him from the touch.

Confusion rippled across Lupin’s face. “Why would Dumbledore have Riddle’s diary?”, he mused internally. Were they that close due to Riddle’s time at Hogwarts or did he stumble across it inadvertently later? And why did he share such a thing with a teenage Beta witch? Lupin realized that he had been silent longer than conversationally acceptable as both Harry and Hermione looked at him with apprehension.

“Do you think Dumbledore has shared this diary with the Ministry and the Healer’s coalition?” Lupin asked looking at Hermione.

“Of course he has,” Harry answered on her behalf. Hermione shared a look with Lupin, doubt present on her face sharing a matching look of concern echoed on his. 

The gong of the bell announced the start of second period, causing an immediate end to their conversation.  “We’ve got to go, Harry. Double potions is next and you know that Snape doesn’t allow anyone to be late.” Hermione declared, standing up gathering their bags and cloaks.  

“Except his precious godson…” Harry mumbled under his breath.

Ignoring his petulant whining, she forced his cloak on him and dragged him into the hall to join the rest of the Gryffindors on their way to the dungeons.

As they descended down to the lower levels, catching the last moving staircase just right (thank Merlin), movement in her peripheral vision caught her eye. Two pairs of feet stuck out of an alcove, making her pause, curiosity getting the best of her. To her dismay, her nosiness led her to get a peek of Malfoy snogging pug-face Pansy Parkinson. With a sneer of revulsion, she whipped her head around and continued her march towards Snape’s classroom, dreading the rare mixed class which would make her witness the results of Malfoy’s make-out session, unsure why it unsettled her to the degree it currently was. Who a Slytherin snogged shouldn’t be any business of hers, even if said Slytherin was essentially chiseled out of marble and whose scent and eyes made her feel like butterflies had invading her belly… Shaking her head, she cleared the digressed thoughts from her head. That snake wasn’t her concern.

As usual, the Gryffindor’s flooded the hallway haphazardly. Jostling and shoving each other, the Alphas jockeyed for position while the Betas did their best to stay out of the way. Harry and Hermione huddled near the middle of the pack, using their bags to block elbows while enjoying the heat being created.

In a series of unfortunate events, right as the Slytherins were making their way to the door, Ron elbowed Dean just hard enough to knock him into the unsuspecting Theo Nott. The Slytherins immediately paused as a group, tension becoming palpable. With narrowed eyes, Theo pushed Dean back into the Gryffindor mass. Dean then fell back into Ron, who then bumped into Seamus, knocking him to the ground and triggering him to shout, “Hey! That hurt! I think you bloodied my nose, you arse!”

Immediately, protective instincts surged across the assembled Alphas. Dean turned and two-hand shoved Theo hard enough to launch him into the wall, breaking through the systematic arrangement of Slytherins. Like a fuse on a stick of dynamite being lit, the ever-present animosity detonated and all hell broke loose. Pheromones flooded the hall and with teeth bared and growls reverberating from deep in their chests, the Alphas on both sides slammed together, mindless in their pursuit of violence. Fists and legs swinging, with an occasionally headbutt thrown in, it was pure mayhem.

Betas on both sides ducked for cover. Hermione ended up crouching behind Ron, unable to escape, as bodies collided all around her. She was separated from Harry who had gotten carried away by Neville and wedged by a pillar and a suit of armor.  Trying to break free of the pandemonium, she crawled between the first set of legs she encountered but instead was presented with the horrifying image of Daphne Greengrass taking a bite out of Mclaggen’s arm while other Alphas all around her were giving in to their base urges, enjoying the bloodshed and bedlam they were creating. She tried to go back the way she came but found her path blocked by a pair of possibly two Gryffindors Greco-Roman wrestling.

All of a sudden, an electric blue light lit up the hallway, erecting a barrier between the battling bodies. Looking up, Hermione saw Malfoy stowing his wand back into his holster as he ordered, “Enough” in a deep Alpha command. 

A spark of recognition related to his designation fired in her. The authority in his tone could not be ignored, and part of her really didn’t want to ignore it. It gave her the best kind of chills and her overactive imagination started to think of all of the things he could say to her in that voice tone, forgetting that she was basically in an army crawl position in the middle of the hallway. Before her brain got too carried away, a large hand entered her line of sight and reached down to offer her help up. 

She placed her petite hand into the warm baseball mitt size palm of Malfoy, completely overtaken by the sheer size difference, and more than slightly stimulated by it. If his hands were that big, did that translate to other anatomical areas? He was giving her way too much mental ammunition…  

He lifted her up with extreme ease, practically catapulting her over his shoulder.  It prompted her to grab his painfully fit bicep to steady herself on her way back down to Earth and she mistakenly made eye contact briefly. His trademark smirk taunted her, compelling her to sincerely believe that he had to be a Legilimens, especially after the incident in the Great Hall the other day.  “Thank you…” she mumbled, all while thinking his presence should be illegal as it removed her ability to think rationally, her brain taking a backseat to her ovaries.

He turned to the group at large, anger on his aristocratic features; jaw clenched, eyes blazing, looking like the avenging angel his fortunate genetics had produced. “I hope you are all as ashamed of yourself as I am of you. Save this shit for Quidditch, dueling club, or fucking Alpha wizard chess if you must, but never where Betas could be injured. Get your heads out of your ass and get to class.” He rumbled menacingly as he strutted to the front of the sincerely subservient Slytherins and led them into the now open potions classroom.

The Gryffindors looked slightly abashed and did a quick wellness check of their Betas and their own Alphas, which led to them making Mclaggen go to Pomfrey to get his bite looked at. They lingered in the hallway, refusing to be cowed by Malfoy’s order.

“Who the fuck does he think he is ordering us to class?” Ron grumbled, rolling his shoulders, agitation emitting from his every pore as the fight had ended too early for his liking. It was just starting to get good and if he could get Malfoy in the mix when his blood was pumping like that, he felt he would finally be able to take him. 

Professor Snape, with his robes billowing around him, enunciated as he walked towards the classroom door, “The number two student in the class and the only one clearly in control of his mental faculties as he was not involved in this embarrassing display of idiocy, obviously… Now, move, ‘Bottom-of-the-Barrel Weasley’.” His acerbic tone brokered no argument as the older Alpha was obviously not impressed by what he just witnessed. 

Ron huffed, red-faced with embarrassment, he followed the rest of the Gryffindors in as they shuffled behind the potions master and settled into their seats, some of them literally licking the wounds that were just inflicted as they sat down. 

Snape surveyed the room with his ominous obsidian eyes that reflected his disgust and disappointment. Potions was always a quiet class. He commanded his dungeon domain with an iron fist, however, the current silence was absolutely suffocating. 

Hermione shifted anxiously in her seat, desperate to avoid his glare or draw negative attention to herself in any way. As part of her Healer training, she had come to an understanding of sorts with the Professor and she wanted to stay on his good side, or at least his neutral side but knew he was a prickly sort that could change his mind as the wind blew. 

“Whatever that was in the hallway was completely out of line. 20 points from Gryffindor for starting that brawl and 10 points to Slytherin for Mister Malfoy’s quick thinking.” Voices of protest began to rise from the lions but were quickly snuffed out by an angry glare from Snape.

“Moving on to today’s lesson, the instructions and ingredients are on the board for today’s assignment. I expect silence and perfection, but seeing as who I have in class today, I know I will only get the silence. Miss Granger, do try to keep Mister Longbottom from killing us all. Begin.” Snape ordered.

Hermione frowned silently at her professor. She and Neville had been partners since their first year when no one else wanted to work with either of them. Her, because she was a know-it-all and him, because he was rubbish at potions. Combined though, they were actually a very balanced team and rarely delivered anything below an Outstanding on their work. His plant knowledge was second to none and often came in handy on brewing and improving the potions they were assigned. As long as she did not let him actually touch the cauldron, there were no issues. Just because a couple of weeks ago while making a calming draught, she asked him to stir while she was putting her hair up and it caused a minor explosion, did not mean that he needed to embarrass Neville and her like that.

Hermione looked up at the board again and committed the ingredients of the Doxycide to memory before she made her way to the potion’s cupboard. She carefully levitated around her the required components and made her way back to the workstation she shared with Neville. He began arranging the materials in accordance to the steps, making it easy for Hermione to work her way down the directions, a dance they had done thousands of time now and was basically muscle memory at this point.

She snuck a peek at the notes Neville was making on his ingredients list. He always jotted down little tidbits about the various plants and herbs they worked with, and Hermione, being the sponge for knowledge she was, always enjoyed absorbing whatever details he was willing to share. To her surprise, she saw the comment “Highly corrosive, but can be great in cleansing potions” written next to Bundimun ooze. 

In a haste to raise her hand, she almost dislocated her shoulder from its socket. “Professor?” She was barely able to wait for his acknowledgment prior to continuing her question. When he finally raised an eyebrow at her, she proceeded to ask, “If the Bundimun ooze’s high acidity is so corrosive, could it be possible when properly diluted and combined with Tormentil essence at a higher level than in the Doxycide potion that a possible cleansing potion for dark curses could be created?” The last part was said so fast that it took Snape a moment to translate it into actual English before he could formulate a reply. 

The alternate eyebrow raised in response. “Miss Granger, if my assignment is so boring to you that you have time to invent new potions in your mind, maybe you should stay after class to discuss extra credit work. Additionally, I expect your Doxycide to be flawless since you obviously have mastered this particular potion.” 

It was a non-answer and more of an admonishment than anything, but she heard what he was saying loud and clear, having spent more time with him recently. She ran through her “Snape to Human” translation lexicon quickly in her mind and pieced together that he was curious about her theory and would discuss it with her in the correct time and place, but he did not allow people to go off-topic in his class as it was too dangerous to get distracted around the extremely volatile ingredients.

She wordlessly returned to her cauldron, dead set on delivering a perfect potion to spite the snarky man, shaking off the concerned look from Neville. Harry quickly glanced her way from his workstation with Ron, the silent communication between the two of them confirmed Harry’s thoughts regarding Hermione’s question. She was on to something big.

Unbenounced to the Beta duo, a stormy set of eyes from the Slytherin side of the room absorbed their interaction, filing it away to dissect later. Draco Malfoy was not a Slytherin just because of his name. Evidently, the lioness was on the hunt…  

Class completed and Hermione waited for everyone else to clear out before she walked to the front to hand over to her and Neville’s potion to the professor. With a practiced eye, Snape noticed it was a perfect brew, much to his equal annoyance and appreciation. “Miss Granger, can you please explain to me why you interrupted my class with a question obviously more appropriate for a time such as now?”

“I apologize, sir. I am working on a project that the Headmaster assigned to me regarding the Omega issue and today’s ingredients ignited an idea in my head.” Hesitant to explain too much to Professor Snape without Harry’s approval, Hermione erred on the side of caution and shared only her potion’s theory, hoping that she would be able to pass it off as part of her Healer apprenticeship. “Say if someone was inflicted with a very dark curse, would the possibility of a Bezoar based potion infused with Bundimun ooze and Tormentil essence, coupled with the curse victim’s blood break the curse on the person?” 

“Miss Granger, that is both highly specific and extremely vague. Without all of the variables, I would be ill-advised to answer that question, but as a working theory, yes, it is possible.” Snape said impassively, borderline expressionless. Internally, however, he was blown away by the ingenuity of her thought process. It was certainly possible to create a curse cleansing potion as she described, but without knowing what curse she was trying to cure, he couldn’t be sure what the effect might be. And more importantly, what did the Headmaster have her researching that she felt a potion of that nature would be necessary? “Is this a topic you wish to further explore as part of your apprenticeship?” 

Pleased that that was the path he took with her question, Hermione responded, “Yes! It would be wonderful if you would allow me the use of one of the study labs to experiment. I am fully aware how precarious these ingredients are and would hate to try to be sneaky about it and brew it like in the women’s restroom or something.”

Snape considered her request. It was no secret that he wasn’t a fan of Gryffindors, but this chit had always been respectful to him and those of other Houses and the previous times that she worked with him brewing for the infirmary, she was the epitome of professionalism and delivered impeccable potions. On top of that, the topic she was purposing was fascinating. Being a potions master, he always loved experimenting and fabricating new salves, balms, and cures. It’s why he became a potions master.

“Miss Granger, let me speak with the Headmaster. I fear the ingredients you speak of are not only well above your expertise but are expensive.” She began to interrupt when he lifted his hand to quiet her. “However,” he continued, “I would be agreeable in supervising this experiment if the Headmaster approves. I shall speak with him this evening.” Snape planned on getting answers from the old man, on both the approval for the potion and why the need for one in the first place. His spy senses were tingling telling him that Dumbledore was using his usual tricks of half-truths and carefully laid out breadcrumbs leading people down his preferred path and had ensnared this witch into his latest scheme. It left a bad taste in his mouth.

“Thank you, Professor Snape!” Hermione squealed joyfully. It was even better than she hoped for. She knew that his involvement would turn her theory into reality. With a jaunty sway of her hips, she exited the classroom.

“You seem to have recovered from this morning just fine.” The deep voice of Malfoy made her jump and let out a little squeak of surprise, earning her a light chuckle from him.

“I did. And thank you for helping me up this morning.” Hermione answered with a shade of embarrassment in her voice.

“I overheard your conversation with Uncle. If I was a betting man, I would wager that you have puzzled out some answers regarding the Omega deficiency and are looping in our dear old potions master into becoming heroes of the wizarding world.” He walked closer to her and leaned down as he whispered winding a loose curl around his finger, “I would be most grateful to you, mon coeur if you could keep me from madness.”

“Mon coeur, mon cul!” She retorted hotly in an effort to cover up how aroused she was becoming from his proximity to her. The intimate gesture of him touching her hair had her shivering, but she refused to reward him with knowing that he was getting to her. 

Malfoy smiled at her. “You know French?”, the happiness evident in his voice. “Of course you know French. You are always a delightful surprise mon coeur.” He dropped his voice a bit lower, making it more of a purr than anything else. “And maybe someday ton cul will be mon…” He flashed a wink at her and walked away with more elegance than a man of his stature should possess. 

Battling to control the flush that was desperately trying to make itself known, Hermione chose to ignore the blatant innuendo and hightailed it out of the castle to Herbology with a hope that she still might make it on time.   

Herbology ended uneventfully and just in time for the sky to open up, sheets of rain drenching them as they made their way back up to the castle. Hermione was soaked, and not in the fun way. Her normal voluminous curls were completely flat with the weight of the rain and she was shivering, despite the multitude of layers she wore. She trudged her way back up to Gryffindor Tower, desperate for a warm shower before making her way down to the Great Hall for dinner.

Dinner was a quick affair, the continued rain and the point loss from early dampening the mood of her Housemates. Hermione ate in relative silence, fatigue plain on her face. Harry wanted to hear about her possible discovery from potions class but could see the crash that he had previously predicted had finally hit her. Her face was dangerously close to becoming personally acquainted with her soup if she did not get to bed soon.

“Hermione, let’s get you to the Tower for bed. You are nanoseconds away from a food facial. Give your brain a break tonight.” Harry directed.

Drowsily, Hermione got to her feet and allowed Harry to walk/drag her to their Common Room. She stumbled up the stairs to her dormitory, transfigured her robes into sleep clothes, and snuggled deep into her thankfully warm bed.  Regardless of her usual inability to shut her brain off, until Snape got back to her regarding the potion, there wasn’t much more she could do at the moment and she needed to accept that.  Plus, it had been a very strange day with the Remus talk, the Alpha battle, potion probability, and the possible flirting with Malfoy. Just thinking about the events of the day was exhausting. The rain was providing the perfect lullaby, and within minutes she was out.

The tempest whirled dangerously outside, the echo of one reflected around her. The clouds rapidly shifted through the whole spectrum of shades of gray, mirroring his intense and piercing eyes. Her hands scratched the length of a heavily muscled back, contracting with impossible grace. Beads of sweat slowly trickled down their bodies, emulating the rain on the window. Thunder and lightning struck across the sky, highlighting a shock of telltale blonde as it fell into his face. Power and strength, both from the storm and the man, encompass her and despite the turmoil, she felt safe and protected. She had found her shelter and refuge.  

The smell of rain, soft leather, and icy mint surrounded her. It was a delicious aroma that had taken over her senses. A large hand expanded across her taut stomach while the other one tangled itself in her hair, holding her to give his mouth the chance to explore and enjoy it. His incredibly hard and impressive length was poised at the entrance to her warm center, slick and eager for him. “Mon coeur…” he said seductively.

Hermione woke with a start, her clit aching and nipples painfully at attention. Draco sodding Malfoy had found a way to invade her dreams, much to her irritation and arousal. Casting a quick “Tempus” charm, she noted it was barely 5 AM, but knew there was no way she was going back to sleep now.

With a groan, she shoved her feet into her slippers, muttering to herself about silver-eyed and tongued Slytherins. She padded carefully to the bathroom en suite. A cold shower and a Calming Draught were going to be necessary for her to survive this day. Hopefully, between the two, she would not die of mortification when she saw Malfoy in the Great Hall for breakfast in a few hours. If any gods had any consideration for her at all, he really wasn’t a Legilimens. 

Her faith was completely destroyed within minutes of sitting down to eat. Much to her dismay, as she chanced a look at him from across their respective tables later that morning, his smirk evolved into a very knowing smile.

“Fuck…” Hermione was screwed. Not literally, unfortunately, but the arrogant prat knew. He fucking knew. And he knew that she knew he knew. Damn her vivid imagination… Thank Merlin they didn’t have any classes together today. He could just stay in his kingdom and leave her to wallow in her erotic agony. Lifting her head up again to sneak a peek his way, she noticed his spot was vacant. A sigh of relief escaped her lips.

“Nice weather we had yesterday, right, Granger? I have always loved a good storm.” Malfoy asked with merriment peppering his baritone voice. Not waiting for her response, he made his way to the exit with a graceful stroll.

She was so fucked.  

Chapter Text

“You fancy yourself a god, Dumbledore, but let me assure you, you are not.” Snape retorted fiercely.  He and Dumbledore had been arguing for the past hour after Snape burst into his office to get Dumbledore’s approval on his involvement with Hermione on the potion project she had outlined earlier in the day.  Due to the ingredients she needed, Snape needed Dumbledore to sign off on the order he needed to send to the apothecary as it was a significant cost.

What he thought would have been a relatively easy ask, considering the fact that Dumbledore had asked the chit to research the Omega issue, had turned into a tense “discussion” upon Snape finding out that the timeworn bastard clearly was attempting to control the situation and the poor girl as well. Dumbledore seemed happy that Hermione had made the progress she had in such a short time, but Snape felt like he was navigating an obstacle course to be allowed to get her through to the next stage to potentially formulate a solution and it was rapidly eroding his nerves. He could feel an outburst teetering on his tongue. “I shall not have you interfere with how I run my class. Either grant your approval for this experiment or deny it. You have wasted enough of my precious hours that are not infected with the dribble that this school calls pupils.”

“My dear boy, I am not trying to interfere. I just feel Miss Granger might be trying to take on too much right now and while I realize I am partly to blame with asking for her involvement in my little research project, I never expected her to spend so much time on the subject. I find it to be unfair to expect her to work on this potion after class. She is advanced enough that her and her partner could take this on in class. It will then give you back more of your precious time as you so eloquently mentioned earlier.” Dumbledore responded patiently, almost condescendingly so, a slight sparkle in his blue eyes.

Snape felt himself snap. His body went rigid like an overextended rubber band. It was a physical manifestation of his mental reaction to the complete bullshit that was seeping from the obviously batshit crazy man on the other side of the desk. The outburst that he was previously attempting to keep at bay exploded from his mouth in an icy tone that would give the layman freezer burn. “My dear boy?” he mocked. “I am not your dear anything. I am an almost 40-year-old man and I am certainly not your son. Miss Granger is, unfortunately, our brightest student and has taken on this project that you forced upon her with surprising intellect and if you want to manipulate her, and me by proxy, I will then be forced to get the school board involved and I think a one Lucius Malfoy would be very interested in hearing your decision making abilities as of late. Additionally, I would think the Ministry and the Healer’s Coalition would be very interested in hearing how you have engaged an 18-year-old schoolgirl in the most important and necessary medical discovery of our time.”

His body trembled with rage and his Alpha paced aggressively. His fists were methodically clenching and unclenching as he battled to restrain himself from punching the Headmaster in his infuriatingly twinkling face.

“I apologize, Severus. I assure you the necessary parties are aware of what they need to know concerning this undertaking and I think you misunderstand me. I am not denying the order nor your assistance to Miss Granger. I am merely suggesting it be done during class as opposed to after as a better use of time. Her partner should be able to share some of the responsibility to make it easier on all parties involved. I also think it would be unwise for you in your current Alpha state to be working one on one with any student. You are reaching the dangerous age for those who have never mated.” Dumbledore answered apologetically.

“Longbottom would be better served holding her bookbag than helping her brew this complicated theoretical potion.” Snape rolled his eyes as he inspected his long nails for any lingering ingredients.

“Longbottom? Why isn’t her partner Harry? Aren’t they friends?” Dumbledore was obviously alarmed and puzzled by the disclosure of partner arrangement.

“Why would her partner be Mister Potter?” Snape countered.

Dumbledore answered “I just feel friends work better together and additionally; Harry is vital to this resolution. Didn’t Miss Granger share with you her findings to date?” The glimmer was back in his eyes, a tell Snape had discovered from long ago that meant he was planning on dangling just enough information to influence you to come to his preferred conclusion.

With acridness dripping from his words, Snape retorted, “Obviously not, but clearly you want to share with the class.”

Dumbledore leveled a look over his wireframes at Snape. “Miss Granger has pieced together that Harry is cursed. The intent of the dark curse that made him an orphan was set on ending the Potter line. The curse is suppressing his designation. By lifting the curse off of him, it should lift the curse off of all of those with the same designation. All of our Alphas should then be able to find their Omegas as nature intended.” He leaned back in his chair with his fingers steepled under his chin, a ghost of a smile on his lips, pleased to be able to deliver these juicy details to the previous spy.

Snape quickly concealed the shock that conquered his face as he worked through the preverbal bomb that was just dropped on him by the smug tosser. Based on the conversation he had with her earlier, he had suspected the curse cure was in the hypothetical stages, not driven from her extrapolating information handed to her from the Headmaster in such a way that the solution that had evaded the best minds in the wizarding world was at their fingertips. And the Potter boy being involved made sense as to why Dumbledore had always kept him in his peripheral vision…

He quickly schooled his features and ventured, “And if I place Miss Granger and Mister Potter together as partners to work on this in class, you will grant your approval to the materials needed, yes?”

“If that is how you would like to proceed, I would support that decision.” Dumbledore granted grandiosely.

Snape snapped his jaw down with an audible click. He exhaled deeply, trying to regain control of his temper that was continuously rising in the presence of the aggravating Alpha. Years of being exposed to Dumbledore’s manipulation tactics had him convinced that this was how the manifestation of the madness was in him, but this particular situation he had crafted took the cake. He knew he had to get out of that room before he lashed out and “Leviosa-ed” him right out the window. “Then I shall make the necessary arrangements once I have the requested ingredients. Good evening, Headmaster.”

Dumbledore tilted his head towards Snape. “Good evening, Severus. Lemon drop?”

Ignoring the passive-aggressive question, the dour professor turned and left the room, robes surrounding him in an inky cloud. He had much to ponder and was in dire need of at least three fingers of the whiskey he kept in his quarters for nights such as these.

************************************************************************************************************* 

Hermione stumbled out of the portrait hole, the entrance to Gryffindor tower, tired from reliving her mortification of Malfoy’s mind invasion. It had been two days and she was still not able to look the blonde in his twice-damn “stormy orbs” without blushing painfully. That bloody snake had slithered into her mind, coiling around and constricting her thoughts to center on him in a way that could not be good for her health. To avoid exacerbating the situation, she had refused to visit her usual haunts, but Neville was forcing her to go to breakfast in the Great Hall that morning, despite her very vocal protest. 

As they were leaving in mass, the Fat Lady, their portrait guardian, sang out in a shrill soprano:

“Oh, Hermione dear, a handsome young man left a present for you!

He wanted me to make certain that you got it too.

A suitor as striking as him is already a great fella,

But he seemed sure that you would want this umbrella!”

Her horribly loud and off-key little ditty had drawn the ears and turned the heads of way too many of her Housemates for Hermione’s liking, which would have been none of them if anyone was interested in knowing.

Rushing over to the excited painting, Hermione exclaimed frantically, “OK! Great! Thank you. Please stop. Perfectly pitched. Message received.”

The painting beamed beatifically at her and gestured to where the umbrella was propped against the wall. It was obviously an expensive one, the blue canopy perfectly hand-stitched and not something a regular person would ever use in a storm. Wrapped around the (probably real) silver handle was a note. Written on heavy parchment in perfect calligraphy was, “Sweet dreams, Mon Coeur… Faithfully, DM”.

Ron wandered over, bafflement on his face. “Are we going to be getting another rainstorm, ‘Mione? Should we all get our umbrellas?”

In a flash of panic, she grabbed the ostentatious object and chucked it through the still open portrait hole, almost impaling Seamus in the face as he exited. “Nope. No raining. No storms. No one here is wet. Wait… I meant no clouds I bet. Just blue skies, no silver eyes. I mean grey. Grey skies? Damn it, Ron, I'm a witch, not a meteorologist!”

“Oooooookkkkk…?” Ron could not be more confused if he tried. 

“Who’s hungry??? I’m starved! Let’s go before the hotcakes are cold! Harry, you’re hungry, right? Wait, where are you, Harry? Ron, grab Harry so we can go and make sure he has his jacket.” Hermione rambled incoherently in a vain attempt to distract everyone from the porn opera they had all been unknowingly subjected to.  She quickly turned and marched off, leaving the rest of her House in her wake scratching their heads over what they just witnessed.

At least I am now very much so awake she mused as she mentally planned for the inevitable encounter with her umbrella benefactor. Although the connotation of the gift was embarrassing, Hermione could not deny the practically of it. It did rain a lot in Scotland, and it was a nice umbrella. She needed to figure out how exactly to phrase a thank you while also saying never do that again at the same time. Maybe coffee would be necessary for this morning instead of tea…

Hermione blasted through the doors of the Great Hall, purposefully ignoring the Slytherins who were already seated. She had not deciphered her thoughts on what to say to the pretentious pureblood posing as her psychological weatherman and didn’t want to see the look on his illegally fit face until she knew she could compose a sentence fitting of her normal intelligence level.  She sat with her back to him and waited for the rest of her Housemates to catch up to her after her earlier escape. She could feel the heat from his gaze on the back of her neck and was about to break to turn around and peek at him when Parvati and Lavender flanked her on either side, matching mischievous grins on their faces.

“The Fat Lady certainly sang an interesting song this morning, Hermione. Wouldn’t you agree? Curious minds want to know who the fella is she mentioned. Do you have an idea? None of our Housemates seemed to know.” Parvati grilled her gleefully.

“No clue about the ‘fella’. I left my umbrella in the library and someone was kind enough to return it. You know how bored the Fat Lady gets. I think she just wanted to try out a new song, one that I am sure we will all forget soon enough.” Or at least Hermione hoped that would be the case…

“If you say so, Hermione…” Lavender begrudgingly relented and both girls began to fill their plates, sharing side-eye glances behind her back speaking to their level of belief in her professed ignorance.

Hermione continued to feel eyes on her, some from her Housemates, and one set in particular from across the room. Breakfast was normally her favorite meal, but today it could not end soon enough.

Right as she was preparing to leave the Great Hall, Professor Snape crossed her path.

“The ingredients are in and the permission has been granted to move forward with your proposal. We will be undertaking this project in class as opposed to after at the behest of the Headmaster. Be prepared.” He stated crisply. As an afterthought, while he walked away, he turned and added, “And your partner for this project will be Mister Potter.”  He whipped back around and was gone before her mind could catch up to what she just heard.

Hermione was thrilled and terrified. This could be literally world-changing.  She wanted to start right then and there and had to practically restrain herself from following after her professor and settled for visually trailing him as he moved across the Hall. The umbrella incident was chased from the forefront of her brain, or at least it had been until Snape stopped right next to Malfoy. He leaned down to whisper something to him and two heads immediately turned to look at her.

She was so struck by the extreme juxtaposition of the fair and dark eyes intensely staring at her, that she forgot that she was also staring and quickly found the tapestry across the hall to be immensely fascinating. She was literally saved by the bell as it echoed through the hall, signaling the start of classes. She swiftly stood up, momentarily relieved that the horde of her Housemates would give her some cover from the severe scrutiny from across the room. That relief quickly turned into dread as she remembered their first class was double potions. 

“I would kill for a time turner to start this day over again…” She muttered, hefting her bag up higher on her shoulder as she worked herself into the pack of Gryffindors making their way to the dungeon. 

She made her way to her usual workstation, expecting Snape to swap Harry and Neville once he started class. The potions master had started having his classroom open 20 minutes prior to the lesson actually beginning after the previous hallway brawl. For those like Hermione who liked a moment to get set up prior to class, it was normally a godsend, however, to add to her complicated morning, as she started pulling out her notes and books, Malfoy entered the room and decided to saunter over, propping himself up against her table. He placed his hands behind him and had the audacity of looking like a delicious snack. It was completely unfair.

“Did you get my gift this morning, mon coeur?” He quietly asked with an undertone of nervousness. He casually moved her hair over her shoulder, his fingertips lingering on the side of her neck instantly making her think of how amazing it would feel for his hands to be on other parts of her.  She refused to look up and chance meeting his eyes, giving him the opportunity to add that thought to his collection of embarrassing trading cards of her internal desires he was apparently gathering.

“I received a very expensive umbrella in the colors of House Malfoy this morning as our tower guardian sang a tuneless and rhyming nightmare in front of my whole House, so thank you?” She acknowledged, her voice going up slightly at the end making it more sound like a question than a statement. Hermione continued, a smidge of irritation in her voice, “Doesn’t your girlfriend have a problem with you purchasing gifts for other women, regardless of how innocuous the gift might be? And is the handle actually silver?”

Malfoy’s face registered his confusion at her question, shadowed by the comprehension of what she was asking. “Of course, the handle is actual silver. It’s Goblin made. Why wouldn’t it be? Additionally, what I purchase, and for whom, is not Pansy’s concern. She is simply my Beta beard.” He said it like it was the most normal thing in the world to say. 

“Your what??!! What in the world does that mean??” Hermione’s face was now the one racked with confusion. She had never heard of that bizarrely humorous phrase before and had scarcely been able to control the modulation of her voice tone with her response.

Calmly, Malfoy articulated, “She is my Beta beard, as I am hers. We are in a mutually beneficial arrangement of being each other’s covers from forced relationships with Betas that we aren’t interested in. If no Omegas present, and we are forced to marry, we would rather marry a friend than foe. We snog a bit here and there to keep up the illusion, but that’s it. Pansy is also an Alpha, so we are both holding out hope that a cure for the Omega problem will present itself sooner rather than later.” Malfoy paused. “Coincidently, Uncle shared with me that you will be doing a bit of experimenting during class time and that being the number two student in the class, I am to help you as needed. I obviously can’t partner with you, being a Slytherin and all, but I can provide aide with certain aspects of the brewing if you need another set of hands. Just ask, and I am all yours.”

Hermione’s mind was whirling with all of the information that he had just bestowed on her. Her normally logical and pragmatic brain should have zeroed in on the fact that he told her he was aware of her experiment, but instead, her vagina had taken over the mechanics of her mind, pushing her limbic system to the driver’s seat and hogged tied and shoved her cerebral cortex into the trunk. All she could think was the fact that Pansy was not his actual girlfriend and he had said he was all hers. Of everything he had just said, those were her main takeaways. Her eidetic memory would need to sort through the rest of his statements once her blood flow was normal again.

He was looking at her with a gentle look in his eyes that did not help her cognizant abilities, but thankfully, her brain kicked itself back into gear and granted her the ability to respond to his offer of assistance on her experiment. “I am not sure how much he told you, but you are a strong brewer, so I appreciate the help. Don’t be offended if I can’t fill you in about all of the details of the project, but it’s nice to know Snape has arranged you to be available. Thank you, Malfoy.” She smiled shyly at him. He really was ridiculously good looking…

“Draco.” He said.

“Sorry?” Hermione asked. 

“I would prefer if you would call me Draco and I would also appreciate it if you don’t avoid me in the future if you happen to be embarrassed or annoyed with me. I find I like talking to you and I hope you like talking to me too. I find you to be… enchanting… And I clearly will resort to creative means to capture your attention.” His eyes flashed, making Hermione unable to breathe with the intensity of his words and actions. What he was saying was significant. The Slytherin Prince, the Alpha extraordinaire, wanted her to call him Draco and wanted to talk to her more.

“Hermione, then…Draco.” She wanted to say something further, but Snape had entered the room and Mal…Draco reluctantly went back to his seat.

The class instantaneously stilled. Snape waved his hand and the words “Experimental Potions” wrote themselves in his tidy handwriting on the board. “Class, for the rest of the term we will be working on experimental potions. For those of you whose creativity is either non-existent or terrifying, I will assign potions for you to work on enhancing. The select few that do not deter my faith in humankind may work on approved proposals that are required to be turned in by the end of the day.  Potter, you will be switching with Longbottom for this section. And for all of our safety and my sanity, Longbottom and Weasley will be required to only do a significant written essay on their assigned potion. No brewing will be allowed from the Dunderheaded Duo. Your comments are not requested on my decision. Begin.”

Parchment slips flew through the air to the various workstations with their assignments. Harry shared a knowing look with Hermione. She had not had a chance to disseminate the details of her talk with Snape prior to class, but she knew Harry well enough that the partner change would hint to him what their potion assignment would be. He made his way over to her table and received a sympathetic pat on his shoulder from Neville prior to him wondering over to grumbling Ron. Both of the Alpha boys were proportionately happy they weren’t having to actual brew and anxious about what sort of written assignment the professor would saddle them with.

“Howdy, partner.” Harry joked as he adjusted the seat that Neville had just vacated. “Are we doing what I think we are doing?”

“If you think that what we are doing is what we talked about doing that I have been asked to do by that one person, then yes,” Hermione affirmed.

She unrolled the parchment that had landed in front of them and the words “Lightning Reversal” were written on it along with Snape’s edits to her working theory that she had presented to him.

“‘Lightning reversal?’”  Harry asked with a tilt of his head. 

Hermione hurriedly whispered, “Well, my hypothesis is your lightning scar is where the curse is locked in and we need to reverse that to cure you and reset the natural order of presentations, so thus, ‘Lightning reversal.’ I thought that was easier and vaguer for our purpose of working on this in class than the ‘Curing Harry’s dark curse on his forehead that is the possible reason that no Omega’s are presenting potion.’ We can really call it that if you want, but I thought some anonymity would be appreciated…”

“Seeing as me and stupid lightning-shaped scar are pretty recognizable, I wouldn’t say ‘anonymity’, but points for ingenuity regardless.” Harry quipped quietly back.

 Snape’s eyes settled on them and their bickering stopped immediately. “Miss Granger and Mister Potter, you are one of two groups I have given creative freedom to. I said to begin and that was over 10 minutes ago. If you are unable to figure out how time works, then I shall have to reconsider my decision on both your intelligence levels and my ability to allow you to work as partners. Should I consider you to be my next Dunderheaded Duo and add you to the likes of Weasley and Longbottom? Do I need to add a dictionary, as well as a watch, to your workstation so you know what the word begin means and how to actually start when I tell you to?” His face was a mere beat away from hers, giving her the opportunity to see up close and personal his eyes start to blaze with anger. His voice tone had dropped to such a low octave, it was basically a growl by the time he had completed his tirade. The class was, again, suffocatingly silent, the entire room holding their breath as they beheld the exchange near the front of the room.

Hermione’s swallowed at his tyrannical tone, her eyes widening in a bit of fear. This was the first time the potions master had allowed a crack to come through his controlled Alpha mask. She heard the scrapping of a chair behind her and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Draco stand up. The action must have broken Snape out of whatever trance he was in as his eyes started to clear and he quickly jerked his head back out of her personal space, shaking it on his retreat, visibly trying to further regain his facilities.  “I apologize, Miss Granger. We both have wasted enough time of this class. Begin now or I will be forced to take points.” He stalked back to his desk and then turned to head towards his office to allow him a moment to recompose himself.

Hermione did not need to be told twice. She started to read through Snape’s notes on her files with frightening speed, one quill already lodged in her hair and a regular pen in her hand.

Harry looked shell-shocked for a couple more beats. He knew Alpha madness onset symptoms when he saw them due to Sirius. It made the professor suddenly so much more human to him. Harry quickly glanced over his shoulder at Malfoy. The Alpha had an expression of concern and resignation etched into his face. He could see that Malfoy loved his godfather and was worried for the man, as well as his own fate.

Their gazes met for a moment and Harry sent a sympathetic nod his way, hoping it conveyed the fact that he understood too well the myriad of emotions the scene that just played out caused. Malfoy seemed to comprehend and nodded his thanks back.

Harry turned back around to find Hermione completely absorbed in her amendments to her experiment. “Hermione, what do you need me to do? I can’t just sit here and look pretty. I mean, I could, but I don’t really want to spend my whole class session like that.” Harry chuckled a bit to himself. He doubted she even heard him.

Much to Harry’s surprise however, she instantly retorted. “I need you to focus. Start reading through the pages I have already reviewed. Let me know if you have any questions. We should be able to present something solid to Snape by the end of the period today if you are done making snarky comments.”

Harry smirked as he grabbed the stack of papers she shoved at him. It was covered in red and blue ink, swirling across the lines and down into the margins. He unexpectedly felt Hermione’s batty board in the Common Room made much more sense than the technical and advanced formulas he was reading here. “Do you have a translation guide for what in the actual hell I'm reading? I don’t even think a lot of this is in English.”

“Arithmancy and ancient runes, plus ancient Latin, Greek, and a bit of French for good measure… You don’t speak any of those?” Hermione asked while not taking her eyes off of the page she was reading.

Normally, Harry would assume someone was trying to show off if they spouted off comments like that, but for Hermione, he knew that was her actually being modest. He knew she spoke at least 12 languages and wrote in at least 5 more than that.  Thinking about her abilities in those terms, it frankly made a lot more sense as to why the Headmaster had reached out to her. She was a certifiable genius in both muggle and Wizard standards. “No, Hermione. You must be confusing me with someone else who has an encyclopedia brain. I can, however, merge the edits together if you tell me what method you are using so we have a clean copy to work from. Besides Parseltongue, languages hate me. At least transfiguration and I are good friends.”

“Brilliant, Harry. That will be a great help.” Hermione agreed. She continued to work silently for a moment and then passionately added, “I knew Snape was intelligent but reading his thoughts and seeing his revisions on my work just make me realize how very much so he is. I have to get this right, Harry. He, and all of the Alphas, including your suppressed one, need to be saved.” Her eyes were so bright, they were almost glowing, and her hair was crackling with her powerful magic, rising to the top of every part of her. This was not just a class assignment. This was life or death and she refused to give up to death without a fight. She was Hermione gods-damn Granger and she would save the world if it was the last thing she did!

******************************************************************************

One month of frustrating failures, near misses, and one embarrassingly badly botched batch that had exploded and shrunk hers and Harry’s clothes, they had reached the end of their calculations and were near the end of their available supplies as well. It was getting down to the wire and Hermione was starting to feel her resolution crumble a bit.

Draco had come over to their station to help cut up the delicate Tormentil essence while she measured out the corrosive Bundimun and Harry added in the sprinkle of crushed Bezoar. The timing had to be exact and they had learned through painful trial and error that it had to be added all at one for them to bond correctly.

Hermione counted down from 3 and they all carefully dropped in their assigned ingredients and hastily stepped back. Harry pricked his finger and added in the agreed 7 drops of blood. It simmered and smoked for about a minute and then it turned a vibrant shade of green, almost the same color as Harry’s eyes. Nothing popped, or burst and the cauldron was still intact. The coloring was holding, and the consistency was within the range of hers and Snape’s expectations.

Draco had a suspicion of an idea as to what they were brewing, but Hermione hadn’t confirmed it and he hadn’t pushed it. He had a feeling she did not want to say anything until she knew it would work and he respected her censorship due to that. Draco looked at Hermione. The smile on her face right then at the possibility of success was breathtaking. She was a goddess, Athena and Aphrodite incarnate, effervescent and vivacious and he wanted to do nothing more than worship her for as long as she would let him. 

Snape made a beeline for their station. “Finally, you have produced something adequate. Mister Malfoy, please return to your station. The brewing is complete, and your services are no longer needed.”

Draco looked at his godfather for a moment, debating about accepting the order to go back to his own approved project, but acquiesced in the end. Hermione caught his eye before he turned to go and gave him a small, encouraging smile. It was enough to appease him for now and he turned to go back to his station with Pansy. 

“I want to test it now. If we don’t use it while it’s fresh, we can’t guarantee the potency. Harry, is that agreeable to you?” It was clear that Hermione was only asking out of formality. She had already put a ladle into the concoction and was coming towards him with the green goo like he was a baby needing to be fed.

“I will send a Patronus to Madame Pomfrey to be on standby. I agree with your assessment of this being time-sensitive. I’ll erect a barrier around us to block any potential blowback.” Snape actually sounded excited.

Harry was so nervous he forgot how his mouth should work. This could save Sirius. This could save Snape. This could literally save the wizarding world. Hermione was pulsating with emotions that matched his own. So much was riding on this working. Harry forced open his mouth and the disgusting potion slid down his throat. 

All at once, he felt like he was on fire, both inside and out. It was agony. The “Cruciatus Curse” would feel like a scratch compared to what he was going through right now. His body convulsed and his eyes rolled back in his head and right before their eyes, his scar began to fade. It looked as though someone was taking an eraser to his forehead. Starting from the bottom, the line of that wretched blemish began to disappear and right as it reached the top, a surge of magic exploded out of what was left of the wound. It was dark and foul and was battling to get back into Harry’s body when he was suddenly enveloped by a silvery light, much like that of a Patronus.

Hermione and Snape stood by in awe. The magical battle taking place was never something they had accounted for and they were locked into position due to the barrier. There was nothing they could do but anxiously wait for the winner to be determined between the two magics that possessed Harry’s body.

Beyond the barrier, the class as a whole had stopped everything. The outpouring of magic was so violent and volatile, the room was shaking, and the candles were flickering. All the cauldrons were blown out. Materials and books were swirling around the room. Alpha students were shielding some of the Betas while others were trying to get the door of the class to open. It was complete chaos, and as suddenly as it started, it was over.

The silver light had been the winner. It consumed the dark magic as it was intended to do. Harry was shivering, covered in sweat, completely pale. His glasses were cracked, and his hair was even more unruly than normal. 

“Am I an Alpha now?” Harry croaked out right before he passed out. Hermione shot a cushioning charm on the floor, afraid to use any magic on him directly after the sheer drain of his magical core she was sure he just experienced.

Snape dropped the barrier and sent a Patronus to both Pomfrey and Dumbledore with what happened. He gathered up the boy and rushed with him out of the room. “Class dismissed.” He called behind him as he willed the castle to provide him the quickest route to the infirmary.

Hermione stood there in total shock about what transpired. She was starting to sweat as well. Her body felt shaky and uncomfortable. Her neck was itching and so was her left wrist. Her mind felt foggy and all of the noises around her started to sound like they were coming from underwater. Hermione contemplated for a moment that maybe she had been too close to the magical battle and was experiencing magical residue on her skin. She started to panic, afraid that the dark magic that had escaped Harry had found a way to be on her. She wanted to hide. The room felt too bright. It was too harsh. And it was too fucking hot. Why was she wearing so many damn layers? Everything was wrong. 

“Come here, Omega.” A powerful voice cut through the fog. She had to go towards that voice. That voice felt right. That voice would make everything else right. Instinctively, she placed one foot in front of the other and stopped right in front of the hard body of Draco Malfoy. Looking up into his beautiful features, the world came crashing back into focus. She had no idea how she got over there but being near him made her able to function again.  He looked just as confused as she did on what was going on.

“I apologize, Hermione, for using an Alpha command on you like that. I think your potion worked, except maybe not how you thought it would. Harry may turn into an Alpha, but you, for certain, are presenting as an Omega. My Alpha is telling me that you are my Omega. That I am to claim you. I am fighting very hard against my instincts right now, but I really am feeling the need to bite you. My Alpha is afraid that if we don’t do it now, we will lose you to another Alpha.” She could see he was gritting his teeth and clenching his jaw so hard she was afraid he was going to break it. “Your scent is riling the whole room up. I have never smelled anything so incredible in my life. You should leave and get to the infirmary for your protection. This is set to turn into a bloodbath over you.”

She looked around the room, surprised. Alphas on both sides of the room were penetrating her with sensual stares. Their elongated canines were on display and several were starting to circle her like sharks. She inadvertently stepped closer to Draco, feeling he was the safest place for her, a feeling that exponentially increased when he wrapped his arm protectively around her, baring his own teeth for the first time in a show of supremacy to all others in the room.  

Hermione angled her head up so she could look at Draco’s face in more detail. The longer she stood wrapped up in him, the better she felt. He smelt like her dream and a new scent of home. “What if you bite me? What happens then?” Her scientific side kicked in, eager for more answers. He was right that she had never considered being an Omega herself. She came from a long line of Betas, so it was never even on her radar. She had no idea what to expect as an Omega, other than what the limited information in books had told her.

“You would become mine and I would be yours. I would claim you and then mate you.” His eyes were glassy, and his face was turning red. He was utilizing an extreme amount of energy battling his Alpha instincts while protecting her from a room full of other Alphas who were not battling theirs.

Time for her to consider her options were running out, as were her options. More Alphas were trying to get into the classroom as her scent had drifted throughout the whole lower level of the castle. “Bite me, Draco,” she ordered.

“You understand that you would be mine, yes? Once I bite you, there is no going back.” She could see how badly he wanted to bite her. He had already raised her arm up and had started to lower his head to transverse the distance for his teeth to reach the now painfully sensitive gland on her wrist.

“This will save you, right? If you bite me and I am your Omega, you're saved, right?” Hermione questioned.

“Yes, you would be my salvation, mon coeur.” He conceded with wonder.

Her mind and her magic agreed that it was worth it. He was worth it. She briefly bobbed her head displaying her agreeance and understanding to what he was saying. He lowered his head down the rest of the way and pressed his sharpened fangs to her arm. He looked at her again, shock, reverence, and gratitude in his mesmerizing eyes. He gave her a moment to change her mind and smiled at the fierce determination he saw in her eyes, granting him the permission he desperately needed. His teeth pierced her skin and the searing pain rapidly converted to a carnal inferno coursing through her. He picked her up and wrapped her around him, his scent and hers mingling together, conveying to all other Alphas she was spoken for.

The last thing she heard before the world faded to black was his sultry voice in full Alpha command tone saying, “Mine.”

Chapter Text

Draco Malfoy’s day had started relatively routine. He woke up at his usual time of 5 am and ran 10 miles around the Black Lake, followed by a combined magical and muggle sparring session with Theo and Blaise in the Slytherin Common Room.  After he showered, he received and reviewed the Daily Prophet, the French La Tribune Sorcière, and the American Magical Post and Wall Street Journal for their financial sections and updated his portfolio notes accordingly and owled his recommendations to his father and accountant.  

As he was the head Alpha in his House, he led the Slytherins out to the Great Hall for breakfast and subtly (hopefully) stared at the Gryffindor table in hopes of catching a glimpse of a certain curly-headed witch and whatever book she was currently reading while suppressing jealousy directed at the Alphas around her taking care of her. He ate at the moderate pace befitting someone of his breeding and did his best to pay attention to his Housemates. Slytherins knew better than to display aggressive behavior in a public setting like this, but he still felt it necessary to keep his head on a swivel to keep it that way. A sharp glance from him towards any spirited snake seemed to immediately quell any of their untoward conduct. 

The bell sounded and with practiced ease, he stood from their table, giving the rest of his House the permission to stand and disperse to their various classes, each led by a hand-picked Alpha to keep the rule of the land in order. He was eager for his first class today and was struggling not to skip to it. He had double potions with the subject of his spying, and he knew he was going to get to help her today, a double win in his books.

He started the period at his station with Pansy. They were working on their own potion creation, a modification of a conception potion to assist the possibility of Betas being able to mate with Alphas, and were deep in preparing the ingredients according to Snape’s exacting expectations. This was their third-week slicing, dicing, and chopping the multitude of materials they were working with and Snape had only let them keep about half of them. His precise statement had been “If your giant Alpha paws can’t figure out how to wield a knife properly, transfigure them into something that can. Either get it right or I shall tell your parents to recant my Godfather vow.” 

Draco wasn’t offended by the snarkiness of his Uncle. He was, however, annoyed that it was keeping him from more time with Granger and being able to help with her potion. He just wanted to be closer to her and let her see that he could be someone she could rely on. That he was a good Alpha and could be a good Alpha to her if she would let him. He didn’t care that she was a Gryffindor or a Beta. She was her and he felt a pull towards her that he just simply could not explain. 

Thankfully, he was able to rapidly join Hermione and Potter due to Pansy’s purposeful fuck up of their prep work, making Snape swoop over and scold her as he “Evanescoed” the ruined work. Snape begrudgingly allowed Draco to move over to work with the other team as he continued to berate Pansy in his famously acerbic manner. She was the best wingman/Beta beard he could have asked for.

Draco eagerly went to their station and got his assignment of cutting the Tormentil essence from Hermione. Her focus was formidable, and her intensity was extremely attractive. When she turned to survey his work and acknowledged it with an affirmative nod while ordering him to cut up more to have in reserve, his cock managed to twitch uncomfortably against his thigh making him very grateful for his robes at that moment. He never would have suspected her authoritative voice was a turn on for him… His dick heard her loud and clear and was obviously paying attention.

On her count, they added their assigned ingredients and stood back to see if their millionth time would be the charm. He had mixed feelings on wanting the potion to work. Part of him wanted another failure so he had an excuse to continue being near her, but the more logical part of him wanted the success. He had a feeling he knew what success would mean but did not want to assume that their accomplishment would lead to a cure of the Omega issue. Slytherins were never presumptuous.

Draco’s vision was torn between catching glances of Hermione and staring at the cauldron. In a flash, the potion swirled, simmered, and turned a vibrant shade of green. Slyly, he shifted his eyes back to Hermione and the smile on her face in light of their possible achievement was breathtaking.  She was a goddess, Athena and Aphrodite incarnate, effervescent and vivacious and he wanted to do nothing more than worship her for as long as she would let him.

Snape swooped in with his arm outstretched, effectively pushing Draco backward, separating him from Hermione and Potter. “Finally, you have produced something adequate. Mister Malfoy, please return to your station. The brewing is complete, and your services are no longer needed.”

Draco looked at his godfather for a moment, debating about accepting the order to go back to his own approved project, but acquiesced in the end. Hermione caught his eye before he turned to go and gave him a small, encouraging smile. It was enough to appease him for now and he turned to go back to his station with Pansy. 

With a furrowed brow and scrunched up shoulders, Pansy hissed to him in rapid-fire succession, “What’s going on? Are you ok? Are they ok? Why did Snape move you back? Should I be worried? Are you worried? What’s…”

“Enough, Pans.” Draco commanded, effectively cutting off her line of questioning. “I’m not 100% sure what is going on, but I am sure as shit going to pay attention so I can figure it out.” 

A harsh blue light of a barrier spell was quickly erected around the trio, obscuring his view, and heightening his anxiety. The intensity of it made the hair on the back of his neck stand up and, of their own volition, his canines extended. With a quick look around the room, he was not the only Alpha feeling the power surge. His desire to protect and his aggression was amplified to a level he had never felt before. Sounds were becoming distorted like his head was submerged in water.  All of a sudden, his senses were assaulted with the most delicious smell he had ever smelt. Jasmine, peaches, and sunshine enveloped him. It was like Amortentia to the nth degree. His Alpha was essentially salivating and the compulsion to find the source of the aroma was all-consuming. The command, “Come here Omega” fell from his lips before he could stop it. 

And then, it was like the world was finally in focus. Everything was clearer, sharper, brighter. He looked down into the surprised face of one Hermione Granger. She was the source of the delicious bouquet. His Alpha instincts engaged and immediately he knew she was his Omega and he would do anything in the world to have her.

“I apologize, Hermione, for using an Alpha command on you like that. I think your potion worked except maybe not how you thought it would. Harry may turn into an Alpha, but you, for certain, are presenting as an Omega. My Alpha is telling me that you are my Omega. That I am to claim you. I am fighting very hard against my instincts right now, but I really am feeling the need to bite you. My Alpha is afraid that if we don’t do it now, we will lose you to another Alpha.” He clenched his jaw, forcing his sharp teeth to puncture his lip hard enough to draw blood. “Your scent is riling the whole room up. I have never smelled anything so incredible in my life. You should leave and get to the infirmary for your protection. This is set to turn into a bloodbath over you.”

As she looked around the room, she was clearly surprised by the antics of the other Alphas. He wanted to grab her and protect her from this, from everything, so when she stepped closer to him, his Alpha purred with pride at her recognizing his ability to be her refuge. He wrapped his arm possessively around her, baring his own teeth for the first time in a show of supremacy to all others in the room. 

Hermione angled her head up so she could look at his face, questions painted on her delicate features. “What if you bite me? What happens then?” 

His eyes were glassy, and his face was turning red. He was utilizing an extreme amount of energy battling his Alpha instincts while protecting her from a room full of other Alphas who were not battling theirs. “You would become mine and I would be yours. I would claim you and then mate you.”

Time seemed to speed up and slow down while she contemplated his words. His magic was radiating off of him at the possibility of having her. He needed her to say yes. It had to be her choice. He would never force a bond on her, regardless of how much pain he was in as he tried to reign in his magic and his Alpha.  

 “Bite me, Draco,” she ordered.

He couldn’t believe what she said. “You understand that you would be mine, yes? Once I bite you, there is no going back.” His desire to bite her was so passionate it burned. He raised her arm up and gently nuzzled his nose against the sensitive gland on her wrist, exposing himself to the tantalizing perfume that was strictly her.  

“This will save you, right? If you bite me and I am your Omega, you're saved, right?” Hermione questioned. 

Wonder and amazement at her tenderheartedness struck him like a bludger. “Yes, you would be my salvation, mon coeur.” He could barely choke out the words as he battled the wait for her consent.

She briefly bobbed her head displaying her agreeance and understanding to what he was saying. He returned his teeth to the swollen gland like a moth to a flame. He pressed his sharpened fangs against her perfect creamy skin and paused a moment to allow her to potentially reconsider. He prayed to every god that she wouldn’t, but he would never want her to regret giving him this amazing gift she was offering. When he saw the fierce determination in her eyes, granting him the permission he desperately needed, he couldn’t help but smile. At the puncture of her skin, a blinding pain took over his whole body. It quickly transitioned to euphoria and the feeling of his true power being unlocked. His magic and hers entwined together in perfect harmony. He felt whole for the first time in his life. He picked her up and wrapped her around him, his scent and hers mingling together, conveying to all other Alphas she was spoken for. In full Alpha command tone, he said, “Mine.”

He looked down at her unconscious form in his arms and panic set in. He whipped his head up to locate Snape, only to find him to be gone, and Potter too… Alphas all across the room where pacing, clenching and unclenching their hands, breathing raggedly.

He knew he had to get her out of there. She was his top priority but had a responsibility to his fellow Slytherins. He nodded to Pansy to take over and regain control of the room. “You’re in charge, Pans” and rushed out, avoiding the minefield of explosive Alphas all through the room.

Pansy acknowledged his directive and whipped out her wand while commanding, “Alright, you chuckle fucks, tone your shit down and get the fuck out. Snape dismissed class and I’m dismissing you. If you don’t move your ass, you’ll get evicted anyway, so quit whining, Weasley, and move.” 

The Slytherins slid out of the room with little preamble knowing that their head of house did not joke when it came to his wards, while the Gryffindors were much more hesitant to comply. A few snarls and a hex or two later from Pansy, the class found themselves out in the hallway.

“Does anyone want to tell me what the fuck just happened?”, a very confused Ron Weasley asked.

“Well, Weasley, it looks like Draco has found his Omega due to whatever in the hell the Wonder Duo was working on, so mazel tov.” Pansy drawled, waving her hand in a mocking salute. “Slytherins, move on to your next class or common room. Gryffindors… go do whatever in the hell it is that you do. Lick paint or whatever…” She turned and strutted down the hall, flanked by Theo and Blaise on their way to Runes, leaving a baffled and annoyed Ron in her wake.

Draco raced through the hallways, grateful to the sentient nature of the castle leading him on the shortest route to his destination. In no time, he caught up to his godfather carrying a very pale and sweaty Potter. 

Snape saw a hint of blonde in his peripheral vision, startled that his godson had followed him, not registering at first that he was carrying his own passenger. “Draco, I will explain the ramifications of what transpired in class shortly, but right now I need to get Mister Potter here to the infirmary and then I need to get messages to the Ministry and the Healer’s Coalition. All will be revealed in due time, I promise,” Snape said tersely.

Draco could barely contain the rumble in his chest being so close to another Alpha with his Omega in his arms. He cut his eyes to look at Snape without breaking stride and stated, “I hate to break it to you, Godfather, but I am unmistakably already aware of what the ‘ramifications’ are. I’m not following you, as you seem to think. I am heading to the infirmary to confirm all is well with my Omega.” On the last words, he picked up his pace, pulling ahead of Snape as another passageway made itself known.

Snape almost dropped Potter due to his shock at what Draco said, finally noticing that he was carrying an unconscious Miss Granger in his arms. He knew that the purpose of the potion was to lift the curse off of Potter and it should lead to the eventual presentation of Omegas, but for it to work that expeditiously was unanticipated. Again, he cursed the Machiavellian nature of the Headmaster. He probably knew something like this would happen and now Snape was left to deal with the fallout. The quicker he could make it to the infirmary and drop off his charge, the sooner he could start dispatching messages to the parties that needed to know in case a frenzy was already building.

His pondering had let him fall quite a few lengths behind Draco, but he refused to be outdone. He pulled Potter closer to him and galloped after his godson, catching up to him and quickly overtaking him, pausing to shoot him a smirk over his shoulder.

Draco accepted the challenge from Snape and put all of his long and powerful legs to use to race ahead while carefully not jostling the very flush body of Hermione’s nestled against him.

Snape snarled behind him, clearly unhappy to be losing this makeshift competition. Draco could hear the labored breathing of his Uncle as he struggled to make up the distance. Using that as fuel, Draco pushed himself harder, now basically sprinting through the castle, much to the shock and confusion of other students that were transitioning to their next class as they neared the infirmary.

“Is this a new Alpha game!? Beta carrying? Who’s winning!?”, a very curious and excited Collin Creevy asked. His answer was a resounding snap in the face by the excessive billowing of robes from the two men making a mad dash through the corridors making him yelp more in surprise than in pain. “Maybe it’s just a Slytherin game…” he said thoughtfully in their aftermath.

A few Alphas tried to sniff around in their direction, granting them some creative wandless and wordless hexes, adding another layer of excitement to the onlookers of this bizarre pop-up sport. Cheering began to take place as sides were drawn and improvised lanes formed around the oblivious Alphas. Their goal was only to make it to the infirmary, not to create a new game.

Portraits began to chant, “Go, Master Malfoy, go!” while traveling through the frames to keep pace with them. It was the most excitement they had had in months!

Sweat dripped steadily down Snape’s aquiline nose, his arms shaky from the extra dead weight from Potter. He shifted him a bit and garnered up as much energy as he could to thrust himself just a bit harder. Draco was feeling a stitch in his side from running at such an extreme speed but refused to slow down to give up any ground to his Uncle.

Both men’s eyes lit up with relief upon seeing the infirmary door and the alarmed eyes of Madam Pomfrey. She was expecting Snape, but now she evidently had two serious matters on her hands. Swiftly, she shot her Patronus off to Saint Mungo’s, asking for backup. She didn’t need to examine either one of the rapidly approaching patients to know that she would need help with whatever was coming her way.

Draco crossed over the threshold first, much to Snape’s chagrin. An odd sense of pride at beating the older Alpha invaded his thoughts for a brief moment, but his mind quickly re-centered on his Omega. Madam Pomfrey turned her attention to Snape first and directed him to put Potter in the bed closest to the door as he looked like he was about to drop the boy.

“You couldn’t have placed a featherweight charm on him or levitated him?” She asked concerned.

Snape paused to wipe his brow and to catch his breath. He felt a bit like a newborn calf, all wobbly and unsure how to use his legs. He roughly conjured a chair for himself and promptly fell into it with as much dignity he could manage before replying, “We did not want to place any more magic on him as we were not sure how his body, or his magic, would react to it. I did not account in partaking in a competition with a newly mated Alpha and Omega on my way here, thus my current state. Also, if the portraits of this institution are any gauge, the Malfoys have evidently been donating too much money. Their bias was appalling.”

Madame Pomfrey’s eyes widen to a comical size. She had thought Draco was going to be her additional patient; maybe an additional victim to the potion’s class debacle that Snape mentioned. That, however, was undoubtedly now not the case. She snapped her head towards the growling giant lingering by the door and managed to get a peek of a very distinctive curly head wedged between the muscled chest of the man.  She could see his internal struggle between wanting her to check on the girl and not wanting to let her go. Her Healer training activated, and she cautiously stepped towards him, hands and wand, where he could see them.

“Mister Malfoy,” she cautiously ventured. “Please allow me to see Miss Granger and confirm for you that all is well with her. I can feel her magic and your magic, and I know she is your Omega, but please let me see her. She can stay in your lap and you can remain right next to her as I examine her. Is that agreeable?”

Draco shifted his eyes from her to his godfather. Snape gave him a concise nod displaying his agreement with her request while backing further up into the room, giving him an even wider berth to convey he was not interested in his claim on the girl. Snape, in fact, turned his back on him to focus his attention on the still comatose Potter. He first shot a Patronus message to Lord Black and then he began waving his wand in complicated and intricate patterns over him, trying to decipher what the best course of action should be for the boy. Seeing as they did not know what they were dealing with, it was best to have the boy’s guardian present and Snape had a lingering suspicion that if he didn’t reach out to him now, Dumbledore wouldn’t.

Draco sat on the bed opposite of Potter and moved Hermione to where she was situated in his lap. Her skin was completely flushed and there was a sheen of perspiration covering her. “I am going to use my wand to run a diagnostic scan on Miss Granger now, Mister Malfoy. I will not be hurting her, so please refrain from growling, biting, or snapping at me. It will only hinder my abilities to help her.”

A terse nod was his only reply. She ran a standard full-body scan and quickly surmised that her body was entering her maiden heat. Her temperature was elevated, heart rate and pulse high, pupils dilated, mild tremors circulating throughout her body, pelvic region widening, and slick production starting. She magicked this all into Miss Granger’s medical records, knowing this would need to be sent with her findings to the Ministry when she declared her an Omega, and a claimed one at that.

She gently raised Miss Granger’s wrist up to inspect the bite. It was a good, clean bite and was already starting to heal, a clear sign that it was magically synergetic and not a forced claim. She did a quick pheromone level check and confirmed that Mister Malfoy’s presence was registered throughout her. It was a pure bond, a destined mate bond. “Maybe that was the reason for the instant heat?”, she internally speculated. It was not normal for a heat to spark that quick, even back when Omegas were presenting as they should. She shot a swift look over at Professor Snape. She hoped he had more answers to the questions she was hastily piling up.

“Mister Malfoy, all looks good with your Omega. I must tell you that she is already entering her maiden heat, but I believe you already knew that.” At the word “heat”, a door appeared to her right, again, the sentient nature of the castle responding to the needs of its inhabitants. “Have you discussed children?” A note of concern hinted on her last word.

Draco blinked rapidly, barely able to keep up with what the Healer was saying. Children? His Alpha perked up at that thought but knowing that was not a conversation they had had; he slowly shook his head. They had barely gotten to a first name basis and now he was being asked about if they had discussed children…

She handed him a vial of a blue-colored potion. “Until you can have that talk with her, please take this. It can be used by either a witch or a wizard. One dose will last you a week. Take her through that door. The house-elves will be available for whatever you might need. I will be sending a message to her parents and to yours shortly,” Madame Pomfrey kindly stated.

Draco said the first words since entering the infirmary. “Thank you, but I will tell my parents.” With a snap of his fingers, he summoned a Malfoy house-elf. “Mipsy, please inform my parents that my Omega has been found. And please start bringing me all of the pashmina nesting materials. I will call for you later for water and fruit, just like we have practiced. This is not a drill.” He stood, firmly gripping the now stirring body of Hermione, and made his way to the newly formed heat room, not catching the awkward glance shared between Madame Pomfrey and Snape behind him at what they were witnessing.

“Right away, young Master! Mipsy is so excited! Mipsy will be knowing what to do! The Master and Mistress will be so happy!” Mipsy squealed with glee while tugging on his large ears and tears forming in his bulbous eyes. “The young Mistress is lovely! This is such a happy day!” With a snap, he was gone.

Draco entered the heat room and found it to be sparse but comfortable. It was a small room with thick carpet and low lights, perfect for an Omega’s senses. Pillows and blankets were piled up in one corner and there was a small table for water and other snacks and a large bed took up the center of the room. A door was on one wall, leading to what he imagined, was a loo.

He tenderly set Hermione down on the bed, a small moan escaping her lips. He couldn’t help himself as he pressed a kiss to her forehead followed by resting his forehead against hers. He nuzzled his nose into her hair and breathed her in, calm washing over him.

Mipsy popped into the room with two other house-elves in tow, arms full of the previously requested items. “The Master and Mistress are thrilled!” He quietly exclaimed. “They wish to know who be your Omega so they can send their thanks.”

Shawls, blankets, pillows, and a robe all of the softest material money could buy surrounded them on the bed. The other elves situated water and fruit on the table, a mix of familiar and extravagant, and popped back out of the room.

“Master be saying that young Master be needing strength. He told Mipsy you be needing protein.” A plate of smoked ribs and medium-rare steaks appeared in front of Draco.

“That’ll do, Mipsy. Thank you.” With a wink, the elf popped away and Draco waved the delicious, but embarrassing, plate over to the table with the rest of the food. He cast a “Stasis” charm over all of the food and went back to his little Omega, smoothing her sweaty hair away from her face.

“Draco…? Where are we?” Hermione blearily asked. “And is this…pashmina? What is going on?” Lucidity was fighting to the surface of her heat scrambled mind. She had many questions but wasn’t sure how long she would be able to actually ask them.

“Would you prefer something else? I can arrange whatever you want.” Draco responded in a panic. His Alpha wanted this to be perfect for her and he would do whatever he had to for that to happen.

“No, no, this is fine! Perfect. My question was more surrounding the why and where, not the what.” Hermione had wrapped the shawl around her shoulders and started shifting pillows around while talking to him. The look of joy on her face squashed his doubts and he preened a bit about her tactile satisfaction. 

“I rushed you to the infirmary and Madame Pomfrey confirmed you are an Omega. The castle provided us a heat room and my elves have brought you nesting materials and food as we practiced.” Draco spouted succinctly.

Hermione did a mild double-take on the last part of his run-down but decided to save that discussion for a later day. “OK… and how are you doing?” He looked better than she had ever seen him, which she thought should have been impossible for that man to get any fitter… His skin and eyes were brighter, the tension removed from his shoulders and jaw, and instead of his trademarked smirk, an honest to goodness smile was on his ridiculously kissable lips.

“Me, mon couer? I feel like I can finally breathe. Apparently, you were the air I was missing.” Draco proclaimed shyly. He leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss on her lips, causing a hunger in Hermione that she was not prepared for.

She looped her arms around his neck and transitioned the kiss from chaste to exploratory, her tongue tracing the outside of his lips. He smiled against her lips and opened his mouth to her invasion, intertwining their tongues in a sensual caress. He traced his fingertips down her arms, giving her chills on her warm body. He could feel her temperature starting to rise again and smell her arousal. It was making his cock valiantly stand at attention. His pants were getting much too uncomfortable for his liking.

Pulling back, panting slightly, he gently cupped her face in his hands.  He stared deeply in her eyes. “Hermione, love, I promise I will take good care of you, but I need you to know that I am learning as I go with you. I have never done this before, not all the way, I mean. Have you?”

Astonished by his admission, Hermione answered, “Once, but with a muggle Beta back home. I think we both will be learning by trial and error together. I trust you though. I know you will never intentionally hurt me.” 

Her trust delighted him. His Alpha was eager for her and he could no longer keep him at bay. He quickly uncapped the potion from Madame Pomfrey with his teeth and downed it in one go. “Omega, I’m going to make you feel so good. Such a good girl, my Omega…” He loomed over her, caging her in with his arms as she leaned back into the soft mattress and pillows. He started placing kisses all down her jaw and neck, nibbling in between.

Him calling her by her designation made her Omega joyous and the sinful things he was doing on her neck had her mind turning to mush. “Alpha… I will be a good girl; a good girl for you. Please, Alpha… please…” she moaned; eyes closed. Coherent thoughts were vacating her mind like rats on a sinking ship. All she could think of was him and what she wanted from him.

His weight was comfortable on top of her until an incessant pressure against her abdomen made her pause, her eyes popping open. “There is no way that is his dick. It feels like it’s halfway down his fucking thigh!” she thought to herself.

Draco looked down at her with a smug smirk on his face. “Au contraire, mon coeur. I can assure you it is.”

“Quit reading my mind, damn it! Let me keep my thoughts about your colossal cock to myself!” The flush on her skin camouflaged the blush on her cheeks.

“Your thoughts are so loud; you are practically projecting them into my head. Not that I have a problem with that…” he drawled.

Hermione smacked his shoulder and commanded, “Kiss me and take your pants off already.” Her heat was taking over completely and their clothes were in her way. She needed him naked now.

Draco leaned back and shrugged out of his robes, throwing them on the ground. He made quick work of the buttons on his Oxford while Hermione struggled with hers. Her hands were clammy and clumsy, and her brain was refusing to function. Seeing her frustration, Draco took over and within moments, her clothes joined his on the floor.

His body was intimidatingly beautiful. Pale with golden blonde hair dusting across his chest and down a path to his impressively large cock. His Adonis belt made her want to lick it and his sculpted shoulders were created just for her to hold on to. He had thick, strong thighs that she wanted to take a bite out of. If she wasn’t already horny, she would be now.  

Where she was a sweaty, panting mess unable to keep her hands to herself, he was frozen in place allowing his eyes to roam over her, appreciation for her dips and curves noticeably displayed on his face.

Draco licked his lips and cleared his throat.  “My Omega is perfection.” His voice was rough and gritty and with his dick free from confinement, it jutted proudly against his stomach.

A whimper of want escaped from her. “Shhhh…be a good girl. I’ll take care of you.” He promised, coming closer to her.

She fell back on the bed with him coming on top of her. Slick was starting to pool between her thighs, and she felt empty, desperate for the satisfaction that only his knot could give her. Instincts on both sides consumed them and they lost themselves in each other.

Draco had his cock in his hand and rubbed it through her slick and folds carefully preparing himself to enter her. Each pass made her beg louder for him as his prick stimulated her clit perfectly. “Please, Alpha, I need you. I need you now.”

“I know, Omega, but I don’t want to hurt you. Be good for me.” He purred.

Not wanting to upset her Alpha, she bit down on her lip and widened her hips to better accommodate him. She wrapped her legs around him as far as they would go and when he finally entered her, she almost cried with relief. It stung a bit as she got used to the stretch his girth demanded, but it was the best kind of hurt she could imagine.

He hissed through his teeth, the sensation overload almost too much for him. She was so tight and warm that his dick never wanted to leave. The scent of her arousal and the feel of her slick dripping down him was heaven. He had to recite Quidditch scores in his head to keep from embarrassing himself.

Slowly, Draco moved in and out, a tortuous pace that allowed both of them to acclimate to the feel of each other. He didn’t want his first time to be a jack-hammer fuck, but it was getting to be quite the challenge to not pound his begging, panting, needy Omega into the mattress.

She arched her back up and pleaded for more. “Please, Alpha, harder! Please!”

With a rumble from deep in his chest, he snapped his hips faster and hit a spot in her that had her mewling with desire. It was a sound that he wanted to hear on repeat for the rest of his life and knowing that it was him that made her sound like that was spurring his Alpha on. He could feel his knot wanting to form, but her satisfaction was his priority.

“That’s it. That’s my good girl,” he whispered hotly against the shell of her ear, taking the lobe between his teeth in a gentle bite.

At his praise, a blinding orgasm took over her. The feeling of him rooted so deep inside of her coupled with him over her and his wicked voice was overwhelming. Her nails dug into his shoulders. “Draco!” she passionately exclaimed, her voice raw from moaning. Her body melted back into the pillows as she practically passed out from the pleasure.

His name falling out of her mouth like that was enough for him to come to completion. The strange sensation of his knot forming and locking them into place settled quickly into a feeling of rightness. She was his Omega and he could not wait to do that again…

Chapter Text

After he shook off the incredibly awkward feeling from witnessing the interaction between Draco and his house-elf, Snape turned his attention to Pomfrey as she joined him at the bedside of Harry Potter. 

“Your vague Patronus message of there ‘being an accident in the potion’s room’ does nothing to explain why you came sprinting in here full steam with Mister Potter in this condition and Mister Malfoy mated to my Healer apprentice. Care to explain, Severus?” Madame Pomfrey asked annoyed as she took over running diagnostic spells. 

Snape was briefly taken back by the iciness of the normally nurturing Healer. She was one of the few staff members he actually respected, so he wrangled with himself to control his tone and temper before he was able to stoically responded to her, “Miss Granger and Mister Potter, with the occasional assistance of Mister Malfoy, were working on a potion that would, theoretically, lift a dark curse that plagued Mister Potter surrounding the Omega presentation issue. Obviously, they were successful in their endeavors.”

The speed at which Madame Pomfrey rotated her head to look at him created a small breeze. Her eyes were narrowed slits and her face flush with anger. “Further explanation is necessary, Severus, or I shall use my vast knowledge of anatomy to make you and your person very uncomfortable. I am losing the best apprentice I ever had and am now going to have to inform her of the complete transformation her life will be going under, so you need to start talking.” Her magic was rising off of her in incensed waves that actually made Snape quite nervous for his health.

Snape elucidated, “Our illustrious Headmaster has seen it fit to involve school-age children in the solving of an issue that the brightest minds in Britain have not been able to crack. Surprising enough though, they did. Miss Granger worked out that Mister Potter’s infamous scar was actually a lingering curse and hypothesized that the curse had altered the natural order of Alphas and Omegas in our world. By lifting the curse and allowing Harry’s Alpha to come forward as it should have, Omega presentation would go back to normal as well. The intent of Voldemort was to end the Potter line, so by having no Omega’s possibly present for him, his goal would have been achieved, and seeing as he was an anti-mate believer, he placed no value or thought into how he might be damning himself as an Alpha, or the rest of us, for that matter.

Miss Granger was with me inside a barrier I erected in the classroom due to the time constraints around the successful potion creation they had managed today. It hit her full force and as her mate happened to be within my classroom, the rest worked out as you saw.”

The chime of the floo going off beside them interrupted his monologue. Alma Abbott, one of the leading Healers at St. Mungo’s stepped out and came towards them with confusion and concern etched on her face. The message itself was alarming but compiled with seeing how flustered her old friend was, her apprehension grew exponentially. “Poppy, you asked urgently for backup, so I came as quick as I could. Whatever could be the problem that has you this mad?”

“This dunderhead and the Head dunderhead took it upon themselves to allow students to experiment with dangerous potions and failed to think past their long noses regarding the possible consequences! Now, I have a comatose lord, a rutting Alpha lord, and a newly mated Omega in her maiden heat in my infirmary.” Madame Pomfrey was practically shouting as she concluded her tirade, her magic still sitting on the surface of her skin, ready to be wielded as she needed it.

With a gasp, Alma turned and added her glare to the one that Poppy was leveling at Snape. He wilted a bit under their intense stares and felt the need to defend himself. “I was against this plan from the beginning and voiced my concerns to the Headmaster. He was content with letting the girl experiment unsupervised. At least with my involvement, there were some safety precautions taken and I was able to get the Potter boy here quickly. Her becoming an Omega was something I learned on my way here. Healer Abbott, are you able to tell us if any other Omegas have presented?”

Alma was perplexed. She was perceptibly missing some points of data to see how the Potter boy and the Omega were connected and asked as such. Professor Snape regaled her with the same explanation he provided Poppy moments before her arrival and with the dots connected, she silently walked back towards the floo. On her hands and knees, she floo called back to St. Mungo’s to her assistant, allowing Poppy and Snape to hear her side of the call only due to confidentially concerns. “Hendrick, can you please inform me if there have been any Omega presentation cases today?... Yes, I know that Omegas haven’t presented in 18 years. I still want you to go to admissions and ask…. Yes, I’ll wait… Interesting. 5 cases of possible Omega presentations. Anyone claiming or confirmed to be in heat? ...Yes, I’ll wait… No confirmed heats. Thank you, Hendrick. That will be all. Use a communication mirror to reach me if those numbers or statuses change immediately… No, Hendrick, you cannot go home early.” She pulled her head out of the flame with a more puzzled look on her face than when she arrived.

“So, to surmise, Potter should be an Alpha but was cursed. He is no longer cursed, and Omegas should be presenting again. The new Omega went into heat due to the curse blowback and the immediate proximity of her mate. This was all solved by an 18-year-old witch in the course of two months.” After a slight pause, she continued, “Does the Ministry know?” Alma asked pointedly.

“I doubt Dumbledore has informed them of anything, nor does he know that they were successful. I sent him the same Patronus I sent Madame Pomfrey, but he has not joined us here yet, that I am aware of. I feel I must head to the Ministry now and share with them what has transpired,” Snape said. Part of him really did feel that, but he mainly wanted to escape the scrutiny of the two Healers. He turned on his heel to leave right as the infirmary door opened. Bracing for the thought that it might be Dumbledore finally showing up, he schooled his features to not show his fear of the two tiny women behind him. To his relief, and also his annoyance, instead of sparkly ridiculous robes, a giant Grim stood in the doorway.

Healer Abbott withdrew her wand but quickly stowed it back away again as she saw neither Snape nor Poppy had pulled theirs. “Lord Black, I see you got my message.” Poppy greeted their new guest evenly.

With a bob of his giant head, he acknowledged them all and then promptly hopped up on the bed with his godson. He whined and gently licked Harry’s face, causing him to stir a bit before he curled up in a ball at the foot of the bed.

“Shall I summon Lupin to join you? The wolf and you, mutt, can be with the boy when he wakes up.  I will go report to the Ministry. Madame Pomfrey can fill you in, Black.” With a grand flourish, Snape sent another Patronus to Lupin on his way out of the castle so he could apparate to the Ministry.

“Alma, do you have access to the Omega pamphlets? I am going to have to prepare this poor girl for the loss of her freedom.” Poppy questioned despondently, a slight catch in her voice; her head lowered in sadness.

“Who is this new Omega, Poppy? You know the reasons behind the restrictions. There is no reason for you to be so downtrodden…unless it’s…” Alma quickly realized why Poppy was so stricken.

Poppy looked at her with grief in her eyes. “Yes, Alma, the new Omega is Miss Granger. She had such a bright future. There are no words for how devasted I am for her. I just am hopeful that she adapts to her new designation with the same ease she has taken to everything else, but knowing her as I do, I doubt it. I sincerely doubt it… A housewife was never supposed to be her future.”

Alma looked at her with a hint of sorrow, not begrudging the woman the difficult conversation she would be forced to have with the girl. "I am very sorry, Poppy. I will go back to Saint Mungo's and update the Healer's Coalition on what is going on. Please keep me updated on how I can help."

With a bob of her head, she went back through the floo and left her friend to her thoughts and the large dog in the room.

*************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Lupin came running into the infirmary full steam, his wolfish eyes glowing. Snape’s ambiguous message bursting into and disrupting his third-period class sent him into a panic run. His expedited excursion across the campus was met by a few questions of why he wasn’t carrying a Beta that he didn’t understand, but he did not let that slow him down as he rushed to the side of his pseudo godson.

Panting a bit from the exertion, he spotted Madame Pomfrey standing next to a bed that hosted a flummoxed Harry and Sirius in his Grim form. She was gently petting the head of each of them, speaking in soothing tones, assuring them that Harry will be fine after a bit of rest.

“What happened, Poppy? I received a message from Severus to come to the infirmary to ‘watch my dog post haste’ but I see Harry and Sirius are here, so can someone please fill me in?” Lupin questioned as collected as he could.

With an eye-roll, the Healer muttered to herself, “I should just generate a scroll with the Godric-forsaken recap…” Louder, she regaled Lupin with the same explanation she had just provided to Sirius and Harry. The look of shock on the normally composed werewolf spoke volumes.

With whispered reverence, he stated, “She did it. She actually did it.” A grin threatened to present itself on his lips, but after being shot a look at by a not impressed Grim-Sirius, he cleared his throat and covered his mouth with his hand. “Would you care to humanize yourself so we can actually talk about this then instead of trying to eviscerate me with your eyes?” Lupin deadpanned to the animagus.

The Grim was taking up half of Harry’s bed and had his paws crossed elegantly over one another. He exuded the class and elegance of the aristocracy he was born into, which was in strict juxtaposition to the giant, black, shaggy dog form he was currently occupying. His face screamed “fuck you” in utter refinement. Had Lupin not been friends with the man for over 20 years, he may have been intimidated, but instead, he was just mildly amused.

Sirius slipped off the bed and snuck into one of the other bed areas to transform. He transfigured the sheet into a robe and rejoined the group around Harry, who was still groggy.

“You’re an arse, you know,” Sirius said snidely. “Yes, she did it, but why wasn’t I told she would be doing it today and why was it in the middle of their bloody class!? And now she’s locked away with the Malfoy boy and Snape is heading to the Ministry and I want to know what the hell is going on!”

“Well, I just arrived, and I only know what you know, and you know what I know, but I don’t know what is going on with Harry. Has anyone asked him?” Lupin gestured animatedly with his hands towards the boy in question.

Harry was putting his glasses back on after he did a quick “Oculus Reparo” to his abused frames. His coloring was coming back a bit and his eyes were clearing up. He was still a sweaty mess and his muscles were not wanting to cooperate with him as he tried to sit up to be a part of the conversation circling him.

Adjusting her own glasses, Madame Pomfrey pulled out her wand. “I was just about to run another scan on him now that he is conscious. If you two yapping dogs would be quiet and let me do my job, we should be able to get more information.” Annoyance dripped from her words, making the two men share a look of surprise. The normally reserved Healer was baring her claws today over the upcoming loss of her apprentenice and was not in the mood to suffer any fools. They took a choreographed step back from the bed, giving her space to help the boy up and fluff his pillows before waving her wand around him.

Tenderly, she turned to Harry and asked him the usual head injury questions. He responded perfectly about how many fingers she was holding up, the year, and who was the current Minister of Magic. “Your head seems to be fine, dear boy. Your magic, however, appears to be in flux still, but from everything I can ascertain, you are still reading as a Beta. Do you feel any different?” 

Upon hearing the news that he was still a Beta after basically being flayed alive, Harry slumped down into the newly fluffed pillows, sadness evident in his whole body. “I don’t feel any different. Worse for wear, but not different.” He thought for a moment before he continued, “You said my magic is still not settled yet, so there is still hope it worked, right?” He perked back up at the thought that maybe it had just not been enough time for the curse to actually lift off of him and release his Alpha.

The three adults shared a look. No one wanted to crush the boy’s hope about becoming an Alpha, but false hope was just as shitty of a thing to do to a person. He also needed to understand what he had, in fact, accomplished.

“Harry, son…” Sirius started, cupping Harry's face in his hands, “You realize that you saved us. Hermione has presented as an Omega.”

Madame Pomfrey jumped in,” Saint Mungo’s has 5 other cases of Omegas presenting, making this not a fluke as of now.”

Lupin concluded, “The curse is lifted. But, you’re right. Maybe more time is needed for your Alpha to present. Either way, you changed the world. You should be proud of your bravery. I know I am.” He gave the expectant boy an encouraging smile, which he timidly returned.

The door banged open, announcing the arrival of Pansy Parkinson. “Where’s Draco? His hulking ass never returned, and I need to know if I should keep up acting like ‘Head Bitch in Charge’ or will the Prince return to his throne? His exit, albeit impressive, is fucking up my day.”

Stunned by her crass and loud entrance, Madame Pomfrey silently pointed to the heat door.

“Ah. Got it. Getting his wand polished. I’ll remain as the HBiC then.” She smirked. “You ok there, Scar head? Giving Draco a run for his money in being dramatic…”

Harry grinned and lifted his ever-messy hair up, “No more scar, Parkinson.”

“Guess I’m gonna have to give you a new nickname then, huh? Good thing I am ripe with ingenuity.” With a wink, she sashayed out, slamming the door behind her, leaving the teachers and Sirius still dumbfounded, unable to regather their wits prior to her equally alarming departure.

As the quartet tried to decipher what just happened, a silent figure slipped from its frame in the far-right corner of the room, completely unnoticed.

Upon hearing the report from the portrait, devious plots started forming in the mind of the Headmaster. It was not going according to his original plan, but he was nothing if not adaptable. Bravery without brains was a recipe for disaster. Good thing he fancies himself a Master Chef... 

Chapter Text

Draco looked down at the gorgeous sleeping figure that was wrapped around him like a starfish as his knot was still locked in place after their second time together. He was pleased with himself on how rapidly he was learning her body and what made her keen and mewl for him in the most delicious of ways.

He tucked a runaway curl behind her ear and buried his nose in her hair, breathing in deep to absorb her incredible smell. Jasmine, peaches, and sunshine…warmth and sweetness that he just wanted to bask in. She was a siren and her scent a song perfectly crafted to entice him. He was completely lured in by her. She was both the roots that kept him grounded and the wings that made him want to soar. She had no idea how much power she had over him…that he had willingly submitted himself to her. He was hers and he prayed to all of the gods that she felt the same way.  

He wanted to talk to her about sealing the mating bond but didn’t want to do so when she could barely hold a coherent conversation with him. Not that he minded her beautiful begging or continuous praises around his cock and his abilities with said cock, but he wanted her to accept him as her mate willingly, just as she did his claiming bite.

A little whine from her plump lips, swollen from his kisses, broke him free of his train of thought. He looked down at her and her expressive caramel eyes were heavy with desire and want. The scent of her arousal spiked and even though they had just finished round two 15 minutes ago, she needed him again. She needed her Alpha to take care of her and her Alpha absolutely would. 

No words were needed as he adjusted her to lay on her back and gently started to move his already erect cock inside of her, setting a light tempo with a relaxed snap of his hips. He was grateful for the slick that paved a moist path for him to slide in and out of her incredibly tight passage. Her warm quim was what dreams were made out of, in his humble opinion… 

“Alpha, please, harder. I won’t break. Please just fuck me like you want to fuck me. Don’t tease me, Alpha. I’ll be so good if you just fuck me! Please!” Hermione gasped out. 

She was completely flushed and glistening from the sheen of perspiration covering her and all she wanted was for him to grab her and slam his impressive cock so hard into her that she didn’t just see stars, but a whole fucking galaxy and with the equipment he was packing, he could certainly rocket launch her with his “missile”. The logical part of her brain appreciated his desire to be gentle, but her newly presented Omega brain wanted him to ruin her pussy for all other men but him and dominate her like the extraordinary Alpha he was. 

Draco was taken back by her aggressive statement of wanting him to fuck her harder, causing his rhythm to stutter slightly. He had been combatting his instincts since they came into this heat room, afraid to just give in to what his Alpha wanted to do to his new Omega, but he did not want her to be wanting for anything, especially when it came to him.  

Quickly making up his mind, he grabbed Hermione and flipped her over. She arched her back, presenting herself to him. Coquettishly, she looked over her shoulder at him, her voluminous curls falling down her back in honey-colored waves, and he knew that he was lost to her. Never had he ever seen someone so beautiful. Never had he wanted someone more. Draco stepped back and let his Alpha take the lead.

He placed his hands right above her delectably flared hips, the perfect grips for him to hold on to her tightly. “Omega, I am going to fuck you into this mattress, and you are going to thank me for it.” His deep voice sent visible shivers through her, making him smirk a bit at the sight.

Without warning, he buried himself in her to the hilt in one thrust. Her exquisite moan morphed into a growl at the end as he set a brutal pace, giving her exactly what she wanted.

She was panting and slick as she pushed back further onto his cock, craving him in ways she could never even imagine before. She needed him to fill her, make her full of his cum, make her his. She needed to be his. He was her Alpha and she needed him.

“Omega, I can tell you want to cum. Do you want me to make that pretty pussy drip with our cum together? Is that what you want, Her..mi..one?” Draco questioned, her name sin on his tongue as he dragged out the syllables. His Alpha tone was gravelly, gritty, and completely seductive and should be registered as a weapon of mass destruction because she would do anything that voice told her to do. 

“Yes, Alpha! Please! I’m so close. I just need…I just need more!” Hermione, ever a wordsmith, was at a loss on how to communicate. She was reduced to begging, moaning, and unintelligible sounds as Draco impaled her ruthlessly.  

He pulled her flat against his chest, deeply pounding into her, making her sizeable breasts bounce with each thrust. He licked over her mating gland and whispered in her ear, “Be a good girl and cum for me…Mon coeur”

And with that command, Hermione let go and sob-screamed, “Draco! Alpha! Yes! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” She wanted to fall forward, but his strong arms wrapped around her as he continued to vigorously fuck up into her. He grabbed a handful of her hair and angled her head to look at him.

He passionately kissed her crimson lips as his own orgasm hit him. He roared into her mouth, his release powerful and all-consuming. Together, they fell forward, his knot keeping them connected. Sweat, slick, and cum covered them. Their heavy breathing and the scent of sex filled the room. He rotated them so she was cocooned against him, fitting like a perfect puzzle piece. 

Hermione let out a little giggle.

“What’s so funny?” Draco asked, perplexed and concerned.

“Now that was sex. Third time really is the charm, huh?” Hermione teased. She turned her head a bit and shot him a wink over her shoulder.

Draco smirked again as he purred, “So, is that what I need to do for you, mon coeur?... Fuck you so hard that my cock is permanently imprinted inside of you?... Take you in every way possible and invent new ways to make you cry my name in delirious pleasure?... Show you that my home is deep inside of your quivering quim as it milks my cock dry filling you with my seed?... That your slick and your scent are my purposes in life?... That you are my purpose in life…Because if that is what you need, Hermione, my Omega, trust that I will deliver on that.” Between every sentence, he placed sweet kisses, licks, and little nips down her neck and collar bone. 

Hermione melted at his words. That was exactly what she needed and wanted from him. Part of her was scared of how quickly all of this was happening, but the rest of her embraced the old magics that linked them together. Being with him made her feel whole, and not just because he had his giant sequoia of a cock in her. He felt like her purpose in life, just like he acknowledged her to be. She trusted him. Her magic and her Omega recognized him as her partner in this life and it made her feel safe.

Right as she angled her head more to place a kiss on his chest, a pop of apparition startled her, causing Draco to jump as she clenched around his knot.

“Mipsy came to make sure that young Master and new Miss is eating and drinking. Mipsy not spying on young Master like Mistress and Master have asked. Mipsy is a good elf and would not do that to young Master, but Mipsy would like to know how to call new Miss if new Miss is ok with that?” Mipsy asked with mischievous innocence.

Embarrassed to no end, Hermione yelped and buried her face into Draco’s body in an effort to conceal her nakedness. Draco was not amused by his parent’s antics. He would, of course, tell them all about his mate once he was not shagging her brains out and knotted to her. Now was not the time for his mother to stick her nose into his bedroom…

“Mipsy, please tell Mother and Father that Miss Hermione Granger and I are fine. I am taking care of her and will make the introductions once we are no longer…indisposed. I will summon you if we need anything further.” Draco firmly responded, leveling the little elf with a hard stare. 

Mipsy bowed and popped out the room. The Master and Mistress would be thrilled to finally know the name of the witch that would be added to the family tree. The Malfoy magic was already surrounding the couple and it was only a matter of time before her name appeared on the tapestry. Mipsy hurried to the sitting room to share the news with his masters and the rest of the house, a large smile on his face…

Neville could not keep his eyes off of her. He traced her movements in the Great Hall and watched what she put on her plate. He wanted to sit next to her more than anything he had ever wanted in his life. It was a compulsion and he refused to fight it in anymore. 

He took a deep breath and gathered his composure. He was going to go and sit next to her, House be damned. He went to stand and tried to find her again at the Ravenclaw table. His eyes scanned the whole area, and to his dismay, in the few moments he looked down to collect himself, he lost her. 

“Damn it.” He cursed under his breath. He would go after her, he resolved. He went to stand up, and at that moment, a small hand slipped into his. 

“I was wondering when you would realize you shine brightest in the moonlight” Her dreamy voice encircled him.

Neville looked down right into the sapphire eyes of Luna Lovegood and his Alpha knew. It hit him with such intensity that he fell back down on to the bench, the air knocked from his lungs.

Without a word, she curled up into his side and grabbed a spoon to eat the porridge that Neville had in front of him.

“The gnargles are finally clearing up around you, my lion,” Luna wistfully declared.

Neville was speechless. She called him her lion and his Alpha puffed up with pride at the acknowledgment. The gnargles comment was baffling in its own right, but he would ask about that later. For now, she needed more fruit and honey on her porridge and tea. Definitely tea…   

He would take good care of this sweet little bird that had found her way to him.

Hermione was still pressed against Draco’s warm body, enjoying the weight of his arms around her, and the beat of his heart. It was a quiet metronome that was lulling her asleep until he gently called her name.

“Hermione…?” Draco asked softly. “We need to talk. I know it’s hard right now for you, but we really need to.” 

His nerves were palpable, and it was making her Omega worry. Did she not satisfy her Alpha? Concern and doubt were clouding her mind and she started to panic.

Draco could feel the waves of negative emotions coming off of her. He kissed her temple and pulled her closer to him. “My beautiful girl, you have completely satisfied me. So much so that I feel the need to bite your mating gland every time I knot you, but I don’t want to do that without your permission. I told you I would never force you. It has to be your choice. I have claimed you, but we are not mates yet, in the official sense. If you want to wait, I will respect that, but I want you. I want you as my mate. You are my Omega and I want to be your Alpha… if you’ll let me.”

Hermione had forgotten about step 2 of the Alpha and Omega process. Her heat brain was more focused on getting in his pants immediately, not about what was next. Yes, he had claimed her, making her spoken for, but they were not mated.   

Hermione and her Omega began an internal debate. Hermione wanted to slow down a bit and be able to think about what being Draco’s mate actually meant, but her Omega was enthusiastically jumping up and down screaming “Hell yes! Bite me. Mate me. Fuck me forever. I am yours!”  It felt very loud in her head, but there was no voice telling her not to become his mate. It was more of a timing concern…

The silence settled over the room as Hermione pondered how to answer Draco. She knew that she was already his and waiting wouldn’t change anything. It was just delaying the inevitable. His magic was intertwined with hers and she was already getting glimpses of his emotions when they made eye contact. She knew her life was going to completely change but knowing that he was her anchor made her feel powerful and ready to take on the world.

She looked up and saw his stormy eyes focused on her. Fear, doubt, apprehension, and a sprinkle of hope were transparent in the striking gray as they flickered over her face. She placed a chaste kiss on his lips and angled her neck in submission, looking away from his intense stare. 

“Draco, I wish I had the silver tongue you possess, but unfortunately, I do not. You will have to endure with my blunt honesty, so I apologize in advance. I felt drawn to you before I presented as an Omega. I think my magic knew that I was yours and your magic knew you belonged to me. You claimed me because I chose you and now, I am asking for you to mate me because I choose you, and I will always choose you. You are my Alpha, Draco Malfoy, and I really like the sound of that.” Hermione finished her speech in a whisper, her voice colored with the blush that covered her face and down her chest.

The silence was back in the room, an unwelcome third wheel, making Hermione look back, concerned that maybe he had changed his mind. Instead, she was greeted with Draco’s face filled with shock. His jaw was slack, cheeks were tinted pink, and his eyes bright.

“Draco…?” Hermione tentatively tried to touch his face. The caress of her fingertips shocked him back into reality and she was crushed against him in a bear hug that could rupture her internal organs if he continued. 

“I…can’t…breath…” she rasped out and Draco loosened his grip and pulled her back so he could examine her face and confirm what she was saying was true.

“Are you certain, mon coeur? You want me for forever?” Draco’s face was angelic as a full smile eclipsed it.

Hermione simply said, “Yes”, her own smile matching his.

Draco squeezed her and kissed her face and down her neck as he rolled her to her stomach. Her agreeance to become his mate made his cock instantly harden and the slick gleaming in between her legs showed him she was ready for him.

He eagerly entered her warm cunt, inch by glorious inch, her slick making it possible as she was tortuously tight. Once he became fully fitted inside of her, they both let out a moan at the sensation.

Draco grabbed her ass and pulled her off his him just enough to shove his dick hard back into her. It was completely animalistic as they both gave in to their designations and it was magnificent. She grabbed ahold of the sheets on the bed just to brace herself against the ferocious cadence he set while she whined, moaned, and grunted with each thrust. She was euphoric and already at the verge of cumming.

He leaned over her, never breaking his rhythm, and moved her hair off of her shoulder to expose her gland.

“My Omega…my mate.” He growled out the words and pressed his teeth to the spot between her neck and her shoulder, and his Alpha canines extended.

He could feel she was right at the precipice and at the piercing of her soft skin with his teeth, she fell over the edge and taking him with her as she shouted, “Yes! My Alpha! My mate!”

Their magics circulated around them interweaving and tangling together before it settled back down into them, making them one, a bound mated couple.

Snape left the Ministry with mixed feelings. He gave them the abridged version of what he knew and as he figured, Dumbledore had done his usual subterfuge shit that bothered him to no end.

The Ministry was “aware” in the loosest terms possible that Dumbledore was working on possibly finding a solution for the Omega presentation issue, but that was it. Not that a student figured out that the Potter boy was cursed. Not that they were working on a potion to cure the curse. Not that the whole issue started with Riddle being an egotistical fuck nut, hell-bent on world destruction because he refused to take an Omega for whatever selfish reason.

They knew now, of course, because Snape was tired of being used by that sneaky bastard and his stupid schemes. There was something about Riddle that was bothering him, but he could not quite put his finger on it. He would need to talk to Hermione and see if she could share more information with him on why he did what he did. Seeing as it appeared that the curse was lifted, he felt the need to understand the motive to ascertain there weren’t any other possible mines they would hit as they navigated the shit show Riddle had created. 

He walked at a leisurely pace through Hogsmeade, the weather crisp but clear. He turned down the familiar path near the Three Broomsticks and thought for a moment about going in, but his attention was pulled towards the apothecary shop across the way. He didn’t really have a need to go in, but as a potion’s master, it never hurt to ensure he was staying on top of any new trends that might find their way into the limelight. 

He gracefully entered the shop and was hit with the mix of scents from all of the various ingredients that lined the shelves. The sunlight streamed in from the windows, casting colorful shadows across the store and his face as he perused the wares on display.

Snape picked up a jar of freshly ground African sea salt that would be good for his NEWT class and their Draught of Living Death they would be making next term when the scent of parchment and dandelion roots transcended all of the other smells in the room. He turned towards the source and saw the owner of the shop standing near the front of the store, casting a curious glance his way.

Of course, he had seen her before.  He came here often to restock throughout the school year, so he had registered that Ophelia O’Brian was a lovely woman. She was well-spoken and a potion’s mistress with several patents under her name. She was gentle and patient and kind. What he had never noticed, however, was she was simply stunning and smelled amazing.

Flustered, he hurriedly set the jar of sea salt back down causing the jars around it to fall in a domino pattern. He tried to reset the display, but his normally steady hands were shaking, making it worse the more he tried to make it better.

A chime-like laugh came from behind him as Ophelia watched him try to right his wrong. He was adorably earnest, and his fumbling was endearing to her. To see the normally strait-laced and stoic man blushing and awkward was the best thing she had ever seen. She couldn’t contain the giggle that escaped her lips as she watched his efforts continue to spiral out of control.

“Please, Professor Snape, I will reset my shelves. Is there anything I can help you with or did you just come in to do some rearranging of my stock?” She asked her brogue accent heavy with mirth.

“I do apologize, Mistress O’Brian. I’m not sure what has come over me. I must be getting ill. I should leave as I would hate to get you sick. I bid you a good day.” Snape responded; his cheeks rosily tinted with embarrassment.

“Please call me Phee. Ophelia is so...formal”, she called out to him as he made his way out. 
With a curt nod of his head, he acknowledged her statement and continued his escape. 

He backed out of the store and stood on the outside mat. He shook his head to try and clear it and began to make his way back to the castle. As he made his first step, he heard a faint tearing sound. His robes had managed to get snagged on the hinges of her door. Quickly, he untangled himself, did a quick “Repario” and walked as briskly as he could to escape the scene of his humiliation. Never in his life had he felt so off-kilter. He must be getting sick. He definitely needed tea…

Draco licked the fresh mating bite, sealing it with his saliva and magic. It was beautiful to behold, almost as beautiful as the witch wearing it.

Hermione’s hair was fanned out all around her and her eyes glittered in the low lights of the room. She could feel Draco’s true emotions and he could hear her thoughts, even more clearly than before with just his straight legilimency abilities. It was surreal. She still did not have a firm grasp on all that being an Omega meant or what being mated to a pureblood wizard meant for her future, but she felt at peace. She remembered reading some Omega pamphlets when she first started her research. They were drafted in the early 20^th century and had to be archaic. She would ask for the current ones as soon as this heat was over. Her thirst for knowledge was never quenched…

Draco kissed down her bite mark to her breasts, gently sucking and nipping on her puckered nipples. He worked his way down her soft stomach and settled himself between her legs. He looked up at her and quirked his brow as he asked for permission. She gave him a hesitant nod and he gave a tentative lick from the bottom of her lips to her clit, making Hermione sigh with satisfaction.

At that sound, Draco transitioned from tentative to tenacious and proceed to feast upon her quim like it was his last meal. Licks turned to slurps as her slick and her own brand of moisture came out. She tasted like the honey her hair was colored after. Draco was fearless in his enjoyment of her and listened closely to the sounds she was making to add what she liked to his growing mental repertoire.

She liked it when he hummed or purred as he sucked on her clit.

She liked it when he pulled her lips apart slightly and used his tongue to fuck her much like his cock. 

She liked when he added two fingers into her tight snatch as he licked around them and then scissored his fingers to allow his tongue to fit between them.   

She really liked it when he put his teeth on her clit and nipped it a bit and then gently licked it while purring his appreciation regarding her pretty pussy and how tasty it was.

He could feel her thoughts get hazy as she was closer and closer to her climax. He gently added one more finger into her and sucked her clit into his mouth.

Her toes curled and she shouted out…

“I think someone is coming, Herbie dear.”  Maureen Granger paused by the window, her hand cupping her eyes to get a better look at the fast-moving object coming their way.

Within moments, a large owl, followed by a puffy little owl, tapped on the kitchen window of the Granger’s home. Baffled for a moment, Herbert Granger hesitated and then remembered that owls were a form of magical communication. He opened the window and unburdened the owls from their various parcels which were two letters and one very large and very ornate fruit basket

The tiny owl immediately turned around once the letter was removed from its leg and took off to whence it came. The large owl, however, remained, looking at them with what could only be described as righteous indignation. It was unnerving how pompous an owl could look… 

Deciding to ignore the animal for now, Herbert handed one letter to Maureen and opened the other one himself.

The letter in Herbert’s hand was from Hogwarts, their daughter’s school. He broke the seal on the back and read quickly the clinical update from Madame Pomfrey. Their daughter had presented as an Omega and her heat was activated due to the mate being in immediate proximity. Herbert was completely taken aback. His daughter was an Omega… Omegas had not presented in magical Britain for almost 18 years. What in the world was going on at that school?

He looked at his wife and saw she looked to be just as perplexed as he was. The other letter was sealed with a large M and what appeared to be a family crest on the back. It was heavy parchment and oozed wealth. “Herbert, who are the Malfoys and why in the world are they thanking us for saving their son?” 

Wordlessly, he handed her the letter he was reading and took hers. The Grangers scanned both letters, looked at the fruit basket, and looked back at each other. Maureen opened her mouth to speak, but no words found their way out. 

“Our daughter presented as an Omega today and apparently is mated to the wealthiest wizard in the world…so we got a ‘thank you for letting your daughter copulate with our son’ fruit basket that includes… Beluga caviar, kumquats, and a bottle of 1921 Château d’Yquem. I think we might need to talk to our daughter, don’t you agree, Dear?” Herbert calmly asked.

Maureen just nodded, popping a kumquat in her mouth…   

Chapter Text

3 days later, Hermione and Draco emerged from the heat room. Draco’s appearance was eloquently JBFed. His hair was skillfully disheveled, and his cheeks were a bit rosier than his normal alabaster coloring allowed. He had his shirtsleeves rolled up to his elbows and his tie was loosened just enough to accommodate his top two buttons undone. He was holding both of their book bags and was so gracefully tousled that he could easily be a model for leather satchels. Hermione, on the other hand, looked like a homeless person found under a bridge and could easily pass as an Azkaban escapee.  

Her hair was almost a foot taller than she was and the flush that made itself known before her heat looked like it was there to stay. She was wearing only Draco’s jumper and had a pashmina shawl wrapped around her, almost like a belt, keeping the base of the jumper up high enough to where she could walk without tripping. Her clothes prior to the heat were covered in copious amounts of…fluids…rendering them useless. Her hands were completely encased in the ridiculously long sleeves, making Draco the holder of both of their wands.  He was also in possession of both of their sets of robes and was holding on to Hermione’s shoes, her socks gracefully tucked into them. 

The bright lights of the infirmary caused Hermione to rapidly blink as she adjusted to being out of their little cocoon. She titled her head and was blindsided by Draco’s appearance.

“What’s going on here?” She asked, annoyedly waving her hand up and down, making the sleeve flop around.

Draco looked slightly baffled and looked around him for the source of whatever was vexing her. “What?” He had no idea what she was talking about. 

“You. That’s what. You look like a Renaissance sculpture and I look like a mashed potato sculpture. It’s complete bullshite and I’m very annoyed with you right now.” She harrumphed and tossed her head away from him.

Draco smirked and poked her cheek, “Cute little potato.”

Hermione flapped her hand to smack his hand away from her, hitting him in the chest. A secret smile crept onto her face as she continued to look away from him.

“Mipsy!” Draco commanded.

The little elf popped into view, holding the hand of a smaller female elf.  “Young Master calls Mipsy? Mistress tells me to bring Tella for new Young Mistress when Young Master calls. She is to be your Lady elf.”

“Lady elf!?” Hermione sputtered. “Am I the young mistress? Draco, is your family giving me an elf? Why is your family giving me an elf?” There were too many questions and not enough answers for the overly inquisitive lioness.

Draco quirked a brow at her and said, “Our family isn’t giving you anything. You have simply been assigned your elf and Tella is a lovely elf. I think you and her will get along quite well.” 

Tella bowed at Hermione, her long ears brushing the floor. She had a pink hair bow on her head that matched her clean and well-pressed pillowcase she was wearing. She shyly smiled at her new Miss and held her hand out to secure the bond with her.

Hermione put her hand in the tiny elf’s hand and felt her magic bond with hers, sealing their connection. 

“Mipsy, can you and Tella please get fresh clothes and robes for Hermione and me? Also, please take these ones to be laundered.” Draco requested, handing them the bunched-up robes he had been holding.

Mipsy cautiously sniffed the robes and after a shared look with Tella, she snapped her fingers, igniting them, alarming Hermione. 

“Hey! Those were my school robes! I needed them!” Hermione cried.

“No worries, Misses, Mipsy will get you your robes.” With that cryptically sounding message, Mipsy and Tella popped away.

Draco looked completely unconcerned by the whole exchange, furthering Hermione’s annoyance at him. She flopped her hands again, planning on smacking him in the chest, but his Quidditch skills kicked in and he quickly dodged her flailing limb.

Hermione looked like she was debating how bad she was going to kick his ass when Madame Pomfrey walked up to them.

“Young Lord Malfoy. Mrs. Malfoy. I trust you are feeling…better. Are you agreeable to a quick scan right now?” Pomfrey asked, a slight edge in her voice. 

It was now Hermione’s turn to look around and say, “What?” Who was Mrs. Malfoy? Was Draco’s mom here? She hoped not since she looked freshly and frightenedly fucked.

Her “what” directed at Madame Pomfrey was met at the same time by Draco saying, “Yes” causing her to then direct an alarmed “What?” at him. She was getting a kink in her neck from how fast she was turning her head…

He was already looking down at her, his obnoxious smirk in place, as he poked her cheek again. “Mrs. Malfoy.” 

For the third time, Hermione asked, “What?!” After a brief pause, she squeaked out, “Mrs. Malfoy? Me?”

“That is a mating bite I see, correct?” Madame Pomfrey waved her wand around, performing a quick scan of the couple. “The paperwork came through a couple of days ago, declaring you a mated couple, so yes, you are Mrs. Malfoy.” Madame Pomfrey steely stated, glaring at Draco the entire time she said it, clearing conveying her concern about the consensualness of their newly minted mated status.

A low growl emanated from the hulking Alpha, offended at the implication that he had forced his mate in any way shape or form. Right as he was about to open his mouth to correct her, a long sleeve smacked his chin.

“He asked. I agreed. It’s consensual and I guess if that makes me Mrs. Malfoy, then I am Mrs. Freaking Malfoy.” The growl rescinded and a smug smile took its place.  Hermione rolled her eyes at all of the parties around her. “Moving on… I need pants and more clothing then an oversized jumper. And I also need the updated Omega pamphlets. The ones I have read previously were like from the early 1900s. I couldn’t find any current ones. I’m assuming because there have been no Omegas presenting.”  

Madame Pomfrey refused to meet her eyes. Sadly, she announced, “Those are the current ones, Mrs. Malfoy.” She “Accioed” one and handed it to her as Draco read over her shoulder. 

Omegas in the Wizarding World of Britain  

Omegas are delicate and fragile creatures, perfectly crafted to be protected and supported by their Alphas. They should always be kept in ideal conditions for breeding.

1. Omegas will be submissive to their Alpha’s in all aspects of life. The Alpha will have complete control of:
   • Residence
   • Finances
   • Education
   • Travel
   • Children
   • Dress
2.  The Alpha will be responsible for caring for their Omega through their heats…

Hermione refused to read further and calmly handed the pamphlet to Draco. “This isn’t me” she declared. Upon finishing her sentence, the pamphlet ignited in Draco’s hand. He dropped the smoldering ash pile and turned to look at his mate, surprise alit on his face.

Hermione was staring at the Healer, an accusatory gleam in her eye. “Are you trying to tell me that my Alpha is now my owner? Is that the rubbish I am reading? Are you saying that my achievements and abilities are now nothing because I suddenly presented as this supposed baby factory and I am a flower that must be sheltered? Is that really what Wizarding Britain thinks of their precious Omegas?!” Her chest was heaving as she finished her tirade. Whipping her head at Draco, she angrily asked, “Did you know about this? Did you know about this shite?”

Waving his arms frantically, he stuttered out, “I only know what my mother told me! And trust me, she runs our house. My father is the submissive one to her! I would never think to tell you how to dress or where to travel or what you can learn. I don’t have a death wish!”

Hermione stared hard at him as she felt his emotions through their bond. “Fine. I believe you.”

Draco released a breath he didn’t know he was even holding once she announced her belief in him. He really had no idea how archaic the laws were and could already see the myriad of ways his lovely mate was thinking of ways to abolish the oppressive regulations. 

Madame Pomfrey stood silent through the young woman’s diatribe, her heart aching for her. She wanted to say something to comfort the girl, but the laws had been in place for over 60 years. She was about to chime in that since Draco seemed agreeable to allowing her to continue her education, that they could petition the school when Mipsy and Tella popped back in.

“Mipsy be bringing robes for both Young Master and Young Misses.” He handed to Draco his of Slytherin robes and Tella presented Slytherin robes to Hermione.

“No, my robes are Gryffindor robes. These aren’t mine. Tella, please go to Gryffindor tower and bring me my robes.” Hermione requested kindly to the tiny elf.

Tella looked at Mipsy with watery eyes. Mipsy shook his head and answered, “We tried, Misses. You no longer a lion. Young Master is a snake, so you are too.”

Wide-eyed, Hermione’s hand rose up to cover her mouth. “I’m no longer a Gryffindor?” She asked quietly.

Draco wrapped his arms around her and pressed her close to him. His scent circling her in an effort to calm her down. He tried to joke with her, “You’re a lion. You have the mane to prove it.” She raised her head up off of his chest and looked up at him with sadness in her eyes. Her caramel irises were moist with unshed tears. “And you’ll always be a lioness to me. Shall we go to the tower and get this sorted out?”

Hermione mutely nodded. “I can’t go anywhere looking like this. I refuse to traipse through the Castle looking like a banged-up bum. I guess I will have to wear those robes for now.”

Tella snapped her fingers and the robe settled over Hermione and her hair miraculously fell in wavy layers down her back. Her face felt fresh and clean and even her teeth felt brushed. Being the daughter of dentists, dental hygiene was a big part of her morning routine, so she was extremely grateful for that extra touch. Hermione lifted her hand to her hair, revere on her face as she smiled her gratitude at Tella. The elf flashed her a tiny smile and then popped away. Mipsy adjusted Draco’s robes and winked at him before he also popped away.

Hermione considered her robes of green and silver and waved her wand over them to convert them to her red and gold. For a brief moment, the colors changed and then shimmered right back to the Slytherin colors. She tried three more times and failed each time.  Frustrated, she eyed Draco and Madame Pomfrey. “Is Hogwarts refusing to allow me to even try to be a Gryffindor? I always thought the Castle liked me…”

Draco gave her a shy smile, “I like you…and I think you look great in green and silver or in red and gold. Let’s not let the color of your robes stop you from getting the answers we need.” In a blink of an eye, his face transformed into his normal Slytherin mask, calm and collected. “Also, I’ll rip the heads off of anyone who says anything negative about you in these robes if that is what you wish.” His angelic face was so serene, it was almost comical compared to the harsh words he had just uttered.

Hermione smirked at the thought and allowed Draco to lead her out of the infirmary. Madame Pomfrey shook her head and sent a Patronus to Professor Snape and to Saint Mungo’s. She needed updates and to give her updates so they could figure out what in the world they were going to do about this couple. They could literally change the world and she was hopeful that they would.

Hermione bounded up the stairs to the Gryffindor tower with Draco in tow. He was trying to get the soot out of his nails from the pamphlet incineration while trying to navigate the changing staircases and keeping an eye on his frantic mate. He was very busy.

They came up to Fat Lady and Hermione whispered the last known password to her attempting to gain entry. The Fat Lady looked at Hermione in her Slytherin robes and looked to Draco, also in Slytherin robes and sang in her loud Operatic soprano,

“Once you were part of our pride,

A brave cub, full of courage and nerve

But now, you are a snake’s bride

Your Alpha you must serveeeeeee.

Entrance I shall have to deny.

No reason to overreact.

Dry your eyes. Try not to cry.

Your trunk is already packed.”

On that last line, Hermione’s truck came flying out of the portrait and landed right in front of her. It was official. She was kicked out of the tower.

Dumbfounded, she turned and started walking back down the six flights of stairs. She wanted to argue, but it was just a portrait. She was doing her job. She knew the problem lied elsewhere. The Castle was sentient to a point, but it was still influenced by the witches and wizards in charge. Her mind was starting to piece the puzzle together…  

She needed to catalog everything so she could actually see the big picture that was forming around her. Three days ago, she was Beta Healer apprentice solving the biggest medical mystery in who knows how many years. Now, she was a mated Omega who was supposed to be completely dependent on her Alpha, up to and including how to dress. It was a mind fuck if there ever was one but did not feel completely coincidental. There was the stench of manipulation all around her and she did not like it… 

Draco grabbed her trunk and followed after her using his wand to move people and objects out of her path as she mindlessly walked down each flight of steps. He could see she was working through the information they both learned this morning. He was feeling guilty that he had not known more about what becoming a mated pair would do to her and her future. To him, she was his future and he vowed that he would figure out how to make her happy. He hated feeling her despondences through their bond.

Hermione’s apparently meaningless meandering led them to the Great Hall, packed for lunch. Draco entered right behind her and the Hall completely paused. All eyes focused on them, zooming in on Hermione in her Slytherin robes. An audible growl from the giant Alpha behind her seemed to shake everyone out of their trance and the eerie silence was replaced with a fevered hum of whispered questions, comments, and concerns.

Hermione lifted her chin and walked with her head held high over to the Gryffindor table. She was bound and determined to maintain some part of her pre-Omega identity if it was the last thing she did.

She strode right on over to where Lavender Brown and Padma Patil were sitting and made her way to sit down next to her previous dormmates when a boundary spell was erected, knocking her back into Draco. Lavender tilted her head up. “You can’t sit with us”, she snidely said. 

Hermione scowled at the mean girl, a retort on the tip of her tongue when Harry bounded up to her like an excited puppy. “Hermione! There you are! How are you? Why are you wearing Slytherin robes? Why do you smell different? And how did you get your hair tamed? Why aren’t you sitting down? Is Lavender being a bitch? Are you being a bitch? Why is Malfoy following you around looking like an overgrown messenger owl?” He finally stopped to take a breath, giving Hermione the chance to respond in her own rapid-fire succession.

“Yes, here I am. I don’t actually know how I am. I am wearing Slytherin robes because apparently, I am not a Gryffindor anymore. I smell like Draco, my mate. My newly assigned house-elf worked magic on my hair. I’m not sitting down because I can’t. Lavender is always a bitch. I am too if I really think about it. And Draco does not look like an overgrown…” She paused and finally looked at him for the first time since leaving the infirmary. He really did look like an overgrown messenger owl. He was carrying both of their book bags, their wands, and her trunk with his right hand covered in soot. The normally sophisticated Alpha was veering on the side of absurd. “And I don’t know what is going on with him. I just keep handing him stuff and he keeps accepting it.” She paused. "Did Ron feed you sugar again? How many chocolate frogs did you actually eat? Your eyes are practically pulsing." 

Draco just stood there, his head pinging back and forth between the two of them like he was watching a Quidditch match. The speed, honesty, and familiarity in which they were talking were completely foreign to him. He did not think it was humanly possible for people to talk that fast and to actually understand each other. He shook his head in utter confusion and adjusted the strap of the bag on his shoulder, almost elbowing Pansy in the head, who had just come up behind him.

Pansy cupped a hand to her mouth, and in a loud stage whisper said, “Draco, I have to tell you something important. Bend down for a second.”

Draco complied with his friend’s request. Was it regarding Hermione? Were the rest of his Slytherin’s OK? Did something happen while he was locked up in the heat room?

In a louder whisper, bordering on a shout, Pansy informed him, “You’re a wizard, Draco! Did you literally get your brains shagged out to where you forgot that you don’t have to lug shite all throughout the castle? For Salazar’s sake, please remember that you are the head Alpha of Slytherin and act like it!” Her eyes twinkled with glee upon seeing her friend looking so human. It was rare for there to be a crack in his persona, so knowing he was not perfect was a bit refreshing.

Draco startled for a moment and then looked at himself. She was right. He looked ridiculous. He wandless banished Hermione’s trunk and their book bags to his quarters in the dungeons. He returned her wand to her and “Scourgified” his hand to get the lingering residue off. He waved his hand over his outfit and it righted itself to its normal perfected state. He smirked at the dark-haired girl, grateful for her honesty and not so gentle reminder to get his shite together.

“Hermione, if you can’t sit here, shall we try the Slytherin table for now until we can get this figured out? You need to eat lunch. I am sure that Potter will be accepted at our table as well if he would care to join us.”  Draco could see Lavender glaring at his mate, and he wanted to steer her away from the snarky chit before an incident erupted. 

Potter nodded his acceptance at the table invite and the quartet made their way over to the Slytherin section of the Hall. Draco’s space was held open and a new spot was made right next to him for Hermione. He slid into the bench and she took her place next to him. Harry squeezed in next to her with Pansy on his other side. The two Alphas began to pile food upon the plates of the Omega and the Beta like they did it every day, ignoring the eyes of everyone around them at the other tables that dared to express any dissatisfaction at the current seating assignments.

The Slytherin table easily welcomed the two newcomers knowing better than to make any comments regarding their head Alpha’s new mate and her best friend. Their table was quiet and much more refined than the normal dining environment Harry and Hermione were used to. They all had these things called “table manners” that seemed to be a foreign concept to Gryffindors. It was oddly peaceful to Hermione. Her parents were wealthy in the muggle world, so she was versed in etiquette that seemed to govern the pureblood wizarding world. She was also happy that she was not forced to see what people were eating as they chewed and talked. The way Ron ate chicken had almost made her a vegetarian…

Harry started chattering next to her, clearly trying to take her mind off of the series of uncomfortable events she had endured this morning already. “Since you have been gone for three days, let me catch you up. First, my scar is gone, but I am still a Beta. No Alpha Harry yet, but they are hopeful that once my magic stabilizes, my Alpha will present itself.” He lifted his fringe up and showed off his bare forehead.

“Yes, Bright Eyes here, formally known as ‘Scar-Head’ has been showing off his naked forehead to anyone and everyone. I am thinking of getting him a headband to make his show and tell a bit easier,” Pansy added in, a tinge of jollity in her voice.

“Bright Eyes?!” Hermione mouthed to Harry. His cheeks were tinted pink at the new nickname.

“Anyways… getting back to catching you up. Harry indicated his hand like a flight attendant to various spots across the Hall. “To your left, you will see the Ravenclaw, Chang, cuddled up against the rare Hufflepuff Alpha, Diggory. To your right, you will see another Ravenclaw girl, whose name I don’t know, sitting in the lap of our very own Neville Longbottom. Up at the head table, you will witness Professor Snape placing salt instead of sugar in his coffee for the third day in a row as he stares dreamily off into space.” Harry gave a small shudder at taking in the potions master's non-scowling face and whispered, “Some think he was hit in the head with a bludger overseeing Quidditch practice.” He paused again as he surveyed the room. “And directly in front of you, we have a wild Ron Weasley aggressively eating and spewing food shrapnel around the room as he shoots eye daggers at you and Malfoy.”

Ron was narrow-eyed and gripping his chicken leg so tight that his knuckles were white. He was sitting a bit off to himself his fellow Gryffindor's were giving him a wide berth, every once in awhile shooting him a concerned glance, shielding their own plates from being pelted by food bits.   

“Thank you, Harry, for the anthropological breakdown of the Great Hall. My life is now complete with you narrating what my eyes can see.” Hermione deadpanned. “I would rather hear more about you, Bright Eyes. I could give fuckall about Weasley and his atrocious eating habits. Tell me what they are doing for you. What does Sirius think? That is the catch up I am interested in.”

Draco smiled a bit at the feistiness of his mate. He also was sincerely pleased with her response regarding the red-headed oaf. The Weasley brood seemed to have a vendetta against him and he didn’t know why, but if they bothered Hermione, he would certainly make it clear that he would not tolerate that. A bout of possessiveness bubbled up in his chest. He almost wished they would try something. His Alpha would love to prove himself to his Omega…

He was disturbed from his musing as a parliament of owls made its way towards him. At least 20 different owls, almost all Malfoy owls, were making their way to him with various letters and packages. Hermione stopped her conversation with Harry and her jaw dropped at the sheer volume of birds coming at them. It was like a Hitchcock movie!

 The birds organized themselves in sort of a delivery line and Draco patiently extracted the parcels from each owl in turn. Again, the Great Hall was completely silent. Everyone was perfectly poised to see what all had been delivered to the Malfoy heir.

The first letter was from his parents proclaiming their excitement at him finding his mate and their eagerness to meet her. They also informed him that they sent her parents an introductory letter and a fruit basket with their gratitude. Draco was pleased they followed custom, despite her parents being muggles. He hoped they liked the kumquats…  

Returning to the mail in front of him, he saw his mother had started wedding planning and renovations of his set of suites in the manor and wanted their inputs. Invitation samples, wallpaper templates, color schemes, and textiles for everything from dresses to washcloths were sent for them to review. The only non-Malfoy owl brought his financial updates from his accountant. His table spot was now completely obscured with the un-shrunk packages, spilling all the way down to where Blaise and Theo were sitting on his left and down to Pansy, four spots down, on his right.

It was a mess and totally unbecoming of him and his status. Remembering Pansy’s wise words from earlier, he re-shrunk the packages and called for Mipsy.

“Mipsy, please take all of this to the dungeons. Tell my mother no more packages for now.” Draco turned to his Omega, “Hermione, I apologize. She is simply excited. I need to respond to my financial advisor’s request to set up an account for you really quick. Is that agreeable to you? I know you don’t need my help, but I would be honored if you would allow me to create a trust for you. We can discuss the terms of it later, but would you please agree to the creation of the account for now?”

His earnest question made her smile. She appreciated how he understood how challenging this was for her but was trying to balance it with his natural instincts. She knew that if she said no, he would drop it, but it was not the hill she wanted to die on. If the ludicrously wealthy wizard wanted to set up a trust fund for her, why should she say no? He wasn’t forcing her to use it. She nodded and was awarded with a brilliant full Draco smile. 

“Thank you, Peaches. I’ll be right back to you. This should only take a moment.” He turned and commanded down the table. “Theo. Blaise. Make sure she finds her way to the dungeon. Pansy, get Bright Eyes here to his next destination.” He dropped a kiss on her head and sauntered out of the Hall, the noise returning upon his departure as again, everyone had questions, comments, and concerns regarding what they just witnessed.

“Peaches?” Harry jested.

“Shut it, Bright Eyes.” Hermione smiled at her best friend and stood from the table. As she stood up, all of the rest of the Slytherins stood. Shocked, Hermione looked to Pansy for an explanation. 

“You’re our Head Alpha’s Omega, so basically you’re the Queen. That was my fake role, now it’s officially and actually your spot. I happily relinquish it to you. You’re the new HBIC and kind of a big deal. First Omega to present in almost 20 years and your instantly mated to a Malfoy? Yeah, you’re a big deal, girl. Get used to it.” The taller girl winked at Hermione. “Come on, Potter. I’ll be your Alpha escort.”

“I don’t think you realized how that sounded, Parkinson…” Harry trailed off.

“Oh no, I know exactly how that sounded.” She shot another wink at Hermione and grabbed the arm of the boy in question. “Where are we headed, Bright Eyes?” Pansy linked arms with Harry and exited the Hall. The Beta boy’s smile continued to grow as they rounded the corner.

Two tall Slytherin boys that Hermione knew were Theo and Blaise from their normal position of Draco’s shadows came up to her, guarded expressions on their faces.

“Mrs. Malfoy,” they greeted her simultaneously, bowing their heads at her.

“We would normally kiss your knuckles, but as you are mated, it would be an affront to your Alpha for us to touch you so casually,” Theo explained, his voice rougher than his composed exterior would seem to allow. “Please allow us to escort you to your new residence.”

Their sheer primness made Hermione want to giggle. It felt all so Victorian and silly, but she didn’t want to offend Draco’s friends just because it wasn’t familiar to her. 

They walked in silence, further into the bowels of the Castle than she had ever gone before. She felt the moment they went underground and the chill surround her, causing her to shiver.

Theo and Blaise shared a look over her head. They did not want Draco upset with them by letting his mate be cold but didn’t dare touch her or give her their clothing that smelled like them. Instead, they picked up the pace and hurried her into the Common Room and placed her in front of the large fireplace.

Hermione took in her new surroundings. The entrance to the dungeons was a hidden wall, visible to only in their house. If you were not a Slytherin, you would wander aimlessly until you got spit right at the start again. It was actually quite ingenious, Hermione thought.

The room was opulent floor to ceiling. The black and green tile covered the floor with Persian rugs over the top of them. A fireplace the size of basically all of the Gryffindor Common Room took up the middle of the chamber. Leather couches were artfully arranged throughout the space. Giant black crystal chandlers hung sporadically against the black vintage tiled ceiling. The far walls were all glass, showcasing the Black Lake and created an extravagant aquarium vibe. It was elegant and expensive, and Hermione didn’t want to touch anything in fear of breaking it. She had no idea such a space existed at Hogwarts.

Once she was in front of the fire, Theo and Blaise instantly relaxed and the façade that they wore out in public melted away.

“Sorry for all of the stuffiness, but Drake would kick our asses 6 ways from Sunday if we did anything ‘untoward’. Like Pans said, you’re kind of a big deal and Drake is our bro, so we got your back, but without actually touching it because we like our hands attached to our arms.” Theo rumbled out in his gravely voice. 

Hermione just looked at Theo in silent reflection. The complete change from the Great Hall to here left her reeling. This was just adding to the volume of data she needed to break down as part of this day to regain some semblance of control in her life.

Blaise was much more of the strong and silent type, which Hermione appreciated. She didn’t think she could handle another dramatic personality reveal at the moment.

“Crookshanks!!” She yelled in a moment of panic. In all of the chaos of the day, she had completely forgotten her precious baby. Almost like she summoned him, Draco walked in at that moment with the large half-kneazle in his arms, the cat purring contentedly.

“Oh, thank Godric! I am so sorry, Crookshanks! Thank you, Draco, for bringing him.” She made a motion to take the cat but said cat buried itself further into Draco’s arms.

“He and I are old friends. Blaise told me that he found his way down here two days ago and has been sleeping in our room. Mipsy has been feeding him. Don’t worry, our baby boy has been well taken care of.” Draco lifted the large cat and rubbed his nose against his and cooed at him. “Huh, Crooksy? You like it here with us snakes?”

The cat returned to purring so loud it sounded like a motorcycle. Draco smiled a half-smile at the cat and then passed him to Hermione. She nuzzled her nose into the cat’s back to hide her grin at the adorable antics of her Alpha.

Her Alpha… yes, she liked that. Now, she just had to figure out how to fix the Omega laws and solve the why this all happened to begin with. She could feel the creation of another board coming to mind.

Now where to put one in this art exhibition they call a Common Room…?

Chapter Text

Draco reached out and handed Hermione a letter. It was on beautiful parchment and written in perfectly executed calligraphy and was, of course, from his mother.

“In the midst of all of the other correspondences we received this morning, this was made out to you from my mother.”  Draco seemed a bit shy at handing her this letter, almost like he was embarrassed or nervous about his mother reaching out.

She gently opened the letter and scanned it, a little smile on her lips as she read the contents. “She’s welcoming me to the family and asking me when she can meet me face to face…and apparently, she has sent a fruit basket to my parents….as thanks. So, there’s that…” She thought for a moment and then added, “I will write her back this evening. Care to show me to my room? Am I rooming with Pansy and Daphne?”  Now she was the one who sounded nervous.

Draco, Blaise, and Theo all shared equal looks of appalment.

Draco stated, “Hermione, you are my mate. You and I will be living together” at the same time Theo blurted out, “Rooming with? You share rooms in Gryffindor? Why? That sounds ghastly!”

Blaise then calmly questioned, “How does that even work? Where do you put all of your things? Do you all share a kitchenette?”

Hermione looked up at the towering Alphas as they invaded her personal space. “Ummmm…in reverse order: No kitchenettes at all. We do share bathrooms though. Our stuff goes in our trunks at the end of our beds. We have a shared room with all of the other guys or girls in our grade level. And what do you mean we will be living together? I thought boys weren’t allowed in the girls’ dorms?”

“Sharing bathrooms and bedrooms? I literally cannot process what you are saying right now. I need to go lay down.” Theo sighed dramatically and left the room.

“He’s feeling a little put out. His new room is under construction still.” Blaise leaned down a bit and loud whispered, “His bathroom currently only has a shower.” He shook his head sadly and then turned to follow after his distraught friend leaving a confused Hermione in his wake.

Draco tenderly engulfed her hands in his. “We are more than married. We are mated, mon coeur. As in for life. The castle recognizes this and has created our space for us here in the dungeons. Theo’s room will be settled soon. Don’t worry about him. He’s just more of a bath person, so he’s cranky. It will pass.”

“I have many questions about everything I have just heard, mainly regarding on how you know that Theo is more of a bath person, but this has been a very long day and I would really like to see what is, apparently, our room.” Hermione massaged her temples. Her brain needed a break.

Draco transitioned from holding her hands to slipping her hand into the crook of his arm as etiquette dictated. Hermione visualized that she basically looked like she was holding onto the handgrip straps in the tube she used to take going around muggle London. She allowed herself a little laugh at the ridiculous thought and then walked in double time to keep up with the pace of her mate’s long legs as he led them up a grand split staircase.

“Our wing is to the left. The rest of the dorms are to the right and down the various hallways.” His deep voice was delicious in her ears. He was saying the most mundane things, but it sounded so damn sexy. No one’s voice should be that seductive… well, maybe Snape, but that was neither here nor there.

Hermione realized that she had been daydreaming during their little walk and now was faced with the door that would lead to the room that she would be staying in the rest of her time at Hogwarts. It was nerve-racking and her palms started to sweat a bit.

Draco gracefully pushed the door open and revealed their new “room”.  It was basically a flat, complete with a kitchen, a living room including a large fireplace, and other doors leading to what she assumed would be their bedroom and bathroom. Everything was lush and done in various shades of blue and green, paying homage to the Malfoy name and the Slytherin house. The whole back wall was floor to ceiling windows showcasing the Black Lake. Light was streaming in from the sky above creating a very ethereal look to the entire room. Hermione’s jaw about hit the floor.

“This is…overwhelming. Will all mated couples in Hogwarts get something like this or this just because it is…you?” She gestured her hand at the hovering Alpha.

“My family does donate a lot to Hogwarts, so it could be just a ‘me’ thing, but yes, all couples should get their own room similar to this from what my mother has told me. Does this meet your standards? Would you like for me to have Mipsy and Tella renovate?” Draco asked apprehensively.

Hermione could feel through their bond how anxious he was. He wanted her to acknowledge that he was a good provider; that he was a good Alpha. She smiled up at him and placed her hand on his chest.

“Yes, Draco, this is wonderful. Unexpected, but wonderful. I guess it does make sense that we share a room. I just wasn’t thinking the castle would give us something like this. Is this similar to your room before? You don’t seem to be too surprised.” Hermione inquired.

“This is just a slight expansion on my old room. My room used to be next to Theo’s, thus the reason he is a little unsettled at the moment. Shall I give you a brief tour?” Draco questioned.

“Sure. A tour would be lovely. I can unpack and then write your mother back.” Hermione acquiesced.

Draco waved his hand and a perfectly brewed cuppa presented itself in front of her and he started talking like a seasoned tour guide, not even breaking stride to acknowledge that he made tea materialize for her like it was nothing.

“To our right is a full kitchen, fully stocked with your favorite teas, biscuits, and muggle crisps that your mother informed my mother you like. The fireplace in the living room is connected to the Manor and we are getting it connected to your parent’s home to make it easier for you to chat with and see them as you would like.” Draco casually commented as he led her throughout the space.

“Wait. You are getting this fireplace Floo connected to my parent’s place? And there are crisps here?! That is brilliant!” Hermione declared, clutching Draco’s arm, shaking it with happiness.

Draco smirked at her. “If you like that, wait till you see what’s behind this door.” Wandlessly, he opened the first door on their left which housed a very well-appointed and organized office space. Two desks faced each other, and bookshelves lined the walls. A chute hovered over one of the desks, presumably connected to the owlery. Parchment, quills, and inkpots were all perfectly lined up on a cart next to the desks.

Hermione gasped. “This is beautiful!” She walked around the room, gently tracing her fingers over the book titles.

“The books are connected to the Malfoy library. It boasts a rather expansive collection, so I think you should be abbbbbbb…” Draco started to say but was interrupted by a tiny body flinging itself at him and pressing its soft lips to his with extreme fervor.

With one arm, he pressed her to him and lifted her up to deepen the kiss. She opened her mouth and his tongue worked its way into her mouth, caressing her tongue, making her moan at their first non-heat kiss. His mouth was wicked and delectable, and she wanted more and groaned a bit when he broke the kiss.

“Did you just one arm lift me?” She asked breathlessly.

“Yes. Impressed yet?” He answered with sass coloring his response.

“Getting there. Now, can you show me to our bedroom? I would like to be fully impressed if you are up to the challenge.” She quirked back.

Her retort was met with a full Draco smile before it merged into a smoldering look. “As my lady commands.”

He kept her wrapped in his one giant arm and carried her to the room next door, a naughty look on his face giving her a preview of what would be in store for her once they crossed the threshold. The door clicked close by the heel of his dragonhide boots and a squeal of laughter could be heard behind the door by Mipsy and Tella who had been on standby in the kitchen just in case. They shared a knowing look and a slight smile. Silently, they popped away to report to their Mistress how happy the Young Master was.

Monday morning came quickly, much to the new couple’s chagrin. Hermione was still getting used to her new living arrangements and house colors, but Draco’s sweetness was making the transition a bit easier. His ability to read her thoughts was probably helpful, but he really did seem to intuitively know how best to make her feel at ease.

Hermione smoothed the collar of her Oxford and slipped on her robes. She sat at the vanity and Tella snapped her fingers and Hermione’s hair was instantly in a flawless updo with little curl ringlets framing her face. Her mark was visible just slightly above her shirt, already healed.  It was the perfect arc of Draco’s powerful canines in that new silvery skin.

She grazed the bite and looked at Draco in the mirror. “I think my parents would be very impressed with your teeth.”

Draco met eyes with her in the mirror as he worked on artfully styling his hair to look like it was not styled. “Oh? And why is that, love?”

“They’re dentists. Muggle teeth healers.” She chomped down twice and pointed to her teeth. “This bite is a work of art, as far as teeth are concerned. I think they would find it fascinating. Would you be willing to let them inspect your mouth?”

Draco rose an eyebrow at her question. “I would be willing to let you inspect my mouth, but if it makes your parents’ like me, they can certainly check out my teeth. Shall I owl them about it?”

“We can discuss it after class. We are going to be late and I am sure the rest of Slytherin is waiting for us to head to the Great Hall if I remember correctly from your house lessons over the past couple days. We shouldn’t keep them waiting.” Hermione grabbed her bag and waited for Draco at the door.

He opened it for them, snagged her bag off of her shoulder and shared a little smile with her as he started down the hall. As she suspected, all of Slytherin was waiting for them. Theo and Blaise were flanked on either side of their door and Pansy was at the foot of the stairs. As they made their way down towards the Common Room, the orderly bunch fell into their normal formation, adjusting as natural as breathing to include Hermione in with them.

Hermione waved shyly to Theo and Blaise behind her. She was grateful for the warmth of Draco’s hand on her back. The dungeons were freezing, and his heat was both grounding and arousing. So much change at once was forcing her to feel a myriad of emotions and not all of them were hers. Was she aroused or was it Draco? Her brain was starting to go into overthinking mode when Pansy came up on her other side and engaged her in a conversation about their charms homework that was due today. It broke her loose from her thoughts and she chatted amicably with her until they reached the Great Hall.

After an uneventful breakfast, the Slytherin students dispersed to their classes and Draco and Hermione made their way to charms, the rest of the 7^th years in tow. Draco sat beside Hermione near the front of the class and they started to unpack their bags right as Professor Flitwick entered the class.

“Oh, Mister Malfoy! Congratulations on being number one in class! The records adjusted this morning to reflect your new status. Very good show!” Flitwick exclaimed.

Hermione paused, quill and parchment hovering above the desk, and Draco’s eyes widened in shock.

“Uh… if Hermione was dead maybe…” He said with a chuckle as he trailed off and continued to arrange his belongings for the class on his desk.

Flitwick adjusted his glasses. “Oh, yes your omega. Are you letting her sit and observe?”

It was like a record scratch in the classroom as all eyes shifted to the couple and appeared to have collectively held their breath.

“What do you mean ‘Is he letting me sit and observe!’?!” Hermione seethed, shooting to a standing position so quick her chair toppled over.

Flitwick cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses again his cheeks tinting pink. “Well, Omegas have never pursued higher learning. It just didn’t seem prudent as it goes against their nature.”

“Are you an Omega, Professor?” Hermione inquired; her head cocked to the side.

“Well, no Mrs. Malfoy. I’m not.” Professor Flitwick cleared his throat again.

“Then don’t tell me what my nature is.” Hermione retorted icily, her eyes flashing in direct contrast to her tone.

Draco’s jaw was clenched, the muscle ticking obviously underneath. He was breathing hard out his nose trying to keep his temper in check. He slowly stood to his full 6’6” frame and squared his shoulders. “Who do we see to fix this glaring mistake?”

“There is no precedent for this, so the Headmaster would have to allow it,” said Flitwick as he trembled slightly at the big, obviously angry, Alpha glaring down at him.

Hermione huffed and shoved her things back in her bag, embarrassed at the eyes on her. Draco took her hand and silently left the room, hellbent on getting this sorted out.

They quickly arrived at the gargoyles guarding the entrance to Dumbledore’s office. They sprung to life, as if they were waiting for the pair to arrive and deposited them at the door before, they even had a moment to collect their thoughts on what had just transpired. The door magicked itself open and the pair found them face to face with the twinkly eyes of one Albus Dumbledore.

“Ah, Mister and Mrs. Malfoy! Congratulations! To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit this morning? Are you here regarding your Omega presentation?” Dumbledore asked, his voice full of grandfatherly wisdom.

“That depends on how you mean that, sir. While I would be certainly more than willing and interested to discuss the ramifications of the actualization of the Omega presentation curse being solved, today, I am here to discuss a much more selfish request. I am here to discuss my personal Omega presentation and why Professor Flitwick informed me that I could attend classes to observe, but not to learn. Madame Pomfrey provided me pamphlets regarding the Omega laws, but I refuse to believe they are accurate.” Hermione paused to finally catch her breath at the conclusion of her tirade.

Draco said nothing. He just silently stood behind her, a massive wall of anger and concern. Something did not smell right about the old man and Draco’s instincts were taking over. He wanted to get Hermione as far away from him as possible but didn’t want to do anything rash to hinder her ability to stay a Hogwarts student, if that was what she really wanted.

“I apologize, Omega Malfoy, but the laws are the laws. I would think that you, above anyone else, would be respectful of the rules. Your Alpha is more than capable of signing this permission slip for me to present to the Wizengamot to allow you to continue your education and your Healer apprenticeship, but there are no guarantees if they will approve it. I am truly sorry, my dear.” He smiled a saccharine smile at the couple, it not meeting his eyes which displayed his thinly veiled attempt at concealing his condescending nature.

He waved his hand and a piece of paper floated in front of Draco’s eyes, dancing gayly until he snatched it and shoved it into his robes.

“My father will hear about this.” Draco aggressively declared through his teeth and snagged a stunned Hermione’s wrist to lead her from the room.  

She stumbled ungracefully after him as she attempted to process the absolute crap that just tumbled out of Dumbledore’s mouth and bumped into his back as they stopped in front of the Great Hall.

Draco whipped around and clasped her hands and kissed her forehead. “We will get this sorted out. I promise. It’s a bit early for lunch, but we can head to the Hall now and wait if that is agreeable to you.”

Hermione numbly nodded her head and plopped down on the bench at the end of the Slytherin table. She cradled her head in her hand and let out a despondent sigh. It had only been about a week since she went from Beta to Omega, but it felt like a lifetime ago.

Her thoughts took a turn towards self-pity and she zoned out to wallow in her sadness while Draco fretted around her, writing missives to his father and mother and their family barrister and summoning Mipsy to bring Hermione tea and a stack of books for her to choose from. He refused to be idle while she was so distressed. Her stress was stressing him out and being an Alpha who could not immediately solve his Omega’s problems was fueling his own stress, which she could feel across their bond. It was a stress cycle…

All of a sudden, movement was caught in his peripheral vision and a low growl tore from his chest.

“HERMIONE!” a ridiculously dressed Harry Potter shouted as he jumped behind Hermione, in an obvious attempt to scare the shit out of her.

She flew into the air, knocking her knees on the table, throwing her tea at Draco and tossing the book in her hand in Harry’s general direction, almost smacking him in the face. “What in the actual fuck was that for?! Don’t do that, Harry! Do you have a death wish?!”

Draco was shielding Hermione with bared teeth at the perceived threat. Tea was dripping down his fringe and the table bared a new impression from his hand as he gripped it once he realized it was Potter and had to stop himself from lashing out to remove the threat from his mate’s vicinity.   

Harry was completely non-plussed, a dopey grin on his face at the fact that he managed to scare his best friend so simply. “Anyway, what are you two doing here? Are you signing up, too?”

Hermione turned and finally looked at her best friend and immediately wished she hadn’t. “What in Merlin’s pubic hair are you wearing? Sweet Morgana’s right tit, you look bloody insane! And sign up for what? I have so many questions right now…”

Harry was dressed in a gold headband that had transformed his hair into a succulent, a red tank top, obscenely short gold lamé shorts, red and gold wristbands, red knee-high socks, and gold sparkly trainers. It was like looking at a bleeding golden disco ball and was a travesty to nature and fashion.

“Lavender designed them. They are the Gryffindor Beta-Carry uniforms. Neat, huh?” Pride and joy emanated from the bright-eyed Beta boy as he looked over his uniform.

“That’s one way to describe it…” Hermione said warily. “And what is Beta-Carry? And why would I be signing up for that? I probably couldn’t anyway. Omega now, remember?” She moodily flopped back on to the bench.

“Oh! The tryouts are today?” Draco asked excitedly as he backward jogged towards the signup sheets posted near the house point hourglasses. He summoned his quill and added his name to the long list of fellow Slytherins eager to engage in the new sport.

“How come everyone but me knows what the hell Beta-Carry is? Can someone please fill me in on what that is and why Harry looks like Richard Simmons?” Hermione stomped her foot and huffed as she crossed her arms, agitated by the absurd spiral her life was headed in.

A ghost floated by and spared her a fleeting glance as it asked quite sassily for a dead person, “Oh, you haven’t heard? Hmph.” It continued on its merry way, leaving Hermione more annoyed before Harry freed her from her misery.

“So, you remember when you cured the Omega issue and it made us both pass out in potions?” Harry asked calmly. “You remember, right?”

“Yeah, Harry, I remember that totally life-changing event for both of us. Please do go on.” Hermione responded deadpanned.

“OK, so, we were passed out. Snape and Malfoy were racing with us through the castle. The portraits were cheering them on and apparently there were some hexes thrown in at obstacles, or people, whatever. It was madness. But now it’s the new rage and each House has started their own teams. So…tryouts.” Harry concluded his rambling with tossing his arms up in the air almost smacking Theo Nott who had come up near the end of his explanation.

Theo reached down and used Harry’s shoulder to help balance him as he did a quad stretch. He, too, was wearing his own monstrosity to her eyes.

“And what, pray tell, are you wearing, Theo?” Hermione could barely contain her chuckle looking at the tall Alpha.

“Pansy did a great job on these! Good job Pansy!” Draco smiled at the dark-haired girl who had just sauntered up, plainly proud of her “creations.”

Theo was wearing a braided headband that resembled snakeskin and looked like an Ouroboros, a forest green mesh crop top jersey with shoulder pads rocking handles on the top, black tight leggings with snake scales on the sides, and high-end black trainers.

“You look a bit like an American football player.” Hermione commented.

Theo smiled politely at her. “Oh really? What are they? Is that a muggle thing?”

Hermione made a face back, split between a smile and a grimace, making her look almost constipated.  “They are sports players. It’s a game with a ball and…you know what? Never mind. I don’t have time to get into it.” She sighed, shaking her head in exasperation.

Draco looked over at Pansy and asked animatedly, “Got one for me, Pans?”

“Of course, I do. What do I look like? Some unprepared first year?” Pansy sniped back.

“Are you going to watch the try-outs, love? You have to watch me dominate.” Draco flashed his eyes saucily at his mate, his trademark smirk in place. He gave her hand two quick squeezes. He was desperate to try to make her forget this shit day and make her smile and could see the antics of their housemates and her friend were helping get her out of her funk.

Theo looked over at her. “Of course, she will be there” he said confidently as he produced a whistle from under his jersey dangling it in her face. “We need a team manager…” he sang at her.

Hermione smiled ruefully and reached for the whistle.  “As if I have a choice.” She smirked at Draco and put the whistle around her neck.

Who else was going to tame this circus? She thought and joined the motley crew on their way out to the Quidditch pitch to witness the insanity that was bound to follow. 

Chapter Text

The following morning after Hermione witnessed the rather impressive way Draco started his day, he left her sitting slightly despondently in their room with a kiss on her forehead, a wink, and a knowing smirk.

Before she even really had the time to pout and focus on her feelings of righteous indignation regarding not being able to go to class, the Floo flashed a brilliant green and an immaculately dressed Narcissa Malfoy stepped out.

Her stunning blonde hair was perfectly coiffed, and she was dressed in a style very reminiscent of Jackie O, down to the little gloves and pillbox hat. She oozed sophistication and made Hermione feel like a mashed potato sculpture all over again.

That must be a Malfoy trait, Hermione thought a bit bitterly to herself as she looked down at her muggle jeans, comfortable jumper, and soft slipper socks. She looked like an advertisement for fabric softener while the stunning woman across from her looked like she was on her way to have lunch with the Queen. 

Hermione was warring with being self-conscious or not when she spotted the positively warm and inviting smile on her now mother-in-law’s face, chasing away any concerns she might have had.

“You must be Hermione. I am so very pleased to meet you, my dear. I am Narcissa, Draco’s mother. I have heard about you for years from him, so it is lovely to put a face to the name.” She walked over to Hermione and embraced her tenderly. When she pulled back, her eyes shone with tears she was battling to keep at bay. “I hope you know how welcome you are in our family and how thankful we are for you. Not just Lucius and I either; all of the parents of Alphas that you have saved. Words could not express how grateful we are to you.” She pulled her in for another hug full of motherly affection.

Hermione was a bit gobsmacked, to say the least. Logically, she knew that by lifting the curse off of Harry and Omegas presenting again that it was a world-changer but having an outside source such as her new mother-in-law acknowledge it was certainly humbling and a bit emotionally overwhelming. She blushed at the praise and shared a tentative smile with her fellow Omega.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Malfoy, and I am sincerely happy to be a part of the family. Draco is a wonderful man and Alpha. You must be so proud.” Hermione stated while extending her hand out.

“Please dear, call me Narcissa. We are both technically Mrs. Malfoy, now aren’t we?” Narcissa responded with a wink while accepting her offered hand. “Now, on to business.”

She walked back over to the fireplace and called out to Malfoy Manor. Hermione stayed rooted in spot, looking a bit perplexed at her mother-in-law’s backside in the air as she had a quick and slightly muted conversation with whoever was on the other side of the Floo. She backed up and 6 wizards and witches stepped through, a mix of serious faces and smiles.

Narcissa smiled triumphantly and gestured with her hand like Vanna White from the American TV show towards the assembled bunch. “May I present to you, your tutors. Draco refused for your education to be halted, as he knows how much it means to you, so while we figure out this ‘permission to learn’ business, he contacted me to arrange tutors for the interim.” She pointed to each one in turn and they stepped forward and gave a little bow. “We have arithmancy, ancient runes, herbology, defense against the dark arts, charms, transfigurations, and your tutor for potions will stop by later today.”

Hermione was stunned. Her mouth hung open slightly and she was certain there may have been a slight trail of drool at the thought of this educational opportunity she was being presented with. Knowing the Malfoys as she did, Hermione knew these tutors were probably masters in their respective fields and her mind was giddy with glee at the prospect of working with them all.

Narcissa looked concerned at the lack of response. “Are they not to your liking, dear? Am I missing a subject? Draco gave me your schedule. I followed it to the T.”  A slight frown worked its way on to her face.

Finally, Hermione’s brain kicked back in. “No! This is amazing Mrs. M – I mean, Narcissa! I am just shocked that Draco and you arranged this for me, and in such a short time too. Thank you so much! This is truly wonderful!” She rushed to the other woman and hugged her tightly, earning a genuine smile from her.

“Oh, wonderful!” She clapped her hands in joy at the young girl’s excitement. “On a more serious note, I am very concerned with what Draco has confided in me regarding what is going on here at Hogwarts. First, they are keeping you from your education and now I find out that some students in other houses are forced to share dorms. I mean, what’s next? Students having to solve dangerous puzzles that are protecting some sort of magical artifact that has no business being in a school?” She asked apprehensively.

Narcissa collected herself for a moment then proudly declared, “My fellow wives and Omegas have organized ourselves to address the needs of this school and are rallying under the banner of Slytherin Parents for Educational Welfare, or S.P.E.W. for short. We are hosting our first fundraising tea next weekend and we do hope you can attend.” Her excitement was palatable.

Hermione winced slightly at the acronym before she plastered a fake smile on her face and responded, “Spew… Interesting!”

“Thank you! We are so excited. Poor Theo not having a bath is just weighing heavy on my heart and knowing that others don’t even have their own bedroom is just appalling. We have to do something about it!” Narcissa passionately responded.

Hermione just nodded her head while thinking Maybe I should introduce her to the real problems of the muggle world… World hunger might be solved by teatime…

After a short time of more polite chatting, Narcissa adjusted her hat and gave Hermione a double air kiss before returning to the Floo. “Well, my dear, I will allow you to get acquainted with your tutors. I’ll owl you regarding wedding details. Give Draco my love and ta-ta for now!”

She stepped into the fireplace and firmly stated, “Malfoy Manor” before vanishing, not giving Hermione a chance to respond to the “wedding details” comment at all.

Squaring her shoulders, she went over to the quietly chatting group of her newly acquired educational posse and introduced herself and continued with saying respectfully, “Thank you all so much for coming on such short notice. I’m very eager to begin and not waste anymore of your time than necessary.”

A short, round-faced woman in eccentric wizarding robes gave her a welcoming smile and said, “It is a pleasure to be here. Your in-laws have raved about your intellectual abilities to the point where even if they did not pay us handsomely, almost bribe like, we would still want to work with you. Now, shall we begin?”

With a wave of her wand, the common room expanded, and a classroom wing was created just for Hermione, equipped with a blackboard, teacher and student desks, a tiny herbology greenhouse, and a potions table complete with a cauldron.

Hermione’s jaw dropped and her eyes were as large as saucers taking in the rapid, and truly impressive, transformation that she just witnessed. “Where have you all been all my life?” she asked in awe.

The professor walked over to the blackboard and said, “Let’s start with charms.”

Hermione became a bobblehead as she nodded so fast, scrambling to sit at her shiny new desk. She ran her hands over everything in her reach as she carefully sat in the tufted, damask printed sitting chair created for her and took a deep breath in through her nose.

“That new class smell…” she exhaled; glee evident on her face. Being a Malfoy clearly had its perks...

The day passed by lightning-quick and her mind was whirling with all of the new and advanced theories and techniques she was learning. It made her feel that her previous six years at Hogwarts was sincerely lacking.

She was so enthralled with reading the scrolls and tomes that her tutors had assigned to her that she did not hear the telltale swishing and billowing of her new head of house coming up behind her.

“Enjoying yourself, Mrs. Malfoy?” Snape drawled, startling her out of her intellectual reverie, making her jump out of her chair.

“Oh Professor, what are you doing here?” Hermione questioned; her cheeks dusted a slight pink from her embarrassment of being caught so unaware. She cast a quick tempus charm, surprised by the late hour. “Is it already 3 pm? I’m just waiting for my potions tutor. Don’t you have class right now, sir?”

Snape cocked an eyebrow at her, waiting for her to catch up and put two and two together.

“Oh! You’re my potions tutor! But how? Or why? I mean, thank you?” Hermione rambled.

“My godson asked a favor of me and due to your previously displayed potion proficiency, I felt my time would not be as wasted with you as the rest of the dunderheads, but this current interaction is making me doubt myself…” Snape stated, the normally caustic tone returning to his voice.

She flushed a bit deeper at his words, but forced herself to retort, “This coming from the man who has been putting salt in his tea as of late… Is that even a mistake or is that a conscious choice?” Her own eyebrow raised up to match his.

His skin complexion went from his standard paper pale to ecru. To the untrained eye, his discomfort would not even register, but Hermione knew that this was the equivalent of most people’s tomato red and smirked a bit at the normally composed man being flustered.

Snape internally debated with himself on being embarrassed or relieved at the shitty tea mystery finally being solved. He had just chalked it up to Dumbledore being a cheap bastard at switching brands again...

“Perhaps I have been a bit distracted since I have…met…someone,” he countered as he examined his nails, trying to be casual while gauging her reaction from his peripheral vision.  

Hermione gasped and grabbed Snape’s arm in shock. “Professor! That’s amazing! Congratulations!”

The professor looked at her hand on his arm, clearly uncomfortable with normal human touch. “Please remove your appendage from my arm and turn to page 394 in your text.” He cleared his throat and took his stance by the front of the room, signally that the “moment” they shared was clearly over and his teaching mode enacted.

Hermione kept a small smile on her face as she sat back down, her student mode now in place. She pulled one of the quills out of her hair and the most engaging potions lesson to date began as he taught to her level and truly showed her why he is considered the foremost potions master in Europe.

The smile on his mate’s face when he entered their room washed away his annoyance at being away from her all day in a flash. He walked over and admired her being absorbed and surrounded by all of her favorite things: books, scrolls, tomes, and tea. A crooked smile crept up on to his lips and he bent down to place a gentle kiss on her temple earning him a blush-worthy string of expletives from his startled love.

“Merlin’s bushy eyebrows and Morgana’s tits! Wear a bell, you sodding git! You scared the shite out of me!” Hermione exclaimed with her hand on her heart trying to slow down the pounding in her chest. “How long have you been standing there?" She asked incredulously followed with muttering "...I have got to pay better attention to my surroundings..."

Draco, of course, smirked and cocked an eyebrow at her. He placed his hand to his head in a swoon motion and dramatically sighed. “My lady doth have a way with words. Her poetry moves my soul.”

Hermione randomly smacked the air in his general direction. “Enough. I deal with Harry and his theatrics. I don’t need yours.”

Her no-nonsense voice tone just made Draco’s smirk transition to a genuine smile. Gods, how he loved her bossy self.  It’s like a niffler trying to control a hippogriff. It’s adorable. Draco thought. He, however, being the quintessential Slytherin, valued self-preservation and kept that thought to himself.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at the annoying, yet mouthwatering, Alpha specimen in front of her and thought at him, I can feel how smug you are right now, you bastard.

Draco’s smile faltered a bit and cleared his throat as he stepped a few paces back, no longer feeling as smug; more like the niffler had the hippogriff by the balls. He gracefully sat in the chair opposite of hers and summoned Mipsy for dinner and the evening paper, as neither had a desire to go to the Great Hall.

Hermione and Draco settled into a pleasant silence as they waited for Mipsy to return with their dinner. Hermione glanced up from her new Ancient Runes textbook and her eyes were immediately drawn to the front page of the paper Draco was casually perusing for Quidditch scores.

“What is that?!” Hermione ordered.

“The paper…” Draco responded, evenly, yet confused.

She leaned forward and snatched the paper from him, her eyes flickering rapidly over the words, her face becoming more troubled as she read.  

“Draco! What? Why? How? No!” Hermione stammered out. Her distress was slowly morphing into a panic with her breathing becoming labored and her chest heaving from her inability to draw air in.

Draco leaned forward and placed his hands on her shoulders, concern etched on his face. He was grateful for legilimency, allowing him to search through her hastily transitioning thoughts as they flashed through her well-organized mind to find the source of her sudden anxiety.

Hermione shoved the front page of the paper in his face. “This. This is why I am bloody upset. What is this shite?! What is the ministry thinking? How could they do this? They are taking the Omegas’ voice away! It’s outrageous! I can’t –“

Draco pulled her in for a hug, interrupting her tirade and calmly stated, “Love, the curse is cured, which is a good thing, but people got used to the world as it was and it’s unrealistic for you to think there would be no fallout. I know that you are upset for the Omegas, but I feel for the Alphas. Not having their Omegas is a death sentence.”

His pragmatic answer stopped her short. She didn’t think of it from that angle, but regardless she was fuming from how the ministry was choosing to handle the situation.

“Mon coeur, I’ll be as mad as you need me to be,” Draco promised sincerely, his hand placed on his heart. “Just tell me what you need.”

Hermione worried her lip between her teeth. “What I need is to change these laws and minds within the ministry, but what you can give me is some alone time. I need to think.”

Draco nodded and backed away. “I’ll just check on dinner,” he said casually. “Mispy!” he called as he walked toward the kitchenette.

Hermione paced a little, feeling a bit sick and miserable over what she had just discovered. It’s all my fault, she thought.

She stopped mid-turn. No. It’s this bloody curse and Riddle’s fault. If he had just knotted someone and not gotten his wand in a knot, this would not have happened. Alphas and Omegas would have paired off just fine. I need to know the why. Why did this happen?

Crookshanks was dozing comfortably in the corner near the fireplace. He sensed his mistress was on the verge of doing something ridiculous again and lifted his head in her direction.

Hermione made eye contact with the smooshed face half-kneazle. “That’s right, Crooks. It’s board time.”

The cat eyed her momentarily with exasperation before he yawned, twitched his tail, and curled back up in his pillowed bed.

It was not a typical Saturday morning in the Slytherin Common Room. The normally quiet and refined setting and patrons had found themselves active participants in Hermione’s new and improved theory board, whether they wanted to be or not.

Hermione had dispatched Draco to his lawyer’s office to acquire all of the current Omega laws for her to review. Her board was already littered with snippets of newspapers and what she could ascertain from the Hogwarts library. She was also aggressively rereading Tom Riddle’s diary and was placing excerpts that she deemed relevant on the board as she attempted to connect his rambling to facts. The dates of his diary entries often time ran parallel to the creation of new laws and it was too coincidental for her to ignore.

June 13^th, 1971

He thinks he is so strong. Flaunting his mate, but she is an anchor, not wings. When will he realize that she is weighing him down? The lions need to be separated. The lines need to be drawn. Noah had it right and wrong. A collection is a worthy cause, but two by two, we will all drown. The disease is spreading. Lost one of my most promising sheep. He was a moth to her black flame and now his vaults are closed to me. THE ALPHA will reclaim his pride. He is my compass and hasn’t failed me yet. My father was not deserving of being called an Alpha. I am glad I killed him…

Hermione flicked her wand and the psychotic text found its way to her board with several multicolored threads automatically linking itself to any applicable laws or rules that were in conjunction with the date and her perceived interpretation of his drivel. Much to Hermione's interest, this note was paired with the creation of more stringent house separation at Hogwarts, eliminating almost all interaction between the various houses. 

As she paced, she encountered Blaise on one end with a cup full of pumpkin juice with a straw for her to sip from and Theo on the other side feeding her bites of perfectly crusted macaroni and cheese.

Pansy’s eyes followed Hermione from her position on the couch as she pinged back and forth, doing an amazing impression of a roller in a typewriter.  She had a set of knitting needles working to her left making a lovely burgundy scarf and she was hand sewing in pashmina into a set of robes for the curly-headed Omega to help curb the cold of the dungeons. Yes, Tella could easily do this, but Pansy enjoyed dabbling with fashion from time to time, so alas… sewing on a Saturday morning… at 8 am…

“This is all good and boring and all, but can you please tell me why you only have a string connecting Riddle Jr. to Riddle Senior? He’s connected to the Gaunt family through his mother.” Pansy queried, her eyes not leaving her needlework.

Hermione stopped midair from Theo’s offered spoon. “Oh! His mother is never mentioned. How do you know that?”

Astoria Greengrass chimed in while sitting on the back of Daphne, her sister, who was doing pushups in the corner of the Common Room. “All Slytherins know all Slytherins and the Gaunt family is a direct descendent from Slytherin. You kind of have to know.” A smidge of a know-it-all voice tone leaked through as she was excited to be able to bestow knowledge on the swot.

Hermione’s eyebrows raised into her hairline. “Riddle is a descendent of Salazar Slytherin?!” A thread and the name generated on her board linking the families together. “What else am I missing? Who else am I missing?”

Pansy, Theo, Blaise, and Astoria all sauntered over to face the board, calculating looks on their faces as they took in the organized chaos that Hermione had assembled.

Pansy cracked her neck. "Alright, let's get down to business."

"To defeat the Huns!" Hermione sang automatically.

"Whose the Huns? Is that that Hufflepuff Beta Carrying team?" Theo asked, baffled.

"It's from a Disney movie...It's a muggle thing." Hermione attempted to explain.

"Walter Disney was a Slytherin," Blaise added in his deep rumbly voice.

Hermione thought for a moment and then declared, "That explains so much. I feel like my whole childhood was a lie now..." She paused. "Anyway...Moving on! Pansy, tell me more about these Gaunts."

“Riddle’s mother is Merope Gaunt. She left her first mate before he marked her and ran off with a random muggle Alpha. She supposedly potioned him. It was a huge scandal.” Pansy testified in a conspiratorial tenor.

“I didn’t even think that was possible! Your mate is your mate.” Hermione stated confused.

“It shouldn’t be possible, but theory has it that her mate was fucked up and she booked it out there before he brought her down with him. She wasn’t a looker, that’s for sure, but no one deserves to be in a shitty relationship that they don’t want to be in.” Pansy responded.

“…tell that to the ministry…” Hermione muttered under her breath.

The remainder of the morning was spent with Hermione getting an introductory lesson on the pureblood houses of the wizarding world and coming to terms with the extreme amount of gossip they all were eager to add to the conversation. The Slytherins and their sources were better than any private investigator when it came to filling in the blanks of her theories and dates, names, and regulations were all starting to make sense. She had much to discuss with Draco when he returned…

Chapter Text

Draco used to be a morning person. He was a morning person until his sexy and insatiable Omega had found her way into his bed and the desire to lay with her snuggled up to him all day and night in between him ravaging her until her body trembled with exhaustion and her sweat and their combined scent settled through their room like a sexual fog became a pretty damn good reason to stay in bed.

He was also in a love/hate relationship with silencing charms. He loved that no one else got to hear the erotic sounds his mate made while they made love, but he fucking hated that no one got to hear her scream his name in absolute carnal lust, letting the whole damn castle know who she belonged to and who was giving her so much pleasure her eyes rolled back in her head…  It was a catch-22…

He looked down at her sweet sleeping face and was entranced by how her eyelashes fanned against her cheeks and her freckles dotted her nose in a pattern that only he knew. He loved these little moments of being able to freely examine her. He only wished he could see her expressive eyes; the whiskey color as intoxicating as the name would lead you to believe.

He danced his fingertips over her arm and down to the swell of her ample hips, working on engraining all of her curves into his memory. Her skin was so soft and just begged for his touch. He could not get enough of having her near him, under him, on him… anyway he could feel her, he wanted.

He buried his nose in her curls, breathing in deep to immerse himself in her scent and found himself incredibly hard and in dire need of being submerged inside of her warm cunt. The smell of her arousal drifted towards him and a smile crept on his face at knowing that even in her sleeping state, she craved him as much as he wanted her.

He carefully rolled on top of her and made his way down to her rosy peaked nipples, clearly begging to be in his mouth. He nipped gently at the pebbled tip before he captured it between his lips, earning a delightful moan from his almost awake Omega. He turned his attention to the other breast, providing it with the same attention and then slowly dragged his tongue down her taut stomach, stopping just at her other set of curls. He blew gently across her quim and suddenly fingernails were aggressively scratching his scalp, encouraging him to continue on his explorative journey.

“Draco Lucius Malfoy. If you do not continue what you started, I swear on Salazar Slytherin’s overly manicured beard, I will use you as a practice dummy for my new defense against the dark art’s training.” A sensual and sleepy voice commanded him, his smirk in response being felt against her pussy as he slowly inserted one finger inside of her while his tongue found its way to her clit.

“As my lady commands…”  Draco smugly responded as he kissed her thigh.

She sighed deeply and leaned back into the pillows, giving in to the relentless pleasure her extremely gifted Alpha was dead set on providing.

Reluctantly, Hermione stood up from their tangled sheets and padded her way to their en suite.

Draco admired her naked form as he propped his head upon his hand. “Come back to bed, mon coeur. You can’t show me your beautiful arse and expect me to not want to fuck you,” he stated seductively as he patted the bed at her vacant spot.

Without turning around, Hermione rolled her eyes. “Draco, mon cul is getting in the shower and we are going to Hogsmeade. We cannot waste another weekend only having sex. My hips are starting to hurt...”

Draco groaned and whined out, “I don’t wanna go! I can get you a healer for your hips. There are other positions to try. It’s cold outside. You don’t want to go out there. Please?”

“Dragon…” she purred out in French. “Stop your whinging. We promised Harry, Pansy, and the rest that we would go. Now be a good Alpha and get up.”

He continued to pout as he threw his pillow over his face and proceed to have a mild tantrum.

Hermione giggled at seeing his 6’6” self kicking his feet and grumbling. “I’ll let you wash my back…” she sang as she sashayed her way into their bathroom.

Draco catapulted from the bed and sprinted past her. “Deal.”

She smiled and made her way into the already steam-filled room. Negotiating with Draco has rapidly become one of her favorite pastimes…

“Draco! Stop trying to orbit around me! I can’t walk when you are doing this!” Hermione chastised him as he tried to walk beside, in front of, and behind her in an effort to keep her protected.

“Fine. Get in my robe.” He opened his robe up to wrap it around her, a serious expression on his face.

“No. Draco. Just no.” She continued walking forward, picking up her pace to escape his ridiculous antics.

He stilled for a second before he closed his robes and trotted after her, quickly covering the distance, earning an eye roll from Pansy.

“That was stupid,” Pansy declared. She turned her head quickly in Harry’s direction before asking, “Are you sure you don’t need another scarf? I really don’t think two is enough.”

Harry shot his eyes over to her. He was wearing a fur ushanka, two scarfs, an outer heavy winter robe, mittens, and boots. “Thank you, but I am unusually warm.” He looked down at his newly received burgundy scarf from Pansy with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Strange how your elves messed up on your house colors and gave you Potter house colors. You’d think they would know by now.”

“Yes. Strange. Glad someone can get some use out of it.” Pansy mumbled.

“Wait…didn’t you knit that last weekend?” Theo asked, confused.

“Enough out of you, Himbo!” Pansy spit out at him as she pulled her robe up over her head. She increased her speed and darted ahead of the group.

Harry smiled to himself and wrapped the scarf a bit tighter around him. He shuffled as quickly as all of his layers would allow him after her, sparing a quick glance at Hermione running from Malfoy play-chasing after her still trying to encase her in his robes.

Blaise and Theo shared a look of mild concern and exasperation. “We are putting all of our drinks on Malfoy’s tab if we are having to deal with this shite,” Blaise murmured at Theo who nodded his head in agreement.

The warmth of the Three Broomsticks hit Harry in the face like he walked into an oven. His face was red and sweat was beading at his brow. Never in his life had he ever felt this hot. He quickly started removing articles of clothing in an attempt to escape the ever-growing heat in his body.

He untangled the first scarf around his neck but pulled the one from Pansy closer and took a deep breath in, relishing in her scent that lingered; ylang-ylang, bergamot, and the smell of fresh moss in the forest. His pupils dilated and even the dim candlelight in the pub felt too bright. He stumbled over to the table that Hermione and Malfoy were sitting at and took a seat next to his best friend as he panted out, “Is it really hot in here to you, Hermione?”

She angled her body towards him and quickly scanned his features, her healer training coming in. “You don’t look well. You look like… like you’re in heat…”

Draco’s eyes widen and his nose flared, identical to all the other male Alphas in the short radius around where Harry and Hermione sat. Almost as if it was choreographed, they all backed up, creating a ring around the duo. Like prairie dogs, Katie Bell and Daphne Greengrass’s heads perked up and looked in the direction of the newly presented Omega. Pansy, who was making her way back to the table from the bar with drinks in her hands, stopped short of the table and inhaled deeply, forcing the drinks in her hands to slosh over.

Theo and Blaise were behind her and attempted to rescue the drinks from her grasp. Pansy growled and snarled, “Back off!”

Draco quickly levitated the drinks from Pansy’s hands on to the table before he pulled Hermione out of the line of fire, suppressing a growl due to an agitated Alpha in his Omega’s presence.

“Come here, Omega,” Pansy ordered; her hand outstretched towards Harry.

Harry stood from his stool. In a daze, he found his way over to Pansy and placed his hand in hers. She pulled him close to her and threw him over her shoulder as she dashed with him back to the castle, leaving the whistles and catcalls from Theo and Blaise behind her.

Blaise turned to Theo. “Pay up. He presented before the new year. I win.”

Begrudgingly, Theo handed over the 100 galleons to Blaise. Blaise smiled as he counted the coins.

Draco smirked and leaned forward on the pub top. “Looks like you’ll be a shower only man for a bit there, friend. Pansy’s room is right near yours.”

The smile quickly dropped from Blaise’s face at that realization. He turned to the full room and shouted out, “Any other Betas feeling warm? Do I smell delicious to anyone? Anyone?!” He was greeted with awkward silence before he turned around and started to make his way to the exit.

“Where are you going?!” Theo called out after him.

“To take a bath!” Blaise shouted back.

Everything after Pansy taking Harry back to the castle faded into the background for Hermione. Her mind was too busy puzzling out the pieces of what she just witnessed regarding him. Of course, he is an Omega, not an Alpha. The fact that she had not put that together sooner was just embarrassing.

All of the signs were there… his tiny stature, his temperature regulation issues, Alphas circling him like vultures stuffing him with bacon… Riddle suppressed Harry’s Omega, thus stopping all Omegas’ from presenting.

Draco waved his hand in front of her face, trying to get her attention and snap her out of her thoughts. “Mon coeur?”

“Of course, he is an Omega!! How could I be so stupid?! Draco, to the board!” Hermione shouted unnecessarily loud in the now settled room.

Draco looked around the room, forcing anyone looking their direction to look away, his face set in a firm line that did not give any room for argument. “Did you still want to look for Christmas presents, or would you like to shop via owl? I know how much you enjoy checking things off a list…” he drawled.

Hermione was torn. She did like checking things off a list and Harry was going to be a bit occupied for a few days… “Presents first, then board.” Hermione finally declared. She paused and added, “Shall we add a ‘congratulations’ basket for Sirius?”

“Actually, it is a ‘thank you’ basket and it traditionally comes from the Alpha’s family, so the Parkinson’s will send him something,” Draco clarified with a slight smile at his mate’s cuteness.

“Oh…” Hermione softly stated, clearly crestfallen.

“But I see no problem with sending him something in congratulations. We may want to wait a bit so Madame Pomfrey can send the notices out, but let’s add it to the list.” Draco pulled her close and leaned down to kiss the top of her head.

She beamed up at him and grabbed his hand as they made their way out from the warm pub to the snow-covered town. Hermione was secretly thrilled to have so many people to buy for this year and her biggest worry was what to get the boy who had everything. It was going to be a very Happy Christmas indeed.

Hermione stood on the platform waiting for Draco to finish his Alpha duties herding the younger Slytherins into their compartments with their trunks properly stowed in preparation for the Yule break.

Him being all “Alpha-y” was super attractive and making her Omega purr. She could not wait to get him alone on the train to show him just how sexy she found him.

The scent of her arousal and her naughty thoughts assaulted Draco from across the way, making his head whip in her direction. The heat in his eyes was unmistakable, even from the distance he was at. He smirked and mouthed over to her, “Soon.”

She smiled and blushed, rubbing her thighs slightly to get some friction to ease the ache that his promise would eventually lead to.

Moments later, an aggressive hand waver caught her attention as he dragged a casually elegant Pansy Parkinson behind him. Hermione did a double-take at the man coming her way… Harry?

In the week since she had last seen him at Hogsmeade, Harry had transformed from a tiny Beta to a slightly less tiny, more matured, masculine-looking Omega. He was easily a few inches taller, broader shoulders, and sporting an attempt at scruff on his more defined face. His new designation certainly agreed with him.

“Harry, you look fantastic! Wow! Just…wow! How in the hell did you get taller and all I got was bigger boobs?! That is complete crap.” Hermione exclaimed, a mixture of impressed and annoyed.

“Because I made a man out of him, obviously,” Pansy proudly proclaimed. She placed a kiss on his cheek and adjusted his collar, showing off his mating bite. Harry flushed a bit at her touch and placed his arm around her waist, pulling her closer.

“Look at my chest hair, Hermione! Look at them! There’s two!” Harry pulled his shirt further down, shoving his chest in her general direction, earning him a growl as Draco came up behind her.

“Put your nipples away, Potter. No one wants to see that.” Draco snarled out.

“Speak for yourself,” Pansy responded, shooting a wink at her Omega.

Hermione cleared her throat. “Anyway… where are you two off to?”

“We are off to Sirius’ place first and then to the Parkinson’s for the last part of the break. He says thank you for the basket, by the way. He really liked the frisbee.” Harry answered and then excitedly added as he scanned the faces of the assembled group, “This is so great! We can all sit together!”

His bubbly announcement and evident inability to read body language or have any sort of situational awareness was met with exchanged glances between the three others, resulting in Pansy siding with her man. “Yes…great…we will all sit together. Yes, that is what we will do, right Draco?” Her eyes were laser-focused on the other Alpha, challenging him to not upset her Omega.

Draco glanced down at Hermione, quirking an eyebrow up at her, silently asking for her permission. She thought her approval at him but was slightly disappointed that the “soon” wasn’t going to be soon enough. He nodded his acquiescence at Pansy and Potter without taking his eyes off of her. He leaned down and whispered right in her ear, “Later…” His teeth grazed her earlobe, sending a shiver down her spine.

The quartet started to make their way to the train when Harry turned towards Pansy and asked, “Can we stop at the Gryffindor compartments so I can wish Ron a Happy Christmas and give him his present? I need to make sure he knows I won’t be coming back to the tower after break.”

“Of course, we can see the great ginger git. Lead the way, Bright Eyes.” Pansy looped her hand through the crook of Harry’s elbow and let him guide her through the crowded corridors to the rowdy lion section of the train.

They quickly found Ron sitting with Seamus, Neville, and Luna. Neville and Luna were all cozy and cuddled up, fresh from their own mating a couple weeks prior and were all shiny with the “new mate glow”.  Ron and Seamus were discussing the Beta-Carrying game that would be right after they got back from break.

Harry knocked on the door and slid it open as he called out his holiday greetings to his friends. All four heads looked up at him with different expressions.

Seamus’ recently regrown eyebrows popped up into his hairline. Neville wore a look of understanding as if a question was finally answered. Ron’s face registered a look of utter bewilderment, like he slept in late and missed the test entirely, the exact opposite of Neville.

Luna’s face was calm as she eyed Harry with a sagacious gaze. “You are finally free of those pesky blithersnaps. You now look exceptionally ordinary.” She placed her head on Neville’s shoulder and he placed his arm around her shoulders.

“You look well. Happy Christmas to you, too, Harry.” Neville said, a smile in his voice as he returned his attention to Luna.

Ron finally remembered to close his mouth and then he opened it to make words. “Harry?! What? How? Why? Is this why I always wanted to feed you?”

Harry chuckled. “I guess so. It was a surprise to everybody.”

“Speak for yourself…” Pansy stated for the second time that day, accompanied by an eye roll.

“I wanted to stop by and wish you Happy Christmas and give you your gift.” Harry pulled out from his robe pocket a shrunken parcel and handed it over to him. “I hope we can see you at the some of the parties over Yule or we can try to make our way to the Burrow. Either way, enjoy your break and I really hope you like your present.”  

Harry turned to head towards the Slytherin section with the Pansy, Hermione, and Draco but then popped his head back in and casually reminded Ron, “Don’t forget that I won’t be back in the Tower after break. I’ll be down in the dungeons with Pansy.” He closed the door and caught up to the other three, leaving a flummoxed Ron in his wake.

“Who am I going to feed now? Seamus, are you feeling peckish?” Ron wondered.

The lengthy train ride deposited the newest Malfoy couple at the King’s Crossing station where they quickly Flooed to Malfoy Manor. Draco classily exited the fireplace and Hermione tumbled out a bit clumsy. Her nerves radiated off of her as she anticipated meeting her father-in-law for the first time. She was glad that she had already met Narcissa, but Lucius was an unknown entity.

“He will love you. You are brilliant and beautiful and there is no reason for you to worry.” Draco nuzzled her hair and kissed her forehead as he attempted to reassure her.

As if he was summoned, Lucius appeared in front of them, the epitome of outlandish refinement. His wizarding robes were immaculate and perfectly tailored. They were slate blue with silver threaded Malfoy crests embroidered throughout them and it looked to be more muggle than wizard. He wore a cream-colored ascot with a Malfoy crest tie pin, cream-colored trousers, and carried a silver snake-headed cane. His white-blonde hair was pulled into a low queue. He had a reserved smile on his well-mannered face.

“Welcome to our home. May I call you Hermione?” He extended his hand out to her.

Thanks to the weeks of preparation by Draco, Hermione was prepared for this exact scenario, other than the outfit. That she was not prepared for.

She placed her hand on his, and he placed a gentle kiss on her knuckles. “Of course. Please do, Mr. Malfoy.”

His smile widen as much as propriety would allow. “Then you must call me Lucius.” He turned to lead them out of the receiving room. “Come. Cissa is waiting for us in the tearoom. Tella has informed us that you, Hermione dear, prefer rose tea so we have a pot waiting for you and your favorite scones.”

He glided so gracefully from the room; he may as well have floated out of it. Hermione looked down at her own feet. Never in her life had she managed to walk like that. Again, the Malfoys’ had inadvertently made her feel like a mashed potato…

Draco was delighted that his father was making such an effort to make Hermione feel welcome. Pride shone in his eyes as he murmured down to her, “He’s wearing one of his finest day robes. I think he’s trying to impress you.”

Hermione spaced out for a second as she scanned her mental Rolodex to place who Lucius reminded her of. A moment later, it came to her and she blurted out as quietly as she could, “Why does your father look like Brad Pitt in ‘Interview with a Vampire’?”

Draco immediately went from a face of happiness to extreme concern. “Who is this Mr. Pitt and why is he interviewing vampires? That’s very dangerous, Hermione!”

Hermione shook her head. “I’ve got to get you caught up on muggle culture. Muggle movies are going to blow your mind.”

A light bulb went off in her mind as that thought concluded. “I finally know what I am going to get you for Christmas… a Blockbuster Video card! Yes!” She excitedly did a little fist pump in victory over finally being able to check the last name off of her list.

“That sounds wonderful, my love,” Draco nodded his head, understanding nothing she just said. He was still trying to figure out why anyone would want to interview vampires…  

Chapter Text

Christmas morning at the Malfoys was an elegant, but welcoming, affair. Her mate and her in-laws wore matching monogrammed acromantula silk pajamas as they sat across from her and her family, who took a more casual approach in cotton plaid ones, while they enjoyed a delicious 6-course brunch prepared by Mipsy and the Malfoy house-elves.

“So, since Father Christmas has elves, is he also a wizard? I think that would explain so much about Jolly Old Saint Nick,” Herbie Granger asked trying to keep polite conversation flowing between courses.

 “Yes, it is known in the wizarding community that Nicolas Flamel is who muggles call ‘Santa’. He’s what you might call an ‘odd duck’, but he is a good man. He likes to live away from people, so the North Pole works quite well for him and his house-elves do most of the actual work. We see him around Samhain when he comes down to celebrate,” Lucius answered, calmly cutting his bangers into etiquette-acceptable bites.

Hermione stared wide-eyed at her father-in-law. “Truly? Why isn’t that in any books? I have read several books regarding wizard history and that isn’t ever discussed!”

“Well, my dear, wizard history is mainly oral to contend with the Statute of Secrecy. Plus, Flamel is related to me on my sister’s side through the Lovegood’s. He’s their many times' removed cousin.” Lucius responded and then cheekily added, “I’m sure you know he is the creator of the philosopher’s stone. What else did you think he was using it for? The man’s been alive for over 600 years…”

Hermione connected eyes with Draco across the table in an effort to confirm what his father was saying. Draco looked completely unsurprised by this information and was more shocked that she was shocked by the news. He simply nodded and went back to eating his pancakes.

Hermione shared a look with her parents, prompting her mother to tentatively ask, “So…presents?”

Brunch concluded and they transitioned to the formal sitting room with a beautifully decorated tree. An immense amount of presents circled the base for each person and after a couple of hours, all gifts were opened and the Grangers were apparated with the older Malfoys back home, leaving Draco and Hermione a few moments of reprieve.

“Did you enjoy Christmas?” Draco asked with a kiss to her temple as she snuggled into his side as they sat by the fire.

“It was lovely. I am so glad that my parents and your parents seem to have gotten along. And learning about St. Nick! And my gifts! Draco, you went above and beyond. The ring was more than enough, but the bracelet, the bracelet is my favorite,” Hermione sighed affectionately.

Draco had given her an absolutely stunning ring symbolizing their mating per tradition, similar to a Beta/Beta engagement ring, but the Pièce De Résistance was the magical charm bracelet he gave to her.

It was goblin silver with a peach, a book, a teacup, a dragon, and a Malfoy crest charm, all with magical properties.

The peach was a cheeky nod to her delicious arse that Draco could not help but admire and had the words “Mon Cul” engraved on it. It was set with a temperature charm to make sure she was always comfortable; not too cold, not too hot.

The book was basically a dicata-quill. It would allow her to record conversations, or her spoken thoughts, and would translate them to notes in a journal that Draco provided her as another one of her gifts.

The teacup provided her favorite pot of tea, whenever and wherever she wanted it. It was a combination of a portal and an “accio” charm as a very clever workaround for the five exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration.  

The dragon was laced with protection charms to keep her safe. It was embedded with an intent charm that could sense the purpose of someone close to her and could unleash a variety of hexes from minor stinging ones to a straight “patronum” charm. He made it emphatically clear that he was not taking her safety lightly. He was also made it emphatically clear that he did not doubt her ability to take care of herself, but he wanted her surrounded with the best means to do so.

The Malfoy crest charm included a blood magic-infused locator spell; another precautionary measure. It was the only one that raised her eyebrow a bit when Draco explained the various charms and their meanings.

“Isn’t blood magic dark magic?” Hermione asked, fingering the charm, concern in her voice.

“It’s grey if anything. Magic is intent-based, and any means necessary to protect you, I will use. You are my heart, my soul, my Omega. I love you and even saying that does not feel like enough to describe what I feel for you,” Draco quietly, but passionately, explained.

Hermione’s face softened at his words. She leaned up and placed a kiss on his lips as she whispered against them, “I love you too.”

The kiss quickly transitioned into a heated snogging session with Hermione straddling Draco, his hands wandering all across her body. A throat clearing behind them signaled the return of the older Malfoys and forced them to pause in their compromising positions before it escalated even further.

“Would now be a good time for fire whiskey in my office, Draco, or shall I give you a moment?” Lucius drawled, a smirk, one that his son had clearly inherited, on his face. “Hermione, Cissa is waiting for you in the tearoom when you are ready.”

Hermione’s cheeks and tips of her ears were a lovely shade of pink as she undignifiedly slid off of Draco and straighten her skewed pajamas as she attempted to right herself on her way out of the room.

“Yes…well ok then. Draco, I shall see you later. Lucius. Yes. Well then… Ummm… Tea. Tea is good. Tea-Tea. No. Ta-Ta. Ta-ta for now,” she rambled out as she scrambled from the room.

Draco watched her leave with amusement and awkwardness as he now had to adjust is raging hardon in front of his father as discreetly as possible. Pajamas did not provide nearly enough coverage to limit his discomfort.

He stood up and followed his father into his office and took a seat in his normal chair in the distinguished room. His father went to the well-stocked beverage cart and poured a fire whiskey for each of them and joined him in the opposite chair.

“Did it all go well with the Grangers?” Draco inquired, starting their usual tête-à-tête.

Lucius nodded his head. “Yes, we got them back to their home and conversed about wedding details for a moment. And by we, I mean Cissa and Maureen. I am sure Hermione is getting the briefing on what has been decided for her now.”

Draco chuckled at his father. “I am sure she is. Mother is a force to be reckoned with. I hope Hermione can hold her own.”

“If Hermione is an Omega anything like your mother, I am certain she will be just fine,” Lucius affirmed.

“Speaking of my fierce Omega, have you received an update from the Wizengamot regarding our application for her to continue her education at Hogwarts?” Draco probed.

“Unfortunately, our esteemed Chief Warlock Dumbledore has been rather elusive as of late, and we have not been able to review this Omega request, or any other Omega related cases, for that matter. Considering that he was the originator of all of these laws that are now being called into question, I find it to be rather coincidental. Don’t you?” Lucius asked with an arch in his brow.

Draco almost choked on his fire whiskey. “Dumbledore is the originator of the current Omega laws?! I know that he was the signer on them, per his position, but nowhere in our research did it show that he was the one to put the laws forward to the Wizengamot. How interesting, father.”

Lucius leveled a look at his son. “It’s amazing what picture can be painted when you are the one holding the brush.”

Draco nodded his head as he continued to ponder this new information. It sparked an additional thought as he remembered a note from Hermione’s board. “Father, did Dumbledore initiate the stricter house segregation rules as well? Hermione noted a shift of the houses and thought it might be worth further digging once we returned to school.”

Lucius smirked again and nodded. “My daughter-in-law is clearly a clever one, much like my Cissa. I am grateful that she talked the Sorting Hat into placing her into Slytherin instead of Ravenclaw. Had that blasted hat gotten its way, I would have probably missed out on your dear mother.” He paused for a moment and then sneered. “Such forced segregation limited us in a myriad of ways. The snakes were constantly sniping at each other. The badgers never gained a backbone. The birds were in the books and the lions were too brave for brains. Omegas are meant to be our counterparts and provide us balance. How can we find that if we keep only with those of like minds?”

Draco solemnly nodded his head. His father had given him plenty to think about and share with Hermione when they reconvened in their room later.

An entirely different, but equally important, conversation was taking place in the tearoom.

“As you can see on the board, we have our options arranged by season. Your mother and I are leaning towards a winter wedding. The icy colors work so well on both yours and Draco’s skin tones. The gardens are also lovely at that time of year and with the right weather charms, it can be a delightful looking winter wonderland with the temperature of a nice Spring day,” Narcissa presented with an elegant wave of her hand.

Hermione sat with her teacup poised against her lips as she was faced with a board that was oddly similar, but unmistakably different, then her own board. She was inundated with fabric swatches, cake options, floral arrangements, color samples and combinations, and dress and robe designs.

“Narcissa, may I ask a question?” Hermione requested. Narcissa nodded.

“How, pray tell, did you obtain sketches of me in various scenarios and all of my measurements? And is that a magical photograph of me…sleeping?” Hermione was trying to keep her voice calm; despite the panic she was feeling.

“Tella,” she quickly retorted. “How else did you think I would be able to determine that the icy colors worked best for you both? Please keep up dear. We only have a few months to plan all of the necessary events.”

“Necessary events?!” Hermione was no longer able to keep the panic from her voice.

“Yes; mating celebration, bridal shower, wedding rehearsal dinner, wedding, honeymoon, baby shower, babymoon, naming celebration, star or constellation dedication – depending on the name, of course – and of course any other engagements, birthdays, anniversaries, and all of the holidays in between, “ she evenly listed out on her fingers.  “Again, do keep up, dear. You may want to utilize your book charm on your bracelet. We have much to cover today.”

Hermione thought to Draco, “Your mother is a force to be reckoned with. Wow.” She felt his merriment at that and had to fight to suppress a smile as she addressed her very happy mother-in-law. “This is…impressive. You sure manage to keep a full schedule, and an organized one at that! I feel like I could learn a thing or two about planning from you.”

Narcissa blushed at the praise. “I do try to stay occupied, but it is easy to do that when I get to do what I love. Doing this brings me such joy and Lucius supports me wholeheartedly.”

“Did you ever want to do something else or was this what you envisioned for your future?” Hermione softly inquired, her mind on her own future as she contemplated the shape it was now going to be forced to take due to the current Omega laws.

Narcissa looked at the pensive witch and graced her with a gentle smile. “I love my life and I am doing exactly what I want to do, but to each their own, sweet girl. Happiness is a personal experience and if I know my son, he would rope the moon for you to provide you yours.”

Hermione looked up and returned her smile with a tentative one of her own. She had no doubt that her Alpha would do just that. 

Narcissa chirped out excitedly, “Now, bird options. We have the estate’s standard albino peacocks, but we could also do regular peacocks, swans, or doves. Phoenixes are a bit harder to come by, but if your heart was really set on them, I am sure we could arrange them. Oh, and if you wanted to go with a Spring wedding, we could go with Fwoopers! They provide a nice pop of col…”

Draco popped his head in, interrupting the fowl conversation earning him a look of thanks from his Omega and annoyance from his mother.

“I apologize, Mother, but Hermione and I have a conversation we need to finish. Do you mind if I borrow her for a few?” he politely inquired.

“If you must, but we have barely made a dent in our to-do list. Hermione, I will update the board and your mother with our notes thus far. I think widdling down the mating celebration invitation options down from 50 to 25 is a great start.” Narcissa relented as Hermione made her way towards her mate.

“I sincerely trust your judgment, Narcissa. Maybe when I come back you could present me with your top three?” Hermione asked hopefully.

Her mother-in-law bobbed her head and turned to focus her attention on removing the already rejected options from the board.

Hermione gave Draco a grateful glance and as he pulled her tighter to his side, he murmured, “It’s later, mon coeur…” His teeth grazed her neck, near her mark, and his words combined with that gave her a delectable chill. Later was now her new favorite time of day…

Yule break ended in a blink of an eye. It was full of celebrations, family, and deepening her relationship with her mate.

“Hopefully the others did too.” Hermione thought cheerily to herself while she waited at the station with Draco for familiar faces.

Harry bounced into view, full of energy, black hair wild and face full of excitement. He made a beeline over to her as soon as he spotted her.

“Hermione! Guess what!? We were at the park. He was using that frisbee from you, actually. Then he started chasing a bird. Different bird at first. Then another bird. A raven actually. Not a raven. A woman!” Harry incoherently rushed out. He took a deep breath to make up for the lack of oxygen from his previous rant and then exhaled, “And now Em is his mate…”

Draco could not be more confused by what he just heard if he tried. He looked to Hermione for translation as he had learned his lesson over Yule that he has yet to figure out how to speak “Potter”. 

He silently cocked his head and eyebrow down at her and she angled her head up to respond to his unasked question. “Sirius has found his mate and she is also an animagus, a raven apparently, and her name is Em…?” Hermione turned her head towards Harry.

“…Melia. Emelia Brockington. She’s from the States and she saved him. Sirius is saved! Best. Christmas. Ever!” Harry did a fist pump and a slight jump with excitement.

Hermione smiled at him and Draco was bemused by his mate’s best friend. His energy level was new to the more contained Slytherin but was infectious.

Harry continued, his volume rising even higher, “I had sex. Sirius had sex.” He pointed at the couple in front of him, “You probably had all sorts of sex!”

Hermione’s smile fell and Draco’s smile widened. Pansy strolled up behind Harry, levitating their trunks and rolled her eyes as she questioned, “Is he talking about sex again? Harry, we’ve talked about this. Time and place, love, time and place.” She locked eyes with Draco as she declared, “I swear, I’ve given him enough brain to raise his IQ that I should not have to keep having this conversation with him.”

Now, Draco’s smile fell, and Hermione started to full-on belly laugh. “I don’t want to hear about your head game, Pansy. We agreed no details after the New Year’s party and that overshare debacle,” Draco said exasperatedly, shaking his head.

Pansy opened her mouth to retort but was cut off by Theo who had joined their group with Blaise at the tail end of Draco’s statement and shouted, “No details, Parkinson!” He shoved his pointer finger in her face and then covered his ears in fear of what might come out of her mouth next.

Pansy huffed and a lull settled over them. After a beat, Harry tapped on Pansy’s shoulder and confidently vowed, “As long as you keep doing that, I plan on staying stupid forever.”

All of them shared a look and then let out boisterous laughs, surprising and turning the heads of everyone else waiting on the platform, especially a certain red-headed Alpha.

Harry caught the flash of red hair of his friend and excused himself to go and catch up, shouting his name repeatedly as he dashed over and began animatedly catching up with Ron.

“Weasley doesn’t look happy. I wonder what Harry is saying. I hope he’s alright. That ginger-headed fuck better not be upsetting my Omega.” Pansy aggressively voiced.

“I got this. I can read lips,” Theo volunteered. They all turned and looked at him, shocked, but curious enough to allow him to continue.

Theo version:  

Harry: ‘Why didn’t we see trolls in a tent? Did you lick servants? Did you goose out of it? Did you feet…’ “unintelligible.”

Theo turned and said, “I didn’t catch that part. Oh now, Weasley is speaking. Stand by.” He rolled his neck and narrowed his eyes as he zoomed in on Ron’s unexpecting lips and continued his horrible attempt at deciphering the distant conversation.

Ron: ‘I rode a burro?’ Theo then exclaimed excitedly, “He definitely said something about ‘Slytherins’ and ‘tardies’! Then he ‘spanked the moon?’ Something, something, ‘hard tits’ “

Blaise put his hand over Theo’s mouth, “You definitely do not have this. Never, in fact, do that again. I’m embarrassed for you and for us, actually.”

As Blaise finished his chastisement, Theo popped his head up and around Blaise’s hand and asked, “Did Harry get socks for Christmas? Is he showing Ron how he puts on a sock?”

The assembled bunch returned their attention to Harry and Ron’s conversation and Pansy tossed her hands in the air as she witnessed her Omega making obscene hand gestures and shooting thumbs up in her direction, all while clearly regaling his friend about his newly acquired sex life.

“Sweet Circe’s knees, Potter! We literally just talked about this! See if I try to raise your IQ now!” She shouted as she stomped over to him, much to Harry’s entertainment. He shot her a wink and a bright smile as he started darting between people in an attempt to playfully escape her.

A couple of calm minutes passed between those left when Theo, who never stopped staring at Ron, generally asked to no one in particular, “Does he want to hug me?” He looked for confirmation, and found none, but continued happily, “I think he wants a hug. I’m going to go hug him.”

Blaise shared a look with Draco. “This is not going to end well. I’m going to let this play out though.”

What was actually said…

Harry excitedly hammered his friend with questions. “Why didn’t I see you at any of the events? Did you like your present? Did you get good use out of it? Did you meet anyone? Get a mate? Sirius did! A mate, I mean.”

Ron, much more mutedly responded, “I stayed at the Burrow. They were Slytherin parties. Thanks for the broom, really. I flew around the yard a bit. Of course, I didn’t meet anyone. It was all Weasleys. But yeah, that is good for Sirius.” Ron made eye-contact with Theo. “Is that guy staring at us? Why is that guy staring at us? Is he challenging me?”

Harry turned to see what Ron was looking at. “That’s Theo. Don’t mind him but let me tell you about Pansy and me having sex!”

Ron, with a scrunched-up face, responded, “Godric, no.”  Theo was still staring at him, increasing his aggravation level by the minute. He puffed out his chest and threw his hands up. “Does he wanna fight?” Ron looked to Harry for an answer but found his friend gone and the jock looking Slytherin coming over with his arms outstretched.

“You wanted a hug? I’m game if you are,” Theo announced, oblivious to the hostile body language of the Gryffindor Alpha.

“No, I don’t want a fucking hug!” Ron thundered in response as he went low to tackle Theo, resulting in the two Alpha wrestling on the platform.

Blaise boredly called over to Theo, “When you’re done there, we’ll be in our compartment. Come find us.” He stepped over them and made his way on to the train.

Hermione and Draco shared another look.

“We need new friends,” Hermione admitted, only half-jokingly.

“I hear the Hufflepuffs are a tame crew. We could try there,” Draco responded while carefully carrying her over the impromptu wrestling match, joining Blaise on the train and catching a glimpse of Pansy still chasing a wildly grinning Harry.

"We can see if we can find Sinclair Heathrow on the train. Or Cedric Diggory. Maybe one of them can replace Theo. That lip-reading was awful. Entertaining, but awful," Hermione replied, grinning at her mate, who was still carrying her. "Are you going to put me down?" she asked once she registered he was still holding her.

"Nope," he popped the p on the end of the word and graced her with his rare, but oh so beautiful, full smile and continued to trail after Blaise on their way to the Slytherin compartment.

Chapter Text

Ron sighed loudly as he looked around the Great Hall over breakfast. He threw his head down on the table in pure frustration. He was…feeling…things and he did not like it one bit.

He continued to wallow in his misery until he heard a sound. An awful sound. A horrible, awful sound. He rapidly raised his head and found the source of the sound. Draco Motherfucking Malfoy was laughing. Laughing with Hermione sitting on his lap. Laughing with Harry sitting next to him being fed by Parkinson. Laughing loudly like he didn’t have a care in the world. It was complete bullshit and Ron was…something. Ron knew he was a feeling he didn’t know the word for. Hermione probably knew the word for it… Damn her and her brain being over on that blonde bastard’s lap.

Ron glared over at the Slytherin table, completely ignoring the feeble attempts of Lavender Brown’s flirting. Completely ignoring Seamus’s plate that he had slid over for a refill. Completely ignoring Neville trying to talk to him about the upcoming Quidditch game. He was too focused on being a bitter bitch to even take notice of his surroundings at all.

“I think Harry is waving at you,” an odd girl sitting next to Neville with a lion on her head said.

Ron was shaken from his scowling over at Hermione and Malfoy to see that Harry was, in fact, waving manically at him.

He turned to the odd girl and grunted out, “You have a lion on your head.”

She smiled at him and responded to him, “Of course I do. I’m excited about the match today. My Neville is going to be amazing.” She laid her head on Neville’s shoulder and he pulled her in to kiss her forehead.

Ron was puzzled. He had no idea who this girl was. “Who are you?” Ron commanded, gruffly.

Neville instantly turned to him with eyes blazing. “Watch your tone, Weasley,” he bit out ferociously.  “She is my Omega, Luna. We’ve been mated for over a month. We sit next to you daily. She talks to you all of the damn time. Is your head so far up your arse bemoaning what Malfoy has that you can’t see what is right in front of you?” Neville slammed his utensils down and grabbed Luna’s hand as they stood up from the table. “Gods, you’re exhausting. I don’t know how Potter put up with your pity party for so long.” He shook his head and made his way to the exit with Luna in tow.

The odd girl touched his shoulder briefly. “We will see you at the match and, you know, green really isn’t your color, Ron.”

Ron looked down at his jumper. He wasn’t wearing green. That girl was weird, and Neville was being annoying. It wasn’t Ron’s fault that he didn’t notice the girl before. She had never worn a lion on her head before! It had a mane and everything!

Harry was still waving at him across the hall. Waving and now walking over to him. Waving and now walking over to him wearing his fancy Slytherin robes. Waving and now walking over to him wearing his fancy Slytherin robes and his dumb Omega face with his stupid bite mark from that pug-faced bitch on display. It made his stomach hurt. He wanted his Beta friends back.

Ron missed feeding him bacon. He missed the talks in their dorm room. He missed Hermione’s notes and her doing his homework. He missed riling Malfoy up when he would hug her in front of him. He did not like that he lost them both to fucking snakes. He did not like it one bit.

“What are you doing over here, Potter? Did Parkinson let you off of your leash?” Ron sneered out.

Harry laughed, completely unbothered by the snark he was receiving. “I’m not the one with the leash; Sirius is, but Em is holding that leash now. You know that though. You got my letters. Where’d Neville go? You excited for the match? Did you see Luna’s lion hat? That was awesome! Maybe I could do a snake one? Do you want to walk down to the pitch together?” He finally paused and took a moment to catch his breath.

Ron tried to suppress the smile his friend’s rambling created. He wanted to be miserable, but it was nearly impossible to do so when Harry was being Harry. Damn him for making him feel more things that he didn’t have words for.

“Yeah, sure. Let’s go.” He pretended to reluctantly agree but was secretly excited to spend some one on one time with Harry for the first time since Yule break.

Harry turned towards the snake table and cocked his head towards it, silently inviting him to join them over there.

Ron’s whole body froze; his lip curled up in a snarl. “I thought you meant just you and I, not you and I and that whole slimy fucking table!”

“Oh well, it’s a party then! Come on!” Harry said as he reached back taking Ron’s hand to guide him over.

Ron snatched his hand back like Harry burned him. “Never mind then. I’ll walk with the rest of the Gryffindors like I fucking should.” He turned around from Harry and looked around for the rest of his Quidditch teammates.

Harry looked hurt by his friend’s rejection. “You sure? You’re welcome to join us anytime, you know…”  He slowly walked back to the Slytherin table and shook his head at Hermione, indicating that Ron had declined his invitation.

Ron felt anger. He knew that emotion. How could Harry think that he would just go and become friends with Malfoy and all of those snakes? He was a lion and lions stuck together. This whole mixed house pairing shit was all sorts of fucked up.

“Young Mister Weasley, where is young Lord Potter? I thought you two were always together.” Dumbledore asked as he walked over to the angry Alpha. “Oh, I forgot. He’s mated to Miss Parkinson now, isn’t he? Or is she now Lady Potter? Hmmmmm…” the older Alpha appeared to be pondering his own question as Ron tried to reign in his surprise at the Headmaster addressing him.

“He’s with her and Hermione and Malfoy,” Ron spit out, acidly.

Dumbledore gave him a pointed look, one overflowing with empathy at the perceived loss of his friends. “Times are certainly changing and maybe not for the better. I had always thought that you and Miss Granger would have been a lovely pair. Pity that young lord Malfoy struck his claim first, especially since you were there in the room when she presented. Could that be why he bit her so quickly? With all of those Alphas in the room, who knows who her actual mate could have been?”

Oh. My. Fucking. Godric. He was right. That fucker bit her right under his nose. Ron never had the chance to see if she was his mate. That fucking blonde git took what should have been his. Oh, this Quidditch match today was going to be fucking bloody. Thank fuck they were playing Slytherin today. He would show Hermione who was the better Alpha…

Or not… as they lost horribly. Ron could not get his head in the game for shit and the final score was 20 - 450. Ron wasn’t just angry; he was fucking pissed.

He left the locker rooms with the rest of the team and ran right into the people he absolutely did not want to see. Harry and Hermione were decked out in green and silver and were waiting for the Slytherin’s to come out of their locker rooms.

“It was a good game, Ron. Well fought. I thought Dean was really getting his rhythm there near the end right before Big D caught the snitch on our side,” Harry excitedly called out.

“Big D.” Ron scoffed.

“Oh yes,” Hermione responded quietly but confidently with her cheeks tinted pink.

Ron scoffed again while Harry continued, yet again unbothered by Ron’s attitude. “You know for someone so big; he is pretty light on a broom - very agile and nimble. It’s quite impressive. He’s lucky to have Daphne and Pans as his beaters keeping those bludgers away from him.”

Malfoy came up behind Hermione and wrapped her in a hug, completely encasing her and drawled out, “I’m not that impressive, am I, Hermione?” He placed a kiss on the top of her head, earning him a gentle smack in his direction.

Her blush almost matched Ron’s hair color. “I am not going to dignify that with an answer. Your ego is big enough,” she responded tartly.

Ron smirked at her sass. Maybe Dumbledore was on to something about them not being true mates if that was how she was talking to that git.

Right at the conclusion of his thought, he felt the powerful glare of Malfoy, almost making him flinch under the intensity of it, but he refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing he was making him squirm a bit.

Malfoy stood to his full height while still wrapped around Hermione. He narrowed his eyes and snarled his lip before he calmly rumbled out, “Bit slow out there today, Weasley. Did you not have a lot of time to practice over Yule on that new broom Potter got you?” He leaned down and then placed a possessive kiss on the obvious mating mark on Hermione’s neck while maintaining eye contact with the other Alpha.

Ron flushed a horrible color of puce and he was practically foaming at the mouth with pure rage at Malfoy’s evident display of dominance. He stood tall and puffed his chest out, baring his teeth and letting loose a deep growl. This bloody wanker was just asking for his arse to be kicked and Ron couldn’t wait to deliver. He stepped forward into his face and stood on his toes to try to make up the height difference, still falling a bit short, unfortunately, but Ron couldn’t be bothered to give a fuck. He wouldn’t back down. Not this time.

Malfoy rapidly moved Hermione and Harry behind him and leaned forward, returning the growl with one of his own, deeper and louder, a whole octave lower than the one that he let out.

Right as Ron was about to land a punch on his smug face, Harry popped around Draco and exclaimed, “Hey, D, why’d you move me back? Are you standing on your toes, Ron? Do your feet hurt from gripping your broom? Pansy’s feet hurt all of the time from wearing heels. We get a salve from Snape. Do you want some? I can have some sent to the tower for you by one of my elves. It smells like blackberries!”

Harry smiled at Ron, breaking him out of the aggressive trance Malfoy had placed him in. Embarrassed that he was called out for being up on his toes and the fact that Harry thought it was ok to throw it in his face that he has elves – again ­– he turned and sneered out, “No, I don’t want your fucking Snape shoe salve!”

His tone made Harry flinch back, further pissing Ron off. Harry had never been scared of him before. Malfoy postured up again as he went to protect the Omegas in his presence. Harry ducked back behind him making the fight run out of Ron. He exhaled a huge breath and turned his back on the whole assembled group with a scoff and trudged his way back up to the castle.

Ron couldn’t believe the look on Harry’s face. He should know better that he would never hurt him but being around those pansy-arse snakes had made him forget who his real friends were.

Ron chuckled to himself at that thought. Pansy-arse. Ha! I’m fucking hilarious! He’d talk to Harry tomorrow once Harry came to his senses. Fucking Omegas, man. They just make us Alphas weak… Malfoy was being such a fucking ponce over them that I could have easily kicked his arse. Fuck, I hate that git…

Once Ron was out of sight, Draco relaxed his posture and turned towards the Omegas behind him and gave them a once over to confirm they were OK.

“I didn’t know that Quidditch needed to end with a wand measuring contest. Care to explain what in the world that was about my love?” Hermione asked cautiously in respect of her mate’s palpable agitation.

Draco pulled Hermione to him and buried his nose in her neck, letting her scent soothe him before he answered. “He was out of line and needed to be reminded of his place.” Draco shook his head and then added, “Also, it appears that our illustrious headmaster has been feeding him some disturbing lies that certainly warrant some further investigation. Be on guard around Weasley. I trust him as far as you could throw him, Hermione.”  He kissed her temple gently to accent the subtle jest of his words.

Hermione scowled at his snarky comment but nodded her agreeance at his concern. It was actually kind of nice that someone, besides her, was being subjected to his legilimens skills for once…  She was about to respond but was interrupted by a very loud, wet, and half-dressed Pansy skidding to a stop next to Harry.

Her hair was dripping water from the locker room shower and she was shoeless with her blouse misbuttoned. Her eyes were wide with alarm as she looked Harry up and down while moving his limbs around to ensure nothing was broken. “Harry, what happened? I sensed you were distressed. Who upset you? I will rip their head off and use it as a bowling ball! Someone better start speaking and fill me in now,” she ordered, her voice laced with panic.

Draco shared a look with his fellow Alpha and simply said, “Weasley.”

Pansy snarled out her frustration at the ginger. She had been tolerating him for Harry, but if that carrot cocked motherfucker was going to upset her Omega, she would eviscerate him. She turned to try to follow him, but Harry grabbed her hand and placed a kiss on it, instantly defusing her anger.

“Pans, I appreciate your anger, but he’s not worth it. We can work off your anger in other ways.” Harry wagged his eyebrows at her suggestively.

Pansy looked at him and raised her eyebrow at his blatant innuendo and smiled. She took his other hand and dragged him to the locker room. “We’ll catch up to you all later! Draco, don’t kill Weasley without me!” she shouted over her shoulder as Harry picked up the pace and was basically dragging her, eager to get her alone. As they got closer to the locker room, Pansy yelled, “Everyone get the fuck out! It’s about to get kinky in here!”

Draco and Hermione simultaneously cocked their heads in the wake of what they just witnessed. Draco cleared his throat in an effort to clear the awkwardness that had surrounded them. “So… dinner?”

Hermione smiled at her adorable Alpha. “Can I interest you in a pre-dinner workout?” She mimicked Harry by wagging her eyebrows at her mate.

“Mipsy!” Draco bellowed. Instantly, the elf was at his side. “Please get us to our room. Immediately.”

The elf gave him a nod and took both of their hands, popping them right to their bedroom before giving them a little knowing smirk and then disappearing.

“We could have walked, Draco,” Hermione retorted as she was pulling her shirt over her head.

“No. My dick was too hard,” Draco stated matter of factly as he removed his pants to prove his point. He slowly descended on his woman, successfully kissing away any other objections she might have. Dinner would have to wait for a couple of hours…

The next morning found Ron more bitter than the day before. He didn’t like how he left things with Harry, but he shouldn’t have embarrassed him. If he was still in Gryffindor, that whole shite show wouldn’t have gone down…

Harry was sitting across from him, next to that black-haired bint, at the snake’s table. Normally by now, Harry would have at least waved at him, but he wasn’t even looking at him. What the fuck was his problem? And what the fuck was she doing? Was she levitating a waffle towards him?? The fuck?!

Ron looked around to try and find a Beta to feed and instead he almost threw up at what his eyes landed on instead. His own fucking sister, Ginny, was talking to a Slytherin. Blasé, or whatever the fuck his name is, was standing way too close to her and she was smiling a stupid creepy smile that made Ron enraged. No way in hell would his sister be an Omega and no way in hell would she be into a Slytherin. That shit was not happening. Not on his watch. Oh, fuck no…

“Why are you talking to him?! Don’t fucking talk to him!! Don’t talk to her! Get away from my sister, you cunt!” Ron roared as he charged towards his sister to shield her from whatever spell that Slytherin was trying to place on his sister.

“Ron! Back off! Blaise and I are just talking, and I can talk to whoever I want. You aren’t Dad!” Ginny screeched back at him while leaning into the other Alpha, who was clearly baffled by the screaming siblings.

She grabbed Blaise’s hand and pulled him out of the Great Hall as the bell rang, leaving a heaving and steaming Ron behind. He flopped back on the bench in a daze at what just happened as the room cleared out around him. He would certainly be having words with her tonight in the tower about how stupid she was being. He might not be Dad, but it was his responsibility to take care of her while at school and she needed to respect that.

Dumbledore gave a little cough to announce his presence as he genteelly sat next to Ron.  Ron still jumped at his sudden appearance and gave a surprised yelp. He nodded his head in respect before he buried it in his hands. This day was garbage.

“I am sure you will be able to make her see reason, son. Sometimes those we love just need guidance in the right direction. It is our job as Alphas to be strong and not let the weak be our compass. Even if we are to be paired off, two by two, it doesn’t negate our familial responsibility. My door is always open to a fellow lion, dear boy. You should come by later so we can further this discussion. The password is ‘Gumdrops’,” the older Alpha civilly instructed.

Ron looked up to agree but he was already gone. He was glad to have the man’s ear. With all of the nonsense going around him right now, he needed someone that could understand him. He pulled himself up and made the walk to Transfiguration. If he hurried, he would still make it in time and escape the wrath of McGonagall…

Ron’s brooding had reached an epic level. His angst was almost tangible, and it basically erected a barrier between him and everyone else. The only person he was still talking to was the Headmaster. For the last month, Ron had been joining him for tea in his office about every other day.  He firmly believed that he was the only one left that he could trust since everyone else seemed fine with all of the house mixing and all of the bullshit associated with it. Dumbledore saw it for what it was; a cauldron about to boil over…

Speaking of boiled over cauldron’s, Ron glowered at the big fat Troll grade at the top of his last potion’s assignment. That greasy bat had him still paired with that big tooth goof, Neville, and the first time he let them actually brew something in almost 5 months, it was a disaster. The boil’s cure boiled over and eroded their table and their books. Snape snapped at him for letting Neville touch the cauldron and gave them a T as well as detention so they could clean up their mess. Ron was livid. He shouldn’t have to be that guy’s babysitter and he shouldn’t have to clean like an elf just because Neville was pants at potions. And just because he didn’t want to be Neville’s partner, didn’t mean he wanted to be that Nott guy’s partner either. Every class, he was coming over to talk to him and would not take a punch to the face as an answer. Those fucking snakes were making him miserable…

If Snape hadn’t had them work on that potion in class, he wouldn’t be in this mess. Hermione was probably forced to do it by that wanker. Dumbledore never asked for her help and if Malfoy hadn’t helped her with that damn potion, it probably never would have worked. Now she was a fucking Omega and a Malfoy to boot. She should have just stayed a Gryffindor like Dumbledore said. What does Malfoy have that he doesn’t?  He played Quidditch like Malfoy. He could feed her like Malfoy. He could fuck her like Malfoy – probably better even! She didn’t even give him a chance before she ran off with another man…

“Right on time, my boy!” Dumbledore happily declared as Ron entered his office, still fuming over his potions grade. The headmaster took one look at his face and inquired as to what was wrong.

Ron sighed and recited his frustrations to Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling with glee over the discord he was sowing in the mind of the impressionable young man. When Ron got to his point about her not giving him a chance and running off with another man, the other Alpha hummed sympathetically.

He steepled his fingers under his chin and leaned back in his chair. “I understand, son. Omegas are delicate creatures and are completely dependent on their Alphas in a way that cannot be healthy for them. They are like sheep that should be fostered by Alphas who possess their same traits and keep them from being controlled by their biology. A lion and a snake cannot breed with successful results. I speak from experience. Many years ago, I tried to find a mate from another house, and it ended in heartbreak for me. It forced me to separate the houses for the wellbeing of all who attend Hogwarts and give them a chance for a happy life outside of these walls. All of the previous successful pairings have all been from the same house, much like your own parents, Mr. Weasley. They are a fine example of what a mated pair should be. Same house, same values. They have also been gifted several children due to that. I am gravely concerned for the young Mrs. Malfoy. I see the path she is on is full of obstacles and I know that given the chance, you could be a good friend to her and save her from herself,” Dumbledore disclosed, leveling Ron with a fierce gaze that matched the severity of the weight of his words.

Ron was completely taken in by Dumbledore’s speech. He was right. He could save Hermione and then help Harry get away from the viper who had sunk her fangs into him. He ejected himself up from the chair that he had flopped into and exploded, “You’re right! They need me!” He bent down to grab his bag and darted out the door.

Dumbledore was ecstatic at how quickly he had gotten that dumb sod to buy into his propaganda. He schooled his features and called out after him in a fatherly tone, “I would check the library, Mr. Weasley. I believe Mrs. Malfoy has sought reprieve from the dungeons there.” With any luck, Plan B would be completed this evening and things would finally start sorting themselves back out as they should have.

Ron darted to the library and sure enough, Hermione was seated at a table in a far corner, surrounded by books and no Malfoy in sight. He smiled at the familiar sight and couldn’t wait to see this every day in the tower again once he righted the wrong that had happened. He pulled out the chair next to her and nosily sat down, finally catching her attention.

“Ron? Are you lost? You do know you are in the library, right?” Hermione questioned; her brows furrowed in misunderstanding.

Ron chuckled a bit. For someone so smart, sometimes she just didn’t see what was right in front of her… “No, I am here for you.” He smiled at her and touched her forehead. He found her confusion adorable.

“Ummmmm…why? I don’t take your classes anymore, so I don’t have any notes to share with you,” she replied, her bewilderment exacerbating at his odd response.

Ron leaned in and grabbed her hands with one of his hands. “No, I am here to save you from Malfoy. You belong with the same house. It’s like Dumbledore said, ‘same house, same values.’ I can get you back to where you belong.” He pulled her up and tried to lead her to the doors of the library.

Hermione started to panic. Ron was not making any sense and him mentioning Dumbledore made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. If that reprehensible wolf in lion’s clothing had gotten his claws in Ron, it did not bode well for either of them at this current moment. She tried to pull her hands out of his grasp, but that only made him grip her tighter. She thought to Draco her distress and could feel his responding anxiety as he drew closer to her location. Any moment, he would be coming for her, but Ron was scaring her.  He seemed manic and started muttering more regurgitated drivel from the manipulative Headmaster.

“Ron! You’re hurting me! Let go!” she cried, forcing the charm on her bracelet for protection to finally activate, launching him away from her.

He cried out in pain and frustration. Why was she being so stubborn? Couldn’t she see that Malfoy was all wrong for her? He went to grab her again and was greeted by a surprisingly firm right hook. It surprised him enough that she was able to scurry past him and into the waiting arms of one very angry Draco Malfoy.   

Draco scanned her quickly to assure himself that she wasn’t injured and in an eerily calm voice explained, “He will know after today to never touch you again. I cannot let him walk away unscathed this time, love. Wait for me in our room. I will be along shortly.”

Hermione was not normally a fan of violence, but Ron was out of line and she knew that Draco needed to protect her due to his Alpha instincts. She kissed his cheek and turned and left him to handle the situation as he saw fit. She wasn’t going to try to talk him out of this. Ron had been an arse for too long, so maybe getting his beat might be what he needs to get his head out of it…

She started to make her way back to the dungeons and came across a quill laying on the ground. Odd… it was a nice one; phoenix feather. The owner would certainly want it back. She would if it was hers. She picked it up and then…she was gone.

Chapter Text

Draco, Pansy, Harry, Theo, Blaise, and newly presented Omega Ginny were exiting the Great Hall together to make their way to the library to connect with the ever-diligent Hermione.

Draco had made sure that Tella had fed his mate, despite her apparent inability to leave the library until she completed her research on the growing enigma concerning Dumbledore. She had linked him earlier that she had a huge Eureka moment and asked for them all to join her to get the latest update.

The group was amicably chatting with each other, the influence of the cheerful Potter evident in how much more relaxed the Slytherins were out in public. The Omegas, in general, had definitely dropped the testosterone levels of the nation by a few levels…thankfully.

Draco stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes wide and his face morphed into one of panic and then quickly into one of anger. “I have to go. Hermione needs me.” He took off into a full sprint, leaving a wave of confusion in his wake.

Pansy shouted after him, “What’s wrong!?”

His one-word answer spoke volumes as he spitted out, “Weasley.” The name rolled off his tongue like a curse.

Recognition registered on the Slytherins’ faces and shame on Ginny’s.  Pansy’s eyes connected with Harry’s. She called after Draco, “Don’t forget I’m supposed to help you kill him!” She turned and barked orders out to the remaining group, shaking them from their stupor.

“Hey! That’s my best friend you are talking about!” Theo shouted at Pansy.

“He punched you in the face. I don’t think he shares the same sentiments of friendship with you, Theo dear,” Pansy said as she cupped his cheek right before she smacked it. “Now, go get Madame Pomfrey. Your friend will be in need of her services.”

“He is my friend. He just isn’t good with his words…” Theo mumbled off to himself as he stomped in the direction of the infirmary.

Harry looked around, perplexed. “I think Theo stole my line. Wasn’t I supposed to comment about Ron being my friend?”

Pansy pinched the bridge of her nose. “Not now, Bright Eyes. Focus.” She took a settling breath and then directed out, “Blaise, you and Ginny need to get Snape. Harry and I will summon our elves and let the parents know – Draco’s, Hermione’s, and ours – just in case.”

Draco barged into the library, seething with pure unadulterated fury. He locked eyes with Weasley who was pacing back and forth, like a wild animal in a cage.

“How dare you think you can put your hands on her?” Draco gritted out through clenched teeth, flashing his sharpened canines.

“You dared to bite her! She was supposed to be mine! You took her and poisoned her like the snake you are!” Ron growled back, flexing his shoulders and neck, getting ready to attack.

The two Alphas circled each other in a predatory fashion, each attempting to ascertain their opponents’ weaknesses. Ron stalked forward, a lion about to pounce on his prey, confident that his bulk would give him the win. Draco coiled like a snake, ready to strike, cool and calculated despite the anger flowing through him.

Ron charged at Draco. Draco went low and caught him with ease, tossing him over his shoulder, forcing a groan from the other Alpha. He recovered quickly and lowered his shoulder to knock it into Draco’s stomach. It caught him right in his sternum and launched Draco into the bookshelf right behind him, knocking books down around them. Ron smirked for a moment at having landed a hit, but it was quickly struck off his face as Draco’s left hook connected with his jaw with so much power, Ron knew it was broken.

Draco’s blows became relentless. Hit after hit rained down on Ron, constraining his movements to be only defensive. It felt like Draco was striking him everywhere at once. Draco fought primal and purely instinctual, making him lethal and unpredictable. Ron was not a match for the other Alpha and as he was about to accept defeat, Draco fell off of him with a wail of pain.

Draco doubled over as he clutched his chest. He was howling in anguish, panting for air. His eyes alternated between being wide in pain and scrunched in trying to contain the throbbing in his head. “H-h-her-Hermione…” he gasped out.

Ron opened one eye, assessing the scene around him. He was happy that he wasn’t getting his ass beat anymore, but he didn’t trust the snake at all. He could be trying to get him to lower his guard and then go in for the kill. Ron wasn’t going to fall for his tricks. He scrambled to his feet right as Harry, Pansy, Blaise, Ginny, Theo, Snape, Madame Pomfrey, and two elves burst into the library.

Snape quickly scanned the room and noticed his godson in pain and his godson’s mate not there. He rushed to Draco’s side, robes billowing behind him. “Where is she?” He demanded towards the room in general, his eyes blazing with accusation.

Draco was drenched in sweat. He was barely coherent as he forced out just one word in no more than a whisper. “Gone.” His eyes rolled back in his head and he passed out, succumbing to the agony of having his mate ripped from him.

All eyes turned towards Ron. He was surrounded by faces of anger, sadness, and confusion. He put his hands up in surrender. “She left here after her bracelet hexed me! I swear it! I didn’t send her anywhere and I don’t know where she is!” His words were slurred and almost unintelligible from his broken jaw and other facial wounds.

Harry stepped towards Ron, his eyes mirroring the confusion in his voice. “How did you know she was here? You weren’t in the Great Hall, so you wouldn’t have known she wasn’t there for dinner. She doesn’t share classes with you anymore and this was the first time she’s been in the library in months.”

Ron looked around; anxiety painted on his features. He licked his lips, the taste of copper lingering on his tongue from where Draco’s fist had connected with his face. He felt nervous with the number of eyes on him and also was getting a strange feeling like he didn’t know something that they knew that they thought he should know but didn’t know if he knew it or not. He cleared his throat and mumbled out, “Dumbledore told me.”

That one sentence sparked a flurry of activity by those around the baffled and battered Ron.

Madame Pomfrey stepped forward and quickly cast an “Episkey” to right his jaw and ran a quick diagnostic to determine how long of a night the poor boy would be having with Skelegrow, tonics, and salves. The young Malfoy lord had done a number on the youngest Weasley male, but what was more concerning was the number of “Oblivates” her scan noted. 

Snape, tending to his godson right by the Weasley boy, saw the item of concern and nodded once at the Healer to let her know that he saw what she saw and once they were in a room with less ears, they would most certainly have a conversation regarding her new findings. Snape stood and looked at Pansy and her Omega. “Join us in the infirmary once you have informed those who need to know.”

The Healer and the potion’s master quickly transported their respective patients to the infirmary and cast several privacy and silencing charms. The shit was about to hit the fan. Dumbledore had gone too far this time and Snape refused to allow this opportunity to pass him by.

Harry and Pansy dashed to their Common Room to make a floo call to Sirius and Blaise escorted Ginny to Gryffindor Tower to floo call her parents to update them on Ron. Blaise was also dragging a petulant Theo behind him, reassuring him that they would visit Ron once Ginny called her parents.  

Mipsy and Tella, the two elves Ron had noticed as part of the group who came into the library, popped away to update Lord and Lady Malfoy. With tear-filled eyes, Mipsy informed Lord Malfoy about Draco’s current condition. Lucius stood rapidly, his anger and fatherly concern filling the room. His eyes were hard as he trained them on Tella. In a crisp tone, he asked the quivering elf, “Can you feel her?”

The small elf shook her head, tears streaming down her face. “No, Mistress is lost.” She buried her face in her hands, shame shaking her body.

“Go to Draco. Be by his side. He will need you there when he wakes up,” Lucius placed gentle kisses on Narcissa’s hands as he pulled her to stand. “Mipsy, take your Lady to Draco. Tella, stay here at the mansion in case Hermione is able to make her way here.” He turned to exit the room; purpose evident in his stride.

Narcissa called after him, “What are you going to do, my darling?” She had clasped hands with Mipsy and could feel the elf’s power starting to transport them to her son’s side. She locked eyes with her Alpha and the determination she saw there filled her with confidence.

“Whatever it takes,” he responded, finality and authority present in every syllable. He gave her a warm look as the elf’s magic took her away and once she was gone, he set to work to find his daughter-in-law. No resource would be spared and Salazar help those who caused his family harm.

The swirling, dizzying feeling of the Portkey faded as Hermione landed in a cold, dark room. She was disorientated, freezing, scared, and a myriad of other emotions, some hers and the rest were Draco’s. His anxiety was choking her, exacerbating her own.

She tried to cast her thoughts at him to let him know she was OK, but she was met with silence, like the thoughts were being blocked from reaching him. That fact raised her alarm immensely and Hermione wanted to give in to the panic that was threatening to overtake her, but she talked herself into assessing her situation first.

She knew she still had to be at Hogwarts, or close to it, since she could still feel Draco. She felt around for her wand and was relieved to find it still lodged in her wand holder on her arm. She quickly drew it and cast a silent “Lumos”. She was too rattled to trust herself to do wandless magic at the moment…

Brandishing her wand like a torch, she saw she was in some sort of underground chamber. There was a moat circumnavigating a few snake statues and a statue of a man. It smelt like the Black Lake, tinged with death and it accented how cold Hermione was starting to feel. She had forgotten how cold she could be as she had gotten acclimated to having Draco and his warmth surround her all the time. She started to shiver, both from fear and from the cold that was sneaking into her bones.

All of a sudden, a rush of warm air encircled her. Her shivering stopped and the feeling of Déjà vu hit her as she looked into the concerned filled eyes of one Lucius Malfoy.

“Staring off into space, shaking like a leaf isn’t like you, Hermione, my dear. Did your tutors not teach you warming charms?” He asks with his head cocked causing his long hair to fall over his left shoulder.

His aristocratic façade was firmly in place, but Hermione could see the lines of worry around his mouth and eyes and his thumb was in constant motion rolling over the top of the snake head on his cane.

“How is Draco? How did you find me? Where am I?” Hermione rushed over to Lucius and stopped herself one moment away from hugging him. He didn’t give off “hugger” vibes and she didn’t want to add a layer of awkward to this already shitty situation.

His eyes softened as she saw her hesitation. He reached out and pulled her to him and gently stroked her hair. His Alpha instincts, and familial instincts, dictating that he offer some comfort to the sweet girl. He felt her take a deep calming breath against him and then she pulled back as she composed herself.

“We don’t have a lot of time. Draco needs you back by him now. Give me your hand. I’ll portkey us out of here.” Lucius commanded; his cadence significantly faster than his normal drawl.

She placed her hand in his and again questioned, “How did you find me? Where are we? Why do we need a portkey?”

He looked down at her wrist, zeroing in on her charm with the Malfoy crest. “Blood magic has its uses. I would do anything for my family. You are everything to Draco, just as Cissa is to me. We would tear the world apart at your command, so really, dear girl, finding you wasn’t too hard.” He smirked a bit and tightened his grip on her hand. “Hold on. This chamber is one that has held many secrets and appears to have been warded a bit different from my last trip here.”

Narcissa’s attempts to calm down her growling, pacing, child were in vain. Ever since he regained consciousness, he had made continued efforts to leave the infirmary and go and find Hermione himself. It was only after the 20^th time of Narcissa’s assuring him that his father was out looking for her that he begrudgingly agreed to stay put.

Snape had pulled Narcissa aside to share with her what they had found regarding the Weasley boy and his constant “Oblivations”. His mind had clearly been messed with in ways that spoke of a long time of manipulation. Couple that with Hermione’s sudden disappearance, and the supposed “Leader of Light” was looking rather dark…

As if he was summoned, Dumbledore strode through the infirmary door and made his way towards Draco. A deep growl emanated from the young Alpha, hatred rolling off of him in waves.

The older wizard seemed completely ignorant of the agitation he was inspiring from the other wizard and looked at him with a sparkle in his eye and spoke at him in a clearly practiced patronizing tone as he said, “Mister Malfoy, your aggressive behavior this evening is well beyond the tolerated level for an Alpha. I regret to inform you that I must ask you and your Omega to leave. Please collect Omega Malfoy and depart from the castle.”

The entire room froze at Dumbledore’s announcement. Never had anyone been kicked out of Hogwarts, and certainly not a Malfoy. And everyone in that room saw through his bullshit of trying to play it off like he did not know that Hermione was not there.

Snape was the first to speak up and simply said, “That would be difficult to do since the young Mrs. Malfoy isn’t here at the moment.” He looked the old man in the eye the entire time he spoke, showing no fear, and without a doubt he knew why she wasn’t there.

“Where has she gone off to? It’s against the law for an Omega to be away from her Alpha. An overly aggressive Alpha and a rouge Omega… I feel that this isn’t just a school offensive now. I will need to get the Auror department involved.” Dumbledore could barely contain his glee. He would get rid of the Malfoy and that cursed Omega, all in one nice little package.  He scanned around the room and was elated to see that Sirius Black was already present, no doubt at the calling of the damn Potter brat. This was playing out better than he hoped…

Dumbledore cleared his throat delicately before he calmly asked, “Lord Black, could I trouble you to act in authority of the Auror department this evening and begin looking for the Malfoy Omega? Clearly, not all was what was projected amongst those two. I do hope that the poor girl is alright.” With his last words, he fixed his gaze on the two Malfoys in the room as they visibly bristled at his slight. He made no outward expression, but internally, he was elated. Taking the Malfoys down a peg certainly felt quite nice.

Before Sirius could answer, Hermione and Lucius walked through the infirmary doors. She had her arm linked through his, as proper etiquette required, and besides being a bit dirty, looked no worse for wear.  Draco audibly exhaled and rapidly made his way over to her to wrap her in a bone-crushing hug. He quickly nodded his thanks at his father and then began running his hands and eyes all over her to see if she was alright. She shared a quick thought with her mate and then examined the room, pleased to see all who were there. This would make it a lot simpler…

Dumbledore was speechless. His brain could not calculate the fact that this little Omega had thwarted him, and in such a short period of time too. He planned on keeping her in the chamber for some time, to really sell the theory that she had run off. It would have devastated the Malfoy heir and would have allowed him to pander to that hysteria, selling his services to help find the girl, all well making her work on reversing the potion she created. The world didn’t need Omegas. That wasn’t what he wanted her to do. He just wanted her to make that fucking Potter bastard an Alpha like he was supposed to be.  But of course, his little bitch ass was a fucking Omega… That irritating boy couldn’t do anything right. He couldn’t die right and now he couldn’t even be an Alpha. He was useless. Truly useless… All he did was cause pain.

Hermione patted Draco’s back once she was able to free her arms from his boa-constrictor grip. “Why am I having to calm you down when I was the one in a nasty smelling sewer hole under the school? Your panic fueled my panic. Your father had to pat my hair to calm me down…Not quite sure how we feel about that, but it was a thing that happened. And now you are hugging me so tight, I think my spine is trying to come out my arse. I love you, but please let me breathe.”

He loosened his grip just a bit as he nuzzled deep into her neck, running his nose over her bite mark, allowing the sensation to calm him further than just her touch. “Mon coeur, I am sure father did not mind having to pat your hair.”

The majority of the room shared a silent conversation of raised eyebrows to Draco’s response.

“That’s what you choose to comment on? Not that she was in a sewer hole under the school, but her fucking hair? Draco...” Pansy sighed out. She shook her head and then turned towards the girl still being scented by the no-longer frothing at the mouth Alpha. “Hermione, tell us about the shit hole and the ‘your-eka’ moment, or whatever the hell you had summoned us to the library for.”

Draco shifted Hermione to where she was sitting on his hip, much like a fussy toddler not wanting to be in the pram anymore. She wanted to comment about his actions, but at the same time, it was nice to be cuddled after the sewer experience… If he tried to wind her, that is where she would draw the line…

Hermione angled her head to address the room. “The sewer hole I was in is better known as the Chamber of Secrets, or the Chamber of Salazar Slytherin. I never left school grounds, which means I certainly never broke the school rules or Ministry laws.”

“How did you get there? We were headed to the library to meet you and then Draco growled out ‘Weasley’ and ran off, and then Pansy made us do things, not naughty things, like helpful things, and then Draco was beating up Ron and then he wasn’t beating up Ron and no one could find you,” Harry questioned in his rambling way.

“Draco, turn me.” Hermione waited to answer Harry until Draco had turned her towards him. “Interestingly enough, it was a phoenix feather quill turned portkey with a compulsion charm on it. I couldn’t not pick it up, even though I didn’t want to. It was a rather advanced piece of magic.” She looked right at the Headmaster as she delivered her last line. She wanted him to know that she had connected the dots, and not in Ron’s bullshit way, but in the actual way of her knowing what he absolutely did not want her to know.

Dumbledore’s face paled. He had underestimated this witch and now there were too many witnesses involved for him to cover his tracks. He could only try to push the blame off of him long enough for him to escape. He wasn’t the most powerful wizard in the world for nothing…

“Headmaster, I feel that there is something we must share with the class, don’t you agree?” Hermione inquired; her voice full of contempt.

“What do you know? You know nothing! You’re an Omega! A fickle creature whose only purpose in life is to be bred. When you mate with us Alphas, you make us weak to your whims. You take and give nothing in return! The world was better without Omegas and you ruined it! All you had to do was make the Potter welp an Alpha so he could die miserably, as he deserved. It is his fault that Tom Riddle is dead, and it is only fair that he should suffer. Now, he’s a bloody Omega and mated. It’s preposterous!!” Dumbledore looked manic as he let out all that he had been holding in. His breath came out in labored huffs and his eyes darted around the room as he tried to find a way out.

The response in the room varied immensely. Those like Hermione, Draco, the older Malfoys, Harry, Pansy, Snape, and Sirius seemed more surprise that he came right out and said it, while the rest seemed in different stages of shock or processing of what Dumbledore said.

Ron piped up behind the Headmaster, “Why do you care about Riddlemort?” Ron rubbed his head; confusion rampant on his face.

“Yes, Headmaster, why do you care about the man who murdered my parents?” Harry asked in an icy cold voice, the complete opposite to his normal demeanor. Pansy stood at his side, ready to fight. Her wand was drawn, and her fist was balled, ready to strike in either muggle or magical means.

“Because Riddle was his son,” Hermione calmly announced.

Gasps and cries of shock echoed through the room. Dumbledore’s normal twinkly eyes morphed into a gaze of pure hatred at the girl who just announced his biggest secret as if she was discussing the weather.

“The headmaster gave me Riddle’s diary to ‘help’ me solve the Omega issue and compiling that with the excerpts from said diary and the help from you all with things such as genealogy lessons, Wizengamot records, and innumerable hours in the library, it was the only answer that made sense. Why would you, Dumbledore, have his diary? Why would you, Dumbledore, have access to the Chamber of Secrets, the chamber last accessed by Riddle? Why would there be huge holes in records surrounding Riddle’s birth? Too much pointed at you for me to just ignore it,” Hermione explained. Her hair crackled with magic as she envisioned all of the other frightening deeds that she felt also pointed to the man in front of her. Hermione’s research did not just stop at magical. She also dove into the muggle world and if her hypotheses were correct, this man was pure evil.

“He was my son and that Omega kept him from me. She went as far as potioning a muggle to be her mate, but once I met Riddle for the first time, I knew he was mine. An Alpha knows his heir. The only good that she did for him was to die giving birth. It didn’t take me long to show him how much stronger we Alpha’s could be without Omegas corrupting us and stealing our power. He was my progeny and would have surpassed me had it not been for those Potters.” His face was blotchy red, and spit was flinging from his mouth with each word. He needed to get out of there. It was one of the few times he was grateful that he was Headmaster and could apparate out of Hogwarts. He braced for the pull feeling and when he felt nothing, he gnashed his teeth in rage.

“Oh yes, I set up an anti-apparation ward in this room prior to your arrival. Looks like you aren’t going anywhere, Albus,” Sirius casually commented from his corner of the room. He uncrossed his arms and sauntered up to the man he once respected. Hearing from Harry the theories was once thing, but to hear the man admit to being the reason two of his best friends were dead was devastating. He swung a strong right cross that landed firmly on the nose of the older man, breaking it. “That’s for James and Lily, you bastard.”  Sirius panted with anger and battled to keep his Grim in check.

Dumbledore refused to accept defeat. In his frenzied mind, he needed to get rid of that Omega Malfoy. She was the root of evil, just like most women. He reached for his wand and before the spell could even formulate in his mind, he was struck by the force of three spells at once.

Snape blasted him with a full power “Stupefy”, Lucius added a “Petrificus Totalus”, and Harry performed his best spell of “Expelliarmus” all in one accidentally coordinated strike. Their combined efforts dropped the old Alpha to the ground and wands stayed drawn on him even after his wand was confiscated and chains placed on him by Sirius.

Snape sent a Patronus to the Ministry, letting them know to expect Sirius with a high-profile criminal as the Auror led the petrified man through the Floo straight to the DMLE.

“So…that was my Eureka moment. And yes…so...that happened.” Hermione said, still sitting on Draco’s hip, arms around him like a Koala stuck to a tree.

“Wait a minute…Dumbledore was the bad guy?” Ron asked, still so very perplexed, but slowly coming round thanks to Madame Pomfrey's healing.

Theo shook his head in sympathy at his best friend, “Oh you sweet, naïve, ginger, newborn fire crab… let’s chat over a pint or two. My treat. I’ll get you caught up.” Theo swung his arm over Ron’s shoulder and led him from the infirmary.

Chapter Text

The newly appointed Beta headmaster, Professor Mcgonagall, scanned the first page of the freshly delivered Daily Prophet with a proud smile. It had been an eye-opening few weeks since Albus had been exposed for who he was and carted off to Azkaban, leaving her to take the position and try to undo decades worth of damage from his deceitful ways. She did not want the position, but Snape turned it down due to being newly mated, and Professor Lupin was expecting a child with his mate, so she squared her shoulders and assumed the responsibility. The Board of Governors, led by Lord Lucius Malfoy, had been sincerely supportive of all of the changes she introduced and had made quick work on implementing them with impressive results already.

The Houses remained, as healthy competition is a good thing, but unity across Houses was encouraged.  Cross house study groups were formed, mixed Quidditch teams and Beta-carrying teams were created, and no more boundary spells were placed on House tables. Mcgonagall also immediately reinstated Omega's being allowed to study at Hogwarts after presenting. Professor Snape had been partnered with Madame Pomfrey on making sure suppressants for all unmated Alphas and Omegas were readily available to keep the aggression and testosterone levels to a minimum for the safety of all students. Small changes, but it was resulting in a much more harmonious environment for everyone.

She only wished that her favorite student had chosen to stay to see the results of what her discovery had led to, but alas, Alpha and Omega Malfoy had decided to leave Hogwarts shortly after everything came to light. She had assured Hermione that she could return to class with no issue, but her tutors had already provided to her her NEWTS and so she left with her mate, who had also completed his NEWTS early. She smiled again, thinking about how much the two of them had changed their world as she looked out her office window overlooking the Quidditch grounds. Her smile quickly morphed to a frown as she spotted Theo Nott, with a blonde girl riding piggyback on his back, while being chased by a wand-brandishing Ron Weasley who was being chased by an angry looking Ginny Zambini. She shook her head. Maybe it's better that those two have left this behind... 

"So Dumbledore was the bad guy?" Ron asked Harry for the umpteenth time since the time in Dumbledore's office. They were sitting out in the Quidditch/Beta-carry stands, watching the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw Beta-carrying game. The mixed House teams would be next.

Harry shook his head. "Yes. Yes he was," Harry responded slowly. Ron and Harry had made up once Ron realized how big of a prat he was being. The changes Mcgonagall was making throughout the castle helped as well, but mainly the non-prattish behavior was the main catalyst for their reconciliation. Pansy still hissed at him like an angry cat from time to time, but it was getting better. She no longer tried to scratch him, so Harry was chalking that up to a win.

"I mean, I read the paper today, but it just does not seem real," Ron dejectedly added. He had just finished his last mind Healer appointment that was necessary to undo the fuckedupness of his brain from the number of spells that Dumbledore had done on him. He was coming to terms with what had happened, but it was hard to accept some of his own actions from the whole ordeal. He looked wide-eyed at Harry and said in a shocked whisper, "Harry... I almost kidnapped an Omega. And not just any Omega, a mated Omega. And not just any mated Omega. I tried to kidnap Hermione. I'm lucky I'm not dead. If she hadn't killed me, Malfoy would've." He paused and felt his still healing rib. "Almost did, actually..."

Harry chuckled as he responded, "Yeah, I know. Your face looked like hamburger meat. You're lucky Dumbledore port-keyed her away and Draco stopped beating your arse due to being in crazy pain. That day could have ended very differently. I mean, would Theo or I give your eulogy? I mean, I would speak at your funeral, for sure, but I think Theo would be the one to give your eulogy, especially now. I would for sure send flowers. A nice bouquet, absolutely. Not pansies, because Pansy doesn't like you, but a nice one of like roses or something."

Ron gave him a side-eye look in slight disbelief at how quickly the conversation changed to his funeral arrangements. "Thank you. I'm touched." His voice sounded eerily similar to Professor Snape, emotionless.

"Ah, speak of the devil." Harry nodded his chin at Theo in acknowledgement of his arrival, who had bounded up to them like the overly enthusiastic labrador he is.

"Hey Harry! Hey Bestie!!" Theo greeted Harry and Ron, respectively.

After their pint a few weeks ago, Ron had come to accept that Theo had claimed him as his best friend and they actually had a lot in common. He could talk Quidditch with him for hours, practice Beta-carrying, or play Alpha-Wizard's chess with him, all things that he couldn't do with Harry. It was nice to hang out with him, which surprised Ron to no end. Ron went to give Theo a handshake, but Theo didn't extend his hand, earning him a confused look from the redhead.

Harry noticed that the other Alpha had his hands behind his back and seemed to be hiding something. "Theo, what's behind your back?"

Theo shouted out as he turned to run back down the stairs, "A mate!"

Ron shouted back, "No! Put her back where you found her! Is that Hannah Abbott? You can't take another team's Beta! That's cheating!"

Theo continued to run back down the stairs with Ron following him. He turned around and called to Ron, "Our couple's name is Thannah!"

Ron barked back, "That's not even a thing! Get back here! You could get hurt!" He pulled out his wand with the thought of stunning the sprinting Alpha, but hesitated as Theo now started to serpentine run, making hitting him without hitting Hanna nearly impossible.

"Hey Bright Eyes, it's time to get lunch. There's a break between this game and the mixed Houses that give us enough time for me to feed you. Let's go." Pansy said to her Omega as Blaise, Ginny, and she walked up the stairs to where Harry sat. He was by himself, which was not how she left him when they went down to get banners to support Theo in the mixed House match.

Harry was sitting forward, leaning over the railing in front of him, with his chin in his hand, and had his eyes glued to something that was not the game in front of him. "Hold on, my flower. I want to see how this plays out." The rest of them followed where his eyes were looking and took in the ridiculous scene of Theo being chased by Ron while carrying a blonde girl on his back.

"Theo's match isn't until later. Why is he running now? And Ron isn't even playing today. Is this a side game? Who is that blonde?" Ginny asked, confused by what her brother and his idiot best friend were doing.

"That's Theo's mate." Harry responded, completely nonplussed.

"Ron! You blockhead! You better not be trying to take people's mates again! Mum will for sure send you a Howler this time!" Ginny screamed as she darted down the field after her brother, her own wand out ready to "Stupefy" him once she was in range.

"Ginny, love, just let them tire themselves out!" Blaise called out after his mate. He raised his voice a bit more and yelled over to Theo, "Theo, when you're done here, meet us in the Great Hall for lunch. Shower first! Don't drip sweat in my soup again!"

Pansy watched for a minute longer and then turned to her mate. "I'm getting hangry. Let the idiots get it out of their system." She extended her hand and Harry took it as they all started to make their way back to the Castle.

Harry looked back one last time and saw a completely exhausted, red-faced, sweating Theo that was still outpacing the other Alpha, but just barely. Hanna looked up from Theo's back and cried out, "Can you please save me a salad?!"

Harry gave her a thumbs up and shouted, "You got it! Dressing preference?"

"Vinaigrette please!" Hanna responded just as Ron caught up to them and tackled Theo around his knees. Theo started to army crawl away, thanks to Ginny coming and dropping an elbow into Ron's back. 

Harry turned his head forward once Ginny got her brother under control. He started to sing to himself a made up song about salad and was happy the situation was clearly resolved now.  Lunch did sound tasty...

"Darling, 'Strong Witches and Wizards Alliance for Legal Aide and Lifting Omegas' Welfare' is certainly a mouthful," Lucius Malfoy commented after reading the announcement in the Prophet.

"Which is why we say S.W.A.L.L.O.W., dear. We have a little bird as on our logo and everything. It is all quite lovely. I was very happy to go from SPEW to SWALLOW. And with Hermione deciding to go from being a Healer to a barrister, it all just works out perfectly," Narcissa proudly retorted. 

Hermione snorted and nearly choked on her tea at her mother-in-law's proud declaration. Hermione had suggested it in a bit of jest when she informed her of her career change, but Narcissa thought it was perfect and Hermione couldn't find it in her to rain on her parade... So, she was now an active member of SWALLOW.

At that thought, Draco raised his aristocratic eyebrow in a smug fashion that matched his smug smirk, which he gracefully hid behind his own cup of tea. "Damn right you are..." he quipped back under his breath.

Thankfully, she was already flushed from her previous bout of choking, which she was grateful for at that moment to disguise the red his comment inspired. She had come to find out in their recent weeks of living together at the Manor that her mate seemed to enjoy embarrassing her in front of his parents. Just last week, he had coerced her into letting him go down on her on the second floor of the library as his mum’s book club was on the bottom floor discussing the book that revealed how big of a fraud Gilderoy Lockhart was. She damn near bit off her tongue to keep herself from crying out as her mate seemed set on giving her at least three orgasms before he would let her up. Big bully with a beautiful mouth... not even fair...

Draco's smirk evolved to a full blown smile as his Omega got more and more flustered. He was imagining how sexy she would look under him later when his mother's voice cut through his thoughts.

"Oh, I am so happy you are happy about our suggestion, Draco! When we spoke last, you seemed on the fence about participating, but that smile when we asked if you would be joining us right now says it all. Join us once you get Hermione settled in your suites," Narcissa excitedly said. She gave the girl a gentle smile and a pat on the shoulder as she left the room with her husband.

Apparently, while Hermione and Draco were having their unspoken, but slightly spoken, conversation, Narcissa and Lucius were talking about the wedding events listed on pages 7-9 and their "secret" wedding activity they proposed to Draco a couple days prior. His parents had approached him about incorporating some Muggle traditions into their wedding after Narcissa and talked to Mrs. Granger. The older Malfoy couple was set on making sure their daughter-in-law had the best wedding ever, so this surprise for her meant a great deal to them. When his parents first suggested their idea, he did pause as he wasn't certain how it would play out, but his in-laws and parents assured him this would be exactly what she wanted at her wedding. 

Hermione looked baffled at Draco. She felt his glee basically radiating off of him, which was making her nervous. He shot her a wink and kissed her head as he stood from the settee to escort her to their rooms. She wanted to ask what was going on, but everyone seemed so happy to prepare this surprise, so she decided to just go with the flow and let them have their fun.

Draco deposited her at their door and gave her a sweet kiss right before he turned and made his way to the ballroom to join his parents. They were practicing "The dance of the poultry", a traditional Muggle wedding dance, with the Grangers and he wanted to make sure they got it just right. He transfigured his robes into his workout attire and waved his wand to start the music box the Grangers brought. 

"Hermione is going to love this," Draco thought to himself as he closed and warded the door to keep his peeping mate at bay. Their wedding was going to be perfect. 

Chapter Text

Hermione sat in her stunning custom wedding gown watching her in-laws and parents make their way to the center of the dancefloor with gleeful smirks on their faces. Their smirks were making her very nervous. She was about to question Draco what was going on, but he also stood up to make his way to the center of the dancefloor with a similar smirk to his parents. What in the actual fuck was going on?

The orchestra went into their ready position and then Hermione’s heart sank. The horrible polka beat that could only be associated with “The Chicken Dance” filled the ballroom and the most sophisticated version of the most ridiculous dance ever commenced right in front of her eyes.

Her eyes began to rapidly scan the room for any means of escape as she witnessed Harry jump up with excitement to join Draco mid arm flap. They all looked at her with stupid smiles on their stupid faces to which she responded with a nervous/embarrassed smile of her own. Seeing Lucius Malfoy glide around the dancefloor with his arms as wings would be a memory that would be burned into her mind for her entire life…  

In the middle of her panic attack, Draco came up beside her and kissed the crown of her head. “Isn’t this great? We practiced with your parents for weeks to get it just right. They insisted that you would want this at your wedding and my parents wanted to make sure we had a blend of both of our heritages. We did the waltz for our first dance, so we thought this would be fitting as our second dance. Come and join us!”

Hermione looked up at him wide-eyed. She also was planning her parent’s murders in her mind. She could obliviate them and send them to Australia, but that felt too kind after this stunt. Her forced smiled became even tighter and her eye started to twitch. She was so grateful that she had started her Occlumency training with Professor Snape so she could block her thoughts from her overly cheerful mate as she did not want to crush him with her absolute hatred of what she was being forced to witness at her wedding.

Despite hiding her thoughts, or maybe because she was hiding them, Draco grabbed her face to make her look at him and asked her what was wrong by a simple lift of his eyebrow. She tried to look away, but he was just too damn cute for her to ignore.

“This surprise was sure something. I am just tired, Draco. It has been a busy couple of months. Between the wedding planning, prepping for my Uni entrance exams, my magical barrister exams, and the babies, I am pretty worn out.” Hermione took a breath to continue her reasons for being tired to distract her mate from trying to drag her out to the dancefloor, but she realized her slipup as Draco’s hands fell from her face and he fell down to his knees in front of her, his face slack with shock.

“Babies…as in ours? As in more than one? As in you’re pregnant? Now? How many? When? How? Why are you wearing high heels?! We need to get you a nanny elf now! That dress is too tight! Take it off!” Draco ripped Hermione’s shoes off of her feet and chucked them over his shoulder, launching one into the animated ice sculpture of them dancing and the other into the chocolate fountain. He forced her up from the chair and tried to take her dress off, his large hands getting stopped by the small fastenings.

Hermione wiggled her way out of Draco’s grasp and clapped her hands loudly in his face to get his attention. “Draco. Stop. I’m fine. Yes, babies. As in ours. As in two, to be precise. Yes, I am pregnant. Now. We didn’t take any potions my last heat, so this was bound to happen. It is literally what happens when I go into heat. I just found out a week ago but didn’t want to tell you till after the wedding since you have been stressed. Now you know. Let’s just enjoy our wedding and then we can tell our families. I am sure Narcissa will want to send out white owls with handcrafted unicorn hair paper to tell the world about the next generation of Malfoys. Take me to the dance floor and show me your moves, my husband.”

Hermione made eye contact with Tella, who was next to her chair, and the elf summoned her shoes, put them back on her feet, and removed the chocolate splattering from the Malfoy cousin it had landed on, all with a snap of her finger.  She shared a smile with her mistress and watched as they made their way to the dancefloor, clapping and make beaks with their hands. The smiles and laughter echoed all throughout the manor and the little elf knew that this was just the beginning of their happily ever after.

1 year later…

Hermione managed to get all of her prerequisites for Uni done and start the foundation with Narcissa while being pregnant with twins but made a decision to pause furthering her magical education until they were born.

In late January, Hermione and Draco welcomed twin boys, Scorpius Draco and Orion Lucius, into their family. They were the spitting image of Draco, down to their smirks. Hermione did not think any of her DNA made it into these children. She was not represented in any way, shape, or form. Lucius bought the Daily Prophet and the National Enquirer to announce the births of the twins. He firmly believed that everyone should see the twins and celebrate their birth. Narcissa and the elves arranged for weekly photoshoots for the front page of the papers, only after Hermione complained that daily was too much.

Hermione’s parents were no better, buying every single issue and creating endless photo albums and used their photos for calendars for their customers that they gave after every visit. Literally, every visit. They were even talking about creating a website…  

Now that they were a few months old, she was going to begin her training with her masters that Lucius had arranged for her to get her license to practice law in the magical world to accompany her law degree in the Muggle world.

Hermione knew the magical world was a bit behind the curve when it came to Omega rights, so she wanted to have the knowledge of the Muggle law on her side to help bring the magical world forward, a small bit at a time.

She had gotten up early, unable to sleep after feeding the twins, and started to get ready for her day. Tella had done her hair and she was double-checking her bag to make sure she had all of her books when the Floo chimed, signaling someone coming through. She looked at her watch and saw that it was only 6:30 in the morning. Who would be calling at this hour? She thought as she made her way to the Floo room.

Hermione rounded the corner and was greeted with the bright green eyes of her best friend. “Harry! What are you doing here this early? Is everything OK with Pansy?” she asked, full of concern as she followed after him making his way to the kitchen.

“Oh, she’s fine! She sent me here to help Draco with the babies today. She said she wanted me to get experience before ours are born.” Harry responded, way too happy for the early hour as he made himself a cup of coffee and foraged for a muffin in the pantry.

“Good, Potter, you’re here on time!” Draco walked into the kitchen, holding Scorpius against his shirtless chest. Mipsy was toddling after him holding Orion, the little elf barely visible behind the roly-poly, chubby-thighed baby.

Both babies were awake and giving gummy smiles to their mom. Hermione smiled softly at her adorable children and then took a moment to appreciate her delicious husband. His shirtless status and low-slung pajama pants allowed her to take in his 8 pack and Adonis belt. She blushed a bit thinking about what she did to him last night. She looked up and saw he was giving her a very sexy smile, deepening her blush.

Harry looked between the two as he took Scorpius from Draco. “If you two are going to eye-fuck each other, give me my godson. He doesn’t need to be present for this. Come on, Mipsy. Let’s get the obstacle course ready. I think Orion might win this time!”

“Harry James Potter, that better be a joke! I’m coming home to feed them every couple of hours, so I will know if you are making my babies race each other! Get that idea out of your head right now, or so help me, I will tell Pansy!” She turned towards her husband and firmly declared, “Draco, remember, no flying, no floating, no hovering, no anti-gravity anything, no brooms, no horses, no dogs, no magical animals that I know or don’t know, no animagi, no leaving the country, no press junkets, and no photoshoots today. They already had one this week.”

“Of course, Love. We’ve got this. Don’t worry. Go be great.” He kissed her sweetly and walked her towards the Floo.

She was about to step through when she heard him call to Harry, “Don’t forget to draw an X on the one Mipsy is holding! That’s Orion and I want to be able to tell them apart this time when they cross the finish line!”

Hermione immediately flipped around and yelled, “Draco Lucius Malfoy! Don’t you draw on my children! I’ve already charmed their feet with their names!” She turned back towards the Floo and then added, “And don’t race them!” She shook her head and grabbed the Floo powder and called out her Master’s location.

Right as the green flames roared up, she heard her husband call back to her, “Ha! I knew you couldn’t tell them apart either!”

She laughed loudly and was still laughing when she arrived. He had managed to chase away her nerves…well, nerves about school, not about racing the babies. That thought was terrifying…

Hermione walked out of the Floo to silence. She called out to Draco and Harry, but no response was given. She called to Tella and asked for her to take her to where her sons were. The elf popped her to their playroom and the two boys were in the middle of a pile of sleeping adults.

Draco, Harry, Pansy, Theo, Hannah, Blaise, Ginny, Narcissa, Lucius, and surprisingly, Ron, were all around the babies in a circle. Some were on the ground, some stretched out on the sofas, but all were sleeping soundly while the children were wide awake.

Mipsy, Tella, and the nanny elf, Dottie, were obviously the ones that had been supervising everyone all day, but whatever the adults had been doing tired them out. Hermione picked up Orion and kissed Scorpius on the head. Draco stirred next to her as he caught her scent and shot awake shouting, “Scorpius won that round!”

Hermione cocked her eyebrow at her mate. He looked at her sheepishly. “How was your day, mon coeur?”

“How was yours? Or do I not want to know?” she asked as quietly as possible.

Draco chuckled. “It was good. I love our babies. They are seriously the best. I don’t know how we got so lucky.”

Hermione smiled up at him.  “Let’s let this lot sleep and have some ‘alone time’.” She bit her lip.

Draco smiled slowly. “Now you’re talking!” He grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder and raced up the stairs.

9-ish months later…

Little Lyra Jean was born just in time for her mother to complete her license and her first year of Uni. She had her mom’s trademark curls and daddy’s grey eyes and instantly became the princess of the family. Literally. Lucius dusted off their muggle titles and had Lyra dubbed a princess in the French aristocracy.  

With the twins now walking, Draco got them situated on their training brooms, much to Hermione’s chagrin. She had tried to fight him on it, but the brooms and children both were so warded it was physically impossible for them to get hurt.

Pansy had given birth a couple of months earlier to twins, James Sirius and Priscilla Lily Parkinson. With them constantly being over, Harry would not stop talking about opening a daycare center. He wanted to call it “Parking Lots of Kids” and laughed hysterically every time he said it. Hermione adamantly refused to be a part of anything where Harry had naming rights. She was so grateful that Pansy named her godchildren. Harry had talked about being ironic and naming his son “Albus Severus” and Pansy had magically banned him from the delivery room until the birth certificates were signed and official.

2-ish more years later…

Hermione hated Draco at this moment. She was sweaty and screaming and he looked all cool, calm, and collected. How was he this good at video games already?!!

Draco, Hermione, Scorpius, Orion, and Lyra were enjoying family game night trying out their new GameCube that Draco had gotten as an early prototype from one of the Muggle companies he worked with. He liked to pop in and out of a variety of industries, depending on whatever tickled his fancy that week. Currently, he was on an IT kick and was dabbling with computers, games, and website creation. He was working on something called an “iPhone” and was providing the American wizard, Steve Jobs, with suggestions on the charms to use and merging the magical and muggle properties together discretely. Hermione was not certain it would ever take off, but it made her mate happy, so she was happy for him.

Scorpius and Orion sat on either side of her while she balanced a bowl of popcorn on her very pregnant belly. Lyra was reading the CAD diagrams that Draco had procured for her of the gaming device and was making notes on it. Draco sat cross-legged in front of Hermione and was destroying all of them in the racing game they were playing. Hermione occasionally dropped a piece of popcorn in his hair that he would then fish out and pop in his mouth.

They were about to start another round when she felt a sharp stabbing pain in her side. She removed the popcorn bowl and uncrossed her legs to stand up, kicking Draco in the head on her way up. “It’s time, Draco! Send a Patronus to the Parkinson’s, the Zabini’s, the Nott’s, and Ron. Tella, go tell our parents! Mipsy, grab my bag from our room! Dottie, watch the children!”

Draco grabbed Lyra and the twins followed him out as he dashed through the house in a slight panic. The boys were cheering and shouting about the babies coming and Lyra was correcting them that it was called “Yabor” while being bounced around by Draco running from room to room for literally no reason.  Hermione was slowly waddling to the Floo room and knew that Draco would come along shortly once he realized what in the hell he was doing.  

Dottie came up to Draco and took Lyra out of his arms, grabbed the hands of Orion and Scorpius and then pointed Draco to the Floo room.  Mipsy met him halfway and handed him the bag and guided him the rest of the way to the waiting Hermione. She grabbed his hand and sent the Patronus messages that she knew he had not done yet and then made their way to the Malfoy pregnancy ward at St. Mungo’s that Lucius had bought before the first set of twins were born.

She gave Draco a calming draught and after a few hours of screaming (his, not hers as she was well medicated), they welcomed Aries David and Gemini Hera to the world.

Their births coincided with the Quidditch World Cup of that year, so of course, Lucius was the only sponsor of the event having the twins birth announced at the event, had merchandise created for the twins, and all of the players wore jerseys with the twin’s names on them – one team wore Aries’s name and the other wore Gemini’s name. The fans were a bit confused as to why they were routing for babies, but they went with it since Lucius had paid for everyone’s tickets. Literally, everyones.

One-ish more years later…

Draco sat proudly in the front row with the two sets of twins and Lyra along with his parents, her parents, the Parkinsons, the Notts, the Zabinis, and Ron with his date, Clara, one of Draco’s cousin’s interestingly enough. They took up the entire front section of the auditorium as Hermione gave her Summa Cum Laude speech as she graduated from Cambridge with her Masters in Laws.

For once, she was not pregnant.

6-ish more months later…

Hermione passed the bar on her first try. She could officially practice law in both the magical and muggle worlds. She had was already half-way through her legislation in amending Omega rights. Her goal was to get it to where Harry could be an Auror like he wanted. He wanted to follow in Sirius’s footsteps, but the laws currently would not allow an Omega to work in a field like that.

3-ish more months later…

Hermione completed her legislation and, with a little help from Lucius and Draco, it passed quite easily in the Wizengamot.

Draco took her and the entire family to Disneyworld to celebrate. The kids had such a good time that he bought it.

Hermione looked at him with complete exasperation. “Draco! You cannot keep buying things like this! It’s too much! The kids are too spoiled, and I refuse to allow you to change the name of Mickey Mouse to one of our children’s names just because you can. Enough Draco. Enough.” She stomped her foot and her curls rose up around her as her magic responded to her annoyance.

He loved when she was feisty like this. He poked her nose and smirked at her. “I am richer than Batman and magical. I can literally do whatever I want.”

She growled at him and then huffed as she walked away, “I so regret getting you that Blockbuster video card!”

3-ish more months later…

Finally, Ron was getting married. He and Clara mated while they were in Disneyworld and then rushed a wedding once they found out that Clara was pregnant. Apparently, no one thought of birth control during their first heat together...

Theo was his best man and had gotten him horribly drunk at his stag night. So drunk that he was able to force him to do an unbreakable vow that Ron would name his first-born Malfoy. Boy or girl… it had to be named Malfoy.

Harry, Draco, Blaise, and all of Ron’s brothers found this to be hilarious. Pansy, who still did not really like Ron, also found it to be hilarious. Clara, however, did not and almost banned Theo from the wedding.

Hermione was Team Clara on this one and scolded Draco for hours once she found out that he had not stopped the stupidity.

“What if someone had done that to you? What if they had forced you to take an unbreakable vow to name this child Weasley?!” Hermione shouted at her Alpha.

“This child!? You’re pregnant?? Yes! I need to text Lucius immediately to buy that Quidditch team!” Draco cheered and kissed his Omega.  

“This is the last one, Draco! I mean it.” She kissed him back and laughed at his excitement. “Let’s go see Ron get married and pray that Clara doesn’t kill Theo. I don’t think we will be named this child’s godparents…”

"Doesn't matter. I'll still be their cousin. He is marrying into the Malfoy family after all. I'm not sure he even realizes that..." Draco responded, his brow furrowed in thought. "Should I remind him?"

Hermione paused for a moment. He was probably right. Ron may not have put two and two together yet. Hermione smirked a true Malfoy smirk. "No dear. Let's see how long it takes for him to figure it out."

Draco kissed her, placed his hand on her currently flat stomach, and then took her hand to lead her to their seats. He loved when she let her snake side show... 

7-ish more months later…

Malfoy Rose Weasley was born with bright red hair. She was going to be the first of many troublesome girls for Ron and Clara.

She was joined shortly by Cassiopeia Narcissa Malfoy, the last of Hermione and Draco’s children. She was obviously her Grandmere Cissa’s darling and to announce her birth, Lucius worked with a team of muggle scientists to create a hybrid new flower in her honor. It was a beautiful lily whose petals boasted the constellation formation she was named after. 

Lucius had wanted to sponsor a space expedition in her name, but Hermione refused to even entertain that thought and no amount of sad puppy eyes from Draco would make her reconsider.

And no one thought about Dumbledore…