Notes: Hi everyone! I've really been on a roll with this one. I'm going to try to keep up this pace for as long as I can, haha. It's been a while since I've been so inspired by a plot. Anyway, here's the next part. Thanks for the support! I appreciate every single one of you reading this.
Chapter Two
Draco's pale eyes bore into her the entirety of their lunch period. He sat facing directly towards her on the other end of the dining hall, not seeming to care if anyone noticed. Hermione bit her lip. He knew what she was, that much was obvious.
She popped another pill and averted her gaze.
While she would have preferred to keep it to only two pills a day, as per the school nurse's recommendation, an unexpected obstacle appeared. Despite their nasty side effects, they definitely had made a difference. After the pill kicked in no one else noticed her scent. In fact, she thought if she has taken the initial pill that morning twenty minutes earlier then Draco would have never noticed anything to begin with. Now, all she had to do was make sure to keep them up. Easy enough.
Hermione tried to behave as normal and scooped up a few servings on vegetables onto her plate. Though she wasn't exactly feeling hungry, she suspected a few bites of food would help ease the nausea the pills induced. Her friends engaged in lively conversation around her, picking fun at each other as usual, but she wasn't in the mood in engage with them. Instead, she pulled out a textbook and tried to get an early start on tonight's school work. She read a couple of sentences, ate a spoonful of peas, and repeated. It was only by the time she took her third bite did she realize she was reading the same string of works over and over again. She did this a few more times before accepting she wasn't going to retain anything. Great, she thought. The pills helped keep beasts like Draco away but gave her incessant headaches and left her too airheaded to get any work done. Huffing, she closed her textbook and slipped it away.
She turned back to her friends, watching their mouths move but not really register anything they're saying.
"Hermione," a soft voice cooed from beside her. Ginny smiled warmly at her.
Hermione hadn't really noticed Ginny seat herself beside her but welcomed the feminine company. Maybe she would understand what she was going through in a way that the boys wouldn't. She straightened her back, returning the smile.
"Hello, Ginny. It's good to see you."
"How are you feeling? You look a little tired."
"Er, I've been better." Hermione didn't want to lie, but she wasn't sure how much she could share with her. They knew each other well, having spent quite a few nights sharing the same room together, but she was still Ron's younger sister. Confiding too much in her felt a little out of place.
Ginny furrowed her brows and placed a comforting hand over Hermione's. "Whatever it is you can tell me. Is my brother giving you a hard time again? He's a bit of a hard head."
Hermione laughed. "I wish it was just that. Believe it or not." She considered spilling everything that happened in the last couple of hours to her right then and there, but something stopped her before the words came out. She studied the red head's expression, looking for anything that would tell her it could be a bad idea. When she found nothing but the same warmth she always carried with her, Hermione decided to lower her guard.
"Well, you see." She leaned in closer to her, cupping her palm to her ear. "I just found out I have a special condition…"
Ginny's eyes went wide. "A condition?!"
Hermione shushed her, before leaning back in to tell her the rest. "Please keep it down. I don't what anyone else finding out about it. It's a little personal. And embarrassing." She could feel her cheeks glowing red at the confession.
"I didn't really know what was going on at first but, apparently I'm a….."
She darted her eyes around the table, making sure no one else was paying attention before finishing. "An Omega."
Ginny leaned back, her mouth in a wide O shape.
Hermione's cheeks flushed even hotter.
"Sorry!" Ginny muttered, leaning back in. "I didn't mean to act to surprised. It's just that—it is a bit of a surprise actually. You never really struck me as one of those. Not that there's anything wrong with being one! It's just very rare is all. I only know a couple of other omega girls on campus. Might be more though. I imagine a lot of 'em would want to keep that under wraps. 'Have to be weary with all these Alphas roaming around." She rubbed a finger over her bottom lip.
Hermione nodded. At least there were a few other Omegas on campus, the news made her feel a little less alone. She would have to make a point later to find one of them and talk to them. This Omega business was all very new to her, maybe they would have something insightful to share with her.
"Tell me, Hermione, if you don't mind. What is it like to have all these Alpha men after you?" Ginny asked, her voice lined with humor.
Hermione laughed, and then went on to tell her everything else. It was like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
They spent the rest of the lunch hour going back and forth between each other, completely drawn into the conversation. Ginny had a lot to say about the subject, which Hermione should have expected from someone born and raised in the Wizarding World. She was happy she decided to confined in her, and not either of the boys. Though she promised Harry before she would give them an explanation for her odd behavior, she decided against it. There was a reason so few Omegas were reported, as she quickly began to understand from her conversation with Ginny. She felt it was best not to gamble her relationship with either of her best friends before they presented. If they presented. Things were messy enough as is.
Ginny's company put her at ease. So much so that she almost forgot about the clear-eyed boy sizing her up on the other end of the room.
When the lunch hour ended Ginny left first, with her class being the furthest away she needed to get a head start. They both exchanged goodbyes before taking off in opposite directions. With the buzz of their friendly conversation wearing off Hermione found herself acutely aware of the tension gathering in her throat. She was going to be sick. Cupping a hand over her mouth, she ran towards the nearest bathroom.
Hermione would definitely make sure to take no more than the prescribed two a day now that she knew any more than that had this kind of effect on her. After puking her guts out, she washed her mouth out at the sink. She was now twenty minutes late to her next class, and in no state to continue to class anyway lest she be avoided for smelling putrid. She mustered up the best self-care spells she could to clean herself up. At least now she would outwardly appear in order despite the lingering sickness that still hung around her gut.
Now, she had another problem to add to her endlessly growing list of problems. She couldn't just take another pill to keep those feelings Draco evoked tucked away inside. Something clicked in her mind. She had forgotten all about him. Gods, she wished she had told Ginny about what happened with him. Maybe she would have had some insight about how to deal with him. All she really remembered from their last close encounter was how fast her heart was racing and the feeling of being watched. Everything else happened so fast the details kind of blurred. Obviously, there was something about Draco's genetics that sung with her own. She gulped. He was an Alpha.
Gods, why hadn't she told Ginny.
She bit her thumbnail, considering her options. Requesting to be in another class would only end up impacting her education, she knew that. Clutching the pills in her back pocket, she came to a resolution. Or lack of one. Before any of this, she had to deal with Draco. His presence had always made her uneasy. She could do the same thing as before and just put up with it. It wasn't as if much had changed. He was still a Malfoy, and to him, she would always be a filthy mudblood. Even if he had found out she was an Omega, how much of a difference would it really make? With new found confidence she straightened her posture and hurried off to her next class.
To her dismay Draco had been there as well, because of course he was.
Why wouldn't he be here? She thought bitterly.
Hermione avoided making eye contact with him, though she could feel his eyes on her. Nothing has changed, she repeated to herself. She handed a note to her instructor that Madam Pomfrey had prepared explaining her condition earlier and took a seat. The entire front row had been empty, giving her more than enough distance away from the blond. Things were sort of starting to look up for her.
With the drugs out of her system, she had a much easier time pay attention in class. She thought she might have been good for the rest of the day had their instructor not insisted they pair up for the next assignment. Pursing her lips, she raised her head to look around the classroom. Aside from Neville Longbottom, who has already been accounted for, she recognized not a single face. This is fine, she told herself, knowing she was perfectly capable of figuring things out on her own. She actually preferred it this way, as she wouldn't have to babysit someone else's work. Accepting this, she made no move to leave her desk.
"Granger." A pale arm thudded against the table beside her.
Malfoy. She said nothing, not wanting to encourage his antics.
She could feel his presence all around her, like a black cloud of aura engulfing her. She chose to ignore this, focusing only on her textbook.
He sat down anyway. "Okay. Seeing as you have no objections…"
Hermione's head shot up. "No," was all she managed to muster up. His smell was overwhelming from this distance. She wished she could say it was a terrible odor, but it was anything but. It was something like black pepper and musk. A striking combo, indeed.
"No?" He shot back, a smug grin plastered to his face.
"Yes." She replied, practically shoving her nose into her book's binding.
"Well, princess, everyone is already paired up. You don't exactly have a choice."
"Fine," she shot back. "Just open your book up to the page written on the blackboard."
"Does it look like I brought a book with me Granger?"
She rolled her eyes. "Okay then. Let's just share mine," she forced out between her teeth. She went to push the textbook closer to him but he moved himself closer instead.
The class filled with small chatter from each group, all discussing the best way to conjure up the appropriate spell to fix the problem. Hermione, already had a few guesses of her own, but wanted to wait till Draco came to his own conclusion before feeding him any answers. She did her best to ignore him, which was unfortunately the exact opposite of what he was doing. She could see him staring at her from the corner of her eyes, the same unreadable expression on his face as before.
"Wow, Granger. Did you even take anything today?" His voice carried low.
She pushed herself further back into her chair, suddenly self-conscious of her scent. She hoped it wasn't nearly as bad as the pheromones Draco had been admitting.
"Speak for yourself. Do you have your answers written down?"
He slid a piece of parchment towards her, his answers all clearly written down. Shockingly, they were the same as hers. All correct. He was brighter then he let on. An asshole, yes, but not just an asshole. Satisfied with that she saw, she slid the sheet back over to him.
"Do you like it?"
She furrowed her brows, not knowing what he meant.
"My smell. Do you like it?" He moved closer to her, his voice no louder than a whisper. "I like yours."
A jolt went down her spine. She had no idea Draco was this forward.
"I-I—er." She stammered, her palms shaking. She told herself to get up and leave. It would have been the wiser decisions, but unfortunately, a less tame part of her quite liked the attention. Which complicated things.
She stood still, or as still as she could despite the slight tremor overtaking her whole body.
Move.
MOVE.
She did not.
Draco brushed a hand against her lower back, moving her closer into his chest. That was, until a pile of books slammed on the table before them, jolting them both back into their seats.
"Draco," the instructor's voice called out firmly. "Out. Now."
Draco recoiled his limbs, a mischievous smirk growing across his face. Without a struggle he got up and left, leaving Hermione to collect herself. Soft whispering erupting behind her. If she was planning on keeping her Omegan status a secret, it was a little late for that. Draco has single-handedly outed her as one among her classmates. She wondered if that was his intention all along.
"Poor thing. They really shouldn't allow both of your kind in the same class." The instructor remarked, before reprimanding the rest of the class into silence.
Hermione sat quickly, her heart slowly returning to a normal pace. She didn't know how she should have taken that remark, but something about it felt wrong. She certainly hadn't felt like a victim. She shook her head, getting the thought out of her mind. Maybe it was better if she had. It would have made things a whole lot easier for her. One thing was for sure, things had indeed been different, and she wasn't sure if they would ever return to normal.
