Author's Note: Since Saturday's chapter was on the shorter side and this one is, as well, I'm letting you have it early. The next one isn't much longer. Getting the present story going is essentially giving you a whole lot of background that I don't want to drag out.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy a bit of awkward mother/son Alpha explanation. It won't give you the whole story, but it will certainly tell you why Draco didn't know.

Beta'd by LaBelladoneX, minus the last few bits of dialogue. If you find any errors, they're all mine.

3rd May 2002

The morning after the Victory Ball, Draco headed into the library at Malfoy Manor. What the fuck was an Alpha? Why did being an Alpha make him want to take Granger on every surface in Hogwarts when he was sixteen? He thought it was just his teenage libido, but she knew something he didn't. He needed to find out, but he didn't know where to start, and was about to start pulling books at random when his mother startled him.

"Draco? What are you doing in here so early on a Sunday morning?"

He took a deep breath. He had kept his doomed affair with Granger quiet for so long. If he asked his mother about this, she may have the answers he needed, but she would also want answers in return.

"I need to know about being an Alpha. I've been informed that I am one, and I don't even know what it means."

Narcissa Malfoy didn't freeze often, but she did as soon as the word 'Alpha' had left her son's lips. "Lucius never explained the, um, designations in wizarding sexuality to you?"

"Is this like the birds and the bees talk, Mother?"

"It should have been included with it, yes," she said warily.

Draco sighed. "We can add it to the list of ways Lucius failed me then, Mother, because I have no idea."

"Ultimately, Draco, it doesn't matter unless you come across an Omega witch who hasn't been claimed by another Alpha," Narcissa explained. "If an Omega is in your vicinity and she has not been claimed, then you will feel inexplicably drawn to her, especially if she is over the age of twenty. If she is younger, you may still feel her, but that connection is weak unless you have… relations… with her."

Well, that answered what Hermione was and why his craving for her grew steadily throughout all of sixth year.

"But, Draco, what is bringing this on? I know Astoria is not an Omega. They're usually tiny little things and already claimed by your age."

"Tiny like Hermione Granger?"

Narcissa's face went even paler. "No, she can't be. She's so assertive, and she's certainly never backed down from Alphas. It's in the nature of an Omega to submit."

"She is the one who told me I'm an Alpha, Mother. Sit down, I need to tell you something and you may faint."

A voice he hadn't heard strongly since the war spoke up in his mind.

She's mine. My Omega. I need to protect her. He can't have her. She's mine.

"When I was at Hogwarts sixth year and terrified of everything going on, I may have had relations with her," he said, his voice just above a whisper.

"Oh, Draco, no! How many times?"

"Mother, I honestly don't know. A few times first term. Pretty much two nights a week for most of second term when I wasn't busy with the Vanishing Cabinet."

His mother looked horrified. "Was she fully matured at that age? Were you?"

"I don't know what you mean! The sex was different from anything else I've had in my life and I always wanted her. I thought it was just me being a teenaged male," he explained.

She wandlessly summoned a book from a low shelf. "Look at the chapter on knotting. I can't talk about this with you. You're my son and it's bloody embarrassing. Your father was supposed to do all of this."

Draco's eyes widened as his eyes skimmed over some fairly graphic images of knotted penises. "My, uh, you know, has never done that before. So no, not fully matured, I guess, but it always seemed larger with her."

His mother's eyes squeezed shut. "God damnit, Lucius, you were supposed to handle this! I cannot believe I have to engage our son in a conversation about his penis!"

"Should I try talking to his portrait?" Draco asked.

She sighed. "No, I will get over my discomfort. The fact that your penis was larger with her means she was starting to mature. Female Omegas usually finish maturing by eighteen, but I'm guessing she may have taken longer because of what she endured during the war. It certainly explains why you were so distressed when Bella had her."

"Something in my head was screaming at me to protect her and that she was mine," he replied.

"Oh, Dragon, why didn't you ever tell me? I wouldn't have tried to get you to marry," Narcissa said.

"Mother, she had already married Ron Weasley. I didn't think she would ever forgive me for just fucking standing there while Bella Crucio'd her over and over again. She's barely been cordial to me until last night."

Narcissa smiled. "She looked lovely last night. I wish I could still wear dresses like that. She looked like a Slytherin queen."

"That's what I told her, and then she asked me about Astoria. I stuck to pleasantries and then I could…"

"You could what?"

"I could smell her — it was like my face was right against her skin again. I told her she was supposed to be mine, and then I could smell her even more. It was like I was drowning in it. I dream about her almost every night," he confessed.

Narcissa's hand went to her mouth. "She started to go into heat in the middle of the ball just from talking to you?" Seeing the confused look on her son's face, she cursed her dead husband again. "Did she start to get flushed? Were her eyes dilated?"

He nodded.

"I'm not saying this to be offensive, Draco, so don't take it that way. Omegas go into a heat when they are most fertile, like dogs. She's going to be, um, very uncomfortable if she does not find sexual gratification over the next few days. All of the physiological specifics are in that book. We're just lucky she had sense enough to leave before she put you into rut."

Sexual gratification?

No, he can't be touching her. She's my Omega. I need to find her and help her. He can't make her feel the way I can…

Unless…

"Do you think her husband is an Alpha?"

Narcissa laughed. "The way he followed Potter around? Not likely. He's tall, but he doesn't have your broad shoulders. Body types are very specific with these designations. It's actually a little strange. Also, if he were an Alpha, he would have claimed her. If she is being pushed into heat by simply talking to you, she's not been claimed by anyone."

Good. She's mine. No one else can have her like I can.

"Mother, this has been spectacularly awkward, but thank you."

"Dragon, I think I have to say a few more things. One, you are married to Astoria. I know you feel like you need to claim the Omega, but you cannot. Two, she is also a married woman. If you claim her, you will basically be soulbound. If you think you're in pain now, it's nothing compared to what you'll feel like if you're soul bonded to one woman and married to another." Narcissa brought her hand to her forehead and sighed.

"Astoria has done nothing wrong, nor has Ronald Weasley. They may not have been aware she was an Omega when they married since it is very rare for a Muggle-born to have that designation. Three, since she went into heat at a Ministry function, the other Alphas that were there may try to find her and claim her. You will feel the urge to fight them, and you cannot do that, Draco."

"What do you mean they will try to claim her?"

Narcissa sighed. "The less honorable ones will try to woo her away from her husband. They may be able to if she goes into heat again since her husband will not be able to give her the kind of gratification she needs during that time. If there are any truly despicable Alphas that find her, they may try to take her against her will."

NO! NO! NO! SHE IS MINE!

"Mother, if she's in danger and I see it, I will protect her. I can't just stand by again."

"I know, Draco, but if that happens, you may be tempted to try to bite her and claim her. Once you do that, there is no going back. Do you think she would leave her husband? Her husband who is probably at home dealing with a wife who needs more than he can give her, but is probably still trying anyway…"

He raked his hands through his hair. "I don't know if she would. I would leave Astoria for her, Galleons be damned. I can make more money. I haven't been able to forget her over the past five years."

Narcissa shook her head. "You know this girl better than I do, Draco, and even I don't think she will leave him. They were best friends before they were married. She loves him, even if her inner Omega wants you."

"Mother, I can't just rely on what I think I know in this situation. I know they were, or are, best friends, but with the way she was looking at me at the ball… I just need to talk to her. I need to know for sure," Draco replied.

She just stared at him for a minute, and he was beginning to feel uncomfortable. Finally, she spoke. "I understand, Draco. If it's something you need to do, then do it. Just know that it's likely to get messy and that things may not go your way."

Draco stood and started heading for the door, his mind reeling about these revelations. He took the book about Alphas and Omegas with him, ready to read every page and learn more about the specifics of their situation. He honestly felt a bit like Hermione right now — running off with a book in hand, desperate to solve some mysterious problem.

"Draco," Narcissa's voice rang, halting him. "You do know I just want you to be happy, right?"

He turned to face her again. "Of course, Mother. You've always wanted me to be happy."

Narcissa rose and walked over to him. She reached up and put a hand on his cheek, making him feel like he was a child again. Not in a bad way, but in a somewhat unfamiliar way.

"I loved your father, but I almost wish I had raised you on my own sometimes," she stated wistfully. "Your happiness should have been our primary concern, and we allowed that monster to—"

Draco stopped her, surprising her with an embrace. "Mother, you didn't allow him to do anything. He would have killed both of us if we had put up a fight about the mission. Just let it go."

"But the Dark Mark, being a Death Eater, that's what has determined your life since you were sixteen, Draco. If I had been stronger, I would've left your father after the first time he got mixed up with Voldemort, and you could've been happy," she daydreamed aloud.

He shook his head and forced a small smile, wanting to reassure her. He would have loved a life where he wasn't offered up to Voldemort in his father's place. He would have loved being away from the disappointment and diatribes he had endured from his father, but he didn't want to exacerbate his mother's guilt. "Mother, it's all in the past. I — no, we — we need to move on from all of this. That's what I'm going to try to do now. I'm going to think of a way to talk to Hermione, and I'm going to let it all go. Hopefully I read her right last night and she wants the same."

"I hope she does, Dragon. I hope you can find a way to have some kind of relationship with her," Narcissa replied.

"I hope so, too," he said, and then he made his way out of the library.