I don't really have many notes except to just say THANK YOU over and over :)
I know some of the chapters are short. To make it up to you here's a longer one!
Enjoy :)
Harry sprawled across his bed, eyes slammed shut in frustration as he waited for Draco and Neville to arrive. He'd found the two during dinner in the Great Hall and asked if they could talk about his situation that evening.
When he heard the soft knock on his bedroom door, he rolled off the mattress with a distinct lack of grace and pulled the door open with a small grunt.
"Come in," he told the boys, as he pulled together two chairs next to the bed so their conversation could be more comfortable.
Draco and Neville each took a chair, and Harry plopped himself back on the bed with a sigh.
"I take it from your rather large amount of sass," Draco drawled, "That your conversation with Professor Lupin did not go as well as you hoped it would?"
Harry sent a piercing glare in Draco's direction, huffing. "No. It was..." Harry drew in a breath, trying to explain what had happened without letting his anger explode, again. "It was frustrating as hell. He said that Hermione's smell indicated she'd be coming into heat and that she'd need someone to help her through it. The whole time, he knew it was me! He knows I'm her partner because I told him about the incident in the library, and he just played it off like he had no idea!"
Neville choked back a cough, stuttering. "He what?"
"Yeah!" Harry ranted, "I yelled at him, actually. I was so mad that he would try to hide that from me!"
Draco and Neville both looked rather angry at this revelation, but Harry didn't notice as he continued his rant.
"So I told him that I knew she was my partner, and he just said he was trying to protect me!" Harry raved, "Can you believe that?"
Draco let out a low growl, surprising Harry who finally realized both young men seemed on edge with the discussion.
"Potter." Draco spit out, "You don't understand. It's practically a crime to keep someone from their hierarchy partner. It's very serious."
Harry furled his eyebrows in confusion.
"Harry, a hierarchy partnership is so unique," Neville explained, "Once bonded, the pair are closer than soulmates, even. It creates a very deep, eternal tie between the two. You would never get that with anyone else, and neither would she. If someone else were to guide her through her first heat, which has happened, your bond with her would not be as strong as if you went through your first heats together."
Harry sat silently, digesting the information. "So, you can go through heats with a person other than your partner, but it can destroy your bond with them once you do meet them?" he asked, trying to be sure he understood.
"Right," Draco said. "I didn't have my partner for my first three heats. There are so few Omega's in our world, I traveled to several countries before I met her. We've bonded and it's incredible and deep, but it could be so much more."
"I bonded with my partner during our first heats," Neville interjected, "We both knew our statuses since childhood, and we've been friends for a long time, it was such a relief to know my partner, but the bond we share, it's more than marriage or even an unbreakable vow, it's... I can't really explain it."
The three sat quietly for several minutes, each thinking about their own circumstances.
It was Harry who broke the quiet. "Are we not supposed to talk about our partners with other people?" he asked.
"Well, I mean it's really a matter of preference. Other Alpha and Omega pairs will know your status by scent, and anyone you're with will be assumed to be your partner because no Alpha or Omega would willingly partner with someone for life who wasn't their partner." Neville explained, "People just don't talk about it because of the Betas."
Harry groaned again. "Right, Remus mentioned them. He said it was considered offensive to mention their Beta status."
"It is," Draco explained, "It's tantamount to blood prejudice in some people's eyes. Only Alphas and Omegas will ever know the status of a Beta. Beta's can never know if someone is an Alpha or Omega without being specifically told because they do not have the ability to scent it like we do, as you will. They can never experience a partnership bond like the one Neville has, or even like the one I have, because of their Beta status. It's considered very crude to mention it. So Alphas and Omegas live like any other married couple because they do not want to flaunt the blessing they were given."
Harry snorted, realizing the irony of this coming from Draco Malfoy of all people.
"Don't look at me like that," Draco sneered, "I know how it sounds. I was a stupid kid with all that blood mania bullshit. I haven't believed it since fifth year."
"I know," Harry said with a sigh, "It's just... another thing. Hermione is going to be so pissed."
"When are you telling her?" Neville asked gently, "She's going to need to know soon. She's been pre-heat for weeks Harry, she doesn't have much time left before..."
Harry sat up straight in bed as the seriousness of the situation hit him suddenly. "Remus said he'd have McGonagall talk to her. She didn't come back here after dinner, and she always stops in before going back to the library or to her room for the night. She'd have been here by now." he said, "She's probably with McGonagall now."
"She'll be coming here first, then, when she's done," Neville said. "Do you think Remus told Headmistress McGonagall about you being Hermione's partner?"
Harry sighed heavily, "I hope so. I didn't give him a chance to respond, I just left. He said he was going to have McGonagall create some sort of safe space for Hermione's heat, but I don't know if he told her."
"He better have," Draco exclaimed. "You two are going into this lacking all of the knowledge you need! Do you even know what happens in a heat?"
Harry shook his head, eyes wide. He'd read the book, of course. He figured that sex was involved but didn't know much beyond that.
"Oh bloody fucking hell!" Draco ranted, "Fuck!"
"It's just sex, we'll figure it out Malfoy," Harry rushed to calm the blonde man down, as he'd taken to pacing the limited space available in the room.
"It's not," Neville said, his voice barely above a whisper.
Draco flopped roughly back into the chair. "Potter. Are you a virgin?"
Harry sputtered, a blush rising to his cheeks at the bluntness of the questions.
"It's okay," Neville said in a soothing voice, "It's just that sex during a heat is quite different from any sex you may have had up until now."
"Well, I haven't," Harry said blandly, folding his arms across his chest. "I was a bit busy trying to defeat a dark wizard the last seven years."
"Well, that actually makes it a bit easier to explain," Neville continued, "I'll try to make it quick since Hermione might be here anytime. An Omegas heat causes them to have a strong desire for intercourse. Their body prepares them, so to speak, for sustained intercourse. Without a partner, it becomes increasingly uncomfortable, until that devolves into pure pain. Omegas have died during heats without a partner. With a partner, the sex is not just regular sex. We're young, we have stamina, but that's nothing compared to heat sex. Interacting with an Omega in heat will put your body, as an Alpha, into what is known as a rut. This will allow the two of you to have near continuous intercourse until the heat breaks, usually within 72 hours. These happen about every four months. You will create a knot, at the end of your penis, that will, for lack of better term, swell up inside her. You'll be unable to pull out until it releases and the swell dissipates. Shortly after, both of your bodies will be ready to go again."
Harry looked an odd cross between frightened, disgusted, and interested in the idea.
"However," Draco interrupted, "Intercourse with your hierarchy partner will immediately create the partnership bond. There's no avoiding it. Because Granger is so close to her heat, it's likely that any sort of physical contact could set off the heat and your rut. You'll need to be prepared for that. Once the heat starts, you're unlikely to be able to control yourself, nor will she. Do not allow her to touch you in any way until you're prepared for that. I've seen Granger in action, she'll come in wand blazing, but you have to take the time to ensure she understands that this will be a lifelong bond, Potter."
Harry felt a bit disconcerted at how serious the conversation seemed to be turning.
"Well, we don't have much choice, do we?" he asked.
"Another Alpha, who hasn't bonded, could get her through the heat if necessary, but your bond with her would be forever diminished if you decided to go that route. You must at least offer that option to her," Neville explained. "Knowing Hermione, she'll decline. She's been in love with you since first year, mate."
Harry coughed loudly, "What? No, she hasn't."
Draco barked out a laugh, "Potter, don't be an idiot. Everyone can see that. The woman withstood torture from my psychotic aunt for you! She was willing to walk out and face death with you. She's been by your side this entire time, hasn't she?" he asked.
"Well, yeah," Harry said quietly. "You know, I love her too, I just never really thought..."
His thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock on the bedroom door.
Draco rose quickly to his feet. "Remember, Potter. You have to give her the choice. No touching before talking. Don't be stupid" he said.
"She'll say yes, I know it," Neville reassured Harry. "I'll clear out the rooms next to you, have the Headmistress find other rooms for them for the next few days. She'll probably seal this end of the hall so the scent doesn't escape. That's what she does for me and Lu-" he stuttered, "My partner."
"Luna? It's Luna?" Harry asked, a bit shocked.
"Yeah," Neville blushed, "But this is about you."
Harry rose and escorted the two towards the door. Cracking it open, he sent a small smile to the petite witch standing in the hall.
"Hermione," he greeted her, swinging the door open the rest of the way, "Draco and Neville are just leaving. Come in, sit down. I'll get us some tea."
Neville gave Hermione a quick hug as he passed, and Draco simply nodded in her direction.
Hermione ducked into the room, heading towards Harry to greet him with a hug of her own. Harry raised his hands in front of him, gesturing for her to stop.
"Sit, Hermione," he told her, using the same stern voice he'd employed in the library. "We'll get there, but let's talk first."
As she lowered herself into a chair, Harry took a shaky breath. Don't fuck this up, he thought to himself, before taking the chair next to her.