Harry busied himself with making tea for several minutes, trying to calm the shaking of his hands and steady his nerves in order to have a conversation with Hermione that he knew was probably going to be difficult.
"Harry," Hermione's voice interrupted his thoughts, and he realized several minutes had passed in pure silence.
"Sorry, Hermione," Harry said with a small smile, handing her a cup of tea.
Hermione accepted the porcelain mug with a smile of her own, wrapping her hands around the mug in an effort to soak up some of the heat coming from the steaming beverage.
"Where did you go after dinner?" Harry asked, not sure how to start the conversation, even though he knew exactly where she'd been after dinner.
Hermione huffed a small sigh. "Headmistress McGonagall summoned me to her office. I thought it might have been about school. Maybe there were some students who needed tutoring..." she trailed off in thought.
Harry waited patiently, but it seemed that Hermione was adrift in her contemplation. "So, what was it about then?" he asked eventually.
"Oh." Hermione let out another huff. Harry hadn't noticed before how often she made the little sound of annoyance, but he found it endearing all the same. "There's just this problem with me, but it'll be fine. It's just a normal thing, I guess. I need to go see Madam Pomfrey later I suppose."
Harry could tell Hermione was attempting to minimize the situation, to lessen the need for worry or concern. She'd always done that, put herself and her own needs on the back burner to ensure that Harry was taken care of.
"Hermione," Harry drawled, testing out the Alpha tone he knew would get Hermione talking. "What's wrong?"
Hermione stuttered, looking at him with wide eyes. He could see she was on the verge of tears, and rose from his chair, taking her hand and leading her to sit next to him on the wide bed, instead.
He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close to his body, and she lowered her head to his shoulder with a small shudder.
"I feel like, after all these years, and everything I've learned, there will always be so much I don't know about this world," Hermione muttered. "First the mudblood thing, now this... it feels like so much, Harry."
"What is it, Hermione?" Harry asked again, "You still haven't told me."
"I'm not really sure. The Headmistress wasn't very detailed. She gave me a book from her family, I haven't read it yet. She mentioned a Hierarchy Blessing, partnership, statuses, it's all so confusing" Hermione ranted, finally gaining a voice in her anger. "Wasn't fighting a war and being tortured, and losing my parents enough? Oh, no! Now there's some mysterious blessing that's going to drive me to literal death if I can't find some sort of specific partner to help me through it!"
Hermione was red in the face, and crying openly by this point, and Harry felt his heart clench in his chest, knowing she would be scared and confused. He was infuriated that the adults in their lives were leaving them with such little amounts of information, given that the situation could turn dangerous for either one of them without all the knowledge Harry now held.
Harry sighed heavily, feeling unsure of how to broach the subject, but decided to let his Gryffindor nature reign, and jump right in.
"I know about the Blessings," he said bluntly, wincing at the awkwardness of it all.
Hermione whipped her head to look at him, "What?" she asked?
"I haven't known long. I just found out, actually." Harry answered.
"How? Who told you?" Hermione asked in a rush, "McGonagall said it's usually very secret in families."
"That's what Remus told me, too," Harry said gently, trying to soothe the young woman's nerves. "I went to see him after we went to Hogsmeade yesterday. I was hoping just to get some advice from him on how to help you, actually. You were in the library so often, I barely see you anymore. I was worried. I just... I only came back here for you and being without you..."
"Oh, Harry," Hermione said softly, nearly a whisper. She wrapped her arms around his waist, settling her head against his chest. "I'm so sorry. I've been so worried about what's happening to me that I neglected our friendship."
Harry knew this was too much touching. They hadn't even gotten to the talking yet, and he could feel a strange pressure rising within him, a voice in the back of his head screaming mine mine mine as he rested his chin on the top of her head, breathing in the scent of vanilla, cinnamon, and parchment. Touching her came so naturally to him, after all the years they'd been friends. He forced his head up, and peeled her arms off him, scooching back on the bed so they were no longer touching.
"Hermione, I know what your blessing is. I know you want to go bury your self in that book, but I'm afraid you won't have time for that. We're going to need to talk about it, and probably rather quickly." Harry stammered out, trying to shove down that rising pressure and regain control of himself.
Hermione looked at him, not knowing the pressure she was feeling rising in her own chest matched the one in his. The warmth of her body was stifling and her thoughts were consumed by the male sitting askew in front of her.
"What is it," she rasped, her voice unsteady.
"Certain powerful witches and wizards are given a blessing," Harry said, rising from the bed and crossing the room to stand near the fireplace. The proximity to this witch was overwhelming his senses, and if he didn't already know what was happening, the need to have her would have terrified him.
"It's an inheritance, so to speak, of specific traits. A few of our classmates have the blessing as well. That's why Neville and Malfoy were here, they were talking me through it." he said.
"Just tell me and get it over with, would you?" Hermione said gruffly, not understanding why he peeled away from her and was acting distant. Her thoughts felt clouded, fuzzy.
"I'm an Alpha," Harry explained. "A wizard with dominant traits, natural leaders, you name it. The blessing hits between 17 and 20, and the Alpha grows a bit." Harry laughed gesturing down at himself. "There's quite a bit more to it, but for brevity's sake I'll move on."
Hermione nodded, not sure where the conversation was headed and trying to deal with that damn pressure and the wetness between her thighs and damn when did Harry get so big?
"You are an Omega. I'm sure McGonagall at least told you that." Harry continued. "Equally powerful, but preferring a role to support the leader, rather than as the leader. Kind, empathetic, caring. The important thing you need to know right now is that Omegas have what's called a heat when they come into their inheritance. That's happening to you now. The boys said they could tell, that there's a smell associated with Omegas and Alphas. I never noticed it before, but I can sure smell it now." Harry was doing the best he could to restrain himself, but it was difficult.
"When an Omega goes into heat, it's..." A blush wound it's way to Harry's cheeks. He was a virgin and about to tell his best friend, also a virgin, that being an Omega in heat meant a lot of sex. "It's sexual. You won't be able to control the desire. You've probably been feeling it for a while. You need an Alpha to help you through it."
Hermione furled her eyebrows at him, "Who else is an Alpha? I can't just..." she cried, letting loose another round of tears.
"I've never even... I just can't with a stranger!"
Harry sighed. "There's something else, Hermione." he continued from his perch against the wall, not daring to step a single inch closer. "Alphas and Omegas are given an inheritance partner. I don't really know how most of them find each other. From what I've heard, families teach Alphas and Omegas how to find their match from the time they are children. But one way to know is that Omegas have a desire to follow the command of their Alpha. As an Alpha, I can be with any person, Omega or not, but only with my inheritance partner will some of my Alpha traits work."
"I don't understand," Hermione said blankly, emotion wracking her body and the pressure intensifying into pain. She needed Harry to finish talking so she could go to Pomfrey. It hurt, damn it!
"An inheritance partner is a gift, Mione." Harry said, "Closer than a soulmate. Having your first heat with your inheritance partner will create a bond that transcends any marital bonds, soulmate bonds, even time itself."
Hermione moaned, pain spiking in her chest, her body screaming and an odd voice whispering Alpha Alpha Alpha in the back of her brain. "Oh God. I'll never find my Alpha and I'll die, won't I?"
Harry could take no more, and he crossed back over to the bed, standing in front of Hermione and reaching his hand to cup her face, tilting her chin up so he was looking in her eyes. "You already found me." he whispered gently, running his thumb across her cheek, "I'm your Alpha. It's how I was able to get you to leave the library when you didn't really want to. I won't force you to ever do anything you don't want Hermione, but I already love you, and being your partner is my great honor."
He sunk down to his knees in front of her as she trembled under his touch.
"Will you let me help you through your heat, Mione?" He asked her, "It'll be my first rut, that's what an Alpha goes through when an Omega is in heat. Will you be my partner, for this heat and forever?"
Hermione let out a small growl, leaping into his lap, causing them both to go crashing to the floor.
"Yes," she gasped out, pressing her lips to his fiercely, "Harry, yes. Please, Alpha."