Thank you for reading! Please let me know if you enjoy! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Updates every Saturday!
—
"Where is Headmaster Snape, Professor?" A curious Ravenclaw asked Professor McGonagall as she stood at the front of Severus's dungeon classroom on Monday morning.
"Headmaster Snape has taken ill, Miss Lovings." McGonagall replied with a firm nod of her head, "He's expected to return to his post by the middle of this week."
"Has Harriet Potter fallen victim to the same sickness, Professor?" A Gryfinndor student interjected with a smirk.
Laughter erupted throughout the classroom and McGonagall pursed her lips in response before she spoke, "I will ask you all to remember your manners! Quiet down, please! Harriet Potter is looking after our headmaster since he is currently too feeble to do so himself and Madam Pomfrey cannot be devoted to a single patient! Is that a reasonable enough explanation for you all?"
McGonagall's facial expression was so gravely serious that the class's revelry died down.
The potions students in front of McGonagall gradually exchanged their mischievous grins for solemn frowns.
"Thank you." McGonagall said sternly as she walked over to the blackboard and spoke again, "Now, if you will all turn to chapter four. According to the headmaster's lesson plan, today we'll be covering burn salves."
"Professor?" Another Gryfinndor student asked as he raised his hand.
"Yes, Mr. Whitlock?" McGonagall answered impatiently as she looked over at the boy.
"Can you tell us what's happened to the Slytherin prefect? Elion Dacre? And his friends? We've been hearing rumors all morning." Archibald Whitlock inquired.
The boy's statement was partially correct.
Rumors had flown around the castle all weekend, not only that morning, as students eagerly exchanged their theories and supposed facts about what had transpired between Harriet, Severus, and Elion.
Whispers of expulsion were always of great interest to those in Hogwarts' student body, but whispers of romance?
Those were the most interesting sort of whispers.
McGonagall held her chin high as she answered Archibald and replied, "The Headmaster will address those matters himself once he returns, Mr. Whitlock. Now, please, everyone, turn to chapter four….."
—
McGonagall's statement had everything backwards.
Severus wasn't the one who was indisposed, that was Harriet.
For those few, glorious days while the potion to stop her heat was brewing, she laid languidly in the headmaster's strong arms.
Severus only left her side to bring food to her and do what was absolutely necessary.
If he was gone for more than a few moments, Harrier started to whimper like a wounded animal.
If Severus's grip on her slipped during the night while they slept in each other's embrace, he would wake up to find Harriet clutching onto him, desperate for his touch.
Severus found himself delightfully and miserably exhausted.
He hadn't realized what a pleasantly grueling honor it was to look after an omega in heat.
The pair had barely spoken during their time together.
Severus had determined from the look in Harriet's green eyes and the flush on her cheeks that in the throes of her condition, she had little interest in tedious conversations.
Severus was right.
The only thing Harriet had a real interest in during her heat was…..him.
To their mutual disappointment, the potion that Harriet needed was ready for consumption by early evening on Tuesday.
When the mixture finally bubbled in the cauldron, Severus carefully took a ladle, placed some into a clean cup, and brought it to Harriet.
He silently sat down beside her after he handed her the vessel.
As soon as Severus was next to Harriet, she crawled into his lap while she drank the concoction down.
An hour or so later, Severus couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness as that alluring, warm flush disappeared from Harriet's face and her eyes lost their bewildered glow.
When Harriet spoke calmly, Severus knew that the potion had been successful and her heat was quickly coming to an end.
"Thank you." Harriet whispered.
"There's no need to thank me." Severus replied as he took the empty cup from her and sat it on the nearby side table, "I'm glad that you're feeling better."
Finally able to think rationally without the blinding curtain of instinct-needling hormones, Harriet looked at Severus and he gazed back at her.
Severus's chest tightened as he wondered what to say.
He couldn't just continue to make love to Harriet in silence over and over for the rest of their lives, they were going to have to speak at some point, about the situation and….other issues.
Harriet's neck was still sore where Severus had claimed her.
He anxiously watched her rub at that spot while she cleared her throat and nodded, "I….I appreciate you looking after me."
"It was not an obligation, Potter." Severus replied.
Harriet threw him a worried glance before he added in a low purr, "It was a delight."
Harriet needed Severus to say more.
She wanted him to make a formal, direct statement about where they stood with each other or at least, how they were going to proceed from that point.
When no such verbiage issued from his lips, Harriet crawled out of his lap and stood from the sofa as Severus narrowed his eyes at her.
"Where-" Severus began to ask but Harriet interrupted.
"-Sorry, I have some…...chores to tend to." She explained hastily.
Harriet spoke quickly, too quickly.
To Severus's great torment, she repaired her dress with a hasty spell, slipped it back on, and took her leave.
The lonely alpha was devastated as he watched Harriet walk out of his bedroom, down the short hallway in his chambers, and close his front door behind herself.
Severus wanted to chase after Harriet, but he was terrified that if he did, he would frighten her.
Severus could hardly believe what had happened.
How could Potter just stand up and go?!
…..After all that had happened between them?!
….After what they had done?!
Severus scowled as he scrutinized his memories.
Had Potter…..used him?
Had she taken what she wanted and thrown him away?
It made Severus's body ache to think that Harriet was walking down the corridor, proudly showing everyone the love bite he had given her.
What if she already had his pup growing in that supple belly of hers?
Severus gnashed his teeth.
She shouldn't be walking down the corridor, she should be there, next to him, looking at him and chatting while they sat side by side.
It was painful for Severus, how badly he needed Harriet to…...want him.
Of all the things that Severus Snape had ever desired to be, Harriet Potter's sex doll wasn't one of them.
An offended scowl clouded his face as he rose from his seat in one elegant motion.
Severus pulled on his usual black robes and left his rooms with his cloak billowing behind him as he stalked down the hallway with a renewed sense of determination.
How dare his insolent darling think she was going to flee from him without a word of explanation!
—-
Harriet didn't know what to do when she made it back to her rooms.
She wasn't a weepy girl but as she looked around the place she had nearly been victimized in, she felt a heavy weight on her chest that threatened to turn into deep sobs of grating sadness.
Severus hadn't said anything to stop her when she left so abruptly, he had wanted her to go!
Harriet's cheeks flushed a soft shade of pink as she thought about the intimacy they had shared.
She laid a hand over her face in shame.
Harriet had been foolish enough to believe that Severus wanted her as his mate.
Unconsciously, she lifted her other hand and gently touched the bite on her neck.
Elion Dacre had ruined everything for her when he had slipped her that potion.
Harriet sighed.
No, that wasn't right, she had to take responsibility for her own actions.
Elion had given her that wretched potion, yes, but Harriet had made her choice.
She had purposely gone to Severus's office and waited for him there.
She had begged him to take her, begged him to claim her…...he had generously offered her an escape, but she had stubbornly spurned his aid in favor of his bed.
Harriet let her hands fall away from her face and neck as she stood in the part of her chambers that served as her living room and looked around with a melancholy frown.
Contemplatively, she glanced towards the sofa.
As she stared at the cushions, she saw Severus there with little Teddy beside him, eagerly showing his picture book to the alpha.
Harriet could still remember the scent of the cookies she had baked that night.
She turned her eyes to the hallway and frowned when she thought she saw Severus standing there, tall and formidable in his flowing, dark robes.
Harriet pursed her lips as she slowly walked down the hall and into her bedroom.
As she stood in the doorway and stared at what previously had been a place of peaceful respite, her frown deepened.
Harriet realized that after what had happened, she couldn't stay there anymore, she couldn't live in those rooms, she couldn't sleep in that bed.
Her nest was with Severus.
Her nest on Severus's bed was where she felt safe and happy.
She ached to return to that place as she sighed to herself.
Harriet looked over at the bed in her room.
The sheets were still wrinkled in the areas where Elion's friends had been holding her down…..
Harriet had survived by teaching herself not to fixate on the darker moments in her life.
She had made a valiant effort to forget the injustices she had suffered at the hands of the Dursleys and she had gotten quite adept at shutting out the frightening scenes she had witnessed during her years long battle with Voldemort.
Regardless, as Harriet stood there in her bedroom and stared over at the mattress upon which she had been so mercilessly restrained, a wave of intolerable nausea swept over her and the hair on the back of her neck bristled.
She moved her fingers against her palms and realized that her hands had started to sweat as she relived those moments of terror when she had been captured against her will, when that horrible alpha had stared down at her like a butcher looking at an animal ready for slaughter.
Harriet closed her eyes and tried to shut out the darkness.
It had been so close, so close but then…
A knock suddenly landed on her door and Harriet started as she was shaken out of her waking nightmare.
She inexplicably shivered as the mental image of Elion's evil grin left her thoughts.
Harriet slowly turned and walked back down the short hallway to her living area.
When Harriet opened up her door, she blinked as she saw Severus standing there in the hallway, frowning down at her.
"H-Headmaster Snape!" Harriet gasped in pleasant surprise.
Severus's frown turned into a scowl as he reached out his arms towards her.
Harriet looked down and noticed that he was holding one of the blankets she had used in the nest that she had made on his bed.
She laughed quietly and took the blanket from him to cuddle against it where she stood.
Severus's scent was prominent on the fabric, which gave the omega an incredible amount of comfort.
"I…..I can't stay here anymore." Harriet stammered to Severus after she took a brief moment to nuzzle the blanket in her arms.
"I should think not." Severus replied flatly, "I've come to inquire why you left my side in the first place…... I assume you did so only to pack your things?"
Harriet's eyes widened as she looked at Severus in disbelief before he added, "Did you or did you not...make your nest….. in my bed, Potter?"
"I did." Harriet nodded.
"And….are you or are you not wearing the bite mark that I gave to you at the heighth of our passion?"
"...I am." Harriet replied as her cheeks burned a bright shade of pink at the way that intense question rolled off of Severus's tongue.
Severus glared at her with his dark eyes rich as chocolate while he pressed, "Then does that or does that not mean you belong to me?"
Harriet breathed a happy sigh of joyful relief.
"Y-Yes, headmaster, it does." Harriet answered.
Inside her chest, her heart swelled as she interpreted the true emotion behind Severus's cutting voice and the deep scowl on his face.
That scowl remained as Severus looked down at Harriet and hissed, "I would prefer if you would stop addressing me as 'headmaster' when we're alone. I'm not 'headmaster' anymore to you, I'm not Seveus Snape anymore to you, I'm your alpha now, Potter…..You'll do well to remember that."
Harriet did nothing to hide the bright smile that radiated from her lips.
Despite the frigidity of Severus's words, he spent the next two hours helping his new omega pack her belongings, move out of her chambers, and into his own.
Severus Snape was a lonely alpha no more~.