Legal Disclaimer: I own my stuff, but not the original source material. That belongs to whoever. Also, the opinions and interpretations I use here may not reflect the same in said whoever that owns the source material. Look, I'm just a poor college librarian. Suing me isn't going to get you anything but tears.
Warning: This work may be offensive to some readers. Additionally, the dominant theme of this work is discussion of both canon-typical abuse and trope-specific abuse. Feel free to back out if need be.
Author's Note: Two years later, and I finally got around to doing any kind of expansion on the AU where omegas can literally die from lack of nesting & pack. Also I went to look up the main fic where I read the idea and now can't find it.
Submitting Info:
Stacked with: Hogwarts 2.0 (T03); RAVEN (2024); MC4A (Sp-Yr7)
Individual Challenges: Condiment Shelf; Missing Link; Major; Falling Apart (Y); Royal; Hogwarts MC; No School MC; Magical MC [x2]; Sandbox (Y); Fuse Box; Cinematic; Gamer; Reader; Alpha & Omega; Saucy Oven; Tossed Chum [x2]; Nonhuman MC; Ethnic & Present; Rian-Russo Inversion; Short Jog; Bucket Listing; The Story Goes On; Eating Cake (Y); Exchange; Outer Limit; Two Cakes (Y); Vial Collector; Lunar Era; Finders; Hold the Mayo; Rainbow Connection
Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw
Assignment: Term 03-03
Subject [Task (Prompt)]: Toxicology [Task#4 (someone who can be considered volatile)]
Other Hogwarts Challenges: Gather [Fighter 10 (Monster Hunter)] ALT (House Elf); Case [Grindelow](Compassionate); Library [Cerulean Sea](Found Family)
RAVEN Challenges: A&B [94](Wailing); Traits [97](Worried); Colors [98](Walnut); Items [03](Apron); Settings [52](Kitchen)
Other MC4A Challenges: Chim [Bobby](Protection; "Carry On My Wayward Son" - Kansas; Race Bent)
Representation(s): Alpha & Jewish Andromeda Black Tonks & Harry Potter & Teddy Lupin; Pregnant Winky; Omegaverse; Harry Raises Teddy; Discussion of Abusive Practices; Chim Song Prompt
Primary & Secondary Bonus Challenges: Mother Hen; Spinning Plates; Unwanted Advice; Tomorrow's Shade; Second Verse (Ladylike; Not a Lamp; Persistence Still; White Dress; Found Family; Nontraditional; Sneeze Weasel); Chorus (Odd Feathers; Pocky Pockets; Peddling Pots); Demo 1 (Muck & Slime; Civil Disobedience; Most Human Bean; Where Angels Fear; Lovely Coconuts; Under the Bridge); Demo 2 (Head of Perseus; Hot Stuff; Abandoned Ship; Creature Feature; Sitting Hummingbird); Demo 2p (Saucy Buns)
Tertiary & Generic Bonus Challenges: SN (Rail; Intercept); Once (Moses Supposes; Santa Fe); CM (Navigate; Yogin)
Space Address (Prompt): SpB 2D (Sheep/Lamb); TrB 4C (Retired BAMF); CM 4A (Petting)
Word Count: 1569 words
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Claim to Be Wise
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Andromeda managed to last just over a full hour before her nerves got to her. Normally, her self-control was as strong as goblin-steel. The war had been hard on all of them, however, and she was painfully aware of the emerging omega hiding away with her pack's only true pup. The fact that Harry had been so grievously harmed that he was only just starting to mature as an omega should only exacerbated the way her own instincts were snapping at her to do something about the lingering scent of sick and scared omega.
"Kreacher," she called. The house elf that answered was not the ancient one with his loyalty tied to the Black family. Kreacher would have been difficult enough to deal with, given how all house elves gave preferential treatment towards familial omegas in general and nesting ones in specific. As head elf of their conclave and his personal affections, Kreacher would undoubtedly be extra prickly when it came to Harry and Teddy.
Mother Magic was clearly not favoring Andromeda today at all. The house elf that answered her summons was Winky. Her tiny belly was visibly extended with her advancing gestation, and it pulled the dark purple fabric of her little dress taut. The drape of her sapphire blue apron did nothing to hide it either. Her dark brown eyes were as hard as the walnuts they resembled as they glared up at her. For all that she bedecked herself in Black colors to mark herself as in service to the family, Winky was not a house elf tied to the Black family. Winky was a free elf, and only such because Harry hadn't bonded her to his magic.
(A whisper in the back of her mind wondered if that was another thing which no one had bothered to explain to the boy. Perhaps the seeming refusal to give the pregnant elf what would quickly become a necessity was some sort of benevolent cruelty, but simple ignorance of the elf's biological needs. It would certainly explain why Winky's devotion hasn't wavered since she had followed Harry to Stone End.)
"Esquire Black be needing something?" Winky asked with barely restrained hostility. Andromeda wasn't unaware that she was a potential threat to Harry in this situation, given the tenuous newness of their tiny pack. That was even before acknowledging that her use of the alpha voice was likely what tipped Harry over the threshold from pre-heat into actual heat. Winky would be justified to be protective, even aggressive, against her.
"Has Harry left the house?" Andromeda asked. Winky scowled. "You don't have to tell me where his nest is. I just need to know that they're still here."
She was very careful to avoid any implication that Harry had needs which the house elf had not fulfilled. Winky would not take that as anything other than an insult. Likewise, she needed to avoid suggesting that Teddy might be separated from Harry. The house elf had probably already realized the pup was Harry's strongest pack bond at the moment.
Not for the first time since Harry had moved into Stone End, Andromeda wanted to resurrect Dumbledore just to kill him for the harm he had caused with his interference. Everything that was currently threatening to destroy what little happiness she had managed to build in the aftermath of the war seemed to stem from a decision that Dumbledore had made to promote his precious Greater Good. Andromeda was certain that they would never know the full extent of the man's machinations.
The desire to avenge her pack member's pain wasn't a priority, not when compared to the very real dangers around him. There had been no time between discovering just how badly Harry had been abused, outright tortured even, and Harry's retreat with Teddy. She had enough information to suspect that Harry had an advanced case of deprivation sickness, one that had been building since before the boy had started at Hogwarts, but she didn't know how severe the symptoms were. Harry was hardly more than skin and bones, his appetite falling off any time he got stressed. It was entirely possible that he had been hovering in pre-heat for so long because his body couldn't handle a full heat.
And then Andromeda had forced the issue when all she had been planning was a conversation.
While Harry seemed to have accepted Andromeda as a familial alpha, it had also seemed like the omega had been conflicted about it. That could explain the odd way that Harry reacted to her alpha voice. Most omegas either reacted or didn't. Harry had reacted initially and then would startle out of it. His magic had flared around him like a bird spreading its wings to seem bigger in the face of a threat, much like Winky's magic was doing now.
"Master Harry is being safe." Winky got a grudgingly thoughtful look on her face. She crossed her arms in front of her chest, fuming. "Master Harry is a good omega! He takes good care of his pup! He is GOOD!"
"Yes, I know," Andromeda hurried to reassure the enraged little elf. "Harry is a very good omega who deserves the world."
She deserved the scolding and possibly more. Her actions were not impulsive but also not thought out fully. The signs of deprivation had been as obvious as the ones that Harry was an omega. She should not have dismissed the idea as quickly as she had.
(Then again, not even her aunt would have been so cruel to force Sirius to destroy his own nest. What kind of monster would do that? How many times had that happened? Had no one ever noticed?)
Winky squinted at her like she was trying to determine Andromeda's honesty. Andromeda didn't blame her for that either. Harry had told her about how he met Winky and the cruel ways her former family had abandoned her. Andromeda also suspected that the sire of Winky's pup was either dead or had been part of the Ministry's confiscation of Death Eater resources. She wouldn't have trusted many wixen under those circumstances either. Harry had proven himself; she had not.
"Master Harry be nesting in his wardrobe," Winky added reluctantly. Her entire body softened slightly as she talked about her master. "He is sleeping now but only because Kreacher made him." The fire came back to her face as she wagged a finger at Andromeda. "You's made him hot, Esquire Black! Master Harry cannot be hot yet!"
"I know," Andromeda said, accepting this scolding as well. She marveled at how brave Winky was being. "I didn't know he was that sick or that he would have that reaction, but I'm very glad that he has you and Kreacher looking after him." Andromeda hesitated before deciding that disclosing her half-formed plans would more likely help rather than hurt. "After his heat, I would like to invite a healer to assess his condition. He may need treatment—"
"NO!" Winky screeched. Magic sparked between her fingers that were suddenly outstretched like she meant to claw at Andromeda's face. Andromeda froze as her mind raced in confusion over why the elf would react like this. The realization dropped into her stomach like a stone. The Crouches were even more traditionalists than the Blacks were, and well known for their submissive omegas who were desperate to please their mates. It was just as well known that the family achieved that attitude by keeping their omegas on the edge of deprivation sickness. Winky had been born a Crouch house elf whose dam and grand-dam had been Crouch house elves. No doubt where her mind had gone for what kind of treatment Harry would get.
"Oh, no," she rushed out, shaking her head. "Never that. Harry deserves the world, remember?"
"And all the soft things," Winky growled threateningly. Andromeda nodded her agreement. "And sweet breads." She nodded again. "And hot chocolatey drinks with marshmallows." Andromeda gave another nod. Winky gave her a considering look. "And all of the cuddles?"
"All of them," Andromeda repeated. The depth of her feeling gave the words weight enough to edge it towards a magical vow. Winky's hard demeanor shattered into wailing despair. She threw herself at Andromeda, locking her thin arms around her thighs.
"You's gotta help him," Winky cried. "Master Harry is so sick and now he's so hot and his magic is so strong that Kreacher cannot be keeping him sleeping long, not with the pup there too but taking the pup—" She cut herself off with another wail. Not that Andromeda needed the rest of the sentence to know just how much separating Teddy and Harry was not an option.
Andromeda also didn't need to think about the possible fallout of bringing someone Harry had never met into their den without warning him. The two elves could be trusted to know if Harry was of sound enough health to get through his heat before needing medical assessment. It was clear that at least Winky was agreeing with Andromeda's instincts that said something was very, very wrong. Andromeda twisted the middle section of her wedding band that still sat on her left ring finger. The metal heated briefly before matching her body temperature once more.
If Zillah took longer than five minutes to portkey in, Andromeda would eat the crimson tichel right off top her head.