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It was his fault. That was perfectly clear. The look Malfoy gave him left nothing open for interpretation. As to the Why or the How Harry hadn’t a clue. Even the What was still a bit uncertain. He was beginning to feel the strain of the weight he was carrying, but couldn’t bring himself to stop or to let go and leave the job to someone else, he knew it was his job. And that too was perfectly clear.
He opened the infirmary doors with a shoulder and went straight to the first empty bed he found, draping Malfoy’s body on it with the outmost care and calling for Madam Pomfrey. The boy was still out cold and shivering, hair damp and skin sweating like in the midsts of a particularly high fever. Harry called for the matron again, not realising that the witch was already running towards them, and started when she spoke only a few inches from him.
“Mr. Potter! What happened? What did you do?” She didn’t wait for his reply to take out her wand and cast a few diagnostic spells towards the boy on the bed.
“I didn’t do anything Madam…” The tone of his reply was so uncertain that the Matron stopped her work to look at him raising one sceptical eyebrow “Well… I don’t know what I did?” He tried again, the last word ending on an up note that was helping nothing. “He just fainted and started shivering and I don’t know what happened!” He finally explained gesturing for her to resume the work hoping it might explain something to both of them.
It was obvious the witch didn’t believe him but resumed the readings anyway. Harry could see her eyes brighten with understanding and then suddenly change in reprimand when she turned again towards him. “Maybe this will teach you to not indulge in inappropriate behaviours instead of going to class Mr. Potter.”
The stern tone froze Harry for a moment “Inapprop.. what do you mean inappropriate? We were in the middle of DADA! We were in class Poppy!” He shouted not even registering the use of the witch’s first name in his outrage shocking her in a stunned face, mouth slightly open.
It took her only a moment however to regain her composure, she straightened her back and took a deep breath before speaking again “Tell me what happened Harry.” Her tone much calmer “from the beginning if you please.” She said while sheathing her wand in the fold of her gown.
Harry took a deep breath of his own before retelling to the woman the events of the last hour trying to string together a full sentence while his brain was still running in circles.
“Professor Proudfoot decided to start a duelling tournament and paired us for demonstrating rules and mechanics. We duelled for about ten minutes, and we didn’t cast anything dangerous, I swear!” He rushed to point out, still miffed by the matron’s accusation. “When professor Proudfoot stopped us we shook hands, how it’s customary at the end of a formal duel, and Malfoy fainted. He’s been this way since. Now could you please tell me what is happening? Is he going to be alright??”
The worry in his voice would have surprised him if he wasn’t so… well…worried. He didn’t even registered he never stopped petting Malfoy’s hair until he followed Madam Pomfrey’s eyes to his hand and halted his movements yet incapable of breaking contact, like something forced him to keep it there. With a frown he looked back to the woman now sporting an enigmatic smile.
“I can assure you he will be perfectly alright. For now we just need to wait for him to wake up on his own.” She cast a complicated charm over the boy and what seemed like vital signs appeared in the air next to the bed. “What is happening, dear Harry, is that Mr. Malfoy is presenting.”
It was Harry’s turn to freeze in shock looking at her agape and since he was slower than her to come to his senses the matron continued “Mr. Malfoy here is an omega, and I’m guessing he didn’t present when he came of age, as is the norm, due to the stress of the war. Like for many of your generation.”
Harry gulped and was finally able to move his hand away from the soft blond hair. Only to move it to his shoulder. Meh… progress. “Are you telling me…” he trailed off not knowing what he wanted to ask, he chanced a look at the boy under his hand that was still shivering and began whimpering weakly not yet regaining consciousness.
He tried again. “Are you telling me that a handshake triggered his presentation? My handshake? I shook hands with half the Wizarding World by now!” His breathing was becoming shallow, his face ashen, he realised his hand was closing in a fist on Malfoy’s shoulder and forced himself to open his fingers.
“No one fainted… that I’m aware of. Nothing happened. Please tell me I didn’t trigger hundreds… I didn’t even present yet myself!” “Oh but you did.” The matron interrupted what was sure to became an epic panic attack, her smile never faltering. “What do you mean I did? Wouldn’t I know if I did?”
This morning was becoming weirder and weirder. He needed to sit. He scooted Malfoy over to the side of the bed and propped himself on it taking one of the boy’s hands in his frowning again. “Why can’t I stop touching him?” He didn’t really mean to ask the question aloud but everything was just so not normal that the words didn’t register until it was too late and a faint blush coloured his cheeks when he raised his eyes on the matron again.
“One question at a time, dear boy. I believe that you did present, because I can smell it on you. Every presentation is different, but yes, it is indeed very weird that you didn’t realise. Was there ever a moment when you were able to smell things you normally don’t or hear better than usual? See better than usual?”
So much had changed after he killed Voldemort, he was much more attuned with his magic, more powerful even, but thinking back at the last few days yes, maybe, possibly, something changed, but it hadn’t been this big event everyone talked about. He didn’t fainted, for one. He was more antsy, less focused, maybe a bit short tempered, but nothing compared to the Horcrux crisis he had in the past months so he didn’t give it much thought. And no one had said a thing, so Harry just shook his head no, progressively more confused.
In that moment the familiar scent of candied apples and pine reached him again. “Well… I can smell him, but I don’t know if it counts.” He said looking down at his hands playing with Malfoy’s fingers. “Just since he fainted. More than before… I mean… I could smell him before too… Just not like this.” His voice becoming smaller and smaller with his confession.
“Interesting.” The witch became thoughtful for a minute and then a warm smile finally appeared on her face “I’ll tell you what I think, but bear in mind that for now it is just a theory and I should do more testing to be sure. I think what happened is you triggered Mr. Malfoy’s presentation and he triggered yours. I’m guessing we will know for sure in a few hours, but for now I will ask you to stay here so that I can keep an eye on both of you.”
Harry was indeed beginning to feel weak, but it was probably due to the amount of information he was trying to process. His eyes returned to the boy laid on the bed “How long will he stay like this? Why is he in pain? Hermione presented a few months ago and it was very different.”
“Miss Granger, even as an omega, possesses a very definitive difference compared to Mr. Malfoy, Harry. She is a woman. Women don’t usually need to change their anatomy to bear children. Omega males are less common, and so not much research is done about them. I believe what you observed with Miss Granger will come next, no sooner than tomorrow I’d say. In any case I’d like to move you both to a heath room, just to be safe.”
“Both? Why.. What..” Harry tried to ask, cheeks now burning with the implications, but was cut short by the matron’s pointed look aimed to his hands still fidgeting with Malfoy’s.
“The charms on the room will avoid any unwanted side effect” she kept talking like Harry hadn’t speak “this is, above all, a school and we don’t want a horde of pregnant students, mated or not, hindering their education. To that end I will ask of you that you come here for any following heat. Now, please, follow me.”
She took out her wand again to levitate Malfoy from the bed and Harry scrambled to follow, swallowing the whine that surged to his lips at the loss of contact. What in Godric’s name was happening to him?
As soon as they got in the heat room Malfoy was laid on one side of the queen size bed and it took everything in Harry to not run at his side and make contact again. He remained standing fidgeting with the hem of his sleeves, watching closely, with a low growl lodged in his throat, while the matron exchanged the blond’s robes for a fine hospital gown and settled him under the sheets.
Once she was sure the charms were in place, the vitals spell still working fine and that everything was in order, Madam Pomfrey spoke again pointing to various places in the room. “You can both stay here for as long as you need. There will be food provided on the table over there and behind that door you can find a bathroom. In that wardrobe you’ll find blankets and pillows if you need them.”
She took a deep breath and turned to leave “I will ask you to come tell me when Mr. Malfoy regains consciousness and if he wants me to explain to him what is happening, though I assume it won’t take long for him to understand.” then she opened the door and left Harry alone to wait.
Taking stock of his body was surprisingly difficult. Not for any lack of sensitivity, that he had in spades, but because every single thing he could sense was different than usual. He never felt warm anymore since the war, and yet, he was warm. He never felt rested, incapable of sleeping for a whole night in the last months, and yet again he felt rested. Even his body felt different, like he somehow grew an extra limb while sleeping.
When the smell finally hit him he knew he wasn’t alone. He kept his eyes closed for a moment longer trying to understand where he was and why Potter might be in the same room with him, there was no way he wouldn’t recognise that scent, rich earth and chocolate, like a picnic dessert.
He remembered shaking Potter’s hand, the shock that ran through him like a lightning bolt and flashes of blackness and, weirdly enough, safety. He must be in the infirmary then. But the smell was wrong, no antiseptic or ammonia, no potions, the place smelt like… well it smelt like Potter. Overwhelmingly so.
Potter that, he now realised, was caressing his wrist. That couldn’t be right. It was already strange enough that they were in the same room but there was no reason in hell why Potter would touch him voluntarily, not without a wand or any kind of kindness. Not in such an intimate way, not like he cared.
He decided to open his eyes to check what was now pretty sure must have been a phantom touch fabricated by his imagination and met two impossible green ones. Potter was in fact sitting at his side, arms folded on the bed and head resting on one of his own elbows looking directly at him, one hand was clasped around Draco’s wrist and a thumb drawing circles on his pulse point.
When he realised Draco was awake he jumped to his feet and made a move for the door behind him only to stop abruptly to look at their joined hands. “I’m going to call Pomfrey…” he said like he was steeling himself for battle and slowly pried open his fingers letting go of Draco’s wrist.
The sense of loss that came over Draco was as overwhelming as incomprehensible and tore a pained whimper out of him. “I know.” Potter answered with what seemed like the same pain in his voice and raised his hand as to touch him again but stopped midway. “I’ll be right back.” And all but ran out of the door.
He was fucked. Those forty seconds of awareness were enough to know that much. Now that his Alpha was gone everything became clear. His instincts kicking in at being left alone in a vulnerable state, at the clasps of what would be his first heat. A sharp tang of abandonment filled his soul.
He could still feel the brand of Potter’s fingers around his wrist, and he turned on his side cradling it to his chest closing himself in a foetal position. Harry Potter. His Alpha. His mate. Fuck.
No wonder he felt so weird. He didn’t grew another limb, he grew another organ! Shit. Being an Omega was not what he would have chosen given the chance, of course, but he supposed it wasn’t the worst possible outcome either. At least he didn’t need to condemn himself to a life of lies and sorrow to produce an heir.
At least his father was no longer around to judge him and he wouldn’t have to suffer through his attempts at conversion therapy like he so often promised for his inclinations. The stupid fucker. Maybe being busy with a war ended up having just one, small, perk among all the ugliness and the trauma.
And he already found his mate. If he ever decided to come back, of course. That would be helpful. A sanctimonious, self sacrificing, prick that hated him and that left the room as soon as he opened his eyes, but maybe he could avoid him the pain of going through the heat alone. Life could be worse. Life had been worse, actually, if he thought about it. He could survive this.
He could already feel his temperature starting to rise and a slight dampness between his cheeks. He pressed his nose in the pillow trying to avoid to breathe the scent that permeated the room, curved more on himself, dragged the cotton sheet above his head hiding beneath it and struggled to stifle the whimpers that surged in his throat.
What must have been a century later he felt a dip in the matress behind him and a soft touch on his shoulder above the sheet. “Draco…” His given name, spoken with such tenderness from that voice, and the relief he could feel form just that light touch, broke his resolve and a low, sad, sound escaped his lips. He felt the body behind him move and suddenly he was dragged against a strong chest, the other boy’s warmth seeping through the sheet.
“I talked to Pomfrey,” Potter whispered bringing his forehead to rest against the top of his clothed head “She wanted to know when you woke up. You were gone for most of the day… I told her I think you knew what’s happening and that I could tell you what she explained to me. I don’t really know if that is true but I thought you might prefer not seeing anyone right now…”
The hesitation in the Alpha’s voice was at odds with the possessive way he was holding him, his arm a steel cage around Draco’s chest, the rest of him still like a statue.
As much as Draco would have liked to stay hidden forever he knew that wasn’t an option so he grasped the sheet in his fingers and bunched it in his fist making it slide under Potter’s chin and along his own face before talking in his usual haughty tone “I don’t need you to explain anything to me Potter.”
The arm around him tightened. “Don’t.”
The deep growl in the brunette’s voice and the teeth now clasped around the soft flash behind his ear in an instinctive dominance asserting way sent a shiver of arousal along his spine. A treacherous submissive whimper left his lips and the dampness he could feel between his cheeks became a small puddle.
“I…” He didn’t really know what he wanted to say but Potter cut his words releasing his bite to nose at the spot and take a deep breath “I need to know if you want to spend this heat with me or not Draco. Now.”
“I… Why Harry? Would you leave?”
“Yes. If you wanted me to, I would.”
He could sense the strength behind those words, feel the tension in Harry’s muscles, the pressure of his nose in the hair above his ear. He knew Potter meant it, that he was ready to give him the choice, to leave him, unclaimed and suffering, but free nonetheless.
That knowledge eased something inside him erasing part of his fear. The certainty that nothing would happen that he didn’t want, that even presented with a wet, slicked, heated omega that smelled like a feast Potter was able to restrain himself and being noble.
Thinking about it that probably shouldn’t have surprised him as much as it did, really. Potter was nothing if not noble.
“What about you? You can’t be happy to be here… with me.”
He knew they didn’t have time to work through every aspect of their relationship and he wasn’t even sure they were in the right state of mind to have this conversation at all, but for some reason it was vital to him. He needed to know he wasn’t going to come out of this tethered forever to someone that didn’t want him, that this was not another of Potter’s selfless choices, that he was not just the last charity project of The Boy Who Lived.
That his first could also be his only. That he didn’t have to renounce the only tradition he hadn’t already rejected.
The anguish he could taste in Draco’s words almost broke him. He could taste the bitterness on the tip of his tongue and the need to soothe became so strong it took everything in him to stay still, focused, ignoring how enticing his scent was, how fascinated he was by this soft and vulnerable version of Draco, how his cock was inexorably filling and how he needed to keep it away from the inviting warmth of his mate’s body if he wanted to have even the tiniest hope of being able to follow true with his words.
“I stayed, didn’t I? I want to stay. I want you, Draco. I wanted you yesterday too.”
Words were never his strong suit and right now he didn’t have the mental capacity to search for the right ones, to tell Draco that maybe there was a reason for their history, one that wasn’t rooted in hatred as they always thought. That looking at him suffering for hours changed something. In the end he shouldn’t have worried.
With a whine that sounded more like a pleading Draco moved closing the few inches of space between their bodies and pushed his head in the pillow bearing his neck as an invitation causing all rational thought to flee Harry’s mind.
It didn’t took more that a blink for Harry’s magic to surge in a gush of wind that banished the sheet, the gown and his own clothings to a pile on the floor at the end of the bed leaving them skin to skin, soft flesh against hard length.
He moved his right hand to cup the back of Draco’s head keeping it tilted against the pillow and nipped small bites along the exposed neck while his other arm travelled downwards along the omega’s chest in a slow, possessive, caress that stopped just under his navel pressing his hips against his own causing the blond to moan and slightly open his legs asking for more.
Harry canted his hips dragging his cock in the slick now flowing liberally from Draco’s hole, tip catching against it at each pass and a growl rumbling in his chest.
“Harry…” the whine in the omega’s voice spurred him into action, his hand curling around the other boy’s impossibly hard cock giving it a slow stroke before moving lower to cup his balls pulling them away from his body with his palm and bringing a finger to circle around the slippery ring of muscles.
“Yes, love, yes.” He coaxed the blond’s legs open dragging one of his knees over his own hips turning him slightly and moving his other arm around the omega’s flank to keep his back against him, Draco’s hands rushing to grip it and pushing it to squeeze him with more force while another deep moan escaped him, the Alpha’s mouth breathing on the pulse point behind the ear.
“Beautiful…” Harry murmured, breaching his mate’s body and finding almost no resistance “sweet…” crooking his finger to find the sweet spot inside him causing him to cry out “perfect…” moving out and in again with slow movements “so tight…” adding another finger and increasing the pace, the omega panting and shivering in his arms now bearing down to take them deeper, faster, more “mine…” when he finally replaced his fingers with the head of his cock and pushed inside sheathing himself in one fluid movement.
“Alpha… please, please!” The heat was now taking over, spurring Draco to move in short frenzied motions trying to urge Harry to move, to take, to knot, to claim. And Harry obliged, his hand moving to grip the blond’s hips with bruising force before raising his own to fuck into him with deep forceful thrusts aimed at the omega’s prostate.
“So good… My beautiful perfect omega…” his words seemed to have a deep effect on his mate, drawing soft pleased sounds from his lips between louder moans of pleasure, so he kept talking, telling him everything that came to his mind, every word more true than the one before “I’m going to take care of you, Draco… claim you… knot you… keep you safe” he halted his thrusts to lift Draco and manhandle him so he could be on his hands and knees before entering him again, the blond’s hands curling into fists almost tearing the sheets apart.
“Yes! Harry, more, please, so close, knot me, plea-“ the omega’s babbling was cut short by a particularly deep thrust that made his toes curl and a strong shiver run along his spine. Harry’s knot was beginning to form, catching at the rim but not yet hindering his movements, he snaked a hand under his mate to pull at his cock with fast purposeful strokes.
“Are you going to be good and come for me, love?” His hands and his cock kept moving in tandem for a few moments until Draco left out a low dragged moan, hips jerking and cock spurting, his insides spasming around him tipping Harry over the hedge. With a deep growl he pushed his knot past the ring of muscles, filling him with his seed and shortening his thrusts while prolonging his mate’s pleasure moving a hand under his navel to increase the pressure on his prostate.
In the throes of pleasure for the third time Draco bared his throat in invitation and this time Harry didn’t hesitate. He folded himself on top on the omega and sank his teeth in the scent gland at the base of his neck, claiming him.