Hu Yetao stumbled over the threshold of the Gryffindor common room as he pushed his way in through the portrait hole. He paused to look for Zhang Xinyao and Jing Long and quickly spotted them in their usual seats next to the fire.
"Hu Yetao, where on earth is your robe?" Jing Long asked as he joined them, noticing his bare arms.
"What took you so long?" Zhang Xinyao asked with a frown.
He Yetao withdrew his wand before taking a seat in the armchair across from them. He subtly cast a strong privacy charm around the trio, causing the other two Gryffindor's brows to rise in surprise.
"What's happened?" Jing Long asked, leaning forward in concern.
Zhang Xinyao's eyes narrowed. "You smell of the infirmary," he observed grimly.
Hu Yetao swallowed, still slightly breathless from his run from the hospital wing. "What hasn't happened?" he responded. "Hanjiang pulled the Alpha card in the locker room and almost bit me. I had to push him off before running for it."
Jing Long gasped, looking horrified. "He tried to bite you?"
"But he didn't, well, not hard enough to break the skin anyway," Hu Yetao quickly assured them when he saw that Zhang Xinyao's hands had curled into fists. "Then I ran into Zhou Keyu and he told me about what happened to Kazuma as we walked towards the hospital wing-"
"Hospital wing?" Jing Long interrupted. "Did Hanjiang hurt you?"
"No, I cut my head on a locker door trying to get away from him. I'm fine," he quickly brushed off with a wave of his hand. "And then we ran into Oscar Wang and for some reason, the git took it upon himself to walk me to the infirmary instead of Keyu, and…" Hu Yetao paused, suddenly feeling a little awkward. "And he kind of pushed me up against the wall behind a suit of armor and… and sniffed me. He said he needed to make sure that I was all right. We kind of… had a moment. It was odd." Hu Yetao shook his head. "And then he just snapped out of it and walked me the rest of the way to the infirmary."
"And then what?" Jing Long asked raptly.
"And then I said we needed to talk about what the hell just happened and he agreed," Hu Yetao replied, still feeling a little baffled himself. "I'm meeting him in the Room of Requirement at ten."
"Whoa…" Zhang Xinyao surmised, sitting back. "This is big."
Jing Long nodded in agreement and Hu Yetao ran a hand through his hair with a sigh.
"Okay," he said, attempting to focus on one issue at a time. "First thing I need to figure out is why some Alphas seem to be able to detect that I'm a… you-know-what." Even with his privacy charm in place, Hu Yetao was unwilling to call himself out as an Omega with so many students around.
"Right." Jing Long took on his 'determined pupil' expression and sat up straight. "Zhang Xinyao, what does Hu Yetao smell like to you?"
"What?" Zhang Xinyao exclaimed, turning to her in horror. "I'm not bloody sniffing him!"
"Just do it," Jing-Long instructed with a sigh. "You're an Alpha so it's the simplest solution without involving anyone else."
Zhang Xinyao glanced about the room before reluctantly moving to stand in front of Hu Yetao's chair. Hu Yetao couldn't help but snicker as Zhang Xinyao leaned in and took a big whiff of his neck.
Zhang Xinyao immediately took a step back, eyes wide, as he looked down at Hu Yetao. "Yeah friend, you smell like an Omega."
"Shh!" Jing Long admonished as Zhang Xinyao returned to his seat on the sofa beside him.
"But how is that possible?" Hu Yetao cried out in frustration. "I take a scent masking potion every day!"
"It's only faint though," Zhang Xinyao said. "I can only smell it when I'm close and purposely sniffing at you."
"And maybe it's harder to detect with lots of people around," Jing-Long added, indicating the common room full of studying Gryffindors. "The only times an Alpha has jumped you are when you're alone with him."
Hu Yetao nodded before leaning forward on his elbows. "So perhaps I need to strengthen the potion or switch to two a day or something."
"Maybe," Jing-Long replied, wrinkling his brow in thought. "You should probably speak with Madam Chen Zihan before making any changes though Hu Yetao, I don't know anything about these scent masking potions; you don't want to make yourself sick."
"I don't get them from Chen Zihan," Hu Yetao reminded him. "Directly, anyway; Xiào steals them for me."
"Oh that's right, I'd forgotten." Jing Long withdrew a notebook from the bag at his feet. "I'll look into it for you."
"So you heard about Kazuma?" Zhang Xinyao asked, turning to Hu Yetao as Jing-Long quickly jotted down a few notes in his book.
"Yeah, just briefly," Hu Yetao replied solemnly. "Any ideas on who or what it was?"
Jing Long and Zhang Xinyao glanced at each other, causing Hu Yetao to frown.
"What?"
Zhang Xinyao cleared his throat uncomfortably before speaking. "It's just… the description sounded a lot like that spell the Half-Blood Prince came up with, the one that you know how to do."
Hu Yetao merely stared at the two of them in confusion for a moment before his eyes widened in disbelief. "You think it was me?!"
"It's just that Kazuma assaulted you recently and perhaps he tried it again and you just… lost control?" Jing Long answered tentatively.
Hu Yetao would have laughed if he wasn't so offended. "I don't lose control and almost kill people!"
"The cuts were relatively shallow," Jing-Long pointed out, placating. "Whoever did it certainly didn't set out to murder Kazuma."
"Sectumsempra doesn't work that way," Hu Yetao explained tersely. "It will kill you unless you know the counter curse. I can assure you that it wasn't me; I had nothing to do with it. I thought it might have been you, Zhang Xinyao."
Zhang Xinyao snorted. "You're having me on."
"It crossed my mind as well," Jing-Long cut in quietly. "You have been very protective of Hu Yetao lately."
Zhang Xinyao spluttered. "Yeah but he's not my bloody mate, is he? That sort of violent revenge isn't something a friend would do; it would've had to have been Hu Yetao's mate."
"And I don't have a mate," Hu Yetao immediately acknowledged, "so maybe it's just a coincidence that Kazuma was attacked? Maybe it has absolutely nothing to do with what happened between us. If I didn't do it, and you and Zhang Xinyao had nothing to do with it, then-"
"Oh no," Zhang Xinyao groaned.
"What?" Hu Yetao and Jing-Long said at the same time.
"Oscar Wang."
"Wang?" Hu Yetao repeated. "What about him?"
"Remember? He was in the infirmary when I told Chen Zihan about Kazuma attacking you."
"And he knows Sectumsempra," Jing-Long finished conclusively, looking as though all the pieces were suddenly slotting into place.
Hu Yetao slumped back into his chair, gobsmacked. "And he went overboard trying to see if I was okay today..."
"So does that mean that Oscar is drawn to you?" Zhang Xinyao asked, puzzled. "Because he certainly doesn't show it."
"What do you think Hu Yetao?" Jing Long asked quietly. "Do you think Oscar Wang secretly sees you as a potential mate?"
Hu Yetao let his head fall back against the squashy surface of the well-worn armchair. "Yesterday I would have said no, but… after today I think he feels something. Whether he wants to or not is another thing."
"If he feels drawn to you, they wouldn't he know what that must mean?" Zhang Xinyao asked, looking at Jing-Long. "An Alpha isn't drawn to a Beta, they can fall in love the usual way but they don't have an inexplicable need to be with them. If Oscar doesn't want a Beta but is drawn to Hu Yetao regardless, wouldn't he be the world's biggest thickhead to not know what that proves?"
Jing Long chewed his lip as he stared at Hu Yetao. "Not necessarily," he said slowly. "There hasn't been a male you-know-what in about eighty years, so it's possible that the idea wouldn't even cross Oscar's mind. Or any of the other Alphas you've tempted."
"Or perhaps Oscar already fancied you and when he came into his Alpha inheritance, he just chalked it up to his inheritance intensifying what he already felt," Zhang Xinyao suggested.
Jing Long stared. "That is the most intelligent thing I've ever heard you say, Zhang Xinyao," he declared, causing the boy to flush.
"Do you think that's true?" Hu Yetao asked them both, clenching his hands on the armrests, embarrassed at the hope that colored his words.
"Well… he has always been interested in what you're doing," Jing-Long answered carefully, thinking back on previous years.
"And he lives to irritate you," Zhang Xinyao added helpfully.
"So what you're saying is that he's proving that he fancies me by antagonizing me?" Hu Yetao asked.
"He wouldn't be the first male in history to do so," Jing-Long pointed out with a smirk.
"You've always been interested in him too though, haven't you Hu Yetao?" Zhang Xinyao asked. "You're always watching him. I assumed you fancied him but didn't want to tell us."
"No, of course not," Hu Yetao replied indignantly.
"But Hu Yetao, if you want Oscar to want you for being you, then shouldn't he expect the same courtesy in return?" Jing Long asked pointedly.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, if you never thought of him that way until this year when he came into his Alpha inheritance, then how is that any better than him falling for you because of you being a you-know-what?"
Hu Yetao opened his mouth but words failed him. He was right.
"Can we please stop calling Hu Yetao a 'you-know-what'?" Zhang Xinyao begged, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. "It's too close to You-Know-Who - and that's just fucking disturbing."
Hu Yetao and Jing-Long turned to look at Zhang Xinyao and simultaneously burst out laughing at his uneasy expression.
"Well it's true," he persisted stubbornly, a reluctant smile pulling at his lips as his friends continued to laugh.
"All right, what would you prefer to call him then?" Jing Long asked, grinning.
"Prongs," Hu Yetao answered for him, saying the first thing to come to mind when thinking of code names. He studiously ignored the sympathetic look Jing-Long turned his way. "You're right though Jing-Long —"
"Usually is," Zhang Xinyao cut in with a smirk.
"- if I don't like him without the Alpha component then I'm not any better than what I've been trying to avoid by not telling anyone about being a-a Prongs," Hu Yetao finished with a sigh. "It's so hard to think about how I felt before this year though, my… feelings for him are so strong now that I can't even remember what it was like before. I feel like I've always wanted him this way."
"Maybe you have," Zhang Xinyao said with a shrug. "Maybe you were just in denial."
"Yeah, maybe." Hu Yetao exhaled, feeling mentally exhausted.
"And maybe it doesn't matter," Jing-Long said shortly, obviously a little weary of Hu Yetao's excessively honorable ways when it came to his Omega inheritance. "What you feel for him now isn't fake Hu Yetao; Alphas and Omegas have been pairing off like this for centuries. It doesn't make it any less real or any less wonderful. It's common knowledge that mated Alpha and Omegas are extraordinarily happy and content couples."
Hu Yetao looked up at him and suddenly felt like such a wanker; overthinking something that most people would see as a gift. To be allowed to love someone that intensely and completely, and have the same returned, is all he could ask for in life. Maybe he is all up by not wholly embracing it.
"Yeah Hu Yetao, I say just go with it," Zhang Xinyao said encouragingly.
Hu Yetao emitted a bitter bark of laughter. "Oh sure, just tell Oscar that I'm a… Prongs and that I'm in love with him and wait for him to break my heart. You don't even like him, so I'm not sure why you're pushing this, I could just as easily find someone else."
"But you haven't," Jing-Long pointed out briskly. "There are plenty of young, fit Alphas walking around these corridors and you've only felt drawn to one. At least if you tell Oscar the truth tonight, he can make a fully informed decision and you will know once and for all. If, as you say, he says no and breaks your heart, then we can move on to Plan B and find you another Alpha. How does that sound?"
"Terrifying," Hu Yetao quipped before his expression set with determination. "All right, I'll do it. I'll tell him the truth and just… see what happens."
"Good." Jing Long nodded in approval.
"Are you going to be okay alone with him though?" Zhang Xinyao asked worriedly.
Hu Yetao absently toyed with a loose thread on the arm of his chair. "Yeah, I think so. I'll take my wand in any case but he's the only Alpha so far that has been able to stop and walk away from me."
"Are you going to be able to stop yourself?" Jing Long asked, blushing a little at thinking of his friend in that way but needing to get his concerns across regardless.
Hu Yetao bit his lip and shrugged. "I… I am dunno. Do I have to?" he added quietly.
"Hu Yetao!" Jing Long cried, scandalized.
"Come on Jing Long," Zhang Xinyao said with a smile. "Hu Yetao's eighteen, and he's not in heat, so what does it matter?"
Jing Long blushed as he snapped his mouth shut.
Hu Yetao felt sorry for him but shared a smirk with Zhang Xinyao over his head as he bent to busily put his notebook back in his bag.
"You're going to be late."
Hu Yetao looked at Zhang Xinyao with a frown before his gaze slid to the large copper lion's head clock on the wall. "Shit," he swore at seeing that it was somehow nearly ten.
Hu Yetao quickly dissolved the privacy charm and stood up, noticing that the common room had virtually emptied while they'd been so ensconced in their discussion.
"Good luck Hu Yetao," Jing-Long said sincerely. "Should we wait up for you? Just to make sure you're okay?"
Hu Yetao shared a look with Zhang Xinyao before shaking his head. "Nah, don't wait up, I'll be fine."
"Yeah, good luck friend," Zhang Xinyao added with his easy, lopsided smile. "Just keep the details to yourself, yeah?"
Hu Yetao rolled his eyes and turned to walk out, slipping his wand back into the waistband of his jeans.
He shivered when the icy air of the corridor hit his bare arms and once again cursed the fact that he'd left his things back in the quidditch locker room. Hu Yetao hurried to the seventh-floor corridor as fast as he could; not wanting Oscar to think that he'd stood him up. That would be a terrible beginning to their night.
He spotted the tall blond leaning casually up against the stone wall opposite the now-familiar Huinan the Barmy painting, the wooden door leading to the Room of Requirement already in place next to him.
"Hey," Hu Yetao said somewhat inadequately as he approached; unsure of what sort of reception he was going to get from the mercurial Slytherin.
Oscar turned to look at him before pushing off of the wall. "Yetao," was all he said before turning to open the door and walking inside.
"Good to see you too," Hu Yetao muttered before following.
Hu Yetao halted abruptly just inside the room, the door almost smacking him in the arse as it swung shut and locked behind him. He'd never seen the Room look quite like this before: instead of the large castle stonework rising to meet a square, flat ceiling, they curved and arched overhead as though they were in some sort of cave. There was even loose soil, rocks, and what appeared to be hay littering the floor. There was a cracked window on the far wall that was covered in a layer of filth so thick that it barely let any light through. There was no furniture of any kind in sight, nothing to sit on to conduct a civil conversation.
Hu Yetao didn't think it boded well for their forthcoming chat.
Oscar had wandered to the far side of the room, arms crossed over his chest, not seem perturbed in the slightest by the conjured room's bizarre appearance.
"What on earth were you thinking about when you summoned the room?" Hu Yetao asked curiously as he looked around and took a few venturing steps forward. The air was cold and damp, only increasing the impression of being inside an old abandoned cavern deep within a mountainside.
Oscar turned to face him, arms still crossed protectively over his chest, expression stern. "Are you going to confess?"
Hu Yetao blinked, taken off-guard by the question. "Confess…?"
Oscar's brown eyes narrowed. "Yes, confess. Admit that you or your army of house-elves put something in my food."
"Like what?" Hu Yetao responded, feeling nettled already.
"Amortentia."
Hu Yetao nearly choked in surprise, then started to laugh. Oscar looked ready to punch him. "You think I slipped a love potion into your tea?" he exclaimed.
"But you have," Oscar persisted, ignoring Hu Yetao's amusement.
Hu Yetao quickly sobered when he saw how determined Malfoy appeared to be about this love potion business. He kept his distance and wrapped his arms around himself for warmth, watching the Alpha carefully.
"What are your symptoms?" he asked solemnly, genuinely curious about what the blond had been going through compared to his ring.
Oscar huffed out in annoyance and his glance skirted away from Hu Yetao's openly curious expression. "Ever since the start of term, I can't stop…" He paused to emit another breath of irritation, though perhaps a little more self-directed this time. "I can't stop thinking about you. I have… this ridiculous compulsion to be near you at all times, to ensure you are safe with my own eyes, to keep others away from you…" He finally brought accusing brown eyes back to Hu Yetao. "How is that not a potion or spell of some kind? You've fucking confounded me Tao - and I want to know how and why!"
Hu Yetao swallowed, unable to not be hurt by Oscar feeling so outraged by his unwanted feelings for him. "So…when you accompanied me to Hogsmeade, it wasn't because you wanted to?" he asked, thankfully managing to keep the injured tone out of his voice.
Oscar swiped an agitated hand through his blond hair as he began to pace in front of the grimy window. "Yes, I wanted to. I wanted to see if being friends with you would ease… this torture. I also didn't want Zhou Keyu to go with you, or anyone else for that matter."
Hu Yetao nodded, it all made perfect sense when you knew the truth of the matter, and then he suddenly remembered something. "Were you the one who attacked Kazuma?"
Oscar whirled around to face him. "I never raised my wand to him, Tao," he bit out vehemently, eyes narrowed; daring him to dispute it.
Hu Yetao detected the sincerity in his words and immediately backed off. He turned and walked over to where the walls began to curve upwards and ran his hand along with the moss-covered stone, fingers dipping in and out of the deep grooves and dislodging the gathered beads of moisture there. "It wasn't a love potion," he finally said, oddly calm now that the moment had arrived, bright eyes absently watching the droplets of water as they trailed down the damp wall away from his roaming fingertips. "Or a spell, or anything that I've done to you."
"What is it then?" Oscar asked doubtfully.
Hu Yetao took a deep breath and turned to face him. "I'm not a Beta, I'm an Omega."
Oscar simply stared.
"Everything you've been feeling this year, I've felt as well. Maybe even more so, since I haven't been fighting it like you," Hu Yetao couldn't help adding resentfully.
Too many emotions flashed across the Slytherin's face to pinpoint a single one, but Hu Yetao thought he could detect rising anger underneath it all.
"So you didn't think being the Boy-Who-Lived was enough?" Oscar finally responded voice pulled tight with anger. "Now that the Dark Lord is dead you have to pretend you're a sodding Omega to get attention?"
Hu Yetao's mouth dropped open, incredulous. "You think I want to be a fucking Omega?" he retorted furiously, irritation prickling hotly all over his skin. "Do you know how miserable I've been since term started - and it's still September! I've had to take daily potions to hide what I am from every student in this school, I've had two Alphas jump me already - despite the scent masking potion - and despite what you may think, and what you've always thought, I don't want to be the Boy-Who-Fucking-Lived either!"