As soon as the shock wore off, Hu Yetao felt his instincts kick in and his mind demanded that he jump into 'fix-it mode. Before he opened his mouth though he realized that his mate had yet to say anything.
"Oscar?" he said gently, turning to the blond still standing pressed to his side.
Oscar's gaze was unfocused as he replied. "I… I think I need to sit down."
Hu Yetao immediately walked him over to the middle of the guest room and sat him on the edge of the bed, the other occupants of the room looking on silently. Oscar wrapped one hand around the bedpost, the other clutching a fistful of the quilt in his hand as he continued to stare unseeing across the room.
Hu Yetao placed a hand on his shoulder and kept it there. He immediately turned to the head of the Nundu Board; more determined than ever to defend his mate.
"What can we do?" he demanded resolutely. "How much time do we have?"
Xiu Silong rubbed his jaw as he considered, fingers rasping audibly on the white stubble that peppered his face. "There will be an official hearing in one week. I cannot advise you on what to do Mr. Yetao, as I am on the Board and must remain impartial, but I will recommend that you gather whatever evidence you can to refute the claim."
"Is this about Professor Fischer?" Hu Yetao asked, needing to know all the details. "Oh fuck…" he breathed out with sudden realization. "This is my fault..."
Oscar immediately snapped out of his shocked trance and turned to him, placing a hand over Hu Yetao's resting atop his shoulder.
But Silong shook his head before Oscar could speak. "No, it's regarding a student who was attacked on school grounds."
Hu Yetao frowned in confusion. "Kazuma?"
"Yes, I believe that was his name."
"Who requested the inquiry? Who is accusing my son of this assault?" Xiaocheng demanded.
"You know I cannot tell you that Xiaocheng," Silong replied, sounding sincerely apologetic.
"It's someone from Hogwarts though," Hu Yetao interjected. "Who else would know about it?"
Silong sighed then and straightened his cloak. "I will be in touch with regards to a hearing date. I'm truly sorry this has happened, Oscar."
Oscar nodded but remained seated as the Board Chairman gazed at them all sadly before taking his leave.
The door clicked shut behind him and Hu Yetao immediately began to pace the small space, needing to move with the influx of restless energy.
"Did you do it, Oscar?"
Hu Yetao stopped his pacing as he glanced at Xiaocheng in surprise. He supposed it was a fair question, Hu Yetao had already asked Oscar the same thing the night of their first conversation in the Room of Requirement.
Oscar's solemn brown eyes met his father's. "No," he replied concisely.
Xiaocheng nodded in acceptance and Hu Yetao exhaled, not realizing that he'd been holding his breath. He'd believed Oscar that night when he'd said that he hadn't touched Kazuma and he still believed him now, but the reassurance of the genuine look of assertive truth in Oscar's eyes was still a comfort.
"Hu Yetao is right," Shui Xian spoke up for the first time, her tone quiet but steady. "The accuser would have come from Hogwarts, someone who knows of our kind for them to bring it forward to the Board."
Hu Yetao nodded. "Who at Hogwarts knows the truth?"
"Depends who you have enlightened," Xiaocheng countered with suspicious eyes.
"I haven't told anyone!" Hu Yetao snapped back, unable to help himself. His emotions were running dangerously close to the surface.
"Xiaocheng," Shui Xian said warningly. "Attacking each other is not about helping matters."
"It doesn't matter who brought the request forward," Oscar interrupted impatiently. "What matters is proving my innocence."
Hu Yetao nodded in agreement. The flare of sudden fear in his chest prodded him to stride back over to his mate and sit next to him, needing the closeness. He pressed his shoulder against Oscar's and entwined their fingers, resting their joined hands on Oscar's thigh.
"I'll speak to Kazuma myself," Hu Yetao continued after taking a calming breath. He looked to Shui Xian, ignoring Xiaocheng for now; it was better for his temper. "I'll find out everything he remembers about that day and hopefully we can prove that Oscar wasn't there. This person, whoever it was, only believes that it was Oscar because Kazuma sort of molested me the day before when he scented the Omega in me."
"If you had been exacting revenge on behalf of your mate, then surely the boy wouldn't still be alive?" Shui Xian said with an arched brow. "The Board must see that if you were in your Nundu form, this other student wouldn't have survived the encounter?"
Both Oscar and Xiaocheng nodded in confirmation, causing Hu Yetao to swallow uncomfortably; he hoped it never came to that someday. He wasn't sure how he'd feel if Oscar - his mate - killed someone in vengeance. The idea didn't sit well with him.
Hu Yetao shook his head; there was no point in dwelling on that. Professor Chao was still alive and Oscar had witnessed him attacking Hu Yetao with his own eyes, so that must mean Oscar had a smattering of self-control.
Hu Yetao suddenly turned to Oscar. "Wait, the Board can't just… just make you disappear," he said earnestly. "It was printed in the Prophet that you're my mate, the whole of the wizarding world now knows that I'm with you. If you suddenly disappear, people will ask questions. Plus, do they think that I'll keep my mouth shut about the existence of Nundu if they kill my mate?"
Xiaocheng withdrew his wand and threw a powerful silencing charm at the door before turning to Hu Yetao with sparkling eyes. "You fool!" he hissed. "You can't say such things when my home is full of our people - the ones that approve of you as well as the ones who do not. Oscar's accusers are likely in this very house right now!"
Hu Yetao felt his cheeks heat with embarrassment. Xiaocheng was right of course, not that Hu Yetao was about to admit it.