Looking over the table in the potion lab he noticed that Malfoy was looking like he wanted to cry in any moment. What in the world was wrong with him? Was he sick? The most disturbing thing wasn't that he looked pale it was the lack of mean comments. If it had been the normal Malfoy he would have said something like "Watch where you're going Potter!" But no he hadn't said anything like that in fact he hadn't said anything AT ALL! Maybe he was sick! Harry remembered how sweaty he had been when they were standing close to each other. Like a burning fire. Yeah he must have been sick or he wouldn't be looking like that. Harry thought about the corridor when Malfoy had ran right into him. Well it had been an accident and he had been as shocked as Malfoy but there was something else. The way Malfoy's eyes had gone completely blank for a second and his body had stiffened as he had inhaled, it wasn't normal behaviour from Malfoy,, hell that wasn't normal behaviour from any alpha! In his life the only time he had seen eyes like that it had been on omegas coming to close to him. But that couldn't be it right? Malfoy was and would always be an alpha!
Harry shot another look at the blonde bloke and was surprised to see that he was back to normal, well in colour at least. His face was not as pale like it had been in the corridor and he was not sweating like he had been just a minute ago. Was it a sickness that just came and went? Oh just fuck it! Harry turned his attention on professor Slughorn who was measuring up different potions.
"Harry, what should we do?" Ron asked and his eyes shone like a bright sun.
"Do about what?" With a fast glance he could see that professor Slughorn was still trying to manage the measurements. Harry turned his attention towards his beaming friend.
"About what?! Are you stupid? About that bloody Malfoy!" Ron whispered into Harry's ear. This didn't make Harry any smarter and made sure to give Ron a look that said "You have to explain!" Ron looked annoyed and shook his head. "About that ferret Malfoy being g-a-y."
This made both Harry and Hermione to look more confused than before.
"What are you two talking about?" Hermione whispered and looked at the stupid mate of hers.
"Miss Granger, is there something you would like to share to the rest of the class?" Professor Slughorn asked as he walked to their table. With a blush on her cheeks she only shook her head. "I didn't think so." He turned his head towards the front of the class and continued his experiment. Harry just couldn't resist, he turned his head to see if Malfoy was looking in their direction but he wasn't. The blond bloke was writing on his parchment and wasn't paying attention on what was happening around him. This was odd! Harry couldn't remember a time where Malfoy wasn't grinning when Harry or his friends was told to be quiet by a teacher.
A small piece of paper was given to Ron by Hermione and Harry had to stop himself from not laughing out loud as he read what was written on it. "Prepare yourself for a most painful death RON!"
Apparently didn't Ron think of it as funny as he slumped down in his seat with an irritated look.
When the lesson was finished Harry noticed Malfoy darting off in a hurry. This didn't go unnoticed by Ron either as he grinned.
"Scared much?" he said and gathered his books. Hermione only sighed as she started walking in a slow pace to get out of the lesson. "Didn't you see how scared he was?"
"No I didn't." She was angry, it was easy to hear from the tone of her voice.
"I know it was my fault that you got called on in the lesson and I am truly sorry Hermione but come on! How often do you happen to stumble onto the revelation that your nemesis is gay?" Ron looked at his friends as they walked down the hallway.
They both had to agree with Ron that no it wasn't so often something like that occurred.
"But Ron is it something wrong to like someone in the same gender?" Harry had never seen it as something wrong if you loved someone it didn't matter if that person was a boy or a girl.
"Of course not! Harry you know that my brother liked a man, sadly we didn't get the chance to meet him before the war and well you know the rest." Yes Harry knew the rest of that story. George had been so heartbroken that almost the whole family was certain that he would die from heartbreak. To lose someone you loved and his twin brother,, no it had been too much! Luckily he had his mother that could help him. "But it is not okay for Malfoy to be gay!"
"Ronald that's not very nice to say!" Hermione stared him down. Harry could clearly hear his friend mutter something about `he hasn't been nice to us, always so damned nice all the time` and more when they walked back towards the common room. No Harry wasn't certain that he believed that Malfoy was gay. But he had never seen him in a relationship other than Parkinson chasing after him all the time.
"Urgh I am so hungry!" Ron slapped himself on his stomach. "I think I will die of starvation!"
"We just had breakfast." Harry answered his friend and smiled. The only persons he could remembered eating more than Ron was Dudley, Crabbe and Goyle. What he couldn't figure out was how his friend could stay so slim even if he ate like a horse.
"I am a growing man, I need to eat." This comment was enough to ease Hermione's angry expression and both her and Harry started smiling. "What?"
"I thought you were done growing." Harry noted as they walked side by side. "But if Hermione is going to punish you maybe it's better to eat a bit, she could be planning on holding you hostage in her dormitory or forcing you to eat snails." The memories of Ron sitting on Hagrid's couch spitting out one snail after another came to mind.
"She wouldn't dare." Ron said but he still looked worried as he turned his head towards Hermione. "I mean, she wouldn't do that. Right?"
Two weeks later
Harry had started to notice something, something different in the air. He had absolutely no idea what it was but still it was there. A scent so sweet and perfectly soft that his mind often wandered off. But where was that scent coming from? Who in the school smelled this good? The scent was so weak that he couldn't possible search for that one person, he had tried and failed miserable.
"Maybe you're sick." Ron suggested to his friend. The weather was getting colder by the day and soon there would be snow covering the ground. From Hagrid's chimney came smoke and they all knew that he surely sat there with the tea ready for them. They had been invited to visit and Hagrid was also one of those people who knew how horrible Harry felt when the omegas and betas were chasing after him had offered them to be a whole day in his cottage to relax a bit.
"Not likely Ron. What kind of sickness makes people smell scents that doesn't exist?" Harry asked and turned towards Hermione for support which he got. She nodded in agreement.
"I have never read about a sickness where the people smelt flowery scents."
"No but Hermione you haven't read all the books in the world, have you?" Ron waited and he got her to agree with him, she had not read all the books in the world but she couldn't be far off. "Plus maybe someone hit you with a bad spell! It happened to my uncle and he thought he was a rat from Egypt. He was down on his hands and searched for chees for two weeks. He didn't speak either he sounded exactly like a rat!"
"Ron how in the world did you know that he thought he was a rat from Egypt?" Harry asked his friend.
"From the sound! They have a different dialect than rats from England." Both Hermione and Harry looked sceptical as they exchanged looks behind Ron's back but he noticed the stares. "What you don't believe me?"
"No I do not!" Hermione said and stomped up on the stairs to Hagrid's cottage. With a small knock on the door they were met by a huge figure. Hagrid smiled when he saw the three of them standing there waiting to get inside.
"Oh, there you are! I thought you wouldn't show today." He let them inside and they were met by a wonderful warmth. For Harry it felt like a blessing, no omega or beta would try to make him mate with him. Freedom!
"Sorry we are late Hagrid. Someone was tracked down by some fans." Ron said and smirked.
"Oh. It must be tough for you Harry." Hagrid felt sorry for him, he knew how much Harry hated it.
"It's fine." Harry sat himself down and already felt much better. After they all sat down Hagrid gave them each a cup of warm tea and some stone cakes. Luckily Hermione had also brought cakes which she had gotten from the school.
"So, Hagrid aren't I correct that Egypt rats and English rats have different dialects?" Ron asked between the chews of Hermione's cake. Hagrid looked surprised by the question and then he got to know the whole story.
"Yes you are correct Ron. They do have a different dialect." Hagrid said and took a bit from his handmade cakes.
"Really?" Ron asked.
"Of course not you fool." Hagrid said and with this both Harry and Hermione started laughing.
"But the doctor said so." Ron muttered.
"Well maybe the doctor was the one getting hit by a bad spell." Harry suggested.
"Ha ha very funny Harry."
"I thought so." Hermione said and gave them a huge smile.
"Hermione, you are my mate so shouldn't you be on my side?" Ron looked at his mate but Hermione only started to laugh.
"Really? You think that is how it should be? I am a beta, therefor I do not live to make you happy all the time." Hermione took a sip from her cup of tea and leaned back into her chair.
"Harry take my advice and get yourself an omega." Even if Ron had tried to whisper his sentence Hermione still heard and thus she gave him a punch right into his ribs. "That hurt Hermione!"
"Well maybe you shouldn't say something like that than!" She glared at him over her cup.
"Sorry sweetheart." Ron moved closer and gave her a kiss on the cheek and with that they continued their small talk. They learned that Hagrid had been away that weekend visiting his father's grave and then he had found an old friend, Buckbeak. He had moved back to the forbidden forest with the approval from professor McGonagall and Hagrid promised to let them meet him again.
After hours of talking with Hagrid the three of them walked back into the castle. In the exact moment they walked through the doors Harry felt the scent. Crap this is addicting! Who in the world is the person smelling like this? Harry felt that his body being pulled towards the scent.
"Please tell me you smell it!" Harry looked at his friends and they both tried their best to smell something.
"Are you referring to the dinner?" Ron asked and licked his mouth. It was soon time to sit down and eat and he was yet again starving.
"Not everything it about food Ron." Hermione said and tried again to smell something. "Sorry Harry but I don't feel any scent at all."
"How can that be? I know it's weak but still you should be able to feel something." Harry said and sniffed again. Damn this scent it so extremely awesome! After a last sniff he let himself be carried away with the smell towards the great hall. The scent alone was enough to cloud his mind and he felt a shiver go through his body. Never in his life had he felt something like this. Then suddenly without warning it just disappeared. Harry felt like a dog trying to catch the scent but in vain.
"Harry what it is?" Ron looked worried for a second then his eyes turned to the tables, the food was inviting and in lesser than three seconds he sat himself down and started to grab some food to his plate. By his side were Ginny and Seamus, they sat there eating and holding onto each other's hands.
"Harry you said that you smelt something, right?" Hermione asked as she stood next to her friend.
"Yes." Harry answered her and looked around in the hall. So many pupils sat on their seats, eating, drinking and chatting with friends. "But it disappeared."
"Disappeared? Well then I think my theory is correct! Come here Harry, we're blocking the doorway." Hermione and Harry sat themselves down on the opposite side of the table where Ron were sitting. He smiled at them and continued eating.
"Okay, please Hermione tell me your theory." Harry pleaded to his friend as she took a piece of bread and laid down on her plate.
"Well I think you are feeling the scent of your mate. I have read that sometimes mates can find each other from the scents. That the scent works like a way to find the one you should make a bond with." Hermione took a bit of her food and turned her attention forward towards her mate who was stuffing his face with potatoes.
My mate? The scent I am smelling is coming from a person that is supposed to be my mate? Dear Merlin I thought that I would never find one. Wait! I am not ready yet! I have decided to wait a bit so I must stop trying to catch that wonderful scent. Intoxicating, amazingly sweet and,,, STOP THINKING ABOUT IT! But wait why is the scent disappearing from time to time? "Hermione, can you explain to me why the scent disappears sometimes?"
"Well I think it is because that person must not have had his or hers heat yet. You know that the scent grows stronger when that have happened." Yes Harry learnt that the hard way, for almost five weeks had he fought back pupils who just fell for the strong presence of his alpha. Luckily most of the pupils had gotten used to the scent and presence except for the first years but to Harry's relief they were still small and not affected in the same way.
"What are you two talking about?" Ron asked after he had swallowed an enormous amount of chips. "Please don't tell me you're still talking about that mysterious scent? Come on mate you must have gotten hit by a spell or something just move on." After that Ron continued stuffing his face. Ginny looked at her brother with a wrinkled nose and mumbled something to him about eating in a more civilised manner.
"What scent is it you are talking about?" Seamus asked and turned his attention to Harry and Hermione.
"Well Harry told us that he has been smelling a scent that apparently only he can feel." Hermione said.
"Hmm that sounds like Harry has finally found a mate." Seamus said and gave Harry a wink.
"What have you already found a mate Harry?" Ginny asked.
"ALREADY?" Ron asked his sister. "Are you really the right one to say something like that Ginny? You waited for how long, a week after your breakup to start dating Seamus. Not that I am not happy for the two of you but come on!" Ron said. Harry felt sorry for Ginny that her brother had raised his voice but damn Ron looked so fun when he was mad, red like a tomato.
"I didn't mean it like that Ron! I just meant that Harry said that he didn't want to have a mate or bond with anyone until he is done with school." Ginny told her brother then she turned her head to Harry. "But I knew that you would fold someday!" I would never do such a thing! But maybe she is right if I meet the right perso,, oh dear god! The scent is back! But where is it coming from? Okay this is the best scent ever! Okay if I can bond with whoever that is that smell like this than maybe I would be okay with it after some time,,,,,, heck I would be okay mating now! No what am I thinking?
"I think I will go back to the room. I will see you guys later."