All You Want

8) So Let Me Go, Let Me Go

Generally speaking, being an Omega was not as awful as Hermione had initially anticipated.

The suppressants were admittedly unpleasant, but aside from dopy looks and a few over-attentive boys, life resumed rather well.

Hermione sent letters to Ron and Harry and wasn't surprised when she didn't immediately hear back. She didn't even know if Harry knew what Omegas were. While for Ron—well—it was a rather unceremonious end to their relationship that might have been.

Toward the end of Hermione's first week on suppressants Phineas Borgin tried to use an Alpha tone and drag her into an alcove after potions. Hermione hexed him nastily and stunned him. In addition to six months of detention from McGonagall, the word LECHER was written across Phineas' face in weeping boils that could not be healed. Hermione suspected that Madam Pomfrey had not tried as hard as she could have.

Hermione had learned after Marietta Edgecombe that the forehead was too easily concealed behind bangs, so Phineas' boils spanned his cheeks and nose instead.

After a week the Alphas still squabbled. Constantly. It was as though they couldn't help it. Even Neville, who was not generally petty or overly-confrontational occasionally got dragged into a fight. He pummeled Phineas in a hallway the day after Phineas had tried to grab Hermione. And he and Anthony Goldstein ended up in a duel during a study period that left Anthony sporting an enormous pair of moose antlers for four days.

All of them fought. Within three days of attacking Hermione, Phineas Borgin was thoroughly thrashed down to the bottommost rung of the Alpha hierarchy. He slunk through the school like a beaten mongrel. 

Neville fought least. Followed closely by Theodore Nott, which was an intriguing development given that he was also one of the few Alphas who had yet to actually approach Hermione.

In fact, Theodore Nott was, generally speaking, something of a Dark Horse in the equation. Hermione couldn't quite pin him down. He was an excellent duelist; sneaky and creative, but  in a non-malicious way. A practice duel during DADA between himself and Neville ended up sending both boys to the hospital ward for an evening because neither boy would call it a draw.

However, Nott didn't actually approach her. He sort of existed in orbit around her. When they made eye contact he'd smile and give a her salute. He waved occasionally, but he never tried to get close, or loitered around the Gryffindor Tower portrait or outside her classes the way the other boys did. She wondered if it was some type of reverse psychology he was attempting to employ with her.

Anthony and Peter were somewhere in the upper middle of the Alpha hierarchy.

After two weeks the physical confrontations began to  ease as order was established, but the bickering and snarking and snarling at each other continued. They couldn't stop no matter how many points they lost for it.

Except Malfoy.

Draco Malfoy somehow carried on through it all as though he didn't give a damn. He didn't squabble. He didn't bicker. He never snarled. He most certainly didn't get into any duels or fist fights. In fact the other Alphas were apparently incapable of luring him into any kind of confrontation despite their endless efforts to provoke him. Malfoy just sneered and condescendingly ignored them all.

At first Hermione thought it was because of his occlumency; that somehow he was able to filter it all out. Then it occurred to her: Malfoy was at the top of the pecking order.

He had shagged her.

All the other Alphas were queueing behind him. He had "claimed" her; she reeked of him. He was the only Alpha in Hogwarts with nothing to prove.