Chapter 82

Hu Yetao stared at him, stunned, and slightly ill. "Oscar…"

There was still so much Hu Yetao didn't know about Alphas, especially Nundu Alphas, and his mate was struggling with more than just the fact that he might be a father in nine months.

Hu Yetao shifted to the side of the bed, hanging his legs off the side and raising his hands to grip onto his mate's hips, giving them a little shake to draw Oscar's gaze down to him. "I'll leave school and live at the Manor if it gets to be too much for either of us or… or I'll come with you to all of your classes so that we're never separated… We'll get through this, whatever it takes, all right?"

Oscar stared at him a moment before finally exhaling shakily and nodding, staring back into Hu Yetao's unobstructed eyes, seeking solace in his mate's steady gaze as his own eyes lost some of their manic gleams.

Hu Yetao nodded with relief as Oscar's breathing evened out and became a little less shallow.

"Shall we go see Madam Chen?" Hu Yetao asked, smiling gently as he stood and reached out to smooth the little frown lines between Oscar's pale brows. "All this worry may be for naught, right?"

Oscar took another moment to collect himself and then nodded.

Hu Yetao reckoned there was a lot of internal dialogue occurring within his Alpha at that moment.

They quickly set about making themselves presentable in silence, each lost in their thoughts. Hu Yetao waved a quick cleaning charm over the two of them instead of an actual shower, as neither of them wanted to put off the inevitable any longer than they had to. Oscar released the locking and silencing charms on the door before they stepped out into an empty corridor.

The tension that Hu Yetao hadn't even realized he'd been holding on to, released when Oscar slipped a hand into his. A part of him had been unconsciously concerned that this might drive a bit of a wedge between them. He glanced at his mate and gave his hand a gentle squeeze in response, grateful for the silent display of support.

They walked to the hospital wing in silence, passing quite a few students along the way. Hu Yetao felt as though the fact that he could be pregnant was written all over his face; that his expression was screaming it out clear as day for anyone to see, and that heading for the infirmary was only confirming their suspicions. The fact that people always stared at him wherever he went did not help diminish his paranoia.

He held tight to Oscar's hand and kept walking, trying to fix his expression into one of indifferent nonchalance. His Alpha had that expression mastered.

Hu Yetao glanced up at the tall ornate clock outside of the infirmary and saw that the last class of the day was nearly finished. They must have missed two full days of classes then.

"Hu Yetao."

He broke out of his thoughts as Oscar suddenly stopped and turned to him before going through the large double doors.

"If I had the choice, I'd rather you weren't pregnant right now," Oscar said quietly, noticeably uncomfortable. "But if you are, rest assured that I will do everything I can to protect you and our child." He paused, gaze dropping away self-consciously. "I just wanted you to know that even though the timing may not be ideal, it won't change how I behave, or how I feel towards you or our son or daughter."

Hu Yetao swallowed, throat feeling unexpectedly tight. He nodded in response, unable to form the words to say how much he appreciated his mate's assurances.

Oscar raised his eyes back up to meet Hu Yetao's emotional gaze and flashed him a tight smile before turning and walking through the doors into the infirmary, the sharp sting of antiseptic hitting their nostrils and making their eyes burn for a moment as they entered the sterile environment.

Madam Chen turned from where she was attending to a student in the nearest bed. Her gaze tracked over the pair of them and then she pursed her lips when she saw that they showed no outward sign of injury or distress. She silently indicated that they should head into the office to their right to wait for her.

They both took a seat in the two wooden chairs opposite her wide, cluttered desk and waited.

The matron appeared after about ten minutes and closed the door. She sat at her desk, absently wiping her hands on a white towel as she eyed the two of them. "What can I help you with today gentlemen?" she asked, then glanced at Hu Yetao. "How was your cycle? I stocked the medicine cabinet in your heat room; did you manage to locate the potions?"

"Erm…" Hu Yetao glanced at Oscar and felt his cheeks flush. He hadn't thought about how embarrassing this conversation was going to be until that very moment. "No, I didn't."

Madam Chen frowned, pausing in her hand wiping. "Why-"

"Hu Yetao has a fear of small spaces," Oscar interjected, taking control and directing the conversation where it needed to go as quickly as possible. "He can't use that room."

Madam Chen blinked in surprise and laid the towel down on the desk as she leaned forwards, gaze flicking between the two mates. "Oh? I wasn't aware that you had Claustrophobia Hu Yetao. You should have told me, you could've…"

She trailed off and Hu Yetao could see in her eyes when the Knut dropped.

"Where did you spend your heat?" she asked with her usual sharp astuteness.

"In our room," Hu Yetao unstuck his tongue long enough to reply. "With Oscar."

Madam Chen closed her eyes for a moment, inhaling through her nose, and then exhaled bracingly before opening them again.

"So you've come here for a pregnancy test?" she asked.

Hu Yetao was surprised by the lack of condemnation and shouting; he guessed her position forced her to be a little more objective, unlike what a professor's reaction would be. He knew Professor Amber would not be quite so calm.

"Yes," Oscar was replying, somehow managing to sound just as composed as the matron.

She sighed and folded her hands over a stack of papers on her desk. "Well, I'm sorry to inform you that you will have to wait two weeks before I can administer the scan. It's too early yet for me to identify either way."

Hu Yetao sat there in stunned silence. He was supposed to live in torturous uncertainty for two weeks?!

Oscar cleared his throat and shifted in his seat, visibly taken aback as well.

Madam Chen looked as though she wanted to roll her eyes at their surprise, but instead reached into one of her drawers and withdrew a thin white book. She passed it over to Hu Yetao, who took it automatically, and saw that it was a book on early pregnancy for Omegas.

"Read this, just in case," she explained, folding her hands on the desk again. "It will give you some advice on your diet and recommended potions. It was written with the female Omega in mind, so you will have to ignore the female-specific aspects. If in two weeks, you have a positive pregnancy result, then I will order a male prenatal book for you. There is quite a lot to know and to be prepared for Mr. Yetao," she added, and Hu Yetao finally saw a little of that censure that he'd been expecting.

Hu Yetao swallowed and nodded. "Thank you."

"There are things you need to be aware of as well Mr. Wang," she continued briskly, turning to the Alpha. "Hu Yetao will need a great deal of support and understanding over the next nine months." She paused and eyed them both a moment. "I assume this was not a planned decision?"

"No," Oscar answered for them both, raising his chin slightly as he gazed back at her. "I had to get Hu Yetao out of that room and I found that I could not control myself."

"He resisted for as long as he could but I threw myself at him," Hu Yetao was quick to add with a reproachful glare at his mate. "It wasn't his fault. It wasn't anyone's fault really, it was just… an accident."

"I see," she replied, mouth pressed into a thin line. "This is the problem with having eighteen-year-olds at Hogwarts," she eventually uttered under her breath, as though it was a discussion that she'd had multiple times before the year started, perhaps with school officials. She finally pushed to her feet with a heavy sigh and addressed them both. "I'm afraid there isn't much I can do for you at this stage, you will simply have to wait."

Hu Yetao felt oddly dissatisfied as he stood and prepared to leave. Madam Chen fetched him a few potions from the cupboard in her office to help ease the resulting discomfort of his heat, downing them quickly and silently while she watched, and then chasing those up with a tall glass of water. She also forced Oscar to drink some water as well, much to his chagrin.

Madam Chen walked them to the door and put her hand on the knob, but didn't open it. She turned to them, eyes narrowing. "And for safety sake, do not tell a soul about the possibility that Hu Yetao could be pregnant," she said sternly. "If it turns out that you are not pregnant, then no one need ever know about what happened. If you are, well that will need to remain a secret for as long as possible. I'd hate to think of the media circus that will surround you when that piece of information gets out Mr. Yetao, and as loathed as I am to mention it, it may also encourage your attackers to come out of hiding again. Someone who wishes to end the life of Hu Yetao would probably love to eliminate his potential offspring as well."