72 Chapter 71

"Good morning Hu Yetao.

"Morning Oscar."

Hu Yetao smiled at Jing Long's friendly tone as he and Oscar slid into their seats at the Gryffindor table early the next morning. The day trip to Island had worked wonders for the relationship between the three of them, even Zhang Xinyao looked up with a smile of greeting for Oscar as he shoveled scrambled eggs into his mouth.

The zoo had been a brilliant idea and they had all gone to dinner afterward at a local fish and chips shop. The zoo had been the perfect ice-breaker and everyone was much more relaxed after that; the conversation over dinner a lot friendlier, with no talk of attacks or secrets or odd behavior. They didn't even mention classes of Hogwarts at all. They mostly discussed plans and Quidditch - and Xinyao took great pleasure in teasing Oscar over the fact that it was his first time in a fish and chips shop.

Hu Yetao decided not to mention the fact that it was Oscar's first time having fish and chips. Oscar had confessed later that he had rather enjoyed the chips but couldn't understand why Muggles would ruin perfectly good fish with that disgustingly greasy coating.

"Morning," Hu Yetao replied cheerfully as he reached for the pumpkin juice.

Oscar usually went straight for the tea as though his life depended on it, but today he seemed to be glancing about the table with a diminutive frown.

"Looking for someone?" Hu Yetao enquired as he stabbed a couple of juicy sausages with his fork and slid them off onto his plate with one finger.

"Mmm…" Oscar hummed distractedly. His expression suddenly cleared and Hu Yetao glanced up to see Fu Sichao walking into the Great Hall.

Fu Sichao took his usual seat across from Xinyao, absently uttering good morning to everyone while simultaneously examining the plates of steaming food crowding the long wooden table.

Oscar cleared his throat. "Fu Sichao."

He paused, a piece of toast clutched in one hand, as he looked up at Oscar in surprise. "Uh… yes?"

"I just wished to thank you for saving Hu Yetao's life. I hadn't the chance to say it to you until now, and if it hadn't been for your involvement, my mate wouldn't be sitting here today."

The entire table fell silent - including Hu Yetao.

His Alpha's expression was impassive as he stared back at Fu Sichao but his voice was tight with controlled emotion.

Hu Yetao turned to his gobsmacked housemate just in time to see his cheeks flush.

"Er yeah, no worries," Sichao stammered in embarrassment. "Hu Yetao has saved all our lives more than once… it's the least I could do, right?"

"If you ever need a night off from your late-night plant feeding," Oscar continued magnanimously, "let us know and we will be happy to step in for you."

Hu Yetao almost laughed outright as Xinyao's fork froze halfway to his mouth, staring with wide-eyed amazement at the Slytherin.

Jing Long kicked Xinyao under the table as Fu Sichao thanked Oscar and said he would let him know.

Oscar nodded in response and Hu Yetao slipped his hand under the table to give his mate's thigh a supportive squeeze. He then returned to his breakfast as though nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. He hadn't known Oscar was going to do that and the Slytherin's oft unseen thoughtful side usually remained concealed in public.

Oscar then began to prepare his tea and everyone else gradually stopped staring and returned to their breakfast as well.

A few students - mostly from other tables - continued to glance in Hu Yetao's direction with openly curious expressions throughout the meal, but Hu Yetao just ignored them. The staring had become a lot more prevalent after the attack. He knew the rumors would be running rampant about what had happened to him and why; no one else knew that he'd gone into heat upon his return, so the majority of the school now assumed Hu Yetao had been so grievously injured in the mysterious attack that he had had to remain in the hospital wing for a full week.

One of the advantages to having an over-protective mate was that it kept the invasive questions to a minimum; no one dared to approach Hu Yetao in the corridor - even just ask if he was all right. His friends were also very tight-lipped about the incident, not revealing the details of what had happened to anyone outside their little circle. Only a handful of Aurors and Professor Amber knew the description of his attackers and the details of the attack itself. This way, any student found to possess more information than was purposely leaked would be instantly under suspicion. The hope was that the two men would be daft enough to boast about what they'd -almost - accomplished to friends or family.

Once they were finished with breakfast, the eight years at the Gryffindor table collected their things and began to make their way to the first-floor DADA classroom.

"So what's the new professor like?" Hu Yetao asked Jing-Long as they strode through the corridors together.

"Oh that's right, you haven't met him yet," Jing-Long replied, and then added with a strange little grin, "you missed out."

"What do you mean?"

"He means the new professor is young and fit," Zhang Xinyao answered with a roll of his eyes, "and he thinks he's just your type."

"My type?" Hu Yetao replied, baffled. "I didn't realize I had a type."

Zhang Xinyao snorted. "You'll see."

They rounded the corner and headed for the open classroom door.

Hu Yetao glanced at his mate with amusement when Oscar slipped his hand into Hu Yetao's as they entered; it felt as though Oscar was staking his claim for the new "fit" professor to observe.

Hu Yetao looked towards the desk at the front of the classroom and had to stifle a laugh. The new professor did look young - and was tall, lean, and had shining blond cut hair.

He was about to comment to Jing-Long when he felt his mate stiffen beside him.

"What is it?" Hu Yetao asked, hoping his Alpha wasn't that susceptible to jealousy.

"Later," he murmured out of the corner of his mouth and Hu Yetao instantly knew it was something other than a fit of jealousy.

The four of them took their seats, placing their Defence texts on top of their desks and sitting back to wait. Hu Yetao silently studied the new professor and wondered if he would last more than a year. The man was calmly leaning against the edge of the desk, arms crossed over his chest and gaze on the door as the last few students wandered in. He has dressed in brown tweed trousers and a white buttoned shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows beneath a fitted vest.

He carelessly waved one hand to quietly shut the door behind the last student and then turned to his expectant class with an easy smile.

Hu Yetao glanced at his mate out of the corner of his eye, trying to read his expression. He didn't look upset, just… uneasy, as though taken off-guard by something.

"Welcome back class, I hope you all had time to look over Chapter Eleven," the professor began, gaze traveling around the room. His eyes lingered on Hu Yetao and Oscar for a split second longer than the rest of the students. "For those of you who were absent, my name is Professor Mika. I'm afraid you will need to review both Chapters Eleven and Twelve this week to catch up." He paused and his smile widened. "Not to worry though, it's all very fascinating."

Hu Yetao flipped open his book to Chapter Eleven. The title in thick black lettering read 'Hex Deflection.' He turned to Chapter Twelve and blinked at the title spread across the page: 'Controlling Your Inheritance.'

Hu Yetao scanned down the page and it seemed that the chapter was mostly directed towards Alphas. It went into detail on specific methods for repressing baser instincts to remain clear-headed in any given situation - including amid battle.

Hu Yetao suddenly realized how serious that could be - especially for an Auror. All the criminal would have to do is throw an Omega in the path of an Alpha Auror and they could be suddenly rendered utterly useless.

"This subject is usually taught in Seventh Year, before any of you coming into your inheritance," Professor Mika continued. "As this year is such a unique situation, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to test these techniques out in real-life scenarios. The younger you begin to master these techniques the better."

Oscar made a low sound of displeasure in his throat and Hu Yetao knew his mate didn't like the sound of that. Come to think of it, Hu Yetao didn't like the sound of it either; it sounded as though the professor was going to use the students as guinea pigs.

Professor Mika's brown eyes swept over to Oscar as though he'd heard him. "Not to fear Mr. Wang, we will not be using your mate as an Omega test subject to trigger Alphas. I would never consider such a thing in my classroom."