A/N: Welcome to my newest story! This is just a short one only 4 chapters. I've been chewing over it since the summer and decided it's time to get it up and out of my head for good. I'll be posting a chapter a week until it's complete.

If you haven't heard, I'll be having a baby in 2020, which means my writing will be slowing down. But don't worry! I'm still working on lots and lots of projects, but I'm holding off on posting them until they are complete.

Warnings for this story are A/B/O dynamics, dubious consent, and the M rating is for language and sexual content.

Monster, mega thanks to Vino Amore for being Alpha/Beta extraordinaire on this. She's put in soo much time and it was soo necessary. I think we tripled the word count after she started looking at this! So thank you, thank you Vino!

If you liked this (or hated it) let me know about it in a review! Find me on Tumblr at crochetawayhpff.

The Adjustment: Chapter 1

Draco

Draco Malfoy ran a shaking hand through his hair as he paced the length of his bedroom. His bare feet sinking into the padding of the priceless Persian rug. His heart beat wildly as he subconsciously rubbed a hand across the back of his neck in a futile attempt to eradicate the reason for his shame. He had always considered himself a lucky person—being born into an attractive, wealthy, pure-blood family, his breeding was of the highest pedigree. Both of his parents were Alphas.

Stopping his movement to study his reflection in the full-length mirror, his stomach twisted in knots as he turned to study the mark on the back of his neck. Squeezing his eyes shut and letting out a grunt of frustration, he took deep breaths in an attempt to calm his nerves. An Omega mark was the very last thing he would've expected for himself.

His mind went in circles as he recalled the events of the last decade of his life. He must have done something to cause this. And if he had, perhaps there was something he could do to reverse it.

Draco looked through the book he'd purloined from his family's library once again. He couldn't be the only anomaly in a thousand years of family history. Flipping back to the front of the book, Draco peered at the cramped handwriting.

Armand Malfoy b. 1000 A.D. Alpha m. Margot Brunelle (Alpha) in 1037

The next several lines were similar and Draco flipped forward a few hundred years.

Nicholas Malfoy b. 1303 A.D. Alpha m. Esmae Watson (Beta) in 1347

Draco trailed his finger down the list, all Alphas, every single Malfoy born into the family. He flipped forward a few more centuries.

Lucius Malfoy b. 1537 A.D. Alpha m. Eleanor Leventhorpe (Alpha) in 1574

Not even Malfoy wives were Omegas.

A few more centuries forward and Draco found the first Omega listed in the book.

Septimus Malfoy b. 1722 A.D. Alpha m. Ester Crawley (Omega) in 1758

Of course, it was a wife. None of their children were listed as Omegas, they were almost exclusively Alphas with a Beta thrown in here and there. He shoved the book from him in disgust.

His eyes wandered to the rest of the books on his nightstand. All from his family library and not one of them helpful. Their content only solidified his shame. Each book detailed an account of every Malfoy family member, not a single Malfoy born into the family presented as an Omega. Draco winced at the thought of what his parents would say when they discovered his status. He groaned and picked up the books, intent on seeing if the library held anything about Omegas. Perhaps Ester Crawley had left a diary behind.

"Draco, darling." Draco cringed at the sound of his mother's voice calling his name. He had successfully evaded her for a week. His palms began glistening with moisture as the stack of books suddenly felt like a weight in his arms. Turning to face his mother she approached as he did his best to keep his stoic facade.

"I feel as though my only son has been avoiding me all week." Crossing her arms and arching her brow, she directed her gaze to the ancient literature in his hands. "Have you presented yet?"

Knowing his Omega mark stood out against his porcelain complexion, Draco positioned himself so the back of his neck was against the wall.

"Um, not quite," he hedged.

"What do you mean, not quite?" Narrowing her eyes and taking a step closer.

Draco sighed, acting annoyed but kept his back firmly to the wall. "Just, not quite," shifting the books to his other arm, he attempted to cut the encounter short. "I'm in the middle of something, can we talk about this later?"

Narcissa stood unmoving. "You have either presented or you have not, Draco Lucius Malfoy. There is no in between! Did the Alpha mark show up on your wrist?" She reached for his hand, but Draco pulled back from her, holding the books close to his chest.

"What are you hiding?" Stepping closer she backed him into the wall and pried his left hand away from the books, pushing down the sleeve of his arm. There was no mark on his wrist. "You are left-handed, are you not?" She grabbed his right hand, causing Draco to drop the books he'd been holding. There was no mark there either.

"You must be a Beta." Flicking her wand at the sleeves of Draco's robe and shirt. The fabric unraveled at the shoulder seams revealing bare arms where a Beta mark would have been.

Narcissa stilled as her eyes widened with horror "Oh, Salazar! Please, tell me it is not true. " Draco squared his shoulders and met his mother's gaze.

He fought his instinct to recoil when he recognized the glint in his mother's eyes as she summoned her Alpha strength. Narcissa forcefully turned him around and pulled down the collar of his shirt. His heart sank and shame consumed him when she gasped and released him instantly.

"This cannot be true. You are a Malfoy, how did this happen?" Draco didn't know if she was asking him or herself. He righted himself, pressing his back into the wall as he met her gaze once more. No matter his status he was still a Malfoy and determined to maintain what shred of dignity he had left.

"I don't know what happened, Mother. I've been trying to figure it out, but we don't have many resources on the topic."

Draco cautiously stepped towards her when he witnessed the color drain from her face. "What am I going to tell your father?"

He extended his hand to help steady his mother thinking she was about to faint. She seemed to regain her composure when she noticed his movements. Her eyes darted down to where his hand now met her arm and quickly shook it free from his grasp. Stabbing pain pierced through his heart at the cold rejection of the only person in his life to ever show him a remote display of love and affection. Narcissa must have seen the hurt cross his face when she looked down pretending to iron out nonexistent wrinkles in her robes.

"Well, you will just have to tell your father this evening." Nodding sharply as if that decided everything.

"I'm not telling him anything. He'll murder me. Or worse, disown me. And he'll either make you have another child or divorce you so he can have a child with someone else!"

"Nonsense, Lucius cannot divorce me. It is against the betrothal agreement. Besides, I am certainly beyond my childbearing years, so he will just have to come to terms with it. I am sure we can find a good pureblood Beta who will have you as a husband." Averting her gaze, Narcissa gave a quick nod before she turned and swept down the hall.

Closing his eyes and clenching his fists, Draco listened for the sound of her spiked heels against the marble floors to fade to silence. He forced himself to breathe as anger, shame, rejection, and betrayal fought for dominance over his emotions. Opening his eyes once more, he groaned and flicked his wand, repairing his sleeves and levitating the fallen books into a stack.

Later that evening, he slammed closed the leather cover of the last book, he paced and his eyes snapped to the clock over the fireplace. His heart hammered harder with each passing second. Each tick echoed like a blast of magic coursing through his veins. His hands started to tremble at the thought of his father's reaction. Recalling his mother's cold rejection of him just hours ago, he didn't want to face his father's disgust, anger, or worse, disappointment. He jumped as his thoughts were interrupted by a sharp crack of apparition. His house-elf had arrived and informed him it was time.

Narrowing his eyes at the house-elf, Draco faked a dart left, and when the house-elf took the bait, he sprinted toward the right and his private bathroom. House-elves were forbidden from Apparating in and out of the bathrooms for privacy's sake. He breathed heavily, trying to calm himself. When twenty minutes had passed, Draco decided that the coast had to be clear. He was certain that his house-elf wouldn't have waited that long for him.

"Got you," Nibbly muttered under her breath as she snagged Draco's wrist the moment he stepped out of the bathroom. He didn't even have time to catch his breath before Nibbly Apparated them away without warning.

Draco fell hard onto his knees in the dining room, coughing as air flooded his lungs suddenly. The Alpha pheromones put out by his father were overwhelming and he couldn't have risen to his feet if he tried.

"So, it is true," Lucius drawled, using his cane to push the back of Draco's shirt down. The disgust was heavy in his voice and Draco swatted the cane away and clasped a hand on the back of his neck to cover his Omega mark, before falling back onto his bum, awkwardly crab-walking away from Lucius. His father stood from his chair, towering over him.

"What am I to do with an Omega for a son?" he spat.

"There is no proof this is my fault," Draco argued.

"Of course, it is your fault," Lucius hissed. "I am an Alpha. Your mother is an Alpha. Malfoys are always Alphas. There have only been a handful of Betas in the history of this family. And not a single Omega was ever born into the family."

Lucius turned from him and addressed Narcissa. "Are you certain he is mine?"

Draco clenched his jaw and gathered what little courage he could scrape together and clambered to stand. He straightened his shoulders, but still, his father towered over him.

Narcissa scoffed. "Obviously he is yours, Lucius. He looks just like a bloody Malfoy. The only Black he has in him is his eyes."

Lucius sighed heavily and continued as though Draco weren't in the room. "I have been looking for pureblood Alphas for him, but now we will have to find a Beta."

"An Alpha would not be the end of the—"

"Of course it would, Narcissa! She would rule him by the fucking balls! No, it is a Beta and that is final. Find out who has presented as such and we will start going through the options." Turning to Draco, his face contorted with a sneer. "As for you, I am sickened by your presence."

The words cut Draco right at his very core. He fought with all his might to hold back the tears that threatened to form. He couldn't have been more relieved when his father turned to leave. All Draco wanted was to be alone.

Draco spent the next four weeks between the privacy of his room and the library, keeping to himself. He was never summoned for dinner after his Omega mark was revealed, and neither his father or mother sought him out for anything. It felt as though they were avoiding him as much as he was avoiding them. Neither said goodbye when he left for school and Draco found himself alone for the first time without his mother to see him off. He'd succeeded in growing his hair long. It hung down to his shoulders, and he wore it slightly slicked back, to keep it from his face. Between it and the higher collar he'd ordered for his school robes, his mark was covered.

The only problem was he had no proper training. Omegas were supposed to learn how to avoid setting off an Alpha, as well as how to please an Alpha. He knew some things, such as how Alphas gave off pheromones which could be impossible for Omegas to resist, especially if the Alphas weren't trained well. He hoped the Hogwarts library would have additional information. But if it didn't, Draco had decided perhaps he'd speak with Madam Pomfrey. He loathed the thought of seeking her out, but he didn't think he would be able to navigate the entire school year without adequate knowledge on being an Omega.

He stood on the train platform, waiting for the doors to open so he could load his trunk and secure a cabin. He'd decided to arrive as early as possible, and hopefully, avoid all of the newly presented Alphas that were sure to be present in his yearmates. A few other people trickled onto the platform and finally, the doors to the train opened. Levitating his trunk behind him, Draco hurried on securing his usual compartment in the last car of the train. He pulled a book out to read while he waited for his friends to join him. He still had no idea how he was going to navigate this year without telling his friends his shameful secret. He'd have to keep long-sleeves on at all times, or it would be quite telling he wasn't an Alpha.

The only shining light was his appointment to Head Boy. It meant he wouldn't be sharing a dormitory with the rest of his friends in Slytherin, rather he would be on the third floor, the same corridor where the Headmasters office was located. Since Granger was selected as Head Girl, Draco could breathe a sigh of relief she wouldn't be an Alpha. Muggleborns hardly ever presented as Alphas and from what Draco knew of her, she was Beta material through and through. At least he wouldn't have to deal with Alpha pheromones in the place he would be spending the most time. If she were an Omega, maybe Draco could stealthily read a few of her books and learn a thing or two. He was almost hoping she would be an Omega with him.

Head Boy was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing due to the living situation, and a curse because it meant much more work and more contact with the student body. Knowing full well it would only be a matter of time before he did something to embarrass himself.

The crowd started to board the train and Draco knew the moment the first Alpha boarded. Something in the air just shifted and he had the overwhelming desire to search out whoever it was, to offer himself up to that person in whatever capacity they needed but resisted the impulse. Balling his right hand into a tight fist, he fought against his natural urges. As more Alphas boarded the train the compulsions dulled a little and he realized he wasn't called to anyone specifically, much to his relief. However, the Alpha pheromones were overwhelming his senses.

"Draco!" Theo Nott threw open the door to Draco's cabin. His face was a wide grin and Draco knew why. Theo had probably never thought he'd present as an Alpha, he was clearly pleased as punch by the prospect. He'd rolled his sleeves up to his elbows so that the letter A that was prominently showing on the inside of his wrist was seen by all.

"Theo," Draco nodded tightly, trying to breathe through his mouth.

"Just going to put my trunk here. I saw Daphne and Astoria struggling with their trunks, I'll be back in a bit."

Draco nodded and breathed a sigh of relief when Theo left. There was no way he was going to be able to survive the six-hour trip to Hogwarts with Theo in the same cabin.

The moment Theo was back, Draco made his apologies and found the bathroom at the front of the car. He splashed some water on his face and took a couple of deep breaths. He needed to keep his composure in front of his friends.

Waltzing back into the compartment, Draco wrinkled his nose. Daphne and Astoria were already there, flipping through a magazine. There wasn't an Alpha mark on Daphne's wrist, nor did she have the pinched look that he was sure an Omega would have in Theo's overwhelming presence. Clearly, Theo hadn't trained too hard to keep his pheromone production down, so she must be a Beta. And therefore immune to the Alpha and Omega pheromones. Astoria was still too young to present.

"You know, I think I'm going to go see if I can find Blaise," Draco muttered and shut the compartment door swiftly. He leaned against the wall for a moment trying to get a respite from the stench of too many Alphas too close together. He needed to find a compartment without an Alpha anywhere in the vicinity.

Hermione

The first week of summer holidays after Hermione Granger's sixth year was the most shocking week of her life. More shocking than when Harry had defeated Voldemort back in fourth year even. Because, Hermione Granger, Muggleborn, presented as an Alpha. It was almost unheard of for Muggleborns to be anything other than Betas. But an Alpha? Arthur Weasley had hemmed and hawed, unsure if there had ever been another Muggleborn Alpha in history.

Of course, Harry was an Alpha too. That at least hadn't been a shock. But when Ron showed everyone his Omega mark, the Weasley's knew something had to be done. Two new Alphas were one thing, but two untrained Alphas in close quarters with a brand new Omega was a recipe for disaster. And George was an Omega too, having presented last year. Granted, he didn't live at home, but with Fred being an Alpha, he was at the Burrow more often than he was at his apartment in Diagon Alley. Molly wasn't having any of it, and she sent Hermione and Harry to live with Bill and Fleur for a few weeks.

Bill was an Alpha too, and Fleur an Omega, which was rare enough. Hermione had been fascinated with the Alpha/Beta/Omega biology since she was introduced to it in first year at Hogwarts because it didn't affect Muggles. Or rather, Muggles could all be considered Betas even though they didn't display a mark like those with magic. But a lot of wizarding biology had been charmed to make dealing with newly presented teenagers easier. All wizards were marked automatically when they presented. A complicated bit of magic that had been going on for the last three hundred years or so. Added to that, was the delay in pushing everyone who attended Hogwarts to present between sixth and seventh year, rather than at their seventeenth birthday.

When the Alpha urges began to kick in for Hermione, it made sense why Hogwarts and the Ministry did not want to deal with teenagers presenting while at school. She felt like she wanted to fuck everyone in sight, even Arthur Weasley was looking sort of attractive these days. When the cloud of Alpha hormones wasn't soaking her brain, she at least had the decency to feel sick about the thoughts she'd been having about Arthur. It was worse when she was confined to Shell Cottage with Bill, Fleur, and Harry. Harry was like a brother to her, but when those sweet hormones hit her brain, she could definitely see how the girls found him attractive. Bill had quite a bit on his hands between the two of them and had ended up taking a few days off of work, just to teach them to control themselves long enough that they wouldn't fuck each other raw while he was at work.

It worked, sort of. Hermione stopped wanting to fuck Harry raw and set her sights on the only Omega in the house. Fleur was very pretty, after all. And while Hermione hadn't really been attracted to women before, now she found herself imagining what Fleur looked like as she writhed around on a bed.

Hermione shook her head free of the lewd thoughts in an attempt to clear her mind. Fleur had been very kind, allowing her and Harry to stay with them for the summer; she shouldn't be repaying such kindness by fantasizing about her. Their second week at Shell Cottage, Bill finally began filling them in on the ways they needed to control their hormones to protect the Omega's in their lives.

"Omegas are weaker than Alphas," Bill said.

"Bill!" Fleur shouted, affronted, her accent drawing out the vowel to almost comical lengths. "We're not weaker, just different."

"Fine, different." Bill rolled his eyes and sent a wink at Hermione. "Still, it's up to the Alphas to control their hormones. Although, Omegas also have hormones that set Alphas off. It's a bit of a symbiotic relationship. The more hormones you feel from an Omega, the more likely you'll be sexually compatible."

"It is not true love," Fleur said with a laugh. "That's what they used to say when an Alpha and Omega matched." She shook her head. "But it is simply not true. It just creates a more exciting time in the bedroom, eh?"

Hermione snorted at the look Bill was giving Fleur.

"Tell them about the marks," Fleur prompted.

"Right," Bill shook his head, focussing back on Harry and Hermione. "Omega marks are very delicate. An Alpha touching an Omega mark will instantly put the Omega into a drug-like state."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"Here, I'll show you," Bill said. "May I?" he asked Fleur. She nodded.

Bill placed his hand on the back of Fleur's neck and immediately it seemed as if every bone in Fleur's body stopped holding her up. She went limp, and lolled her head on Bill's shoulder, staring up at him with a slightly goofy smile on her face.

"Hello," she said softly.

"Hi," Bill replied. Something in his gaze must have set Fleur off because the next moment she was in his lap and grinding on him.

Hermione coughed and looked away, but she could see that Harry was still staring at the couple, so she smacked his arm.

"Er, Bill?" Harry asked, trying to interrupt them. Bill flapped his hands at them and that was the point Hermione decided to get up and leave the room. She grabbed Harry by the collar and pulled him out with her.

It was a few hours later when Bill and Fleur finally emerged from the sitting room. Hermione was in the middle of making dinner for them all, while Harry set the table.

"Sorry about that," Bill said, not looking the least bit sorry. "But that's what happens when you touch an Omega's mark. Which means it's a pretty big violation to do it to an Omega without their permission."

"Right," Hermione said with a nod and a tight smile.

It wasn't that Bill and Fleur were bad teachers, but well, Hermione left Shell Cottage at the end of their three weeks there, not feeling like she knew much about anything. She sort of knew to keep herself calm, so her pheromones wouldn't start pumping, making any Omegas in the vicinity crazy and driving herself half insane as well. But it was harder than it seemed when just discussing it. Every time they had tried practicing it… well, Fleur and Bill went off for some alone time.

No, the bigger issue was when they returned to the Burrow for the second half of their summer. Omegas were rare. Even the Weasleys hadn't had an Omega in their family, other than George, in several generations. Alphas were rather common for the Weasleys, actually.

"Hermione," Ron breathed the moment she walked through the front door. He had that same look on his face he had gotten back in sixth year when Romilda Vane had dosed him with a love potion.

"Er, hi Ron," Hermione offered, giving him a tight smile.

Hermione returned to Shell Cottage the following day after having evicted Ron from her room three times overnight.

She spent the rest of the summer, reading on the beach, and attempting to stay out of Bill and Fleur's ridiculously, disgusting lovey-dovey way. It only partially worked.

When it was time to go back to Hogwarts, Hermione was relieved. She'd been given Head Girl, which meant she wouldn't have to share a common room with Ron. The downside was that Malfoy was offered Head Boy. At least she knew he wouldn't be an Omega. At worst, he'd be an Alpha, but Hermione had always kind of pegged him as a Beta.

"Please, 'Mione?" Ron asked, that same love-sick look in his eyes as he hovered about the door to the compartment she was sitting in.

"No, Ron," Hermione said firmly. "I need to not be around you. You don't even bother trying to control yourself!"

"Come on, mate," Harry said, slinging his arm around Ron's shoulders. "Let's find somewhere else to sit."

Hermione mouthed her thanks to Harry who offered her a wink and led Ron away.

"What's it like, being an Alpha?" Luna asked dreamily.

"Stressful," Hermione grumbled. "I feel like I can't control anything about myself, but not having control leads to that," she waved her hand vaguely at the door to the compartment that Ron had recently vacated, "and nobody seems to know anything about learning how to control yourself."

"Well, Alphas aren't that common," Ginny said with a shrug.

"More common than Omegas," Hermione retorted.

"Yet Betas rule the world," Luna giggled.

Hermione laughed and turned to her book. At least neither Ginny or Luna had presented yet.

Several hours later, the Welcome Feast was over and Hermione was on her way to the Head Girl dormitory.

The closer she got to the dormitory, the harder it was for her to control her Alpha pheromones. Her hormones were running crazy, the way they did when there was an Omega nearby. She could practically smell him, delicious, and quickly found herself almost running down the hallway in search of him. Hermione pulled up sharply in front of the Head dormitory. Whoever the Omega was, he was clearly poorly trained, or if not, then someone Hermione was particularly sensitive to; Hermione wasn't even sure how she knew that the Omega was a him, but deep down in her bones, she knew she wasn't wrong.

The only people down this corridor would be Dumbledore or Malfoy. Dumbledore wasn't an Omega, or at least she didn't think so. Besides, he was too old, just the thought of Hermione getting aroused by Dumbledore's Omega pheromones made her want to heave.

Unless…

Hermione whispered the password to the portrait guarding the Heads dormitory and was almost bowled over by the scent of Omega.

Malfoy was an Omega.

The thought alone was almost enough to make her giggle. A brief look around the common room told Hermione that Malfoy wasn't present. The common room was smaller than the Gryffindor common room, two sofas, a couple of desks and in the back corner, a small kitchenette. There were two doors on either side of the common room and Hermione walked to the door emanating the delicious smell of Omega.

Her hand was raised to knock on the door before her logical mind was able to wrestle her away from her hormone-laden one. Hermione hurried across the space to her own room and slammed the door shut behind her. Then she placed a complicated locking spell on it. One she knew she'd have a hard time breaking if she woke up in the middle of the night.

She was going to need to get a much better grip on being an Alpha if she was going to have to spend all year living with Malfoy.