Warning: this is not safe for work.

No one had ever promised her life was fair.

Frankly, after the traumatic adolescence she had, Hermione had zero expectations of such a thing as fairness pertaining to her life. Then, as if her world wasn't already shattered and in what felt like thousands of pieces, she presented as an Omega the autumn following the Battle of Hogwarts. At the time she thought a deity might have it out for her.

After all, how many terrible things happened in her short lifetime without the fates having a hand in her demise?.

People might argue that her designation wasn't another bullet point under the bad things column of her life. However, those same people also didn't understand that, for an independent soul, becoming a slave to heat cycles and suppressants was quite possibly the most humiliating and loathsome experience of her life.

She'd literally gone from running to stay alive to taking handfuls of pills and monitoring calendars just so she could keep living.

Four years and twelve heat cycles later, the annoyance she felt at having her routine interrupted because of a daft biological need was still ever present. She watched the impending heat markers on her timetable with growing trepidation every four months. Hating herself for the animal she knew she'd become.

In the beginning her heats were difficult. She was alone, without an Alpha or even Beta to assist. She'd lock herself away in her flat and ride out the storm with no help beyond that of some lewd sex toys she'd purchased descreetly from a wizarding shop in Kent. As helpful as they were, her body knew—silicone was no replacement for the real thing.

Which is precisely how she found him.

Her Alpha—or rather, an Alpha.

She'd been working on her mastery under Britain's most renown Potioneer, Severus Snape. The apprenticeship was turning out to be one of the most difficult things she'd ever done—and for someone who had faced Voldemort and his henchman on more than one occasion, that was saying something.

Worse, was the fact Snape gave her no favors even though she had been the one to bring him back from the brink of death. If anything, his interactions with her almost seemed more resentful than before. Anything less than perfection was not acceptable, and Merlin forbid a mistake be made.

It was his fastidious attention to detail, and perhaps a healthy amount of fear on her part, that made her miscalculate her heat.

She'd showed up one winter's day prepared to finish the Scaly Leg Antivenom Elixir and made it one third of the way through her brew time before her heat took hold. Her body aflame, her need overwhelming, and her magic completely out of control, Severus did the absolute unthinkable.

He helped her.

He whisked her from the laboratory into his quarters and took her through her heat only the way an Alpha knew how.

It was far from her first sexual encounter, but it was her first Alpha-assisted heat. At the end of her week spent under his bedsheets, she knew she would never be able to go back to facing them alone.

Briefly she'd toyed with the idea of seeking someone else—anyone else. While Severus wasn't her first choice, he ended up being the most logical. He could keep the lines unblurred. Professional and designation would never cross, and she'd certainly never have to worry about his running to the papers to exploit her.

Not when he could ruin his budding Potioneer's career with the knowledge he was heat-assisting a former student.

No. It was absolutely perfect. It served to fulfill needs they both had without the complication of something like feelings to cloud their judgement.

Severus was a man of few words, but when she'd approached him about a potential arrangement, he seemed almost… keen on the idea. He didn't jump at the opportunity or anything, but the look in his eye and the way his fingers twitched around the paring knife that was busy slicing Mandrake Root, well—it was enough to tell her he was more than willing.

And thus it began. Their unconventional but mutually beneficial relationship, of sorts.

She'd message him a week prior to her heat, and they would make arrangements to have their labs looked after so as to not disrupt their brew times. Then they'd take refuge in the Prince family cottage that sat just outside Bray.

A studio cottage with little extra space, it lacked most modern amenities, but it held everything they needed. A large bed, numerous sets of linens, a wood-burning stove for the cold months, and a tiny icebox to chill their food. Most importantly was its distance away from prying eyes, as well as the complex set of Fidelius Charms that made it unplottable.

Hermione moved up the familiar stone steps of the cottage. Despite the crisp autumnal breeze from the ocean, sweat soaked through her dress. Her skin was burning with the beginnings of her heat. She knew she was cutting it close, not requesting to meet until the very last minute, but she had been so close to perfecting the Veritaserum Counter Potion that she didn't want to part from her work.

Though now that she could feel the slick begin to trickle down her thighs at the first scent of him, she realised what a poor decision it had been.

Sliding her hand from the pocket of her cloak, she placed her palm to the handleless door. The knobs and knicks from the age wood familiar under her skin as she murmured the soft enchantment that would allow her entry into the ancestral home.

She'd scented him outside, his familiar and intoxicating aroma mixed in the sea air, but once she crossed the threshold it was almost overwhelming.

Asphodel, well-aged leather, and just the hint of sulfur and mahogany.

The combination shouldn't work. The sweet yet savoury scent was so thick in the air she could taste it, and her body was so attuned to crave that particular Alpha pheromone that it brought forth a pulse of slick to coat her thighs.

Her fingers trembled as she shut the door behind her. Unrepentant need clawed its way up her throat, tainting her voice, betraying her resolve to stay as human as possible during their encounters. "Severus?"

Movement across the tiny living quarters signaled in her periphery, and she turned towards the smoldering fire to watch her saviour rise from the chair.

Once upon a time his presence was unwelcomed, unwanted, and certainly unneeded. She would have grimaced at the thought of having to spend even a minute alone with the sharply lined potions professor.

It was different now. Now she knew what lay beneath the high collar and crisp trousers. Now she knew his wicked tongue was not just designed to cut insults, but rather pull a chorus of symphony from within her.

Now she knew the dexterity of his fingers and the fullness of his knot.

Alpha, Alpha, Alpha.

She bit back a whimper as he turned towards, dark eyes practically glowing in the dim lighting. His frock was already removed, and the top few buttons of his oxford were unthreaded. She could make out the hint of dark hair that lined his chest, hiding what he believed to be imperfections.

Scars from his time as a spy, healed injuries from brewing, and others she suspected might have been self-inflicted. She'd kissed and lavished every one countless times, lost in the throes of her heat, and she now longed to revisit those same blemishes once more.

She wanted to press affection and acceptance into his skin as she took his knot. While this was far from love, she knew the sacrifices he made to commit to this with her. She knew he had his own battles of will to overcome in bedding not only a woman nineteen years his junior but also his former student.

"Omega." Every muscle in her body tightened as he murmured her designation, clearly already lost in the sea of the rut that accompanied her heat. His eyes left burning trails across her body as he took in her appearance, the tell-tale flush of Alpha desire already painting his alabaster skin. "Cloak off."

The edict wasn't presented as an Alpha command, but she didn't dare defy him. She made quick work of releasing the metal clasp at the base of her throat, and she let it fall carelessly to the floor, leaving her in the thin scrap of a sundress that was seasonally inappropriate for the crisp autumn day.

Sweat rolled down her spine as she watched him drink her in. He emitted a low growl of approval that sent her inner Omega preening, and she almost ran to his side to soak in his praise.

But she knew better.

She knew by now that she had to await his command.

Alpha's happy. Alpha's pleased. Be good. He'll give you his knot.

His hand lifted from his trouser pocket, and a crooked finger beckoned her forward. Had she not felt the ground beneath her feet, she would've thought she floated to him. The warmth of the dying fire left the room stifling, but it wasn't the burning heat that emanated from his body that set her aflame.

Her body practically vibrated under his watchful eye as she warred with her inner Omega, trying to keep the feral creature from taking complete control. Once he began to take her through her heat, she knew there was no stopping her basest instincts from dictating nearly every move she made, but for now she could try.

Try to have a semblance of control, even for just a second longer. Yes, he was the dominant in these bedroom games they played every three months, but it was her choice to allow it. Sane, rational, distinctly human Hermione got to choose her partner, not the wanton creature that fogged her brain and clouded her judgement.

Reaching out, Severus trailed the tips of his fingers across the cap of her shoulder, following the jut of her clavicle until they reached the very center of her chest. His index finger ran down her sternum until it hit the neck of her dress.

Slowly and methodically, he took his time accessing her body, dark eyes peering at her over the bridge of his aquiline nose like a snake would its prey; trying to find her weakness, determining when to strike.

"You're close." His touch, although delicate, was missed the moment he lifted his hand from her skin. Her body ached, her stomach clenching in disapproval. She needed him, now more than ever, and she knew he knew it. He undoubtedly could see it in the pink flush that crossed her cheeks and chest, feel it in the layer of sweat that covered every inch of her skin; Merlin, she knew he could smell it.

He brought his fingers to his mouth, tongue peeking out between thin lips as he slipped his index and middle finger inside his mouth. His eyes fluttered closed as a deeply primal noise rumbled from his chest.

Alpha, Alpha, Alpha!

She didn't need to look in a mirror to know exactly how she looked in that moment. Watching him taste how close she was to losing herself to her heat did things to her that she would never want to admit to. Her thighs clenched, and she could feel slick trickle down the insides of her thighs despite her heat-proof knickers.

Severus wasn't conventional. He was abrasive and curt. He was often direct to the point of rudeness in social settings and hardly ever gave proper acknowledgement or praise. But perhaps that was precisely why her Omega wanted him so desperately.

While in their day to day interactions, his eyes never strayed below the neckline of her robes, and he certainly never cast a second glance her way, but every three months she got to see a side of the stuffy potions professor than no one else did.

This was their secret.

Their peculiar little arrangement.

"Bed. Now."

Her shoes flew off her feet as she scrambled to obey, her body moving instinctively to listen to her Alpha. Her knees sank into the soft mattress, her palms pressing into the comforter as she assumed the position he needed her in.

The duvet felt scratchy against her cheek, not at all the one she preferred for her nest, but she wasn't going to change it out now.

Not yet.

Not until she'd been given relief from the burning desire that threatened to build into an inferno.

She heard the shuffle of his shoes across the floor and felt the press of his weight against the mattress behind her, but his touch didn't come.

Patience. Be still. He'll help you.

She bit her bottom lip, fisting her mouth to stopper the begging. Her eyes were tightly shut as she prayed for his touch to come. She'd taken too long to arrive at the cottage, waiting until the very last moment possible, and now it felt foolish that she thought she could fight the need for so long.

She was desperate, though not just for release. She needed him to claim her. To control her body in ways only he seemed capable of doing. To praise and stroke and sedate the Omega inside that was taking control.

It felt like an eternity. The crackle of the dying fire sounded more like nails on a chalkboard than ambient noise, but finally it came. His hands brushed up the backs of her thighs, fingers raking across her skin as he pulled her sundress up to reveal her cotton-covered arse.

A curse slipped off his tongue, gravelly and low, as the view of slick soaked knickers came into his view. His fingers brushed across her covered slit, sliding over the sodden fabric with slow and deliberate strokes, pulling mews of pleasure from her as she rocked back into his touch. "So wet… you waited too long, Omega."

YesYesYes!

His fingers moved higher, tracing the cleft of her arse until they reached the elastic band that held her knickers on her hips. He curled his fingers under the rim, slowly working the cotton down. She could feel the gusset stick to her folds as he tugged them down her thighs. When the knickers pooled around her knees, she felt her essence trickle from her core.

His pheromones spiked, the spicy scent of his rut filling the air, until she could no longer smell the aged cottage and stale bedding.

He grabbed fistfulls of her backside, kneading the supple flesh with a brutal caress that made her arch her back in both pain and pleasure. His thumbs swept low, anchoring against her labia, and he parted her.

She could feel his breath ghost across the sensitive skin on the backs of her thighs in hot puffs. Anticipation began to build and build until she felt as if she was going to burst. The fires of her designation were fully light, clouding any sense of sanity that remained.

"Alpha, Please." She wiggled her hips, pushing her backward towards him in a meak attempt to have him sedate her desire.

His laughter was dark and ominous. Like he was a demon seconds away from eating her soul, as opposed to the incubus she was so willing to present it to. "So needy already." He clicked his tongue at her disapprovingly, but the subtle reprimand was followed by the brush of his nose against the juncture of her thigh and pelvis.

"Such a desperate little Omega… ready for my knot," he murmured against her skin, taking his time to scent himself against the gland that lay there, coating himself in her arousal that continued to dribble from her core with each wicked word. "Tell me what you need, Omega."

"Your knot." She gasped into the bedding, turning her face so her moans were pressed into the mattress when she finally felt the hot swipe of his tongue against her slit.

Severus took his time, coaxing gasps and moans that originated from the very centre of her being. Each swirl of his tongue at her clit and slither of it inside her core only dragged her further into her heat.

She was a slave to her designation; desperate and dripping with a primal need that left her more animal than human. Under other circumstances she might have been content to enjoy this, to find the slow build to her release under his eager mouth, but this time was different. She wanted—no needed more.

"A-Alpha." The whine bubbled up her throat, her fists pulling at the comforter as she quivered with need. "Please."

She used her Omega warble, knowing it would cut through his own fog to refocus his purpose. She rarely had to use it, normally not this far gone by the time she finally came into his company. The chirping purr that followed her words felt foreign dancing off her tongue, but it did precisely what she'd intended.

Severus pulled back, teeth scraping across the swell of her arse, nipping at the tender flesh as he rose up to kneel behind her. The clink of metal sent a shiver down her spine, and a hand curled around her hip. she knew what would soon follow would be exactly what she needed.

The head of his cock was swept through her folds, her slick coating his thick manhood before he caught at her entrance. Her body hummed, every nerve ending ablaze. For a single moment, it felt as if time stood still.

This wasn't love.

It wasn't even infatuation.

It was biology. Pure and simple. Logically she knew this, but in these moments, on the precipice of her heat, it was hard for those lines not to blur.

One hand stayed firmly closed around her hip, fingertips digging into her flesh as the other moved to curl around her shoulder, thumb sweeping over the swollen gland at the base of her neck as he sank into her.

The stretch was exquisite, fulfilling a need so deeply ingrained in her biology it was impossible to ignore. Her breath caught in her throat, lodging under the rapidly forming lump as he ground his hips against her, cock pressing so deeply inside her she swore he was in her stomach.

"Good Omega."

The pace he set was slow and harsh, making sure to bottom out with every thrust, earning small gasps that punctuated each moan ripping from her throat. Her hands scrambled over the bedding, nails tearing at the thin fabric as she tried to find something—anything to hold on to as she felt her body prepare for her first release.

The coil low in her belly tightened, slow and steady, each forceful snap of his hips edging her closer and closer until the incoherent babble of words that slipped off her tongue turned to breathless pleas for him to give her what she needed, what her body craved.

He knew her well, having helped her through more heats than Hermione cared to admit, and just when she felt herself on the brink of oblivion, he pinched roughly at her mating gland. Nails scratched the tender flesh, and the fire that burst from within sent her reeling.

Her mind spun, sifting through the gossamer-thin web of the universe as she rode the drudging waves of her climax. She could feel her walls flutter around his cock, her cunt desperately trying to keep him deep inside; trying to coax him to follow and fill her with his spend.

Her body was designed for this, for him to use and fill with his seed in the primal attempt to reproduce. Biologically the desire for him to fill her with pups was present; it was one she rarely vocalized. When she felt his cock thicken inside her, his knot swelling and swelling until he was lodged firmly within her, she couldn't help but push her hips back into him so the sputter of his spend was forced deeper.

"So good… perfect for my knot." His fingers rolled her mating gland, working the sensitive skin until her body fell boneless to the mattress beneath his, her cunt still milking his cock.

Severus was forced to follow, lithe frame molding to hers as his arm curled around her waist and held her tight against him. Distantly she felt his lips against her sweat-drenched? curls and the fading pulse of his cock. False praise accompanied his touch, and even now under the spell of her designation, his honeyed tones were unfamiliar but not unwelcome.

"—so beautiful around my knot—"

The Omega won, as it always did, and would rule her mind for the next five days. It would dictate every single aspect of her life. From sunrise to sunset, Hermione would fall victim to the beast within.

As she lay in his arms in that post-orgasm bliss that poets would write epos over, her cunt full from his knot, his seed dripping out of her core and mixing with the fluids that painted her thighs, she couldn't help but find the idea not so bad.

It was like a vacation. Yes, there were no museums to visit or pictures to take and certainly no tales she would take home. But for the next five days she got to act purely based on instinct and allow something other than logic to make decisions for her.

And that, coupled with the fact that she knew she would be back in his arms within three months was enough comfort to remind her that this peculiar arrangement was exactly what she wanted.

Author's Note:

thank you to fabulous bionically for betaing this smut-shot. any remaining mistakes are my own.

I have no idea where this came from, but I got this weird plunny and felt compelled to write it. I am dedicating this to the ever fabulous LissaDream.. She is an absolutely treasure to the sevmione ship and I hope this little ficlette warms her bones as much as her words warm mine.

until next time. xx