Chapter 71: Chapter 70
Hu Yetao rolled his eyes at Jing-Long who smiled at him over the rim of his teacup. He'd already heard the abridged version of this story Mrs. Amber's office and was not offering an opinion on the matter.
"Anyway," Hu Yetao continued purposely. "Oscar no longer wanted to go to the party at the Manor because he didn't want me around Keyu."
"A heat of the moment declaration, I can assure you," Oscar stated calmly before taking a sip of his espresso.
"So you don't mind if Hu Yetao is around Keyu now?" Jing Long asked, and Hu Yetao was relieved to note that his tone was curious rather than accusing or suspicious.
Oscar shook his head. "Not at all, I trust Hu Yetao when he says he's not interested in him. That being said, I do not trust Zhou Keyu and would rather they weren't alone together if it can be helped."
"Fair enough," Jing-Long conceded, surprising Hu Yetao.
"So then Oscar stayed at Hogwarts while you went to Wang Manor on your own?" Zhang Xinyao asked, trying to get back to the subject at hand.
"Yeah, I told Oscar I would be in Gryffindor Tower for the night and I went there instead," Hu Yetao admitted, getting a little tired of telling people of his deception. It had been a rather terrible thing to do to his mate.
Oscar slipped an arm around the back of Hu Yetao's chair and Hu Yetao unconsciously leaned into the touch.
"And how was the party?" Zhang Xinyao asked, his expression clearly stating that he fully expected the answer to include the words 'fucking awful' and 'complete nightmare.'
Hu Yetao grinned. "It was great. I got to meet their close friends, Xiaocheng kindly kept me separated from Keyu, and Shui Xian was a complete sweetheart."
Zhang Xinyao and Jing-Long stared at Hu Yetao, frozen with disbelief.
Oscar choked on his drink while Hu Yetao just laughed at the two gobsmacked Gryffindors.
"Okay, I'm starting to think Jing-Long was right - you're not the same Hu Yetao," Zhang Xinyao said slowly, fearfully. "Oscar must have cast some sort of dark curse-type thing on you."
"It's not that wand that has Hu Yetao under my complete control," Oscar drawled with a smirk.
Hu Yetao let out a bark of laughter, completely forgetting where he was, while Xinyao's expression turned to one of disgust and Jing-Long rolled his eyes.
Hu Yetao grinned; it felt good like the four of them were old friends, instead of two friends he was currently fighting with and a boyfriend whom they both hated and mistrusted.
"I'm serious," Hu Yetao finally continued. "Xiaocheng even offered to escort me back to Hogwarts, he was quite concerned that Oscar wasn't with me - and now I wish I'd listened to him." He paused and then decided to quickly finish the story. "So, I left the Manor and returned to Hogwarts where these two strangers jumped out of nowhere and stunned me before tossing me into the lake to drown. They didn't know who they were dealing with though," he added with a smile, trying to make light of the situation so that it didn't dampen the mood.
Oscar's hand moved from where it had been resting on Hu Yetao's shoulder to the base of his neck, fingers idly soothingly stroking over the claiming mark.
"And they haven't caught them yet," Jing-Long added, forehead creased in thought.
Zhang Xinyao leaned forward, lowering his voice. "So… they could be anywhere. They might've even followed us here."
Hu Yetao glanced up, watching as the coffee shop filled with more and more customers, forming a long queue at the counter and rapidly filling the empty tables around them.
"I doubt it," Hu Yetao replied, turning back to Xinyao. "They won't just be wandering around the streets of Island, hoping I'll show up. If the Aurors haven't found them yet then they're probably far away."
"I'm sure that won't be the end of it though," Jing-Long said, gaze shifting to Oscar for a moment. "If they were that set on killing Hu Yetao, they won't be put off easily. When they hear that he's still alive and kicking, they'll probably be back."
"Which is why Hu Yetao is not to go wandering about on his own anymore," Oscar intoned evenly, fingers still lightly resting on his mate's claim mark; the tiniest of movements sending a cascade of shivers down Hu Yetao's spine.
"Bloody hell…" Zhang Xinyao breathed out as he sat back in his chair. "With You-Know-Who dead, I thought people would stop trying to murder you Hu Yetao."
"That's probably why they're trying to murder me," Hu Yetao replied sullenly. "I killed off their idol and now his mental followers are trying to get their revenge."
"Perhaps," Jing-Long said, still frowning thoughtfully. "There could be other reasons too, like maybe someone trying to get revenge on Oscar or his family, or perhaps they're not Chong Li followers but men who wanted a male Omega for themselves."
"Well they got one thing right," Hu Yetao replied darkly. "I'd rather be dead than forced to be their Omega."
He shuddered just at the thought and Oscar subtly pulled him a little closer into the crook of his arm. Hu Yetao acknowledged his mate's caring gesture with a soft smile, quietly inhaling his mate's scent and allowing it to flow through his body, settling him.
"Well that's a happy thought," Xinyao responded sarcastically.
"Yes, Hu Yetao has a knack for finding the silver lining in any given situation," Oscar drawled.
Hu Yetao rolled his eyes but a reluctant smile tugged at his lips as he returned to drinking his cooling hot chocolate. He was feeling decidedly picked on in this conversation but he knew it was good-natured, and Oscar felt comfortable enough to join in, so that was a good indication of the current comfort level of his Alpha.
He looked up as Jing-Long leaned his arms on the table, gaze pinned on Oscar. Hu Yetao bit his lip nervously, waiting for him to speak because he knew he was working up to something uncomfortable.
"When Keyu spoke to Xinyao and me about your family having some big dark secret, that was just because he was jealous and wanted to turn Hu Yetao against you?" he asked.
"I really couldn't say," Oscar replied slowly, clearly forcing himself to be as candid as possible with the two Gryffindors. "That would be my assumption, as I can think of no other reason." Oscar's expression hardened a little. "I find it ironic that he suddenly felt the need to spread this story about me at the same time in which he decided to pursue my mate. He also attempted to convince me that Hu Yetao was slipping me Love Potions when I spoke of what was happening at the start of term. I had confided in him my suddenly intense attraction to Hu Yetao and that I was thinking of defying my family to pursue Hu Yetao, whom I still believed to be a Beta at that time, and Keyu was attempting to discourage that idea to pursue Hu Yetao for himself. Zhou Keyu even admitted to Hu Yetao that he'd known he was an Omega since our first day, so he already knew the truth when he fed me the Love Potion story."
Hu Yetao was so proud of his mate at that moment. Oscar was trying his hardest to not just get along with Hu Yetao's friends, but to be as open with them as he was able to be. For a Wang.
"Sounds suspect," Zhang Xinyao concluded, glancing pointedly at Jing Long, who slowly nodded in agreement as he absorbed everything that Oscar had told them.
"So can we please drop the unnecessary scrutiny of my boyfriend now?" Hu Yetao asked with a sigh.
"Fine by me," Xinyao said with a shrug, gaze connecting with Jing Long's again. "He's still a pompous arse but I don't think he's evil."
"I'm offended by that comment Zhang," Oscar drawled. "I must be losing my touch."
Hu Yetao elbowed him in the ribs, causing his mate to smirk ingenuously.
"Jing-Long?" Hu Yetao questioned, turning to her to see if he would also agree to stop the interrogation.
Jing Long bit his lip, dropping his gaze to the table as he fiddled with her empty cup. "Yes, I… I promise to stop being suspicious."
"And you won't ever mention it again?" Hu Yetao pressed.
"Mention what exactly?" Jing Long hedged.
"This supposed dark secret that Oscar is hiding?" Hu Yetao clarified. Just uttering that sentence made his heart pound and caused his pulse to jump but he knew he was concealing it well. His intense need to keep his mate and the Nundu Clan safe far outweighed his reluctance to lie to his friends.
"Yes I promise not to bring that up again," Jing-Long assured him with a sigh of resignation.
Hu Yetao nodded, satisfied. He finished off the last of his drink and pushed the empty cup aside.
"Where to next?" he asked around the table, determined to spend the rest of the day forging a genuine friendship between the three most important people in his life.
"I've never been to the zoo," Zhang Xinyao said, a smile suddenly lighting his face. "Muggles have the strangest animals."
Hu Yetao raised an incredulous brow at that.
"I too would like to visit the Muggle zoo," Oscar put in casually.
Hu Yetao suspected his mate was endeavoring to hide his excitement and he thought it was perhaps the cutest thing he'd ever seen.
"Fine with me," Jing-Long said with a smile, also looking slightly delighted by the idea. "I haven't been there since I was a little boy."
"I went to the zoo once and it's my happiest childhood memory," Hu Yetao said dreamily. "I set a huge snake on my cousin Wei"
The other three-eyed him strangely as they stood and gathered their coats.
"Come along my little Parcel mouth," Oscar quipped as he slung an arm about Hu Yetao's shoulders.
"If you make a joke about Hu Yetao speaking Parseltongue to your trouser snake then I'm going back to Hogwarts right now," Xinyao warned the two mates.
"I wasn't going to say anything of the sort," Oscar replied with an arched brow. "You think about the two of us having sex more than we do Zhang,"
"Come on," Jing-Long motioned for them all to leave before another word could be spoken.
The four of them caught a bus to the zoo, with both Xinyao and Oscar commenting on its sluggish pace compared to the Knight Bus. They hopped off at the stop directly outside the park and Hu Yetao bought their tickets with the stash of Muggle money that he'd brought with him. They then spent the better part of the day slowly meandering through Island Zoo's extensive grounds.
As they walked through the Rainforest Life section, Hu Yetao ended up walking next to Jing Long, their respective partners moving wide-eyed between animal exhibits just ahead of them.
Oscar had given up all pretense of disinterest long ago.
Hu Yetao smiled fondly as Oscar and Xinyao snickered over the Red Titi Monkeys.
"You love him, don't you?"
Hu Yetao looked over at Jing-Long.
"And he loves you," he continued without question, looking a little amazed by his observations.
Hu Yetao smiled and turned back to his Alpha. "Yeah, he does - and I do."
Jing Long smiled at him and it was so heartfelt, and he looked so genuinely happy for him, that he felt the hot prickle of tears at the back of his eyes.
"I'm glad," he said with quiet sincerity. "You deserve happiness Hu Yetao, you deserve to have an attentive partner who loves you and who thinks the world of you, and as much as it pains me to admit that I was wrong, I think Oscar maybe is that partner. I've seen the way he stares at you when you're not looking like he can't get enough of you. The entire trip here, all he did was eye the people around us and glared at anyone who got too close to us. You probably didn't even notice."
Hu Yetao grinned. "No, I'm so used to it now. I don't even think he knows he's doing it half the time."
Jing Long smiled. "At one time that would have bothered you."
Hu Yetao nodded. "Yeah, but now… I dunno." He shrugged and turned back to look at his mate as the blond stared up into the trees. "I guess it makes me feel… loved," he described simply. "Not stifled or inferior, or any of the other things that I used to think of at the thought of having an Alpha mate. Oscar is protective and possessive, but he's not disrespectful or condescending because I'm an Omega. He's…"
"Perfect?" Jing Long hazarded with a teasing grin.
"I wouldn't go that far," Hu Yetao laughed and then paused, tilting his head to one side. "Or maybe I would. He's not a perfect person but he's perfect for me. Even though he has all of these stoic Alpha traits, he's still a witty, sarcastic Slytherin too."
"And that's a good thing?"
Hu Yetao grinned at him and wondered if he could see the glow of happiness he was feeling. "Yup."
"Hey Hu Yetao, I think there's something wrong with this creature!"
Hu Yetao walked over to gaze up into the trees alongside his mate, ignoring the strange looks from the people around them.
"This one may need to be put out of his misery," Oscar surmised seriously, frowning up at the animal hiding amongst the tree-tops.
Hu Yetao squinted upwards until he spotted it. "That's a sloth Oscar, he's supposed to move that slowly."
"Oh?" Oscar's expression turned to one of critical disapproval. "How inefficient. He should still be put out of his misery, just for being so incredibly useless."
Jing Long giggled, but he didn't realize that Oscar was being perfectly serious.
"Can you at least make potions out of their body parts?" Xinyao asked loudly from the other side of Oscar.
Hu Yetao hid his face in his hands at the horrified looks the Muggles were now directing their way.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone