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It had been over a decade since the end of the Triwizard Tournament and to say that life had changed for the majority would have been an understatement. A future of dead end jobs with no potential, or a life of serving an alpha while they stayed home to care for their children. That was all omega’s could have hoped for before Hermione Granger made her way into the spotlight. It was a role she never wanted, never asked for - but when it came down to it, she stood tall.
The seed had been planted with her performance all those years ago but in the years it took for her to finish Hogwarts the alphas did everything they could to desperately cling to power. The omegas were fighting for equality but they had no central figure to rally around. Hermione had lit the spark but there was no one to carry the torch while she finished her education.
During her final years she had received a countless number of job offers from every branch in the ministry, as well as dozens more from independent researchers. Everyone desperate to get the golden girl to join them. Many among them had an ulterior motive. They knew that if she remained in the country she would be a beacon for what others could strive for, so they planned to remove her from the country altogether. If she was off in some foreign land on some obscure research then they were free to continue ruling the country as they saw fit.
They had an advantage with this as well; or so they thought. Her mate. During the tournament she had been mated to a foreign student, the veela from France. They searched for every loophole they could find to use that against her but unfortunately none presented themselves. The fact that her mate was French was of little consequence but due to her veela heritage they were sure they could find some loophole to forcefully remove her mate from the country altogether. Unfortunately her muggle heritage proved to be an issue here. If she were just from an obscure wizarding family with no ties to the muggle world they could have had her shipped off to live with her creature born mate. Unfortunately she had the relevant paperwork to prove her status as a British citizen and they didn’t have enough sway with the British prime minister to force his hand.
Of course the stubborn witch turned every single offer down, regardless of the monetary value attached. It got to a point where she didn’t even provide a reason for her refusal, she just had a miniature dragon return the letter to whomever sent it.
If they couldn’t get her out of the country permanently then they just had to make sure that she never managed to get a job in their inner circle - the ministry would have to do everything it could to ensure she never had a job. That was what the ancient families who ruled decided upon. If they could do that then perhaps she would be relegated to obscurity over time. After all, they had managed to keep power within their families for centuries - it was unlikely that this single girl would be able to oppose them if they stopped her from ever gaining a position within their ranks. Besides, it was her fault for turning down the lucrative positions. One thing they failed to account for was Hogwarts.
Of course they knew that Minerva McGonagall was the current headmistress, an omega in a position of authority was a dangerous thing indeed. The year following her appointment they had sought to replace her with one of their own, a beta who would do whatever they told her to do; Delores Umbridge.
They had given her the power to decide on how the school should be run and the authority to enforce it. First they needed to make the role of headmistress worthless by giving their implant a title that outranked her. However they failed to count on the castle itself. Hogwarts castle was as old as it was powerful; the original founders had put into place safeguards against any sort of tampering that an outside force incase they tried to interfere with the school. Whenever Delores tried to move throughout the castle she would find herself someplace else, normally by the towering doors that marked the entrance to the ancient castle. Not only that but her ‘classroom’ was constantly moved to a remote area of the forbidden forest when she was alone within; that had the ministry official running for her life on more than one occasion.
She didn’t even last half a year before she had run back to the ministry with her tail between her legs. The same thing occurred with every single official they sent in their stead; the castle itself would ensure they never lasted long. Threatening the staff hadn't helped either as not even they could explain why it was happening, even under veritaserum. They couldn’t just shut the school down, it would take far too much money to build a new facility and the international pedigree the school provided was enough for its graduates to be hired worldwide. Defeated, all they could do was try to plan for an alpha to be named the next headmaster, but unfortunately once more it seemed that only the headmistress could hire new staff. They were truly at a loss for what to do with the school. Once again they trusted that things would return to normal with time. One omega in a position of power surely wouldn't cause that much of a problem, right?
The year Hermione finally finished her education she had the eyes of nearly every member of the ministry upon her. No one knew what she would do. Harry Potter had quickly taken a role as an auror. Ronald Weasely had joined his brothers in running a store on Diagon Alley and Ginny Weasely had somehow managed to impress the captain of the Holyhead Harpies enough to get a position on their team. Officially she was just hired for broom maintenance but it was more than obvious that there was more at play.
Any other year and there would have been an investigation into her position but everyone was far too focused on what the former champion would do. The answer however was surprising in how obvious it should have been. It was clear she enjoyed her life at Hogwarts, and the professors had a soft spot for her, so it should have come to no surprise that upon her graduation that she would stay on at the school in a teaching position. Without delay there was protest from the ministry but as they had proven years prior, they had no say in the workings of Hogwarts, if the headmistress accepted her there was nothing they could do about it.
Hermione was hesitant to take the position at first but over the summer following her graduation her resistance had been worn down by her former head of house. Hermione only agreed when the headmistress agreed that Hermione would start off by shadowing the current professors until they had all agreed on the subject that she was most proficient in. They couldn’t use her grades as a base because she received nearly full marks in all of her selected subjects.
Throughout the entire process her mate was by her side, even if she could not be there in person. Hermione spent every holiday in France with her mates’ flock, Hermione more than welcome among them. Fleur had considered getting a job in the country but Hermione persuaded her against it, knowing that the ministry would never truly welcome someone like Fleur until a massive change occurred. She never expected that she would be the center of that change.
After a few years Hermione had begun teaching her own class, transfiguration. The first professor to take the position on a permanent basis after McGonagall stepped down from the role to focus on her duties as a headmistress. One day an owl started to peck against the window of her office. It wasn’t any owl she knew, if anything it was so plain with its monotonous brown feathers that she could have seen this owl hundreds of times before and never realized. With only a slight delay she opened her window to allow the relatively small bird inside before instantly closing the window behind it, sealing off the room from the freezing October winds once more. Once inside the bird moved to stand directly in the center of her ornate wooden desk before it presented a leg towards her. It almost seemed to bow it’s head as it waited for her to take the letter attached.
Confused at the rather regal display, Hermione hesitantly removed the letter from the little carrier on the birds leg and without wand or words made the parchment enlarge until it was at a size she could comfortably read it. As soon as she read the words she dropped the parchment in shock. Somehow without her knowledge she had received enough preliminary votes to be considered in the running to become the next minister of magic.
She was approaching her mid-twenties so she would not be the youngest ever to receive the position but it would definitely be outside of the norm for someone like her to be considered for this position, and that was without considering her dynamic. An omega minister of magic - now that would be a first.
It seemed the ministry never expected that someone like her would have even been considered for the role, they never even tried to ban omega’s from voting; and of course it was their support that had given her the edge she needed to be considered. However their support alone wouldn’t give her the votes she needed and even if it was enough she wasn’t sure she even wanted the position. It was only after talking to both her mentor and mate that she agreed to formally run for the position. This was a chance to force real change in a stale country, and she had learnt long ago that the world would not change without a bit of force.
The day of the election came far too soon for Hermione’s liking with McGonagall hosting an event inside the great hall of Hogwarts. The entire student body and faculty had all gathered together when the counting started, all to cheer her on. Voting was done very simply, you had a ballot delivered by owl, the owl would wait for the designated person to mark their choice before it immediately flew off again. Hermione doubted her chances as her competition was an alpha from one of the sacred 28 families. His entire campaign was showered in the wealth he possessed, from his endless rallies to the flyers he had printed and stuck onto every wall in Diagon Alley.
What did Hermione do? She taught. Her friends did their best to spread word about her campaign but Hermione refused to stop teaching. She knew it would likely cost her the race but she didn’t care. For her, teaching her students was not a waste of her time. So when the first results started coming in she was shocked to find that she was actually level with her competitor. Not only that but ever so slowly her lead was increasing. She had no idea how; she knew she had the omega’s votes but that would no way be enough for the combined votes from the alpha’s and beta’s who knew they would lose a lot of their privileges under her leadership.
Any other year she would have been correct, but this year something unprecedented happened. The younger generation voted in massive numbers. Every previous election was decided on who the older generation liked the most, they were simply more interested in voting. However the ministries failure to remove Hermione from a position where she could influence every single graduate was their undoing. Every student who had graduated since Hermione had won the Triwizard tournament had voted for her. Not only that but a large number had managed to persuade their families to adapt to their new ways of thinking. It was surprising the number of families you could persuade with the argument of, “She can transform into a chimaera at will.” Power after all, was respected.
When all the votes were counted there was a clear winner. The first omega minister of magic. Hermione Granger.
4 years had passed since that day and Hermione had recently won reelection with a landslide victory. It was a hard fight with the ministry contesting her every decision but she eventually managed to force through her policy changes after several members of the wizengamot lost their seats to their successors, a generation much more open to her ideas. Harry’s quick rise in the ranks of the aurors helped Hermione to ensure that her new policies were enforced on every level of society. As it turned out the alphas didn’t appreciate being informed that they could no longer abuse omegas and it was only a show of dominance that ‘encouraged’ them to reconsider.
The reason she won reelection so easily? It turned out that equality was to the benefit of everyone. Businesses were booming with the inclusion of omegas into their head offices, their intelligence and various ideas no longer ignored. Sports now featured omegas within teams, Ginny Weasely being the first omega quidditch player in England. That not only opened the way for other talented omegas to prove themselves which raised the overall level of the sport within the country but it also increased the amount of omegas that came to watch the sports. Even the most bigoted of alphas couldn’t deny the increased gold that made its way into their pockets.
Hermione didn’t stop with just ensuring omegas had equal rights, she also made sure that those protections extended towards the magical creatures that called this country their home. No longer would they be classified as less than human. No. She would make sure that everyone was equal in England. When she finally managed to get that law passed she celebrated by having the entirety of her mates clan over to celebrate. They partied long into the night and when it was time for the flock to return to France, Fleur remained. An event that the pair celebrated far more intimately. Neither Hermione or Fleur knew the cause, but Hermione’s heat started the next day. It’s unexpected arrival meant they didn’t have a potion available for what they knew would follow. Even if they did, they seriously doubted they would have taken it. After all, they were finally able to live together.
Hermione knew she wasn’t going to regret it, however she would blame her friends for the thoughts she had circling in her head. Harry and Cho had a child together several years ago and Ginny had recently gotten pregnant with her first. Perhaps it was the little baby calling her “Auntie Mione” for the first time combined with her mate finally moving in with her for good. In the end it didn’t matter.
After the first several months Hermione no longer went to her office to work, instead she remained in what could effectively be called her nest. Her home office had been completely redecorated with every hard object replaced by something soft and more than likely, fluffy. Her desk? There was now a giant pillow. The bookshelves? Now blankets lined the walls. The floor? Could no longer be seen under the massive collection of duvets, pillows and cushions. At the very center of which sat Hermione, still hard at work with her little dragon carrying paper around the room for her. That was her space and no one was permitted to enter lest they find themselves on the receiving end of her wand. Even Fleur was not immune to this self imposed barrier as she had to settle with bribing her way in with food. The food that worked would vary every day so she made sure to always bring a selection.
Only once the offer was accepted would she be permitted entry into her mates nest and upon closer inspection it was clear to see why. On her arms Hermione had grown long white feathers that she was using to cover something. An egg. It was the size of an ostrich egg but it had not started that way. As time progressed the egg that Hermione was incubating grew exponentially larger, almost as if it was feeding off the magic in the air that surrounded the nest. Esther visited a few times at the begging of her granddaughter to make sure that everything was ok, that both Hermione and the egg were healthy. She had told her heir not to worry but Fleur’s stubbornness won out.
Esther had a peek through the door, insistent that she not bother the nesting omega and her observations calmed the worried veela. Everything was progressing as it should. As she relayed this information they could hear a little crack. Without hesitation Fleur threw the door open to find the cause only to find herself at the receiving end of a hex cast by her mate. This time though she didn’t care as her eyes were fixed on the distinctive wobbling she could see from the object that she knew her mate was hiding.
Fleur slowly made her way forward, keeping her head down and her arms spread wide to the side. Doing everything she could to show her mate that she was not a threat. It took Hermione longer than usual to recognize her mate but when she did, she slowly opened her arms to reveal the treasure she had been protecting, a pearl white egg.
Ever so slowly the egg began to shake more and more. Cracks slowly growing across its surface while the two women sat with the egg between them. They had months to think of a name for their little one and they had gone through so many possibilities. From traditional French and English names to more exotic choices. When Gabby found out, she was insistent that they name their daughter after her but the pair swiftly agreed against that idea. The names that made it to the final selection included: Zoe, Aimee, Gillian, Chloe and Louise; but they still struggled to make a decision.
“I still think we should have gone with Ally.”
Pouted Fleur as the egg finally started to break apart, a small yellow beak struggling to definitively push its way though.
“Oh shush you. We made our decision.”
Admonished Hermione with a smile on her face. It was true, like all things in life Hermione refused to leave it to the last minute and as a result they had finalised their decision months ago, even if Fleur pretended they didn’t.
Finally the egg broke apart, a crack forming down the middle as two sides split apart to reveal the small figure in the center. Bright silver eyes and long silvery hair that already reached down the babies back. Human in almost every way except for the rough grey feathers that lined her arms and the yellow beak that she needed to break through the tough shell of the egg. The two parents looked down into those intelligent silver eyes with beaming smiles on their faces, together they whispered.
“Hello, Artemis.”
The little one looked back at them with her eyes going back and forth between them so much that the young parents feared she may become dizzy. They couldn’t stop the tears from falling when their daughter wiggled herself so that she was facing both her parents equally before rising her arms towards them and calling out.
“Mama! Mimi!”
The two new parents had no idea who was who but they didn’t care as they pulled their daughter into a tender embrace. They had a family.