Chapter Text
“You wanted to see me, minister?”
“Yes. Please sit down.”
Tom takes his time putting the documents laid out in front of him away, hoping that he will find the right words in the meantime. He had enough time to come up with a solution to his newest problem but not enough to figure out how to approach the topic — especially because Potter would most certainly be at best reluctant and at worst disgusted.
“I need to ask you a favor,” Tom says eventually when he can’t pretend to be occupied anymore.
“Do you, now,” Potter says, raising an eyebrow. “What kind of favor?”
If Tom had any less control over himself, he would have curled his lips. Of course, Potter would enjoy this. He’s always trying to make Tom’s life harder.
“It’s...” I need you to have sex with me. The words are at the tip of his tongue, but Tom can’t bring himself to actually say them out loud. There has to be a smoother way to approach this.
Potter glances at his clock, and Tom grinds his teeth. Could he make it any more obvious that he doesn’t want to be here?
“I wouldn’t ask you if I had another choice.” That, at least, catches Potter’s attention. Potter tends to appreciate bluntness. “But there is no one else I know who... qualifies for this task.”
Immediately, Potter sits up straighter. “Did you discover another Dark wizard working at the ministry?”
Oh, for the love of... Well. Tom supposes he can’t blame Potter for coming to that conclusion. Potter is the best Auror the ministry had in a very long time. He could have become Head Auror years ago, but he always declines when Tom has to offer him the position after Potter pulls off some ridiculous stunt. It’s one of the many things that make Potter stand out like a sore thumb.
“No,” Tom says, trying to sound as patient as he can. “It’s a favor of the more... personal kind.”
Potter sighs, running a hand through his hair. “Sir, no offense, but why are you wasting both of our time? Why don’t you just say what you want from me?”
“Because I don’t want to ask you!” Tom snarls and folds his arms.
Potter’s intoxicating smell seems to be everywhere by now, and it’s an actual struggle not to lower his gaze and play meek and docile. I hate this. I hate this stupid body and its stupid instincts. Why did I even bother ordering Potter to my office? He can’t stand me. He’d never agree to be intimate with me, no matter what I offered him in return.
“My apologies, it was not my intention to lose my temper. You can go now. I just realized you aren’t the right person to help me.”
“Yeah, right,” Potter drawls. “You can’t just order me to your office, claiming that I should drop everything else, no matter how important, only to change your mind out of nowhere. You-” Potter breaks off in the middle of his sentence and blinks. Tom tenses when he catches him flaring his nostrils. “Sir, did you... Sorry if this sounds inappropriate, but did you forget to take your heat suppressants?”
“I did not,” Tom says, trying to sound as unaffected as possible, which is getting harder by the second. There is a reason why he didn’t allow any Alphas into his office today. Their smell makes it too hard to think straight.
“Then why-”
“I developed a resistance to them. Apparently, it’s a relatively common occurrence if you use heat suppressants for decades on end.”
“Oh,” Potter murmurs, and Tom clenches his teeth when he sees a hint of pity on Potter’s face. “Well, at least you shouldn’t have trouble finding someone to help you through your heat. I mean, you’re... you.”
Tom somehow finds the strength not to roll his eyes. Well, I guess that’s the reason why he never tried to make it as a politician despite his unusually strong political views. He must realize that talking isn’t his strong suit.
“Actually,” Tom says slowly, “it poses a big problem. I can’t afford to go through my heat alone since that would take at least four days instead of the one day it would take with a partner. But I also can’t just take anyone to bed. I have a reputation to uphold, so I need someone who knows how to keep a secret. You know as well as I do that it’s nothing short of a miracle that I made it into a position of power, given my secondary gender. I’d lose everything I worked for if someone spread around stories about how I couldn’t stop moaning or- or something like that.”
Tom wills himself not to blush and notices with some satisfaction that Potter isn’t able to control himself that much.
“That narrows down the potential partners I could choose significantly. Apart from that, the person needs to be selfless enough not to ask for something inappropriate, like a promotion, in return and not be in a relationship, let alone have a mate. Oh, and they cannot be tempted to bite me, be it because they want the power being the mate of the minister would give them or because they catch feelings.” Tom pauses a moment to let that sink in. “The last part narrows it down the most, I think.”
Potter blinks and bites his lips.
“Fine, I guess it poses more of a problem than I thought at first. But why are you telling me all of... Wait.” Potter folds his arms, and this time his blush is straight-up impossible to ignore. “Hold on. Is that why you wanted to talk to me? Because you wanted to ask me to... to spend your heat with you?”
“You are the only one I can think of who meets all the criteria.” Tom sighs and rubs his forehead, allowing Potter to see a tiny bit of his weakness, hoping that will make him more sympathetic. “I know it’s a lot to ask for, but I can’t think of a better solution.”
Potter shakes his head before Tom is even done talking. “I... Look, I’m sorry, but I can’t help you with this. I can’t have sex with you. It’s... physically impossible.”
Tom frowns. “Physically impossible? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means exactly what I said. I can’t have sex with you. Or anyone, really. It just doesn’t work. Don’t look at me like that, it’s the truth!”
Tom curls his lips. “Fine, if you don’t want to help me through my heat, then I suppose I’ll be gone for a while. We’ll just have to hope that the ministry won’t fall apart in the meantime.”
“Don’t make it sound like that’d be my fault! I didn’t ask to be born with a dick that resembles a forearm in length and width.”
There’s a long pause during which they stare at each other, and Potter’s cheeks turn even redder.
“Let me get this straight. You’d agree to help me through my heat if you didn’t have a forearm-dick?”
“Don’t make fun of me,” Potter snaps. “I didn’t do that either when you told me the heat suppressants don’t work on you anymore.”
“That’s hardly the same-”
“No, you’re right. It isn’t the same. At least you could have sex if you wanted to. I literally can’t. The human body isn’t meant to take something that big.”
“You’re exaggerating.” There’s no way Potter’s cock could actually be as big as he claims.
“I’m not!”
“Want to bet on it? Come on, what do you have to lose?”
“I...” Potter hesitates, looking uncertain for the first time. “Look, I can’t stand you, and I know that feeling is mutual, but I don’t actually want to hurt you. Surely you can think of someone else to ask if you seriously think about it.”
“I did seriously think about it. There is no one else. It’s either you or spending my heat alone.”
Potter still looks skeptical, and Tom prepares himself for another argument he will have to stamp to the ground when Potter sighs and closes his eyes. “Fine, you win. I… I’d be willing to try to make it work somehow. But don’t get mad at me when it turns out that you can’t take me after all.”