a mirror in the sun ☼ l.s.

two - the wolves

Harry leaned back against his locker, both arms crossed over his chest. Two of his friends, Zayn and Niall, wrestled playfully beside him, disrupting the steady flow of students pouring into the building for the day. They never really tried to draw him into their playful fights -- not because he was younger than them, but because he never seemed to enjoy wrestling, even with friends.

Maybe he took it too seriously. He took every chance to prove himself seriously.

He had met both of them through Louis on that first day, and they had all immediately accepted him into their group. For the first time, he met some people who didn't mind waiting for him to stutter his way through a sentence. They didn't mind when he didn't have much to say because they were usually too busy bickering among themselves to notice.

Just like this morning. Zayn was smaller than Niall, but he was quicker. His lips always turned up into a small smile when they wrestled like this, his dark eyes glinting with amusement. Niall was his polar opposite, the loud voice to Zayn's calm one, the light blonde to Zayn's dark hair, but they were the same in so many other ways -- because they were both alphas.

While his friends laughed and poked at each other, Harry quietly watched them and the passing crowd. He watched from the sidelines.

Their school was divided into three sections: one for alphas, one for betas, and one for omegas. There were three buildings on campus, each designated for a particular school. Everything was kept completely separate, aside from a few advanced classes that only had one teacher. Even in the shared cafeteria, each caste kept to itself.

Harry's advanced French class was his only real opportunity to interact with omegas. Most of the students came from the Academy of Saint Michael, the omega sector of the school. There was a single beta student from the Academy of Saint Francis, and Harry was one of just two alphas.

It was a strange environment. Unlike the rest of the school, divided into the three academies, his French classroom was a space where everyone came together to learn. Even after an entire month of school, Harry couldn't decide if it made him more or less comfortable: in some ways, he could worry less about proving his strength among betas and omegas.

In other ways, he had to worry more.

"You're being annoying," he finally told his friends, standing up from where he had been leaning on the lockers. In the loud chatter of the crowded hallway, his voice was almost too quiet to hear, but both of them glanced his way. "Someone's going to get fed up with you two and actually try to start a real fight."

"I hope they do," Niall shot back, grinning to show that he was joking. He ducked when Zayn tried to get him in a playful chokehold. "Then I can claim a life-threatening injury and I won't have to take my biology exam."

"Oh, alpha up," Zayn laughed, shoving Niall's shoulder roughly enough that he stumbled. "You can't seriously be complaining about that stupid test after you spent all weekend studying."

"I'll complain all I like, thank you very much!"

"You're going to be late for your stupid test if we don't get going," Harry commented bluntly.

He heaved his backpack up onto his shoulders. His friends grabbed their own bags and went with him down the hallway, Zayn on his left side and Niall on his right.

"You won't fail your exam, Ni. You'll be fine," Harry added as they walked, his tone a bit kinder than before. The intense lines framing his face had softened, like he was finally starting to relax a bit.

Niall bumped his shoulder. "Only because you made me flashcards. I wouldn't have had any idea how to study without your help."

Zayn's eyes softened when he looked at Harry, giving the younger alpha a proud smile. "Did you really do that, H? I didn't even know."