emotionalsupporthufflefluff

[emotionalsupporthufflefluff]

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fancy strategies that may just work

Ominis Gaunt x GN!Hufflepuff!Reader (MC = Eliza Fig, Gryffindor) part ten of the fancy series - [Table of Contents]

Summary: Your friends rush around to complete their assigned tasks as you sit aside, antsy but unable to help. Or… can you? 

A/N: HELLO. I’ve been gone for so long. You probably thought this part was never coming didn’t you? A year of writer’s block is hell on the confidence, surely. Though, a special thank you to @sarahskywalker-amidala who not only commented, but motivated me to actually write out this chapter. Hope it reads as a nice continuation of the story, I really tried to match the tone of the rest of it. Let me know what you think! 

As it turns out, you have a front-row seat to watch as your plans unfold. It seems Eliza, now ever-so-angry at you, has decided to keep you in her line of sight at all times. Maybe not close by, but you always feel the itch on the back of your neck just to turn and see her there. Standing, sitting- always staring, glaring into your soul. You wouldn’t believe such a thing to be possible, but how could you be so sure with all the dark magic she dabbles in?

So yes, she always has you in her sight. Which makes it rather easy to keep her in your own- without raising suspicion, even. You were currently sitting at the Hufflepuff tables in the Great Hall- surprising many, considering you hadn’t eaten at this table since the beginning of the school year before you had officially met Ominis. You sat next to Poppy, trying your best to avoid looking antsy or excited as you watched Ominis sit at the red, Gryffindor table.

“You’re wiggling in your seat you know,” Poppy whispers over before taking a delicate bite with her fork. You’d just been poking your shepherd’s pie around in circles, turning it into a grey mush, and decided to just sit on your hands instead.

“I know,” You emphasize, glancing up to see Ominis try to take Eliza’s hand, only for her to snatch it away with a look you could only describe as a mix of confusion and infuriation. “But it’s only my entire life at stake here, you know.” You probably weren’t as quiet in your whisper as you should’ve been, but from the looks you garnered, you think most students assume you’re just exaggerating. If only.

Poppy reaches over to place a hand on your elbow, a gentle smile on her face. “Everything will work out, Y/N. You’ll see.” You stare into her sincere eyes, trying to read her face for any crack, but there’s none. It’s almost as if she fully believes her words.

“You’re so confident?”

“Of course, see,” Poppy nods her head in a direction, and you turn to look. Eliza was storming out of the Great Hall in a hurry, robes fluttering in her furious walk. “It’s working already.”

Ominis takes a deep breath as he crosses the threshold for the Great Hall, feeling the pulse of his magic waver out and around. In his mind, he finds a constructed image of what is around him, while recognizing people by registering the magical cores of those nearby, each different and unique. It wasn’t a physical appearance he could see, but instead the shape of their magic, shimmering like a bright light, twisting and flashing. He’s long since learned to tune out the hundreds of lights surrounding him- even being able to pick out familiar cores from a crowd.

He strode forward, keeping his pace even and his face blank. He’s had practice with this, of course, strolling the halls of Slytherin Manor with his head held high as if he deserved to be there. As if the cold wash of dark magic that clung to him with every step didn’t bother him. The tang of dark magic is hard to distinguish for most, but Ominis has an especially susceptive palate. Which made finding Eliza in the crowd of Gryffindors all the more easy. Once you touch dark magic, you’re forever tainted by it.

Ominis strode to the opposite house’s table, having never been here before but unwilling to show his awkwardness. Unfortunately, as it seems, two people were sitting on either side of Eliza already. ‘Oh well,’ Ominis thought to himself as he stopped behind his target, ‘I begin my plan before even seating myself.’ Ominis leaned down, tapping the shoulder of whoever was sitting to Eliza’s right. He didn’t recognize the core, but he never bothered to memorize those that weren’t pertinent.

“If I may be so bold, could I ask for you to make space so I may sit with my fiance?”

He felt the person he tapped begin to move at his request before freezing after registering the end of his sentence. Their head turned toward Eliza, whose head swung quickly to look directly toward Ominis. He was unsure what emotion she felt, but he could feel her core begin to rile up faster and more manic- taking this to mean she likely did not like what Ominis had just admitted to her house’s table. The student lowered their head almost in submission, resuming their movement until a space just big enough for Ominis was revealed. He doesn’t need to read everyone’s cores nearby to know they’re interested in what’s about to happen- as silence falls along this side of the table.

Elegantly, Ominis takes a seat right beside Eliza and reaches forward to feel for a bread roll. It takes a few tries, which feels awkward in the silence surrounding their section, but he manages to snag one and lower it to his lap under the table.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Eliza hisses into his ear, eerily reminiscent of a snake. ‘Perhaps she really should’ve been sorted Slytherin? She’s certainly cunning enough for it.’ Ominis suddenly feels a hand on his left arm, a fist wrapping around his whole wrist before squeezing to show her disapproval.

“I’m getting to know the woman I’m spending the rest of my life with,” Ominis answers easily, turning his face toward her direction. He has a bland smile on, refusing to show cracks in his mask. “Really, though. If you had wanted my hand, you could’ve asked me directly you know.” He feels a yank from his arm under the table, either another sign of her displeasure, or perhaps she was trying to pull him in closer. He doesn’t move, remaining composed for everyone watching. Her voice lowers further as if she could keep those sitting next to her from hearing.

“Stop this now. You know-” She cuts herself off, huffing out a breath.

“Know what, darling?” Ominis yanks his arm from her, deciding to forgo politeness and placing both elbows atop the table, joining his hands together in front of him while dropping the bread roll among his plates. “That we’re to be wed directly after graduation?” He leans into her space, attempting a flirty smile on his lips. “I know that’s only a month from now, but why wait? We’re to be wed anyway, what’s the harm in starting early?”

He feels the table shake under his arms as a rather loud slam echoes around their small group, Eliza having slapped a hand down onto the table.

“I am not your plaything,” Eliza growls out, and Ominis couldn’t resist huffing out a laugh from the irony. He reaches forward, draping a hand over Eliza’s newly available hand, trying to take it as a lover’s embrace.

“Oh, but of course you are, darling.” Eliza yanks her hand away immediately, her core growing larger in his senses, blotting out the students behind her. “Don’t you know? You’re marrying into a pureblood family. We’re all about tradition. I, of course, will go out and earn myself a respectable job and manage the finances of our home and property. You, my dear Eliza, will mother my children and be my accessory for the balls we’re sure to attend.” Ominis turns his head away, taking up a cloth napkin and snapping it in the air to unfold it, laying it across his lap. “Once we’re married, you’ll be bound to our bond. You’ll do everything I ask and more.”

“It doesn’t work like that!” Eliza yells out, her voice furious, the light of her core flickering with the fog of dark magic, swirling and prodding- trying to get out. “It won’t be like that!”

“How little you know of our customs, Eliza,” Ominis begins, letting his voice quiet so the students around them couldn’t hear quite as well. It would only raise their curiosity, he hoped. “I would’ve thought someone of your intelligence would’ve researched Salazar Slytherin’s marriage ceremony. Being of his descent, we follow along with his rituals exactly.”

“You-” Eliza began, fidgeting in her seat next to him, before stuttering on, “I- No, it can’t-” She was breathing heavily, and Ominis was surprised it had been so easy to rile her up. She wasn’t expecting it this time, however, but he was sure she would realize what he was doing soon enough. Eliza stands suddenly, throwing her napkin onto the table and storming away. Ominis dips his fork into what he thinks is shepherd’s pie, raising it to his mouth. ‘I guess I’m stuck here for the rest of lunch…’

Natsai was in pain. Perhaps not as much pain as her father’s death, or moving away from her home. But she’d known Eliza for so long- well, thought she knew Eliza. They never officially put a title between them, but they had frequently met up for close talks. Cuddling, whispers, even stolen kisses. It just breaks her heart to remember them now, tainted with the knowledge of Eliza’s dark magic. How could she do such a thing?

‘No, Natsai,’ She shakes her head, taking a deep breath. ‘Don’t focus on that now. You have to pretend it doesn’t matter. You have to convince her.’ Natty takes a look down at the scroll she has in hand before looking around her surroundings frantically. She had heard from multiple Gryffindors that Eliza had run into the library, and Natty was going there to meet her. Just before the doors, she ducks into an alcove, unrolling the parchment.

It was a mess of scrawls in her own hand. She tried to make it look legitimate, like she had scrawled it hastily with the intent to not forget such important details. It was useful, as both ‘evidence’ of what she had seen, but also to keep her story straight. She hoped Eliza wouldn’t see through her, with her uncanny, piercing eyes. Natty used to find her stare reassuring, like Eliza could see right through Natty to her soul. She had wanted that at one point. Now it just felt invasive.

Taking another deep breath, Natty burst from the alcove and walked with a renewed sense of urgency, trying her best to play the part. She ran down the steps into the library, calling a quiet apology to the librarian who told her to slow down. The library was rather big, but it didn’t take as long as she’d thought to find her. She was sitting in the history section of the library, a dark green tome opened to some old parchment, the ink barely visible from age. Natty didn’t bother herself with trying to read it. She pulls out a seat right next to Eliza, plopping herself down into the seat. Eliza seems intent on ignoring her- likely what she would’ve done if it was anyone but Natsai.

“Look,” Natty begins, and at the sound of her voice Eliza looks up quickly, hope clear in her eyes. She scrambles to close the tome as Natty shakily raises her parchment onto the table. “I know we’re not talking right now because of the fight, but-” Natsai takes in a shaky breath, and has to keep from jumping up once she feels Eliza’s hand lightly across her back. “But I still-” The words are choking her, forming a lump in her throat.

“Natty?” Eliza speaks her nickname hesitantly, slightly rubbing her hand up and down Natsai’s back. She has to take a moment to steel herself, but she manages to turn and lock eyes with Eliza.

“But I still love you. And I don’t want you hurt.” Eliza turns from hopeful and astonished, straight toward confused and hesitant once more.

“Hurt?” At this, Natty turns back to her slightly torn parchment, unrolling it with a shake of her head.

“I was out gathering herbs when I came across a group of poachers.” Eliza’s hand on her back turns into a fist, but Natty quickly turns to her to try to calm her. “I’m fine, I managed to hide myself away. But I did end up hearing something that they probably didn’t want me to hear.” Natty turns back to the parchment, pointing at random words jotted down in scribbles. The parchment looks confusing almost, like a piecemeal of a greater whole. “They’re planning to steal everything from you, all of your money and valuables- whatever is in your vault.” “That’s not possible, no one is able to break into Gringotts.”

“That’s what I thought too, but,” Natty shakes her head, trying to project confidence, “They were so sure about it. I don’t think they’d be breaking in. I think they have someone on the inside.”

“Who?” Natty shakes her head again, turning away to look at the parchment. It hurt to look into her eyes for too long at a time.

“They didn’t say, they were careful about that at least. They tried to not say your name, even, but how they described their target- I mean, the hero of Hogwarts is you at this point, everyone thinks so.” Natty watched Eliza preen from the compliment slightly from the corner of her eye. “But they said without any resources, you’d be weak and then they could strike. I don’t know their plans after, but I do know that if we stop that robbery, we can foil their plans from the start.”

After too long a silence, Natty finally turns her head to view Eliza. Her head was nodding absentmindedly as she stared at the paper. “You’re right, that could probably work. And I could keep an eye down there, see if I can catch whoever is planning this to begin with.” Natty takes a deep breath, hoping her psychology will work in her next step.

“Yeah! So all you need to do is just open a second vault, and move all your stuff there! Then you could set a trap in the first one!” Eliza’s brows immediately furrow at her words, and Natsai can’t help but feel a little self-satisfied.

“I don’t know if that’ll work,” Eliza answers slowly, playing into Natty’s hands.

“Really? Why not?”

“Well, if they have someone on the inside, then the second vault will still pop up if they look up my name. I’ll need to move everything somewhere that’s not tied to me.” Finally, Eliza raises her eyes to Natty, locking her there. Eliza leans forward, taking both of Natsai’s hands in her own. “Natty, you are the only one I trust completely. Would you be willing to open a vault in your name? I’ll be sure no one can link me to you during this, I wouldn’t ever want you in harm’s way.”

Natty takes a deep breath, steeling herself further. A pain twists in her gut, wanting nothing more than to lean forward into Eliza’s arms, while also knowing what pain she’s capable of- what she’s already done. Natty nods slowly and has to force herself to relax as Eliza leans forward to wrap her arms around Natty, pulling her into a hug.

“I’ve missed you so much, Natty.” Natty’s eyes remain open, staring over Eliza’s shoulder.

“Let’s draft that vault request, shall we?”

Sebastian had skipped classes today. That’ll surely come back to bite him in the ass.

Oh well.

Sebastian was currently hunkered down in a small village north of Hogsmeade, having done his best to enact his plan. Everything had to be precise- the Auror of the village had to be called away at the right time, the creature had to be ushered into the village after she left, and Eliza had to be sure to show up. It didn’t take much sleuthing though, to find out that Eliza was just as well-known and liked in this village as she was back in Hogwarts proper. Knowing this, she likely knew the Auror living here, so Sebastian decided to steal a paper from the Auror’s home to learn her handwriting. Then he forged a letter that invites Eliza down for an important discussion, the details just vague enough that even Sebastian would’ve been curious enough to take up the offer.

He’s been keeping an eye on the sky, watching for her broom for the last hour. It feels like three, but Sebastian had never excelled at patience. He’ll leave that to Poppy and Y/N, their own house’s ideals focused around that. Sebastian was plucking grass from the ground, letting it flutter away in the light breeze before repeating the gesture, blowing through his lips in boredom. He’d been so zoned out that he almost missed the dot of Eliza appearing in the distance, scrambling down quickly from his vantage point. He throws his wand outward, shooting a spark off in the distance that’s hopefully hidden from Eliza’s view.

The spark acts as two parts of his plans- he watches as Auror Ruth Singer notices the flare and immediately grabs the broom beside her, apologizing to whom she was speaking before jumping up and rushing in the direction. Nodding, Sebastian turns his attention downward, below the cliff. As predicted, the flare awoke the ogre he had managed to poke and prod into place, angering it. (That had taken the majority of his day, and had cost him his new pants, sporting a large hole in the knee.) It slams its club twice against the cliff before running up the path to the village.

Eliza lands near the Auror’s home, jumping off of her broom and setting it aside before approaching the villager that the Auror had just been speaking to. The person points off in the direction that she had flown- and ends up pointing directly at the ogre as it runs into the village with a loud roar. Sebastian hunkers down further, unwilling to be seen. As predicted, Eliza springs into action. Reds, blues, spells are flung from Eliza’s wand as she approaches calmly. Sebastian knew this would be an easy battle for her, but that wasn’t the point. He reaches down quickly, taking hold of the large contraption in his bag.

Once green begins to fly from Eliza’s wand, Sebastian feels she’s suitably distracted. He jumps on his own broom, flying down closer to get a better vantage. She’s making a show of the fight for the villagers, who have all cautiously gathered around in curiosity. Sebastian lugs up the camera from his bag, trying to hold it still and catch the perfect shot from beside a house. Just as Eliza is finishing off the Ogre, keeping it from grabbing a nearby villager, Sebastian takes the photo.

Then, promptly takes his leave. He has a letter to write to the Prophet.

‘Dear Merwilda Gaunt,

To say I was surprised when you accepted Eliza’s proposal would be the understatement of the century, though I wouldn’t dare to doubt the plans formulating inside your masterful mind. Although, Eliza Fig, really? Sure, she’s a pureblood, but a poverty-stricken, muggle-loving witch at that. However, it’s beyond my place to speak of such matters, I’m sure. At least I know that I’ll find a like-minded soul with her, so thank you for that.

Your ignoble son,

Ominis Gaunt’

“Ignoble?” Poppy questions, sitting amongst the group of you and your friends in the Undercroft, most holding their own letters they need to send out. Ominis sighs at your side, reaching a hand out to take your own. You flip your hand over, lacing your fingers with his, and take pride as you watch his shoulders visibly relax. The quill that had been dictating Ominis’ words falls to the table, now inactive as the ink dries.

“Ignoble is to be of low birth, or common origin. I’m trying to impress upon her my ‘lowly’ status in her eyes.” Sebastian scoffs at Ominis’ words, speaking up in response.

“Ok dictionary, calm down with the definitions there.”

“Well, I did ask,” Poppy acquiesces, shrugging her shoulders. Sebastian, sitting at her side, just leans over and bumps his shoulder against hers. You’re unsure of the significance, but they share a smile that seems just for them.

“I have Eliza’s written vault transfer request, as well as my own request to open the new vault in my name. I-” She chuckles, shaking her head as she taps the papers against the table, “I’m surprised she went along with it.”

“I’m not,” You whisper, trying to send a sympathetic smile toward her. She only sniffs in response, sitting straighter in her chair. Garreth finally chimes in, resting his elbows on the table while leaning against them, his shoulders hunched forward.

“So, we have the vault transfer request, to move Eliza’s money. We have the news report,” He nods toward Sebastian’s mix of a letter and a few different copies of the picture he had taken at some point- you were unsure when considering it wasn’t a free day from classes- as he’s trying to shove all of the items into an envelope. Poppy reaches over and gentles his hands, helping him fit them all without tearing. “And we have the letter to Ominis’ mother to check on both. Is there anything we’re missing?”

“The trap,” Natty speaks up, finally laying her papers on the table and leaning forward. Sebastian’s face crumples in confusion, wrinkles appearing on his forehead while his nose scrunches.

“Trap? That’s what we’re doing now.”

“No,” Natty explains, lifting her hands in the air in emphasis, “The trap in Eliza’s vault. She wants to try to catch the supposed thief, right? So that’s when we do it! She’ll no doubt use an unforgivable, and getting an Auror down into the vaults of Gringotts shouldn’t be too hard if we mention that there’s a robbery happening. They’ll catch her!”

“I thought we dropped this,” Garreth mumbled, moving to rub his face with his hands. “We are not subjecting anyone to the unforgivables, even if we aren’t casting it. Even just to get Eliza arrested. We can’t plan something like that without being guilty ourselves.”

“But-” Natty begins, but Sebastian interrupts, Poppy next to him shaking her head lightly toward Natty with an expression of pity.

“No, Natty. We can figure out a plan to deal with Eliza after we save our friend.” Sebastian nods toward Ominis, Poppy nodding along to his words now as she places her hand on Sebastian’s arm.

“Like Garreth said. If we plan for Eliza to use the Unforgivable, then we’re just as in the wrong.” You watch Natty slump, a flash of pain crossing her face before she hardens her expression. She turns, locking eyes with you. It feels significant- you’re unsure why but you have a feeling that you’ll find out soon enough.

“If there’s nothing else, let’s get to the Owlery. The sooner we send these off, the better.” Garreth stands, already taking a few steps toward the exit while also waiting for the rest of you. Poppy giggles, shaking her head as she stands to meet him.

“You just want to go to sleep sooner.”

“Well, yeah! I’ve been missing a lot of sleep, meeting up with you guys here!”

“Are you sure it’s not all the early-morning ‘secret’ potion brewing you’ve been doing?” Poppy questions, causing Garreth to scoff and retort. Your attention is drawn away, however, to Ominis and Sebastian as they flank you toward the exit.

“Do you really think this could work?” Ominis whispers under the laughter of your friends, and both you and Sebastian turn toward him immediately. The insecurity that colours his voice hurts you, and of course you’re not sure. This all seems too mad, you don’t think you’ve even fully processed the implications of what’ll happen if it doesn’t work.

“Of course, it’ll work,” Sebastian immediately pipes up, following the too-long beat when you hadn’t responded. “It’s going to work.” Ominis’ hand, still linked with yours, squeezes gently as if asking for your reply. You bite your lip, unafraid of showing your fear on your face. Sebastian raises his eyebrows toward you, nodding his head toward Ominis. With a deep breath, you’re able to respond.

“Yes,” It comes out in a hiss, so you clear your throat and try again. “Yes. This will work.” You stare into the distance- toward your friends, but through them. If it didn’t? If Eliza is allowed to marry Ominis, ruining what’s building between the two of you, then what else would she do? Certainly, she wouldn’t stop there. “It has to work.”

Her eyes bore into you from across the Great Hall, though today you’ve decided not to let her know you care. You refuse to meet her eyeline, trying your best to pay attention to Poppy’s early-morning ramble about the new creature that’s to be arriving soon, and how exactly she plans to befriend and groom it. You weren’t even sure what the creature was at this point, having lost focus on her words so many times. You just nod along to her, trying your best to engage in the conversation.

It’s almost nice, sitting back at the Hufflepuff table. Being surrounded by your own house colours felt like a barrier that Eliza couldn’t cross. Though, you knew you’d feel much better if Ominis had been sitting next to you as well. Unfortunately for both of you, Ominis was sitting right next to Eliza once again. (Known to you from Poppy’s words, mixed in amongst her rambles so that you’d know without having to turn her direction.)

The conversations in the hall begin to grow louder in excitement, and you raise your head hopefully toward the high windows. The morning delivery was starting, flocks of owls ducking in and dropping packages, letters, and newspapers amongst the entirety of the room. The hall was a flurry of motion, but you were determined. You grabbed the closest copy of the Prophet you could, looking down toward the headline amongst the chaos.

ELIZA FIG SAVES MUGGLEBORN AND MUGGLES ALIKE - ANOTHER NAME TO ABOLISH BLOOD PURITY

You try to keep your expression neutral, flippantly turning a page as if the front page wasn’t heralding exactly what you wanted to see. Pretending to read the paper, you managed to keep yourself from jumping as an enchanted note fluttered up from under the table. Someone was likely using the chaos of the room to send it to you without notice. It unfolds and lays itself against your newspaper, revealing its contents.

‘You know what we need to do. Let’s talk. - Natsai’

[emotionalsupporthufflefluff]

fancy strategies that may just work

Ominis Gaunt x GN!Hufflepuff!Reader (MC = Eliza Fig, Gryffindor) part ten of the fancy series - [Table of Contents]

Summary: Your friends rush around to complete their assigned tasks as you sit aside, antsy but unable to help. Or… can you? 

A/N: HELLO. I’ve been gone for so long. You probably thought this part was never coming didn’t you? A year of writer’s block is hell on the confidence, surely. Though, a special thank you to @sarahskywalker-amidala who not only commented, but motivated me to actually write out this chapter. Hope it reads as a nice continuation of the story, I really tried to match the tone of the rest of it. Let me know what you think! 

As it turns out, you have a front-row seat to watch as your plans unfold. It seems Eliza, now ever-so-angry at you, has decided to keep you in her line of sight at all times. Maybe not close by, but you always feel the itch on the back of your neck just to turn and see her there. Standing, sitting- always staring, glaring into your soul. You wouldn’t believe such a thing to be possible, but how could you be so sure with all the dark magic she dabbles in?

So yes, she always has you in her sight. Which makes it rather easy to keep her in your own- without raising suspicion, even. You were currently sitting at the Hufflepuff tables in the Great Hall- surprising many, considering you hadn’t eaten at this table since the beginning of the school year before you had officially met Ominis. You sat next to Poppy, trying your best to avoid looking antsy or excited as you watched Ominis sit at the red, Gryffindor table.

“You’re wiggling in your seat you know,” Poppy whispers over before taking a delicate bite with her fork. You’d just been poking your shepherd’s pie around in circles, turning it into a grey mush, and decided to just sit on your hands instead.

“I know,” You emphasize, glancing up to see Ominis try to take Eliza’s hand, only for her to snatch it away with a look you could only describe as a mix of confusion and infuriation. “But it’s only my entire life at stake here, you know.” You probably weren’t as quiet in your whisper as you should’ve been, but from the looks you garnered, you think most students assume you’re just exaggerating. If only.

Poppy reaches over to place a hand on your elbow, a gentle smile on her face. “Everything will work out, Y/N. You’ll see.” You stare into her sincere eyes, trying to read her face for any crack, but there’s none. It’s almost as if she fully believes her words.

“You’re so confident?”

“Of course, see,” Poppy nods her head in a direction, and you turn to look. Eliza was storming out of the Great Hall in a hurry, robes fluttering in her furious walk. “It’s working already.”

Ominis takes a deep breath as he crosses the threshold for the Great Hall, feeling the pulse of his magic waver out and around. In his mind, he finds a constructed image of what is around him, while recognizing people by registering the magical cores of those nearby, each different and unique. It wasn’t a physical appearance he could see, but instead the shape of their magic, shimmering like a bright light, twisting and flashing. He’s long since learned to tune out the hundreds of lights surrounding him- even being able to pick out familiar cores from a crowd.

He strode forward, keeping his pace even and his face blank. He’s had practice with this, of course, strolling the halls of Slytherin Manor with his head held high as if he deserved to be there. As if the cold wash of dark magic that clung to him with every step didn’t bother him. The tang of dark magic is hard to distinguish for most, but Ominis has an especially susceptive palate. Which made finding Eliza in the crowd of Gryffindors all the more easy. Once you touch dark magic, you’re forever tainted by it.

Ominis strode to the opposite house’s table, having never been here before but unwilling to show his awkwardness. Unfortunately, as it seems, two people were sitting on either side of Eliza already. ‘Oh well,’ Ominis thought to himself as he stopped behind his target, ‘I begin my plan before even seating myself.’ Ominis leaned down, tapping the shoulder of whoever was sitting to Eliza’s right. He didn’t recognize the core, but he never bothered to memorize those that weren’t pertinent.

“If I may be so bold, could I ask for you to make space so I may sit with my fiance?”

He felt the person he tapped begin to move at his request before freezing after registering the end of his sentence. Their head turned toward Eliza, whose head swung quickly to look directly toward Ominis. He was unsure what emotion she felt, but he could feel her core begin to rile up faster and more manic- taking this to mean she likely did not like what Ominis had just admitted to her house’s table. The student lowered their head almost in submission, resuming their movement until a space just big enough for Ominis was revealed. He doesn’t need to read everyone’s cores nearby to know they’re interested in what’s about to happen- as silence falls along this side of the table.

Elegantly, Ominis takes a seat right beside Eliza and reaches forward to feel for a bread roll. It takes a few tries, which feels awkward in the silence surrounding their section, but he manages to snag one and lower it to his lap under the table.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Eliza hisses into his ear, eerily reminiscent of a snake. ‘Perhaps she really should’ve been sorted Slytherin? She’s certainly cunning enough for it.’ Ominis suddenly feels a hand on his left arm, a fist wrapping around his whole wrist before squeezing to show her disapproval.

“I’m getting to know the woman I’m spending the rest of my life with,” Ominis answers easily, turning his face toward her direction. He has a bland smile on, refusing to show cracks in his mask. “Really, though. If you had wanted my hand, you could’ve asked me directly you know.” He feels a yank from his arm under the table, either another sign of her displeasure, or perhaps she was trying to pull him in closer. He doesn’t move, remaining composed for everyone watching. Her voice lowers further as if she could keep those sitting next to her from hearing.

“Stop this now. You know-” She cuts herself off, huffing out a breath.

“Know what, darling?” Ominis yanks his arm from her, deciding to forgo politeness and placing both elbows atop the table, joining his hands together in front of him while dropping the bread roll among his plates. “That we’re to be wed directly after graduation?” He leans into her space, attempting a flirty smile on his lips. “I know that’s only a month from now, but why wait? We’re to be wed anyway, what’s the harm in starting early?”

He feels the table shake under his arms as a rather loud slam echoes around their small group, Eliza having slapped a hand down onto the table.

“I am not your plaything,” Eliza growls out, and Ominis couldn’t resist huffing out a laugh from the irony. He reaches forward, draping a hand over Eliza’s newly available hand, trying to take it as a lover’s embrace.

“Oh, but of course you are, darling.” Eliza yanks her hand away immediately, her core growing larger in his senses, blotting out the students behind her. “Don’t you know? You’re marrying into a pureblood family. We’re all about tradition. I, of course, will go out and earn myself a respectable job and manage the finances of our home and property. You, my dear Eliza, will mother my children and be my accessory for the balls we’re sure to attend.” Ominis turns his head away, taking up a cloth napkin and snapping it in the air to unfold it, laying it across his lap. “Once we’re married, you’ll be bound to our bond. You’ll do everything I ask and more.”

“It doesn’t work like that!” Eliza yells out, her voice furious, the light of her core flickering with the fog of dark magic, swirling and prodding- trying to get out. “It won’t be like that!”

“How little you know of our customs, Eliza,” Ominis begins, letting his voice quiet so the students around them couldn’t hear quite as well. It would only raise their curiosity, he hoped. “I would’ve thought someone of your intelligence would’ve researched Salazar Slytherin’s marriage ceremony. Being of his descent, we follow along with his rituals exactly.”

“You-” Eliza began, fidgeting in her seat next to him, before stuttering on, “I- No, it can’t-” She was breathing heavily, and Ominis was surprised it had been so easy to rile her up. She wasn’t expecting it this time, however, but he was sure she would realize what he was doing soon enough. Eliza stands suddenly, throwing her napkin onto the table and storming away. Ominis dips his fork into what he thinks is shepherd’s pie, raising it to his mouth. ‘I guess I’m stuck here for the rest of lunch…’

Natsai was in pain. Perhaps not as much pain as her father’s death, or moving away from her home. But she’d known Eliza for so long- well, thought she knew Eliza. They never officially put a title between them, but they had frequently met up for close talks. Cuddling, whispers, even stolen kisses. It just breaks her heart to remember them now, tainted with the knowledge of Eliza’s dark magic. How could she do such a thing?

‘No, Natsai,’ She shakes her head, taking a deep breath. ‘Don’t focus on that now. You have to pretend it doesn’t matter. You have to convince her.’ Natty takes a look down at the scroll she has in hand before looking around her surroundings frantically. She had heard from multiple Gryffindors that Eliza had run into the library, and Natty was going there to meet her. Just before the doors, she ducks into an alcove, unrolling the parchment.

It was a mess of scrawls in her own hand. She tried to make it look legitimate, like she had scrawled it hastily with the intent to not forget such important details. It was useful, as both ‘evidence’ of what she had seen, but also to keep her story straight. She hoped Eliza wouldn’t see through her, with her uncanny, piercing eyes. Natty used to find her stare reassuring, like Eliza could see right through Natty to her soul. She had wanted that at one point. Now it just felt invasive.

Taking another deep breath, Natty burst from the alcove and walked with a renewed sense of urgency, trying her best to play the part. She ran down the steps into the library, calling a quiet apology to the librarian who told her to slow down. The library was rather big, but it didn’t take as long as she’d thought to find her. She was sitting in the history section of the library, a dark green tome opened to some old parchment, the ink barely visible from age. Natty didn’t bother herself with trying to read it. She pulls out a seat right next to Eliza, plopping herself down into the seat. Eliza seems intent on ignoring her- likely what she would’ve done if it was anyone but Natsai.

“Look,” Natty begins, and at the sound of her voice Eliza looks up quickly, hope clear in her eyes. She scrambles to close the tome as Natty shakily raises her parchment onto the table. “I know we’re not talking right now because of the fight, but-” Natsai takes in a shaky breath, and has to keep from jumping up once she feels Eliza’s hand lightly across her back. “But I still-” The words are choking her, forming a lump in her throat.

“Natty?” Eliza speaks her nickname hesitantly, slightly rubbing her hand up and down Natsai’s back. She has to take a moment to steel herself, but she manages to turn and lock eyes with Eliza.

“But I still love you. And I don’t want you hurt.” Eliza turns from hopeful and astonished, straight toward confused and hesitant once more.

“Hurt?” At this, Natty turns back to her slightly torn parchment, unrolling it with a shake of her head.

“I was out gathering herbs when I came across a group of poachers.” Eliza’s hand on her back turns into a fist, but Natty quickly turns to her to try to calm her. “I’m fine, I managed to hide myself away. But I did end up hearing something that they probably didn’t want me to hear.” Natty turns back to the parchment, pointing at random words jotted down in scribbles. The parchment looks confusing almost, like a piecemeal of a greater whole. “They’re planning to steal everything from you, all of your money and valuables- whatever is in your vault.” “That’s not possible, no one is able to break into Gringotts.”

“That’s what I thought too, but,” Natty shakes her head, trying to project confidence, “They were so sure about it. I don’t think they’d be breaking in. I think they have someone on the inside.”

“Who?” Natty shakes her head again, turning away to look at the parchment. It hurt to look into her eyes for too long at a time.

“They didn’t say, they were careful about that at least. They tried to not say your name, even, but how they described their target- I mean, the hero of Hogwarts is you at this point, everyone thinks so.” Natty watched Eliza preen from the compliment slightly from the corner of her eye. “But they said without any resources, you’d be weak and then they could strike. I don’t know their plans after, but I do know that if we stop that robbery, we can foil their plans from the start.”

After too long a silence, Natty finally turns her head to view Eliza. Her head was nodding absentmindedly as she stared at the paper. “You’re right, that could probably work. And I could keep an eye down there, see if I can catch whoever is planning this to begin with.” Natty takes a deep breath, hoping her psychology will work in her next step.

“Yeah! So all you need to do is just open a second vault, and move all your stuff there! Then you could set a trap in the first one!” Eliza’s brows immediately furrow at her words, and Natsai can’t help but feel a little self-satisfied.

“I don’t know if that’ll work,” Eliza answers slowly, playing into Natty’s hands.

“Really? Why not?”

“Well, if they have someone on the inside, then the second vault will still pop up if they look up my name. I’ll need to move everything somewhere that’s not tied to me.” Finally, Eliza raises her eyes to Natty, locking her there. Eliza leans forward, taking both of Natsai’s hands in her own. “Natty, you are the only one I trust completely. Would you be willing to open a vault in your name? I’ll be sure no one can link me to you during this, I wouldn’t ever want you in harm’s way.”

Natty takes a deep breath, steeling herself further. A pain twists in her gut, wanting nothing more than to lean forward into Eliza’s arms, while also knowing what pain she’s capable of- what she’s already done. Natty nods slowly and has to force herself to relax as Eliza leans forward to wrap her arms around Natty, pulling her into a hug.

“I’ve missed you so much, Natty.” Natty’s eyes remain open, staring over Eliza’s shoulder.

“Let’s draft that vault request, shall we?”

Sebastian had skipped classes today. That’ll surely come back to bite him in the ass.

Oh well.

Sebastian was currently hunkered down in a small village north of Hogsmeade, having done his best to enact his plan. Everything had to be precise- the Auror of the village had to be called away at the right time, the creature had to be ushered into the village after she left, and Eliza had to be sure to show up. It didn’t take much sleuthing though, to find out that Eliza was just as well-known and liked in this village as she was back in Hogwarts proper. Knowing this, she likely knew the Auror living here, so Sebastian decided to steal a paper from the Auror’s home to learn her handwriting. Then he forged a letter that invites Eliza down for an important discussion, the details just vague enough that even Sebastian would’ve been curious enough to take up the offer.

He’s been keeping an eye on the sky, watching for her broom for the last hour. It feels like three, but Sebastian had never excelled at patience. He’ll leave that to Poppy and Y/N, their own house’s ideals focused around that. Sebastian was plucking grass from the ground, letting it flutter away in the light breeze before repeating the gesture, blowing through his lips in boredom. He’d been so zoned out that he almost missed the dot of Eliza appearing in the distance, scrambling down quickly from his vantage point. He throws his wand outward, shooting a spark off in the distance that’s hopefully hidden from Eliza’s view.

The spark acts as two parts of his plans- he watches as Auror Ruth Singer notices the flare and immediately grabs the broom beside her, apologizing to whom she was speaking before jumping up and rushing in the direction. Nodding, Sebastian turns his attention downward, below the cliff. As predicted, the flare awoke the ogre he had managed to poke and prod into place, angering it. (That had taken the majority of his day, and had cost him his new pants, sporting a large hole in the knee.) It slams its club twice against the cliff before running up the path to the village.

Eliza lands near the Auror’s home, jumping off of her broom and setting it aside before approaching the villager that the Auror had just been speaking to. The person points off in the direction that she had flown- and ends up pointing directly at the ogre as it runs into the village with a loud roar. Sebastian hunkers down further, unwilling to be seen. As predicted, Eliza springs into action. Reds, blues, spells are flung from Eliza’s wand as she approaches calmly. Sebastian knew this would be an easy battle for her, but that wasn’t the point. He reaches down quickly, taking hold of the large contraption in his bag.

Once green begins to fly from Eliza’s wand, Sebastian feels she’s suitably distracted. He jumps on his own broom, flying down closer to get a better vantage. She’s making a show of the fight for the villagers, who have all cautiously gathered around in curiosity. Sebastian lugs up the camera from his bag, trying to hold it still and catch the perfect shot from beside a house. Just as Eliza is finishing off the Ogre, keeping it from grabbing a nearby villager, Sebastian takes the photo.

Then, promptly takes his leave. He has a letter to write to the Prophet.

‘Dear Merwilda Gaunt,

To say I was surprised when you accepted Eliza’s proposal would be the understatement of the century, though I wouldn’t dare to doubt the plans formulating inside your masterful mind. Although, Eliza Fig, really? Sure, she’s a pureblood, but a poverty-stricken, muggle-loving witch at that. However, it’s beyond my place to speak of such matters, I’m sure. At least I know that I’ll find a like-minded soul with her, so thank you for that.

Your ignoble son,

Ominis Gaunt’

“Ignoble?” Poppy questions, sitting amongst the group of you and your friends in the Undercroft, most holding their own letters they need to send out. Ominis sighs at your side, reaching a hand out to take your own. You flip your hand over, lacing your fingers with his, and take pride as you watch his shoulders visibly relax. The quill that had been dictating Ominis’ words falls to the table, now inactive as the ink dries.

“Ignoble is to be of low birth, or common origin. I’m trying to impress upon her my ‘lowly’ status in her eyes.” Sebastian scoffs at Ominis’ words, speaking up in response.

“Ok dictionary, calm down with the definitions there.”

“Well, I did ask,” Poppy acquiesces, shrugging her shoulders. Sebastian, sitting at her side, just leans over and bumps his shoulder against hers. You’re unsure of the significance, but they share a smile that seems just for them.

“I have Eliza’s written vault transfer request, as well as my own request to open the new vault in my name. I-” She chuckles, shaking her head as she taps the papers against the table, “I’m surprised she went along with it.”

“I’m not,” You whisper, trying to send a sympathetic smile toward her. She only sniffs in response, sitting straighter in her chair. Garreth finally chimes in, resting his elbows on the table while leaning against them, his shoulders hunched forward.

“So, we have the vault transfer request, to move Eliza’s money. We have the news report,” He nods toward Sebastian’s mix of a letter and a few different copies of the picture he had taken at some point- you were unsure when considering it wasn’t a free day from classes- as he’s trying to shove all of the items into an envelope. Poppy reaches over and gentles his hands, helping him fit them all without tearing. “And we have the letter to Ominis’ mother to check on both. Is there anything we’re missing?”

“The trap,” Natty speaks up, finally laying her papers on the table and leaning forward. Sebastian’s face crumples in confusion, wrinkles appearing on his forehead while his nose scrunches.

“Trap? That’s what we’re doing now.”

“No,” Natty explains, lifting her hands in the air in emphasis, “The trap in Eliza’s vault. She wants to try to catch the supposed thief, right? So that’s when we do it! She’ll no doubt use an unforgivable, and getting an Auror down into the vaults of Gringotts shouldn’t be too hard if we mention that there’s a robbery happening. They’ll catch her!”

“I thought we dropped this,” Garreth mumbled, moving to rub his face with his hands. “We are not subjecting anyone to the unforgivables, even if we aren’t casting it. Even just to get Eliza arrested. We can’t plan something like that without being guilty ourselves.”

“But-” Natty begins, but Sebastian interrupts, Poppy next to him shaking her head lightly toward Natty with an expression of pity.

“No, Natty. We can figure out a plan to deal with Eliza after we save our friend.” Sebastian nods toward Ominis, Poppy nodding along to his words now as she places her hand on Sebastian’s arm.

“Like Garreth said. If we plan for Eliza to use the Unforgivable, then we’re just as in the wrong.” You watch Natty slump, a flash of pain crossing her face before she hardens her expression. She turns, locking eyes with you. It feels significant- you’re unsure why but you have a feeling that you’ll find out soon enough.

“If there’s nothing else, let’s get to the Owlery. The sooner we send these off, the better.” Garreth stands, already taking a few steps toward the exit while also waiting for the rest of you. Poppy giggles, shaking her head as she stands to meet him.

“You just want to go to sleep sooner.”

“Well, yeah! I’ve been missing a lot of sleep, meeting up with you guys here!”

“Are you sure it’s not all the early-morning ‘secret’ potion brewing you’ve been doing?” Poppy questions, causing Garreth to scoff and retort. Your attention is drawn away, however, to Ominis and Sebastian as they flank you toward the exit.

“Do you really think this could work?” Ominis whispers under the laughter of your friends, and both you and Sebastian turn toward him immediately. The insecurity that colours his voice hurts you, and of course you’re not sure. This all seems too mad, you don’t think you’ve even fully processed the implications of what’ll happen if it doesn’t work.

“Of course, it’ll work,” Sebastian immediately pipes up, following the too-long beat when you hadn’t responded. “It’s going to work.” Ominis’ hand, still linked with yours, squeezes gently as if asking for your reply. You bite your lip, unafraid of showing your fear on your face. Sebastian raises his eyebrows toward you, nodding his head toward Ominis. With a deep breath, you’re able to respond.

“Yes,” It comes out in a hiss, so you clear your throat and try again. “Yes. This will work.” You stare into the distance- toward your friends, but through them. If it didn’t? If Eliza is allowed to marry Ominis, ruining what’s building between the two of you, then what else would she do? Certainly, she wouldn’t stop there. “It has to work.”

Her eyes bore into you from across the Great Hall, though today you’ve decided not to let her know you care. You refuse to meet her eyeline, trying your best to pay attention to Poppy’s early-morning ramble about the new creature that’s to be arriving soon, and how exactly she plans to befriend and groom it. You weren’t even sure what the creature was at this point, having lost focus on her words so many times. You just nod along to her, trying your best to engage in the conversation.

It’s almost nice, sitting back at the Hufflepuff table. Being surrounded by your own house colours felt like a barrier that Eliza couldn’t cross. Though, you knew you’d feel much better if Ominis had been sitting next to you as well. Unfortunately for both of you, Ominis was sitting right next to Eliza once again. (Known to you from Poppy’s words, mixed in amongst her rambles so that you’d know without having to turn her direction.)

The conversations in the hall begin to grow louder in excitement, and you raise your head hopefully toward the high windows. The morning delivery was starting, flocks of owls ducking in and dropping packages, letters, and newspapers amongst the entirety of the room. The hall was a flurry of motion, but you were determined. You grabbed the closest copy of the Prophet you could, looking down toward the headline amongst the chaos.

ELIZA FIG SAVES MUGGLEBORN AND MUGGLES ALIKE - ANOTHER NAME TO ABOLISH BLOOD PURITY

You try to keep your expression neutral, flippantly turning a page as if the front page wasn’t heralding exactly what you wanted to see. Pretending to read the paper, you managed to keep yourself from jumping as an enchanted note fluttered up from under the table. Someone was likely using the chaos of the room to send it to you without notice. It unfolds and lays itself against your newspaper, revealing its contents.

‘You know what we need to do. Let’s talk. - Natsai’

[emotionalsupporthufflefluff]

I haven't drawn fan art in ages, but I played a lot of Hogwarts Legacy during the vacations. I really liked the character of Ominis. Now fanfiction he's my guilty pleasure.

[emotionalsupporthufflefluff]

Unfortunately I’m rather busy for the time being. I hope I have more time to draw again soon and get back to my unfinished video. :<

Managed to edit this pic at least. <3

[emotionalsupporthufflefluff]

Tag List Reblog!

@ominismylove @cerulione @littletealight @sugarcandyblue @seppys-return-to-madness @chonkercatto @amarisout @honeylemon21 @goddesofimortality @ceddar-cheez @crystalferret202 @zoleea-exultant @what-is-happening-helpp @blind-but-not-deaf @theegotisticalwriter @sarahskywalker-amadala @amelliss

fancy letters that herald atrocities

Ominis Gaunt x GN!Hufflepuff!Reader (MC = Eliza Fig, Gryffindor) part nine of the fancy series - [ToC]

Summary: Ominis has received a letter from none other than his mother, speaking of horrifying news. However, this is just another obstacle to overcome. Surely there’s something you can do?

After that particular revelation (in case you missed it, Ominis is now engaged), Sebastian had set about corralling you and Ominis both down toward the Undercroft. You didn’t even really remember half the journey until Ominis had stopped the lot of you to grab your arms, half shaking you and begging you to answer him. When you hummed in response, you heard a quick, “This isn’t the place for this conversation, Ominis,” from Sebastian before he continued to push the both of you toward the hidden room.

You didn’t pay any mind to the fact that you had classes coming up soon, this new information rocking you to your core. What were you supposed to do with this information? What had he meant by defective?

“Alright Ominis, I think it’s time we read that letter.” You blinked and looked around, realizing you were already in the Undercroft. Ominis, who apparently had not stopped clutching that damned letter, practically threw the piece of paper at Sebastian before approaching you. He placed his hands on your arms once more, ducking his head as if he could look into your eyes.

“Y/N, say something, please.”

“I’m here, Ominis,” You mumble, watching his shoulders relax before he wraps you into his arms, pulling you close. As you rest your head against his chest you begin to wonder how many more times you’re allowed to do this. Were you even allowed to right now? “So does this mean-”

“This means nothing, Y/N.” The conviction in Ominis’ voice would usually be comforting. Even now, you found it hard not to be comforted and he pulls you closer, rubbing his cheek against your head, “ Nothing for us, anyway.”

“But, Ominis,” You sigh, pulling back. He lets you, hesitantly, as if he doesn’t want to let go. “This means everything.”

“Y/N, I-”

“I don’t know how far you were thinking, Ominis,” You mumble, lowering your voice as you stare at the green stripes on his tie, “And granted, I wasn’t specifically thinking of marriage either. But- well, it would’ve been nice. Eventually. But we can’t even be together if-”

“Don’t say that, Y/N.” The pain in his voice, in his face, as you looked up, caused a surge of the same to spear through your heart.

“What else am I supposed to say, Ominis?” Your eyes tear up as you stare up at the man you loved- and yes, love, how inconvenient a time to realize that. You reach to take his hands into yours, pulling them up to your chest. “What can we do, Ominis?”

“Anything,” Ominis begs, pulling your conjoined hands up and pressing kisses to your own. “Anything, please. As long as you’re by my side, then I know I can fight this. We can fight this.” You sniff, watching the pain on his face as if looking in a mirror.

“I’ll always be by your side Ominis.” You watch his face crumple with relief, pulling your hands up once more to lay his lips across your hands. He left them there, closing his eyes and looking as if he were in prayer.

“Ominis,” Sebastian calls from a few feet away, sitting on a dusty wooden chair and hunched over the piece of parchment. “How far into this letter did you go?”

“Not very,” He calls out toward him, emotions clear in his voice. He clears his throat, opening his eyes to look in your general direction. “Just enough to get the gist of the letter.”

“I don’t think you’ll like the rest of it either,” Sebastian mumbles, raising a hand to chew at his thumbnail. You bounce back and forth on your feet, biting your lip as you watch your friend read the paper you desperately wished you could read.

“Read it aloud, Sebastian,” Ominis calls out suddenly, and you raised surprised eyes up to Ominis. Sebastian must’ve been feeling the same, as the hesitancy was evident in his voice.

“Are you sure about that, Ominis?”

“Y/N wants to hear it,” Ominis mumbles back, pulling you close and wrapping his arms around you once more. “Let them hear it.” Sebastian pulls a face but clears his throat anyway.

‘Dear my inutile son, For however many discussions we’ve had on this topic, it seems a miracle has happened. I know we’ve all made agreements, arrangements that must now be broken. When we accepted your pleas of avoidance, to leave your comforting family behind, we were so sure you would bring nothing but misery to this home. So we had agreed, as you know, with our own terms that you had readily subjected yourself to. Really, what Gaunt would willingly lower themself to such a standard of living? Muggles, really? In any case, our family has been saved with an offer from the grace of Merlin, surely. A letter was sent to our home, inside written with intentions and feelings and all those little things that the kids your age tend to think mean a lot more than they do. Inside was something that your father and I searched for, at length, for an absurd amount of time for the solution to just be dropped into our lap. It seems that such a lovely, pureblooded woman not only wants your hand in marriage but practically begged for it. She said she was willing to give up anything, and her vaults in addition to ours- along with her famous name- would gleam brilliantly alongside our name. Salazar knows why she wants you, but she asked for your name specifically. I’ve already sent out our agreeance, and the wedding is set to happen right after Graduation. Your father is busy booking the wedding venue and rooms for those attending, and I’m busy planning out the perfect setting for our almost-nonexistent ceremony. Everything will be ready and perfect for when the both of you portkey in afterwards. It’ll be a week-long event, much to celebrate now that we know you’re not completely worthless to us. You should thank her for the help, as you’re finally being accepted into our family. You’re officially a man of the Gaunts, so be sure to act like it. No more fraternizing with mudbloods, no more playing house with muggles and their ilk, and absolutely no more making a blind fool of yourself. Your father and I bought as many ways as possible to help with your ailment, go ahead and act like it for once. Your portkey will be shipped out on the last week of term and is set to activate an hour after graduation. Be sure you and Eliza are ready and packed, the celebration begins the night you’ve arrived back home. Sincerely and satisfied, Merwilda Gaunt’

You let out a shuddering breath, attempting to keep the chills within, as you weren’t sure what shaking in Ominis’ arms to his own mother’s words would make the man think. Silence enveloped all of you, and you took another deep breath, mind flashing back to that time with Natty.

“If you want to take the one thing I love away, then I’ll do the same to you. You’ll regret ever crossing me.”

“It’s my fault,” You whisper, and immediately feel Ominis pull back from you. He places his hands on your arms once more, attempting to turn you to face him. His face is set, serious, and hardened from years of having to deal with his family. With the Gaunts.

“Don’t you dare say that.”

“It is, though,” You continue on, turning your pained gaze over to Sebastian. He only looked on toward you, waiting for an explanation, but you could see understanding in his eyes. He knew what you meant. “Eliza found me with Natty after we met up that last time. I was walking her to class- I guess that was the first time they saw each other since she took me to see the unicorn.”

“Since she kidnapped you, you mean?” You let out a sigh, turning to look into Ominis’ eyes. He seemed desperate, and you weren’t sure why. Desperate for you? Desperate to be out of this situation?

“Sure, that.” You take a deep breath, scanning his face as if you could read through the stone wall he’s now presented. “But she found us. And when Natty didn’t forgive her- well, then she…” You trailed off, biting your lip as you watched Ominis furrow his brow and huff in agitation.

“Did she do something to you?”

“She did something to you Ominis, not me.” Your voice was so quiet when you spoke, you were unsure if either of them heard you. But this was a quiet room, and they were used to the silence. You cleared your throat and tried to push through, “She threatened to take what I loved most away because she believes I took Natty away from her.”

“No,” Ominis insists, squeezing his hands against you, “This wasn’t you. This was my damned mother- she’s always tried her best to make my life miserable.”

“And Eliza has dropped an opportunity right into her lap,” Sebastian inserts, pushing with a creak to stand, moving his way over as he held the offending letter off to the side. “Blaming ourselves will get nowhere, but I’m glad at least Ominis is taking my advice to heart. He’s blaming his mother, as he should, instead of himself.” Ominis grumbles lightly under his breath, lowering his head as if embarrassed. “But you should listen too.” Sebastian faces you, a serious expression you hardly ever see cross his face anymore pulling you back to reality. “This isn’t your fault. This entire fucked-up situation is all due to Eliza and Merwilda.”

“So what are we going to do about it?” Ominis practically growled out his sentence, turning a foul look over toward Sebastian. Just as quickly the expression fell away, revealing only pain. He apologizes quietly to Sebastian for the tone before his friend continues.

“We’re going to do everything in our power to make Eliza think that spending her life with you, just purely out of spite, is not worth it.” He pokes Ominis as he speaks, then turns to lock eyes with you. “And we’re going to also do everything in our power to make a lifetime tied with Eliza Fig as unappealing to Merwilda as possible, as well.”

“How will we manage that?” You could feel the hope growing in your chest, even though the doubt still kept a firm hold. “We already tried going over ways to expose Eliza-”

“Exposing Eliza would be a lot harder than making Merwilda not want anything to do with her.” Sebastian shrugs, lifting the paper with a flick and letting his eyes scan along the page. “There’s a lot of things that woman hates.”

“The problem is that she hates everything that Eliza isn’t,” Ominis complains, linking hands with you once more and pulling you close by them. He lets his eyes fall closed, running his thumb against your hand. “She’s a pureblood, she has some awful sort of powerful magic that no one has seen before, and she’s already shown her apparent interest in the Unforgivables. Merwilda would love her.” You tighten your grapes on his hands, hating the reminder of what his family had done to him.

“Likewise, how are we to get Eliza to find Ominis unbearable?” You look up into his handsome face, unable to hold back a soft smile. “I mean, he’s wonderful? He’s an absolute gentleman, he’s incredibly handsome, and he’s one of the most intelligent and powerful men that I know.” You hear a soft ‘hey’ come from Sebastian’s direction, though it feels more just to fuck around than for any sort of hurt caused. You huff a short laugh, shaking your head, “And besides, if she’s hellbent on taking you away from me, she may not even notice all of those fantastic elements. She might not even care how you are, as long as being with you hurts me.”

“Ominis can be a right pain when he wants to be,” Sebastian inserts with ease, his voice bored as his eyes continue to scan the parchment. He had been slowly making his way to his previous chair, finally taking a seat in it with another creak. “I’m not too worried about that aspect.”

“So we find out which friends of Eliza’s are muggleborn. If she’s seen talking with them, with muggles even, then that would get back to Merwilda. Salazar knows she’s having that witch watched as she has with me my whole life.” You push forward and trap your conjoined hands between your bodies, laying your head against Ominis’ chest. He takes a deep breath before continuing, “And as far as I know, Eliza hasn’t told anyone else about her ancient power. As long as that stays secret, Merwilda won’t have an additional reason to marry her into the family.”

“Surely there’s more we can do,” Sebastian mumbles, looking up and tapping the parchment to his chin. “Merwilda certainly hates a lot of things.” Ominis hums and you feel the vibration run through your head down to your own chest.

“Maybe we could start a rumour that she’s a werewolf?”

“Unique, I’ll give you that,” Sebastian compliments, pointing that foul paper toward him before resuming his tapping, “But no one would believe that. And it’s easier to prove she isn’t than to falsify evidence that she is.”

“She could be found helping a house elf?”

“What house elf? The only ones we have access to are the ones at Hogwarts, which don’t need help, or the ones in your own manor. And there’s no way she’d free one of them willfully under Merwilda’s gaze.”

“So what else would shy her away?” You lift your head from Ominis, your gaze landing on the parchment in Sebastian’s hands. “She mentioned that Eliza being rich was a plus. Would her losing her money help with our cause?”

“She’s incredibly vain, she wouldn’t sell me away for nothing.” Ominis nodded, his face locked in concentration.

“So, are we stealing all of her money?” You laugh at Sebastian’s question, then hesitate as he turns a serious gaze to you. “I’m not joking, I’m completely here for stealing all of her money.”

“We know you are, Sebastian,” Ominis sighs out, running a hand through his hair. This action pulls at the normally combed-back style, slightly messing up the hair on his head. You couldn’t help but feel enamoured by the messy style. “However, exactly how do you suppose we are to break into a Gringotts vault?”

“Well, maybe we don’t need to actually steal it?” You suggest with hesitation, both men turned their attention to you. “We can just make it look as though she did?”

“Better suggestion, but how-”

“We could say that someone has a plan on her vault,” Sebastian begins, wringing his hands together in thought. “She could go to the goblins and request her fortune be moved somewheres else. Then the next time anyone checks- Merwilda has contacts I’m sure- then her vault would be empty.”

“If it’s in her name-” Ominis begins before Sebastian interrupts him once more, standing with a flourish.

“Then it shan’t be in her name!” Sebastian grins, walking closer. “Obviously we wouldn’t be the ones to tell her. We need someone she trusts explicitly, someone who would be able to convince her to put her fortune in their name so the ‘thief’ can’t find it. Lay a trap in her vault or something, I don’t know.”

“The only person I know that she trusts completely is Natty,” You add on unhelpfully, shrugging, “And I really doubt she’d be willing to talk to Eliza.”

“If it’s to take Eliza down, she would,” Ominis mumbles, crossing his arms. “She was pretty adamant about that last time we spoke.”

“So we have our plan then!” Sebastian calls out with a grin, and you huff a breath, tilting your head.

“We do?”

“Yes! I have a spectacular plan involving the muggles and whatnot- don’t ask, you don’t want to know.” You hesitate, furrowing your brow at this, but nod along anyway. “So I have the muggle thing taken care of, Ominis will do everything in his power to annoy Eliza to no end, and you,” He points to you with a grin, “Will be the one to convince Natty- or whoever else she trusts enough if Natty says no- to follow along with our plan! This could work!”

“How is Ominis-”

“I have all the faith in you Ominis!” Sebastian calls out behind himself as he walks away, beginning a jog toward the exit. “All of it! You can do this!” With that he disappears through the door, leaving you and Ominis alone. You turn to him, tilting your head in thought.

“Don’t worry about what I’ll have to say to Eliza, Y/N,” Ominis begins, withdrawing his wand and flicking it gently to light the end with his usual red pulse. “I have some ideas, just-” He hesitates, raising a hand to rub the back of his head, “If you happen to be around anytime I’m performing for Eliza, please don’t take anything I say to heart. I’ll be saying anything necessary to chase her away, even if I don’t actually believe what I say.”

“It’s okay, Ominis, I get it.” You gently run your hand down his arm, ending at the hand holding his wand. You could see the pulsing red flicker just slightly before resuming its regular pulse. “I won’t hold anything you say to Eliza against you. She shouldn’t have tried to involve you in the first place.” Ominis slides his wand into his pocket, reaching forward to take your hand.

“Don’t you say this is your fault again, Y/N.”

“If it weren’t for me-”

“Eliza is fully to blame for this. For all of this.” Ominis pulls you closer, sliding his free hand from your shoulder up to your cheek. “I’m glad I’m finally involved, so I can help you officially. My only concern is the way I’m involved brings you pain, and I wish none of that for you.”

“You could never bring me pain, Ominis,” You try to reassure him, but he only shakes his head, tightening his hold on your hand. You raise your own free hand up to place against his on your cheek, and you lean into it slightly.

“Of course I could, don’t be ridiculous. I never want to, of course, but everyone is capable of dealing pain.”

“Ominis-”

“I’ve cast Crucio before.” Ominis’ statement has you pausing, raising your eyes up to meet his own milky gaze. You tried to decide whether you believed him, though his grim tone and expression only further proved his point. Plus, he wouldn’t joke about something like this.

“On purpose?”

“It has to be cast on purpose, Y/N.” He sighs, sounding defeated, and tries to pull his hands away. You only tighten your own in response, not letting him escape.

“Why?”

“What do you mean why?”

“Was there a reason?”

“Y/N-”

“Tell me the reason you did it, Ominis.” You take his hand off of your cheek, though refuse to let go still. You’re once again holding each other’s hands, though you were the one rubbing your thumb on his hand now. “I don’t believe you did it purely for the fun of it.” He sighs again, and you only wished you could take that world-weary expression from him. He seemed to wear it constantly now.

“My family forced me.”

“Exactly! So-”

“I still cast it, Y/N.”

“Under threat from your family.” You pull on his hands, trying to tug him into minding you. “You are not to blame.”

“I am absolutely to blame for that, Y/N!”

“What would they have done if you didn’t?” He tries to repeat your name, shaking his head, but you only repeat your sentence harsher. He eventually sighs, answering quietly.

“They would’ve performed it on me.”

“Exactly. You were saving yourself, Ominis. There was nothing you could’ve done about it, no answer is the right one in that situation.” You watch a tear slowly manifest on the corner of his eye, falling slowly down his cheek.

“I don’t deserve you, Y/N.”

“Sure you do,” You whisper, pulling him closer to you. You raise his hands to your lips, pressing a kiss to each knuckle. “If you didn’t deserve my love then I don’t think anybody would. And that would be a pretty lonely existence.” Ominis is quiet for a long moment, and you raise your eyes to see his blue eyes. They really were beautiful, in a haunting sort of way. You wondered what was going on behind those eyes, thoughts running wild in his gaze. You find out soon enough.

“You love me?” He sounded breathless in disbelief, tightening his hold on your hands. “Is that what you said?”

“Yes, Ominis,” You couldn’t help but whisper, looking up into his face. Your eyes trace his beauty marks, landing finally on his lips. “I love you.”

“I love you,” Ominis replies quickly before pulling you forward, slotting his lips with yours. He pulls one hand free, placing it on your cheek before sliding it to the back of your head, pulling you as if you could get any closer than you were. You use your now free hand to drag along his side, trailing your fingers along his torso. By the time you both pull away, you’re breathing heavily and Ominis can’t stop smiling. “Merlin save me, but I love you so.”

“Then we shall do everything in our power to stay together.” Ominis’ smile falls slightly, using his hand to pull you closer.

“Nothing will stand between us, I assure you.”

“She did what?!”

You wince at the volume of Natty’s voice, waving a hand in apology at the rest of the students as they try to shush her. Natty pays them no mind, grabbing your arm with both of her hands. “She did what?” She repeats the notion again, her eyes burning a hole in the side of your head.

“Do I really need to say it again?”

“No, of course not,” Natty spits out, grunting in annoyance. “That little-”

“I need your help.” Natty’s gaze snaps up to you, furrowing her brow.

“What is it that I can do? I have no connection to any of the Gaunts, and I wouldn’t know where to begin to stop a wedding.”

“I already have a plan,” You admit softly, scanning the library around you before leaning in closer to her. You wince, watching her face as you finally say, “But it requires you to become friendly with Eliza once more.” Natty's expression hardens further, and you're about to excuse her from participating when she speaks up.

"What all would I need to do?"

"We need to convince her that a thief is looking to steal all of her gold." The confusion that crosses Natty's face is warranted, but you soldier on. "If you tell her, then she'll believe it a lot easier. We only need her to move her gold to a different vault long enough for Merwilda- oh, uh, Ominis’ mother- to check and see that she has nothing.”

“So, we’re pretending she’s poor?” Natty pursed her lips, tilting her head. “And that matters to his mother?”

“It’s the only thing that matters to her, from what I’ve gathered,” You couldn’t keep the aggravation from your tone, but it seemed mirrored on Natty so you didn’t feel too bad.

“But if Merwilda is able to check something like that, who’s to say that she can’t just tell it was moved?”

“That’s the thing, we need it in a different name than her own.”

“Moving all of her gold to a new vault and a new name?” Natty shakes her head, leaning back in her chair. “Seems impossible. Wouldn’t that money legally be in whoever’s name then?”

“That’s why it has to be you,” Your voice is whispered, and if you hadn’t already been leaning in close to her you would’ve moved in. Still, you reached to take one of her hands, holding it in your own. “You tell her you’ve found a thief and a well-thought-out plan. That you have to move her fortune, but the only way to protect it would be to put in someone else’s name so they wouldn’t be able to just look up her new vault on the goblin’s archives.” She nods slowly, tilting her head in thought.

“We could say we need to place a trap in her current vault to catch the thief.”

“Yes! That’s perfect.”

“And the thief is a poacher. Or a well known one maybe,” She bites her lip and you nod along, squeezing her hand. At this she finally meets your eyes again, a slow smile growing. “I can’t say I’m looking forward to talking to her again- especially getting so close that she listens to this. But this is an entrance into catching her, isn’t it?” You hesitate at this, tilting your head.

“Catching her?”

“Sending her to Azkaban!” You hesitate once more and she sighs, grasping your hand more firmly. “I know that we all said we’d drop it, but you agree! Don’t you? With what she’s done, there needs to be consequences.”

“It can be a stepping stone toward that,” You finally yield to her, nodding slowly. “But I don’t know if this plan is the exact way to go about that-”

“Oh, I know, I know.” Natty sighs, her entire body relaxing before your eyes. Perhaps this was weighing heavier on her mind than anyone had initially suspected.

“Nat?” You begin hesitantly, and she just eyes you with trepidation in response. “I know this is a bit personal, but…” You bite your lip, watching Natty’s eyes. Her expression doesn’t change, but you can see recognition in her eyes. It’s like she knew what you were going to ask already, which helped it slip out, “Were you and Eliza an item?” She sighs slowly, raising a hand to rub her face.

“Not quite,” She begins, tilting her head back and forth in consideration before huffing again with a shrug, “But, in a way. Yes.”

“And so that’s why-”

“That’s why she wants me back so badly. That’s why she went after your Ominis when she decided to blame you for all of her problems.”

“I’m sorry, Nat,” You whisper, watching Natty’s face crumple into something resembling grief, tears beginning to form in her eyes. When she speaks it’s barely a voice, like she has a frog in her throat.

“It’s been so hard,” She chokes out a sob, leaning forward toward you, “I’ve had no one to talk to about it. About all this- about her. What am I supposed to do?” She looks up at you with tear-stained cheeks. “What do you do when the woman you love becomes a monster?”

[emotionalsupporthufflefluff]

fancy letters that herald atrocities

Ominis Gaunt x GN!Hufflepuff!Reader (MC = Eliza Fig, Gryffindor) part nine of the fancy series - [ToC]

Summary: Ominis has received a letter from none other than his mother, speaking of horrifying news. However, this is just another obstacle to overcome. Surely there’s something you can do?

After that particular revelation (in case you missed it, Ominis is now engaged), Sebastian had set about corralling you and Ominis both down toward the Undercroft. You didn’t even really remember half the journey until Ominis had stopped the lot of you to grab your arms, half shaking you and begging you to answer him. When you hummed in response, you heard a quick, “This isn’t the place for this conversation, Ominis,” from Sebastian before he continued to push the both of you toward the hidden room.

You didn’t pay any mind to the fact that you had classes coming up soon, this new information rocking you to your core. What were you supposed to do with this information? What had he meant by defective?

“Alright Ominis, I think it’s time we read that letter.” You blinked and looked around, realizing you were already in the Undercroft. Ominis, who apparently had not stopped clutching that damned letter, practically threw the piece of paper at Sebastian before approaching you. He placed his hands on your arms once more, ducking his head as if he could look into your eyes.

“Y/N, say something, please.”

“I’m here, Ominis,” You mumble, watching his shoulders relax before he wraps you into his arms, pulling you close. As you rest your head against his chest you begin to wonder how many more times you’re allowed to do this. Were you even allowed to right now? “So does this mean-”

“This means nothing, Y/N.” The conviction in Ominis’ voice would usually be comforting. Even now, you found it hard not to be comforted and he pulls you closer, rubbing his cheek against your head, “ Nothing for us, anyway.”

“But, Ominis,” You sigh, pulling back. He lets you, hesitantly, as if he doesn’t want to let go. “This means everything.”

“Y/N, I-”

“I don’t know how far you were thinking, Ominis,” You mumble, lowering your voice as you stare at the green stripes on his tie, “And granted, I wasn’t specifically thinking of marriage either. But- well, it would’ve been nice. Eventually. But we can’t even be together if-”

“Don’t say that, Y/N.” The pain in his voice, in his face, as you looked up, caused a surge of the same to spear through your heart.

“What else am I supposed to say, Ominis?” Your eyes tear up as you stare up at the man you loved- and yes, love, how inconvenient a time to realize that. You reach to take his hands into yours, pulling them up to your chest. “What can we do, Ominis?”

“Anything,” Ominis begs, pulling your conjoined hands up and pressing kisses to your own. “Anything, please. As long as you’re by my side, then I know I can fight this. We can fight this.” You sniff, watching the pain on his face as if looking in a mirror.

“I’ll always be by your side Ominis.” You watch his face crumple with relief, pulling your hands up once more to lay his lips across your hands. He left them there, closing his eyes and looking as if he were in prayer.

“Ominis,” Sebastian calls from a few feet away, sitting on a dusty wooden chair and hunched over the piece of parchment. “How far into this letter did you go?”

“Not very,” He calls out toward him, emotions clear in his voice. He clears his throat, opening his eyes to look in your general direction. “Just enough to get the gist of the letter.”

“I don’t think you’ll like the rest of it either,” Sebastian mumbles, raising a hand to chew at his thumbnail. You bounce back and forth on your feet, biting your lip as you watch your friend read the paper you desperately wished you could read.

“Read it aloud, Sebastian,” Ominis calls out suddenly, and you raised surprised eyes up to Ominis. Sebastian must’ve been feeling the same, as the hesitancy was evident in his voice.

“Are you sure about that, Ominis?”

“Y/N wants to hear it,” Ominis mumbles back, pulling you close and wrapping his arms around you once more. “Let them hear it.” Sebastian pulls a face but clears his throat anyway.

‘Dear my inutile son, For however many discussions we’ve had on this topic, it seems a miracle has happened. I know we’ve all made agreements, arrangements that must now be broken. When we accepted your pleas of avoidance, to leave your comforting family behind, we were so sure you would bring nothing but misery to this home. So we had agreed, as you know, with our own terms that you had readily subjected yourself to. Really, what Gaunt would willingly lower themself to such a standard of living? Muggles, really? In any case, our family has been saved with an offer from the grace of Merlin, surely. A letter was sent to our home, inside written with intentions and feelings and all those little things that the kids your age tend to think mean a lot more than they do. Inside was something that your father and I searched for, at length, for an absurd amount of time for the solution to just be dropped into our lap. It seems that such a lovely, pureblooded woman not only wants your hand in marriage but practically begged for it. She said she was willing to give up anything, and her vaults in addition to ours- along with her famous name- would gleam brilliantly alongside our name. Salazar knows why she wants you, but she asked for your name specifically. I’ve already sent out our agreeance, and the wedding is set to happen right after Graduation. Your father is busy booking the wedding venue and rooms for those attending, and I’m busy planning out the perfect setting for our almost-nonexistent ceremony. Everything will be ready and perfect for when the both of you portkey in afterwards. It’ll be a week-long event, much to celebrate now that we know you’re not completely worthless to us. You should thank her for the help, as you’re finally being accepted into our family. You’re officially a man of the Gaunts, so be sure to act like it. No more fraternizing with mudbloods, no more playing house with muggles and their ilk, and absolutely no more making a blind fool of yourself. Your father and I bought as many ways as possible to help with your ailment, go ahead and act like it for once. Your portkey will be shipped out on the last week of term and is set to activate an hour after graduation. Be sure you and Eliza are ready and packed, the celebration begins the night you’ve arrived back home. Sincerely and satisfied, Merwilda Gaunt’

You let out a shuddering breath, attempting to keep the chills within, as you weren’t sure what shaking in Ominis’ arms to his own mother’s words would make the man think. Silence enveloped all of you, and you took another deep breath, mind flashing back to that time with Natty.

“If you want to take the one thing I love away, then I’ll do the same to you. You’ll regret ever crossing me.”

“It’s my fault,” You whisper, and immediately feel Ominis pull back from you. He places his hands on your arms once more, attempting to turn you to face him. His face is set, serious, and hardened from years of having to deal with his family. With the Gaunts.

“Don’t you dare say that.”

“It is, though,” You continue on, turning your pained gaze over to Sebastian. He only looked on toward you, waiting for an explanation, but you could see understanding in his eyes. He knew what you meant. “Eliza found me with Natty after we met up that last time. I was walking her to class- I guess that was the first time they saw each other since she took me to see the unicorn.”

“Since she kidnapped you, you mean?” You let out a sigh, turning to look into Ominis’ eyes. He seemed desperate, and you weren’t sure why. Desperate for you? Desperate to be out of this situation?

“Sure, that.” You take a deep breath, scanning his face as if you could read through the stone wall he’s now presented. “But she found us. And when Natty didn’t forgive her- well, then she…” You trailed off, biting your lip as you watched Ominis furrow his brow and huff in agitation.

“Did she do something to you?”

“She did something to you Ominis, not me.” Your voice was so quiet when you spoke, you were unsure if either of them heard you. But this was a quiet room, and they were used to the silence. You cleared your throat and tried to push through, “She threatened to take what I loved most away because she believes I took Natty away from her.”

“No,” Ominis insists, squeezing his hands against you, “This wasn’t you. This was my damned mother- she’s always tried her best to make my life miserable.”

“And Eliza has dropped an opportunity right into her lap,” Sebastian inserts, pushing with a creak to stand, moving his way over as he held the offending letter off to the side. “Blaming ourselves will get nowhere, but I’m glad at least Ominis is taking my advice to heart. He’s blaming his mother, as he should, instead of himself.” Ominis grumbles lightly under his breath, lowering his head as if embarrassed. “But you should listen too.” Sebastian faces you, a serious expression you hardly ever see cross his face anymore pulling you back to reality. “This isn’t your fault. This entire fucked-up situation is all due to Eliza and Merwilda.”

“So what are we going to do about it?” Ominis practically growled out his sentence, turning a foul look over toward Sebastian. Just as quickly the expression fell away, revealing only pain. He apologizes quietly to Sebastian for the tone before his friend continues.

“We’re going to do everything in our power to make Eliza think that spending her life with you, just purely out of spite, is not worth it.” He pokes Ominis as he speaks, then turns to lock eyes with you. “And we’re going to also do everything in our power to make a lifetime tied with Eliza Fig as unappealing to Merwilda as possible, as well.”

“How will we manage that?” You could feel the hope growing in your chest, even though the doubt still kept a firm hold. “We already tried going over ways to expose Eliza-”

“Exposing Eliza would be a lot harder than making Merwilda not want anything to do with her.” Sebastian shrugs, lifting the paper with a flick and letting his eyes scan along the page. “There’s a lot of things that woman hates.”

“The problem is that she hates everything that Eliza isn’t,” Ominis complains, linking hands with you once more and pulling you close by them. He lets his eyes fall closed, running his thumb against your hand. “She’s a pureblood, she has some awful sort of powerful magic that no one has seen before, and she’s already shown her apparent interest in the Unforgivables. Merwilda would love her.” You tighten your grapes on his hands, hating the reminder of what his family had done to him.

“Likewise, how are we to get Eliza to find Ominis unbearable?” You look up into his handsome face, unable to hold back a soft smile. “I mean, he’s wonderful? He’s an absolute gentleman, he’s incredibly handsome, and he’s one of the most intelligent and powerful men that I know.” You hear a soft ‘hey’ come from Sebastian’s direction, though it feels more just to fuck around than for any sort of hurt caused. You huff a short laugh, shaking your head, “And besides, if she’s hellbent on taking you away from me, she may not even notice all of those fantastic elements. She might not even care how you are, as long as being with you hurts me.”

“Ominis can be a right pain when he wants to be,” Sebastian inserts with ease, his voice bored as his eyes continue to scan the parchment. He had been slowly making his way to his previous chair, finally taking a seat in it with another creak. “I’m not too worried about that aspect.”

“So we find out which friends of Eliza’s are muggleborn. If she’s seen talking with them, with muggles even, then that would get back to Merwilda. Salazar knows she’s having that witch watched as she has with me my whole life.” You push forward and trap your conjoined hands between your bodies, laying your head against Ominis’ chest. He takes a deep breath before continuing, “And as far as I know, Eliza hasn’t told anyone else about her ancient power. As long as that stays secret, Merwilda won’t have an additional reason to marry her into the family.”

“Surely there’s more we can do,” Sebastian mumbles, looking up and tapping the parchment to his chin. “Merwilda certainly hates a lot of things.” Ominis hums and you feel the vibration run through your head down to your own chest.

“Maybe we could start a rumour that she’s a werewolf?”

“Unique, I’ll give you that,” Sebastian compliments, pointing that foul paper toward him before resuming his tapping, “But no one would believe that. And it’s easier to prove she isn’t than to falsify evidence that she is.”

“She could be found helping a house elf?”

“What house elf? The only ones we have access to are the ones at Hogwarts, which don’t need help, or the ones in your own manor. And there’s no way she’d free one of them willfully under Merwilda’s gaze.”

“So what else would shy her away?” You lift your head from Ominis, your gaze landing on the parchment in Sebastian’s hands. “She mentioned that Eliza being rich was a plus. Would her losing her money help with our cause?”

“She’s incredibly vain, she wouldn’t sell me away for nothing.” Ominis nodded, his face locked in concentration.

“So, are we stealing all of her money?” You laugh at Sebastian’s question, then hesitate as he turns a serious gaze to you. “I’m not joking, I’m completely here for stealing all of her money.”

“We know you are, Sebastian,” Ominis sighs out, running a hand through his hair. This action pulls at the normally combed-back style, slightly messing up the hair on his head. You couldn’t help but feel enamoured by the messy style. “However, exactly how do you suppose we are to break into a Gringotts vault?”

“Well, maybe we don’t need to actually steal it?” You suggest with hesitation, both men turned their attention to you. “We can just make it look as though she did?”

“Better suggestion, but how-”

“We could say that someone has a plan on her vault,” Sebastian begins, wringing his hands together in thought. “She could go to the goblins and request her fortune be moved somewheres else. Then the next time anyone checks- Merwilda has contacts I’m sure- then her vault would be empty.”

“If it’s in her name-” Ominis begins before Sebastian interrupts him once more, standing with a flourish.

“Then it shan’t be in her name!” Sebastian grins, walking closer. “Obviously we wouldn’t be the ones to tell her. We need someone she trusts explicitly, someone who would be able to convince her to put her fortune in their name so the ‘thief’ can’t find it. Lay a trap in her vault or something, I don’t know.”

“The only person I know that she trusts completely is Natty,” You add on unhelpfully, shrugging, “And I really doubt she’d be willing to talk to Eliza.”

“If it’s to take Eliza down, she would,” Ominis mumbles, crossing his arms. “She was pretty adamant about that last time we spoke.”

“So we have our plan then!” Sebastian calls out with a grin, and you huff a breath, tilting your head.

“We do?”

“Yes! I have a spectacular plan involving the muggles and whatnot- don’t ask, you don’t want to know.” You hesitate, furrowing your brow at this, but nod along anyway. “So I have the muggle thing taken care of, Ominis will do everything in his power to annoy Eliza to no end, and you,” He points to you with a grin, “Will be the one to convince Natty- or whoever else she trusts enough if Natty says no- to follow along with our plan! This could work!”

“How is Ominis-”

“I have all the faith in you Ominis!” Sebastian calls out behind himself as he walks away, beginning a jog toward the exit. “All of it! You can do this!” With that he disappears through the door, leaving you and Ominis alone. You turn to him, tilting your head in thought.

“Don’t worry about what I’ll have to say to Eliza, Y/N,” Ominis begins, withdrawing his wand and flicking it gently to light the end with his usual red pulse. “I have some ideas, just-” He hesitates, raising a hand to rub the back of his head, “If you happen to be around anytime I’m performing for Eliza, please don’t take anything I say to heart. I’ll be saying anything necessary to chase her away, even if I don’t actually believe what I say.”

“It’s okay, Ominis, I get it.” You gently run your hand down his arm, ending at the hand holding his wand. You could see the pulsing red flicker just slightly before resuming its regular pulse. “I won’t hold anything you say to Eliza against you. She shouldn’t have tried to involve you in the first place.” Ominis slides his wand into his pocket, reaching forward to take your hand.

“Don’t you say this is your fault again, Y/N.”

“If it weren’t for me-”

“Eliza is fully to blame for this. For all of this.” Ominis pulls you closer, sliding his free hand from your shoulder up to your cheek. “I’m glad I’m finally involved, so I can help you officially. My only concern is the way I’m involved brings you pain, and I wish none of that for you.”

“You could never bring me pain, Ominis,” You try to reassure him, but he only shakes his head, tightening his hold on your hand. You raise your own free hand up to place against his on your cheek, and you lean into it slightly.

“Of course I could, don’t be ridiculous. I never want to, of course, but everyone is capable of dealing pain.”

“Ominis-”

“I’ve cast Crucio before.” Ominis’ statement has you pausing, raising your eyes up to meet his own milky gaze. You tried to decide whether you believed him, though his grim tone and expression only further proved his point. Plus, he wouldn’t joke about something like this.

“On purpose?”

“It has to be cast on purpose, Y/N.” He sighs, sounding defeated, and tries to pull his hands away. You only tighten your own in response, not letting him escape.

“Why?”

“What do you mean why?”

“Was there a reason?”

“Y/N-”

“Tell me the reason you did it, Ominis.” You take his hand off of your cheek, though refuse to let go still. You’re once again holding each other’s hands, though you were the one rubbing your thumb on his hand now. “I don’t believe you did it purely for the fun of it.” He sighs again, and you only wished you could take that world-weary expression from him. He seemed to wear it constantly now.

“My family forced me.”

“Exactly! So-”

“I still cast it, Y/N.”

“Under threat from your family.” You pull on his hands, trying to tug him into minding you. “You are not to blame.”

“I am absolutely to blame for that, Y/N!”

“What would they have done if you didn’t?” He tries to repeat your name, shaking his head, but you only repeat your sentence harsher. He eventually sighs, answering quietly.

“They would’ve performed it on me.”

“Exactly. You were saving yourself, Ominis. There was nothing you could’ve done about it, no answer is the right one in that situation.” You watch a tear slowly manifest on the corner of his eye, falling slowly down his cheek.

“I don’t deserve you, Y/N.”

“Sure you do,” You whisper, pulling him closer to you. You raise his hands to your lips, pressing a kiss to each knuckle. “If you didn’t deserve my love then I don’t think anybody would. And that would be a pretty lonely existence.” Ominis is quiet for a long moment, and you raise your eyes to see his blue eyes. They really were beautiful, in a haunting sort of way. You wondered what was going on behind those eyes, thoughts running wild in his gaze. You find out soon enough.

“You love me?” He sounded breathless in disbelief, tightening his hold on your hands. “Is that what you said?”

“Yes, Ominis,” You couldn’t help but whisper, looking up into his face. Your eyes trace his beauty marks, landing finally on his lips. “I love you.”

“I love you,” Ominis replies quickly before pulling you forward, slotting his lips with yours. He pulls one hand free, placing it on your cheek before sliding it to the back of your head, pulling you as if you could get any closer than you were. You use your now free hand to drag along his side, trailing your fingers along his torso. By the time you both pull away, you’re breathing heavily and Ominis can’t stop smiling. “Merlin save me, but I love you so.”

“Then we shall do everything in our power to stay together.” Ominis’ smile falls slightly, using his hand to pull you closer.

“Nothing will stand between us, I assure you.”

“She did what?!”

You wince at the volume of Natty’s voice, waving a hand in apology at the rest of the students as they try to shush her. Natty pays them no mind, grabbing your arm with both of her hands. “She did what?” She repeats the notion again, her eyes burning a hole in the side of your head.

“Do I really need to say it again?”

“No, of course not,” Natty spits out, grunting in annoyance. “That little-”

“I need your help.” Natty’s gaze snaps up to you, furrowing her brow.

“What is it that I can do? I have no connection to any of the Gaunts, and I wouldn’t know where to begin to stop a wedding.”

“I already have a plan,” You admit softly, scanning the library around you before leaning in closer to her. You wince, watching her face as you finally say, “But it requires you to become friendly with Eliza once more.” Natty's expression hardens further, and you're about to excuse her from participating when she speaks up.

"What all would I need to do?"

"We need to convince her that a thief is looking to steal all of her gold." The confusion that crosses Natty's face is warranted, but you soldier on. "If you tell her, then she'll believe it a lot easier. We only need her to move her gold to a different vault long enough for Merwilda- oh, uh, Ominis’ mother- to check and see that she has nothing.”

“So, we’re pretending she’s poor?” Natty pursed her lips, tilting her head. “And that matters to his mother?”

“It’s the only thing that matters to her, from what I’ve gathered,” You couldn’t keep the aggravation from your tone, but it seemed mirrored on Natty so you didn’t feel too bad.

“But if Merwilda is able to check something like that, who’s to say that she can’t just tell it was moved?”

“That’s the thing, we need it in a different name than her own.”

“Moving all of her gold to a new vault and a new name?” Natty shakes her head, leaning back in her chair. “Seems impossible. Wouldn’t that money legally be in whoever’s name then?”

“That’s why it has to be you,” Your voice is whispered, and if you hadn’t already been leaning in close to her you would’ve moved in. Still, you reached to take one of her hands, holding it in your own. “You tell her you’ve found a thief and a well-thought-out plan. That you have to move her fortune, but the only way to protect it would be to put in someone else’s name so they wouldn’t be able to just look up her new vault on the goblin’s archives.” She nods slowly, tilting her head in thought.

“We could say we need to place a trap in her current vault to catch the thief.”

“Yes! That’s perfect.”

“And the thief is a poacher. Or a well known one maybe,” She bites her lip and you nod along, squeezing her hand. At this she finally meets your eyes again, a slow smile growing. “I can’t say I’m looking forward to talking to her again- especially getting so close that she listens to this. But this is an entrance into catching her, isn’t it?” You hesitate at this, tilting your head.

“Catching her?”

“Sending her to Azkaban!” You hesitate once more and she sighs, grasping your hand more firmly. “I know that we all said we’d drop it, but you agree! Don’t you? With what she’s done, there needs to be consequences.”

“It can be a stepping stone toward that,” You finally yield to her, nodding slowly. “But I don’t know if this plan is the exact way to go about that-”

“Oh, I know, I know.” Natty sighs, her entire body relaxing before your eyes. Perhaps this was weighing heavier on her mind than anyone had initially suspected.

“Nat?” You begin hesitantly, and she just eyes you with trepidation in response. “I know this is a bit personal, but…” You bite your lip, watching Natty’s eyes. Her expression doesn’t change, but you can see recognition in her eyes. It’s like she knew what you were going to ask already, which helped it slip out, “Were you and Eliza an item?” She sighs slowly, raising a hand to rub her face.

“Not quite,” She begins, tilting her head back and forth in consideration before huffing again with a shrug, “But, in a way. Yes.”

“And so that’s why-”

“That’s why she wants me back so badly. That’s why she went after your Ominis when she decided to blame you for all of her problems.”

“I’m sorry, Nat,” You whisper, watching Natty’s face crumple into something resembling grief, tears beginning to form in her eyes. When she speaks it’s barely a voice, like she has a frog in her throat.

“It’s been so hard,” She chokes out a sob, leaning forward toward you, “I’ve had no one to talk to about it. About all this- about her. What am I supposed to do?” She looks up at you with tear-stained cheeks. “What do you do when the woman you love becomes a monster?”

[emotionalsupporthufflefluff]

Tag List Reblog!

@ominismylove @cerulione @littletealight @sugarcandyblue @seppys-return-to-madness @chonkercatto @amarisout @honeylemon21 @goddesofimortality @ceddar-cheez @crystalferret202 @zoleea-exultant @what-is-happening-helpp @blind-but-not-deaf @theegotisticalwriter @sarahskywalker-amadala @amelliss

fancy plans that invite disaster

Ominis Gaunt x GN!Hufflepuff!Reader (MC = Eliza Fig, Gryffindor) part eight of the fancy series - [ToC]

Summary: The group begins to plan, until the plan becomes too dangerous to Ominis. You find out there will always be consequences for your actions.

A/N: shorter chapter, sorry, but a lot happens! Hope this doesn't seem too rushed or not detailed enough, but I'm pretty sure this is paced well enough. I hope the sequence of events isn't confusing as well, as the timeline sort of jumps around!

“Azkaban?” Garreth exclaims, a panicked look crossing his face. He begins shaking his head quickly, raising his hands in mock surrender, “Woah, woah, woah. Now hold on just a moment. We’re talking about a student, someone our age. Not some random poacher or dark wizard!”

“Technically,” Poppy inserted with a wince, “She is a dark wizard, and she’s not going to be a student for much longer.”

“And she’s not a child,” Natty inputs, placing her hands on the table in front of her. “She may still be a student like us, but she’s eighteen already. She’s an adult, and she should be tried as an adult.”

You were quiet amidst the back-and-forth, biting your lip in contemplation. Did Eliza really deserve Azkaban? Although, that’s what the whole prison was made for, and the spells were called Unforgivables for a reason. You begin to nervously tap your foot, then feel Ominis pull you closer to his side in reassurance.

“Sure, but guys- we’re talking about Eliza right now. The woman who defeated Ranrok in her fifth year, the same year she discovered her powers. Everyone loves her, she’s extremely powerful, and who knows what kind of allies she has inside the Ministry at this point! Merlin, even her own father worked closely with the Ministry, if she didn’t have someone on the inside then I’d eat my sock!” Garreth’s rant came to an end with a huff, and everyone fell silent as they thought it over.

“Then we have to make it beyond a reasonable doubt that she needs to be arrested.” Natty’s voice was serious as she spoke, looking up to lock eyes with each member of the group one after the other. “We have to get her to cast an Unforgivable in front of an Auror.”

“How in Salazar’s name are we meant to do that?” Sebastian finally spoke up in disbelief, crossing his arms impatiently.

"We know her motivations," Natty begins, looking down at the table in thought, "That she hates poachers, thinks they deserve it."

"Are we really advocating for her using another Unforgivable?" Poppy bites her lip anxiously, fidgeting with her hands. "I mean, to get her caught she has to cast it. That means that someone would be tortured just to get her arrested."

"I hate the idea too, so if anyone has a better one then let me know." Natty scans the group of friends once more, expression solemn. No one speaks up, and you wrack your brain for any other answer. Surely you all weren't trying to get someone tortured, then you'd be the same as her.

"Wait," You whisper, nervously glancing at Ominis before looking back at the group. "I have an idea…"

“Natty!”

You’re head shot up in fright at the sound of her voice, and you watch as Eliza lands a broom in the middle of the Transfiguration courtyard, running over to where you stood, arm-in-arm, with Natty. You had been passing through on your way to Herbalism class together when she practically appeared out of nowhere. She had a tendency to do that.

“No,” Natty murmurs, pulling your arm with her as she speeds her walking, pushing toward the Central Hall with renewed vigour. “I’m not ready.”

“Natty, hey wait!”

“Nat, maybe we should-”

“No,” Natty repeats with emphasis, practically dragging you along now. You tried to match her steps, then were yanked back by that same arm. You turn to notice Eliza’s hand around Natty’s other arm, a confused expression in place.

“Natty, please talk to me.”

“I have nothing to say to you.”

“But,” Eliza turns her attention to me, her face falling into an intense expression, “I thought you said-”

“They did tell me, Eliza,” Natty inputted, taking her arm back from you to instead step in front of you. “They told me how you stood by and let that happen.”

“Natty, no, please. Just let me explain!” You could see Eliza’s face over Natty’s shoulder, her eyes beginning to tear up.

“There’s nothing more to explain.” Natty’s voice sounded final, devoid of emotion. You weren’t sure you ever wanted to hear her sound like that again.

“Yes, there is. Please, just-” Natty ignores Eliza’s pleas, turning and pushing her way into Central Hall. You stood there, shell-shocked at the scene that had just happened before you. A tear slipped down Eliza’s cheek, but she no longer looked sad or desperate. She looked furious. “You.”

“Eliza, I told her as you asked-”

“It’s you. I don’t know what you said, but to take her away? To take the love of my life away?” Eliza walked forward and roughly grabbed the front of your robes, dragging you in closer. “I didn’t know someone so evil could walk the halls of Hogwarts, but by Merlin, I will make you regret ever stepping foot in this castle.”

You swallowed roughly, breath coming in pants. Fear tightened your stomach, and you tried to stutter out a response, “Eliza, listen to me, I told her what you said but I don’t control Nat. No one can control her-”

“Fine,” Eliza pushes you away, snarling at you, and continues as if you didn’t even speak. “If you want to take the one thing I love away, then I’ll do the same to you. You’ll regret ever crossing me.” Your eyes widened at the threat, reaching forward to try something, anything, to get her to change her mind. Your hand misses its mark as Eliza takes a step back and twists on her heel, disappearing in a flash.

“No,” Ominis interrupts, turning to face you completely. “You are not going to use yourself as bait.”

“It’s the only thing that makes sense, really.” You huff out a breath, seeing the disbelief across the faces of all of your friends. “I’m not going to advocate for more Unforgivables to be cast, especially if we’re going to make her cast it just to get caught. If she’s to get caught, she’s going to get caught casting it of her own will.”

“Yeah, we’ve agreed on that much,” Sebastian inserts, walking slowly around the table. “What we don’t understand is why it has to be cast on you.”

“Well, I’m not going to lead her to some random poacher to get tortured!” You huff, crossing your arms. “Look, I was told about what happened in the Scriptorium. If I let myself get hit by it-”

“No,” Ominis repeats, shaking his head quickly. “If anyone of us is going to sacrifice ourselves, it’ll be me. Anyone but you.”

“She won’t hurt you. Any of you.” You meet each of their eyes- aside from Ominis, whose hand you take instead. “She’s not mad at you. She considers you friends. But me?”

“This is a bad idea, Y/N.” Sebastian’s voice sounded final, but finally, someone else spoke up in your favour.

“I can see it,” Garreth begins, holding a hand to his chin. “Tempt her, make her think everything is their fault.”

“That won’t be difficult,” Natty inserts, straightening up and crossing her arms, “She already does think that.”

“This does not need to be discussed,” Ominis tries to interrupt, but you move to stand in front of him.

“Exactly, so we do something to push it even farther. What else does she have? What would push her over the edge?”

“I’m not sure,” Garreth begins before Natty interrupts once again.

“Me.” You nod, locking eyes with her.

“Yeah, she was pretty adamant that you, especially, are one of the people I tell. She wanted things to be better between you two.”

“So we let her know that I just hate her even more.” Natty shrugs, eyes falling to the table.

“Would she really blame Y/N just for that though?”

“Eliza doesn’t need to be blaming Y/N for anything,” Ominis begins again, coming to stand next to you. You squeeze his hand in yours, taking a deep breath.

“So I take her place.” They both look to you again to continue, and you nod along. “Eliza thinks I’m here to take her spot, essentially, right? So I do that. I walk Natty to classes and hang out with Garreth more. I don’t know- be friends with more Gryffindors?” You chuckle blandly, “It’d help if I knew anything about the woman.”

“She likes Transfiguration class, I think she’s friends with Garreth’s aunt.”

“Stop!” Ominis yells out, pushing you away from the table and stepping between you and the group. He leans in close to whisper, panic etched across his face. “This is absolutely too dangerous. We don’t know which Unforgivable she’ll use in the first place, and you don’t need to be anywhere near any of them to begin with.”

Your chest tightens in guilt, scanning the obvious worry on his face. You wait too long, choking on the words that you need to do this, you’d likely do it even if he didn’t know- Ominis eventually takes both of your hands and raises them to his face, placing a gentle kiss on each. Your shoulders fall slowly, and your next words are whispered for him.

“Ok, I won’t do it.”

You were laughing with Imelda and Garreth in the Central Hall, walking outside with brooms slung across your shoulders. Eliza was rushing past, and you back up quickly once spotting her. Garreth grabs your arm, forcing you to halt your retreat. He sends you a look and you gulp, nodding. Imelda hardly even noticed the interaction, only slowly enough to let you catch back up and then continue on. She was running commentary on the last Quidditch game, trying to decide which manoeuvre she needed to practice with more.

“See, my feint was pretty horrid- but that was against Ravenclaw. It’s Hufflepuff this time, and I don’t think feinting will be the strongest- hey, are you even listening to me?”

“Of course we are, Imelda,” Garreth reassured her with a pat on her shoulder, stretching from your other side. You tried to walk forward with a poker face, but you couldn’t find it in yourself to think up any response to Imelda’s Quidditch talk while also trying to project false confidence.

“Wow, Imelda.” The three of you turn at the same time, your eyes locking with Eliza. This was the middle of the Central Hall- she wouldn’t try anything here, right? “Mucking with the mudbloods now? How would your family feel about that?” The slur was a spear to your chest, and sure you’ve heard it before but not recently. Not since starting this year and becoming friends with your current friend group. Looking over at Imelda, you could see hurt and confusion all laced together across her face.

“Wait, Eliza? What-” She moves to stand on her other foot, seeming off-balanced. “I thought you were different than that? Granted, I’ve only ever met you on the track.” She shakes her head, looking to see you, then lifts her gaze toward Garreth. “C’mon guys, no use wasting time on this worthless person.” She then just turns and walks away, as if it were that easy.

With Garreth nudging you to follow, you turn as well and begin to walk away. There’s something there about turning your back on your enemy, but it actually worked. It really was that easy, to turn and walk away from Eliza. Maybe if you were Imelda or Garreth. Luckily, you had both of them flanking you. However, from then on you could spot Imelda sending you concentrated looks, almost as if she was trying to figure something out.

Breakfast in the Great Hall was a relaxed affair, and with such you’ve been able to eat your breakfast at the Slytherin’s table every morning since befriending Ominis. Sebastian always sat across from you, Ominis to your right, and Imelda right across from him. The four of you would always joke, and Imelda would wait for the newspaper to fall from the owls before immediately scanning the sports pages like her life depended on it. The rest of you hardly ever got mail- aside from Sebastian’s once-a-week letter from Anne. She was currently living under constant mediwix care nowadays, and Sebastian was anxious to graduate so he could more easily follow leads that could give him the cure.

A letter dropped in front of Ominis, halting the conversation between you and Sebastian. Imelda was already absorbed in her papers, and Ominis had frozen the moment the letter had touched the table. From your spot next to him, all you could really see was the fancy script and Ominis’ name.

“Ominis, you know there’s-”

“Yes, I know Sebastian.” Ominis slowly reached forward, taking told of the letter and pulling it under the table. He retrieved his wand from the table, bringing it under as well. You turned a confused expression toward Sebastian, who was quick to explain in mumbles.

“Ominis does this when he doesn’t want anyone sneaking a peek at his letter. He’ll just tap his wand to the letter and have his spell read the words into his ear.” He falls silent and you both wait, anxiously looking over to Ominis to try and discern any type of reaction. Finally, Ominis sucks in a harsh gasp, and Sebastian widens his eyes. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“Did something happen? Who sent you the letter Ominis?” Your questions were quick, and you could hear the panic in your own voice. You couldn’t regret it, though, when Ominis’ face looked so stricken.

“That was my mother,” Ominis whispered, eyes staring blankly forward. He sounded both breathless and confused, then started shaking his head. “She- but she told me before-”

“Do we need to go somewhere safe, Ominis?”

“She told me she wouldn’t be setting me up. That I was too defective for- but then who requested me?”

“Requested you?” You question him more, reaching a hand out to grab his arm. “What are you talking about?” He finally turns his face in your direction, expression falling into something grief-stricken.

“My mother has arranged for me to marry.”

[emotionalsupporthufflefluff]

fancy plans that invite disaster

Ominis Gaunt x GN!Hufflepuff!Reader (MC = Eliza Fig, Gryffindor) part eight of the fancy series - [ToC]

Summary: The group begins to plan, until the plan becomes too dangerous to Ominis. You find out there will always be consequences for your actions.

A/N: shorter chapter, sorry, but a lot happens! Hope this doesn't seem too rushed or not detailed enough, but I'm pretty sure this is paced well enough. I hope the sequence of events isn't confusing as well, as the timeline sort of jumps around!

“Azkaban?” Garreth exclaims, a panicked look crossing his face. He begins shaking his head quickly, raising his hands in mock surrender, “Woah, woah, woah. Now hold on just a moment. We’re talking about a student, someone our age. Not some random poacher or dark wizard!”

“Technically,” Poppy inserted with a wince, “She is a dark wizard, and she’s not going to be a student for much longer.”

“And she’s not a child,” Natty inputs, placing her hands on the table in front of her. “She may still be a student like us, but she’s eighteen already. She’s an adult, and she should be tried as an adult.”

You were quiet amidst the back-and-forth, biting your lip in contemplation. Did Eliza really deserve Azkaban? Although, that’s what the whole prison was made for, and the spells were called Unforgivables for a reason. You begin to nervously tap your foot, then feel Ominis pull you closer to his side in reassurance.

“Sure, but guys- we’re talking about Eliza right now. The woman who defeated Ranrok in her fifth year, the same year she discovered her powers. Everyone loves her, she’s extremely powerful, and who knows what kind of allies she has inside the Ministry at this point! Merlin, even her own father worked closely with the Ministry, if she didn’t have someone on the inside then I’d eat my sock!” Garreth’s rant came to an end with a huff, and everyone fell silent as they thought it over.

“Then we have to make it beyond a reasonable doubt that she needs to be arrested.” Natty’s voice was serious as she spoke, looking up to lock eyes with each member of the group one after the other. “We have to get her to cast an Unforgivable in front of an Auror.”

“How in Salazar’s name are we meant to do that?” Sebastian finally spoke up in disbelief, crossing his arms impatiently.

"We know her motivations," Natty begins, looking down at the table in thought, "That she hates poachers, thinks they deserve it."

"Are we really advocating for her using another Unforgivable?" Poppy bites her lip anxiously, fidgeting with her hands. "I mean, to get her caught she has to cast it. That means that someone would be tortured just to get her arrested."

"I hate the idea too, so if anyone has a better one then let me know." Natty scans the group of friends once more, expression solemn. No one speaks up, and you wrack your brain for any other answer. Surely you all weren't trying to get someone tortured, then you'd be the same as her.

"Wait," You whisper, nervously glancing at Ominis before looking back at the group. "I have an idea…"

“Natty!”

You’re head shot up in fright at the sound of her voice, and you watch as Eliza lands a broom in the middle of the Transfiguration courtyard, running over to where you stood, arm-in-arm, with Natty. You had been passing through on your way to Herbalism class together when she practically appeared out of nowhere. She had a tendency to do that.

“No,” Natty murmurs, pulling your arm with her as she speeds her walking, pushing toward the Central Hall with renewed vigour. “I’m not ready.”

“Natty, hey wait!”

“Nat, maybe we should-”

“No,” Natty repeats with emphasis, practically dragging you along now. You tried to match her steps, then were yanked back by that same arm. You turn to notice Eliza’s hand around Natty’s other arm, a confused expression in place.

“Natty, please talk to me.”

“I have nothing to say to you.”

“But,” Eliza turns her attention to me, her face falling into an intense expression, “I thought you said-”

“They did tell me, Eliza,” Natty inputted, taking her arm back from you to instead step in front of you. “They told me how you stood by and let that happen.”

“Natty, no, please. Just let me explain!” You could see Eliza’s face over Natty’s shoulder, her eyes beginning to tear up.

“There’s nothing more to explain.” Natty’s voice sounded final, devoid of emotion. You weren’t sure you ever wanted to hear her sound like that again.

“Yes, there is. Please, just-” Natty ignores Eliza’s pleas, turning and pushing her way into Central Hall. You stood there, shell-shocked at the scene that had just happened before you. A tear slipped down Eliza’s cheek, but she no longer looked sad or desperate. She looked furious. “You.”

“Eliza, I told her as you asked-”

“It’s you. I don’t know what you said, but to take her away? To take the love of my life away?” Eliza walked forward and roughly grabbed the front of your robes, dragging you in closer. “I didn’t know someone so evil could walk the halls of Hogwarts, but by Merlin, I will make you regret ever stepping foot in this castle.”

You swallowed roughly, breath coming in pants. Fear tightened your stomach, and you tried to stutter out a response, “Eliza, listen to me, I told her what you said but I don’t control Nat. No one can control her-”

“Fine,” Eliza pushes you away, snarling at you, and continues as if you didn’t even speak. “If you want to take the one thing I love away, then I’ll do the same to you. You’ll regret ever crossing me.” Your eyes widened at the threat, reaching forward to try something, anything, to get her to change her mind. Your hand misses its mark as Eliza takes a step back and twists on her heel, disappearing in a flash.

“No,” Ominis interrupts, turning to face you completely. “You are not going to use yourself as bait.”

“It’s the only thing that makes sense, really.” You huff out a breath, seeing the disbelief across the faces of all of your friends. “I’m not going to advocate for more Unforgivables to be cast, especially if we’re going to make her cast it just to get caught. If she’s to get caught, she’s going to get caught casting it of her own will.”

“Yeah, we’ve agreed on that much,” Sebastian inserts, walking slowly around the table. “What we don’t understand is why it has to be cast on you.”

“Well, I’m not going to lead her to some random poacher to get tortured!” You huff, crossing your arms. “Look, I was told about what happened in the Scriptorium. If I let myself get hit by it-”

“No,” Ominis repeats, shaking his head quickly. “If anyone of us is going to sacrifice ourselves, it’ll be me. Anyone but you.”

“She won’t hurt you. Any of you.” You meet each of their eyes- aside from Ominis, whose hand you take instead. “She’s not mad at you. She considers you friends. But me?”

“This is a bad idea, Y/N.” Sebastian’s voice sounded final, but finally, someone else spoke up in your favour.

“I can see it,” Garreth begins, holding a hand to his chin. “Tempt her, make her think everything is their fault.”

“That won’t be difficult,” Natty inserts, straightening up and crossing her arms, “She already does think that.”

“This does not need to be discussed,” Ominis tries to interrupt, but you move to stand in front of him.

“Exactly, so we do something to push it even farther. What else does she have? What would push her over the edge?”

“I’m not sure,” Garreth begins before Natty interrupts once again.

“Me.” You nod, locking eyes with her.

“Yeah, she was pretty adamant that you, especially, are one of the people I tell. She wanted things to be better between you two.”

“So we let her know that I just hate her even more.” Natty shrugs, eyes falling to the table.

“Would she really blame Y/N just for that though?”

“Eliza doesn’t need to be blaming Y/N for anything,” Ominis begins again, coming to stand next to you. You squeeze his hand in yours, taking a deep breath.

“So I take her place.” They both look to you again to continue, and you nod along. “Eliza thinks I’m here to take her spot, essentially, right? So I do that. I walk Natty to classes and hang out with Garreth more. I don’t know- be friends with more Gryffindors?” You chuckle blandly, “It’d help if I knew anything about the woman.”

“She likes Transfiguration class, I think she’s friends with Garreth’s aunt.”

“Stop!” Ominis yells out, pushing you away from the table and stepping between you and the group. He leans in close to whisper, panic etched across his face. “This is absolutely too dangerous. We don’t know which Unforgivable she’ll use in the first place, and you don’t need to be anywhere near any of them to begin with.”

Your chest tightens in guilt, scanning the obvious worry on his face. You wait too long, choking on the words that you need to do this, you’d likely do it even if he didn’t know- Ominis eventually takes both of your hands and raises them to his face, placing a gentle kiss on each. Your shoulders fall slowly, and your next words are whispered for him.

“Ok, I won’t do it.”

You were laughing with Imelda and Garreth in the Central Hall, walking outside with brooms slung across your shoulders. Eliza was rushing past, and you back up quickly once spotting her. Garreth grabs your arm, forcing you to halt your retreat. He sends you a look and you gulp, nodding. Imelda hardly even noticed the interaction, only slowly enough to let you catch back up and then continue on. She was running commentary on the last Quidditch game, trying to decide which manoeuvre she needed to practice with more.

“See, my feint was pretty horrid- but that was against Ravenclaw. It’s Hufflepuff this time, and I don’t think feinting will be the strongest- hey, are you even listening to me?”

“Of course we are, Imelda,” Garreth reassured her with a pat on her shoulder, stretching from your other side. You tried to walk forward with a poker face, but you couldn’t find it in yourself to think up any response to Imelda’s Quidditch talk while also trying to project false confidence.

“Wow, Imelda.” The three of you turn at the same time, your eyes locking with Eliza. This was the middle of the Central Hall- she wouldn’t try anything here, right? “Mucking with the mudbloods now? How would your family feel about that?” The slur was a spear to your chest, and sure you’ve heard it before but not recently. Not since starting this year and becoming friends with your current friend group. Looking over at Imelda, you could see hurt and confusion all laced together across her face.

“Wait, Eliza? What-” She moves to stand on her other foot, seeming off-balanced. “I thought you were different than that? Granted, I’ve only ever met you on the track.” She shakes her head, looking to see you, then lifts her gaze toward Garreth. “C’mon guys, no use wasting time on this worthless person.” She then just turns and walks away, as if it were that easy.

With Garreth nudging you to follow, you turn as well and begin to walk away. There’s something there about turning your back on your enemy, but it actually worked. It really was that easy, to turn and walk away from Eliza. Maybe if you were Imelda or Garreth. Luckily, you had both of them flanking you. However, from then on you could spot Imelda sending you concentrated looks, almost as if she was trying to figure something out.

Breakfast in the Great Hall was a relaxed affair, and with such you’ve been able to eat your breakfast at the Slytherin’s table every morning since befriending Ominis. Sebastian always sat across from you, Ominis to your right, and Imelda right across from him. The four of you would always joke, and Imelda would wait for the newspaper to fall from the owls before immediately scanning the sports pages like her life depended on it. The rest of you hardly ever got mail- aside from Sebastian’s once-a-week letter from Anne. She was currently living under constant mediwix care nowadays, and Sebastian was anxious to graduate so he could more easily follow leads that could give him the cure.

A letter dropped in front of Ominis, halting the conversation between you and Sebastian. Imelda was already absorbed in her papers, and Ominis had frozen the moment the letter had touched the table. From your spot next to him, all you could really see was the fancy script and Ominis’ name.

“Ominis, you know there’s-”

“Yes, I know Sebastian.” Ominis slowly reached forward, taking told of the letter and pulling it under the table. He retrieved his wand from the table, bringing it under as well. You turned a confused expression toward Sebastian, who was quick to explain in mumbles.

“Ominis does this when he doesn’t want anyone sneaking a peek at his letter. He’ll just tap his wand to the letter and have his spell read the words into his ear.” He falls silent and you both wait, anxiously looking over to Ominis to try and discern any type of reaction. Finally, Ominis sucks in a harsh gasp, and Sebastian widens his eyes. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“Did something happen? Who sent you the letter Ominis?” Your questions were quick, and you could hear the panic in your own voice. You couldn’t regret it, though, when Ominis’ face looked so stricken.

“That was my mother,” Ominis whispered, eyes staring blankly forward. He sounded both breathless and confused, then started shaking his head. “She- but she told me before-”

“Do we need to go somewhere safe, Ominis?”

“She told me she wouldn’t be setting me up. That I was too defective for- but then who requested me?”

“Requested you?” You question him more, reaching a hand out to grab his arm. “What are you talking about?” He finally turns his face in your direction, expression falling into something grief-stricken.

“My mother has arranged for me to marry.”

[emotionalsupporthufflefluff]

He is such a cute little guy

[emotionalsupporthufflefluff]

Tag List Reblog!

@ominismylove @cerulione @littletealight @sugarcandyblue @seppys-return-to-madness @chonkercatto @amarisout @honeylemon21 @goddesofimortality @ceddar-cheez @crystalferret202 @zoleea-exultant @what-is-happening-helpp @blind-but-not-deaf @theegotisticalwriter @sarahskywalker-amadala @amellissa

fancy excuses that shed some light

Ominis Gaunt x GN!Hufflepuff!Reader (MC = Eliza Fig, Gryffindor) part seven of the fancy series - [ToC]

Summary: Eliza has something she needs to show you- but could what she has to say really make up for her wrongdoings?

“You know, I got to thinking,” Eliza said, roughly manhandling you down the deserted path away from the Beasts’ class. “See, at first I was just going to avoid you for the rest of the year. There’s not much time left, after all, and once we graduate from Hogwarts I doubt that I’ll ever see you again.”

Your heart was pounding wildly and your spare hand was down the pocket of your robes, twirling your wand in hand. You probably would’ve done something about this situation already, but you could feel the hard poke of Eliza’s wand on the side that she pressed herself against. Your mind raced, trying to come up with solutions. Poppy was most likely, if she turned around and noticed you gone then she would definitely go looking. Ominis was currently in a Potions tutoring class, not even nearby a window that you could pass by. You weren’t sure what class Sebastian was in- if he even was- but you figured if not he was likely to be found in the library. No, you’re only solution here would be to fight her yourself if you had to.

“Then, I realized that since you were the reason I lost my friends,” It was almost painful to hold back your scoff, but you managed with the hard press of her wand against your ribs, “Then you could also be the one that restores their confidence in me.”

“How could I do that?” You were confused, shaking your head blandly, but Eliza pulls your arm roughly and the wand digs into your skin.

“By following me and shutting up, actually.”

The rest of the walk was done in silence, arm in arm as if you were the best of friends. You didn’t pass by anyone until you were long past Hogwarts, halfway down the path to Hogsmeade. You had already passed the main entrance to the forbidden forest- thankfully- but Eliza still seemed bent on following along the side of it. As the path you traversed bends away from the forest, Eliza pulls you off the road toward the trees and your heart begins to race. Your breath starts coming in pants, and you hear Eliza’s annoyed sigh next to you.

“Oh calm down. If I’m here nothing will happen to you. There’s just something I need to show you.”

The forest was creepy. It was dark, crowded with trees, and full of spiderwebs. Every so often you would hear a spooky, sourceless noise emanate from the surrounding area and you’d pull yourself tighter against Eliza. At this point she wasn’t dragging you along anymore, you were willingly following her because she was your way out of this place. You tried to keep track of the steps you took, but after five minutes the entire place looked the same. You could’ve sworn you passed that white, skeletal tree once already- you picked it as a landmark because it looked unique, but you spy another down the way and now realize it was anything but in this place.

“Here, get down,” Eliza’s voice was quick and whispered, pulling you down by the hood of your robes. She finally lets go of you, pushing her way forward through a bunch of brambles before turning around and waving you forward. With Eliza pushing the way through, you were barely poked by the thorns that grow among the brambles, wondering how Eliza was standing it all. She eventually stops and you bump into her back, her hand flying backwards to stabilize you before taking hold of your robes in her fist and pulling you up next to her. You hiss in pain as a stray thorn scratches your cheek, and Eliza shushes you in response.

“Look, there. Just inside that tree- oh, she’s walking out.”

You look where she’s pointing, into a glade ahead of you. There was a large tree in the centre of the glade, hollow in the middle in a large arc that likely acts as a den. Sunlight was dappled through the leaves above, shining down in dots and swaying leaves onto the floor of the glade. As you watch, a brilliant pearlescent unicorn walks out of the tree, entering into the sunlight and kneeling down to eat some grass. You’re in awe, holding your breath at the sight. This was something that most people went their whole lives without seeing, and Eliza just brought you straight to this place.

You felt Eliza slowly slip her arm around your waist and tighten her hold, and you begin to wonder why. It wasn’t like you wanted to disturb the unicorn at all, you were thankful just to be able to be graced with its presence. But then- that’s when you heard the noise.

A group of men were laughing boisterously, pushing their way loudly through the brambles that surround the glade. The unicorn neighs loudly in alarm, turning around to run before suddenly a spell is shot through the air, pausing the unicorn in mid-stride. Three men burst into the glade, laughing and pushing against each other. No, they were going for the unicorn!

You tried to push forward but Eliza held you down, practically climbing on top of your back to hold you still. “Just watch, you’ll see.” Her voice was whispered with hatred into your ear, and you cease struggling once it seems futile.

“Let me save her, we still have time. We can surprise them-”

“Just. Watch.”

One of the three men restabilized the spell to hold the unicorn still, another pulled out a dark, gleaming blade that reflected prisms onto the ground below it. The last one, laughing, pulls out a pouch and sets it atop the unicorn, flipping the front flap open. Right in front of you, they begin to harvest the unicorn’s blood. The gleaming blade is used multiple times, the cut healing itself after one small vial is full and they move to the next. Their mumbles were unheard by you, but they seemed to be having a good time. They had an ease to their movements that showed how often they did this.

“I don’t want to see this,” You whisper, tears burning your eyes.

“Watch. This is what you need to see. This is why I do what I do.” Eliza’s voice felt sinister, sending shivers of dread down your spine. You begin shaking your head, trying to break free from her again with no success.

“I’ve seen enough, I get it.” You pull again and Eliza pushes you down farther, the thorns poking into your stomach. She keeps you down on the ground for another long while, until the mumblings from the poachers fade away to nothing. When she finally lets you back up, the unicorn is laying on the ground of the glade, breathing but exhausted. Tears fall down your cheeks and Eliza begins to crawl away. “Shouldn’t we do something? Heal her?”

“If you want to give her a heart attack, sure. Do you really think she wants a wizard with a wand near her right now?”

You sigh and turn, following Eliza out of the crawlspace she made. You followed behind her steps as she led the way out of the forest, your mind racing with the horrible scene that you just witnessed.

“Now do you understand?”

“I’ve always known poachers were horrible people, Eliza.”

“No,” She stops, turning to face you with a serious and concentrated look. “Do you understand why I do what I do? Why I cast those spells on them?” You were quiet, eyes darting back and forth between her own, and she raises her voice when you don’t answer. “They deserve it! They harvest blood from a unicorn, the most majestic and good being in this entire world!”

“Eliza,” You begin, but she cuts you off before you can even begin to speak.

“No! You can’t tell me that they don’t deserve it! You saw it, you watched the whole thing! They do that every day!”

“Why haven’t you stopped it then?” You furrow your brow, tilting your head in confusion. You see her face begin to turn red from rage, stepping forward and poking your chest roughly.

“What are you saying?”

“Nothing, I just wondered-”

“I was waiting. Watching. I want to know where they came from so I can destroy them from the source. If I kill two ants trying to steal a crumb, ten more will appear.” You draw in a breath, trying to understand her reasoning.

“How long has this been happening that you know it happens every day? How long have you sat there and just watched a unicorn be tortured?”

“It’s not my fault!” Eliza screeches, disbelief colouring her voice. “I’m not the one doing it, they are! I’m working on it, I’m planning! You can’t tell me that- no, it’s you! You’re the horrible one, twisting my words and actions around to seem evil.” She sneers at you, poking your chest roughly once more. “It’s you, with all of it!”

“Eliza, I didn’t even know this was happening.” You huff angrily, the overwhelming feelings from watching the unicorn bubbling up once more. “You’re the one that’s been watching this for so long that you know how often and when it happens. You’re the one that didn’t do anything to save that poor unicorn, you’re the one casting unforgivables on people, and you’re the one that lost your friends. None of this is my fault, Eliza, I did nothing to you! You didn’t even know I existed until my friends gathered you to save me from those damn poachers! You’re just looking for an easy excuse, anything or anyone to blame so that you’re not the one at fault!”

“It can’t be my fault!” Eliza screamed back, turning and marching away. You follow quickly, not wanting to be lost, but Eliza keeps up her rant as she walks. “None of this can be my fault because that would mean every single decision I’ve made was wrong. That everything I’ve chased my whole life was for evil and I can’t handle that, I can’t allow that to happen.”

“Eliza, it’s never too late to admit your mistakes and do better-”

“I’ve made no mistakes!” She threw her hand out, turning her head to glare at you before pushing forward again. “I can’t afford mistakes. I can’t have someone coming into my life and pointing out every single flaw I have. I have responsibilities, I have people that count on me!”

You were quiet after that, unsure what to say. Maybe the stress was getting to her? ‘She still cast Crucio…’ Your mind supplied, and you shook your head while staring at the leaf-littered ground. There was no excuse good enough for that one. No matter what she showed you, what she believed her reasoning to be, she had willingly and joyfully cast that curse. Tortured someone for her own pleasure. Nothing can change that.

You finally break through the edge of the forest and you gasp in a sigh of relief, rushing forward away from the trees. The sunlight on your face felt nice, and you close your eyes with your face skyward to feel the heat sink into your flesh once more. You hear Eliza approach next to you, then stop. You halfway hope she would disappear like she did before, but when you opened your eyes she still stood next to you, studying you intently.

“So, are you going to tell them?” You tilt your head again, crossing your arms.

“I’m sorry?”

“Tell them. Tell Natty what you saw, that I was justified in my actions.” You drew in a breath, thinking it over. This woman was dangerous and already threatened you once. Saying no to her, especially here when you both stood alone, was a death sentence. You bit your lip, then nodded once, your shoulders relaxing at Eliza’s obvious relief. You’re quick to speak, unsure if you want to lie fully to her.

“I’ll tell them what I saw. I’ll let them draw their own conclusions.”

“That’s all I ask,” Eliza assures, a smile crossing her face finally. Her smile was soft, almost gentle if you didn’t know any better. You could easily see how she fooled people into believing she was good, it was hard to argue with that face. “We should get back to the castle before we’re missed.”

“Right,” You agree quietly, walking next to her down the path. Close to Hogwarts, Eliza pulled a broom from seemingly nowhere and turned toward you.

“I have an errand to run, but I think you’re close enough to the castle now.” You nod, watching her wearily as she mounts her broom. “Remember what you said.”

“Of course.”

You were unsure where to go when you finally returned to the castle. Your class had long since been over and you couldn’t find Poppy anywhere near the pens. You stopped by the potion’s classroom on the way inside, but it was empty aside from Professor Sharp in the back, and you walked on. You checked the main areas, but they were too crowded and you found yourself doubting you’d find your friends there. The library was a bust as well, and you checked the small area above the transfiguration courtyard where you first spoke to Ominis, finding it in much the same state as everywhere else. You let yourself walk down the bridge slowly, entering the Defense Against the Dark Arts tower.

You hum to yourself, wondering if they might be in the Undercroft. Ominis might, at least. You knew you could always just leave and search somewhere else if they weren’t, so you began the descent to where you remembered it was. Approaching the cabinet you hesitated, lifting your wand and looking down the hall to make sure no one was watching. You were unsure which places to press, but you tried your best to replicate what Ominis had done the night before. Thankfully, the door swung open.

“No one can find them anywhere,” Poppy exclaims, and you smile hearing her voice. You try to hurry your feet to meet with them, listening to their conversations.

“I couldn’t find Eliza, either. She wasn’t in our common room or any other place I could think of in the castle.” That was Natty’s voice, and you were halfway surprised to hear her there.

“Y/N is powerful and knew that this was a possibility. I’m sure they’re okay,” Sebastian assures, and you turn the corner to finally enter into the room. A group of five were huddled around a table, half of them leaning on the table while one person paced back and forth.

“No, they thought it was empty threats,” Ominis challenged, turning to continue his pacing. Sebastian stood nearby, anxiously watching his friend. “They didn’t think anything would happen, especially so soon. They would’ve been open, vulnerable- Salazar, I should’ve been there. I should’ve watched them.”

“It’s not your fault, Ominis,” Natty tried to assure, Poppy’s head lowering farther toward the table.

“I’m sorry,” She whispers, pain evident in her tone, and your chest clenches. You begin walking forward, wanting to reassure the group of them. Ominis immediately stops, turning away from your direction and toward Poppy.

“Hey, don’t be. We’ve been over this Poppy, it’s not your fault at all. We just need to work together to find them-”

“Found them,” Garreth interrupts, raising a hand to motion toward you. You didn’t realize the ginger had seen you, though, granted, you were watching Ominis and Poppy closely. Everyone spins to face you, and Ominis lifts his wand immediately to show his pulsing light.

“Y/N!” The group of them called out, and you smile in return. You were about to respond when Ominis takes long strides forward, practically tackling you into a hug.

“Merlin, Y/N,” Ominis’ voice was heavy with emotions as he buried his face into your neck. “We were so worried.”

“Ominis was ready to tear this castle apart,” Sebastian adds helpfully with a smirk, walking back toward the table and circling around to where Poppy stood. You finally see a large grin across her face, but guilt still coloured the edges. Sebastian’s hand raised to her back, rubbing back and forth in a comforting manner. Your arms wrap around Ominis, holding him close as you speak to the rest of them.

“I’m fine now, sorry to worry you all.”

“‘Sorry to worry’-” Garreth repeats incredulously, crossing his arms. “Are you trying to say you wandered off on your own accord?” The group fell quiet, confused. You shook your head the best you could, smiling toward the bunch of them in an attempt to reassure them. Your eyes lock with Poppy, trying to send her, specifically, a reassuring look before you spoke your next words.

“No, Eliza found me.”

“What?” Natty called out, immediately taking a step forward before hesitating in her movements. She crosses her arms, a stubborn look crossing her face. “Well, what did she want?”

“Did she hurt you?” Ominis asks, pulling back and waving his wand down your form. You could feel the tickle of a diagnostic spell that you were surprised he knew but shook your head in response once again.

“No, I’m not hurt. She just…” You trailed off, eyeing each of them with an unsure look. Ominis raises his hand to your cheek and trails his thumb against your skin, then when he pulls away you spot blood. You had forgotten about the scratches you received from the brambles, but as Ominis raises his wand and mumbles something, your skin knits together like nothing had happened in the first place. “Well, she just wanted to show me something.”

“Show you something?” Garreth repeats again, and you nod blandly. Natty studies the ground in front of her, unable to meet your eyes.

“She wanted to show me her excuse. The reasoning behind her actions.”

“The reason she cast Unforgivables?” Natty spat out, turning to walk a few steps away from the group. You could tell she was hurting and you begin to wish you knew her better if only to comfort her now.

“Yes,” You answered, watching the back of her head. She stiffened in response but said nothing. It was Sebastian who ended up breaking the silence.

“So what was it that she showed you then?”

“A unicorn.” Your answer brought a gasp to the lot of them, aside from Natty who only blandly turned to face your direction again- still unable to meet your eyes. “She brought me into the forbidden forest. Led me directly to a secluded glade where a unicorn’s den lay. The unicorn walked out, and she-” You breathe through the pain, the memory of those poachers flickering through your mind.

“You can’t tell me she did something to the unicorn?” Poppy calls out, her momentary guilt suddenly vanished. You couldn’t help the smile you threw towards her at her obvious interest. She was bouncing on her heels and her hands fidgeted as she waited for an answer, and you were quick to reassure her.

“Oh, no. We didn’t go into the glade at all.” You looked up to the ceiling, thinking. “In fact, she created this little space among the bramble that we could sit in.” You begin to tell the story, every detail that you could remember. How Eliza held you down before the poachers came, what they did and her excuses for keeping the both of you from stopping them. You watched the faces of your friends sour as you told your story, stopping your tale before the screaming had happened, before you had argued with her.

“Why didn’t she stop it?” Natty finally asks, meeting your eyes with a watery gaze. “If this has been going on for so long- so long that she knew the exact time that the poachers would be there- why hasn’t she stopped it already?”

“She said she was watching, waiting to follow them back to their hideout to strike them at the source. So they couldn’t regroup and go back.” You were repeating what you had already explained, but you tried to reason with Natty. The Gryffindor’s face just sneers, taking a step closer to her.

“That’s no excuse, she could’ve followed them the first time she saw the lot of them!”

“Hey,” Ominis interrupts, moving a few steps to stand between the two of them. He held his wand up in front of him, the end pulsing with his usual charm. “Don’t shoot the messenger. I’m sure Y/N doesn’t agree with Eliza’s excuses.”

“They certainly haven’t said as much.”

“I was trying not to colour your guys’ opinions with my own,” You reply gently, pushing past Ominis to approach Natty carefully. “Eliza asked me to tell you all the story. She believed that what she showed me, mixed with me telling you, was the key. She just wants her friends back.” You bite your lip, feeling a bit sorry for her. “I’m not excusing any of it. In fact, we had this very same fight right after the poachers had left.”

Natty’s aggression drained out of her and her shoulders visibly slumped lower. “Oh,” She whispers, shaking her head as her tears finally begin to fall. “Yeah, she would. She always had a habit of thinking everything was a game.”

“I’m sorry, Natty,” You whisper to her, swallowing roughly. The girl’s eyes shoot up to you in surprise, confusion marring her features. She roughly wipes her tears away with a fist when she responds.

“Whatever for?”

“I know you two were close-”

“None of this is your fault, Y/N,” Natty reassures, reaching forward to place a hand on your bicep, squeezing it in reassurance.

“I told them as much,” Ominis mumbles behind you. He had approached sometime during your conversation, taking the last few steps to close the distance and place a hand on your lower back.

“I know,” You say with emphasis, eyeing both Natty and Ominis, “That it’s not my fault. Eliza has made her own choices, and something like this was bound to happen sooner or later.” You lock eyes with Natty, expression falling. “I was apologizing out of empathy, not guilt. I would hate to lose a friend like that.”

“Well, thank you.” Natty nods, taking a few steps back toward the table. “So, what are we going to do?”

“Do?” Garreth questions her, placing his hands on the table to lean against it. “What do you mean? Y/N was found, safe and sound.”

“I mean about Eliza,” Natty continues, eyeing him before approaching the table fully, turning to the rest of the group. “She’s going to be upset once she realizes her little stunt didn’t work. She might target Y/N again- or she might even go after one of us, ourselves, if she feels threatened enough.”

“And what are we supposed to do about all of that?” Poppy questions, leaning back into Sebastian for comfort. You take Ominis’ hand, leading him closer to the rest of the group to participate in the discussion. “We’ve all seen how powerful she is- and she’s not afraid to use Unforgivables. How are we going to compete with that?”

“Well,” Sebastian inserts, tilting his head back and forth, “There does happen to be six of us, and only one of her.”

“One of her, and her big, all-consuming, ancient and most-powerful magic,” Garreth replies sarcastically, leaning back to cross his arms. “Yep, seems like a fair fight to me.”

“We just need to plan,” Ominis finally inserts, one hand holding his wand out while the other slides from your back to your hip, pulling you against his side. “Even the largest foe has a weakness, we just need to find hers.”

“What are we even trying to get done here?” Garreth questions once more, throwing his hands out. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for a plan to fix everything, but what is the ultimate objective? Get Eliza to stop using Unforgivables? Get her to leave us all alone?”

“The objective, Garreth,” Natty inserts, looking him in the eyes, “Is to get her put into Azkaban where she belongs.”

[emotionalsupporthufflefluff]

fancy excuses that shed some light

Ominis Gaunt x GN!Hufflepuff!Reader (MC = Eliza Fig, Gryffindor) part seven of the fancy series - [ToC]

Summary: Eliza has something she needs to show you- but could what she has to say really make up for her wrongdoings?

“You know, I got to thinking,” Eliza said, roughly manhandling you down the deserted path away from the Beasts’ class. “See, at first I was just going to avoid you for the rest of the year. There’s not much time left, after all, and once we graduate from Hogwarts I doubt that I’ll ever see you again.”

Your heart was pounding wildly and your spare hand was down the pocket of your robes, twirling your wand in hand. You probably would’ve done something about this situation already, but you could feel the hard poke of Eliza’s wand on the side that she pressed herself against. Your mind raced, trying to come up with solutions. Poppy was most likely, if she turned around and noticed you gone then she would definitely go looking. Ominis was currently in a Potions tutoring class, not even nearby a window that you could pass by. You weren’t sure what class Sebastian was in- if he even was- but you figured if not he was likely to be found in the library. No, you’re only solution here would be to fight her yourself if you had to.

“Then, I realized that since you were the reason I lost my friends,” It was almost painful to hold back your scoff, but you managed with the hard press of her wand against your ribs, “Then you could also be the one that restores their confidence in me.”

“How could I do that?” You were confused, shaking your head blandly, but Eliza pulls your arm roughly and the wand digs into your skin.

“By following me and shutting up, actually.”

The rest of the walk was done in silence, arm in arm as if you were the best of friends. You didn’t pass by anyone until you were long past Hogwarts, halfway down the path to Hogsmeade. You had already passed the main entrance to the forbidden forest- thankfully- but Eliza still seemed bent on following along the side of it. As the path you traversed bends away from the forest, Eliza pulls you off the road toward the trees and your heart begins to race. Your breath starts coming in pants, and you hear Eliza’s annoyed sigh next to you.

“Oh calm down. If I’m here nothing will happen to you. There’s just something I need to show you.”

The forest was creepy. It was dark, crowded with trees, and full of spiderwebs. Every so often you would hear a spooky, sourceless noise emanate from the surrounding area and you’d pull yourself tighter against Eliza. At this point she wasn’t dragging you along anymore, you were willingly following her because she was your way out of this place. You tried to keep track of the steps you took, but after five minutes the entire place looked the same. You could’ve sworn you passed that white, skeletal tree once already- you picked it as a landmark because it looked unique, but you spy another down the way and now realize it was anything but in this place.

“Here, get down,” Eliza’s voice was quick and whispered, pulling you down by the hood of your robes. She finally lets go of you, pushing her way forward through a bunch of brambles before turning around and waving you forward. With Eliza pushing the way through, you were barely poked by the thorns that grow among the brambles, wondering how Eliza was standing it all. She eventually stops and you bump into her back, her hand flying backwards to stabilize you before taking hold of your robes in her fist and pulling you up next to her. You hiss in pain as a stray thorn scratches your cheek, and Eliza shushes you in response.

“Look, there. Just inside that tree- oh, she’s walking out.”

You look where she’s pointing, into a glade ahead of you. There was a large tree in the centre of the glade, hollow in the middle in a large arc that likely acts as a den. Sunlight was dappled through the leaves above, shining down in dots and swaying leaves onto the floor of the glade. As you watch, a brilliant pearlescent unicorn walks out of the tree, entering into the sunlight and kneeling down to eat some grass. You’re in awe, holding your breath at the sight. This was something that most people went their whole lives without seeing, and Eliza just brought you straight to this place.

You felt Eliza slowly slip her arm around your waist and tighten her hold, and you begin to wonder why. It wasn’t like you wanted to disturb the unicorn at all, you were thankful just to be able to be graced with its presence. But then- that’s when you heard the noise.

A group of men were laughing boisterously, pushing their way loudly through the brambles that surround the glade. The unicorn neighs loudly in alarm, turning around to run before suddenly a spell is shot through the air, pausing the unicorn in mid-stride. Three men burst into the glade, laughing and pushing against each other. No, they were going for the unicorn!

You tried to push forward but Eliza held you down, practically climbing on top of your back to hold you still. “Just watch, you’ll see.” Her voice was whispered with hatred into your ear, and you cease struggling once it seems futile.

“Let me save her, we still have time. We can surprise them-”

“Just. Watch.”

One of the three men restabilized the spell to hold the unicorn still, another pulled out a dark, gleaming blade that reflected prisms onto the ground below it. The last one, laughing, pulls out a pouch and sets it atop the unicorn, flipping the front flap open. Right in front of you, they begin to harvest the unicorn’s blood. The gleaming blade is used multiple times, the cut healing itself after one small vial is full and they move to the next. Their mumbles were unheard by you, but they seemed to be having a good time. They had an ease to their movements that showed how often they did this.

“I don’t want to see this,” You whisper, tears burning your eyes.

“Watch. This is what you need to see. This is why I do what I do.” Eliza’s voice felt sinister, sending shivers of dread down your spine. You begin shaking your head, trying to break free from her again with no success.

“I’ve seen enough, I get it.” You pull again and Eliza pushes you down farther, the thorns poking into your stomach. She keeps you down on the ground for another long while, until the mumblings from the poachers fade away to nothing. When she finally lets you back up, the unicorn is laying on the ground of the glade, breathing but exhausted. Tears fall down your cheeks and Eliza begins to crawl away. “Shouldn’t we do something? Heal her?”

“If you want to give her a heart attack, sure. Do you really think she wants a wizard with a wand near her right now?”

You sigh and turn, following Eliza out of the crawlspace she made. You followed behind her steps as she led the way out of the forest, your mind racing with the horrible scene that you just witnessed.

“Now do you understand?”

“I’ve always known poachers were horrible people, Eliza.”

“No,” She stops, turning to face you with a serious and concentrated look. “Do you understand why I do what I do? Why I cast those spells on them?” You were quiet, eyes darting back and forth between her own, and she raises her voice when you don’t answer. “They deserve it! They harvest blood from a unicorn, the most majestic and good being in this entire world!”

“Eliza,” You begin, but she cuts you off before you can even begin to speak.

“No! You can’t tell me that they don’t deserve it! You saw it, you watched the whole thing! They do that every day!”

“Why haven’t you stopped it then?” You furrow your brow, tilting your head in confusion. You see her face begin to turn red from rage, stepping forward and poking your chest roughly.

“What are you saying?”

“Nothing, I just wondered-”

“I was waiting. Watching. I want to know where they came from so I can destroy them from the source. If I kill two ants trying to steal a crumb, ten more will appear.” You draw in a breath, trying to understand her reasoning.

“How long has this been happening that you know it happens every day? How long have you sat there and just watched a unicorn be tortured?”

“It’s not my fault!” Eliza screeches, disbelief colouring her voice. “I’m not the one doing it, they are! I’m working on it, I’m planning! You can’t tell me that- no, it’s you! You’re the horrible one, twisting my words and actions around to seem evil.” She sneers at you, poking your chest roughly once more. “It’s you, with all of it!”

“Eliza, I didn’t even know this was happening.” You huff angrily, the overwhelming feelings from watching the unicorn bubbling up once more. “You’re the one that’s been watching this for so long that you know how often and when it happens. You’re the one that didn’t do anything to save that poor unicorn, you’re the one casting unforgivables on people, and you’re the one that lost your friends. None of this is my fault, Eliza, I did nothing to you! You didn’t even know I existed until my friends gathered you to save me from those damn poachers! You’re just looking for an easy excuse, anything or anyone to blame so that you’re not the one at fault!”

“It can’t be my fault!” Eliza screamed back, turning and marching away. You follow quickly, not wanting to be lost, but Eliza keeps up her rant as she walks. “None of this can be my fault because that would mean every single decision I’ve made was wrong. That everything I’ve chased my whole life was for evil and I can’t handle that, I can’t allow that to happen.”

“Eliza, it’s never too late to admit your mistakes and do better-”

“I’ve made no mistakes!” She threw her hand out, turning her head to glare at you before pushing forward again. “I can’t afford mistakes. I can’t have someone coming into my life and pointing out every single flaw I have. I have responsibilities, I have people that count on me!”

You were quiet after that, unsure what to say. Maybe the stress was getting to her? ‘She still cast Crucio…’ Your mind supplied, and you shook your head while staring at the leaf-littered ground. There was no excuse good enough for that one. No matter what she showed you, what she believed her reasoning to be, she had willingly and joyfully cast that curse. Tortured someone for her own pleasure. Nothing can change that.

You finally break through the edge of the forest and you gasp in a sigh of relief, rushing forward away from the trees. The sunlight on your face felt nice, and you close your eyes with your face skyward to feel the heat sink into your flesh once more. You hear Eliza approach next to you, then stop. You halfway hope she would disappear like she did before, but when you opened your eyes she still stood next to you, studying you intently.

“So, are you going to tell them?” You tilt your head again, crossing your arms.

“I’m sorry?”

“Tell them. Tell Natty what you saw, that I was justified in my actions.” You drew in a breath, thinking it over. This woman was dangerous and already threatened you once. Saying no to her, especially here when you both stood alone, was a death sentence. You bit your lip, then nodded once, your shoulders relaxing at Eliza’s obvious relief. You’re quick to speak, unsure if you want to lie fully to her.

“I’ll tell them what I saw. I’ll let them draw their own conclusions.”

“That’s all I ask,” Eliza assures, a smile crossing her face finally. Her smile was soft, almost gentle if you didn’t know any better. You could easily see how she fooled people into believing she was good, it was hard to argue with that face. “We should get back to the castle before we’re missed.”

“Right,” You agree quietly, walking next to her down the path. Close to Hogwarts, Eliza pulled a broom from seemingly nowhere and turned toward you.

“I have an errand to run, but I think you’re close enough to the castle now.” You nod, watching her wearily as she mounts her broom. “Remember what you said.”

“Of course.”

You were unsure where to go when you finally returned to the castle. Your class had long since been over and you couldn’t find Poppy anywhere near the pens. You stopped by the potion’s classroom on the way inside, but it was empty aside from Professor Sharp in the back, and you walked on. You checked the main areas, but they were too crowded and you found yourself doubting you’d find your friends there. The library was a bust as well, and you checked the small area above the transfiguration courtyard where you first spoke to Ominis, finding it in much the same state as everywhere else. You let yourself walk down the bridge slowly, entering the Defense Against the Dark Arts tower.

You hum to yourself, wondering if they might be in the Undercroft. Ominis might, at least. You knew you could always just leave and search somewhere else if they weren’t, so you began the descent to where you remembered it was. Approaching the cabinet you hesitated, lifting your wand and looking down the hall to make sure no one was watching. You were unsure which places to press, but you tried your best to replicate what Ominis had done the night before. Thankfully, the door swung open.

“No one can find them anywhere,” Poppy exclaims, and you smile hearing her voice. You try to hurry your feet to meet with them, listening to their conversations.

“I couldn’t find Eliza, either. She wasn’t in our common room or any other place I could think of in the castle.” That was Natty’s voice, and you were halfway surprised to hear her there.

“Y/N is powerful and knew that this was a possibility. I’m sure they’re okay,” Sebastian assures, and you turn the corner to finally enter into the room. A group of five were huddled around a table, half of them leaning on the table while one person paced back and forth.

“No, they thought it was empty threats,” Ominis challenged, turning to continue his pacing. Sebastian stood nearby, anxiously watching his friend. “They didn’t think anything would happen, especially so soon. They would’ve been open, vulnerable- Salazar, I should’ve been there. I should’ve watched them.”

“It’s not your fault, Ominis,” Natty tried to assure, Poppy’s head lowering farther toward the table.

“I’m sorry,” She whispers, pain evident in her tone, and your chest clenches. You begin walking forward, wanting to reassure the group of them. Ominis immediately stops, turning away from your direction and toward Poppy.

“Hey, don’t be. We’ve been over this Poppy, it’s not your fault at all. We just need to work together to find them-”

“Found them,” Garreth interrupts, raising a hand to motion toward you. You didn’t realize the ginger had seen you, though, granted, you were watching Ominis and Poppy closely. Everyone spins to face you, and Ominis lifts his wand immediately to show his pulsing light.

“Y/N!” The group of them called out, and you smile in return. You were about to respond when Ominis takes long strides forward, practically tackling you into a hug.

“Merlin, Y/N,” Ominis’ voice was heavy with emotions as he buried his face into your neck. “We were so worried.”

“Ominis was ready to tear this castle apart,” Sebastian adds helpfully with a smirk, walking back toward the table and circling around to where Poppy stood. You finally see a large grin across her face, but guilt still coloured the edges. Sebastian’s hand raised to her back, rubbing back and forth in a comforting manner. Your arms wrap around Ominis, holding him close as you speak to the rest of them.

“I’m fine now, sorry to worry you all.”

“‘Sorry to worry’-” Garreth repeats incredulously, crossing his arms. “Are you trying to say you wandered off on your own accord?” The group fell quiet, confused. You shook your head the best you could, smiling toward the bunch of them in an attempt to reassure them. Your eyes lock with Poppy, trying to send her, specifically, a reassuring look before you spoke your next words.

“No, Eliza found me.”

“What?” Natty called out, immediately taking a step forward before hesitating in her movements. She crosses her arms, a stubborn look crossing her face. “Well, what did she want?”

“Did she hurt you?” Ominis asks, pulling back and waving his wand down your form. You could feel the tickle of a diagnostic spell that you were surprised he knew but shook your head in response once again.

“No, I’m not hurt. She just…” You trailed off, eyeing each of them with an unsure look. Ominis raises his hand to your cheek and trails his thumb against your skin, then when he pulls away you spot blood. You had forgotten about the scratches you received from the brambles, but as Ominis raises his wand and mumbles something, your skin knits together like nothing had happened in the first place. “Well, she just wanted to show me something.”

“Show you something?” Garreth repeats again, and you nod blandly. Natty studies the ground in front of her, unable to meet your eyes.

“She wanted to show me her excuse. The reasoning behind her actions.”

“The reason she cast Unforgivables?” Natty spat out, turning to walk a few steps away from the group. You could tell she was hurting and you begin to wish you knew her better if only to comfort her now.

“Yes,” You answered, watching the back of her head. She stiffened in response but said nothing. It was Sebastian who ended up breaking the silence.

“So what was it that she showed you then?”

“A unicorn.” Your answer brought a gasp to the lot of them, aside from Natty who only blandly turned to face your direction again- still unable to meet your eyes. “She brought me into the forbidden forest. Led me directly to a secluded glade where a unicorn’s den lay. The unicorn walked out, and she-” You breathe through the pain, the memory of those poachers flickering through your mind.

“You can’t tell me she did something to the unicorn?” Poppy calls out, her momentary guilt suddenly vanished. You couldn’t help the smile you threw towards her at her obvious interest. She was bouncing on her heels and her hands fidgeted as she waited for an answer, and you were quick to reassure her.

“Oh, no. We didn’t go into the glade at all.” You looked up to the ceiling, thinking. “In fact, she created this little space among the bramble that we could sit in.” You begin to tell the story, every detail that you could remember. How Eliza held you down before the poachers came, what they did and her excuses for keeping the both of you from stopping them. You watched the faces of your friends sour as you told your story, stopping your tale before the screaming had happened, before you had argued with her.

“Why didn’t she stop it?” Natty finally asks, meeting your eyes with a watery gaze. “If this has been going on for so long- so long that she knew the exact time that the poachers would be there- why hasn’t she stopped it already?”

“She said she was watching, waiting to follow them back to their hideout to strike them at the source. So they couldn’t regroup and go back.” You were repeating what you had already explained, but you tried to reason with Natty. The Gryffindor’s face just sneers, taking a step closer to you.

“That’s no excuse, she could’ve followed them the first time she saw the lot of them!”

“Hey,” Ominis interrupts, moving a few steps to stand between the two of them. He held his wand up in front of him, the end pulsing with his usual charm. “Don’t shoot the messenger. I’m sure Y/N doesn’t agree with Eliza’s excuses.”

“They certainly haven’t said as much.”

“I was just trying not to colour your guys’ opinions with my own,” You reply gently, pushing past Ominis to approach Natty carefully. “Eliza asked me to tell you all the story. She believed that what she showed me, mixed with me telling you, was the key. She just wants her friends back.” You bite your lip, feeling a bit sorry for her. “I’m not excusing any of it. In fact, we had this very same fight right after the poachers had left.”

Natty’s aggression drained out of her and her shoulders visibly slumped lower. “Oh,” She whispers, shaking her head as her tears finally begin to fall. “Yeah, she would. She always had a habit of thinking everything was a game.”

“I’m sorry, Natty,” You whisper to her, swallowing roughly. The girl’s eyes shoot up to you in surprise, confusion marring her features. She roughly wipes her tears away with a fist when she responds.

“Whatever for?”

“I know you two were close-”

“None of this is your fault, Y/N,” Natty reassures, reaching forward to place a hand on your bicep, squeezing it in reassurance.

“I told them as much,” Ominis mumbles behind you. He had approached sometime during your conversation, taking the last few steps to close the distance and place a hand on your lower back.

“I know,” You say with emphasis, eyeing both Natty and Ominis, “That it’s not my fault. Eliza has made her own choices, and something like this was bound to happen sooner or later.” You lock eyes with Natty, expression falling. “I was apologizing out of empathy, not guilt. I would hate to lose a friend like that.”

“Well, thank you.” Natty nods, taking a few steps back toward the table. “So, what are we going to do?”

“Do?” Garreth questions her, placing his hands on the table to lean against it. “What do you mean? Y/N was found, safe and sound.”

“I mean about Eliza,” Natty continues, eyeing him before approaching the table fully, turning to the rest of the group. “She’s going to be upset once she realizes her little stunt didn’t work. She might target Y/N again- or she might even go after one of us, ourselves, if she feels threatened enough.”

“And what are we supposed to do about all of that?” Poppy questions, leaning back into Sebastian for comfort. You take Ominis’ hand, leading him closer to the rest of the group to participate in the discussion. “We’ve all seen how powerful she is- and she’s not afraid to use Unforgivables. How are we going to compete with that?”

“Well,” Sebastian inserts, tilting his head back and forth, “There does happen to be six of us, and only one of her.”

“One of her, and her big, all-consuming, ancient and most-powerful magic,” Garreth replies sarcastically, leaning back to cross his arms. “Yep, seems like a fair fight to me.”

“We just need to plan,” Ominis finally inserts, one hand holding his wand out while the other slides from your back to your hip, pulling you against his side. “Even the largest foe has a weakness, we just need to find hers.”

“What are we even trying to get done here?” Garreth questions once more, throwing his hands out. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for a plan to fix everything, but what is the ultimate objective? Get Eliza to stop using Unforgivables? Get her to leave us all alone?”

“The objective, Garreth,” Natty inserts, looking him in the eyes, “Is to get her put into Azkaban where she belongs.”

[emotionalsupporthufflefluff]

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Masterlist

Hello! My name is Rook, they/them, 💛Hufflepuff🖤 and I'm 26 years old! I'm in central standard zone, and live in the US unfortunately. You can find my main blog @serenefreakgeek and my main writing blog at @serenefreakgeekao3

In this blog I only write for Hogwarts Legacy characters, xReaders mainly but I also accept ships!

REQUESTS ARE OPEN

*!* marks explicit content, minors dni, 18+ only

OMINIS GAUNT

Fancy series (WIP)

Fortunate Stumblings *!*

SEBASTIAN SALLOW

Fortunate Stumblings *!*

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Do you take smut requests? If so something with Seb/reader or seb/reader/ominis ;) f!slytherin pls

*!* Sebastian / Ominis / f!Reader *!* Summary: When Sebastian and Ominis start getting a little too close, you start to take an interest. What could they be planning? Or hiding? You were their best friend, the fact they would hide anything from you was unthinkable. So you decide to investigate, because if they won’t tell you then you’ll find out for yourself. Turns out, it wasn’t anywhere close to what you imagined. Or rather, nothing you’ve thought up outside of your private moments in bed. Warnings: THIS IS RATED EXPLICIT, 18+ ONLY (everyone involved is of age, of course) A/N: So, completely and wholeheartedly honest, this is the first smut I’ve ever written. (And its only about half as long as things i usually write so i hope its okay??) Maybe I went a little hard doing a poly throuple, but go hard or go home, right? Anyway, you guys HAVE to let me know if this is good, whether it’s hot enough or whatever else. Constructive Criticism on this work is welcome in private messages, though i’ll warn you that i’m neurodivergent and have rejection sensitivity, but i’ll try my best to be open minded to this. Thank you for the request! (:

They had to be planning something.

You’ve been best friends with Ominis and Sebastian for years now, and they’ve always been close. But they haven’t been this close. For the last week or so they’ve spent every second of the day together, most of the time with their heads bent close, whispering something to each other. Whispering plans of evil and deceit, no doubt.

That's what you believed, anyway, since they refused to tell you what was going on. They would try to play it off and change the subject, sometimes just saying nothing or lying through their teeth about what they had been talking about. It irritated you to no end- they’ve never kept secrets from you before. Even when Poppy was throwing you a surprise birthday party did Sebastian spoil it, unable to keep the excitement out of his voice as he did so.

So, needless to say, this new development was unnerving. Worrying, even. If they weren’t involving you, could they be wrapped up in something insidious again? Were they being threatened or blackmailed? The sound of Ominis’ giggle has your head shooting straight up, watching the two of them bent around each other once again. No, of course, nothing that bad. Ominis would be in a foul mood if anyone tried anything, he could never keep the worry off of his face. And it was unlikely Sebastian would bend to anything like blackmail, he would fly off the handle at even the notion.

They had to be planning something. And you were going to figure out what it was.

Following the two of them was easy if you knew what you were doing. Sebastian gets very focused on whatever he does, like tunnel vision singling out his objective, so it was easy to sneak past him once distracted. Ominis, while he couldn’t see, used his sensing charm as often as possible. The only way to beat his detection was to not be in it. Easier said than done, when the pulsing of his wand is the only indication of his spell, the range undetermined by sight. However, you’ve been friends with them since your fifth year, and now, at the end of your seventh year, you were almost sure you knew where the edge of his radius was.

You followed them around all day, but when nothing out of the ordinary happened by the time they retired to their room then you were unsure what to do. Maybe they were planning something for a specific day? Maybe you needed to try your hand at listening in on the conversations? You stayed awake in the common room for a while longer than you usually did, slumping down on the couch until you were laying down. You were just about to push yourself to go to bed when you heard approaching footsteps from the boy’s dormitory hallway.

You sunk down deeper, the couch hiding your form away from any onlookers. And there, walking out of the hallway was none other than Sebastian and Ominis themselves. Smirking, you wait for them to begin climbing the stairs to leave the common room before jumping up and trying your best to follow them once more.

Halfway to their destination, you realized they were going to the Undercroft. Odd, considering the three of you met up twice a week, and tonight was neither of those nights. When they went down at the same time, you waited at the top with the cabinet. You didn’t know how long to wait, you just knew that if Ominis was still using his sensing charm and you tried to go down there, you’d be spotted immediately. Thinking up an excuse in your head, ‘Oh! Seb, Omi! I didn’t know you’d be here, I just wanted to practice that new defence spell we learned!’ You tapped the cabinet in sequence and began your slow descent.

You didn’t see them near the door when you got to the bottom, so slowly, carefully, you pushed it open and slipped inside. You glanced around, looking for where they went to no avail. Slowly still, you began carefully stepping forward, trying your best to be quiet. When you got halfway through the room, still not spotting anyone and wondering if your eyes had played tricks on you, you began to hear it.

A groan, or a moan, sounded through the room. It was a masculine sound, one that had you breathless and feeling in ways you probably shouldn’t. There was only one of two people it could be, and swallowing roughly, you continued your quiet way forward. Your curiosity burned, who moaned like that? What were they doing?

It should’ve been obvious what they were doing from the sound, but it was hard for you to believe it. That was until you saw it.

A bed had been put in the Undercroft (brought down or transfigured, it didn’t matter) and that bed currently had two occupants. Another groan sounded, a different, deeper one, as you watched the two men rocking against each other. Both were half undressed, eyes closed and lips interlocked. Sebastian’s shirt was removed, laying on the floor nearby, and his pants were buttoned open with Ominis’s hand reaching inside. Ominis, by comparison, still had his dress shirt on his shoulders but unbuttoned, and his pants and slacks were pulled halfway down his thighs. Sebastian’s hands were on either side of Ominis, gripping the sheets with tight fists, and Ominis humped his hips upward once again to drag his hard cock against Sebastian’s pants. You watched a trail of precum stick to Sebastian and trail back to Ominis’s dick before it broke away.

Ominis’ hand sped up its pumping, a smirk playing across his lips as Sebastian groans louder, humping his own hips forward to chase the feeling. “Damn, Ominis,” Sebastian mutters, his voice rough and gravelly. He opens his eyes to look down at his partner before something else catches his interest- you.

“Ominis, stop,” The urgency in his voice is enough for Ominis to pull his hand back quickly, furrowing his brows in concern.

“I’m sorry, did I-?”

“No, it’s not you. Y/N’s here.” Both of their voices were quiet and rough-sounding, and you gulped through the lump in your throat. Why had you stood there and just watched? Why did you stand somewhere Sebastian could easily see you? Why were you still just standing there?

“Y/N?” Ominis scrambled for his wand, lifting it up to pulse crimson between the three of you. A few moments of silence pass- moments filled with Sebastian’s undress and Ominis tucking himself away- before finally you speak.

“Well, don’t stop on my account.” What were you saying? Of course, they’d stop, you just-

“What?” Ominis asks, his tone sounding breathless from the insinuation. He turns his head to face you, a variety of emotions playing on his face. Sebastian only smirks, tilting his head to study you. His gaze on you was intense like he was peering through you and seeing everything you tried to hide. All of the attraction you’ve tried to bury through the years.

“I think what our dear Y/N is saying is that we should continue, Ominis.” Sebastian crawls forward atop Ominis, crowding him. Ominis turns back to him, eyes widening. Sebastian drags his pelvis across Ominis, who throws his head back, his throat tensing in an effort not to moan again. “Perhaps, she even wants to join?”

You’re watching with wide eyes, taking in as much as you can. Both of them featured pretty heavily in your fantasies, but never at the same time. That was sure to change now, though. “Join?” Ominis’ voice was breathless, a hand reaching out to grasp at Sebastian’s hip, pulling him roughly downward and thrusting up to meet him. “Please tell me that’s not just an assumption.”

“Hm, seems like Ominis agrees with me,” Sebastian’s eyes are dangerous as he looks up at you through his lashes. His hands drag sensually down Ominis’s chest, and you watch them tweak his nipple twice. “We’d both be willing to invite you in, you know. If that’s something you’re interested in.” He watches you while manhandling Ominis, pulling his pants back down to where they were before taking his dick in hand.

“Yes,” You whisper, unsure whether it actually came out of your mouth or you just thought it. You took a few steps toward the bed, and the wicked smirk that Sebastian shot back at you in return fired something down below, your breathing coming quicker.

“Oh, look at you. We’re not even touching you yet and you’re desperate for it.” Sebastian's words shot straight to your core, and you hummed in response, finally lifting a knee and crawling atop the bed. “That’s it, come here.” He sits up, reaches out to take your hand and pulls you forward until you were kneeling between the two of them. He places your hand on Ominis’s dick, and the other man hisses, opening his eyes wide and looking directly ahead of him, unseeing eyes darting across Sebastian’s face.

You tighten your grip and slide down, licking your lips, and your hand begins to pump. He was gorgeous, pale and long in your hand. Twisting your hand at the top to grab some precome, you drag downward once more, smoothing the way. Ominis groans loudly through his chest, reaching out toward you before he finally bumps against your chest, sliding down to your hip.

“You’re wearing far too many clothes,” Ominis breathes out, thrusting up against your hand. You giggle in disbelief, feeling Sebastian move behind you.

“Oh, I agree,” The other man intones, crowding behind you. His hands reach across to your front, sliding up your stomach to your chest, reaching to start unbuttoning your blouse. “Why don’t I get to work on that, hm?”

Your buttons were halfway unfastened when you leaned forward, your tongue darting out to trace the head of Ominis’ dick. The man gasped loudly, and you felt Sebastian’s resulting groan at the sight against your back. Fingers fumble with a button on your stomach before returning with urgency, tugging more and taking longer to undo. You sink your head down on his cock, the musky taste clouding your senses.

“Fuck, Sebastian, she’s just as good as we imagined.”

“Just as beautiful, too,” Sebastian mumbles in response, pulling the offending fabric apart finally and reaching behind your shirt with one hand to unsnap your bra. You slid the items off your chest, lifting your rear into the air to give Sebastian access. You heard Sebastian groan behind you once more, twin hands being placed on your butt and squeezing. You feel your core pulse once more as Sebastian slides his hand under your skirt, dragging across the fabric of your panties. Your groan precedes Ominis’s, who could feel the vibrations down his dick. Ominis’s hand, which had been staying put on your hip, slid upward at the feeling of skin and settled on your boob, pulling on it roughly.

Sebastian makes quick work unbuttoning your skirt and pulling it down, then hooking his finger through your panties to drag it down as well. You groaned again, arching your back and wiggling your rear in the air. Sebastian takes the hint immediately, his hands landing on your hips to still you before dragging one to your middle, a finger sliding down your folds.

“Stop, stop!” Ominis calls out, tangling a hand in your hair and pulling you up off of his dick. He’s breathing heavily, flush spreading from his chest to the tips of his ears. “If you kept on I wouldn’t have lasted much longer. There’s no way I’m going to finish early and miss any of this.”

“You always were good with your mouth, Ominis,” Sebastian calls out from behind you, and you moan loudly as he circles your clit, head falling between Ominis’ legs as you run out of energy to hold yourself up. “Why don’t you show Y/N just how good you can be.”

When Sebastian removes his hand, it's to grab your hips and physically move you himself. You squeak in surprise, hoisting yourself up to your elbows and coming face-to-cock with Sebastian. You breathe in his scent with wide eyes- slightly muskier than Ominis, with a more bitter tang to it- and just as you were leaning forward to get a taste, you felt a tongue breach your folds.

Gasping, you reach forward and take told of Sebastian’s thighs, moaning as the tongue begins its dance. Ominis licks a long stripe before moving back to your clit, circling around it without quite touching it yet. Squeezing Sebastian’s thighs again, you reach forward and finally take the delicious, thick cock into your mouth. Sebastian groans, immediately threading his fingers through your hair and gripping tight.

“Yeah, that’s it. You take me so well,” Sebastian mumbles, thrusting gently into your mouth. You try to relax your throat, but you’ve not had enough practice yet to manage it. You fit him down your throat after the second attempt, swallowing around him. “Fuck,” Sebastian groans out, tightening his hold before pulling out and thrusting back in again. “Fuck, that’s right. Show me how good you are for me.”

Ominis has taken hold of your hips, pulling you tighter against his face as he eats you out. His large hands are rough against you, fingers digging into your skin. Sebastian’s fingers tighten in your hair, and you wonder how both boys immediately knew that you wanted- needed- it rough. Sebastian kept his mumblings, calling both you and Ominis so good for him, and the praise raised the flame, a kink you didn’t know you had until it was uttered from his mouth to you. Sebastian began fucking your throat and Ominis began fucking you with his tongue, and you were rocking back and forth in the middle, loving how they used you.

All too soon, Sebastian was pulling out and reaching his free hand to jerk himself wildly in front of your face. You moaned loudly as Ominis added two fingers into your cunt, pumping in and out as he focused his tongue on your clit. Sebastian’s cum began to hit your face, globs entering your mouth during your moan, and you stick your tongue out to catch whatever was left. Licking what you could from your face, you sank your head downward and took Ominis’ cock back in.

Ominis’s fingers stuttered and you could feel a full body shudder under you, Ominis groaning into your cunt. He sped back up quickly, pumping his hands against you so hard he was pushing you forward with every thrust. You tried to keep your heading bobbing but it was hard with the overwhelming pleasure, eventually deep-throating Ominis and groaning loudly as you came around his fingers. Cum shot against the back of your throat and you tried to keep swallowing as Ominis came at the same time as you. Ominis tapped your hip once he finished and you pulled off, rolling to the side off of him and collapsing.

“Well, I know I just came but that show was hot,” Sebastian muttered, and you blearily glanced up to a mischievous smirk across his face.

“Just-” Ominis huffed, out of breath, “Just give me about thirty minutes and I’ll be ready again.”

“Again?” You mumbled, giggling under your breath. You felt almost drunk, lightheaded and giddy. “That sounds like fun.”

[emotionalsupporthufflefluff]

Tag List reblog!

@ominismylove @cerulione @littletealight @sugarcandyblue @seppys-return-to-madness @chonkercatto @amarisout @honeylemon21 @goddesofimortality @ceddar-cheez @crystalferret202 @zoleea-exultant @what-is-happening-helpp @blind-but-not-deaf @theegotisticalwriter @sarahskywalker-amadala @amellissa

fancy rooms that hide unnoticed

Ominis Gaunt x GN!Hufflepuff!Reader (MC = Eliza Fig, Gryffindor) part six of the fancy series - [ToC]

Summary: Ominis shows you a secret room hidden away, and reveals a few more secrets of his own. Everything is finally coming together, so nothing will get in the way of that, right?

A/N: The highly requested continuation of the fancy series is here! I want to say sorry for taking so long but it really hasn’t been that long since I posted, maybe a week if that lol But! wanted to add that my next post will in fact not be the next part of this, but a separate request that i received in my ask box. (don’t worry, part seven will be right after!) Anyway, send in requests for Hogwarts Legacy! I need more motivation to keep writing and while i already write purely for myself and my entertainment, your encouragement and requests certainly spur that along. Anyway, i have a feeling everyone was waiting with bated breath for this chapter so read on!

“Hush, listen. Here- quickly!”

You weren’t sure where Ominis was leading you, but it was inside the Hogwarts castle and it was certainly not toward any common room that you knew about. When you entered through the transfiguration courtyard into the Defense Against the Dark Arts building, you tried to ask in whispers where your destination was, but received only a smirk and a hushing sound from Ominis as he pressed you into an alcove to avoid a prefect’s rotation.

You were squeezed in tight, pressed against each other to fit inside, and your breath stuttered as you wondered if you had ever been this close before- been so close that the line of your body pressed against his and you could feel his chest move with breath against yours, could feel his hands try to find somewhere to rest and end up claiming the spot on your hips. This was all well and fine, surely, though you noticed the side you entered from facing the hallway and worried that you would be easily noticeable. You reach out to take hold of a nearby curtain, pulling the string that had tied it off to the side. The curtain slid downward and encased the small alcove. You figured it would block out the light, but you turn and notice this as a windowed alcove, and the moon shone down onto the both of you. Looking back into his face, the moonlight danced across Ominis’ cheeks and bathed his hair in such a light that it looked more white than blond.

He was smiling, and you began to feel his hands slowly gliding across your sides. Gently, he pushed upward and back, sliding his hands across to the small of your back, pressing in. You were already pressed against each other as much as you thought possible- but even so, Ominis dragged you closer in. Everything felt stifling, like too much and not enough all at once, and as you stared into his open and relaxed eyes you were tempted to close the rest of the slight distance between the two of you. Your eyes dart down to his lips and you can feel your breath hitch just as the sound of footsteps gets louder nearby your curtain. Ominis squeezed you in reassurance, likely assuming you had been worried about getting caught, meanwhile scenarios roamed unbidden through your mind of leaning in and connecting your lips to his.

The moment was broken when Ominis’ hands left you to push the curtain aside, taking your hand once more. He led you down a seemingly dead end next to a staircase, turning to face a clockwork cabinet. He raised his pulsing wand, tapping it against the cabinet in a sequence that you didn’t quite understand, but that which started moving gears and stars across the front. Something clicked into place with a thunk and slowly the cabinet doors slid open to reveal a hidden passageway. Ominis had taken your hand then, leading you inside.

When you pushed through the exit, you were surprised mainly at how large the room was around you. Sure, Hogwarts had many secrets and hidden rooms, but this was bigger than even your common room. How was something of this stature hidden away for so long? Wide pillars separated the room at different points, and spiderwebbed boxes and dusty sheets covered the majority of the walls. There were blackened chandeliers, like some sort of spell went awry, and in the far corner, you couldn’t help but see a few training dummies pushed over and resting against each other. As you took the room in, Ominis wandered over toward the centre and started moving some of the dusty items around.

You approached slowly, your head on a swivel to take in as much as you can. You heard Ominis muttering some spells under his breath, turning to watch a few dusty boxes and sheets spin themselves into a long and low couch. It was coloured with a deep green velvet and dark brown wood- almost like being summoned directly from the Slytherin common room. You laughed, watching Ominis’ head turn at the sound to look at you.

“What’s so funny?”

“I mean,” You begin, shrugging for no one to see before taking a few more steps toward him. “There’s the fact that an entire underground ballroom exists inside Hogwarts that no one knows about- aside from you, apparently. There’s us being here after curfew, after you just rescued me from a whole band of poachers as if this was just an everyday ordeal. There’s the fact that a student using Unforgivables just threatened me and then disappeared in a poof of air. Oh- also that when you conjured that couch, it looked like you pulled it directly from what I assume the Slytherin common room looks like. So, yeah, take your pick I guess.”

You watch a smirk form on his face and he turns, closing the distance. He raises a hand to place on the junction between your neck and shoulder, squeezing gently before he finally responds. “This isn’t exactly a ballroom, but it’s called the Undercroft if you want a name for it. And the couch likely looks that way since I was taught that spell by my family- they have a certain… aesthetic to them. Considering that we’re a direct line from Salazar Slytherin, I’d assume the Slytherin common room might be modelled a bit after us.

“But for the rest of that- I don’t know if I’d find it that funny.” He pulls you closer, leaning his head forward until your foreheads touch, leaning into each other. “I was extremely worried, Y/N. Taken by poachers, put into a damned cage as if you were just a creature,” The hatred toward the end of his sentence was a new sound to you, and it sent shivers down your back. You watched him swallow roughly, then continue, “I’d rather it not be an everyday ordeal- I don’t know how I would handle that much panic and fear- but I would come back to rescue you any time that you needed it, Y/N. From poachers, or from Eliza herself.” You felt his hand tightening on you, his other hovering over your hip as if unsure. “You’ll be fine. I won’t let her do anything to you.”

“I’m sure it was just empty threats,” You mumbled, feeling lightheaded from the proximity. It was almost an imitation of earlier, with how close the two of you stood now. It was a new development, this closeness that he keeps initiating, and you were unsure how to handle it. You wanted it, absolutely, but wanting it and being able to withstand his proximity without immediately showing your true feelings for him? Those were two different things altogether.

“They weren’t empty, Y/N.” His voice was grim, his hand finally making full contact with your hip and pulling you closer. You wondered if this was his way of reassuring himself you were here, and safe. Your eyes darted between his own, down to his lips then back up again. Biting your lip, his voice continues in a whisper. “I’ve had dealings with her before. She means everything she says, no matter how far-fetched or ridiculous the notion.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be reassuring me, Ominis?” You tease, reaching your own hands out to his sides and taking hold of his shirt there, clenching it in your fists. Your fingers danced against his side, and you can feel his skin jump underneath the fabric. When he speaks, his voice has a certain breathless quality to it that wasn’t there a moment ago.

“I want you to be prepared. The reassurance will stem from our actions going forward. You’ll train in defensive magic, and I’ll never be leaving your side.”

“At all?” You breathe out, as if asking, ‘Do you promise?’

“Someone will be, at least. Sebastian and Poppy will help, I’m sure. Perhaps even Natty, if she is willing to speak to us. I’m sure she wouldn’t want one of her friends hurt by Eliza, now that she knows who she really is.” His hand pulls against you again, as if desperate for your contact. You flatten your hands out, letting your hands roam across his sides. “I’m not in all of your classes, nor am I in your house. We’ll work something out, though.”

“Ominis, you really don’t have to worry about me.” You felt almost burdensome, and he could hear it in your voice. His expression turned to one of confusion, then resolution.

“Y/N, I am absolutely going to worry about you. Not just because Eliza is a formidable enemy to have, nor the fact that poachers seem to be spreading and claiming new territories. Y/N,” He huffed, pulling his head back away from yours and sliding his head up from your neck to your cheek, “I’m going to worry about you, regardless if there’s anything to worry about. Because that’s just what happens when you-” He stutters for a moment, clearing his throat and trying to play off his slip- “When you care about someone.”

“I suppose you’re right, Ominis.” You take a deep breath in, eyes jumping around the room in nervousness. Reaching up, you take the hand pressed to your cheek and step away, dragging him along. “Come, let’s sit. We have a lot to discuss.”

“Such as?”

“Well,” You begin, sitting on the couch he had conjured, Ominis sitting to your left. There was enough room for someone to stretch out and lay on the cushions, but you had sat in the centre of the couch, and Ominis sat so close that your legs were pressed together. You laid your held hands across your lap, studying his stiff posture. “Let’s start from the beginning, I guess.”

“Our fight in the potions classroom?” His voice was low as if he was dreading this conversation. You were unsure why, considering you were the one who had run off without trying to talk things out initially, but you rubbed his hand with your thumb to try and calm him.

“Well, I was thinking more ‘beginning’ in the time sense, not the beginning of the chain of events that led to here.” You paused, glancing around the large open space around you. “Sebastian and Eliza seem to know each other?”

“They became friends when she transferred in our fifth year. They grew very close, very quickly. He told her secrets he shouldn’t have, and she showed him magics that even I didn’t know existed.” He took a deep breath, reaching his other hand out to place on your knee. “Fifth year was especially hard, as it was the first year that Sebastian came to school without Anne, the first year that she had been cursed. Sebastian refused to believe it was incurable- honestly, I think he still believes that- and he spent most of that year sneaking into the forbidden section of the library to research day in and out.

“He heard about a Scriptorium, one that Salazar Slytherin was believed to have owned, that was located in Hogwarts. Of course, being in my family, I knew of it and where it was, but I didn’t want anything to do with it. Salazar was known for his dark magic practices, and if he was anything like my family currently is then I knew nothing good could come from that Scriptorium, and I was right.” He swallowed roughly, his shoulders slumping as he leans a bit toward you. You replace your left hand in his with your right instead, reaching around him to pull him close against you. “Eliza managed to convince me, somehow, to open the Scriptorium. We had to solve a few puzzles to get through, and eventually, we made it so far inside that some sort of trap sprung, trapping us in. Eliza said the word Crucio was burned into the floor, and the skeleton of my aunt Noctua was in the corner.”

Dread filled your stomach, pulling him even closer. Your voice was quiet as you hummed out, “No, you didn’t-”

“I didn’t cast it, or have it cast on me. But Sebastian said there was no other way, that the door blocking the way forward had been carved with faces in agony. Eliza said she could cast it on him, that she knew the spell already. Sebastian had been just about to ask me, but I knew I wouldn’t have been able to cast it. But she did, on Sebastian. The door opened, but hearing my friend scream out in pure torture like that-” His voice caught, clearing his throat once more. “It was almost as painful as when it had been cast on me.”

“What? Did she-”

“No, when it was used on me, it was my own family.”

“Ominis-” You stopped yourself, unsure what to say. You could hear the grief in your tone, and finally, you pulled your remaining hand away from his to wrap around him completely, pulling his head down onto your chest. His hands slowly slid from your lap to wrap around your hips, leaving burning trails in their wake. He seemed oddly expressionless- emotionless, even. It scared you, how withdrawn he had become from telling this story. You rub his back slowly and try to project as much comfort as you could. “You didn’t deserve that. You never did.”

“How would you know,” Ominis sniffed, and you could finally feel his form shaking. His head was buried into your chest, but from the sounds he made you could tell he was finally beginning to cry. “You weren’t there.”

“Ominis, there is absolutely nothing in the world that you could do to ever deserve to be tortured like that. Especially from your own family.” You tighten your embrace before finally pulling just enough away, taking his cheeks in your hands and lifting until you could see his red-rimmed eyes. You wiped the tears from his cheeks, studying his face. “I can’t go back in time to fix anything, but by Merlin, I swear to you that I’ll protect you from that wretched family going forward.”

“You don’t have to say all that, Y/N-”

“I’m not ‘just saying it’ Ominis.” You drop your hands from his cheeks, taking both of his hands and pulling them close to your chest, cradling him. “I swear to you I will do everything in my power to support you.”

“I should be saying this to you, darling,” Ominis gently removes one hand from your grip to place on your cheek once again, leaning forward. Your breath catches, the move looking too similar to someone leaning in for a kiss, but he stops all too soon. “You were taken and threatened, I should be pledging myself to your service.”

“I’ve never been Crucio’d, though.” Your sentence was breathed out, no more than a whisper. It brought a visible and palpable relief to Ominis, though, and you couldn’t help but feel the mix of sadness that he has gone through it, and the comfort that you managed to pull him from his bad mood. Silence reigned as he absorbed this information before, lightning quick, he pulls you into a tight hug.

“And I’ll make sure you never will be, ever,” He whispers into your ear, his voice insistent- almost begging. You nod your head against his chest, scooting closer in and hugging him tightly in return. The way you kept pulling each other close, you were practically sitting in his lap. You both sat this way, taking comfort in the feeling of each other, for as long as it would take to soothe him. Finally, Ominis seems to have relaxed as much as he will so you begin to pull away, just enough to take your own seat back. “YN,” His voice sounded almost devastated, a mimic of how it sounded earlier when he thought you wanted to speak about the fight in the potion’s classroom.

“Yes, let’s speak of that now,” You agree to his unspoken assessment, though confusion quickly crossed his face so you clarified, “Let’s talk about the whole potion’s assignment incident.” The confusion slowly melted away from his face, seeming at war with himself. Eventually, his nervousness faded away and determination set in. You were just about to ask if you had assumed right, if that really was what he was about to say, but then he spoke.

“Sure. So how do we start this?”

“Well, it sounded like you saw me out in the Transfiguration courtyard.”

“I did. I misunderstood what was happening, and I overreacted. I apologize, Y/N.” His voice was measured, devoid of emotion, and it pained you how quickly he could snap between emotions like that. You didn’t want these to be one of the times he felt endangered, that he felt he had to hide how he truly felt.

“Ominis, why don’t you tell me then? What did you think was happening?” He hesitated, his face falling to look toward the ground as he thought. You gave him time, and with that, he took your hands and began idly playing with your fingers. Eventually, in a whispered voice that carried emotion you were glad to hear, he spoke.

“I thought Garreth was flirting with you.” You furrowed your eyebrows, tilting your head in confusion. Of course, he hadn’t been, but did it really look that way? “And I thought that you liked it, that you were flirting back.” At this your eyebrows raised, and then an involuntary laugh escaped your lips. Immediately a hand flew to your mouth as if to cover it, to put the laugh back inside.

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to laugh. It’s not at you at all, just- the thought, of Garreth liking me?” You laugh again, covering it with your hand and shaking your head. “Such a ridiculous notion.”

“Why would that be ridiculous? You’re a fantastic person, Y/N. Any single person would be lucky to have you, I’m surprised you don’t have suitors constantly trying to vie for your attention.” You laugh again, shaking your head more. Patting Ominis’ hand, you find it within you to calm your laughs, to try to explain.

“No one likes me, Ominis-”

“That’s not true.”

“Even so,” You continue, ignoring his disagreements, “If they did, I’ve never been told. Not once in all the seven years I’ve been at Hogwarts has romance been involved in my life. No one’s tried to ask me out, or even fake ask me out as a prank. No one has sent longing looks my way, or written me love poems or letters, or merlin forbid, flirt with me.” You huff a soft laugh, scanning the area around you so you wouldn’t have to look into Ominis’ face, expecting it to be full of pity.

“Now I find that hard to believe,” Ominis finally said, his voice low. You bite your lip at the tone, unsure whether it would be considered ‘husky’ or if he had an undercurrent of hate or distaste. Finally, you release it and sigh.

“Whether or not you believe it is irrelevant, as that’s the way things are.” You take back your hands, an ache in your chest spurring you to stand and walk away. You feel a hurt growing beneath everything, a loneliness that you’ve been pushing down all along begins to bubble back into your throat. So long with no sign or sense of someone liking you. Poppy had always said your longing looks toward Ominis probably scared everyone else away, but you were so sure you had hidden your looks well enough with time. You don’t stare at him constantly anymore.

“Y/N,” Ominis’ voice is soft, and you can hear just the beginning of pity in his voice that spurs you into action.

“So this is a lovely place,” You squeak out, taking another few steps away from him. “So big and…” You hesitate, trying to find another word before finally you say, “Dusty…”

“Y/N,” His voice is a bit more resolved, less quiet than before, and you can hear him getting up behind you. Your voice is quick to respond, fear starting to flavour your voice.

“You should really do something with this place! You know, we’re not going to be at Hogwarts for very much longer, anyway.”

“Y/N,” You feel Ominis behind you, touching your arm gently and you take a few steps away, your vision skipping quickly throughout the room, though never landing at any place for longer than a second. Anywhere, but at him.

“We could clean this place up! Could be a project of ours, y’know how we’re always at a loss for what to do. Maybe we could even throw a party at the end of the year!”

“Y/N,” Ominis repeats, reaching forward to take hold of your arm and spin you to look at him. His face was set, determined, and he whispered out, “Please,” Before reaching forward with his other hand to place onto your cheek. You freeze, staring into his cloudy eyes, unsure what to say. Ominis couldn’t find any more words either, so he instead began to lean forward.

He was just going to come closer, whisper something to you. He did this earlier, when leaned closer to assure you. To provide comfort, or perhaps to insinuate that whatever he would say was important. You thought as much, but he kept leaning forward more, and his eyes began to fall closed. He began to pull your elbow toward him, and his thumb swiped gently against your cheek before it happened. Before his lips pressed against yours.

Oh.

Oh.

When you don’t respond right away, Ominis slowly pulled you closer to himself. His hand tightened on your elbow, as if afraid you’d pull away, and this spurs you into action. Your hands, previously wringing together anxiously, flew forward around Ominis’ neck and pulled him closer to you. You kiss back with everything you have, making sure that if this was the only kiss you’d ever get with Ominis then it’d certainly be one that he’d remember.

You felt Ominis relax under your ministrations, then felt a low moan travel through him and into you. The sound, the feel of it, drove you crazy and you raked a hand through the bottom of his hair, clenching your fingers and pulling gently. His hand fell from your elbow to your hip, wrapping around your back and pulling you against him once more. Again and again, you were held so close by him tonight- was he thinking of doing this every time? Like you had been?

When you both finally pull away, you’re breathless and hanging onto each other. It’s quiet aside from the both of you panting, and you stared into his face to watch for any sort of change. Meanwhile, he watched you as only he could, with his hands roaming your neck and back, squeezing his hands into a fist against you before smoothing them back out again.

“You can’t say that no one likes you, Y/N, when I’m standing right here.” He leans forward slowly, brushing his lips against yours before speaking again, right against your lips. “When I’ve been here this whole time, wishing there was any chance. Hoping for this moment, right here.” He presses his lips to you again, finally, in a brief and soft kiss. “If you want romance, I’ll give you the world. But you can’t,” His voice caught, and he began shaking his head ever so slightly, “You can not believe that you’re unlovable, Y/N. Not when I’m here, not when I’ve loved you this whole time.”

“Ominis,” And you can hear it, how wrecked your voice is. So full of emotion, of hope and fear and, of course, love. “Ominis, please don’t say this if you don’t mean it.” You pull him down closer, pressing your cheek to his so you’re whispering near his ear. “This whole time I’ve longed for you, I could not bare it. Please, be magnanimous, I’m not so easily cowed but if this is some sort of joke-”

“There is nothing more true,” Ominis interrupts gently, placing a kiss on your cheek before pulling back farther, looking into your face as if he could study you, his eyes jumping back and forth. “Y/N, I would provide you with the entirety of my life if that meant anything. I would stop at nothing to make sure you are happy and safe. You deserve the world and everything around it, and I want to give that to you.”

“I don’t want the whole world, Ominis,” You whisper, placing one of your hands on his cheek and brushing your thumb against his sharp cheekbone, “I only want you.”

“You have me, all of me,” Ominis whispers quickly, reverentially. “For as long as you’ll accept me.”

“You’re promising me forever, I hope you know.” You were smiling, your tone gently insinuating as such, and you watched a slow smile begin to spread on Ominis.

“Then forever shall it be.”

Ominis knew how to transfigure beds, apparently. You never did make it back to your common room that night, as the both of you spent the night in each other’s arms. The Undercroft was drafty, the chill trying to burrow into the tight embrace you held each other in until Ominis pulled a blanket overtop the both of you. Snuggling there together, whispering quiet stories of when either of you almost got caught with your crush, you eventually fell asleep.

You were worried all the next day, walking the halls and attending your classes, that someone would point out your absence from your room- ask you where you’d been. However, it seemed no one had noticed, or if they did they certainly didn’t care. There were no detentions or rumours circling around, and for that at least you were grateful.

True to his word, Ominis stayed glued to your side the majority of the day. Poppy was around during the time he could not be- aside from during Defense when Sebastian resolutely stood by your side and glared daggers at anyone that tried to come too close. You tried to assure him that you were fine, that obviously there was only one person to be wary of, not the entire class. He had only mumbled something back about Eliza being ‘convincing’ before glaring at another Gryffindor boy in the class that seemed to be staring at the two of you for too long. You shot a stinging hex at the boy to get Sebastian to laugh, pulling him from his dour look.

It was in Care for Magical Creatures, a class you shared with Poppy- but with neither Sebastian nor Ominis- that she showed up. You really hadn’t thought anything would happen, that everything she said was just empty threats. Or, certainly, that it’d take some time to plan something. But no, only about twelve hours from her disappearance was Eliza, jumping off of a broom nearby and approaching you with a direct look.

You looked around quickly for your friend, finding her on the far side of the area, spelling multiple brushes to groom the kneazles. She was bent over halfway, one hand on her glowing wand, the other petting a bright orange kneazle that was rubbing against her legs. The rest of the class congregated at other pens and Professor Howin was speaking to them, letting Poppy do her thing as normal. You had wandered back to the tabled area for your bookbag, forgetting your essentials for the class, but now you were alone and separated from the rest, instantly regretting your decision.

You started backing up, turning around to rejoin the class as quickly as possible when you froze. It wasn’t like how Petrificus Totalus had felt, you didn’t stiffen to a board and fall over, but you certainly weren’t staying in place on purpose. You froze in place as if someone had paralyzed you in shape, your foot outstretched to take another step, your face frozen in forced nonchalance. You felt an arm wrap around your own in an imitation of friendship, and the spell gradually let your limbs free. You turn your head to see Eliza, smiling brightly and looking directly into your eyes. She pulled and you followed, eyes widening in fear.

“I think we should have a little talk, don’t you?”