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life-at-hogwarts · 1 year ago

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In the shadow of death (Ominis x GN!reader)

Pairing: Ominis x reader

Warnings: angst, trauma, fluff, mentions of animal abuse,

Word count: 3.3k

Summary: It’s the day of Noctua’s funeral. After spending the night in Ominis’ room, the two of you have to act normal in front of his family.

“I’m sorry. This was entirely inappropriate. It has just been a hard day and I needed it.”

“Glad to be of help,” you replied breathlessly, your head still spinning from the kiss

Author’s note: Oof this one took me way too long. Possibly inspired by TVD. Also after obsessively researching the Gaunt family tree I have decided I am going against headcanon and Ominis is the older brother in this one instead of Marvolo.

Part 1 Part 2

Also I finally managed to set up an AO3 account if you prefer to read it there

Your face was still flushed from the last kiss when you made your way back to your room, sneaking through the quiet corridors completely lost in thought, smiling to yourself as you relished in memories of last night. It felt like a dream, how could that have been real? Two days ago, you had just been friends and now the taste of his lips still lingered on yours. The strangest thing was that it did not feel odd at all. All you could think about was doing it again. You had almost reached your room when Sebastian blocked your way, leaning against the wall with a stern look on his face.

“I hope you know what you’re doing.”

Your cheeks were burning, and you avoided his gaze. “What are you talking about?”

“I’ve known Ominis for a long time. He doesn’t let people in. I’ve never seen him open up to anyone but Anne and myself, but for some reason he trusts you. So, for all our sakes, I hope you understand how much that means and honor it. If you do anything to hurt him…”

This took you by surprise. You had expected him to tease you and make fun of you but not this. Of course, you knew how close these two were, but you had never seen him this protective over his friend. If anything, he was usually the one who put him in danger.

“My intentions are pure, I swear,” you assured him solemnly and held his gaze.

“Good. He deserves the best. I’m putting my trust in you.” After a short pause he added, “But be careful around his family. Don’t let them see what is going on between you two. They’ll use it to hurt him.”

“What do you mean?”

“Love is a weakness. Don’t think they won’t exploit it.”

You wanted to ask what he meant by that, but Sebastian was done talking and moved out of your way. You could feel his eyes following you when you walked down the corridor and finally disappeared into your room. That was odd, you thought to yourself, I have to find out what that is about.

---

Mr. and Mrs. Gaunt did not attend breakfast which made this meal more pleasant for everyone and even Ominis seemed somewhat relaxed with only his siblings around. You had seen Marvolo around in school, but Ominis avoided him as best as he could, so you did not know much about him. He was a year younger than the three of you, but no one could tell by looking at him. Marvolo took after Erebus, even some of his mannerisms were the same. You had to be careful around him. Metis on the other hand was much younger, probably around ten, and seemed like the least threatening member of the Gaunt family. You sat down next to her and gave her a little smile.

“Are you a Slytherin too?” she immediately asked.

“No. I’m not,” you started, but before you could elaborate Metis interrupted you.

“Mother said you are a half-blood. Maybe that’s why you’re not in Slytherin.”

Again with the pure blood mania. You suppressed an annoyed sigh and tried to stay polite. She was still a child after all.

“You know the sorting hat doesn’t really care about that. It’s what inside of you that counts.”

“Well, I am going to be in Slytherin like my brothers and everyone else in my family. It is the best house,” the little girl declared proudly.

Before you could answer, Marvolo chimed in, “Of course you will. You’re a Gaunt after all, our bloodline is not muddied with muggle blood.”

“Marvolo! Metis! That’s enough! Apologize right now. You are being rude to our guest,” Ominis hissed through gritted teeth, visibly irritated by his sibling’s behavior. Marvolo only glared at his brother defiantly and you could sense the tension building up between the two.

“Am I interrupting something?”

“Anne!” Sebastian exclaimed and impetuously ran to his sister pulling her into a hug. It was a welcome distraction from the tense situation. Ominis shot his brother another angry look, before getting up to greet Anne. They hugged each other affectionately, then he asked, “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here for you, of course. I’m so sorry about your aunt.”

You didn’t know Anne very well, but you liked her. She was confident and forward, and you liked the effect she had on Sebastian. When she was around, he was different, less angry. He almost looked happy. Seeing the three of them together, you caught a glimpse of the bond they shared and couldn’t help but feel a little left out. Sebastian picked up on this and quickly declared, “I’m going to show Anne around, if you don’t mind. I need some time to catch up with my sister.” With that the two of them walked towards the door. Halfway through, Sebastian turned around, made sure Ominis’ siblings weren’t watching, and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, making you blush.

Since neither one of you particularly wanted to return to the table, you quickly followed them out of the room. “You’re cute when you’re blushing,” Ominis whispered in your ear, and you shuddered when you felt his hot breath on your neck. All you could think about were his lips on your skin, but he had already pulled back. He kept his distance on your way up to his room, and you didn’t attempt to move any closer. Whenever he moved around the house he seemed to be on edge, and you wondered if he was afraid to bump into his father again. After what you had seen last night, you understood why he kept his guard up at all times around here.

“I just love how welcoming your siblings are. Makes me feel right at home here,” you remarked dryly, as you entered his room.

“Welcome to pure blood aristocracy,” he sighed and tiredly rubbed his face.

You waited a moment, contemplating whether or not this was the right time to ask about Sebastian’s cryptic words of caution. When Ominis didn’t say anything, you went for it. “Sebastian warned me about your family. He said I should be careful around them because they’d use it to hurt you. What did he mean by that?”

“He is right. Don’t show them that you care, or they will use it against you,or more likely, against me.”

You couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something you were missing and dug deeper, “I’m afraid I don’t understand. What is this about?” As soon as the words had left your mouth his eyes darkened, and you knew that it must have been something bad. “I’m sorry. You don’t have to tell me.”

Ominis exhaled deeply and closed his eyes before answering. “No. It’s okay. You should know.” Then he searched for your gaze, took another deep breath and started to speak, “I used to have a pet snake. Balthazar. He was my best friend and I loved him to death. My parents would use Balthazar to… incentivize me to do stuff I didn’t want to. They used my love for him to make me compliant. One day, I refused to do whatever it was they asked me to. They made me watch as they tortured and killed him. That was my punishment.”

“That is barbaric!”

“Then you know why you should be careful. I have seen them use the Unforgivables on people and I’m afraid they wouldn’t hesitate to cast them on you to teach me a lesson. My family is dangerous. I mean it,” he said in a grave voice.

“Understood. I will refrain from snogging you in front of your family then,” you responded wryly, earning yourself an exasperated sigh. “Hey. Loosen up. I will stay with Sebastian and Anne. Don’t worry, I understand that it’s not a joke,” you quickly added. You didn’t doubt that Erebus was capable of doing these things.

“Good. I would never be able to forgive myself if anything happened to you,” Ominis murmured and placed a kiss on your forehead.

------

Later, all of you made your way to the small graveyard at the back of the Gaunt estate. The guests started arriving soon after. There was no crying at this funeral, only grim faces and women pointedly dabbing their eyes with handkerchiefs. Even though Noctua had disappeared years ago, this felt very odd, and you uncomfortably shifted in your seat. Nothing about this felt authentic. It was all one big show for the guests. Every wizarding family of high standing had come, you recognized representatives from the Blacks, the Malfoys, the Carrows, the Lestranges and the Notts, as well as some politicians you knew from the Daily Prophet. You doubted that any of them had known, much less cared about Noctua. The only one who was truly devastated by her loss was Ominis, but even he did not show it. Forced to sit with his family in the front row, he did an excellent job in doing what everyone expected from him, accepting condolences with a solemn nod, displaying his grief the appropriate way. It pained you that he had to go through this by himself, but you had promised to keep your distance in front of his family.

After the service people broke up into small groups, some staying to pay their respects, others already heading towards the house where the wake would take place. Ominis finally broke free of his family and joined you and Sebastian, who was in conversation with another boy your age. When he saw Ominis come towards your group, the boy sneered, “I see the prodigal son has returned.”

“Temporarily.”

“I heard you managed to find Slytherin’s scriptorium. Didn’t think you had the stomach for it. You were such a pansy when it came to getting your hands dirty,” he scoffed.

“How is your bedwetting problem? Did you finally manage to get it under control? I feel sorry for your roommates,” Ominis asked loudly, a wicked smile on his face. You snorted, trying to hold back your laughter and Sebastian almost spit out his drink. The boy shot you an angry look and stormed off.

“My cousin. Always manages to push my buttons. Obnoxious little prick,” Ominis sighed, and it took all of your strength to not laugh out loud. The way Ominis could tear into someone without ever losing his composure never ceased to entertain you.

Anne joined the three of you, looking awfully pale and excused herself from the wake. Her eyes were glassy with pain and you and Sebastian quickly escorted her back to the house. Now that you saw her like this you understood Sebastian’s insane quest to cure her. It was awful seeing her trying to hide her pain and it must be even worse for Sebastian to see his twin like this. You couldn’t imagine what type of person would do this to an innocent girl. She collapsed into a soft chair and quickly sent her brother away to get a glass of water. Then she turned to you and sighed, “Sorry, you had to see me like this. Damned curse. I hate being this useless.” Not knowing how to respond to this you gave her an awkward smile and waited for her to continue. “I miss Hogwarts, you know? I miss messing around with these two dickheads. I’m glad they have you now. Someone has to keep them in check.”

“I didn’t mean to take your place. Sebastian is relentlessly searching for something to lift your curse, so there is still hope that you can come back,” you quickly replied, and couldn’t help but feel a little guilty.

“That’s what worries me. I know my brother. He doesn’t know when to stop. I’m afraid he will go down a dark path if he doesn’t accept that some things cannot be changed. Please promise me you won’t let that happen. Don’t let him loose himself. Promise me.”

“I promise I’ll do what I can. I just don’t want to take away his hope.”

“Thank you. I appreciate that you’re looking after both of them. I have never seen Ominis so smitten. You’ll be good for him, I can tell.” You froze and stared at her in terror. Were you this transparent? Did everyone know?

“Oh, come on. Did you think Seb wouldn’t tell me about this?” she laughed, the same mischievous glint that you knew so well shining in her eyes. When Sebastian came back the two of you were laughing and exchanging stories about your adventures and some color had returned to Anne’s face. Solomon was on his way to pick up Anne and bring her home and while you waited with them for the arrival of their uncle, more and more people made their way back to the house as a light rain had started to fall. After a quick chat with the headmaster Sebastian had decided to go to Feldcroft with his sister and uncle and spend the night at home, leaving you to attend the wake by yourself.

Feeling a bit lost you entered the hall where everyone had gathered for the wake and searched the room for Ominis who was nowhere to be seen. Before anyone could invite you to take a seat at the table you quickly slipped out of the room again and went looking for him.

You made your way back to the place you had last seen him and sure enough your instincts proved to be right, and you found him standing alone at the freshly dug grave. He didn’t move when he heard you approach, and you quietly took your place at his side.

“How is Anne?” Ominis asked softly.

“Better. Solomon took her and Seb home. They told me to apologize on their behalf and hope you understand.”

“Of course. I’m just glad Anne is alright. Thank you for staying,” he said, reaching for your hand and interlocking your fingers before he continued, “I’m glad I came. Despite everything, I’m glad I could be here for Noctua. I know she died a long time ago, but I needed to bring her home. Even if my father does not seem like it, I think he loved her very much. She was the only one who could challenge him, and he wouldn’t mind. I wish you’d met her. Just to see that not all Gaunts are…well you saw how they are.”

“She sounds like a great person. I’m sure she would be proud of you.” For a moment you stood like this in silence, watching the rain fall onto the grave.

All of a sudden, the silence was broken by a clap of thunder so loud it made Ominis jump, and the sky came crashing down in a sudden downpour. Lightning cracked over your heads, painting the sky in a shade of purplish grey and the trees on the edge of the property bent over under the sheer force of the wind ripping through their branches. You tightened your grip on his hand and started to run for cover, pulling him with you. Sensing his hesitation, you slowed your pace but to your surprise he took the lead, running even faster. You weren’t running to escape the rain anymore – it was too late for that anyway – you were running just for the sake of running. The wind lashed rain painfully hard into your faces but for some reason you didn’t mind. By the time you reached the nearest building you were both soaked and out of breath, giggling like small children.

You tugged on Ominis’ arm, trying to get him to follow you inside the barn but he didn’t move. Instead, he lifted his face towards the sky and closed his eyes, looking at peace. It seemed like for a moment he had forgotten about everything that had happened the last few days and a weight was lifted from his shoulders. He stayed like this for a while and you just watched him, admiring the way his shirt clung to his body and the water dripped from his hair. When you moved closer you could see the raindrops in his long eyelashes, catching the dim light like small diamonds. Gods he was beautiful. What you would give to capture this moment in a painting to be able to hold on to it forever. If only you could make him see himself the way you did. Was this what it feels like to fall in love?

Finally, he opened his eyes.

“Stop looking at me like that,” he breathed in a ragged voice.

“I can’t help it,” you retorted, but forced yourself to back away from him only to be pulled back in with one swift movement. Ominis’ lips crashed against yours hungrily and you buried your fingers in his wet hair, all too eager to give in. There was a ferocity and desperation in the way he pressed his mouth on yours, quite literally taking your breath away for a second. You could taste the rain on his lips and deepened the kiss, taking the lead as your hand moved to his throat. He leaned against your touch, before pulling away abruptly, as if he had come back to his senses.

“I’m sorry. This was entirely inappropriate. It has just been a hard day and I needed it.”

“Glad to be of help,” you replied breathlessly, your head still spinning from the kiss. You had never felt like this before. He didn’t want to kiss you, he needed it, and you felt the same way. Every fiber in your body was longing for him, for his touch, for his taste, his smell. You wanted to lose yourself inside of him, erase all borders until you didn’t know anymore where you ended, and he began.

Ominis turned his head sharply, his entire body alert, and brought you back to reality.

“Did you hear that? Who is there? Show yourself.”

The barn door was cracked open. Ominis marched towards it, his wand in front of his face, determined to find out if anyone was in there and you quickly followed. A small silhouette emerged from the shadows and flit past Ominis running towards the house. Metis. “Well, that’s not good. Let’s not freak out, alright? No one listens to little kids; we can talk our way out of this,” you said, and to your surprise Ominis only let out a frustrated sigh and nodded. Still, on the way back to the main house he was sure to keep an appropriate distance between the two of you.

No one said anything when you returned to the wake, in fact no one even seemed to have noticed that you were gone in the first place. Ominis joined his family at the head of the table while you took a seat between Professor Black and some ministry officials, feeling aggressively out of place. Fortunately, everybody else had eaten by now and some of the guests were leaving already. You couldn’t wait to get out of there and by the looks of it, Ominis felt the same. Metis was nowhere to be seen. After another hour that felt like an eternity Professor Black was finally ready to go and insisted on escorting Marvolo, Ominis and you back to Hogwarts. You took the floo network directly to the headmaster’s office, all too eager to leave the Gaunt estate, and its inhabitants, behind.

Black quickly dismissed you with the instruction to go straight back to your respective dorms and Ominis was quick to make his way down the winding staircase. You wanted to follow him, but someone grabbed your elbow, forcing you to stay. “Hey, half-blood. Welcome to the family,” Marvolo whispered in your ear, so quietly that only you could hear. When you turned around to look at him, he gave you a vicious smile, that made the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

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subastian-swallows · 1 year ago

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Dark Whispers, Light Vows

CHAPTER FOUR: DREAM OF ME

★ Chapter three

Pairing: Dark!Sebastian x AurorMC x AurorOminis - Love Triangle Fic

Words: 6k

Warnings: Just Angst, really

Summary: “In a race against time, (Auror’s) Alice and Ominis must work together to recapture their former friend Sebastian, an escapee from Azkaban. But when Sebastian begins to use a mysterious new form of magic to haunt Alice’s dreams, she’s torn between bringing him to justice or helping him escape, risking everything in the process. Love, friendship, and the battle between light and dark intertwine as Alice must decide which path she will take.”

A/N: Hello readers, I am sorry LMAO! That's all I can say, my writing has been taking the back burn lately, I am on holidays and recently celebrated my five year anniversary with my partner...SO FORGIVE ME.

"If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice." — Neil Peart

Alice’s head pounded. It felt as if she had been trampled by a herd of Centaurs, unable to string together a single thought from the night before and she could no longer tell—whether it was from how much she drank or how long she had cried. But what could be said, was just how horrible she now felt in this moment and as her hand quickly reached to cover her mouth—Alice slipped off the bed and grabbed for the bed pan. The slow ache in her stomach now, almost resembled the sensation of someone twisting a knife into her side and so she could do nothing more but clutch the bed for support. It was clear as day that she was feeling miserable because of her own choices and yet, a part of her wanted to blame Sebastian—because blaming him was easier than dealing with her foolish decisions.

Emptying out whatever was left in her stomach, Alice slumped against the bedpost and tried to recollect what had happened—her thoughts still unclear as she attempted to sort through them. She remembered the letter, which now sat crumpled and more ripped against the bedside dresser, she remembered the firewhiskey, which now made her stomach churn at just the thought—but it was when she recalled how the night ended, that Alice’s head twisted much too fast, to look towards the bed. Reaching up to place her fingers against her lips, as the sudden realisation of what had happened quickly filled her head—Alice couldn’t recall Ominis’ reaction and she groaned, pushing her face into the tousled blankets which had begun to slip off the side.

It felt as if she had done something wrong, or perhaps simply used the excuse of her drunken state to allow herself a moment of happiness and yet, she knew it might have screwed things up. But she still didn’t regret it. Something that she would soon realise, would only get her into trouble, except it was almost as if she didn’t have it in her to care anymore. Ominis had been the stability she needed, never too far, in case she required his support—and although she never wanted him to feel indebted to her, almost as if he owed her something. Alice quickly realised that he did it, simply because he loved her and perhaps that was worse.

She didn’t mean to hurt him and truthfully, deep down, she knew there was a part of her that wanted to allow Ominis into her heart—to give herself willingly to him, like he had done for her. But, like a disease, which slowly seeped its way through the body, hindering all of her functions—Sebastian simply refused to leave, attaching himself to every part of her, that was too weak to stop it. And so, Ominis was in constant battle with someone not physically there and perhaps, that had already set him up to fail. Except, it seemed that he had never planned on giving up and it was as if he could not love another, the way he loved her—and so, he decided to play this foolish waiting game. He would wait until his last breath left his body if she asked him to and Alice felt a mixture of gratitude and guilt—both morphing into one another and doing nothing but causing her to hate herself.

Alice would have loved nothing more, than to hide away all morning, burying herself among the blankets. But Ominis would never have let her and perhaps, a part of her was grateful for it. He was always there, ready to pick up the pieces and eventually it just got too easy, Alice found herself almost obsessed with the idea that Ominis was willing to do just that. And yet, although she knew it was cruel holding onto someone’s love like she did, unsure with whether or not she could ever return his feelings and more—Alice still just couldn’t let him go. Feeling her head begin to spin again, as if she was about to vomit once more, her thoughts were cut short—when the door clicked and despite her poor attempt at trying to compose herself, Alice reaches for the bed pan again, the same time Ominis steps into the room.

“Alice? Are you alright?” Ominis asked, his hand quickly finding its way to her lower back, rubbing it just hard enough to make some sort of difference and when Alice attempted to push him away—Ominis simply ignored her and continued to draw circles against her back. “You should have listened to me when I told you to stop.”

“Where’s the fun in that, Ominis—besides, this is only a slight hiccup.”

Ominis shook his head when Alice whined and leant over the bed pan again, before he smiled slightly at her misfortune—now rubbing her back a little softer as she seemed to be feeling better. He hadn’t really been paying attention to the fact he was touching her the way he was, until she finally pushed away from him. “Forgive me, I just heard it helps—the rubbing…”

“Why must you apologise for everything,” Alice said, her voice a little hoarse from throwing up and so she slips out her wand to clean up her mess, before turning to see Ominis resting against the side of the bed. She wasn’t trying to start an argument, but she couldn’t hide the fact that it was something she was curious about. “Doesn’t it get tiring?”

“I don’t apologise for everything, you know. Just when it comes to you.”

Alice hummed and pushed back to rest against the bed, attempting to brush off his comment—but it was almost impossible when Ominis said it so forwardly and so Alice ended up nudging him awkwardly, trying to make it playful. “Well—shouldn’t you apologise for barging in on me, then? We might be friends, but I am a woman first…what if I was getting changed.”

“Alice, you do know that we shared this room—right?” Ominis said, resting his arms against his knees as he fiddled with the ring on his pointer. His expression hadn’t changed from the small teasing smile he had since entering the room and when Alice shifted slightly at his comment—Ominis chuckled softly. “So, technically speaking, I have every right to walk into our room. But you’re right, forgive me.”

“You know, apologising after the fact—doesn’t actually fix things.”

Alice’s thoughts suddenly returned to the night before, but more importantly to the kiss they had shared. Had she done more—she didn’t remember getting that drunk, or perhaps she just didn’t remember anything but getting drunk and so she cringed, resting her head back against the bed. After a short moment of silence, Ominis turned slightly to gently raise her head. “But it is a start—and besides, you always seem to forgive me? So, I suppose it’s just a full circle.”

“A full circle—what a charming representation of our friendship, Ominis,” Alice said, nudging him softly as if he wouldn’t understand her teasing, except it seemed he had been prepared for it—grabbing her hand, before she had a chance to playfully hit him. She always admired how quick he was, but it was also quite frustrating. “You still should be careful slipping into a room with a woman, who isn’t your wife. You know better than anyone that rumours spread like wildfire.”

“Well, considering I practically carried you back to the room last night—I wouldn’t be surprised if rumours have already begun to spread.”

Alice tensed up at his words, while the hand he was still holding grew limp. She had been so focused on how she felt in the matter and on how it might have strained the already strange relationship she had with Ominis, that she didn’t think about who might have seen them. It wasn’t like she was ashamed of it, no, truthfully she just didn’t like the way gossip followed them—she barely could figure out her own feelings, without having rumours pushed on top of them. Alice was jealous of Ominis in this department. He cared little for gossip or idle chatter about his secrets, always waving it off as if it was nothing—something Alice could never do.

Slowly attempting to slip her hand free from his grasp, Alice hummed softly, almost positive that Ominis wasn’t going to let go—until his smile softened and he did. His hand lingered slightly in the air, only for a moment, before he dropped it and turned to rest it against his knee again as she pouted. “It seems now that I must apologise, Ominis. I shouldn’t have gotten so drunk.”

“We don’t need to talk about it, Alice. Like you said you were drunk, we can just leave it at that.”

“But—I don’t want to leave it at that,” Alice said, subconsciously reaching forward to grab his hand, only to squeeze it lightly and yet, Ominis simply hummed and shrugged her away—Alice now exhaling as she twisted her body to face him properly. “We should talk about it, right?”

Ominis chuckled softly and turned to face her, his hand reaching slowly to tuck a strand of hair, which had fallen before her face—behind her ear, something he only realised, by the sound of Alice attempting to blow it away. The simple act caused her to freeze up slightly, as she swallowed hard. “And talk about what exactly? I don’t know what you expect me to say?”

“Right, of course. Feign ignorance and pretend it didn’t happen, because that makes everything better.”

“So how should I react to last night, Alice? Did you want me to storm in here and demand you tell me if it meant something?” Ominis asked, exhaling softly as Alice suddenly stood up and so he quickly followed. He hadn’t come here to fight over last night and what it did and did not mean—all he came to do was to make sure she was alright and so he reached for her arm. “We kissed—well, you kissed me. That’s it. We don’t need to make this a big deal.”

Alice nodded slowly, pulling away from him. She didn’t enjoy the way he was just glossing over everything, but could she blame him? The kiss was merely a drunken slip up, nothing more—and the sooner she drilled that into her own head, the easier it would be to believe. “You’ve always got to make things professional don’t you, Ominis? I suppose that's what makes you a better Auror—emotions come second, right?”

Ominis had no idea what Alice wanted from him. It was as if she had completely forgotten she had spent last night getting drunk over another man and now she was upset, he didn’t want to talk about their kiss. And it wasn’t because he wished to forget about it, no, because that would have been too easy—classified as the normal response to a drunken mistake, no instead, Ominis would have loved nothing more than to kiss her again and again. But he knew that it wasn’t fair, to him or to her and so pretending that it didn’t affect him in any way—was the best he could do, because if she begged hard enough, he might not have been able to stop himself from pushing her against the bed.

The silence that filled the room was enough to make them both tense now and so Alice no longer wished to hesitate—reaching for the crumpled letter and moving to open the bedroom door in a quick, clean swing. She perhaps had just hoped to slip away for the morning, give them space, before they had to continue their search and truthfully—Alice just needed time to think about everything. However, what she wasn’t expecting to see as she swung open the door was Poppy Sweeting—the new Beasts Professor at Hogwarts and old friend, standing at the top of the staircase with her hand halfway up in the air, as if she was about to knock.

“Poppy Sweeting?”

“Ah, if it isn’t the infamous Alice Dumont—it’s been a long time, hasn’t it?” Poppy said, dropping her hand quickly and before Alice could even react, perhaps too shocked to do so, Poppy simply chuckled softly and pulled the bewildered Auror into her arms. It was clearly something Alice didn’t know she needed, until she was wrapped tightly in Poppy’s arms and when she eventually returned the hug, Poppy was quick to smile. “Now, you better have a good reason as to why you’ve been ignoring my owls.”

Alice hummed softly and pulled back from Poppy. It was impossible to deny that she wasn’t guilty of ignoring a few letters here and there and perhaps more than she should have. But you see, overtime it just became increasingly easier to pretend they didn’t exist, allowing them to clutter her desk and eventually they stopped coming. “Would you believe me, if I said that my owl…got lost on its way to you?”

“For an experienced Auror, I would have hoped you’d be a better liar.”

It was Ominis who laughed, cutting off any chance for Alice to refute Poppy’s claim and when Alice quickly turned to scowl at him, even though he could not see it—her eyes glanced up almost automatically, when he towered over her and placed a hand on her shoulder. “You must forgive my ability to recall memories, Poppy, but if I’m not mistaken Alice has never been good at lying—”

“Says the man that believed anything I told him?” Alice said, shrugging off his hand and turning just in time to see him roll his eyes. But Ominis couldn’t deny her words, because it was more than just simply being tricked into thinking a certain way—no, it was purely just because he would gladly accept anything she said, no matter how foolish. “But, that can be left for another day to unpack—right now, I wish to make up for lost time…if you will allow for it, Poppy?”

“How could I possibly deny such a request—you both must join me for breakfast.”

:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:

The walk down to the lower level of the Three Broomsticks wasn’t a particularly long one, but it was welcomed—as if Alice just needed a moment of silence, except it wasn’t truly silence, at least not with Poppy around again. She had forgotten how much her friend liked to talk, but more importantly, how quickly she liked to flip back and forth through things that excited her—and Alice just enjoyed listening to her. It became apparent that she had missed a lot, Poppy pulling her towards a booth in the back, before Alice looked back and noticed Ominis had disappeared. She wondered if he was upset with her and yet, when Poppy squeezed her hand—Alice turned back to see her big brown eyes, watching her curiously and so she frowned.

“I couldn’t help but notice that the two of you shared a room last night,” Poppy said, letting go of Alice’s hand to move into the booth, tapping the table as if she was requesting Alice to sit and when she finally did—Poppy grinned eagerly, leaning against the table, desperate for the details. “Has something finally happened between you two? I had hoped, it would have been sooner—but now is better than…not at all.”

“I have no idea what you’re insinuating, Poppy. But, nothing happened between us.”

Alice lied, because lying was easier than describing whatever it was she had with Ominis and as she reached forward to grab a paper napkin, slowly ripping it apart—Poppy hummed, not at all believing her. Truthfully, it was a known fact that many of their friends had placed bets on her relationship with Ominis and many of them felt confused by Alice’s reluctancy, well—all except Poppy. “Alice, you do know…that it’s not wrong for you to move on and be happy, right?”

“It doesn’t always feel like that though, does it?” Alice said, crumpling up the half torn napkin in her hand, before she attempted to ease the tension with a forced smile—one that Poppy realised was fake almost immediately and rolled her eyes at. Alice however, ignored it and focused on the pieces of napkin against the table. “Perhaps, it’s Merlin’s way of punishing me—or I suppose, I simply just need to make up my mind.”

“And why don’t you? I mean, Alice—is it truly a hard choice? Does Sebastian…even stand a chance now?”

Looking up from her hand, Alice suddenly felt Sebastian’s letter grow heavy in her pocket and she hummed softly as she flattened the rest of the napkin against the table. Perhaps Poppy was right—Sebastian was no longer part of her life and everything just felt intense and confusing again, because of resurfaced memories. But even with common sense, trickling in and Poppy’s words ringing true, Alice could only think about the letter and if Sebastian’s words still had any truth to them. “It should be that easy, but—oh Poppy, do you really want to talk about my dilemmas with love? I would rather hear about the new Beasts Professor.”

“You and I both know, that’s the last thing I want to talk about,” Poppy said, reaching forward to grab Alice’s hand, keeping it still against the table—before she could pull away and Poppy leaned down to peek up at Alice. It was clear that Poppy had no other motivation, but to learn about Alice’s feelings surrounding Sebastian—and more importantly why she was being so foolish. “Tell me something Alice, are you truly stuck in the middle—or perhaps, are you leaning to one side?”

“I thought…I was slowly reaching a point where I could choose—openly, without the gnawing sensation of lingering feelings. But, now I am not sure.”

Alice smiled sadly now, her eyes finally lingering away from their hands as Poppy slipped free and sat back against the booth—barely needing to wave the barmaid down for drinks, before two cups of coffee were sent over. The warmth from the cup was enough to draw a lengthy exhale from Alice, until she quickly lifted it to her lips and took a sip—Poppy swiftly doing the same, as if to think over her response. It must have appeared to be more obvious now. The foolishness of her inability to choose, to give her heart to Ominis and yet, no matter how much others told her—how she told herself, the choice was never up to her on whether Ominis would stay. The choice was always his.

“Will you humour me with something, Alice?” Poppy asked, her question breaking Alice from her thoughts as she nodded, barely even acknowledging that she could be agreeing to anything. And yet, Alice didn’t need to fear what she might be asked, knowing full well that Poppy knew when to reel it back with her questions and so she placed her cup against the table—and looked up. “You’re confused, right? Since Sebastian is back—which is completely valid, might I add. But think of it this way, when you see a life with Ominis…what do you see?”

“Well, I suppose with Ominis I see—comfort, warmth…and the feeling that my worries will eventually just melt away and all I’ll be surrounded with is stability.”

Poppy smiled, perhaps too eager at the thought of Alice and Ominis, hidden away from the world in their little bubble and she hummed softly—placing her own cup down against the table. Even Alice couldn’t deny her words sounded welcoming, as if she was trying to convince herself and yet, maybe a small part of her knew she didn’t need to. “And, what of Sebastian? What do you see when you think about life with him? A life with the version of him now and not the one that you knew?”

“With Sebastian…? Well, I haven’t really thought about it,” Alice said, resting back into her side of the booth as she looked away from Poppy, just for a moment—as if just by saying his name he would appear and she pouted, looking back. Poppy must have realised her hesitancy and reached forward to grab her hand, the act alone making Alice smile awkwardly. “I suppose, it would be a life full of danger…and passion, but one where I lose everything—I’d constantly be on edge, just waiting for the day it ends.”

“Now, that’s two very opposite life’s you could live, but the real question is, Alice—which one do you actually want?”

Alice looked at Poppy for some time before she hummed and slipped her hand free, bringing both now to her face—rubbing her temples as if it was the hardest decision in the world. And truthfully it was a little foolish, perhaps even incredibly foolish—considering she hadn’t seen Sebastian in years and to fantasise over ‘what if’s’ now seemed rather insane. Lowering her hands, Alice laughed softly, mainly at herself. “This all doesn’t matter though does it, Poppy. He’s no longer in my life—”

“Then why the need for a decision? Why are you so afraid to give yourself to Ominis?” Poppy asked, pulling out her wand and tapping her cup to refill it—before she placed it against the table. She couldn’t comprehend why Alice was still allowing Sebastian to hold onto her heart, as if she was not allowed to love another and Although Poppy knew well of everything they had been through—Ominis had been there too. “You’ve thought about him as more than a friend, right? More than a colleague? It’s obvious, he has thought about you as something more.”

“It’s complicated, Poppy—”

A sudden commotion from outside, caused Alice’s words to falter to a complete silence, before she twisted in her seat to watch the inn’s door swing open. It was only a glimpse, but it was enough and when she swiftly stood up—Poppy followed. Ominis had what appeared to be a young boy, by the scruff of his neck as he attempted to squirm from his grasp. Alice and Poppy glanced at each other just as quickly as they made it outside and when they reached the scene—which had now donned a crowd, Ominis seemed unfazed and Alice was almost positive he wore a smirk.

“What’s your problem! I told you I’ve got nothing in my pockets,” the boy quipped, his hands desperately clawing at Ominis’ hand. It seemed to be doing little but cause him to hold on tighter and when Alice stepped towards him—the boy pointed to her. “Hey lady! Help me out, this blind fool is making things up!”

Alice looked up at Ominis, whose eyes flicked towards her—as if he sensed her hesitation and his smile softened. Moving closer and pulling out her wand, the crowd gasped in unison as the boy seemed to do nothing, but squirm harder. “Do you not know who this is, boy? Does he look like the type to stop you, without reason?”

“I ain’t done nothing!”

“Well then, you wouldn’t mind if I emptied out your pockets, yes?” Ominis asked, clearly already onto the boy’s pathetic tricks, attempting to pull at the heartstrings of those around him—wishing to be let go and when Alice smiled, flicking her gaze to Ominis, his smile seemed to have grown. But despite the confidence that oozed off the pair, the boy was adamant on holding his ground and refused. “Just one tap of my wand and your secrets will spill. So—why don’t you do us all a favour and just confess.”

The crowd seemed to be unsure what to think now, seeing a grown man grabbing the scruff of a young boy’s neck—but no one dared to step forward, perhaps too afraid of Ominis’ reaction if they did so and so they simply watched on with curiosity. Alice seemed to notice this quicker than Ominis, or perhaps he just didn’t care—and so she stepped forward and tapped the boy's legs with her wand. In an instant, trinkets of all sizes, potion bottles, sweets and anything else you could think of—came spilling out of the boy’s pants and quickly began to clutter the ground around them, the crowd now gasping at the revelation.

“An extension charm on your pockets, I’m a little impressed,” Alice said, reaching up to place her hand against Ominis’, who happily dropped the boy and as if she already knew he was going to try and run off—Alice swiftly casted incarcerous and the boy fell to ground, with a great thud. “Ah—you will need to try harder than that. Ominis, have the proper authorities been sent for?”

“They’re on their way now.”

Alice smiled and looked down at the boy who seemed to have been cursing them beneath his breath and yet, had clearly given up on struggling—knowing well that there wasn’t much to do now but wait. Slowly moving to Ominis’ side, Alice smiled when he pulled out his wand and enchanted the stolen items to return to their original owners, before the crowd was eventually dispersed by the Hogsmeade officers. “So, this is what you were doing when you deserted me? Finding trouble?”

“Deserted you? What are you talking about, Alice?” Ominis asked, his eyebrows furrowing quickly as she watched his eyes flicker, a soft reaction he did when racking his brain for answers. Alice laughed softly, realising that her teasing had done nothing of the sort and so she exhaled and placed her own wand away—while Ominis looked down at her. “I was simply giving you a chance to catch up with an old friend. Should I have stayed? I mean, if I did—then how would you have been able to talk about me?”

“W-What? We were certainly not talking about you.”

Ominis smirked slightly and hummed, though Alice could tell he didn’t believe her. Despite his teasing, it would have been impossible for him to know her conversation with Poppy and yet—the way he looked down at her, she no longer was sure. Pressing her hands against the small of her back, Alice turned to see Poppy speaking with a local—before Ominis placed his hand against her head. “Keep your secrets then. But you really do need to get better at lying.”

“Now, I have no idea what you’re talking about, Ominis,” Alice said, slipping free from his hand and turning just enough to see his smile soften, but only for a moment—before he chuckled under his breath and nudged her. It felt nice to feel normal with him again, despite last night and this morning—but even Alice knew it would not last. “Besides, we have more pressing matters. Such as, figuring out our next move—any ideas?”

“What about Feldcroft?”

Alice hummed softly and nodded. She too, had thought about Feldcroft and if Sebastian would be foolish enough to return home—and truthfully, the risk was probably too enticing to pass up. Catching Poppy’s attention, Alice smiled as she waved her over, before she turned to Ominis and reached for his arm. “It’s a start, if anything—hopefully we can find some answers. Places he’s mapped out, or more.”

“You both aren’t leaving, are you? You just got here,” Poppy said, slipping past a few crowd lingerers, before she made her way to Alice’s side and when Ominis chuckled softly at her question—Poppy pouted and flicked her gaze between the pair. She knew their visit wasn’t a social one, but she had almost hoped that they’d make a little more time to talk. “We still have so much catching up to do?”

“Poppy—we’re sort of on a timer here, the Ministry needs Sebastian brought in as fast as possible.”

Alice frowned at her words, knowing she hated the very thing she had come to do and yet, she swiftly shook it away and forced a smile—when Poppy’s eyebrows furrowed. It was more than obvious that she wanted to continue to pry, but instead she exhaled and Alice welcomed the fact—she was so understanding. “Well then, before you scurry off—Ominis, I must thank you. I received word a couple of weeks ago that you managed to clear all of the poacher camps around the outskirts of the forbidden forest. I appreciate it.”

Ominis nodded and the two shared a short conversation on poachers in the surrounding areas, before he slipped her a letter. Poppy then turned to Alice and pulled her into another warm embrace, squeezing her softly—before expressing that she wanted her to try to be better at sending owls and Alice reluctantly agreed. After a short while and a great deal of promises that Alice wasn’t sure she would be able to keep, Poppy waved the pair off as they returned to The Three Broomsticks to collect their things. Reaching the room now felt a little strange, perhaps because of the events that had happened in there—but regardless, they still had a job to do and Alice was just hoping to get it over with as quickly as possible.

“So, you’ve been helping clear poacher camps?” Alice asked, tapping the rest of her belongings to swiftly pack themselves into her suitcase, her eyes now focused on Ominis’ reaction to her question and she smiled when he did. “You’ve been busier than I thought, Poppy seemed really thankful.”

“She’s been rather busy with teaching and when she asked, well who could refuse a request from Poppy Sweeting.”

Alice laughed softly and nodded, noting all too well of her first interactions with Poppy in school, being far from a normal one and she moved to sit against the bed—leaning back slightly as she exhaled. It seemed strange now, recalling memories, good or bad and Alice’s smile softened. “Well still, you did good. I suppose, sometimes I just forget—how good you actually are.”

“Should I not be? Are you half-expecting me to do something bad?” Ominis asked, moving to sit down beside her on the bed, his leg brushing up against hers and yet, Alice didn’t pull away—so neither did he. Something felt oddly calming being close to her, as if she centred him and a part of him knew that she felt the same way—except for her, it just seemed harder to admit. Leaning back slightly himself, Ominis nudged her softly. “I think deep down, we all have good and bad in us—but we determine which side we show. I just don’t plan to leave a bad mark on the world, or my name—”

“You aren’t your family, Ominis and people are noticing it. Now, more than ever.”

Ominis nodded and leaned forward, clasping his hands together. It was comforting to know that Alice always treated him like a person, above his name—something that for a long time, had been hard to come by. Well at least, before the Sallow twins, before that Ominis simply succumbed to the hatred that was simply forced onto him, with little chance to retort it. But now, little by little, he was changing that and it finally felt good. “I think what helps the most is having such a supportive cheerleader in my corner.”

“And I’ll always stay there, Ominis, no matter what,” Alice said, nudging him back as she now leaned forward and when she did, Ominis gently placed his hand against her knee—and for a moment, even just a simple touch sent electric shockwaves through her body. Slowly reaching to place a hand on his, Alice laughed softly. “We just have to be there for each other, alright? This job…it’s going to hurt and we just need to protect each other.”

“Alice—”

“Not another word, Ominis—just agree with me and say you’ll protect me…protect us.”

Ominis squeezed her knee and slipped his hand free from her grasp, which now seemed to burn his skin. She didn’t need to ask such a ridiculous request, because he had already made up his mind to do just that and he would do anything to make sure he kept that promise. “Of course I agree with you and do you really have to ask? Alice, I’m ready to protect you with my life.”

“I don’t need you to be prepared to die for me, Ominis—”

“Well, you don’t have a say in that, do you,” Ominis said, cutting Alice off before she could say anything more, or perhaps continue to argue with him over what he had said and so she grumbled and looked away. Ominis smiled at the sound of her defeat and softly nudged her again, just to make sure she knew he was teasing her—but still meant every word. “Alice, we’re in this together, alright? But, I don’t plan to hesitate, no matter what.”

:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:

The rest of the evening was uneventful, with Ominis finishing off a few small jobs here and there, slipping in and out of the inn—when he thought he was being sly about it, but Alice couldn’t seem to sleep. They had decided to stay one more night, solely for Ominis to complete business before they left and although Alice was hesitant about staying—she eventually gave in, simply for the comfort of a nice bed. Ominis allowed her to sleep first, simply requesting that he would take the floor, after everything that happened—but Alice refused. She had no right to deny him a good night’s rest, simply because she was embarrassed about kissing him and truthfully, it felt comforting to have him close by.

Alice always had trouble sleeping, but today felt different. It felt like every time she laid down, something crept over her and sat directly against her chest, as if it wished to make itself known to her and each time she almost fell asleep—it woke her up. Eventually, perhaps with the help of a sleeping draught that she had brought with her, Alice drifted off to sleep and it suddenly felt like she was transported into something different—almost as if her dream…had been hijacked. Soon, a wave of nothing and everything all at once, washed over her and Alice felt like she was trapped—and it became clear, something was wrong.

***

The rattling was what Alice heard first, before she could see anything. It was as if she was awake in a darkened room, in which all of the light had been sucked out of and yet, it still felt warm. Slowly the darkness slowly grew less dark and more clear, as if someone had opened a window and began to remove it with a simple action, but she was still alone. Alice was used to dreams, nightmares, which had latched onto her—since her final moments with Sebastian, but this felt different, it didn’t feel like hers.

When the darkness finally cleared and Alice could now see where she was, let alone her hands before her, it was the slow sound of a whistle—soft and familiar, that caused her heart to suddenly leap into her throat. Panic. Alice felt her chest ache and she almost forgot how to breathe, when a figure slowly appeared—too far to determine who it was, but with the way her body had begun to react, it was clear she had an idea. Stepping back slightly, almost instinctively, Alice shuddered as the whistling grew louder and the figure grew closer.

Swallowing hard and reaching for her wand, she gasped softly and realised she didn’t have it, but more importantly—she no longer was wearing her nightgown, no, instead she was wearing a green silk dress. Glancing back up towards the figure, Alice felt her mouth dry and her hands begin to shake, the air in her lungs now growing heavy and she felt it linger in her throat. Stepping back again, the whistling stopped, just as the figure did and then he appeared before her—changed and so very different from the boy she knew, the air growing cold as he smiled and eventually reached towards her.

“You’ve become quite the woman, Alice,” Sebastian said, appearing in front of her now as his fingers brushed lightly across Alice’s jaw causing her to freeze, her breath now completely stolen from her and yet when he noticed—Sebastian simply chuckled, almost too softly and brushed his fingers down to her neck. “Breathe, sweetheart. We have so much to discuss.”

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