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A Timeless Hogwarts Legacy: Ours by Choice (5/16)

Fandom: Hogwarts Legacy Main Title: A Timeless Hogwarts Legacy Pairing: Ominis Gaunt/Original Female Character Tags: Romance; Hurt/Comfort; Angst; Fluff; Friendship; Mutual Pining

Chapter: 5/16 Title: Ours by Choice Chapter word count: 12,390

Last Chapters: AO3 (All Chapters): AO3 Tumblr: Chapter 1; Chapter 2; Chapter 3; Chapter 4

Last Chapter Preview: With her breath caught, her flushing cheek, and her quickening heartbeat, Evelyn knew this was not a coincidence, as she previously believed. She didn't have to visit Madam Blainey to figure it out. Merlin , she even practically confessed it earlier. The feeling she had was real.

She’s falling for him.

So she tightened her grip on his arm.

And welcomed the sparks that flew every time she saw him ever since.

Reminder:

I won't mention the main character house, you could choose her house yourself

You could change my original character name with yours, I’ll try my best to not mention her skin, hair, and eye colour so you could match it with your own.

I am no expert of the Victorian era, the use of the calendar system, etiquette, and many other things from the said era are changed as I see fit to support the story. Several insertions of modern era culture will be present as well to support the story.

You could also read this on AO3.

Enjoy!

p.s. please don't hesitate to comment if you'd like!

5. Ours by Choice

Autumn, 1891

“There you are,” Ominis said to the approaching girl.

“There you are,” Evelyn answered in a playful tone, causing the blond boy to chuckle.

Merlin’s beard, how much she missed him. Hearing his laugh and seeing him again after being separated for the whole summer made her realise how much she missed him. She missed his laugh, his smile, his scent, his voice, anything about him. Being separated for the summer after the O.W.L. was hard for her. The letters they exchanged were clearly not enough to satisfy her longing. Especially since she only got one letter for two months of their separation. One!

“You spent too much time with Sebastian.”

Evelyn lifted an eyebrow at his comment. She did spend part of her summer with the brunette. Only because Ominis cancelled all of a sudden. They were supposed to spend the summer together, Sebastian, Ominis, and her. Staying at Evelyn's house to accompany the brunette to visit his twin sister in London. Ominis was supposed to be there, as the third party to help the brunette reconcile with his twin sister. But Evelyn stood in his place instead after he bailed on her and Sebastian on the day they were supposed to take the train to London.

He had left suddenly without a proper goodbye. Leaving nothing to explain his sudden disappearance, making Evelyn and Sebastian worried. He eventually sent her and Sebastian a letter after a few days, saying he had to go back to his family manor in the summer for urgent matters. Urgent matters that he refused to tell neither Sebastian nor Evelyn about in the letter. And again, she only got one letter!

So it was no surprise that she answered him with resentment after he made her remember that.

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing’s wrong with it,” he answered dejectedly. “I’m the one who cancelled our plans all of a sudden. I’m sorry, Eve.”

Evelyn sighed. She couldn’t stay mad at him when he’s saying sorry like that. He had said sorry every time she became upset remembering it. Evelyn lost count of how many times he said sorry since their first meeting after summer break. Evelyn did realise that it was not his fault he had to go so suddenly in the first place, and his family affair wasn’t her business either. She’s just…disappointed with how he left. She could be upset about it, right?

“Just do as I told you before. Tell me right away as soon as you have to leave,” Evelyn stood on his left, “remember, you don’t have to tell me why. Just…don’t leave without telling me first ever again.”

Evelyn felt his left hand clasp her right one tightly.

“I will.” He said with a smile. “Thank you for still agreeing to meet with me here, Eve.”

Evelyn felt guilt creeping in after she heard his sincere gratitude. The one who should be thanked was him, after what he did throughout last winter, spring, and the past few days since the new school year started.

More than one year had passed since her first encounter with the dark side of magic, and yet, the nightmares didn’t cease. His warning at their encounter last winter on the astronomy deck was right. It didn’t go away as soon as she hoped. The frequency of her nightmares may have decreased, but the terror had not. It was still the same rotting hands and bones that pulled her. It was still the same fear. And every night she had them, she would go to the same hall where the room of requirement entrance was. But didn’t come into the room as soon as she arrived.

Sometimes, she found Ominis already waiting there, as if he knew she would have a nightmare that night.

Evelyn would find him leaning casually on the wall where the entrance to the Room of Requirement was supposed to be. He would then greet her in whispers when they were close enough to touch. And then, they would walk arm in arm to the astronomy observation deck with a bluebell flame lantern illuminating the way up. They would sit in the same place as their last encounter and talk about anything. Their separate days, academics, or even the weather. Anything except for Ominis’s past, Ominis’s family, and Evelyn’s ancient magic secret. They would talk for hours until Ominis reminded her that it was almost dawn and they still needed to rest. He would then courteously accompany her back to her dorm, where she would sleep peacefully for the rest of the night.

The other times, she discovered that there was no one there.

And when she did, she would wait for a few minutes, even an hour. She waited with hope that somehow, Ominis would come. And when he did, he would come with his wand in front of him, greet her in the same manner, escort her to the same place, and talk with her beneath the same stars with the same bluebell flame lantern to keep them warm.

That’s why she’s the one who should be thanking him. Thanking him for keeping his word to help her face her nightmares. Thanking him for all the nights he spent accompanying her. Thanking him for still being with her after everything.

“Thank you for inviting me, Omi,” She said as she tightened her grip on his hand before releasing it gently and moving back a few steps to give him space to mourn.

She didn’t question his decision to invite her instead of Sebastian to such an important event of his life. She just accepted it when he asked at their last night's clandestine rendezvous. The invitation to join him in commemorating the one year anniversary of his knowing of the death of his beloved aunt, Noctua Gaunt.

Evelyn and Ominis were standing on the shore of the black lake. They stood in silence, the gentle ripples of water brushing over their shoes.

With his delicate skin caressed by the warm sun, Ominis appeared ethereal. She could practically see how beautiful the constellations of beauty marks on his left cheek were, connected by his faintly visible veins, as she stood to his left. He was both beautiful and terrifying at the same time. The classic traits of Gaunts, enchanting yet dangerous, as Sebastian had said.

Evelyn broke the silence after she saw Ominis holding something between his right thumb and forefinger. “Such a shiny ring you got there, Ominis.” She said softly.

Ominis’s lips curled in disdain. “More like a bloody ring.”

Evelyn didn’t miss the resentment in Ominis’s voice, but she decided to continue, “Is that yours?”

Ominis sighed, his voice becoming strained in sorrow. “It’s my late aunt’s.”

“Oh…”

Silence came between them once again. Evelyn should have guessed it when she saw the size of the ring. It was too small, even for Ominis’s slender fingers. It could probably only fit on his little finger.

Ominis probably felt how intense her gaze was since he gave her a clearer view of the ring by moving it to his open left hand. Evelyn smiled and began to try to note all the details of the ring. Silently thanking Ominis’s sensitivity.

It was clearly made of gold and had no jewel stones. But it could still be considered a beautiful ring, even in its simplicity. It has an engraving of a crest, which is a shield of scales with two snakes facing each other in its centre and what Evelyn assumed to be thorny ivy tendrils on both its sides. With her curiosity overcoming her guilt, Evelyn finally asked.

“Is that your family crest?”

Ominis’s thumb touched the snakes on the ring, “Yes, it is.”

“Does every wizarding family have a family crest?” Evelyn asked in astonishment. In the muggle world, only noble houses wear crests. Perhaps the wizarding one was different? Perhaps everyone could have a crest.

“Most likely just the old ones,” Ominis shrugged, “old rich ones.”

“Oh…”

Ominis chuckled at Evelyn’s disappointment. To lighten up the mood, he then jokingly said, “Archaic, pretentious, racist, stick-in-the-mud ones.”

Evelyn giggled, “and your family is one of them?”

“Unfortunately, yes. Mine is one of the oldest ones.”

Evelyn turned herself completely towards the boy. She traced the engraving of the ring on his left open palm between them. “If you don’t mind me asking, what does it mean?”

“It represents everything I despise in myself.” Ominis said bitterly. He closed his palm, blocking Evelyn’s view of the ring. “Unquenched thirst for power and blood purity maniac.”

“Ominis, I—”

“No, I’m glad that you asked.” He cut Evelyn, opened his palm again, and continued sarcastically, “You see, we Gaunts believe that power is everything. Which of course, is perfectly consistent with the concept of blood purity. We believe that being a pureblood means one has a higher position in life than others and wields more power over them. Not to forget, there’s also a special ability that only we have, courtesy of our cunning ancestor, Salazar Slytherin. The ability to speak parseltongue, which you already know, I unfortunately inherited, is like the oil for our already scorching ego.”

Using his left thumb, he pointed to the snakes in the centre of the ring. "The snakes and scales on the shield signify it. Our noble way of life and the reminder of our great founding father,” He in disgust.

“With our vital role in wizarding society as the direct descendent of one of the most powerful wizards in the world, we have to keep the belief alive and our blood lineage clean," Ominis added. “We must preserve our ancestors' legacies while maintaining our authority over society.

“Like any other old barbaric family in the world, we do it by indoctrinating our children and practising inbreeding. We pride ourselves on how we teach our younglings about blood purity and the dark arts. We did it as soon as they got a wand from Ollivander to ensure that the propaganda was well embedded in their minds. Our method is unique, and no one else with a conscience probably agrees to it. But, it was extremely effective. We force our children to cast the curse they’ve learned on muggles. Killing two birds with one stone, I suppose. Teaching them about our rank in society and the power that comes with it.” He shrugged nonchalantly before he continued.

“The finest aspect is, the younglings didn’t have any choice in the matter. Since we also teach obedience and suppress their free will by making their own father curse them if they don't do as told. Their fathers also cursed them for showing weakness, like crying because they couldn’t bear to hear the screams of tortured souls for example. Screams that could be heard nearly every day in the Gaunt mansion. Especially from the dungeons. It made us Gaunts especially effective in producing a new batch of dark wizards in every generation—an accomplishment we Gaunts are immensely proud of.” Ominis ended with a sarcastic smile that sent shudders through Evelyn’s body.

“I would be one of them if Aunt Noctua didn’t come to visit every summer.” He spoke again, his voice heavy with loss and despair.

Evelyn was too stunned to speak. Because of what Sebastian had told her, she already understood how horrible the Gaunt were. But listening to Ominis, the one who got through it himself? A hundred times more heartbreaking than it was before. She couldn’t stop herself from imagining how hard it could be for a child to go through what he did. A child was not supposed to get through that in the first place. She would’ve died if she had been in his place.

“Well, that's what the shield and ivy indicated,” Ominis added nonchalantly, perhaps feeling uncomfortable with the silence that had crept in. “It signifies our obligation to safeguard Slytherin's lineage and legacy.”

“I'm sorry,” Evelyn said, trying to keep the tears from welling up in her eyes.

Ominis sighed. “Don't be,” He said softly. “You’ve done nothing wrong.”

"I made you recall something bad about her," Evelyn sniffed. "When today is meant to be the day you honour her memory," her voice cracked as the tears began to pour.

“Hey,” Ominis said, hastily putting the ring in his pocket as he heard Evely’s sob. He then frantically traced his way to Evelyn’s hands and held them tight. “It’s all right,” He said. With a soothing motion, his thumb began to massage her hand. “I was able to appreciate the good memories because of the terrible ones. You reminded me that she was the good in the midst of all the awful things that happened to me as a result of my family. You actually helped me honour her more.”

Evelyn couldn’t help herself. She hugged the boy with all her heart, wishing that her sympathy and condolences were conveyed through the physical touch. She buried her face in his chest, and cried.

Frozen in surprise, it took a while for Ominis to finally begin to hug her back. And when he did, waves of emotions came out of nowhere and flooded his heart. A tear fell, indicating how exhausted he felt from holding it all back. Letting himself finally feel his pain and grief, he hugged Evelyn tighter and cried as well.

“I miss her,” He stated in a trembling voice as he cried on her shoulder.

“I know,” Evelyn tenderly stroked his back while crying herself, “I know, Omi. Let it all out.”

And Ominis wept.

It's been days since the one year anniversary of Noctua Gaunt's death.

The corridors remained unchanged. The wall between three braziers remained silent about what had happened behind it to the students, who kept strolling regularly when they crossed it. Yet, time appeared to stand still for Ominis, forcing him to endure the same sorrow he felt on the one year anniversary every time he came across the same wall.

And Sebastian was puzzled by his best friend's sorrow. That's why he was questioning Evelyn about it in the Undercroft just now, their blonde companion nowhere to be seen.

“He always has this sad face every time we come across the wall where the scriptorium entrance is.”

Evelyn couldn't help but think how tragic it was that her brunette friend hadn't actually realised it had been a year since their venture to the cursed scriptorium. Ominis was probably still feeling sorrow and grief over his aunt's demise. He did know of her death by seeing her skeletons in the scriptorium. It was understandable that he became sad every time he came across the entrance of the damned place, even after a year had passed. Especially after the memorial he had for her.

“Of course he does, Seb. It’s been a year since we last encountered his aunt’s remains in the scriptorium.”

“Has it been a year?” The brunette asked quietly, seeming to not realise that a year had passed.

“It has, Sebastian.” Evelyn answered softly, holding one of his arms, supporting him. “He asked me to accompany him the other day, to commemorate the anniversary of her death, of him knowing her death.”

“How come he didn’t ask me as well?”

Hearing his sad and disbelieving whisper made Evelyn feel guilty.

“I’m not sure, Seb,” Evelyn said dejectedly. “I just accepted it when he asked me too,” she sighed and removed her hand from his arm, “I don’t know why he asked me instead of you, but he did. It's better for us to accept his decision, than to look for the reasons in our minds, no?”

When she didn’t get any answer from the brunette, she continued jokingly, “Perhaps he’s just embarrassed to cry in front of you.”

“But, it’s…it’s different, Evelyn. It’s not only that.” He finally replied with a regretful tone, which caused deep concern from Evelyn. Her voice became quiet when she asked him.

“Different how?”

“He’s been in this misery for a while now.” Sebastian started explaining in a sombre tone. “He had nightmares almost every night since the first day after summer. I woke up in the middle of the night because of his screams. I had to calm him down every time, just for him to be silent about it and flee to Merlin knows where.”

Evelyn knew exactly where he went. To the familiar hallway near the astronomy tower, where he met her own ‘derived from sleep cause of nightmare’ self. Evelyn’s eyes widened. That’s why she had seen him every time she went to the said corridor, already waiting for her. He had nightmares as well.

But…she didn’t go there every night. Her nightmares didn’t come every night. Did he go there and wait for her when she didn’t?

Evelyn felt guilt in her stomach as she heard Sebastian sighed and continued desperately.

“Every night since the summer break, he moved so frantically in his sleep that I had to wake him up. Or he would wake up all by himself, screaming. By Merlin, Evelyn, I don't mind being woken up abruptly every night. But I just need to know why. I feel terrible knowing he needed my help, but I can’t give it to him. I don’t know anything about it!”

She felt sympathy for Sebastian. It must be hard for him to see Ominis drown in his misery more and more, not knowing why or how he could help. But, she really thought Ominis was fine. He looked fine the last time she saw him at their last clandestine meeting at the observation deck, which was two days ago.

Yes, his cheek looked more gaunt than ever before. Yes, his under-eyes are getting darker under the stars. Yes, his posture seemed more tired and weaker when he was escorting her. Yes. He looked different. But she asked him about it! For many times.

She asked if he’s getting enough sleep. She asked if he’s having a nightmare as well and what it contained. She asked if he had his meals. She asked if he had any problems. She even asked him to just tell her if he needed any help. He didn’t even have to tell her why and she would still help without any questions asked.

But he only smiled at her questions and said,

‘Don’t worry about me, Eve.’

And Evelyn suddenly realised how stupid she was.

She was so stupid for not realising it in the first place, for not pushing him to tell her about it, for believing him blindly, and for the most stupid thing she had done, not asking Sebastian about it.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?!” Evelyn yelled at Sebastian with annoyance. Not annoyance at him, but at her stupid self as guilt came down bearing on her. They said falling for someone made a person more aware of the one they fell for. But it clearly didn’t in her case. Or she was just too blind to see the signs. Either way, she felt guilty for not knowing it sooner.

“Well, I thought it was the usual ‘I did and saw bad things that haunted me’ thing. He’s the one who is already familiar with the horrors of it before I am. I only had it after…my uncle's ordeal. After that, it’s not only him who has nightmares, I do too. Sometimes we have it at the same time, sometimes we don’t. Either way, we usually tell each other about it, since we’re the only ones who know about the horrors of doing…you know…”

Evelyn couldn't decide which was more heartbreaking. The fact that they both had suffered nightmares as a result of his trauma with the unforgivable curse, or that they had only each other to tell about it. They both didn’t tell her about the nightmares and avoided the question every time she asked.

“He used to tell me about his dreams. He'd been telling me about it every time he got it, ever since he told me about his missing aunt and his family in the second year. That’s why I always invited him to Feldcroft every summer. I thought it would help him somehow,” Sebastian sighed tiredly and continued with frustration, “but now, it’s like I’m back in first grade, with a stranger who wouldn’t tell a thing why he woke up with screams almost every night as my dorm mate.”

Evelyn considered telling him about her secret meeting with Ominis. Maybe he could deduce a new conclusion based on what Ominis and she had talked about or based on his behaviour when he was meeting her. However, what would she say? That she had nightmares and often met Ominis in the middle of the night whenever she couldn't sleep? That the reason why she also had nightmares because she too, had committed crimes before? That she had even killed more people than the fingers on her hand?

Evelyn pushed the thought away. Ominis never told her about his nightmares or problems in their meetings. Telling Sebastian about it couldn’t give him any more information than what he already knew.

“I don’t—”

“I don’t like this, Evelyn.” Sebastian cut off her answer with a stern voice. “If you do know something, please, tell me,” he pleaded.

“I don’t know, Sebastian. I really don’t.” She answered with the same sternness. “He didn’t share with me either. I just found out from you that he's been having nightmares since he returned from the summer. Since he’s back from his…”

Evelyn’s voice trailed off as the gears in her mind began to move. Ominis usually goes to the Feldcroft with Sebastian and Anne in the summer, but he didn’t on the last one. He went back to his family instead. And he had nightmares every day since he was back for the new school year. He had nightmares since he spent the last summer with his family. Nightmares which he hadn’t shared with Sebastian like he used to since the second year.

“Something must have happened in the summer, Sebastian.” Evelyn finally said her thoughts out loud. “Something terrible happened to him when he went back to his family.”

“You’re right…” Sebastian’s voice trailed off as he delved into his own thoughts. “How could I not think about it?!” He exclaimed all of a sudden.

Evelyn shrugged and answered without any hint of condescension to the brunette, like she was just stating a fact.

“Because I’m smarter than you.”

Sebastian shook his head, “I would have had a great comeback if I wasn’t filled with worry for our Slytherin descendant right now.”

“We could do something about it.” Evelyn offered.

“How? We don’t know what happened. He won’t tell either me or you about it,” Sebastian paced back and forth in frustration, “and we’re his closest friends!”

Evelyn grabbed Sebastian's hand and stopped him in his tracks. “We don't need to know why to help him. We could just be with him and be ready whenever he needs us,” she looked straight into Sebastian's eyes, “and we definitely don't need to handle his issues for him if he doesn't ask us to.” She added firmly.

“Okay, okay, I understand what you meant,” Sebastian took a deep breath, “no drastic moves such as searching for solutions in the dark arts.” He deadpanned.

Evelyn let him go and laughed. Sebastian joined after a few seconds. How could he joke in times like this, she would never know. Once her and Sebastian's laughter stopped, Evelyn whacked him on the shoulder in playful irritation.

“I’m serious!”

“Yes, Evelyn. I won’t.” Sebastian promised. “Well, what could we do?”

“Well, I have an idea to distract him from his problems for a while.” Evelyn said to him with a growing grin on her face, “and you’re going to help me.”

“It’s going to be bad for me, is it?”

“Sebastian Sallow! Where are you taking me?!” An annoyed shout could be heard echoing through the stairs of the Defence Against the Dark Arts tower.

Sebastian was currently escorting grouchy Ominis up to a certain hallway as Evelyn had instructed before. She clearly knew her blond friend’s schedule since she was right at her guess where to find him. Sebastian didn't need to seek farther; he spotted him in her initial guess, sleeping at the bell tower entrance hall.

“Just trust me, Ominis." Sebastian tried to reassure the blond boy as he led him up the stairs. It was quite difficult with the blond resisting him.

“How’d that work out? Me trusting you when you promised to do nothing else with a certain path?”

Sebastian took a deep breath at his friend’s sarcastic question while the said friend continued.

“Did it turned out to—”

“It didn’t turn out well. I should have listened to you. I am sorry for what I’ve done.” Sebastian cut off Ominis seriously as he continued to lead him up the stairs. “Now, stop being upset. We’re almost there.”

“I had every right to be upset about it. For my whole life.”

Ominis’s remark made Sebastian come to a halt. He took another deep breath and tugged on Ominis’s hand to tell him to pick up the pace as he too began to climb up again. Only to be pulled back with such force that he almost fell back.

“I won’t take another step before you tell me where we are going.” Ominis stated stubbornly, causing Sebastian to groan in frustration.

“We are going to her. To Evelyn.”

“Why?” Ominis asked the brunette.

“I don’t know, I just received an urgent owl from her to bring you with me, to meet her in a certain hallway.” Sebastian answered him.

“Which one?!” Ominis questioned—demanded Sebastian. The blonde’s frantic demand seemed to confuse the brunette, who answered nervously.

“Uh…the one near the astronomy tower? Which had a tapestry on one side and a blank wall on the other?”

Ominis let go of Sebastian’s hand and quickly climbed up the stairs on his own. His wand guided him with a red glow in front of him.

“Ominis, wait!”

Sebastian's shouts didn't slow Ominis in the least. He continued to move quickly up the stairs, and went sprinting as soon as he reached the top, his wand sending out waves just as fast in front of him. His robe could be seen fluttering as he ran across the corridors. He turned briskly towards the hallway, which he knew like the back of his hand. And finally saw the familiar girl he searched for, leaning in front of the blank wall.

“Ominis! Why—”

The girl's greetings were suddenly interrupted by his rapid question as he came to a halt right in front of her and gripped her arms tightly.

“Eve! Are you okay? Are you hurt? Are you injured?” Ominis released her arms and put his wand between himself and Evelyn, as if he were examining her with it.

“Yes, no, and no.” Evelyn answered him while looking at his frowning face, red under his wand glow. Seeing his concern for her made Evelyn warm inside. She would be lying if she didn’t like it. But, the way his hand trembled as it moved in front of her made her feel guilty. She held his trembling wand wielding hand, hoping the gesture would somewhat calm the frantic Slytherin in front of her.

“I’m okay, Omi.”

The gesture seemed to help him calm down as the waves from his wand went back to their usual pace. He finally lowered his wand. His eyes closed as he struggled to catch his breath.

“What happened?” She asked gently, still holding his hand.

It seemed like the universe wanted to help Ominis answer Evelyn’s question, with Sebastian running towards them. Seeing the brunette, Evelyn quickly moved her hand away from Ominis’s.

“You…I never imagined you…” Sebastian said breathlessly, referring to the already halted blond boy while slowly coming into a halt beside him. “Oh, hey Evelyn!” He became aware of the perplexed girl when he came to a complete halt. Still unable to catch his breath after running, he gulped and gestured to the blond boy, “here…here he is.”

“Can someone tell me what happened?!” Evelyn asked again in frustration.

Ominis was still silent while Sebastian took his time to catch his breath. He took a few deep breaths and put his hand on Ominis’s shoulder, leaning himself towards him. Sebastian then suddenly grinned before taking the part to answer Evelyn’s answer. His grin was so proud that it made the moment more confusing than before for Evelyn.

“This guy right here, is a snitch in disguise. He ran all of a sudden when I said that you wanted to meet us here,” Sebastian chuckled, “I couldn’t even catch up with him!”

Evelyn could see the veins in Ominis’s head popping after hearing Sebastian's answer. He finally opened his eyes and spoke with a very irritated tone.

“You shouted at me when I was asleep, practically dragged me running to Merlin knows where when I hadn't even completely awakened, only to tell me that Evelyn owled for us urgently after I asked about it! Of course, I thought of the worst and ran to her! How do you think I would react?!”

“Sebastian Sallow,” Evelyn glowered at the brunette, “that is not what I asked you to!”

“I only thought what’s best at that time! And besides, he’s here! I did exactly what you asked me to!” Sebastian defended himself frantically to Evelyn before turning to face the fuming blond Slytherin, “And I had to wake you up as soon as possible! Yelling at you was the fastest way I could think of!”

“I already have a disability,” Ominis said as he shook his head, rubbing his forehead in frustration, “please don't give me another one by yelling straight to my eardrums.”

“Sorry,” Sebastian said meekly towards Ominis, who only sighed.

Evelyn sighed disappointedly as well at the brunette and turned towards the blond Slytherin, trying her best to salvage whatever was left of her plan to cheer him up. Saving her already seemingly failing plan.

“I’m sorry, Omi. I told Sebastian to simply bring you here. I never imagined he'd give you that foolish explanation or that you'd be yelled at and hauled across the hall.”

“It’s fine, Eve. It’s not your fault.” Ominis replied gently to the girl.

Sebastian, who probably thought that all conflicts were resolved, held both of his friends’ shoulders with each of his hands, and spoke, “Well, if it’s all okay—”

“I’m still mad at you.” Ominis cut him off immediately.

The brunette gasped in shock, “How come?!”

“You woke me up from my blissful sleep.” Ominis stated with resentment.

Sebastian gaped at his friend's complaint, his hands moved from both of his friend’s shoulders to dramatically cover his gaping mouth before exclaiming, “You slept on the floor! In the hallway! What’s so blissful about it?!”

“I could sleep wherever I want!” Ominis yelled stubbornly.

“You could have a cold!” Sebastian yelled as well.

“It’s—”

“It is not healthy to sleep on the cold floor, Omi.” Ominis retaliation was interrupted by Evelyn's soft voice. It silenced both Sebastian and Ominis, before the latter finally responded in an equally gentle voice.

“Okay, I’ll try not to in the future.”

“Oh, so you listened to her but not to me?” Sebastian asked in disbelief immediately after Ominis’s reply.

“It wasn’t you who told me what I needed to hear.” Ominis answered nonchalantly.

Sebastian's eyes widened as he exclaimed in frustration, “I practically told you the same!”

“You did not.” Ominis stubbornly denied his best friend's claim.

“I did!” Sebastian stubbornly maintained his stance.

“Did not.”

“Did too!”

“You did not.”

“I told—”

Sebastian was interrupted by the sound of the wall moving behind him. He quickly turned, just to find Evelyn smiling beside the now not-so-blank wall. His eyes widened as he saw the enormous door that suddenly appeared. He even rubbed both of his eyes just to be sure that it was there, and he had not imagined the blank wall before.

“Wow…”

“W-what in the world?” Ominis commented beside him. The blind boy’s wand pulsed in front of him as he stepped towards the door.

Evelyn giggled at both of her gaping friends. She looked at each end of the hallway, which was thankfully empty. Maybe the others simply decided not to pass through when they heard Sebastian and Ominis bickering.

“Come!” She invited them both into the room, “before anyone sees.”

Sebastian was the first to wake up from his shock. He chuckled in disbelief before finally walking through the door and into the secret room. Ominis followed him after a while, walking slowly through the door with his wand in front of him. Evelyn went after him, and the secret door vanished from the outside.

“What is this place?” Sebastian asked in awe as they arrived at the main room of the Room of Requirement.

“The Room of Requirement...” Ominis answered Sebastian’s question for Evelyn with the same amazement in his voice. He then smiled towards her, “is this where you’re going every night?”

“Yes,” Evelyn answered Ominis shyly, “if I don’t see you in the hallway.”

“See him where?” Sebastian turned back towards his friend and asked out of the blue. A question that Ominis immediately answered with a straight face.

“None of your business.”

“Hey!” The brunette exclaimed in an offended tone. He was about to retaliate more but was distracted by the wall of books Evelyn had on one side of the wall. Everyone could hear him gasp in awe and practically run towards it.

“It’s…” Ominis began to say something before his voice trailed off as he walked towards where Sebastian was. His step stopped as he encountered a book in front of him, “so full?”

“Yeah, let's just say it’s under construction.” Evelyn explained sheepishly to the confused blonde. She levitated the stray book in front of Ominis and put it back where it belonged in the wall of books before continuing.

“Professor Weasley taught me the conjuration spell to decorate and fill this room with the things I needed to catch up with the other fifth-years. And I’m still deciding where to put what and which decorations I should put up. Basically all the stuff,” she paused to levitate another book from the floor and into the bookcase, “sorry for the mess.”

“It’s all right. Maybe I could help you sort it out? I may be blind, but I could still move a thing or two without causing any accidents.”

Evelyn was touched by Ominis’s kind offer. But she shook her head, “Thank you for the offer, but that’s not why I brought you or Sebastian here today.” She stepped closer to Ominis and offered her right elbow to him, “If I may?”

Ominis chuckled, “I may be blind, but I can still walk by myself, you know?”

“I don’t doubt it. But I much prefer it this way.”

Evelyn's answer brought a blush to Ominis’s cheek, who then put his left hand on her elbow sheepishly, his right one still holding his wand in front of him. She felt her own cheeks turning scarlet as well as his hand through her elbow. She didn’t know what got into her, but ever since she accepted her feelings for him, she started to be…bolder and more daring in her advances towards him. She wouldn’t lie; it was nice to see him blushing because of her. Definitely worth all the embarrassment she gave herself as well.

She escorted the blind boy up, deliberately taking slow steps. Not out of concern, but out of wanting to savour the moment as long as she could. They took the stairs to the second floor and walked arm in arm until they came to a glass building shaped like a pumpkin. It shone with a warm light that could be felt through the glass.

“Is that…sunlight?” Ominis asked in confusion beside Evelyn, who only smiled at the question.

“Yes. Can you see through?”

Ominis shook his head, “I can’t. I can see the door arch, but I can’t ‘see’ what's beyond it. It’s like…” he trailed off and frowned before continuing, “like there’s a veil covering it. Are we going outside? The light felt like sunshine.”

“Not really. You’ll see.” Evelyn answered Ominis before reluctantly letting him go. She turned herself towards the railing to the first floor, where a brunette boy could be seen focusing himself on the spines of books in front of him.

“So this is where she’s been running off too…” Sebastian murmured to himself, still browsing Evelyn’s books. He took one out from the bookcase and turned it around on his hand, trying to see the title clearly, “What is this Shakespeare? I never heard of it before.”

“Sebastian!” Evelyn shouted for the brunette, who whirled his head immediately towards her.

“Huh?” He squinted his eyes as if trying to see Evelyn more clearly, “Oh, wow! When did you get there?”

Evelyn moved her hands, calling him to come up, “come here!”

The brunette didn’t seem to understand that what Evelyn said was an instruction, not an invitation. He just stood there, still holding the Shakespeare book, and asked with a frown, “Why?”

Evelyn leaned herself towards the railing and glared at Sebastian while tilting her head towards Ominis. A gesture she hoped would make Sebastian remember why they were here in the first place. Sadly, the brunette seemed to not understand her since the response she got from him was only a deeper frown. Evelyn mouthed to him.

'Our secret mission!'

“What?” Sebastian moved towards her from the first floor, “I can’t hear you! Speak louder!”

“Just come here!” Evelyn finally shouted in frustration and anger.

“Okay, okay. But you better tell me about the Shakespeare book later.” Sebastian muttered as he put the book back where it belonged before going to Evelyn, skipping several steps as he went up the stairs and arriving in a jump in front of her.

“Here I—” he stopped all of a sudden and turned towards the glass pumpkin beside Evelyn, “wow, why’s that glowing?”

Evelyn noticed the sparks in Sebastian’s eyes as he saw what was behind the door. Afraid of him spoiling the surprise for Ominis, she hurriedly said, “I need you to stay calm.”

Sebastian turned towards her, “I can’t calm down.” He gestured to the glowing door on the glass pumpkin and started to speak excitedly, “How can I calm down when I see what’s behind that door?! How is it even possible?!”

“What is it? What have you and Sebastian been up to now?” Ominis intervened in panic.

“Nothing dangerous, and Sebastian had nothing to do with it,” Evelyn said quickly to the blonde before turning back to the brunette, “Calm down Sebastian. or I’ll kick you out.”

“Calming down now,” Sebastian took a deep breath to calm himself down, “I’m calm.”

Evelyn nodded to the ‘calm’ brunette, “Okay then, we—”

“Can I go first?” Sebastian cut her off with an excited voice, clearly not calm.

“We should—”

“Too late!” He cut her off again and zoomed through the door, leaving his two best friends behind in the dust.

Evelyn and Ominis went silent after seeing their friend's antics. A chuckle came from Ominis, which made Evelyn giggle as well, resulting in laughter from both of them. They laughed for a while before finally, sheepishly, calmed themselves down.

“Shall we?” Evelyn asked the blind boy with her right hand towards him.

Ominis smiled at the hand, as if he could see it and took it gently, “Yes, let’s.”

And they went through the door hand in hand.

The first thing Evelyn could hear was the crashing waves, followed immediately by the smell of the ocean. She took a few steps forward, taking the silent blind boy with her, and stopped as soon as she felt the warm sunshine on her skin. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. A smile bloomed on her face. The experience of entering the vivarium was always different, but it still made her want to be in it forever.

Ominis gaped beside her, his wand-wielding hand still in front of him while the other was on Evelyn’s. It took him a while to get over his shock and finally speak with awe.

“What in Merlin’s—”

“Is that a hippogriff?!” Another masculine voice from in front of them interrupted the blonde, who then frowned as if trying to hear more clearly.

A screech immediately came from above, where a white hippogriff flew through the sky. It began to descend as soon as it saw the new visitors to the vivarium. It landed right in front of Ominis and gently nudged its beak towards his wand-wielding hand.

Evelyn reluctantly let Ominis hand go and stepped back. That gesture made him wake up from his shock and realise that the hippogriff was currently nudging his hand. He quickly bowed to the hippogriff in front of him. A smile could be seen on his face as he stood up from his bow and greeted the beast, “Hello, Highwing. It’s nice to see you again.”

“How can you know that it’s her?” Evelyn asked, surprised.

“I recognise her voice.” Ominis said casually with a smile while petting the hippogriff, causing Evelyn to feel even more admiration for him.

“Oh, wow…” Sebastian said as he finally joined them and looked at the white feathers with astonishment as he circled around the massive hippogriff. He stood beside Ominis in shock, not believing his friend who was currently petting the beast, “How could he tame the hippogriff so quickly?!”

“He—”

“It must be that pureblood in him.” Sebastian cut off Evelyn even before she could explain.

“No,” Ominis said nonchalantly, still petting the hippogriff, “it’s my charm.”

Evelyn rolled her eyes at Ominis's silly comment and couldn't help giggling. Ominis was still petting the hippogriff while Sebastian animatedly asked him questions about the hippogriff, clearly annoying the blonde, who tried his best to answer them all, even the silliest ones.

“What’s its name?”

“Highwing.”

“How come you aren’t afraid of it?”

Ominis rolled his eyes, “I must be dumb to not be afraid of a beast like her. I am feeling afraid as we speak.”

“Then how come you are petting it now?”

“My admiration for her exceeds my fear.”

“Wait, its a she?”

“I think so? I heard Evelyn called it ‘her.’”

“When did you first meet her?”

“Last spring.”

“Where did you first meet her?”

“I don’t know.”

“Not here?”

“No. This is my first time being here as well.”

“Where are we, exactly?” Sebastian asked the blonde while still looking at the hippogriff with astonishment, but never daring to come closer to it.

“I have no answer to that,” Ominis stopped petting Highwing and turned towards Evelyn, who was currently smiling at them, “Evelyn, where are we?”

“We’re at my coastal vivarium.” Evelyn answered, stepping closer to the boys and the hippogriff.

“Coastal…vivarium?” Sebastin asked in confusion.

“I have several vivariums. There’s the forest, coastal, swamp, and mountain vivariums. They’re for the beasts I saved from the poachers. I kept them until the personnel from the ministry came to release them into the wild safely.”

“Several?!” Ominis exclaimed.

“Ministry?!” Sebastian exclaimed at the same time at Ominis.

“It's a long story,” Evelyn answered shortly.

“Longer than the story of how Ominis tamed this beast?” Sebastian asked in a playful manner.

Evelyn shrugged and nonchalantly answered, “He was a natural. He quickly makes Highwing fall in love with him when I took him for a ride with her a while ago.”

The casual answer was apparently not considered casual by Sebastian, whose eyes immediately widened.

“You took him on a ride?! On a hippogriff?!”

Evelyn was perplexed by the way he answered the question; it felt as though she was betraying him by telling Professor Weasley about his latest misbehaviour with Garreth, and getting him into detention. Or like she was not choosing him as her crossed wands duel partner.

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Don’t mind me.” Sebastian answered casually and turned around, stepping away from both of his friends towards the beach with his back towards them.

He gestured to the sand and continued, emphasising a few words, “I’ll just stand here, in the sand. Alone,” he kept walking, “while you both fly on a hippogriff happily together to Merlin knows where. Leaving me. Your best friend. Alone.”

Sebastian finally stopped as he stood right on the part where the waves hit the sand. He stood there so broodingly, as if he were left all alone and had no happiness in his life. Evelyn was confused by it, so she asked the blonde beside her, in a quiet voice. Afraid that the brunette would hear her.

“What’s wrong with him?”

“He’s clearly upset. You have invited him to fly with you, haven't you?” Ominis answered in an equally quiet voice.

Evelyn blushed hearing the question and tried her best to reply as casually as possible, “No. You’re the only one I've ever invited to fly with.”

Apparently, that reply wasn’t casual for Ominis, who then asked her again in surprise, “I’m the first one?!”

Evelyn blushed even more at the innocent question. Somehow, her mind made it more intimate than it was supposed to be.

“W-well, you’re the first one I’ve ever ridden a hippogriff with.”

“Oh…” Ominis blushed, “and you never asked Sebastian before or after our flight?”

“No. It never crossed my mind.”

“Why?”

“I wanted it to be special,” Evelyn faced him, “it is your birthday present. It has to be special.”

She could see the flush on his cheeks deepening as he heard her response, causing her own cheeks to turn even redder as well.

He stammered, “I…well-um…he’s clearly feeling upset about being left behind on such an amazing experience. Maybe you could invite him to fly with you next time?”

Evelyn sighed before she replied in a dejected whisper, “I should, shouldn’t I?”

“Only if you want to,” Ominis whispered softly.

“Okay, I’ll invite him next time,” Evelyn huffed, “but I won't be at the same hippogriff as he does.”

“Why?”

Without realising it, Evelyn blurted out the first thing she thought, “It’s only for you.”

“For me?” Ominis asked, surprised.

Evelyn flushed. Did she really say it out loud? She did, didn’t she?

In denial and embarrassment, she quickly turned her head towards the brunette; the need to whisper was forgotten as her voice came back to its normal volume.

“Oh, look! He’s sitting in the sand now,” Sebastian was, in fact, sitting and pouting on the sand when Evelyn pointed it out. “Poor him,” she continued with fake pity and a fast pace in her voice, “we should go to him. Okay? Okay. I’ll go first.”

Without giving Ominis the time to react, Evelyn quickly walked towards the sulking brunette. She preferred to be with the sulking boy rather than face whatever humiliation she got herself into with Ominis, thank you very much.

Her hurried steps slowed down as she got near Sebastian. The sand could be heard moving under her boots as she finally stopped and sat beside him. She cleared her throat and spoke to him in a gentle voice.

“Hey, Seb.”

“Leave me alone.” Sebastian replied to her curtly, still upset and sulking about the whole ordeal. He bent his knees and put his hands on top of them, his head resting above them as he continued his sulking, “Go on, fly away. You can—“

A splash of water came out of the blue, cutting Sebastian off by soaking his face and front body, causing him to exclaim in shock.

“WHAT IN MERLIN’S—”

“Stop sulking.” A stern voice came from behind Evelyn and Sebastian. Ominis was standing there with his wand glowing brighter than it usually did, as if it did a spell that exactly made Sebastian as wet as he was.

“THE WATER’S COLD!” Sebastian complained as he gestured his wet body to Ominis, who just shrugged and sat beside Evelyn casually.

“Serve you right.”

“Oh, you’ll regret it!” Sebastian stood up abruptly and walked into the sea. He kept going, unconcerned by his wet shoes and trousers, then swiftly spun around as the water reached his calves and splashed the water towards his friends with all his might. Causing them, who previously only watched him in confusion, to be surprised and soaked just like him.

“Seb!” Evelyn screamed as she tried to shield her face from the sea water Sebastian splashed towards her with no mercy.

“Sebastian!” Ominis followed her steps and covered his own face with his robe. They tried their best to avoid all the splashes from Sebastian, which was a futile effort since they just got soaked more than they were before.

“Ha!” Sebastian stopped his splashes for a while. A satisfied grin came to his face as he saw his soaked friends, “Serve you both right!”

That grin was the trigger for Evelyn. She sprang to her feet and followed Sebastian into the sea. She started splashing wildly towards the brunette as she approached him. The grin on Sebastian’s face quickly vanished and was replaced with a surprised face.

“Hey!” Sebastian said with a laugh as he tried to avoid the splashes, walking away from the laughing and violently splashing girl.

“Come here you!” Evelyn exclaimed as she ran after him, splashing him with all the water she could with both of her hands. Her and Sebastian’s laughter could be heard between the splashing water and waves.

"Mercy, mercy, mercy!" Sebastian eventually gave up after being drenched to the bone. His robe was soaking wet as he raised his hand in surrender.

Evelyn stopped her splashing and grinned, pleased with her victory. But, she then realised that they were both soaked to the bone, whereas there was still one person out of the three who hadn't. She directed her eyes towards the partially dry Ominis on the beach. Sebastian seemed to understand her cue and tilted his head towards the blonde on the shore as well. They both grinned wider and began to walk towards the oblivious blonde.

“Are you guys done?” Ominis said with a smile. He seemed like he was previously laughing as well, seeing his friends' shenanigans, and apparently still felt amused by seeing them still inside the water and soaked to the bone in front of him.

“No.” Both Evelyn and Sebastian spoke and splashed the oblivious blonde at the same time with full power.

Ominis became soaked immediately. His previously neat hair became messy as it stuck to his forehead after getting wet. It was long, to Evelyn’s surprise, his hair even covered his eyes as the water dripped from its long strand. His robes got wet and stuck like a second skin, causing Evelyn to blush as she saw his broad shoulder silhouette. His wand was still glowing in his hand, with droplets of water on it.

“That’s it!” Ominis gripped his wand tightly and dashed towards his screaming and fleeing friends. Their giggling could be heard as they splashed water on each other's already-drenched bodies. And for the first time of the day, Evelyn felt pure happiness.

She’s happy being under the sun. She’s happy she felt the cold of the water. She’s even happy that she was wet. She’s happy she could just play and not think about another thing in the world. She’s happy because she spent her time with her friends. She’s happy…because she could be a child, even just for a while.

She felt ecstatic as she continued to splash her friends. They continued to splash at each other, in pairs of two versus one and, of course, in three ways one versus one. The crashing of the waves, the splashing of water, and the laughter of three different people could be heard under the sun. Until one of them suddenly slipped and fell, half of his body was submerged in water, making them all laugh even louder than before.

It was Sebastian, of course, since he was bullied by Evelyn’s wild splash and also by Ominis’s humongous waves that were created by a bit of magic with the help of his wand. Sebastian was still in his sitting position and was trying to get his own wand from his pocket when he suddenly stopped responding to Evelyn’s and Ominis’s attacks.

Evelyn stopped splashing after she saw her motionless friend, followed by Ominis. She asked the still brunette, “Finally surrender?”

Sebastian didn’t answer the question and kept sitting still, never minding that half of his body was under the water. His gaze was focused on the shore behind Evelyn and Ominis, “Is that what I think it is?”

Ominis frowned with his wand pulsing in his hand. The frown suddenly gone in seconds as he turned around to the shore, “Evelyn, do you—“

“You never said you also have thestrals!” Sebastian interrupted Ominis before he could finish his question.

Evelyn was still looking ridiculously at the brunette and huffed, “No, I don’t.”

“Then what am I seeing?” Sebastian pointed his arms towards the shore, causing Evelyn to whirl her head around.

“Oh…” Her voice trailed off as she finally saw what her friends were seeing. A black, skeletal, bat-winged horse was standing on the shore, looking at the three soaked students curiously. Evelyn didn’t hesitate and quickly moved towards the majestic creature, asking as she approached it, “Onyx, what are you doing here?”

“You said you didn’t have one!” Sebastian’s voice came from her left. They were both now out of the water, with water dripping from their robes.

“Well, I don’t have one here!” Evelyn exclaimed frustratedly as she came closer to the curious beast in front of her, “He’s supposed to be in my swamp vivarium. I don’t know how he could get here!”

“He’s beautiful.” A voice emerged from Evelyn's right. Ominis seemed to have followed her and Sebastian out of the water as well. His hair was still damp, and the water streaming down from it highlighted his cheekbones and jaw. Right down to his broad—

Evelyn quickly cleared her throat and refocused herself.

“You can see it?” She asked the drenched boy on her right.

Ominis nodded and slowly approached the beast. His left hand stretched towards it while his right still holding his wand. The thestral seemed not to be afraid of the gesture or the pulsing wand. Instead, it moved its fang towards Ominis’s stretched hand and gently nudged it. Ominis smiled as he felt the skin of the thestral on his. A smile that gradually evolved into a full grin as the thestral nudged its head into his palm again, clearly wanting to be petted more.

“I was right. It was the pureblood in him.”

Evelyn was astounded by the comment she heard from her brunette friend. She remarked in sarcasm, “Let me remind you that you’re also a pureblood.”

Sebastian, the said brunette friend, didn’t realise the sarcasm and exclaimed excitedly instead, “You’re right! Let’s try the theory, shall we?”

Evelyn shook her head, “You spent too much time with Garreth.”

“What? Slytherin can also be brave.” Sebastian boasted, causing both Evelyn and Ominis to shake their heads in disbelief. Ominis quickly responded to Sebastian before he could do anything worse.

"I doubt it was the ‘pureblood’ in me. The thestrals are simply gentle and kind creatures. They are widely misunderstood simply because other beings only see them based on the widespread perception of them…” Ominis voice drifted off as he petted the thestral. He eventually finished his remark in a quiet voice, “Just like me.”

“Ominis?” Evelyn asked softly in concern.

Ominis petted the thestral again before nudging it to go. It snorted and simply walked away from the three drenched students. Ominis watched it go with a melancholy gaze before eventually responding to Evelyn.

“In centuries past, the sight of them was regarded as unlucky. They have been hunted and ill treated for many years, their true nature, which is kindly and gentle, being widely misunderstood. Thestrals are not marks of ill omen and are not in any way threatening to wizards and witches, despite their spooky appearance.

I found myself similar to them, in terms of people judging me solely on the most noticeable thing about me. People tend to immediately fear or hate me when they hear my surname, since ‘Gaunt’ was closely related to the dark arts and very intimidating as it was the name of a direct descendant of the Salazar Slytherin. Everyone quickly assumed I was the same as my brother, my father, and his father before him. Even before they saw me with their own eyes or spoke to me. In their eyes, I was already a ruthless, dangerous, bloodthirsty dark wizard.”

“You are not those things.” Sebastian said sternly, which was replied to with a sigh from Ominis.

“I know I’m not. And I hope I never will be. That’s why I distanced myself from my family…” Ominis trailed off before his voice came back in scorn, “yet they still find a way to drag me back.”

Evelyn shuddered after she heard the hatred in his voice. Something must have happened during the summer that made him so angry. Something terrible must have happened and given him more nightmares than usual. Something must have happened, but Evelyn couldn’t bring herself to ask him about it, even if she was dying to know. She was reluctant to ask since it must have had something to do with his family. The one topic that even he would always avoid, even during their clandestine meetings at the astronomy observation deck.

But Sebastian seemed not to mind raising the topic as he finally asked the difficult question, “What happened during the summer, Ominis?”

“Everything.” Ominis answered in a tired voice. “I returned, thinking that they wanted me to join them in commemorating Aunt Noctua’s death, just like what they said on their sudden owl. They said they wanted me to join them since I was the one who found her remains. That’s why I left out of the blue.”

“I see,” Sebastian replied, “did they do it well?”

“They did it perfectly, just not the way I wanted, or the way my Aunt probably wanted them to. They did it perfectly in the way a true Gaunt would want to be remembered. They already had muggles lined up in the dungeons when I arrived at the manor—more than I'd ever seen.

“I saw them, on their knees, perfectly lined up, terrified and frightened. Well, I thought they were, since I could only ‘see’ their eyes widening and closing frantically, feel the palpable fear with my skin that raised goosebumps, and hear their muffled cries as I came down to the dungeon with my whole family. My brother apparently bewitched their mouths, so they couldn't even open them. He smiled very proudly at his success. Torturing them even in the absence of the unforgivable curse.”

Evelyn felt goosebumps on her skin as she heard Ominis continue. Ominis did say he had a brother, but she never thought he would be the complete opposite of him.

“My father lifted my brother's magic from one person at the end of the line. The man immediately screamed, cried, and begged to be released. His screams and pleas were futile. My father cast the cruciatus curse instead, making him scream more. I turned my face away and stopped my wand from sending waves immediately. I even closed my eyes.”

Ominis chuckled dryly, “not that it helped. Their agony felt even more pronounced by the full darkness I was in. I heard them all as my father, mother, and brother cursed them, one by one.”

Evelyn and Sebastian had no words after hearing the continuation of Ominis’s story. The story looks like it's straight out of a horror book.

“I remained silent in the dark until I felt my father’s hands on my shoulder. And I knew it was my turn. I remembered my wand humming in disapproval as I commanded it to send waves again, as if it knew what I was going to do. It relented, of course, giving me back my ‘sight’ again, allowing me to see her.” Ominis gulped, “She was the last on the line. I could ‘see’ her body was smaller than the others. I don't know how old she is, but she was obviously not older than myself, if not younger.” He chuckled dryly, “My family gave me the most young to torture.”

“Oh, Ominis…” Evelyn said regretfully, knowing where this story would go.

“I did it, Eve.” Ominis growled angrily to himself, “I knew it was wrong, and still did it.”

Sebastian stepped closer Ominis, “It was—”

“Don’t you dare say it was not my fault!” Ominis snapped and cut Sebastian off immediately. He took a deep breath, “I accepted that it was. I still did it, even to only one person.”

Evelyn felt tears pooling in her eyes as she heard Ominis continue.

“I didn’t want to in the first place. But I felt his wand pointing at me from the back. My own father threatened to torture me. My wand hummed immediately. I practically felt it pleading for me to cast the unforgivable curse. So, I think of my father, of the pain and suffering he caused me, of my hatred for him, and the desire to torture him myself,” Ominis said with such hatred before continuing blatantly, “And I cursed her.”

Evelyn could only imagine what the scene would be like. How terrifying it must have been to hear the girl's screams immediately echoing throughout the dungeon as the red sparks from Ominis’s wand zapped her into pure agony. Evelyn knew how it felt. She was in pure pain when Sebastian cast it on her in the scriptorium with Anne’s curser in his mind. Evelyn could only imagine how it felt for the girl when Ominis did it with his father in mind.

Evelyn could see the desperation in Ominis’s eyes as he continued, “I could barely stop myself. Lost in my thoughts of torturing my own father. A-and she went silent after I did. She just laid there, with her eyes and mouth open. I almost thought I had killed her,” Ominis ran his hand through his wet hair, “but then, I heard her weak breath, and my hands went numb. My father squeezed one of my shoulders, said he was proud, and left me alone with the victims.”

“Ominis…” Evelyn’s voice trailed off as she stepped closer to Ominis and put her hand on his shoulder, hoping the gesture helped him somehow as well as telling him how much her heart ached for him.

“They left me alone with the victims. With the ones they tortured in memory of my aunt. My aunt, who was most likely against it in the first place,” Ominis shook his head and continued with determination in his voice, “So I did what my aunt would do. I cast the false memory charm on each one them. Erasing their memories of my family and I torturing them and framing it as just another hazy nightmare.”

“You could do that?” Sebastian asked in amazement while Evelyn frowned, thinking that there must be a catch in it.

“I could. But it was not something I would like to repeat, as I had to experience every memory I wanted to tamper with. Watching myself or any of my family members cast crucio from the victim's perspective was a nightmare on its own.”

Ominis’s answer made her heart wrench. She was right. There was a catch to it. How could Ominis do that? She could only imagine how it felt to see oneself in the light of the one you tortured. She certainly didn’t want to see herself from the perspective of the ones she killed, even just once. It would be devastating. She would lose her mind. And he had to do it repeatedly.

“I called the house elves as soon as I finished and instructed them to bring the victims back to where they were before they were abducted. I had to do it fast before my father realised what I had done,” Ominis added, sighing, “I could only hope that what I did helped them get over it and move on.”

“It must have helped them.” Evelyn said firmly, squeezing Ominis’s shoulder in support while also trying her best to contain her tears, “Your aunt must be proud of you.”

“She’s more likely to be disappointed in me that I cast an unforgivable curse,” Ominis chuckled dryly, “but you’re also right. I think she would be proud of my progress on occlumency. I would die on the spot if my father knew what I was thinking about when I cast the curse. I guess I should thank her for teaching me that.”

“Are you a legilimens as well?” Sebastian asked out of the blue.

Ominis was quiet for a minute before declaring, "I am, unfortunately, a legilimens like my father. But I try not to use it. I don't appreciate people seeing inside my head, so I don’t do it to others either. I don’t want to become like my predecessor.”

Evelyn’s tears could not be contained after hearing that. She had never felt so helpless and so furious at the same time before. She already despised the Gaunt from what Sebastian and Ominis told her about them before. She already despised them for what they had done to Ominis. Yet, this revelation took her hatred to a new level. She couldn’t stop the tears of despair and rage because she couldn’t help Ominis at all in his family situation.

And she made him remember it rather than helping him to forget about it like she had planned before. She made him more miserable instead of cheering him up. Her plan failed, so she let herself drown in the deepest sea of despair.

“I see…” Sebastian trailed off in a broken voice.

“Well, anyway, that’s my summer. That’s why I've always had nightmares,” Ominis turned towards the other boy, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, Sebastian.”

“It’s okay, Ominis. Thank you for telling me—”

Sebastian was interrupted by a poke in his ribs. It was Evelyn, who couldn't stop the tears from her eyes and was wiping them from her cheeks. He quickly corrected himself afterward.

“Us. Thank you for telling us about it.”

“Thank you for listening,” Ominis smiled, “and for staying even after you heard it.”

"Of course we would!" Evelyn blurted tearfully as soon as she heard him, her voice raspy as she attempted to fight back her tears, "why wouldn’t we?"

“Being friends with the direct descendant of Salazar Slytherin must not be easy, Eve. I'll understand if you or Sebastian decide to stop being friends with me in the future.” Ominis answered her gently.

Evelyn got very irritated with how Ominis looked at the situation and how he thought of her and Sebastian's friendship with him. It wasn't his fault that he was born into a very cruel and scary family. It's not his fault that he had to do all the things he has done. Evelyn realised it, and she was sure Sebastian also realised it. They knew what they were getting into when they became friends with him. They knew it was hard. And no matter how hard it was, they would be there for him. They would not leave him behind.

“That's why I invited you here!” Evelyn exclaimed all of a sudden, shocking both Ominis and Sebastian. Sadness could be heard in her voice as she continued in a low voice, “to have fun and forget about the problems at hand, even if only for a while."

“And I—”

Evelyn cut Ominis off, continuing her rant. “It is hard to be your friend. It is hard to accept that I can't know everything about you. But, I still want to be your friend! I still want to—am trying to help you even though I don't know why or how. I just do my best with what I know,” Evelyn looked straight into Ominis’s face, “so don’t you ever think that I, or Sebastian would leave you, just because you’re a direct descendant of the Salazar Slytherin. We know. Suck it up, Gaunt. You’re stuck with us for eternity.”

“I know that!” Ominis exclaimed in frustration, making Evelyn’s and Sebastian’s eyes widen in surprise. “I heard the whispers, you know. How they talk behind my back about me. And I’m fine with it,” Ominis stubbornly continued, his voice growing heavy, “But I find myself not feeling fine with how they talked about you and Sebastian just because you’re both my friends. I am not fine with the fact that you and Sebastian would be judged negatively for the rest of your lives just because of me.”

“I don’t—”

Ominis interrupted Evelyn’s answer, seething, “I especially hate it when they spread rumours about you, Eve. How they judge and assume the worst of you just because you’re my friend. I hate it even more when I hear them making up and guessing the reasons why you wanted to be my friend and calling you names just because of your blood. It makes me want to do the killing curse on them.”

“Wow, Ominis,” Sebastian said in surprise, “never thought you had that much resentment.”

“Oh, shut up, Sebastian.” Ominis said angrily towards the other boy, “don’t tell me you never heard the other call her that and wanted to put them under the cruciatus curse right away.”

Sebastian only nodded in understanding, “Yep. I had.”

“Well, I don’t care.” Evelyn said stubbornly and made a gesture towards the brunette, “Being friends with the most troublesome fifth year in the school was more difficult than being friends with the direct descendant of Salazar Slytherin.”

What Evelyn said abruptly changed the atmosphere of the talk. Ominis gaped and suddenly chuckled, while the said troublesome brunette responded at the same time, clearly offended by the accusation and not following the changing mood.

“Hey! Look in the mirror yourself!”

“I had been asked why I wanted to be friends with Sebastian more than why I wanted to be friends with you, Omi.” Evelyn continued with a soft voice towards the blonde, not minding her other offended friend. “I know they talk about me behind my back, because one always has others who disapprove of whatever one does. And they'll judge it like they know all about it. They’ll judge our friendship like they know about me and you. Well, me, you, and this troublesome brunette we unfortunately had as a friend.”

Ominis chuckled, followed by Sebastian, who quickly forgot about his annoyance. Hearing her friends laugh made Evelyn feel warmth in her chest as she continued.

“I don’t care about what they think of me, and I’m sure Sebastian doesn’t either,” Evelyn held both of Ominis's hands tightly, “you are our friend by choice. You are my choice, Ominis Gaunt.”

Evelyn poured all her feelings for him into that sentence. She wanted him to know that she chose to be with him. That she chose him now, even after everything she heard. And she would still choose him in the future. As a friend, or even more. Either way, Evelyn chose him. Her heart chose him.

Evelyn felt Ominis’s hand grip hers tightly as he responded, “You are my choice as well, Evelyn Rose.”

Evelyn didn’t know if those words meant as much to him as they did to her. But she still felt happiness hit her like a train on a track coming towards her in full force as she heard them, letting her know there’s no turning back in this matter of the heart.

“Well, sorry for jumping in on this heartwarming moment,” Sebastian chimed in out of the blue, “I just want to note that I didn’t have a choice in the first place. Anne practically dragged me to be friends with Ominis too after she became friends with him.”

Evelyn and Ominis laughed at Sebastian's remark. He did jump in on a heartwarming moment, just like he said, but he didn’t ruin it. He made it better than Evelyn ever thought it would be. She couldn’t stop laughing, and her friends seemed to as well as they laughed beside her. Their laughter could be heard again, side by side with the waves of water.

Ominis was the first to stop laughing. He held both of his friends’ hands. Evelyn’s on his left, and Sebastian’s on his right. His voice was solemn.

"Whatever lies ahead, we must face it together. That, I know.”

“Well, the stakes are high and the water's rough. But this friendship is ours,” Evelyn tightened her right grip on Ominis’s hand and reached for Sebastian’s hand on her left one, her voice as solemn as Ominis’s, “I will fight for it.”

“Me too.” Sebastian said firmly, his hand gripping Evelyn's and Ominis’s hands tightly. “Besides, people throw rocks at the things that shine,” he grinned, “and we’re obviously the shiniest. You couldn’t handle the rocks all by yourselves.”

“Obviously.” Evelyn rolled her eyes at Sebastian's joke and giggled.

Ominis chuckled and shook his head at them both, “I am glad you're both my friends, despite what happened and what everyone said.” Evelyn could see Ominis’s eyes welling with tears as his voice broke and came to a whisper, "Thank you."

Evelyn smiled and tightened her right grip on Ominis’s hands once more, while Sebastian leaned his head towards Ominis, clearly not hearing the murmured thanks.

“What did you—”

"Here comes the rough water!" Evelyn quickly let go of both boys' hands and pulled her wand from her pocket, cutting Sebastian as she splashed them with a massive wave with a flick of her wand.

Both boys could be heard yelling her name after they woke from their surprise, with Evelyn already running away in laughter.

“Evelyn!”

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