Runespoor: Stronger Together

Prologue: 3rd POV - Unexpected Surprises and Promised Vengeance

It was a little over a week after the announcement of who won the House Cup, and everyone was packing, getting ready to go home for the summer. Everyone was excited and celebrating, regardless of who had more points during the year; they were all hugging and laughing, telling one another that they'd miss each other so much and promised to write.

Well, almost everyone.

Ominis was running around trying to find Emelia, his new companion that he'd grown rather fond of and close to during their fifth year together, but she was nowhere to be found. He searched in the halls, the library because she loved to read and the smell of books, the common room, where they'd hang out by the glass windows, and even asked her friends: Imelda, Natty, Poppy, Amit, even Garreth, where she was. Unfortunately, they hadn't seen her either, which only made him more fearful and felt a sting of desperation, a sensation that he only felt when he was at home.

Home.

That wasn't even the appropriate word for that wretched place. Ominis feared for his life there, not knowing what his psychotic family would do to him or make him do next; he was always desperate to leave, to come back to his refuge within the walls of Hogwarts.

He pushed the thought aside and a more powerful desire came over him.

He had to find her.

He didn't care if he missed the train, if he had to fight off an acromantula, face his fear of flying a broom or even getting struck with a curse repeatedly again by his family – he was going to find her.

During his search, he overheard students in the Great Hall talking and whispering about something that was said in the paper; it peaked his interest in wanting to know what they were murmuring about, but he paid it no mind and focused solely on his mission.

Ominis tried concentrating on her scent: plump luscious apples, a delicate mix of sour and sweetness of black plums, and hint of a rich ebony wood – a warm, familiar yet fierce aroma, a smell that symbolizes her perfectly.

He begged for his sentient wand to understand what he was trying to find. When he finally got a whiff of her perfume, he followed it instinctively, turning from place to place, bumping into other students, getting disgruntled comments in the process, but he didn't care. Emelia was all he cared about right now, although he couldn't shake the bad feeling he had for when he'd finally locate her.

Ominis found himself in the Defense Against the Dark Arts tower.

"Of course!" he hollered to himself, face palm to his forehead.

How could he be so stupid?

He sprinted all the way to the undercroft, smelling Emelia's fragrance get stronger the closer he got.

He found her.

-

Emelia stared down at the Daily Prophet before her, her heart beating so loudly, it was to the point she could hear them pounding in her ears. Tears started to well up in her eyes, breathing shallowly and quickly. She was surprised her legs didn't collapse from under her; her hands shook involuntarily, palms beginning to sweat, clenching the paper.

Tears flowed and spilt over in endless streams; she couldn't stop them if she wanted to.

Her world started spinning.

She couldn't breathe, and her chest ached.

She was hyperventilating.

The doors of the Undercroft opened with its creaky gates and Ominis appeared, rushing in.

"Emelia?" his voice panicked.

"Om-Ominis..." she could barely speak through her aching and shock, one of her hands grabbed at her chest, squeezing firmly, wanting the pain inside to go away. She needed to get her breathing under control, but she couldn't focus.