Rekindled Bonds

Chapter 10

(A/N: Ominis POV flashbacks continued)

"May I have the honor of presenting, Mr. and Mrs. Gaunt of the House of Gaunt and their son Ominis Gaunt."

Ominis could not have cared less about meeting his fiance. If his parents approved of the match, she was sure to be awful. The two families exchanged pleasantries before sitting down. The conversation carried on as expected- small talk, Ominis's father making brash comments, Ominis's father forgetting that Ominis is blind- you know, the usual.

Mrs. Gaunt spoke to break the rising tension, "So, Aselinne, I heard you attended Hogwarts with Ominis. Did you know our son?"

Aselinne cleared her throat before speaking. "No, Mrs. Gaunt. We never spoke."

Ominis's eyes narrowed slightly at the sound of her voice. It seemed familiar, uncanny. He was certain that he'd heard it before.

His thoughts were interrupted by servants dishing out food. They all began to eat and Genevieve broke the silence.

"Our daughter is currently a professor at Hogwarts. She just finished her first year of teaching."

Ominis coughed as he choked on his food, causing it to shoot out onto his plate. He could feel his father glare at him as he fought to catch his breath, his face flushed. Could it be? He knew that voice sounded familiar. His body twitched in anticipation and he drew his cloth napkin over his lap to conceal himself. His voice wavered, "Out of curiosity, what exactly does your daughter teach?"

"Defense Against the Dark Arts," replied Genevieve.

With that, Ominis stood from the table. All the blood was rushing to a certain... extremity. That combined with the shock, Ominis's head was spinning. His face was gray and he appeared ready to faint.

"If you'll excuse me for a moment..." Ominis nodded his head and exited the banquet hall. He made his way to the terrace. He gripped the guardrail and tried to get his bearings. Ash... His Ash... But how? He bounced between excitement, lust, and suspicion. She must have known- right? His pent-up desires mixed with a sense of betrayal and created an intense, indescribable emotion somewhere close to furious. He heard soft footsteps patter after him.

"Ominis..."

He whirled around to face her, his expression enraged. "Did you know?!"

Ash took a step back. "Know what?"

"About all of this! This engagement! Did you orchestrate this?!" He was seething.

She hurriedly defended herself, "What?! No! I only found out I was betrothed yesterday, even then I didn't know to whom!"

He turned his back to her. "Ash Dubois... Duchess Aselinne Dubois of Burgundy... How could you not tell me this?! Almost nine fucking years of friendship and you fail to mention that you're a duchess?!"

"It's an empty title! Officially, titles were abolished in both the Muggle and Wizarding World following the French Revolution. The only reason they still cling to the title is as a symbol of past power and affluence. It's insignificant!"

"Insignificant my ass. I cannot for the life of me fathom how you never said anything about all of... this," he waved his arms around as he turned to face her once more.

"I told you everything that I held as having any importance..." Ash spoke quietly, her voice tinged with embarrassment. "At least I'm not the one who failed to explain that I left because I was engaged."