Cursed (Hogwarts Legacy fanfiction - original in German)

Chapter 49 - Celebrate as long as you can

As Phina approached Anne and Ominis, she noticed that the two were sitting quite apart from the rest of the birthday party. If she was honest, Ominis was currently emitting his typical aloofness, which was probably enough to deter his classmates from wanting to approach him. His posture, his stoic features, everything about him seemed to signal that it was best to keep away and that that was exactly what he wanted. 

Skeptical, aloof, not very talkative. That was how Imelda had described him at the beginning of Phina's fifth year of school when she had told her about her first day in their shared dorm room, along with whom she had already spoken and introduced herself to among her classmates. Anyone who settled for this first impression would never find out that there was actually no rational reason to be suspicious of him.

Finally noticing his typical slight smile, Phina realized that he had apparently already noticed her approaching. After briefly greeting Anne and Ominis and handing Anne the paper bag with the gifts for Sebastian and her, Phina decided to sit with them for a while. Together with Ominis, Poppy, and Garreth, she had written a card for Anne so she could see that it was a joint gift from them. She had also attached a small card to the package for Sebastian, in which the new wand handle awaited to be unwrapped by him after midnight.

But all the excitement about how the gifts would be received by the two was now pushed into the background because Anne apparently couldn't really enjoy her own birthday party. After a while of casual small talk, her gaze became so unspeakably sad and almost vacant that it was clear she wasn't entirely present mentally.

It was completely out of character for Nathan to leave her feeling ignored like this. He had always been so caring towards her, and now he wanted to stand her up just because he wanted to consider Clarissa's feelings? Did he completely disregard Anne's feelings in the process? Phina couldn't and didn't really want to believe that. He would certainly arrive before midnight. 

Phina would have liked to say that to Anne for encouragement, but she decided to follow Sebastian's advice and not address it for the time being. She had placed Phina's bag on a small dresser at the edge of the room, where several other gifts were already placed. Then she sat back down next to Phina at their table.

"I feel terribly ungrateful," Anne sighed as Ominis returned from the bar with freshly filled glasses and sat back opposite them.
"Because of the curse, I haven't been out of Feldcroft for ages, and so many of my old friends are here. And yet..." she continued, then fell silent, looking somewhat ashamed at a point on the tablecloth in front of her. 

Phina would have liked to immediately embrace her, but she knew that Anne would probably start crying then, and she definitely didn't want to bring that about. Before she could think of an alternative, Ominis spoke up.

"And yet you still wish Nathan would come," he said without much thought, articulating aloud what all of them were probably thinking anyway. Phina looked at him briefly, somewhat shocked, but fortunately Anne didn't seem to hold his bluntness against him.

"I shouldn't be thinking about him all evening..." she replied softly, and now a few tears did gather in her eyes.
"Anne..." Ominis continued, and the mere gentleness of his voice had an incredibly calming and comforting effect on her already. "It's completely okay for you to feel this way. He means something to you, and he's acting like..."

Ominis suddenly stopped, and Phina immediately suspected that his insurmountable inner gentleman code forbade him from simply saying what he was thinking. She chuckled softly and found herself wishing she could hear Ominis curse uncontrollably just once. But his self-control was simply inexhaustible, which was why Phina now couldn't resist finishing the sentence for him.