No Choice But You // Ominis Gaunt x Reader

Chapter 45

The following week passed by in a blur, and soon, the holiday break was upon us. Almost everyone had places to go, which meant the castle would be mostly empty. I had nowhere to go, so I'd stay at Hogwarts for the break. 

Poppy was going home to her Grandmother's and had decided to invite Sebastian along with her. Imelda and Garreth weren't going to be here either, so as far as friends went, it would just be Anne and Ominis. While Ominis had been invited back home for the holidays, he'd elected not to go (for obvious reasons). I was glad he was staying, and the same was true with Anne; it would make the break much more bearable with friends around. 

It was officially the first day of the break, and everyone was gone. Walking through the castle felt odd, given how empty the corridors were, but I didn't mind. I never really liked having everyone's eyes on me, to begin with, so it was nice to have a bit of space and time away from everything. With no schoolwork or classes, I could do what I saw fit with my time. 

I hadn't seen Anne since this morning and was curious about where she'd gone. As I roamed the corridors, I saw no sign of her, so I decided to head to The Undercroft. I didn't know where to find her if she wasn't there. I hadn't seen Ominis today either, which was odd. 

 They had somehow alluded me all day; it was nearly two in the afternoon. As I made my way to The Undercroft, someone started calling my name from behind. I wasn't sure who it was, so I turned around warily before my eyes fell upon someone I hated. 

Cressida Blume. 

"Y/n, wait up!" she shouted as she waved her hand. She was acting as if we'd been friends, and it pissed me off. I tried not to let my disdain show in my face as I looked at her and waited for her to catch up. 

I crossed my arms over my chest and regarded her with a look of pure nothingness. While I intended to get revenge on her, I had no problems letting her dig herself a deeper grave. 

"Y/n, I needed to talk to you about something," she said as she stopped before me. 

"And what's that?" I asked her, looking down my nose at the short, bushy-haired girl before me. 

"I wanted to apologize. For, you know..."

"Feeding my boyfriend a love potion and attempting to steal him from me?" I questioned sharply. 

"Yeah... That." She pushed her stupid glasses up the bridge of her nose as she looked at me. From the look in her eyes, I could tell the foolish bitch wasn't sorry. If anything... she looked scared. From that, I could tell I had her right where I wanted her. 

She was afraid of me. That was a dream come true. I decided to fall into whatever character she'd painted for me inside her head and darkened my eyes as I looked at her. I gripped my wand in my pocket, making a show of the whole ordeal. 

"If I had half a mind, I'd punish you right now for it," I told her. She squeaked and slunk up against the wall, which allowed me to corner the poor girl. I wasn't even doing much, but she was scared shitless. It was great. 

"You don't have to do that," the little weasel whimpered. "Really. I told you I'm sorry." 

"You're more, really, though, are you?" I laughed. "One guy gives you a single scrap of attention and uses you essentially—to get my attention, might I add? And you go and use Amortentia on the guy? How does a halfwit like you even know how to brew that?"

"It wasn't me who made it," she said, undoubtedly hoping to save herself from some of my wrath. But that only made me laugh internally. 

"So you, a dumbass bitch, had someone else make the potion to try and steal my man from me. How fucking brilliant," I cackled. I approached her slowly as she backed further into the wall, sinking lower with every step I made toward her. 

"It's not like that..." she said, still trying to save herself. Honestly, I didn't know why she'd approached me at all. The whole thing was laughable. 

I wanted to tear into the girl. I wanted her to feel every ounce of what I felt that night, but I knew I had to wait. While it would be nice to give her a piece of my mind now, I knew that if I was patient, I could develop something better. I could get her back in a way that would make her remember me for the rest of her fucking life. 

Rolling my eyes, I backed off. I could hear Cressida stuttering behind me, trying to figure me out. I didn't want to waste all my pent-up rage on her now when I could plan something more fulfilling. 

Leaving her alone against the corridor wall, I returned to where I came from. I didn't want to head to The Undercroft in case she followed me for any reason. Seeing as she'd decided to try and apologize to me at all, the bitch was delusional. Who knew what she'd do next? 

I returned to the dorm and slumped onto the loveseat by the fireplace. I watched the flames dance and lick at the heart, letting myself feel the warmth of the flames. I let everything fade from my mind--Cressida, the dance, and school--and just focused on the flames dancing before me. 

It was weird. 

Inside my chest, I could feel the remnants of the dark magic rooted deep within me, but they were calm for the first time in a long time. They were quiet. For the first time in over a year, I felt like I had some semblance of control over the battle that had been happening within me.