Chapter Text
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It was a dreary autumn day as the rain slowly pelted the large glass window in the defense against the dark arts tower. The low drull of the music and the tinkering of tea cups was enough of a melody for Ominis to listen to. However, it was the ellated conversation of his classmates that currently held his attention.
“You have no taste Sallow. No taste at all,” Imelda practically hissed from her place on the couch. The low chuckle of Sebastian soon followed.
“I have impeccable taste, thank you very much,” he heard his friend reply as his voice moved to the table of sweets. “The seeker on Applebee Arrow’s is much better looking than Gwendolyn of the Holyhead Harpies. Even a blind man could agree to that, right Ominis.”
He moved to the left just as Sebastian went to hit his shoulder in comradery. He kept his face completely passive as he heard his friend stumble when he didn’t make contact. Ominis may be blind but he knew his friend too well.
Ominis shook his head. “Don’t drag me into your argument about beauty. You and I hold very different standards.”
“How so?” He heard the new fifth-year voice from her spot next to Imelda.
Ominis knew very little of the new girl. Amelia Heart had a kind but curious voice befitting for a Ravenclaw. She seemed well-liked by her peers and had an annoyingly good standing with almost every teacher. He knew she had a purposeful stride that carried her throughout the castle, as he had heard her many times as she practically ran throughout the castle. However, if the rumors were true Amelia seemed to bring trouble and danger in her wake. Talk of dragons, trolls, and even goblins had been circulating since her arrival.
He smirked in her direction and took a sip of his earl grey tea, “Sebastian will flirt with anything that so much as breaths in his direction,” he heard his friend gasp in mock hurt, “I believe that beauty isn’t something that can be seen but felt.”
“You have such a way with words,” Sebastian swooned as he collapsed beside his friend. Overdramatic as always. The two girls across from them giggled at their antics as thunder crashed outside.
They were silent for a moment as the thunder rolled and echoed throughout the castle. Ominis clutched at his teacup a little tighter than usual and his entire body tensed at the loud and intrusive sound. The nearly random claps of thunder were hard for him to anticipate without the flash of lighting and often caught him off guard. The thunder dimmed, the sound of the rain returned to him, and his grip relaxed.
“That's a very beautiful way of looking at it,” Amelia said and Ominis tilted his head ever so slightly. He prided himself on reading people through their inflections and tone of voice. Her tone was genuine but something else hung in her inflection. Almost wistful but before he could ponder it further Sebastian opened his large mouth.
“You can definitely feel beauty if you just~” Sebastian started and Ominis elbowed him in the gut as Imelda snorted from across the table. “That is not what I meant,” Ominis hissed. He could just imagine Sebastian making very rude gestures with his hands, “Get your head out of the gutter.”
The conversation turned slowly back to actual quidditch and not who the hottest team member was and Ominis slowly tuned it out. He had no interest in quidditch. The game moved too quickly for him to track and he had never been a fan of flying. He listened to the sound of the rain and the slow melody of classical music that flowed from the paintings as he enjoyed the peaceful evening.
Sebastian had moved back to leaning against the pillar as he and Imelda got into a heated argument over which quidditch team would win this year. He heard Garreth Weasley join in as he passed by and Ominis sighed as he readied himself to sit here a while longer. He was vaguely aware of a teacup getting placed on the table before he felt someone take the spot beside him.
“You aren’t going to participate in the quidditch argument, Heart?” Ominis asked as Amelia sighed into the cushions.
“I actually don’t know anything about the game since I grew up in muggle London. Imelda has tried to teach me the rules, but it’s just too complicated. She expects me to join my house team next year,” Amelia sighed as she grabbed something from the table. The smell of earl grey followed her movements as she poured herself another cup.
“From what Imelda has said you seem to be a fair flyer,” Ominis supplied for small talk. Imelda had indeed loudly complained about the new Ravenclaw who had beat her time in the flying trials but Ominis wasn’t about to share that with Amelia.
Amelia let out a small laugh, “You're too much of a gentleman. I know for a fact Imelda loathed me when I first beat her time and that she was very vocal about it.”
“Your words not mine,” Ominis supplied as he sipped his tea. They fell into a comfortable silence as they both listened to their classmates and the melody of the storm.
Ominis couldn’t help but wonder about the girl sitting next to him. He didn’t know anything about her but if the rumors had any truth to them she was trouble. Sebastian seemed to be getting close to her and he knew his friend was already treading along a dangerous path. They didn’t need more danger and darkness in their lives. Ominis was about to ask her if the troll attack had been everything that Sebastian had detailed when she beat him to her own statement.
“I really did mean what I said earlier,” she paused and Ominis looked over at her a little surprised as he was brought out of his thoughts. “It’s a wonderful way to look at beauty. It’s not all about what’s on the outside, it’s a rare outlook.”
Ominis contemplated her words. She almost sounded sad. His lips tugged into a small frown. “I’m sorry if my words brought forth something unpleasant or if I’ve offended you in some way.”
He felt her weight shift as she turned her head towards him, an apology already falling from her lips, “No not at all, Ominis. You don’t need to be sorry. It’s just refreshing to hear a different perspective from the usual societal standards I’m used to listening to.”
“I don’t quite understand what you mean,” Ominis said plainly. From the way Sebastian and the others talked about Amelia, she seemed to be a fierce beauty.
“I…” Amelia trailed off and Ominis back peddled instantly, “If it’s personal and you don’t feel comfortable discussing it I completely understand,” he supplied. He could hear her shift on the couch and her leg grazed his own as she faced him fully.
“It’s nothing like that. I just hadn’t realized you might be the only one that wouldn’t be able to notice,” his confusion grew but it did slowly dawn on him.
“It’s something you need to see? ” he supplied and he heard her hum in response.
“May I grab your hand,” she asked and Ominis felt the unease settle deep in his stomach. He wasn’t a fan of being touched but he appreciated that she asked permission first.
After a moment of hesitation, he decided he would indulge her. It wasn’t a common occurrence that his peers treated him kindly or included him as she was. The only two who had ever truly seen him for who he was were Anne and Sebastian.
Why she wanted to grab his hand he wasn’t sure but he couldn’t deny that he wasn’t curious to find out. He nodded his consent and felt her small hands grab his own. Her hands were smaller than he expected and he could feel the cool touch of metal from a ring she wore on her pinky. Her skin was warm to the touch and he could feel calluses on her palms. Amelia held his hand in both of hers as she started to explain.
“From a very young age, my family always told me to study hard since my looks wouldn’t secure me a husband or a future. Only my brain would be able to,” Ominis opened his mouth to retort but she pushed onwards.
“I grew up in the heart of London where fashion and beauty standards are always evolving but perfection has always been the norm. When I was young I was in a terrible accident and it scarred my face.”
She didn’t explain further but Ominis understood what she meant. He was far too familiar with society and family standards. If only she knew how much he understood. In the eyes of society, she didn’t meet the norm of beauty, and to her family her looks were no longer an asset. It was simply horrible in his opinion.
She placed his hand on the right side of her face. He could feel the rough texture of her skin as soon as his fingers made contact.
“May I?” He asked and he felt her nod under his touch.
He traced the scarred flesh that flared across the entire right side of her jaw and slowly moved his fingers upwards. Tracing the scared lines that marked her face. They were healed but even Ominis could tell they had been deep cuts. What kind of accident left this kind of mark? They wound their way up until he felt the flutter on her eyelashes against the tips of his fingers. The scars cut right through her eye to her forehead.
“I stand by what I said,” he said barely above a whisper, “Beauty is not seen but felt,” Ominis said as he traced the lines back to her jaw and he felt her cheek rise in a smile, “Thank you, Ominis.”
“And what’s happening over here,” Sebastian’s voice appeared between the two of them and they both jumped away. Ominis could feel the traitorous blush at his cheeks but he turned to the intrusion.
“Nothing that concerns you,” Ominis quipped as he turned his blind eyes toward his friend with an icy glare. He could feel the knowing look from Sebastian as he matched Ominis with his own.
“Calm down the both of you,” Amelia laughed. “Sebastian, I was just showing Ominis my scar.”
“Oh yea? Isn’t it badass!” Sebastian changed tracks so quickly Ominis’s head spun. Badass was certainly a word that could be used to describe the scar that ran across Amelia’s face but it was not the word Ominis would have chosen.
“Badass?” Amelia chimed as she laughed next to Ominis. The moment between them dispelled quickly. The warmth of her touch already faded from his hands.
No, badass wasn’t even close to how Ominis would describe the scar he had felt. Brave is the word he would have used. Fearless even. Ominis didn’t know much about the new fifth-year student and he wasn’t able to see how the others saw her. However, from their small interaction, he knew that Amelia held a rare beauty that the others might not quite see yet.