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Ominis Gaunt had been born blind. No spell or potion could fix it. When he’d turned eleven his parents took him to get his own wand in preparation for attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and from the moment his wand chose him, because the wand chooses the wizard you know, there was something there. The way people had described shadows to him, or how it felt to see something out of the corner of your eye. When he held his wand there was something there, whirling moving, misting shapes that created a layout of his surroundings that his wand then led him around. He always wondered if it was the universe's way of making up for the way he’d been born, an apology of sorts.
In his fifth year of school he met a new student named Amelia Evers who had a strange connection to a strange magic that at the time nobody really understood. She had befriended his best friend Sebastian Sallow and later became friends with him.
Sebastian made some terrible choices and with Amelias help left the school and went into hiding. Ominis always thought that Sebastian had been another gift from the universe, he and his sister Anne had accepted and loved him no matter who he was or what he’d done. He’d always believed they were the universe's apology for allowing him to be born into a family such as the Gaunts.
In their last years of school he and Amelia grew close over their shared grief of Sebastian's choices, they worried about him, feared for him, all the while never knowing where he was.
After they left school, they stayed close, Ominis wanted nothing to do with his family, Amelia wanted a home to call her own. They slowly fell in love and Ominis started feeling something else, similar to the “sight” he’d gained with his wand, there was a new kind of sense that came from loving Amelia. He could feel her more strongly than anyone else, he always knew where she was, and he always knew how she was feeling, it was overwhelming at times; he didn't know where his feelings finished and hers began. Was this another universal apology, for never allowing him to see the face of the woman he loved, or was this something that happened to every wizard when they fell in love? He had no one way of knowing, his family did not love, not really, not the way he loved Amelia.
Now he found himself running to the home they shared since they’d gotten married just over a month ago, he ran as fast as he could, wand raised, guiding him home as Amelia's emotions rolled over him in waves. Something was wrong, there was an intense anxiety he’d never felt from her before. He rushed through the gate of their little garden and stopped to figure out where she was. He felt the tug of her around the back of the house, but as he made to take the step forward he froze.
“I send owls to Anne every now and again. She rarely responds but she told me that you and Ominis had gotten married." The voice was deeper than he remembered, the boyish charm gone. But there was no mistaking the voice of Sebastian Sallow.
He held his wand in front of him, at the ready, as he slowly made his way towards the voices.
“We’ve been trying to find you for years, we didn't know if you were alive or dead!” Amelia’s voice was raised, close to a shout, “We’ve been so worried about you!”
“So worried you married my best friend?” Sebastian's voice was curt. Ominis faulted, almost tripping. He walked slowly and quietly to the edge of the house staying out of sight and waited.
“What?” Amelia breathed.
“Was it so wrong of me to think you’d wait for me?” Sebastian asked. A strong wave of emotion pulsed from Amelia, it was so strong it felt like someone had punched Ominis in the chest. He waited, his wand lowered at his side, but he was close to the edge of the house now, his wand's whirling misty powers showed him the vision of what was around the corner.
A dark blurry figure he knew to be Amelia stood on the path between their vegetable patches in their back garden. Another dark blurry figure, that pulsed and radiated with dark energy that stood in front of her, was Sebastian.
“What are you talking about?” Amelia breathed. He could hear the sound of the ocean's waves gently lapping the shore a little ways off from their garden, but as always he could hear her every sound crystal clear, she was breathing heavily.
“I always thought you’d be waiting for me.” Sebastian said simply “I’m so close to Ami, so close to finding a cure for Anne. There are spells and potions in the Highlands that they wouldn't dare to ever teach us at Hogwarts but i know they hold the key” he waved his arms and moved closer to her, animated as always, Sebastian had never been able to stand still; always pacing the room or swaying on the spot..
Ominis faulted, reaching out to the wall of his home beside him, leaning his back against it to hold himself up.
“You're still looking for a cure, after everything that happened?” Amelia asked incredulously, but Ominis wasn't surprised, he knew Sebastian would never give up, he would die trying.
“Yes and I’m close” he surged forward reaching out for Amelia's hands “I’m so close, then Anne will forgive me, then we can figure out things with Soloman and then i’ll be free to come out of hiding”
Amelia moved back, away from him “Figure things out with Soloman? Solomon is dead Sebastian” She lowered her voice “You killed him”
“I know, '' Sebastian replied petulantly “And I am here and not in Azkaban because of you, and you alone. If it were up to Ominis i would be rotting in that hell”
“No” Amelia said firmly
“Yes” Sebastian replied. “Yes and you know it”
Ominis remembered the horror, the rage and the betrayal he felt that day when he found out what Sebastian had done, at the time part of him had blamed Amelia; he thought she was supposed to stop him, to protect him but he learned over the years that no one can be held responsible for someone else's choices; he’s been wrong and he’d been sorry about it ever since. He held his hand to his chest clutching his shirt, would he have done it, sent his best friend to Azkaban? He still wondered even now.
“And yet here you are married to him. I should have known. He’s a Gaunt through and through. Taking things that don't belong to him and stepping on anyone to get what he wants”
Ominis was shocked at Sebastians words, his cold hard tone. The pain in his chest tightened, a sorrow deep and overwhelming, but this feeling wasn't coming from Amelia; this was all his own.
She stepped back away from him.
“How dare you say that about him? What is wrong with you” she spat the words with such fervour, Ominis was surprised.
“He was your best friend, he was your brother and this is how you speak of him? And I never belonged to you Sebastian. I don't belong to anyone!”
“You can't tell me that you didn't love me Ami '' Hearing Sebastian use the old nickname that only he had ever called her, sent Ominis stomach roiling. ''that if i’d have stayed it wouldn't be me you’d be married to now, that this wouldn't be our life?!” He surged towards her again but she pushed him back.
Ominis had stopped breathing, terrified of her response. He’d known she loved Sebastian in school, most of the girls did but Sebastian had chosen her, to focus his energy on her; any energy he had left beyond looking for a cure.
“You were my first love Sebastian” Amelia said calmly now, Ominis’s legs felt weak and he slid gently down the wall until he sat on the floor.
“How could you not have been, you were my first real friend at Hogwarts, you were so charming, you accepted me and treated me in a way no one else did.”
Ominis breathed deeply trying to keep quiet, his eyes stung. He remembered how he yelled at her that day he found her coming from The Undercroft.
“You were my first love, but Ominis” she paused, he waited.
“Ominis was always going to be my last love” she said it so simply, and confidently like she was saying the sky is blue, or the grass was green, two things people had often told him were indisputable facts.
“Even if you had of stayed, i would still have fallen in love with him”
“You don't know that” Sebastian stepped back, his words echoing the hurt the Ominis had been feeling. Ominis used the wall to pull himself back to his feet.
“Ominis is the love of my life, yes i loved you Sebastian but as a young girl who didn't know any better. I love him as a woman and I am sure of that feeling every day”
“I don't believe it,” Sebastian spat.
“You have to” she whispered back “I love him, and I chose him and I will always choose him. You knew him before I did, you loved him as a brother, are you really so surprised?”
“So that's it then?” his cold and forceful voice had returned.
“That's it.” Amelia said simply.
“Well thank you for explaining so fully! This is the last time you’ll see me Amelia, I shan't come back”
“Sebastian please” she called out, but he was moving away from her. “We both still love you, we want you to be safe, we’ve been searching for you”
“Goodbye Amelia” he said cooley “I hope you and Ominis have a wonderful life together” The words were cold with no feeling..
“Sebastian please” she cried out but there was the familiar whooshing sound of apparition and he was gone.
A wave of sadness pulsed from her, and as she fell to her knees Ominis surged round the corner and skidded to the ground beside her. She gasped and threw herself into his waiting arms.
“Sebastian, he was-” She cried into his chest.
“I know my love, I heard” Ominis rubbed her back gently, he could feel the coolness of the air around them, a storm was coming.
She moved back and looked up at him, oh how he wished he could see her face, the look in her eyes.
“How did you-” She started.
“I could feel it” he said simply
“Sebastian?” her voice sounded small and confused.
“No my love, I could sense you. I have something to confess” he took a deep breath holding her in his arms as they both sat on the ground. He explained it to her, how since he’d fallen in love with her, he could feel her, as strongly as he could feel her in his arms right now.
“I’ve never understood what it was and i was afraid you’d feel it was a breach of your privacy”
“Ominis, how could you think that” she said simply, her hand caresses his cheeks.
“What if you grow tired of it?” Ominis whispered,
“We’ll figure something out, but i cant imagine i will.” There was a smile in her voice.
“Now my love I told you my secret, you tell me yours”
“Secret?” She questioned, confused.
“I am your last love?” he quoted back to her.
She straightened in his arms. “You heard that?”
“I did,” he said simply, “What does it mean?” he tilted his head to one side.
“You are the last man I'll ever love, Ominis. I could never love anyone else the way I love you” She said it again, in that simple matter of fact voice, like it was so obvious.
“After everything that happened in our lives I felt like we were also destined to find each other, it's like you were a lighthouse guiding me to a home I never knew existed.”
Ominis felt the hollowness in his chest fill up and swell, his love for her knew no bounds, he would cross oceans for her, travel continents.
“And now with what you’ve just told me I’m even more sure. You are my soulmate Ominis Gaunt”
He didn't know what to say, instead he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, she surged in his arms pressing herself towards him.
“It will always be you” she murmured against his lips “I will always choose you”
He kissed her deeply, forgetting they were both still sitting on the ground, forgetting he’s run out of work with not a word of explanation, forgetting all about Sebastian Sallow. There was nothing else in the world, but her lips against his, her hand on his chest, over his heart.