The Sallow Saga (Volume 3) A Hogwarts Legacy Fanfiction

Chapter 3. Everett Clopton

Ominis woke up late the following morning. He lay peacefully, enjoying the sounds of the Gilded Perch. Not long after she had introduced him to the location, Poppy had assigned Ominis a ground floor room adjacent to a large chamber. The chamber was filled with the aromas of various flora from the nearby fields, it was also a safe space for the golden snidgets. While they had grown up and fledged from their nest, they hadn't moved too far from the trunk of the tree that they had resided in, safely, for many years.

While guiding him around the Gilded Perch, Poppy had explained in detail how she and Cassy had worked alongside a herd of centaurs from the Forbidden Forest, to locate the snidgets and ensure their protection from poachers, in their fifth year. Ominis had not been surprised to discover that Cassy had been involved with such a feat. Any revelation from her first year spent at Hogwarts usually involved her skirting with death on more than one occasion, Ominis reasoned if he let it plague his thoughts for too long, he would lose not just valuable sleep, but several years of his life, mithering on what trouble his dear friend could have found herself in.
It had been during that tour of the hall, when Poppy had assigned Ominis his bedroom. As they had explored each space, Poppy had described every room with such intricate detail that Ominis could now walk around the space, blindly, yet still know where he was based on a sound, a touch, or a smell. Poppy was a somewhat politely direct witch who seemed to know what folk needed, before they realised it, as a result his had been the first room to be decorated, not by his own wand, but by Poppy's. He smiled in quiet reflection as he recalled Poppy encouraging him to sit quietly at the roots of the snidget's tree. He'd rested there contentedly for some time before Poppy had called him over to his new lodgings.

How his room looked, he couldn't quite say, but Poppy had designed the room to illicit a sense of peace, calmness, and serenity through his working senses. Of a night-time, the delicate scents of lavender and jasmine flowers would enchant Ominis and soothe him in to a peaceful sleep. In the morning, he could feel the warmth of the sun gently kiss his hands and cheeks, encouraging him to stir in a calm state each morning when he woke. If the weather outside was overcast, the snidget's chime like call would echo through from the main chamber neighbouring his room, serving as a polite morning call. The kitchens were based further into the annex and ever since Garreth and Poppy had moved into the Gilded Perch too, with Beanie – the smell of a freshly cooked breakfast would encourage him to leave the comfort of his four-poster bed.

The smell of freshly baked bread, cooked bacon, and sausages, mixed with the subtle scent of fruit and coffee encouraged Ominis to get up out of bed. Cautiously, he felt around the foot of his bed and felt the sleeve of his dressing gown, desperately clinging to the bottom of the duvet. Wrapping the soft cotton robe around him, Ominis sleepily headed to the vanity sink at the other end of his room to make himself presentable for breakfast.
After half an hour, he approached the dining area where he could hear Poppy and Garreth chirruping as musically as the snidgets. He was about to casually saunter in and join them, when an old, familiar voice joined in with his two friends. Ominis shyly stepped through the doorway and tried to act nonchalantly while an unfamiliar pang of nerves twisted in his stomach.
"Ominis Gaunt! As I live and breathe! It's been far too long!" The raspy voice of Everett Clopton filled the room. As usual, the scent of broomstick wax and fresh cotton lingered on the air as he sensed his old classmate come closer. The chair to his right scraped noisily across the slate floor and Everett sat down heavily next to him, pulling a plate across the table, and digging into the food that Beanie and Poppy had prepared together, with gusto.

"Good morning, Everett," Ominis yawned, "I didn't realise you were swooping by?"
Poppy placed a plate of food in front of Ominis and smiled at her sleepy friend, "I didn't think you were going to join us at one point, it's almost ten o'clock!" she cajoled, "anyway, Garreth and Everett spent the evening out and about last night, again. Based on our plans earlier in the week, I invited Everett to stop over and spend the weekend with us, Sebastian and Cassy are on their way over now, too."
Ominis set to work on clearing up his plate of food, internally sighing. So much for a peaceful weekend! As he started to tuck into a bowl of berries and plain yoghurt, he felt Everett lean over, closer to him.
"Seriously though, Ominis. How have you been? Garreth hasn't told me everything, but he's told me enough to suggest that things haven't been so good at home." Everett asked cautiously, somewhat out of character.
Ominis choked on a mouthful of yoghurt, in surprise. He felt two heavy blows on his back as Everett (rather heavy-handedly) tried to help clear his airways. Ominis waved him away, blushing furiously, choking out his thanks in the process.
"Everything alright there, Ominis?" Garreth chuckled, "remember to chew your food before you knock it back."
"I'm quite alright, Garreth." Ominis sniffed, "I'm just surprised I didn't receive the memo that indicated we could divulge confidential cases to friends!" He glared disapprovingly in Garreth's direction.
Garreth sat down heavily on the other side of Ominis; "only the minor details, I omitted out some of the more crucial points. Besides, Everett's a true Ravenclaw, he'd already pieced together a few elements from what he'd read in the Daily Prophet."