In The Shadow of Our Choices

Chapter 66 - A Golden Opportunity

A/N: HOORAY! Someone finally found one of the song titles! To celebrate, I hid another in this chapter. Same artist/group, except it's a song title from their newest album ;)

Ominis

Ominis gave Elizabeth the newspaper article on the Triwizard tournament at breakfast Saturday morning. Then, as he headed back to the Slytherin table, he debated seeing if Grace wanted to do something later in the day. Their date on Wednesday hadn't been completely horrible, and perhaps spending more time together would help things. While he ate, Ominis tried to think of what he might invite her to do, drawing on his time with Elizabeth. They could get a drink at the Three Broomsticks, wander around Diagon Alley, or perhaps even venture out into muggle London. Or, it was still warm enough out, perhaps he could take her to Feldcroft for a walk, maybe find Basil. He did rather like the idea of seeing the snake again before winter set in.

After he finished his breakfast, he toyed idly with his fork, waiting and listening to see if he could pick out Grace's voice nearby. It took a long minute, but eventually he was pretty sure he picked her out. It sounded like she was chatting with some other girls - Imelda included. He couldn't make out the conversation - just recognizing the vague shape of their voices. When she eventually excused herself, Ominis hurried to stand as well.

"Hey Grace?" He called, tagging along after her figure.

"Oh, hello Ominis," she said as she paused, waiting for him to catch up. "Did you need something?"

"Where are you headed?" Ominis asked in response.

He offered her a smile, as her voice had been surprisingly warm, compared to their other recent conversations.

"Just back to the common room," she said.

"Perfect, I'm headed in that direction," Ominis said, "Walk with me?"

"Ah, sure, I suppose," Grace said.

Ominis heard the tenseness return to her voice and cursed himself. Why could he not figure this out? He gestured towards the door to the Great Hall, and she fell into step beside him. Once the chatter was behind them, they turned their feet towards the door the dungeons.

"So, the other day you asked about meeting my family," Ominis said, "That being a terrible idea, I was thinking - perhaps tomorrow, would you be interested in visiting Feldcroft with me? I stay with Sebastian there during the holidays, it's a lovely little village, and, for me, it's home."

She hesitated a moment, then asked, "Just you and I? Sebastian's uncle passed, correct? And Anne is still in St. Mungo's."

"Well, yes, I suppose," Ominis said, "But I thought we might just take a walk around."

She paused again, their footsteps echoing in the stone passageways. There were a few other students coming or going past them, likely other Slytherins for the most part.

"I see. Alright," Grace said at last. "Tomorrow, then."

"Fantastic," Ominis said, smiling. "Floo alright? We can use the Great Hall fire after breakfast - ah, this is me."

They'd reached the door Ominis had been headed for, and he paused. Grace stopped as well, a little ways ahead of him.

"Yes, that works for me," she said, "I'll see you later then, Ominis."

Ominis waved a farewell before ducking into the room. He was immediately hit with the wet-dog smell of crushed hellebore and wrinkled his nose.

"Ah, if it isn't my sun and stars!" Garreth Weasley said gleefully as Ominis shut the door. "My darling! My -"