Soft Hazy Blue ( Ominis Gaunt x MC )

Chapter 15: The Ceremony

The aura of Black Lake was always different from anywhere else.

The Gaunt House never had nor would feel this free.

Any peep of joy or happiness was seemingly squelched with only the lingering sound of whispered murmurs as one would walk down the creaking floorboards. The environment was one that would suffocate you of any feeling besides hatred and pride one must have felt if being bored in such an esteemed family. That's what they wanted for me, to feel the arrogance, the disdain, the glory to call myself Gaunt. I never want to step foot back into that cursed household again, not if I have any matter in the direction of my own future from this point on.

I hated it.

I hated the way he would clutch my arm and take me God knows where. How he dragged my face into the ground and the same dry, barren dirt would greet my lips as an old forgotten kiss before I was flipped where the rocks knew where to pierce my back as a puzzle that was worn and used over, and over again. Then came the pain.

That pain punished me for having sympathy for muggles.

The same sympathy that allowed me to fall for her and distance myself from a cursed family.

I sauntered closer to the crashing waves that met the grainy sand which crumbled beneath my weight as I stood there, waiting for the influx of rippling water to reach the tip of my shoes. I took in a deep breath and smelled the earthy and musty metallic odors all merging into the scent I had become familiar with so many years.

I missed it, it smelled like an intimate secret we both kept between ourselves.  Just like the day we first met each other six years ago. I looked down and smiled as the sounds of the rippling water soothed me at just the memory of our first meeting. I heard about you from Sebastian and the other students about how you traveled here and escaped death, we had that in common at first both you and me.

I didn't pay any mind to the idle chatter and trivial conversation that surrounded me as I walked down to the Black Lake as I did every morning before the start of the day. It was the one place I could sit and just think to myself without the crowded chatter that clouded my thoughts.

Six Years Ago: Two Weeks before the start of the 5th Year

That day I leaned back against an old worn tree that snagged on my back; I winced in discomfort as the scars flashed white in agony from the past visit, I made to my family manor near the end of summer. I closed my eyes slowly trying to ignore the shots of pain that traveled up my spine before I finally decided to lay on the bed of grass as I breathed in the odor of the morning dew.

I had planned later that day to go and visit Sebastian in the Undercroft to discuss the progress or unfortunately, the lack of progress Anne had been making since being excused by the headmaster to recover from the ...incident. Since then, I had promised Anne to check up on Seb just to ensure that he was fine, whether it was a quick check before DADA or even just a small or lengthy catch-up with one another in the Slytherin Common room or in the Undercroft as usual. The year had already begun as a different array of eventfulness, I had no idea what was to be in store for the rest until you came along.

I reached out for the book I was reading before charms class when I heard the grass being mulched and the sound only to grow louder as seconds passed by. I pulled the book and placed it on my face, in the hope that whoever was coming here for a conversation would leave swiftly, I had no time for pestering nor the energy for it.

"Doesn't that pain you laying down that way?" a light airy voice called down to me in an amused gentle tone.

"Either you are new or just moronic for approaching me," I snapped at the idiocy that this girl had for talking to me. I thought to be well knowledgeable of our student body but I have never heard this voice before. It was warm and beguiling a nice change from the windy and dry air the summer morning had brought near the lake as I continued to smell the worn pages that shielded my face from the intruder.