Love's Not Time's Fool // Ominis Gaunt & Anne Sallow

Introductions

September 1886

"Do you have a spare piece of parchment?" Sebastian muttered amidst the incessant droning of Professor Binns at the front of the class. Anne was struggling to stay awake. History of Magic was her least favorite class so far.

Anne blinked. "Why? Are you actually taking notes?"

"Of course not!" Sebastian slid his current piece of parchment in front of her. It was packed with scribbles in two different styles of handwriting: Sebastian's messy scrawl and another somehow even more chaotic jumble of lines that looked more like chicken scratch than words. So, Sebastian was exchanging notes with someone. Perhaps one of his roommates. Anne didn't recognize the shoddy handwriting yet, but Henry seemed the type.

Sebastian had already made quite a few friends in the week since they'd started at Hogwarts. Anne had too, but even though she considered them both to be outgoing, Sebastian's charm far exceeded her own. Not that it bothered her too much. Being charming often meant you were more noticeable, and that wouldn't do. She was far too mischievous to want to make too much of a name for herself, especially among the professors.

"Here," she muttered, ducking down under the long desk they shared and pulling a spare piece of parchment out of her bag. "Use it wisely." She winked.

Sebastian grabbed it with a smirk, then resumed scribbling. It was a wonder Professor Binns hadn't noticed. Sebastian wasn't even trying to be discreet about it.

The boy sitting at the desk to her right coughed politely. Anne ignored him. What was his name again? Ominis? Wasn't he one of Sebastian's roommates as well? Anne hadn't spoken with him yet, but nearly everyone - herself included - knew of him, not only due to the fact he was a Gaunt - his family's reputation preceded itself - but also because he was blind. It wasn't often you met a blind person, especially one descended from Salazar Slytherin.

He coughed again. This time Anne cocked her head at him. "What?" she asked as sharply as she could without making a scene. She heard Sebastian stop scratching away at the parchment beside her.

The blind boy flinched. "Is this your quill?" he queried, holding a quill up in his left hand.

Anne glanced around her general vicinity. Sebastian eyed her quizzically; she briefly acknowledged him with a shrug. Upon realizing that Ominis was, in fact, correct, she finally graced him with a reply. "Yes, how did you know?" She snatched the quill out of his hand.

"I'm blind, not deaf," he replied with a straight face. When Anne didn't respond right away, he added, "I heard it fall off your desk and roll under mine."

"Oh."

His pale eyes drifted past her. If he could see, he would have been looking at the far wall. "I'm Ominis, by the way."

"Anne."

"I'm Sebastian!" Sebastian cut in behind her, rather loudly. Professor Binns immediately stopped the lecture to glare in their general direction. All three of them scrambled back to attention, pretending like nothing had happened.

Professor Binns paused, then resumed whatever he had been blabbering on about. "As I was saying..."

Anne struggled to concentrate once more. Why was it so difficult to listen? Something about Professor Binns' voice made her sleepy. She didn't have a chance to drift off again though because Sebastian elbowed her in the ribs mere moments later. "Ouch!" she hissed. "What do you want, Seb?"

"What was Ominis talking to you about?"

"None of your business."

"He hasn't spoken a word to me yet. Or Rupert. Not even Henry. In fact, I heard a rumor that he hasn't spoken to anyone in our class since the school year began."

"That can't be true," Anne scoffed.

"I bet Garreth a Galleon that he was mute."

"Guess you lost that bet..." Anne said, trailing off when she heard a quiet chuckle to her right.

"I'm just saving my voice for special occasions," Ominis piped in.

Sebastian let out an unexpected laugh, then popped his head around Anne, invading her personal space. He dropped his arms directly on the textbook lying open before her and leaned over. "Hey!" she protested, but Sebastian was apparently too distracted to pay her any mind.

"I'm Sebastian!" he repeated, this time in an excited whisper, stretching out his hand for Ominis to shake. Since Ominis was blind, he didn't notice. Anne shook her head in disbelief at Sebastian's oversight. Sebastian realized his mistake relatively quickly though and pulled his hand back, running it through his hair instead. Probably a sorry attempt at a recovery, knowing him.

"You tried to shake my hand, didn't you?" Ominis asked with a curious tilt of the head. A faint, subtle smile seemed to be playing at the corner of his mouth.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Sebastian said at the exact same time that Anne retorted, "Yes, the idiot."

Ominis's face broke out into a smile. Anne noted he was quite handsome when he did that. "It's nice to officially meet you, Anne and Sebastian."

Their introduction was interrupted by the rest of their classmates breaking out into scattered conversations. A few bolted out of the room. Anne would have been one of them if she didn't have to wait for Sebastian. He always carried far too many books with him. He was hurriedly stuffing them all into his knapsack while keeping a steady eye on Ominis who had just activated his wand. The tip of it began to pulse a faint red.

"Are you headed to lunch?" Sebastian asked as Ominis extricated himself from the bench, stood up, and took a step forward. Merlin, Ominis was quite tall, wasn't he?

Ominis halted mid-stride, his expression inscrutable. "Are you talking to me?"

"No, the other blind boy."

Ominis arched an eyebrow. Anne sighed to herself. She had serious doubts that Sebastian's attempt at humor regarding Ominis's disability would lead to the making of a new friend. Her thought was abruptly interrupted by an unexpected sound - Ominis was laughing. How peculiar.

Once Ominis regained his composure, he flashed a grin and said, "Ah. Well, it appears the other blind fellow is occupied, but this one is ravenous. Fancy some company?"

Anne found herself pleasantly surprised. In fact - oddly - she wished Ominis were addressing her and not her twin brother. On the bright side, any friend that Sebastian made should - in theory - become her friend as well, seeing as she and Sebastian were a package deal.

"I'd love some," Sebastian replied, tossing the strap of his knapsack over his shoulder. He began to purposefully stride forward. "Do keep up," he added.

Anne waited for Ominis to fall in step behind Sebastian before collecting her belongings and following their lead. This was bound to be an interesting lunch.