Imperio | A Hogwarts Legacy Story |

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Poppy walked over to Ominis and reached in to give him a light, friendly hug, and he gladly accepted it.

"Ominis, you left Hogwarts after all?" I glanced over at him, still not happy about our last interaction.

Poppy let go of Ominis and walked back to my left side. Miles still stood on my right.

"I thought my mind was made, but I see now it wasn't. I'm actually happy I caught you. Can I pull you away for a moment?"

I squinted my eyes. "So you can discredit me again?"

He went to speak, still facing my direction, but Miles spoke first.

"It doesn't look like she wants to speak with you right now, Gaunt. How about another day?"

Miles placed his hand in mine, pulling me with him, and we went into the store.

I could hear Poppy still at the entrance telling Ominis that she was sorry. Ominis is my best friend, but did he truly expect me to move on so quick after his harsh words?

Miles stopped once we were in front of a fresh fudge counter. His hand dropped from mine, and his eyes slid over to me.

"Is that what you wanted?" He peaked at me with concern.

I bit my lip, trying to decide on how to answer his question. On one end, Ominis was everything to me. I had no family, and... Sebastian was away. It hurt me more than anything to remain furious with him, but he knew what a sore subject Sebastian was for me. He knew.

"Xyla, you okay?" Miles placed a gentle hand on my shoulder, taking me from my thoughts.

"I'm fine. I just hate being like this with him."

His eyes seemed to darken at my answer. "Being like what?"

The shop keeper stared at us from the counter, "Are you wanting to buy something?"

I was at a loss for words, "Uh.. I-"

Miles looked at the shopkeeper and answered for me instead, "She'd like the vanilla bean fudge, and I'll take the dark chocolate, please. Thanks."

My eyes widened at him. "How'd you know that?"

He winked at me and gave me that award-winning smirk of his, "I have my ways."

I kept quiet at that and allowed him to pay for my treat.

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚆𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝙱𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝙷𝚘𝚐𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚜,

As I snacked on my fudge, we walked on the trail heading back to Hogwarts, and sparked up a conversation about what our plans were going to be after we graduated.

"I hope to be an auror... with the power I hold, I feel as if I may do some good with it."

Miles walked with his hands in his pockets and responded, "I know you'd be great at that. I, on the other hand, well, I have no clue what I am going to do."

"The great Miles Lockhart with no plan set in motion? I could swear you'd have this whole prestigious career set up for you."

He shook his head. "It's a bit more complicated than that."

I looked over to him, his body silhouetted by Hogwarts architecture. The sunset brushing past his shape, shining onto me.

"I can listen, if you'd like me to."

He glanced over with those gorgeous sky-blue eyes, then shook his head.

"It's not something I enjoy talking about."

I took a breath and nodded, accepting his answer.

As we walked up to the entrance to the school, Miles turned to me, taking one of my hands into his own.

"Xyla.. I'd like to think that you like me. And before you say no, I want to ask you if you'd think about dating me, as in being my girlfriend?"

My heart stopped in my chest. No one had asked me to be their girlfriend since...

"Don't answer now." He brought my hand up to his lips, kissing it gently.

He glanced up. "Tell me tomorrow, after a full night's rest. A little bird told me you weren't getting enough sleep."

He released my hand and left me there. I looked around, contemplating if that really had just happened. I knew it did though, as my cheeks still felt flushed from his lips making contact with my skin.

𝙸𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚍𝚍𝚕𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝,

I woke from a nightmare, my nightgown damp from sweat. My body lightly shook from the adrenaline I felt after the dream. I needed to remove this thick blanket and take a walk to cool off, so I did. After placing my velvet bath robe on, I went to the commons room of our house Slytherin and walked toward the window beneath the lake to sight see, hoping it would calm me enough to sleep.

And there he was. Sitting in his usual seat by the window, and I wasn't sure if he had noticed me yet.

"I know you're there."

I let out a deep exhale. "I thought you would."

A few more steps and I was in front of him. I took a seat and crisscrossed my legs. Luckily, my robe was long enough to cover everything.

"How long will be go about like this? I cannot stand it."

I chewed on my inner cheek, as I wasn't sure how he wanted me to answer.

Ominis sat forward in his seat, leaning in close to me.

"I cannot do this with you, Xyla. You know me better than anyone. I know I say things, and I know those words hurt you. My past is not an excuse for how I act now, but I am sorry for what I said. You didn't deserve that torment."

I looked over to the window, glancing out at the water and everything that floated in it.

"We both have made mistakes, Ominis. The one thing that I thought our relationship was based on more than anything was understanding one another. You took that away when you all but told me it was my fault for the way Sebastian turned."

His jaw tensed, and he leaned back into his seat once more. "Honestly, there are parts of myself where I find it I question how much you had to do with the dark arts when Sebastian practiced himself. But other parts comprise the opposite, that I see you being a better person than that. Someone who would never have to do harm to others, unless in danger."

I blinked, taken aback by his bluntness tonight. "I-"

He continued, "I think that's what I need to know, Xyla. How much was Sebastian, and.. how much was you?"

I groaned, "Does it really matter now, Ominis? I thought we were past all of this. I don't understand what brought all of this up. Why are you acting like this?"

He shook his head. "You know I may be blind in sight, but I'm not blind to lies. I know you're hiding something from me, you have been - this entire time."

He was in no way wrong, but I assumed he'd moved on from this topic, especially considering how smooth the past two years have been for us both.

"What do you want me to say? That I helped Sebastian on his daring mission to save his twin sister? You knew that, if I remember correctly, you were there most of the time."

He stood from his seat, taking a step toward me and towering over my body now as I sat still.

"Did you use the dark arts, Xyla?"

He didn't even glance down at me.

"Did you use any of the three curses on innocent people?"

He loomed over like a force of nature, and I couldn't lie to him.

"Yes."

He then looked down at me. "Which one?"

I stopped breathing for a moment. How could I possibly tell him I used every single one?