No Choice But You // Ominis Gaunt x Reader

Chapter 16

"Using a cloaking charm won't do you much good if you won't stop singing," someone said behind me, causing me to jump. I turned around and relinquished my charm to see Ominis.

"Found you!" I stated. "Why did you leave?"

"Why did you leave?" he questioned. I frowned, trying to remember what I'd come all this way for. I found him--so what else was it that I was after?

"I dunno. Find you, I suppose."

"Well, you found me. What did you need?"

"Dunno," I said, scratching my head with the tip of my wand.

"You should really head back," Ominis told me. "You're extremely intoxicated." He leaned a shoulder against the wall and pocketed his wand. "Do you know how much trouble you'd be in if you were caught?"

"I could say the same thing about you right now."

"Let me take you back," he said, coming closer. He grabbed my arm, but I sloppily pulled away from him.

"I don't think so," I argued. "I can take care of myself."

"That's arguable." He stepped closer again and gripped my arms tightly. I fought his hands, but he only pushed me backward, pinning me to the wall behind me.

I brought my lips close to his ear, and he tensed. "How so?"

He lifted my hands above my head and held them against the wall. He brought his face close to mine for a moment. "You've never been very good at taking care of yourself. You're too worried about everyone else all the time."

"And suddenly you care?" I bit back. I could take care of myself just fine. I knew what I needed, and it wasn't him, telling me how I should act.

"I shouldn't, but I can't help it half the time, the way you've been letting yourself go the way you have. It's like you've given up. Once upon a time, you were a hero, but you haven't been that person for a very long time."

My eyes burned. I didn't know why this was getting me so worked up. A deep ache echoed through my chest as if it were hollow. I fought against his grip again, but his hands held fast.

"I never asked to be the hero," I choked. "I never asked for anything that happened. I've been trying so hard to be a normal fucking person ever since everything happened. I never asked for this." I stopped and took in a breath before continuing. Ominis' expression was indecipherable as I spoke.

"Every day that I woke up back in fifth year, I feared would be my last. I was always afraid that what I did wouldn't be enough. That I or someone else would end up dead. And I was right. Professor Fig--gods, all he did was support me. And I couldn't even save him in the end."

A solitary tear slipped down my cheek, which was a good sign that I needed to leave. I didn't want anyone seeing me like this, but of course, I was here with Ominis, of all people. Ominis finally let go of my hands, and I started to leave, but I froze when his hand found my face. He cupped my cheek, lightly brushing his thumb across my cheekbone, spreading the tear I'd shed under his touch. 

His face contorted in pain for a moment, before falling flat again. "I didn't know I'd make you cry, I'm sorry," he said. "I really am sorry." 

The softness of his voice only caused the tears to well up worse than before, and now more tears were falling. He wiped them away, and I sucked in a sharp breath, trying to get them to stop. 

I didn't know what had come over me. I chalked it up to the alcohol in my system having clouded my thoughts and emotions--nothing more. He took his free hand and placed a finger under my chin, raising my face toward his. My breath hitched when I realized how close we were. 

My mind was running now, and there was no stopping it--not after how much I'd had to drink. His hands were sending shivers across my skin, causing me to lose all sense of reason. I thought about how easy it would be to kiss him right now. 

I watched his lips part, and I panted, much against my will. My breaths were growing shorter, and I could feel my cheeks reddening. He ran the tip of his tongue across his lower lip, and I couldn't look away. 

Bad decisions. That's all my mind could think up right now. 

"You make everything so difficult," he whispered. His words were but a breath in the wind, caressing my face and sending tingles all the way from my face to my toes, which curled in my shoes. 

"Not like you make it any easier, either," I told him. "You claim I've let myself go, but you won't even let me be friends with my old friends anymore. How do you expect me to dig myself out of this hole if you refuse to give me a shovel?"

Ominis chuckled. "You're making no sense." He ran his thumb over my bottom lip and it took everything in me not to react.

"Then you're just not listening properly," I argued back. "You say I'm making things difficult, but the only thing standing in the way here, is you."

"What am I standing in the way of?"

"Everything !" 

Ominis pressed his thumb over my lips roughly. "You need to keep your voice down."

"What are we even doing here anyway?"

"That's what I originally asked you." 

Well, I guess he had me there. I tried to pull away, yet again, but he secured a hand around my waist and pulled my body flush against his. 

"What are you doing?" I gasped. 

"I dunno," he said, mocking my tone from earlier. 

His mouth was so close to mine right now. Everything in my body was screaming for me to just--

Before I had a chance to finish that thought, Ominis finished it for me, roughly planting his lips on mine. Sparks shot through me, and my body, the little traitor it was, moved to deepen the kiss, but Ominis pulled away as quickly as he'd started. 

My mind was reeling, and I wasn't sure what to do. Well, by that, I meant I knew what I should do, but everything in me was telling me something else. Before I could twist myself in too much of a knot about it, I thought fuck it and wrapped my hands around his neck and pulled him in for another kiss.