Imperio | A Hogwarts Legacy Story |

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Ominis gradually pulled me along with him as we crept through the corridor. We snuck away from the party, and I had hope that he would tell me everything that he's hidden from me. Ominis came to an abrupt stop, causing me to run into his back.

"You cannot hate me after this, Xyla."

He kept his back to me.

"I'd never hate you, Ominis. Just.. please, explain to me what's going on."

He shook his head slightly, still not turning toward me.

"Do you... remember when we found out Sebastian had escaped Azkaban?"

I didn't think Sebastian was the topic he had in mind, but I responded anyway. "Yes.."

He let out a heavy breath, finally turning my way. "I went to see him the day he escaped."

I froze. My eyes widened in surprise at his statement. "What do you mean you seen Sebastian?"

His head turned toward the stone wall, away from my gaze. "I visited his cell in Azkaban."

I bit my lip out of anger and crossed my arms across my chest. "You went to see him, and you never told me. I could've gone with you-"

Ominis shook his head again, and then tilted it toward the floor - almost ashamed. "No. You don't understand, Xyla. Yes, I saw Sebastian. But.. that's not what I was really there for."

My jaw tightened anxiously. Whatever he was going to say to me, it would change everything. The air was tense, and I gulped hard.

He continued. "Sebastian didn't just find a way to escape.. I helped him."

Ominis, one of the people who put Sebastian in Azkaban for the murder of his uncle - helped him escape. Nothing was easy to understand about this situation, and his involvement in it.

"You did what?"

"I.. slipped him poly juice potion. I suppose the prison guards didn't expect a student to stoop so low. They were ignorant to my plan."

I took a step back, in complete disbelief that my friend who swore to do no harm - would break Sebastian, the one we locked up - out of prison.

"Let me get this straight, Ominis Gaunt. You broke the person we put in Azkaban out? Do you realize that he could come after you and I? Do you understand the amount of betrayal he probably feels towards us?"

Ominis gripped my arms in his hands. "The guilt I felt after we sent him away has ate at my soul ever since, Xyla. I couldn't allow our friend to suffer in that place. He was being mentally tortured, I couldn't let him stay there!"

My breath halted as he held me in place. "You let him out because of guilt? If that was your plan, you should've just let him stay here with us two years ago - instead you convinced me to send him away!"

He fingers squeezed deeper into my sensitive skin. "I know. You don't have to tell me that."

Silence fell between us, heavy silence. A full semester at school, and this secret just now came out. A thought rushed through my head as I tried to process it all.

"Wait. Who did he leave the prison as?"

Ominis shrugged. "No clue. I left before he escaped."

Another anxious thought. "So, I was right. Someone was watching me in the bathroom."

Ominis raised his brow. "What makes you so sure it was Sebastian?"

"Well, who else could it have been?"

Ominis' jaw tightened. "Maybe that boyfriend of yours likes to intrude on privacy."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, no. You do not get a say about what Miles does and doesn't do. You lost that right when you decided to lie to me. Actually, you lost the right whenever you decided to shut me out, after your vision came back."

His hands dropped from shoulders. "Does this mean we are no longer friends? Because I lied. I don't find that quite fair."

My brows raised in irritation. "I never said that. I've lied about plenty, Ominis. But when I've lied, it's been to protect you. You lied to protect yourself."

He ripped his shaded glasses off of his face, revealing his emerald green orbs. "Xyla. Like it or not, you and I have to work together. Not only about the Sebastian scenario, but my vision making its comeback. We still have no idea as to why it's returned."

I let out a deep breath. "That's the thing, I believe I know why it's returned."

His eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

I noticed the look of curiosity and also anxiety on his face.

"I need to try and reach out to Isadora Morganach through this power. I think she has something to do with it.."

He blinked. "You.. believe your power is what brought my sight back?"

"Something like that. I mean, think about it. If this power can erase pain in any way or form, why couldn't it remove the thing that has always caused you just that?"

He shook his head in disbelief. "But.. why now? It's been two years since you gained this ancient power."

This time, it was my turn to shrug. "I don't know. Maybe it's evolved, I'm truly not sure, Ominis."

He nodded, still unsure by the possible revelation.

Again, we stood in utter and complete silence. What would we say from here? Two friends who'd been inseparable, now torn apart by a lie.

At the same time, we spoke each others names. "Ominis-" "Xyla-"