Cursed (Hogwarts Legacy fanfiction - original in German)

Chapter 63 - Get your just deserts

The mood unfortunately didn't improve until the end of breakfast, and it made Phina incredibly nervous. She would have preferred if she had argued with Sebastian herself because the two of them had so much practice by now that they would have probably handled it easier than this strange tension between Ominis and him. 

It was only now that Phina truly realized how Ominis must have always felt when he had had to witness the arguments between Sebastian and her. She wanted to do something to make these negative vibes just disappear, but when Sebastian finally stood up without even sparing Ominis another glance, she had to accept that this atmosphere would probably linger a little longer. 

She felt torn and on one hand wanted to immediately chase after Sebastian because he seemed very upset and that wasn't good when he was supposed to focus on Quidditch. On the other hand, she also wanted to stay with Ominis, perhaps to somehow coax out of him who he would go to the Yule Ball with tomorrow.

"Maybe a bit of aggression is just what he needs for his game later," Ominis finally said, finishing the rest of his coffee. Phina now looked somewhat discontentedly at him across the table, and for the first time in a long while, she was almost a little angry with him.

"That's not funny, Ominis. He's been so stressed lately anyway, and..." she complained to him in a tone she hadn't used with him in ages. She paused briefly, considering whether she should really tell Ominis about her observation that Sebastian had been regularly taking some strange potion lately, which apparently was supposed to make it easier for him to juggle all his commitments. 

She didn't know much about such potions, although she remembered hearing that a professional Quidditch player had once been kicked off a team because of such substances. So, some of these performance-enhancing substances were probably not entirely safe or legal. That was also why she didn't want to get Sebastian into more trouble because Ominis would surely immediately confront him about it.

"... and I'm just worried about him. If this continues, he might collapse on us at some point," she therefore finished her sentence, hoping that the Ominis she knew and loved would hear and understand the concern in her voice. And indeed, shortly thereafter, his whole posture relaxed, and he sighed softly.

"Let him get through the game today first, then he'll calm down a bit again when the pressure finally falls off him. I'm sure of it," he said, making moves to get up as well to head to class. Phina wouldn't see him for the rest of the school day since, apart from a flying lesson with Professor Kogawa, during which she wanted to prepare the pitch for the subsequent match with the seventh graders, and a divination class, she had nothing on her schedule. So, she really had to hurry now if she wanted to get rid of the question that had been burning in her throat for far too long.

"Ominis..." she addressed him somewhat hesitantly as he had already stood up and drawn his wand. He paused in his movement and turned his face to her. Phina took two silent breaths before speaking again.
"Will you tell me who you're going to the ball with?"

Ominis' mouth twisted into a half-smile as he seemed to make an effort to suppress it. Nevertheless, his expression seemed somehow empathetic, which fortunately somewhat appeased Phina's inner turmoil.

"You wouldn't believe me anyway until you see it with your own eyes. So, just wait until tomorrow evening," he said, and after a small eye roll from Phina, she gave up trying to pry the answer out of him. She didn't want to get into a fight with him over it. For the first time since she had fallen in love with him, she was really annoyed with him. And perhaps it was better to get to know this new feeling and quietly explore it rather than throwing it directly in his face with unfiltered words.

"Alright... Shall we meet at the Quidditch pitch later?"
Ominis nodded before making his way toward the exit of the Great Hall.
"We will. See you later, Phina."