Acceptance: Hogwarts Legacy Continued

Chapter 21- Ominis

"Yes father I can wait" Ominis said, knowing his father would leave regardless of his answer.

"Good. I won't be gone for long." Mr. Gaunt made a snapping sound, getting the attention of someone nearby. "You. Find a seat for my son."

He heard shuffling as someone moved dishes off a table nearby. Then a female voice came from his side;

"This way young sir" and the barmaid grabbed his arm, ready to lead him to the table.

Ominis tore his arm away, mindlessly brushing invisible grime off his arm where he was grabbed. He then held up his wand and followed the worker to the now clean table. He sat down, and waved the help away before she could ask if he needed anything.

He sighed, wishing this day would come to an end already. He didn't like being in Diagon Alley, too many loud noises and people not watching where they were going. It was overwhelming and made him feel on edge. To make things worse he had to come with his Father, which was always a headache. At every store there was always something wrong with the goods- nothing could ever be good enough for the Gaunts. Each visit made him feel more and more ashamed of his heritage.

Now he was stuck waiting for who knows how long, while his father met with someone who sounded shady, and had a horribly dark aura. At least he could remain in the dark about whatever was going down in there, metaphorically and physically. He dropped his head to his arm resting on the table, trying to block out the constant flow of noise. He felt a jostle of the table, a signal someone had taken a seat there.

"This table is taken." He said flatly, keeping his head down.

"You looked like maybe you could use some company of some wasted talent."

Hit head shot up; "DIANA?!" He grinned as he heard her laugh from across the table.

"Sorry if I startled you, I know you said not to come to you if I saw you, but I figured since you were alone it would be okay."

"It's more than okay! I mean, for now, I'm not sure when he will be back. But we have a few moments at least. What are you doing here?" He couldn't stop his smile growing even if he wanted to.

"We all came here to get our supplies, and once we finished Sebastian and I came here for lunch. We were just about finished when I heard your voice."

His spirits faltered for just a moment; "Sebastian was also here?"

"Yeah, when I got up to come to you he went to pay for our food."

He raised an eyebrow at her "oh you're letting him pay for your meals now? Was this a date?"

He heard her hit her leg as she jumped in surprise at his question. He chuckled, he knew it wouldn't be, but still had to ask."

"Um no" she coughed. "I got him a gift earlier so he said he wanted lunch to be on him."

He thought on that. She had given Sebastian a gift? He could ask her what it was to tease her again, but figured she was flustered enough as she was.

"I um, I ordered your book for you. They said it would be ready with your others..."

"Oh, thank you. I appreciate that." He sensed there was more she was trying to say.

"I also um got you a gift too. I mean uh kind of a gift, I mean I can't really give it to you.."

Ominis sat silent, giving her the time she needed to sort out what she wanted to say.

"I asked Sebastian if there was something he thought I could do, as a friend for you. He mentioned that lots of time you could use smell as a way of identifying people. So I um, I bought perfume that I can wear everyday, that way you can tell it's me without having to say anything..."

He stood shocked, totally surprised at the gesture. That was such a thoughtful gift. He found it extremely useful when he could identify people by their scent. He had found that every person had a unique smell, but he usually had to be pretty close up to tell. But when a girl was wearing perfume, or when Sebastian had an especially sweaty quidditch practice, it was easier to identify from far away. If Diana chose to wear the same scent every day, he felt he could easily know it was her coming.

"Diana that- that's great! Thank you! What scent is it"

Instead of an answer he heard her shuffle around, and then move to the seat next to him. She placed a round glass bottle in his hand. He used his thumb to find the top, and brought it to his nose.

"Oranges?"

"Yeah, it was the only one that I liked. Well that and vanilla, but I chose this one."

He smiled as he held the bottle up for her to take. Now that she was sitting so much closer he could tell she had probably tested it at the store. It was such a sweet smell, he thought it fit her perfectly.

Footsteps approached them "we're all paid up, you ready to go?" Sebastian asked, standing next to her.

"Um yes I'm ready." Diana stood, grabbing what sounded like bags from Sebastian.

"See you at carriages?" Sebastian questioned his fellow housemate.

"No promises." He responded, and he felt a hand pat his back, signaling to him he accepted the light hearted joke.

"Bye Ominis, look for er I mean listen for my owl!" She said as she walked away- leaving him alone again, but this time with the lingering smell of oranges.