Swallow your pride

Slytherin party

Weeks passed. Yarra successfully avoided the boys. All boys.  She was constantly approached by guys with offers for a date, there was even one brave guy who got down on one knee in front of her in the Slytherin common room and asked her to marry him. She had never felt more embarrassed. Worst of all, Sebastian and Ominis saw it too.
She didn't want to embarrass that boy, but he begged for it himself. She sent him to the hospital wing to have the nurse take his temperature. Everyone in the room burst out laughing. It wasn't funny to Yarra, though. She suspected that her mother was behind the stream of suitors.  And her suspicions were confirmed when a letter bearing the seal of the Yaxley family landed on her breakfast table one morning.

With shaking hands, she broke the seal and read the lines of words written by her mother.
' Dear daughter,
I write this letter with indignation. As you must have already understood, I took care to spread the word in our circles that you are looking for a husband. So far, I have heard that you are cruelly rejecting your suitors. I am absolutely disgusted by your behavior! I remind you that our family situation does not give you a choice. And since you stubbornly refuse opportunities to get close to potential grooms, I am forced to choose a suitable husband for you in my own way. See you soon during the Christmas holidays.
With love, your mother.'

Yarra clutched the letter in her hands, resignedly resting her forehead against them.
She wanted to scream.
Someone sat down next to her, she looked up to see that it was Liam. "Bad day baby?"
Yarra said nothing but looked at him with a serious face. She handed him a crumpled letter.

Liam's eyes flickered with sympathetic understanding as he took the letter from Yarra's trembling hands. He scanned the words, his expression turning sour as he read her mother's reprimanding message.
"Baby," he mumbled softly, the endearment rolling off his tongue automatically. "I'm so sorry."
He folded the letter back up and set it on the table, reaching over to gently touch her hand. "You don't deserve any of this, Yarra. You should be the one making decisions about your life, not your mother."

Yarra looked at her untouched breakfast with distaste. She was pulled out of her thoughts by another arrival of owls that were throwing mail on the tables. Liam also received a letter. Yarra noticed that he was breaking the seal with the letter C. "A letter from the family?"
Liam nodded and read with a frown on his face.
"Bad news?" Yarra asked curiously.
"Oh no...it's nothing... some sort of... family busines...I have to go now. Bye" he stood up abruptly and walked away with a quick step.
Yarra was taken aback by Liam's strange behavior. She had never seen him like this before.
As she watched him leave, she noticed Ominis further by the table. He also received a letter and read it with a frown on his face. His eyebrows were touching and she knew him very well. When he looked like that, it must have been something serious, or something really pissed him off. It stung her heart. She cared about him and had the urge to go to him and ask him what happened.

She looked at him and hesitated when suddenly Ominis tore his eyes from the letter and looked towards her. She saw some concerns on his face and didn't hesitate anymore. She got up and headed after him. However, Ominis also suddenly stood up and headed in the opposite direction with a quick step. Yarra felt a painful stab at her heart.

Ominis Pov

Ominis let his wand guide him to the Great Hall for breakfast. As always, the wand described the situation around him.
Yarra was reading the letter. Ominis sat down at the table with a sufficient distance. He didn't want to scare her. Apparently, she was still angry with him because she was avoiding him.
He felt that the letter made her feel bad. His protective instinct told him to go to her and comfort her. While he hesitated, someone overtook him. Liam Carter.

Ominis clenched his jaw as he watched Liam comfort Yarra, feeling a twinge of jealousy. The sight was almost painful to his heart, and it took all his patience not to react. He remained seated, trying to school his expression into neutrality. He couldn't let anyone see that the casual touch of Liam's hand on hers bothered him. Ominis knew that his feelings for Yarra were irrational and probably unrequited. But he couldn't help the way his heart ached every time he saw her interact with someone else.