In The Shadow of Our Choices

Chapter 115: Whole

Previously: Ominis attended dinner with at the Pinch-Smeldey's with Grace and his father to do a bit of Wedding planning (This dinner takes place a week before the wedding, which was set for the first weekend of the Easter holidays). During his father's boasting, Ominis learns he recently purchased the Mirror of Erised, and realizes that Rosalind Carrow must have tricked him with a duplicate and taken the real one. Meanwhile, Sebastian had to deal with an Elizabeth who was angry - at him (for getting Ominis into this marriage in the first place) as well as at Ominis (for not telling her about the Vow he took to go through with the marriage, as it made her put his life in danger). Sebastian had promised to find a way to break the Unbreakable Vow, so he and Elizabeth try heading to Galdric's tomb again, where they are turned away by an ancient portrait. Elizabeth remembers Sebastian's spellbook with the inferus spell had something on bonds, and they find a Haitian ritual about breaking bonds.

Ominis

The room was wrapped in an expectant quiet as Ominis set down his cloak.

"And you really think it might work?" He asked, turning towards his two friends. "Just like that?"

"I mean, the runes are quite complex, and the components..." Elizabeth sounded uncertain. "But, yes. Maybe."

Ominis had barely walked through the dormitory door when Elizabeth had launched into an explanation about some Haitian ritual they'd found. His head was still spinning from dinner with the Pinch-Smedleys and the bitter taste of wine clung to his tongue. The weight of the evening felt draped heavy over his shoulders, weighing him down. But a ritual? A way out? He exhaled slowly, buying himself time to think. The way Elizabeth spoke - rushed, eager, almost desperate. It made him uneasy.

"I don't know. It's a vague mention in one book - do you trust it?"

"We don't exactly have options pouring in, do we?"

"Ellie," Sebastian said, cutting in for the first time since Ominis had arrived. "You have kind of... latched on to the idea. I want to do this just as much as you do, but it's never this simple - Anne's curse took years to find a solution too, and this is old magic."

"Please? It's worth a try."

Ominis dragged a hand over his face. He wanted a solution, he really did. He wanted something that could make this all go away. But this felt rushed, like they were grasping at straws. Sebastian was right, it was never simple. Even if, by some miracle, this did work, it sounded like they would need his father there, and that wouldn't be happening.

His father.

Half his mind was still stuck on dinner, his father's posturing. The Mirror. Ominis hadn't said a word. A thought had settled into his bones like a slow, creeping rot. He knew his father. Knew he would look into that mirror, caught by whatever grandiose things he saw there. Knew that he wouldn't leave. His stomach felt twisted. If his father wasted away like Silvanus Gaunt, if his mind unraveled - would that be Ominis' doing? He hadn't lifted his wand, hadn't uttered a curse but... could silence be murder? He swallowed hard. He had spent so many years trying not to be like his family, trying not to be the kind of person who let cruelty dictate his choices. But this...

"Ominis, what do you think?"

Elizabeth's voice cut into his thoughts, pulling him back. He shook his head, sighing.

"I'm not going to trust my life to a ritual we barely understand. But... we can try looking into it."

Anything for escape.

"So, research first," Sebastian said, clearly aiming the words at Elizabeth. "And then, hopefully, a miracle."

Miracles weren't meant for someone like him.