Ominis Gaunt X Mc - Tumblr Posts
Safe & Sound
Word Count: 1.8k
Ambrose Varyn (MC) x Sebastian Sallow x Ominis Gaunt
Summary: Since the day he arrived at Hogwarts, Ambrose had to push away his feelings in favor of whatever tasks were at hand. Until finally he just couldn't hold it back anymore.
The moment he was out of Fig's sight Ambrose's legs gave out from under him and he grabbed the wall for balance. He regretted wearing simple robes to Hogsmeade rather than his armor or even a heavy vest, just something thicker. Something thick enough he wouldn’t have been able to feel the hand on his shoulder as he was forcefully disapparated away. He could still feel that hand, the harsh grip on his shoulder. He could feel it all throughout his talk with Professor Fig and the Keepers no matter how he tried to hide it.
He knew he had a mission to complete so he tried to force everything down; the pain from the fight, the way his hand shook around his wand, the flashes of sickly green in his mind’s eye, how spells and that hauntingly familiar phrase echoed in his head. He shoved it all away behind a wall to force himself to focus, yet Fig must have seen something as before the Keepers could reveal the final repository he urged Ambrose to rest after what he’d been through. He pointed out how Ambrose would never survive a fight with Ranrok and his loyalists while half dead on his feet and no matter how Ambrose tried he couldn’t argue. So he’d left.
With every step he took it became harder and harder to keep the wall up. But he was managing. He didn’t have time for any of that. He could deal with it later, with all the other things he’d shoved behind the wall to also deal with later. For instance, everything that happened with Sebastian and Anne and the guilt of not being able to cure her, Natty getting cursed, Horntail Hall, Lodgok’s death, finding the dead body of Tobbs in that cave, the lies in his letters home, the fact that he had yet to receive a single letter from his parents…
But it was still up. The wall may be splintering, letting echoes and feelings and shaking hands through, but it was up. That was what mattered. He needed to get some sleep, bother Garreth for a particularly good healing potion, then return to the map chamber and reconvene with the Keepers.
His footsteps echoed hollowly on the stairs to the Slytherin common room. He wasn’t surprised at the silence, it was abysmally late. Yet as he reached the bottom he realized there was a sound, the familiar sound of particularly thick pages. The turning stopped.
“Ambrose?” That oh-so-welcome voice called out. Ominis. Ominis. Of course, he’d wait up. There was a small grunt as well. “Sebastian, get up, he’s back!”
“Stop kicking me,” Sebastian complained. Ambrose almost laughed. They both stayed up waiting for him. “I know you’re blind Ominis but he isn’t here.”
“He’s on the stairs, I heard footsteps and I can hear him breathing. Though it sounds oddly staggered.”
“Staggered? That can’t be good. You don’t think he’s injured again do you?”
“I don’t know, he’s just standing on the stairs.”
Shit.
“Why is he- Ambrose?” Sebastian called for him again and Ambrose took a deep breath as the shaking began again. He was fine. He just had to reassure his friends and he could go on with everything.
Ambrose made it down the last few stairs where he saw Sebastian already on his feet and Ominis standing up from a couch. He offered Sebastian a smile but Ominis’s eyebrows were scrunched up a little in concern. Sebastian made a small gasp before Ambrose could even get a word in.
“My God, what happened to you?” Sebastian exclaimed and Ambrose winced.
“What is it, what’s happened?” Ominis demanded.
“He looks beaten to hell, Ambrose, you should be in the hospital wing!” Sebastian practically flew across the common room and put his hands on Ambrose’s shoulders to look him over. “Are you alright?”
Ambrose tried to say ‘yes’. ‘Yes, I’m fine’, ‘Just tired’, something. But instead, as he watched Sebastian’s worried eyes flit about checking for injuries and saw Ominis appear next to Sebastian and reach for Ambrose’s hands, all he could think about was how terrified he’d been. He remembered diving behind a crate and curling in on himself, arms shielding his head, as curses and spells flew at him, narrowly missing him and slowly destroying his cover. He remembered tears gathering in his eyes as he tried to recall the faces of everyone he loved, wanting them to be the last things on his mind. He remembered thinking he’d never see them again.
But they were here. He saw them again. He had been so sure he was going to die, or worse.
But he was alive.
The boys he loved were here.
And the wall just fell.
Instead of a flippant dismissal or some sort of sarcastic comment a small whimper came out instead. His eyes burned as tears gather once more but this time he was safe enough that they could fall. By that point, they were going to fall even if he tried to stop them.
“Oh Ambrose,” Sebastian sighed and pulled Ambrose into him.
Ambrose just went, letting himself be pulled in and secured by arms around his waist and a hand stroking up and down his spine. He fisted his hand in the back of Sebastian’s shirt and buried his nose in Sebastian’s neck like he could hide from the world in there. His shoulders shook with sobs that still couldn’t quite make it out.
He was drowning. That was the only way to describe it. The wall was a dam and when it broke everything he’d fought so hard to ignore just came flooding in and now he was drowning, suffocating, in everything. Memories and thoughts and feelings forced their way into his heart, his mind, his lungs, until he could hardly breathe. He clung to Sebastian, his driftwood in the storm. His breath came in stutters and hiccups and he could barely feel Sebastian around him.
Crucio.
Children should be seen, not heard.
AVADA KEDAVRA!
I was bringing it to you…
It’s dragon fights.
You can’t hide!
Ammy when are you coming home?
Ambrose jolted at the feeling of another set of arms around him. Hands trailed down his arms until they found his and intertwined their fingers, not moving his hands from Sebastian’s back, simply holding them. A chest pressed against his back and a head rested between his shoulder blades. Ominis stood behind him, Sebastian in front, both holding him securely and just letting him shiver between them. Even with what was on the horizon, it was the first time since meeting Professor Fig at the carriage that he felt well and truly safe. That feeling that he could finally afford to breathe was all it took.
A sob finally ripped itself from his chest, so violently it hurt his ribs and got caught in his throat. After that came another and another, tearing themselves free and taking his strength with them. The pain of his injuries crept back in but still, he just sobbed and sobbed until he didn’t have the breath nor the energy to cry anymore. He hadn’t even noticed his legs crumpling or the cold tile floor beneath his knees because Sebastian and Ominis had simply held onto him and come down with him. They let him fall apart but they acted as anchors, keeping him from being completely washed away.
When his sobs turned to hiccups he managed to sit up. Both boys let him but neither moved from where they sat as Ambrose wiped at his face.
“What happened?” Ominis asked, much softer than his fearful demand from earlier.
“Your owl just said not to expect you for classes or dinner and that you were going into Hogsmeade then an errand for the Keepers,” Sebastian added. “Who did this to you?”
“Rookwood,” Ambrose answered, though he could barely make out the name himself his voice was so rough.
“Rookwood,” Sebastian spit out the name. His hands clenched into fists so tight they began to shake from the tension. “Where was he? I’ll go back there and make him pay for this.”
“He’s gone, Sebastian,” Ambrose shook his head. “I-I killed him.”
“What?” Ominis breathed. Ambrose turned to him with a pleading expression he knew Ominis couldn’t even see.
“I had to,” Ambrose swore. “I didn’t want to but him and his Ashwinders grabbed me from Hogsmeade and trapped me in these ruins as every Ashwinder in the highlands showed up all at once. They only stopped when I killed Rookwood, I-I had to, Ominis, I was going to die, they were going to kill me.”
“Breathe, Ambrose, it’s alright, I believe you,” Ominis reassured him and Ambrose felt the tension creeping back into his shoulders release again. He’d been scared enough of losing Ominis to his own death, but the thought of Ominis choosing to never speak to him because he’d lived, well, that was somehow worse. “Are you alright?”
“I think I just answered that question,” Ambrose chuckled humorlessly.
“No matter how you’re doing emotionally you need to go to the hospital wing,” Sebastian said. “You’re covered in bruises and I think you’re bleeding, you look awful, and that’s with your robes on.”
“You say the nicest things, Seb,” Ambrose hummed. “I’ll be fine I just ran out of Wiggenweld potions, I’ll get some more in the morning.”
“Or you go to the hospital wing now,” Sebastian insisted. He tried to pull Ambrose to his feet but Ambrose refused to budge. Maybe he did need attention for his injuries. But with how late it was he’d just be forced to spend the night in the hospital wing and that wasn’t what he need right now. He needed safety and warmth and familiarity. “Ambrose-”
“Please, Sebastian,” Ambrose muttered. Sebastian paused. “Not tonight. Please.”
Sebastian hesitated, even Ominis looked like he was going to agree with him, but finally, Sebastian sighed and knelt back down.
“Fine,” Sebastian relented. “Right Ominis?”
“Really?” Ominis sighed. “Alright. But if Wiggenweld doesn’t fix you right up in the morning then you’re going straight to the hospital wing without discussion.”
“Deal, you worrywart,” Ambrose teased.
“We are at least getting you to bed,” Sebastian declared. “Come on, you. Up you get.”
Ambrose considered arguing further, finding for once that the Slytherin common room’s floor was the comfiest floor he’d ever sat on, but he relented and let the two boys lead him up to their dormitory. To his surprise, however, rather than being sat down on his own bed, he was led to Sebastian’s. He almost said something but instead bit his lip to hide a smile. The three of them changed and crawled into Sebastian’s bed together, positions mirroring that of earlier, and Ambrose let himself ignore what may come in the morning. Just this once, he ignored his mind and listened to the feeling of warmth in his heart. He was safe here.
For now.
Safe & Sound
Word Count: 1.8k
Ambrose Varyn (MC) x Sebastian Sallow x Ominis Gaunt
Summary: Since the day he arrived at Hogwarts, Ambrose had to push away his feelings in favor of whatever tasks were at hand. Until finally he just couldn't hold it back anymore.
The moment he was out of Fig's sight Ambrose's legs gave out from under him and he grabbed the wall for balance. He regretted wearing simple robes to Hogsmeade rather than his armor or even a heavy vest, just something thicker. Something thick enough he wouldn’t have been able to feel the hand on his shoulder as he was forcefully disapparated away. He could still feel that hand, the harsh grip on his shoulder. He could feel it all throughout his talk with Professor Fig and the Keepers no matter how he tried to hide it.
He knew he had a mission to complete so he tried to force everything down; the pain from the fight, the way his hand shook around his wand, the flashes of sickly green in his mind’s eye, how spells and that hauntingly familiar phrase echoed in his head. He shoved it all away behind a wall to force himself to focus, yet Fig must have seen something as before the Keepers could reveal the final repository he urged Ambrose to rest after what he’d been through. He pointed out how Ambrose would never survive a fight with Ranrok and his loyalists while half dead on his feet and no matter how Ambrose tried he couldn’t argue. So he’d left.
With every step he took it became harder and harder to keep the wall up. But he was managing. He didn’t have time for any of that. He could deal with it later, with all the other things he’d shoved behind the wall to also deal with later. For instance, everything that happened with Sebastian and Anne and the guilt of not being able to cure her, Natty getting cursed, Horntail Hall, Lodgok’s death, finding the dead body of Tobbs in that cave, the lies in his letters home, the fact that he had yet to receive a single letter from his parents…
But it was still up. The wall may be splintering, letting echoes and feelings and shaking hands through, but it was up. That was what mattered. He needed to get some sleep, bother Garreth for a particularly good healing potion, then return to the map chamber and reconvene with the Keepers.
His footsteps echoed hollowly on the stairs to the Slytherin common room. He wasn’t surprised at the silence, it was abysmally late. Yet as he reached the bottom he realized there was a sound, the familiar sound of particularly thick pages. The turning stopped.
“Ambrose?” That oh-so-welcome voice called out. Ominis. Ominis. Of course, he’d wait up. There was a small grunt as well. “Sebastian, get up, he’s back!”
“Stop kicking me,” Sebastian complained. Ambrose almost laughed. They both stayed up waiting for him. “I know you’re blind Ominis but he isn’t here.”
“He’s on the stairs, I heard footsteps and I can hear him breathing. Though it sounds oddly staggered.”
“Staggered? That can’t be good. You don’t think he’s injured again do you?”
“I don’t know, he’s just standing on the stairs.”
Shit.
“Why is he- Ambrose?” Sebastian called for him again and Ambrose took a deep breath as the shaking began again. He was fine. He just had to reassure his friends and he could go on with everything.
Ambrose made it down the last few stairs where he saw Sebastian already on his feet and Ominis standing up from a couch. He offered Sebastian a smile but Ominis’s eyebrows were scrunched up a little in concern. Sebastian made a small gasp before Ambrose could even get a word in.
“My God, what happened to you?” Sebastian exclaimed and Ambrose winced.
“What is it, what’s happened?” Ominis demanded.
“He looks beaten to hell, Ambrose, you should be in the hospital wing!” Sebastian practically flew across the common room and put his hands on Ambrose’s shoulders to look him over. “Are you alright?”
Ambrose tried to say ‘yes’. ‘Yes, I’m fine’, ‘Just tired’, something. But instead, as he watched Sebastian’s worried eyes flit about checking for injuries and saw Ominis appear next to Sebastian and reach for Ambrose’s hands, all he could think about was how terrified he’d been. He remembered diving behind a crate and curling in on himself, arms shielding his head, as curses and spells flew at him, narrowly missing him and slowly destroying his cover. He remembered tears gathering in his eyes as he tried to recall the faces of everyone he loved, wanting them to be the last things on his mind. He remembered thinking he’d never see them again.
But they were here. He saw them again. He had been so sure he was going to die, or worse.
But he was alive.
The boys he loved were here.
And the wall just fell.
Instead of a flippant dismissal or some sort of sarcastic comment a small whimper came out instead. His eyes burned as tears gather once more but this time he was safe enough that they could fall. By that point, they were going to fall even if he tried to stop them.
“Oh Ambrose,” Sebastian sighed and pulled Ambrose into him.
Ambrose just went, letting himself be pulled in and secured by arms around his waist and a hand stroking up and down his spine. He fisted his hand in the back of Sebastian’s shirt and buried his nose in Sebastian’s neck like he could hide from the world in there. His shoulders shook with sobs that still couldn’t quite make it out.
He was drowning. That was the only way to describe it. The wall was a dam and when it broke everything he’d fought so hard to ignore just came flooding in and now he was drowning, suffocating, in everything. Memories and thoughts and feelings forced their way into his heart, his mind, his lungs, until he could hardly breathe. He clung to Sebastian, his driftwood in the storm. His breath came in stutters and hiccups and he could barely feel Sebastian around him.
Crucio.
Children should be seen, not heard.
AVADA KEDAVRA!
I was bringing it to you…
It’s dragon fights.
You can’t hide!
Ammy when are you coming home?
Ambrose jolted at the feeling of another set of arms around him. Hands trailed down his arms until they found his and intertwined their fingers, not moving his hands from Sebastian’s back, simply holding them. A chest pressed against his back and a head rested between his shoulder blades. Ominis stood behind him, Sebastian in front, both holding him securely and just letting him shiver between them. Even with what was on the horizon, it was the first time since meeting Professor Fig at the carriage that he felt well and truly safe. That feeling that he could finally afford to breathe was all it took.
A sob finally ripped itself from his chest, so violently it hurt his ribs and got caught in his throat. After that came another and another, tearing themselves free and taking his strength with them. The pain of his injuries crept back in but still, he just sobbed and sobbed until he didn’t have the breath nor the energy to cry anymore. He hadn’t even noticed his legs crumpling or the cold tile floor beneath his knees because Sebastian and Ominis had simply held onto him and come down with him. They let him fall apart but they acted as anchors, keeping him from being completely washed away.
When his sobs turned to hiccups he managed to sit up. Both boys let him but neither moved from where they sat as Ambrose wiped at his face.
“What happened?” Ominis asked, much softer than his fearful demand from earlier.
“Your owl just said not to expect you for classes or dinner and that you were going into Hogsmeade then an errand for the Keepers,” Sebastian added. “Who did this to you?”
“Rookwood,” Ambrose answered, though he could barely make out the name himself his voice was so rough.
“Rookwood,” Sebastian spit out the name. His hands clenched into fists so tight they began to shake from the tension. “Where was he? I’ll go back there and make him pay for this.”
“He’s gone, Sebastian,” Ambrose shook his head. “I-I killed him.”
“What?” Ominis breathed. Ambrose turned to him with a pleading expression he knew Ominis couldn’t even see.
“I had to,” Ambrose swore. “I didn’t want to but him and his Ashwinders grabbed me from Hogsmeade and trapped me in these ruins as every Ashwinder in the highlands showed up all at once. They only stopped when I killed Rookwood, I-I had to, Ominis, I was going to die, they were going to kill me.”
“Breathe, Ambrose, it’s alright, I believe you,” Ominis reassured him and Ambrose felt the tension creeping back into his shoulders release again. He’d been scared enough of losing Ominis to his own death, but the thought of Ominis choosing to never speak to him because he’d lived, well, that was somehow worse. “Are you alright?”
“I think I just answered that question,” Ambrose chuckled humorlessly.
“No matter how you’re doing emotionally you need to go to the hospital wing,” Sebastian said. “You’re covered in bruises and I think you’re bleeding, you look awful, and that’s with your robes on.”
“You say the nicest things, Seb,” Ambrose hummed. “I’ll be fine I just ran out of Wiggenweld potions, I’ll get some more in the morning.”
“Or you go to the hospital wing now,” Sebastian insisted. He tried to pull Ambrose to his feet but Ambrose refused to budge. Maybe he did need attention for his injuries. But with how late it was he’d just be forced to spend the night in the hospital wing and that wasn’t what he need right now. He needed safety and warmth and familiarity. “Ambrose-”
“Please, Sebastian,” Ambrose muttered. Sebastian paused. “Not tonight. Please.”
Sebastian hesitated, even Ominis looked like he was going to agree with him, but finally, Sebastian sighed and knelt back down.
“Fine,” Sebastian relented. “Right Ominis?”
“Really?” Ominis sighed. “Alright. But if Wiggenweld doesn’t fix you right up in the morning then you’re going straight to the hospital wing without discussion.”
“Deal, you worrywart,” Ambrose teased.
“We are at least getting you to bed,” Sebastian declared. “Come on, you. Up you get.”
Ambrose considered arguing further, finding for once that the Slytherin common room’s floor was the comfiest floor he’d ever sat on, but he relented and let the two boys lead him up to their dormitory. To his surprise, however, rather than being sat down on his own bed, he was led to Sebastian’s. He almost said something but instead bit his lip to hide a smile. The three of them changed and crawled into Sebastian’s bed together, positions mirroring that of earlier, and Ambrose let himself ignore what may come in the morning. Just this once, he ignored his mind and listened to the feeling of warmth in his heart. He was safe here.
For now.
Cruciatus
Word Count: 2.1k
Ambrose Varyn (MC) x Ominis Gaunt (Also x Sebastian but focused on the other two)
Summary: How the Crucio scene in the Scriptorium went for Ambrose, Sebastian, and Ominis
The silence of the stone corridor was suffocating. Ambrose had spent most of his life yearning for quiet. Now that he was left with pacing steps, frantic breathing, and ominous whispers, he wished instead to take all those wishes back.
"It's up to us," Sebastian sighed. "I can teach you crucio, or I can cast it on you."
Ambrose grimaced and reached for his wand. He knew he could cast it. He did not doubt his ability to cause harm, especially for those he loved. He'd done brutal things just since arriving at Hogwarts. He could take on this responsibility too. He knew he'd be willing to cast this spell, especially for Sebastian and Ominis. He was sure it would come in handy later too.
It was only once he'd pulled out his wand that it occurred to him. He'd have to use this spell on Sebastian or Ominis. Ominis described this spell as pure torture. Images flashed across his mind's eye of heads slammed into walls and striking hands. The silence was filled with the sound of his brother crying, even Ambrose's own screams. He could cause that harm. He already had. But when he looked at Sebastian and Ominis he knew he couldn't. Not to them.
"I want to learn the spell later," Ambrose admitted slowly, glancing sideways at Ominis. "But you'll have to cast it on me."
"No!" Ominis protested but Ambrose didn't look away from Sebastian.
Sebastian paled, despite being the one to suggest it. Ominis stormed down the short hall until he could grab Ambrose's arm in a vicelike grip.
"You can't do this, I won't let you," Ominis insisted. Ambrose smiled fondly and laid his hand over Ominis'.
"Sebastian is right," Ambrose said. "Someone has to cast it, or we're going to die down here. And for someone to cast it, someone has to cast it. I won't be able to hurt either of you, and I can't ask you to cast this again, Ominis. This is how it has to be, and I'm okay with it."
"You're completely sure?" Sebastian checked and Ambrose nodded and tugged at Ominis' hand until the blonde reluctantly released his arm. Ambrose squeezed Ominis' hand one more time before he dropped it and stepped away, Sebastian watching every movement.
"I am," Ambrose confirmed. "Do you think you can do it?"
"I hope so," Sebastian muttered and raised his wand. "Ready?"
Ambrose took a deep breath and braced himself. It was just pain. He could handle pain. "Do it."
Sebastian took a deep breath himself.
"Crucio," Sebastian said and pointed his wand right at Ambrose's face, but nothing happened. "Oh come on."
"You have to mean it," Ambrose chuckled bitterly. Of course, the only way out was for someone he loved to hurt him and mean it. It went right along with the rest of his life. "That's what Ominis said. You have to really intend to cause harm."
"But I don't want to hurt you!" Sebastian protested. "You're my friend, I, I care about you. I can't hurt you."
"You have to," Ambrose insisted. "Or we're all going to die, slowly. I'll die, Ominis will die, you'll die. With no one else trying to cure her, Anne will die too, painfully. So do it. Torture me, or doom everyone you love."
Sebastian's eyes were wide and shined with tears as they met Ambrose's. Ambrose's words bit right through him, he could tell. That was his goal. Stir up enough emotion Sebastian could channel it over his worry for Ambrose. Anger mainly. Sebastian was always easy to anger, and it was even easier for him to act on it.
Sebastian lifted his wand again and this time Ambrose could see it. There was always this wild twinge in the way Sebastian narrowed his eyes and tightened his lips. It was dangerous and fine like the edge of a knife. He was determined this time. Every emotion Ambrose has stirred up was vibrating through his system and came out in one word.
"Crucio."
Rather than a quick blast or swirl of light, what came out of Sebastian's wand was more like lightning. Bolts of blood-red lightning struck Ambrose's body and ripped completely through him. His bones turned to sand, his veins turned to fire, and his skin shattered like glass. He couldn't even hear his own scream as he crumpled to the ground.
There was the distant sound of running footsteps but it may as well have been across the castle. Voices tried to reach his ears but they'd already melted into his skull. Something cradled his face and at first, Ambrose flinched away from whatever was going to worsen this pain. Then he realized they were hands, hands he recognized, and he leaned into them.
Even still he could barely feel Ominis' hands over the agony. But he could feel how terrified the other boy was. He pressed his forehead to Ambrose's and murmured reassurances Ambrose couldn't make out over his own sobs. He felt tears on his cheeks but he couldn't tell whose eyes they'd fallen from, his or Ominis'.
The pain came in bursts, over and over, one after the other, like waves battering a cliffside. Only Ambrose wasn't made of slowly weathering stone, he was a dissolving pillar of sand being washed away by the curse. He could have been worn down over hundreds of years or torn apart in seconds, he couldn't tell.
Then one day it stopped. Ambrose blinked, trying to clear his vision, and he saw the black door melting away, now shot through with veins of red like marble. His head was spinning and every muscle he had was sore, but the spell had ended. It was over.
Still another sob left him and he grabbed for Ominis' hands on his face. Ominis, beautiful amazing Ominis, immediately understood and gripped Ambrose's hands tightly. He let Ambrose use him as his lighthouse to pull himself out of the waves and safely to shore.
He saw Ominis crouching in front of him and the Scriptorium through the door. He could feel Ominis's hands in his and the tears on his face, things other than pain. He heard Sebastian's wand hit the ground and Sebastian rambling apologies as he fell to his knees next to Ambrose and pulled him into his arms. He could smell the musty corridor and the lingering scent of parchment that seemed to follow Sebastian around everywhere. He could taste blood in his mouth from biting his own tongue.
But it was over.
It was over.
"I'm okay," Ambrose croaked, offering Sebastian a shaky smile when he pulled away. "I'm okay. That, that pain was excruciating. But I'll survive. I'll be okay. We should keep moving before this place decides we're taking too long."
The other two weren't happy about it, Ominis especially, but at Ambrose's insistence, they pushed forward into the Scriptorium. Ambrose didn't process most of it if he was being honest with himself, still trying to shake off the aftershocks of the curse. They found Slytherin's spell book and then finally left, emerging right in front of the entrance to their common room.
"Ominis-" Sebastian said hesitantly.
"Sebastian," Ominis cut him off. "I meant what I said before. We need to swear right now never to engage in anything to do with Dark Magic again."
"I don't-" Ambrose started but Ominis interrupted him too.
"Please, Ambrose," Ominis pleaded. Ambrose sighed. Those spells were certainly useful but he could manage without them if it was what Ominis needed from him. And he had to admit he wasn't inclined to use the Cruciatus Curse ever again now that he knew how it felt.
"Alright," Ambrose agreed. "I swear it."
"We both do," Sebastian added. Ambrose turned to Sebastian in surprise only to see the other boy already looking right at him. "No more dark magic. And I'm truly sorry about what happened to your aunt Ominis."
"I suppose after all this I am grateful to know what happened to her," Ominis admitted. "Thank you."
Sebastian put his hand on Ominis' for a moment and did the same to Ambrose before he walked away and disappeared behind the corner. Ambrose tried to follow but he only made it a few steps. The tension in Ominis' face and the way his hands were clenched kept Ambrose right where he was.
"I know you're still there," Ominis told him. "And I know it's you, Ambrose, I can hear your breathing."
"You've memorized my breathing?" Ambrose couldn't help smiling a little, especially as he watched Ominis realize what he said.
"I, well, yes," Ominis said. "We've spent plenty of time together so your breathing pattern has just become familiar, that's all."
"Of course," Ambrose chuckled as he went back over to Ominis. His eyes fell on Ominis' hands again which were still shaking ever so slightly. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Ominis said.
"Omi your hands are still shaking," Ambrose pointed out. Ominis sighed and after a moment held his hands out and Ambrose took them. He rubbed his thumbs gently on the back of Ominis' hands in what he hoped was a soothing movement.
"I was fine," Ominis corrected himself. "Worried, yes, but despite us being in a secret underground chamber rigged with traps that may have and apparently did take my aunt's life, I was alright. All because you were there. Sebastian too, but there's something about you that makes me feel safe."
"That's all I could ever hope for-" Ambrose replied, but Ominis shook his head.
"Don't speak, please, just let me say this," Ominis asked.
"Okay," Ambrose said and squeezed Ominis' hands.
"You make me feel safe," Ominis repeated. "When I'm with you I feel as though I can truly let my guard down and I don't have to constantly worry. But when you volunteered for that spell, I was afraid again. Knowing you were in pain like that, hearing you scream...it felt like the curse had been cast on me all over again. My very heart felt like it was being tortured right along with you. Then I realized why. It was because my heart was with you."
Ominis let go of one of Ambrose's hands so he could rest his hand on Ambrose's chest. Ambrose could have sworn he could feel the warmth of Ominis' palm even through his vest and shirt. It felt like a wildfire yet it sent shivers across his skin. Ominis' fingers trailed across Ambrose's vest until he could feel Ambrose's heartbeat. Ambrose knew his heart was beating much faster than it should but he didn't pull away. He fought his instincts and let Ominis feel it.
"I'm not sure when, but my heart found its way out of my chest and into yours. And I don't think I want it back."
Ominis' voice was barely a whisper now, but the words still hit Ambrose like they'd been screamed in his face. The whole world had melted away to that corridor, to the boy in front of him, and for the first time, he believed that boy may feel the same way. The words were blunt but fear clogged his throat right alongside his hope.
"Ominis," Ambrose breathed. "Can I kiss you?"
"Please."
The hand not clutching Ominis' instead cupped the other boy's cheek and carefully tilted his face up. Ominis seemed to have stopped breathing altogether and Ambrose was close to it. He couldn't even count the number of times he'd imagined this, how many awful and terrifying things this fantasy had gotten him through. But this was no fantasy. And when Ambrose leaned in and their lips fit together, he knew those fantasies were foolish.
This was better than any fantasy he could conjure up. The feeling of Ominis' lips against his was nothing short of Elysium. His hand moved around to cup the back of Ominis' head, his fingers getting lost in blonde strands of hair. Ominis leaned into him more than Ambrose thought possible. Their lips moved in perfect sync like they'd been born knowing how to kiss the other. At that moment it felt like they had.
When they finally pulled apart they couldn't bring themselves to go too far, lingering in the same breath with their foreheads pressed together. Maybe if they'd gone farther they would have noticed the freckled boy peaking around the corner with his shattered heart at his feet.
My Ships As Taylor Swift Albums
Ambrose Varyn x Ominis Gaunt - Lover
From Indifference to Obsession
It would be great if the indifferent feelings they had for MC when they first met her were later transformed into a Yandere-like too much love. In particular, I would like to see Sebastian, who initially considered MC only as a means to cure Anne, later become deeply, deeply obsessive in his love for her!
I remember there being this one ominis gaunt x reader fic where he gifts the reader a necklace that only parseltongue can open and urgently need to find it