Heir of Gaunt

Chapter Six

October 5th, 1891: 10:12 AM, Potions Classroom

Every time the door opened, Nora found herself whipping her head towards it in order to see who had arrived. So far, each time she had been disappointed not to see a certain blonde Slytherin come in.

Ever since the night of the Hogsmeade trip, Ominis had been avoidant of her. At first, she figured he was a bit startled over seeing his brother in Hogsmeade. Nora understood where he was coming from. Ominis barely talked about his family around her, but nothing he ever said could have prepared her for what Marvolo Gaunt was like. The way he looked at her made her feel uneasy to say the least. Nora also hadn't ever seen Ominis so defensive, even when Sebastian was getting out of control. He had gotten fiercely protective out of nowhere, almost as if he had something to prove.

What didn't make sense to Nora was why he suddenly changed his behavior towards her. For the past couple days, she had been trying to talk to him about anything and everything, yet he couldn't seem to hold a conversation that didn't last for more than a few words. In fact, since Hogsmeade, she had more conversations with Ignatia Wildsmith (who literally spoke out the moment Nora passed any sort of Floo station) than she had with Ominis. The whole thing made her upset to even think about, but she couldn't ignore it when he was next to her in practically every subject they had together.

The door opened again, and her head immediately darted towards it. Poppy entered the room, and Nora sighed as she put her head down on the desk. She felt the thud of Poppy's cauldron hitting the wood of the table. "Nora, are you alright? You've barely said a word since last night." Poppy's voice was full of concern.

Nora pulled her head back up, looking at her friend. "Have you spoken to Ominis recently?"

"Yes, we worked on a few charms outside yesterday."

So it was only her. Nora's heart sank as she tried to figure out what she had done to upset him. However, they hadn't fully talked since Hogsmeade. "Did he mention me at all?"

Poppy furrowed her brows as she thought about it. "No, he hadn't. Is something wrong?"

Nora's throat began to swell, and she tried to ignore the heat of tears forming. It didn't make sense to her, and she wanted to fix whatever was wrong. "He's been avoiding me like the plague ever since Hogsmeade. I have no clue what I did." She explained, managing to keep her tone leveled despite her worry.

Suddenly, the door opened again, revealing Ominis and Sebastian. Nora tried to swallow the large lump in her throat as they walked over. Sebastian was as happy as ever, but Ominis was unreadable. His dark circles had come back, but other than that there was no real difference. As they both sat down, she attempted to start a conversation with him. "Good morning."

"Good morning." Ominis replied shortly. She waited for him to continue, but he didn't seem to be in the mood to speak with her. She let out a small sigh of disappointment as a last ditch effort to get his attention, but he remained silent.

Nora's eyes stung as she folded her arms on the desk, laying her head on top of them. Things were definitely broken between them at the moment, and she wasn't sure if she could fix it.

-

12:13 PM, Defense Against the Dark Arts Classroom

Upon entering Hecat's classroom, Nora was shocked to find that the area had been cleared of the usual set up of tables and chairs. She looked around at the students who filled the empty space. They were all huddled around a cabinet of some sort towards the front of the room. Every so often, the cabinet would jump, and the students would follow the motion out of reflex.