Marriage, Murder & Magic- [OMINIS GAUNT]

Chapter 8- Lost

As astronomy class came to an end and students packed up to return to their respective dorms for the night, I had to tell Samantha that Amit is not betrothed to anyone, but unfortunately neither is he thinking of making a match anytime soon.

"Oh, well. Thank you for asking anyway," She said. "Quinn and I are going back to Ravenclaw Tower to sleep."

"Alright, I'll just stay a little longer. I wanted to finish this chart tonight."

Samantha left me to my work. It was not unusual for me to stay behind fifteen, sometimes thirty minutes after classes have ended, chatting with the professor or doing the week's homework. Sebastian used to tease me for doing things like that. And yet, he would stay with me, pretending to juggle my books with levioso and adding doodles to my notes.

I worked all alone with nothing to keep me company but the stars. I wondered if Sebastian was also somewhere he could see the stars- or if he was somewhere else. Somewhere worse.

"Oh, dear." I tutted to myself as I made my way down from the Astronomy Tower in pitch-black darkness. For the most part, I had the route to Ravenclaw Tower memorized, and yet I still found myself getting lost almost every other day. Tonight was one of those nights.

"If my parents had sent me here as a first year I would know these halls like the back of my hand," I grumbled to myself. As a child, my parents took me along with them on their travels and homeschooled me and my sisters until we each turned 15. It was a different kind of education, one that was certainly not lacking in excitement and variety.

As I rounded the corner to a corridor beneath the castle, I thought I heard the sound of voices. At this hour, it was probably professors or prefects. Perhaps they could help me find my way back to the main hall.

"I can't tell you, Ominis." The first voice said. I froze and listened closely.

The other voice replied, "You cannot expect me to just accept that things have changed so drastically. Just yesterday, we were happy. And now you're telling me it is not so."

"I am happy with you. It's not that."

I realized the two people chatting alone in the corridor were Morgana Rosier and Ominis Gaunt. It was not good for them to be together alone at night. And it sounded like they were having a terrible argument. They were so involved in their fight, they didn't notice me.

Morgana began to cry. I had never heard her cry before.

"This is already painful. Just leave it alone."

Ominis pressed, "I cannot-"

Morgana turned and ran. Her long black dress fluttered as she bolted down the corridor opposite from where I was standing and out of sight.

I ran to Ominis. "What happened?" I demanded.

His voice was strained. "She cannot marry me."

That was news to me. Only a few hours ago before astronomy class, she'd been chatting with us, and never said a word. "Why?"

Ominis's gray eyes were desolate. His expression reminded me of the night Sebastian left. "She did not say."

"I'm going after her. Don't worry, Ominis, I'll find out what I can," I said.

There was only one way for Morgana to go, and that was deeper into the castle, towards the cellars. My heavy dress weighed me down and hindered my movement. It was like trying to run with a bed sheet tied around my waist; not to mention how dark it was, even with lumos.

I wasn't that surprised when I completely wiped out on the stairs in my haste. My glasses flew off my face and shattered at the bottom; and to make things worse, I had cut my leg badly on the stone steps as I fell. "God damn these long skirts."

A terrible scream came from below. It was Morgana; she was in the cellars, and in trouble.

"Ominis! Get help!" I cried, hoping he could hear me.

I hoisted myself up and did not allow myself to pause for even a moment to pick up my shattered glasses. I forced myself down the steps as fast as I could go, and dashed like a madwoman to save my friend.

The scene that greeted me was one of the most horrifying I had ever witnessed. Seeing Professor Fig's death was not easy; and Solomon Sallow's death was terrible as well, but neither of them had been like this.

In the darkness, I made out the blurry shape of Morgana lying on the floor of the cellar. I ran to her, trying to determine where she was injured, and how bad. As soon as I knelt beside her I knew something was terribly wrong.

Morgana Rosier had been decapitated.

At the far end of the cellar, in the shadows, stood a tall figure. My eyes were too blurry for me to make out any details other than the sharp sword in their hands.

I couldn't give myself time to grieve for my friend. In a pained cry, I shouted, "Expelliarmus!"

The sword flew from the attacker's hands. Again, I couldn't see who they were, or even any details or shape. They could be a man or woman, a student or professor. They wordlessly bent over to pick something up.

Suddenly, a piece of stone came flying towards my face. Pain blinded me in an instant. I immediately knew my nose was broken.

Now completely blind and with a broken nose, I hurled spell after spell at the corridor, not entirely sure where they were landing, or if they were doing anything at all.

Heavy footsteps were coming towards me. It sounded as though the attacker was wearing thick armor, which meant it was most likely a man. A man who had killed Morgana, and was now going to kill me.

I could have ran. Why I didn't, I don't know. In the moment my logic was that I would rather die alongside Morgana than live without avenging her. But it was dark, and my vision was only getting blurrier and blurrier, as the shadowy figure raised its sword-

"Depulso!"

There was a loud crack as the attacker was knocked all the way back to the far end of the shadowy cellar, into the darkness. They did not move again.

A warm hand helped me to my feet and wiped blood from my eyes in gentle swipes.

"You're covered in blood," they said.

I knew that voice. I opened my eyes and saw the blurry outline of the person who had saved me. Even with my poor eyesight, I knew who it was.

"Sebastian," I breathed.