rain & mist // ominis gaunt

forty one

A/N... sorry for such a long wait and thank you for your patience! Last week was real stressful and my vacation plans got cancelled last minute so its all been hectic djshsj enjoy <33

CHAPTER FORTY ONE

"How are you feeling?" Isla walked into the Undercroft with a tray of delicious foods and butterbeer, walking over to Rigel Gaunt who sat on the couch – a book in hand.

The blond glanced up at her, before looking back down. "Fine," He told her simply, gently tossing the book aside and pulling his legs to his chest.

The blue haired girl gave a soft sigh, sitting down across from him and putting the tray down on the table, observing him.

"You're frustrated," She noted after a moment, Ry trying to avoid her gaze, which drifted over to the book. "Are you struggling to read?"

The boy gave a soft chuckle. "Can you read minds with that ancient magic of yours?" He teased lightly, glancing up at the girl. "Yeah, I've... forgotten a lot more than I thought. I remember it being hard for me, but not..." He trailed off once more and gave an annoyed sigh. "I just won't bother."

Isla gave him a reassuring smile, nudging the tray closer to him. "How was it hard before?"

Rigel looked at the food hesitantly for a moment – almost anxious at the thought of eating in front of her.

He hadn't had a proper meal in years – he probably looked weird eating, what if he ate to much? Or too quickly? What if he didn't like the food? What if he was still hungry after? What if—

"Sorry, I'm a little bit hungry too, if you don't mind?" Isla moved to sit beside Rigel, looking down at the fish n chips before splitting the fish into two, handing him one end and eating the other.

"Three Broomsticks food is perfect," She hummed, laughing slightly as she dramatically leaned against Rigel, causing the boy to smile before taking a bite of the food.

"Thank you, blue," he told her, a small smile tugging at his lips. He didn't mean just for the food, and Isla knew he meant more than that too.

"Anything for you, red," She smiled in response, playfully tapping his chin as she laid back against the couch. "So tell me about what made it difficult to read before, I want to help."

"My parents just called me insane," He chuckled lightly, glancing at her before taking a sip of the butterbeer and offering it to the girl. "They had never heard of such a thing. It's almost like someone jinxed me – and everytime I read it's like... the letters move around, and they get bigger or smaller or flip around or change all in all."

Isla gave the boy a curious look, but nodded attentively as she took a sip of the butterbeer.

"When I told my father, he just thought I was jealous of Ominis," he chuckled. "That maybe I wanted to be blind for the sympathy? Which... is not the case at all, but after that I just... didn't tell anyone else."

"And now because you haven't read in so long, you struggle with that and not knowing what some words mean?" Isla questioned, crossing her legs and facing towards the boy. "That must be so frustrating."

"Merlin, it is," he chuckled, running his fingers through his hair. "As if being a Gryffindor wasn't enough to torture me, almost every Slytherin tried to ridicule me at every opportunity."

Isla gave a sigh at the revelation, letting her head slump on his shoulder as Ry gave a chuckle, gently ruffling her hair. "It's okay, Iz,"

A small smile tugged at her lips at the nickname – a few months ago Isla ended up getting an ID badge for her visits to Azkaban, and Rigel tried to read her name.