The Blood within our veins (Ominis Gaunt)

Chapter Twenty Five

Ominis Gaunt. The name read over and over again in Gianna's head as she attempted to process what to say. She sat tentatively at her desk; redipping her quill in ink when the tip ran dry only to find nothing to say. Her parchment lay scribbled with her first attempts to write.

"Dearest Ominis..," read the entirely too formal First attempt.

"Ominis.. I miss you." Read the second message which was scratched out entirely.

Now all that was left on the page was his name.

Gianna licked her lips and rubbed her face with her ink smudged fingers. Should she apologize? Should she get straight to the point and ask him for his attendance? One attempt felt desperate and as though she was begging for him and the other demanding and cruel.

Gianna sighed and wrote something she can only imagine was somewhere in the middle of desperate plea and a demand. She tied it with ribbon and handed it to her owl who promptly left for the Guant house. She stuck her head out her window and watched the owl disappear into the skyline.

It was then that her mother decided to enter without knocking. Gianna spun around and attempted to conceal her actions; closing the window and hiding her hands behind her back.

"Gianna!" Her mother fussed. "It is not the time to send owls." She cupped her daughters face between her hands as she griped. "You must get ready!" Her mother demanded picking at her daughter's appearance with her fingers.

"Of course." Gianna mused through a half hearted smile. "I was just owling a friend from school. " She answered with a half truth. If her mother and father found out she was owling Ominis, they may not believe she was truly courting him. She didn't want any more of their involvement into her less than "ladylike" activities outside of the Hogwarts grounds. She would never hear the end of that lecture. Their reputation was far too important for her to be gallvanting around like that, she heard her father scolding her.

"Now is not the time my dear." Her mother frowned seizing an arm from behind her back to gaze at her fingers. "Tsk. Tsk. You're to be ready very soon to meet all your father's friends." Her mother shook her head sternly, her tight curls as frigid as she was.

She took out her wand and flipped her hand palm side up. With a wave of her wand she dismissed the ink. "Hurry now. I don't want you a minute late. " Lady Romano cried with her finger pointed at her crossly.

Gianna rolled her eyes as her mother exited. Her eyes darted to the two dresses on her bed. One a regal purple and the other a daffodil yellow. She frowned at the color as she held them to her form in the mirror. It seemed silly to fuss over such a thing as a dress when all she could think about was him. Hopefully Ominis would get her letter in time. Her stomach did flips at the idea of seeing him tonight.

It did not matter to her if he did or did not shown up tonight to her fathers dinner party. At least not to her. She only hoped he would come so she could see him again. There was so many things to say and yet so many things remained unsaid.

Dressing at last, Gianna chose the floor length purple dress. It had flouncy short sleeves and was covered in embroidered daisies. It was more her mother's taste than her own but she supposed she looked rather elegant in it.

When she finally made it downstairs the first of the guests filtered in. The crowd was full of rich, snooty, ministry workers with the occasional house elf running around to take orders to the kitchen.

Her mother escorted her around the room by her arm introducing her to guests like a prized chicken. Gianna remained composed for the first few dozen guests but grew weary keeping such a forced smile on her face.