Chapter 16 - The Snitch

I was walking along the stone floor, my feet felt numb against its coldness. I don't even know how I ended up down here in my nightgown, I don't remember leaving my bed. I still felt half asleep, but the voice was calling to me, pleading with me. Free me. I found myself at the doorway to the map chamber under the school, with just one touch of my magic the door would open. The voice intensified and was captivating me, it was as if I was in some sort of trance. Before my hand could reach the door, a hand grabbed my wrist and spun me around, Ominis stood before me.

"Riley, what the hell are you doing?" His shout woke me from my daze and the voice stopped.

"I-I don't know. How did I get here?"

Ominis removed his gown and wrapped it around me, always the gentleman.

"I saw you leave the common room, you looked like you were sleepwalking."

"I don't think I have ever slept walk before." Ominis was still holding my hands.

"How did your lesson with Professor Sharp go?" he asked.

"It was difficult, but I managed to interrupt part of his spell. He says that I need to keep practising in order to control my mental and emotional state." Ominis tucked a loose hair behind my ear, his fingers felt warm against my skin.

"Come, let's get you back to the dormitory, you're freezing." He wrapped an arm around my shoulders as we walked. "Riley, about the letter from Anne-" I interrupted him.

"It's ok Ominis, I overreacted. It's a good thing to be hearing from Anne again. I was just taken aback at her affectionate words towards you. I'm sorry for my behaviour."

After my lesson with Sharp I realised that I had perhaps overreacted, Ominis was excited to share his news with his old friend.

"There is nothing romantic between Anne and myself, I promise you. Next to Sebastian she's one of my oldest friends. I did reach out to her, I wanted to check in on her and I'm glad she's doing ok." I nodded and gave him a reassuring smile.

"With regards to the news about Sebastian, I'm sure he is also fine. Perhaps I will write to him to make sure." I was glad Ominis suggested this, I didn't want to personally reach out to Sebastian considering he hadn't written to me at all, but I wanted to know that he was ok.

"Thank you Ominis, you're a good friend."

"Not the greatest boyfriend though. I'm sorry I've been neglecting you lately, I'll admit I've been distracted and a little consumed by own selfish indulges. Will you forgive me?"

I smiled up at his beautiful face.

"Of course."

As we stepped into the common room Ominis pulled me in for a hug. It was just what I needed, I needed to be comforted. It had been a confusing couple of weeks. There was something about Ominis, he always made me feel calm. I thought back to how Sebastian made me feel. He would always exasperate me and try to get a reaction. It was exciting with Sebastian, but Ominis made me feel relaxed and safe. I didn't mean to compare Sebastian and Ominis, but after Anne's mention of him in that letter, he had started to creep back into my thoughts. Ominis released me from our embrace and planted a soft kiss on my lips.

"Goodnight Miss Dagworth." His green eyes had a twinkle in them from his smile.

"Good night Mr. Gaunt."

²

Over the next few weeks, the days started to get longer and warmer as spring was approaching. My Saturday detentions with Professor Weasley were dull, but it forced me to put in the extra hours of studying that I needed. Poppy had introduced me to her new boyfriend, Oliver Wright. He seemed like any other Ravenclaw student, obsessed with studying and he didn't really have anything interesting to say. I wasn't fond of him, but he seemed to make Poppy happy and that's all that mattered. Most of the sixth years had passed their Apparition course, including Ominis. Ominis in fact excelled during the course, apparently the key to Apparition was to visualise your destination. I think because Ominis had to imagine how most things looked his entire life he was able to visualise very easily. Although I was sad that I couldn't take the course until next year, I was doing well with my Occlumency lessons with Professor Sharp. Even my ancient magic started to grow stronger as a result.

Imelda and Garreth were still in separable, but they kept their wandering hands to themselves during school hours. The final Quidditch game of the season was approaching; Slytherin versus Gryffindor. Slytherin was in the lead for the season due to Gryffindor losing against Hufflepuff. However, Hufflepuffs winning streak began and ended with that one game. The winner of the Quidditch Cup was determined by the number of points they won, not the number of victories for each team. There was still a chance that Gryffindor could win the cup against Slytherin. After the eventfulness of the Christmas break it was nice getting back to the normality of school.

Ominis even joined me at my family home for the Easter break to meet my parents. My father was very impressed with his manners and took a liking to Ominis right away. My mother was friendly towards him, but I could see that she was holding back her usual self. I pulled her aside after dinner one night and confronted her about it.

"Do you not like Ominis mum?" Her eyes widened at the question.

"Riley dear, why on earth would you say that? I think Ominis is a lovely young man, very respectful and admirable."

I just stared at her not believing her response. She sighed and set down the dish she was washing and dried her hands.

"I do like him dear, I am just surprised, I didn't think Ominis was your type."

Her comment confused me.

"What sort of man did you expect to be my type?"

She gave me a soft smile. "I don't know dear, it is not for me to say. You are such a strong and independent woman. I can see you having a wonderful life with Ominis yes, I just pictured you with somebody different."

I could see Ominis through the kitchen doorway smiling as he spoke with my father.

"Different how? Ominis treats me well, cares for me deeply and we have a lot in common. He always makes me feel safe."

My mother pressed her lips together, "Do you love him?"

The question took me by surprise.

The notion had not crossed my mind, things with Ominis just felt easy, it wasn't complicated, and I cared for him. I hadn't really thought about love.

"Not yet. We are taking things slow."

She smiled at my response and gave me a hug. "As long as you are happy, that is all that matters to me."

I was interrupted from my flashback by Imelda at breakfast in the Great Hall.

"Riley, there you are, I've been looking for you." She strutted over to me looking cockier than ever. "I've come to collect." I frowned up at her from my toast.

"Come to collect what?" I said with a mouthful.

She had an evil grin on her face. "I've come to collect the debt you owe me. Our Seeker was injured in the last Quidditch game, and I need a replacement for the final game against Gryffindor next week." I let my toast drop from my hand.

"Absolutely not," I protested.

"You have no choice, you owe me one. Besides myself, you are the next best flyer on a broom, and we'll need your skills in the game against Gryffindor. I'm not just going to ask anyone. I need all the talent possible if we are to beat Garreth-I mean Gryffindor."

My last experience with Quidditch was embarrassing enough, I didn't need a reminder. I tried to argue but she wouldn't have it. Natty walked by and gave me a glaring look. We hadn't spoken since Christmas and it still hurt. I missed her bubbly personality, and I could imagine her laughing at my current situation with Imelda. Every time I wanted to go up to her and apologise, I remembered Professor Onai's request. I hadn't had another sleepwalking event, but the voice was still lingering in the back of my mind, along with the prophecy from Professor Onai. I tried to put it out of my mind and the Occlumency lessons were helping.

Ominis thought it was hilarious that Imelda had blackmailed me into playing Quidditch.

"It could've been a lot worse Riley, and you'll be great as a Seeker. Just try to avoid those Bludgers this time round."

He teased me as we lay about lazily in the common room the night before the final game. Ominis was now almost fully adjusted to having his sight and his confidence was overflowing. Ever since we visited my parents, he was more affectionate towards me, and we were spending more time together. Albeit it was mainly spent studying, it was still better than nothing. Exams were next month and most of the students were stressed. Even Poppy had been spending most of her time with Oliver in the library. She seemed distracted lately, but I expected that was because of exams and her new love interest. We were all looking forward to the game, there was a lot of bets at stake as to who would win. Garreth and Imelda had quite a confrontation in the Great Hall at dinner the night before. I had never seen them fight like that, they were both so passionate about Quidditch. The whole school was even more excited for the game due to the conflict-of-interest situation between the two captains.

"Did you hear back from Sebastian by the way?" My question took Ominis by surprise.

"How did you get from Quidditch to Sebastian?" I shrugged it off as nonchalantly as I could. In all honesty, I was waiting for Ominis to say something, but as the weeks went by, I was starting to get anxious.

"I remember you said Anne was worried, just wondered if you'd heard anything?" I was sitting with my head on his lap as he stroked my hair.

"I did write to him, but I've yet to receive anything back. Anne has also said that it's the same with her."

Anne and Ominis had been writing to each other often over the past few weeks. I didn't want to pry into their friendship, but it did make me feel a tad uncomfortable.

"I wouldn't worry Riley. Sebastian is likely buried in some unknown library. He went through phases like that two years ago, where he wouldn't resurface for weeks."

I lifted my head and whispered at Ominis so that no one could hear us." Anne mentioned dark wizards in her letter Ominis. What if it's The Blackhand? What if something awful has happened to Sebastian?"

He looked annoyed.

"Riley, I think that is very unlikely. We haven't heard anything more of this Blackhand group since your encounter with them before Christmas. You've probably scared them off. As for the dark wizards Anne mentioned, knowing Sebastian, he's probably gotten himself involved with more dark artefacts to find a cure for Anne. You should know better than most how obsessive he can get. You yourself had fallen for his enticement."

I glared at Ominis, and he realised his harsh words.

"Riley, I'm sorry I didn't mean it like that." He reached his hands for my own, but I crossed my arms in defiance.

"That was in the past Ominis and Sebastian has learnt from his mistakes, he even admitted so before he left. He wouldn't go down that path again."

Ominis rose suddenly from the sofa.

"If you know him so well, then why don't you write to him?"

He stormed off leaving me sitting by myself as my concern washed over me. I didn't want to admit defeat and reach out to Sebastian, I felt it would make me appear weak. I had no choice. I needed to make sure he was ok. I headed up to my dormitory and grabbed some parchment and a quill.

Sebastian,

Haven't heard from you in a while.

Just wanted to see if you were ok.

Riley

I tried to play it as cool and low-key as possible. I didn't want to make it obvious that I was overly concerned about him. I folded the letter and attached it to my owl's leg before it took off in a flutter of feathers. I was irritated from the fight with Ominis. He had gotten so uptight about me asking about Sebastian. Was he jealous? I thought it ironic considering I was jealous of him and Anne's constant letters. Yet here he was getting upset when I haven't even spoken to Sebastian in months. I tried to shrug it off and collapsed on my bed hoping that sleep would help my mood.

²

The next day I struggled to eat anything at breakfast, my appetite had been overruled by my nerves and lack of sleep. Garreth was in annoyingly high spirits, it irritated Imelda even more so. She looked paler than usual as she poked at her cereal as Garreth blatantly ignored her.

"You ready to lose your first game ever Riley?" He poked me in the side and Imelda stood up in defiance.

"It's ok Imelda, Garreth is all words, he's making up for his lack of skill as he knows I'm a better flyer than he is."

I don't know where my own confidence had suddenly come from. Seeing Imelda so quiet made me feel like she was the one that needed support from me right now, this was important to her I could tell. My response seemed to wake her from her dark thoughts.

"That's right Weasley, you best prepare yourself for the after party that will be hosted in the Slytherin common room tonight."

He rolled his eyes and walked off. Imelda appeared hurt at his retreat.

"It will be ok Imelda. Garreth will come round." She looked at me as I spoke.

"I know he will. This is hard though, we both want our houses to win, but at the same time we've always supported one another in our dreams of becoming professional Quidditch players. I want Slytherin to win, of course, but I also want Garreth to win." I smiled at her.

"And I'm sure he feels the same."

The Quidditch pitch stalls were packed, every student and teacher came down to watch the much-anticipated game. Lucan Brattleby had been fired from his role as commentator and was replaced by Arthur Plummly from Hufflepuff. I stood with the Slytherin team on the pitch taking it all in. Imelda had given us a very motivational speech before we made our way onto the pitch, she was a true leader and the teams spirits had risen. I watched as Imelda and Garreth shook hands in front of the umpire. They held onto each other's hands for longer than necessary and I could sense a silent exchange of words between them. I even saw Garreth let out a small smile. We all mounted our brooms and floated upwards. The umpire blew her whistle, and we were off. Imelda gave me very clear instructions; avoid the Bludgers and find the Golden Snitch as quickly as possible. Imelda knew that Garreth was a strong keeper, they would not gain as many points as usual with the Quaffle. Gryffindor were banking on this as their points had already started to add up from what I could hear over the speakers.

I kept scanning the area for a flickering gold speck. My eyes landed on a group of Slytherins and there was Ominis sitting amongst them. We hadn't spoken since our fight last night. He caught me staring and gave me a smile and a small wave. Even after our fight he was still there supporting me. It made me feel better. Then I saw it. The snitch was hovering just above where the Slytherins were sitting, and I darted straight for them. At first a few of them were in shock that I was flying straight towards them, even Ominis looked startled. A few of them had seen what I was aiming for and started cheering. I was meters away when I could hear Imelda's shout.

"Riley! Watch out!"

If it weren't for her warning, I wouldn't have noticed the Bludger that was coming right for me. One of the Beaters had seen me make my move and aimed it straight for me. I dodged it at the last second by swerving upwards and I could see the snitch had started to rise. I followed suit and could hear the crowd cheering below me. My arm was outstretched in front of me as I reached for it, closing in on it. Moments later my hand enclosed around it and the Quidditch pitch erupted below me. I could barely hear Arthur Plummly over the speakers as the crowd cheered. My smile bigger than it had been in weeks.

The after party in the Slytherin common room was unbelievable. The Slytherins had decorated the common room in bold green fabrics and miniature fireworks erupted every so often. Imelda was already quite drunk after celebrating with the firewhiskey Garreth had managed to arrange yet again. Even though Gryffindor had lost the season, Garreth seemed more at ease now that Imelda was back in his arms. Ominis approached me after the game and apologised for our fight the night before. I was in such high spirits after the game that I just pounced on him and gave him the biggest kiss in front of everyone. I could see his face blushed from the public display of affection, but he just smiled and held my hand the whole way back up to the castle. Poppy had learnt her lesson with the firewhiskey and declined to have any. It was nice to spend time with her again.

"I'm sorry if I've been distant lately, it's just Oliver and I have been spending a lot of time together. You know how it is."

Even though she wasn't drinking she still had a glazed look about her.

"Are you ok Poppy? You look a little tired if I'm being honest."

We were sitting on one of the sofas while the other students were dancing and drinking around us. "Yes, I'm fine, just the stress of exams is getting to me," she shuffled nervously in her seat. "I have a gift for you Riley, can I give it to you?"

I was surprised at her sudden change in topic, and she revealed a small box from her pocket. She started to pass it to me, but Oliver suddenly propped himself on the arm of the sofa near Poppy, put his arm around her shoulder and swiftly grabbed the box from her hand.

"Poppy my sweet, I thought we had agreed to wait until Riley's birthday to give her gift. It's a bit soon don't you think?"

I got an uneasy feeling from Oliver, he seemed nice enough, but he was a closed book, and I couldn't get a read on him.

"Yes of course my sweet, forgive me I got over excited." Poppy gave him a kiss on the cheek as she spoke.

Oliver tucked the gift in his pocket and looked back at me.

"Oh Riley, I actually have a letter for you. It seems as though your owl delivered it this morning after you left breakfast."

I found it a bit odd that my owl had left a letter in the Great Hall, usually any mail not delivered in the Great Hall would've been delivered straight to my dormitory.

"Oh, thanks." I grabbed the letter and put it in my pocket, I didn't want to read it in front of Oliver. Ominis made his way over and sat beside me.

"That was a fantastic game! Now I understand why you're all obsessed over Quidditch." I kept forgetting that Ominis was experiencing all these things for the very first time.

"I must say Gaunt, it's quite surprising that those phoenix tears managed to heal your blindness." Poppy nudged him with her elbow.

"Oliver, don't be so forward. I'm sure it's a sensitive topic for Ominis."

Oliver looked Ominis up and down as he spoke.

"It was as much a surprise to me too, but well worth it I will admit it."

Ominis placed a hand on my knee, silently thanking me. I could see Oliver eyeing out his movements. Our conversation was interrupted by fireworks exploding and setting one of the curtains alight. Luckily some of the seventh years were not quite so drunk and were able to put the fire out with the Aguamenti charm.

"I believe that is our cue to leave." Oliver raised himself from the couch and gestured for Poppy to join him. She looked a bit hesitant, but she gave us all a smile and accepted his hand.

"Enjoy the rest of the party." I followed them with my eyes as they left the common room.

"You are not fond of Oliver, are you?" Ominis was watching me.

"I just don't get a good feeling about him." Ominis held my hand.

"Don't let it ruin your evening, you were quite nimble out there on your broom today, Miss Dagworth. Dare I say I found it quite attractive."

His flirtatious comment brought my attention back to him, those big green eyes staring into my own. I leaned in to kiss him, our lips were locked in a sweet embrace as he placed his hand under my chin. How I wished his hands would wander further down my body, if only there weren't a hundred students around us.

The party started to die off and I headed up to my dormitory with a drunken Imelda leaning on me. "You were amazing today Riley-thank you for helping me." She hiccupped as she spoke, and it made me giggle.

"You are welcome, Imelda, even though I was forced into it, I quite enjoyed myself. Perhaps next year I'll officially try-out for the team."

She hummed in happiness as I tucked her into bed.

"If only Sebastian was here, you two would've been great together ... on the pitch."

Her comment took me by surprise. Before I could respond Imelda had drifted off and started to snore. I walked over to my own bed and sat down as I removed the letter from my pocket. The letter was from Sebastian, I recognised his handwriting immediately.

Dear Riley,

I am very well thank you,

I hope you are enjoying sixth year at Hogwarts.

Give Gaunt my best.

Sebastian