It was arduous work, being a Squib. Or at least, practically being one. Until Davina's fifteenth birthday, that was all she was to the people who mattered. The family disgrace. The potential cuckoo in the nest.
Or so her father called her, regardless of whether he thought she was listening. For there was no conceivable way she could have been his. A powerful wizard such as himself could never produce such a travesty.
It wasn't for a lack of trying. Davina tried with all her might. She would steal her brother's wand while he was sleeping and try to cast simple spells like Lumos. But it never worked. And they never let up.
Mr Rosier worked at the Ministry of Magic as an Auror. He was very well-known, though not necessarily for his successes. Mrs Rosier was a thin blonde witch with a short temper and hardly any motherly instincts. Both were in all the right social circles and only associated themselves with other Pureblood families.
The Rosiers were members of the Sacred Twenty-Eight—the highest order of Pureblood families. It was of the utmost importance that they maintained their status; both in blood and in power. They could not tolerate a potential Squib in the family.
When Davina didn't receive a letter from Hogwarts, Mr and Mrs Rosier sent a barrage of nasty letters to the school demanding to know what mistake they made. They got their answer. There was no mistake. "She simply isn't magical enough." Or magical at all.
No matter how much her sister teased her, no matter how much she made her cry; Davina simply could not make anything happen. Mrs Rosier once levitated her, so she was level with the highest roof of the manor, then dropped her to see if any magic would show. She caught her only seconds before she splat on the asphalt with a look of disgust.
They barred Davina from social events. She was forgotten by most and dismissed by all the rest. Mr and Mrs Rosier gushed about their precious Evan and Celine, but never mentioned Davina.
Even from Evan's wedding, she was kept away. She had cried and begged, but to no avail. The answer, as it was to everything in Davina's life, was "no". And that was that.
.
Blindness also proved to be a difficult task—particularly as a member of the Gaunt family. Another family of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, the Gaunts could trace their lineage all the way to Salazar Slytherin himself. They were quite proud of this. Although some thought the amount of snake motifs around their manor to be a bit much.
The Gaunts were a cruel and frivolous family. Mr and Mrs Gaunt did not work. They did not contribute much to society save for their opinions and generous donations to the economy through their unrestrained spending. In their spare time, they enjoyed torturing Muggles for sport with the family's favourite spell. Crucio.
Those without pure blood were believed by the family to deserve death or severe punishment. Muggles were the worst of the lot. The three eldest Gaunt children shared this sentiment, and were proficient casters of Crucio by their second years at Hogwarts.
The youngest Gaunt, however, held a different view. The tortured screams of his siblings' victims brought him no pleasure. Oftentimes it was he who was his siblings' greatest victim. When he would not torture Muggles, they would instead cast Crucio on him. They would knock him over and scream in his ears. They hid his belongings and moved furniture around so he would crash into things.
While the Gaunts were cold and cruel and greedy, Ominis was gentle, and occasionally shy.
And while he and Davina had similar upbringings; there was one thing they had in common that would bring them closer than ever.
The task.
See the next chapters of this fic (already posted) on Wattpad.Â
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Another Random headcanon for Ominis and Percival; if Ominis is in a disagreement with someone and Percival takes the other person's side. Ominis says "As my future husband you have to agree with me."
"...as your future husband?" Cocky smirk
"As... my... I have to go." Ominis flustered walks away.
"She's bubbling over," Sebastian said as he flipped through the pages of his book. Davina was glowering at a missing book on the library shelf. "She'll snap at any-"
"How hard is it to just have what I need?" She spat through gritted teeth.
Ominis leaned in and whispered, "I know she has been receiving an abundance of letters from her family. You didn't hear it from me."
Sebastian looked her up and down from the table. "Do you think they're like... well-like yours?"
"My father isn't particularly close to the Rosiers, so it's hard to say," Ominis said. "Marvolo was after her sister for years, though, while at Hogwarts. Apparently, she's a real piece of work—but I wouldn't trust anything that comes out of my family's mouths."
"You could start a gossip column in The Daily Prophet, you know."
"Shut up, Sebastian."
Davina had been stomping around all day. Ominis had noticed her sour mood first in Herbology when she'd left him to trim the Venomous Tentacula on his own.
"Oh, bloody hell!" She cursed from behind them. Ominis jumped at the sudden noise. He straightened the books he'd knocked with his elbow and continued with his Potions essay. Sebastian kept his head down, a smirk on his lips.
Just then, a large black owl appeared and dropped a letter right on the floor in front of Davina. She bent over and picked it up, scanned it quickly, and then threw it into the library fire. The flat paper floated from her hand to the fireplace, landing at the very corner but not quite catching. She hadn't noticed. She had already stormed off.
Sebastian grabbed the letter immediately.
"What are you doing?"
"Relax, Ominis," Sebastian said. "I'm just worried about our friend. You saw how high-strung she has been the past couple of days."
"That's her private correspondence, Sebastian. You can't." Ominis stood up and went to snatch the letter, but missed.
"I just want to know what's wrong. Then maybe we can help her or at least tread around the subject so we don't upset her further." Sebastian reasoned. Ominis sighed, as he often did when Sebastian had ideas.
"Fine. Read it."
Sebastian opened the letter.
Daughter,
It has been two entire days since I sent my last letter and you've yet to accomplish anything. Perhaps I was wrong to suspect you might finally make yourself useful. If I don't hear from you by the end of the week with good news, do not bother returning home for the holidays.
Signed,
Mother.
"That's awful," Ominis' voice was soft. It broke slightly as he recalled all the awful things his own mother had said to him.
"What do you suppose she is meant to be doing?" Sebastian asked.
"Coming from a Sacred Pureblood family, it can't be good."
Sebastian straightened up. "You have a lot of experience with this sort of thing."
"With Pureblood supremacy? Yes." Ominis rolled his eyes.
"What I mean is you can relate to her," Sebastian said. "Whatever is going on, I think you should be the one who talks to her about it. I don't want to press her, and I wouldn't understand what it's like, anyway."
Ominis couldn't disagree. She was clearly worked up, and her mother's letter was downright nasty. He closed his books and began putting them back in their places. He rolled up his homework parchment and placed it and in his bag with his quill and inkpot.
"I suppose I should find her sooner rather than later," Ominis started, "but if she isn't talking to us by supper, it's your fault."
.
It was in the Undercroft where he found her. She was sitting slumped against the stone wall, looking pathetic. Ominis could sense her despair. It filled the room and made the air feel heavy.
He allowed his wand to guide him toward her. She didn't look up, didn't acknowledge him. She just seemed finished. Ominis thought of all the letters he knew she'd received, likely from her mother. The poor girl was being hounded. Ominis crouched beside her.
"Davina," he started, "I've something to tell you."
She lulled her head up and to the side, staring at him blankly.
Ominis continued, "I owe you an apology. Sebastian does, too. We've been awfully worried about you over the past couple of days and we thought perhaps that letter you received might tell us why-"
"I burned my letter. I'm not telling you what was on it."
"The fire didn't quite catch. Sebastian grabbed it and-"
"You read my letter?!"
"Purely out of concern." She would calm down soon. He knew it. While her friendship with Sebastian was fiery, her friendship with Ominis was cool. She wouldn't escalate much further. In that, he was confident.
"I don't need your concern." She snapped. "I have enough concerns from-"
"From your family," Ominis interjected. "From your mother, in fact. I understand. I get it too from mine."
Davina took a deep breath, her shoulders shaking as she did so. "Our circumstances are entirely different."
"Perhaps," he said. "Perhaps not. I cannot know if you don't tell me."
"It's stupid," she mumbled. "You couldn't possibly relate."
"Try me." He sat beside her and pressed his back against the stone. She took another shuddery breath.
"My mother has decided I am to marry as soon as I graduate from Hogwarts."
Ominis sniggered through his nose. "We have more in common than I thought."
"What do you mean?" She looked at him now, properly.
"My eldest brother announced his engagement over the holidays. Of course, in true Gaunt fashion, he proposed to our cousin." He wrinkled his nose. "My father has decided if Marvolo is to take his position as heir, the rest of us need to marry up and get out. So I've been told to find a nice Pureblood girl-"
"To betroth yourself to," Davina finished. "One who fits whatever criteria they have given, one to bring pride to the family name..."
"Y-yes," Ominis faltered. Realization dawned on him. Perhaps he wouldn't need Anne's help after all.
"My family stopped liking me when I failed to get a Hogwarts letter," Davina opened up. "I wasn't invited to anything. I wasn't spoken about. I wasn't spoken to." Her voice broke. "I was told over the holidays that I need to find a good husband. One from a Sacred family so they can get rid of me while bringing pride to the family. I-"
"I can help you." He interrupted her. Her cheeks flushed a brilliant red.
"O-Ominis... I can't-"
"I'm not proposing marriage, Davina," he clarified quickly, his own blush spreading across his cheeks. "I'm proposing a scheme."
"You sound like Sebastian."
"Spending too much time with him does have that effect." His blush began to fade. "No, my idea was to pretend. We can both write to our parents and tell them we have paired up. I'm a Gaunt. You're a Rosier. They won't contest it."
Davina was no fool. She had thought of this idea from the moment the order had left her mother's mouth. But to hear him offer in earnest...
"I cannot ask this of you."
"You aren't asking anything of me. I'm offering." He said. "Besides, it's only a matter of time before my family turns up the pressure."
Davina thought of how he had spent the holidays with the Gaunts, much to his disgust. She could only imagine what he had to endure. "Okay," she said. "Let's do it."
See the rest of the story over on Wattpad. The Task by Slytherslyth hereÂ
