Anne was back at their house, knocking on the door and standing in frustration on the doorstep. She'd waited all afternoon, because surely they'd be done by then. "If you guys are done boinking in there, I'd really like to talk to you! Because I can't really wait any longer!" She yelled into the door.
There was the sound of something dropping before running, and Sebastian opened the door with wide eyes and a bright flush on his face. "A-Anne?" He said in a flustered tone.
"You know I could hear you from down the hill? For Gods' sake, Sebastian!" Anne said in embarrassment.
She heard a soft moan of embarrassment, looking behind him to see Diane at the end of the entry hallway, her hands covering her face with embarrassment as Ominis chuckled amusingly beside her.
"S-so what did you want?" Sebastian asked, rubbing the back of his neck and eager to change the subject.
"Are you three going to the masquerade?" Anne asked in a huff.
"That's... in two days, right?" Sebastian glanced back to Ominis, who nodded.
"Oh," Diane said softly, her eyes widening a bit with a little smile.
Ominis noticed the small sound, a grin coming over his face. "Sounds like we are."
"We are?" Sebastian asked, looking back again and seeing the small hopeful look on Diane's face, laughing in amusement. "So we are."
"Good, because I'll go with you, then." Anne said, surprising all three of them.
"With us?" Sebastian asked in confusion.
"Y-yeah, I want to surprise Garreth so I can't actually travel with him to the dance." Anne said with a blush, acting like it wasn't a big deal. "So I'll have to travel with you three." She pointed a finger up to Sebastian's face threateningly. "No schmoozing on the way there!"
"Alright!" He said defensively, holding his hands up in surrender with another blush.
"We'd love to have you come with us." Diane said happily. "What's the surprise?" She asked eagerly.
"You'll see when I get here." Anne muttered in embarrassment.
Sebastian rose a brow curiously, wondering why she was so embarrassed about it. He'd never seen Anne act this way with a guy before, though. It was pretty adorable. "If my younger sis needs my help, then help she shall have." He said in a baby-talk tone, patting the top of her head.
"Don't talk to me like that!" Anne said, flailing her arms at him defensively with a huff.
He backed up out of her reach with a chuckle of amusement, grinning happily. "Did you already go to Hogsmeade, then?"
"Yes, we went this afternoon." She sighed, though it had been fairly difficult to keep it hidden from Garreth. He'd been fairly keen to shop on his own too, thankfully. He seemed like he wanted to get something. Probably an ingredient or something.
"Good, we'll go tonight, then. That way we'll be ready for Christmas Eve."
Diane gasped excitedly. "Butter beers?" She asked hopefully.
"Butter beers." He smiled over his shoulder to her.
He chuckled when she let out a little cheer, raising her arms into the air excitedly.
"I'll see you all on Christmas Eve, then." Anne said with a smile. "It'll be fun. I've never been asked to a dance before." Anne said excitedly.
Oh he knew. He was glad Garreth had taken his suggestion, because he could see how excited Anne was about this.
"Oh, and I'm going to the Weasley's for Christmas!" Anne said over her shoulder as she walked away.
"WAIT, WHAT?" Sebastian balked suddenly.
"Yup! So don't expect us for anything!" Anne said, waving over her shoulder, her face flushed as she walked back down the hill.
Sebastian stood in shock, looking back to Ominis who had a similarly shocked face, and Diane who was grinning happily.
She was meeting his family. That... was huge.
Ominis gave a little amused chuckle. "Looks like you may have a Weasley for a sister after all, Sebastian."
Sebastian let out a long breath of shock and nodded slowly. That was fast. She was so serious about it, though. Then again he had been serious about Diane in a pretty short time, too. When it happened, it just... happened.
"I do find it funny that both of you went for gingers." Ominis grinned slyly.
Diane giggled at that, hiding her smile behind her hand as she laughed in amusement.
"And blonds." Sebastian said in a lower tone that made Ominis blush softly.
"Come on you two, let's get ready to go to Hogsmeade. I want a butter beer." Diane said, hooking her arm through Ominis' happily as she walked back into the house to put on a more travel friendly dress.
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"Keeping my hands off you is going to be difficult." Sebastian said in a strained tone, looking down at Diane in her frilly silver and white dress. She had opted for a dress that was more formal this year, the metallic embroidery along the bust and waist accenting her curves.
"I like it too." Ominis said softly, his hands running along the silk ruffles at her hips gently as he stood behind her.
"You two." She giggled happily, her cheeks flushed as she smiled.
"Walking up a hill in heels is ridiculous!" Anne complained as she shouted from midway up, her hands on her hips.
"We'll come down to meet you... then..." Sebastian trailed off as he stared in shock at Anne, who was dressed in a bright red puffy dress. "What is that?!" He said in shock.
"Shut up! It's my surprise!" She yelled back with a flustered tone, turning as red as her dress.
"You look amazing!" Diane said happily. "That's a good color on you!" She shouted down the hill happily, making Anne looked away in embarrassment but smile.
"What? What's she wearing?" Ominis asked curiously.
"She's in bright red!" Sebastian said in disbelief.
Ominis realized what it was for and chuckled in amusement. "That's... pretty cute." He grinned.
"It's adorable, but she's slytherin!" Sebastian scoffed, crossing his arms as she grumped.
"Oh it's just one day you oaf, now get down here!"
Anne yelled up.
Diane gave a happy laugh. "This is going to be fun." She grinned. "I can't wait to see Garreth's face."
"You'll have to show me later, too." Ominis said eagerly, hooking his arm through hers to start down the hill. He'd been enjoying seeing memories from both of them, feeling a lot more included in things. He hadn't delved into asking about the more... painful memories yet, but he did hope to venture into that more sensitive territory one day.
"Alright alright, yeah it's cute. But... it's weird seeing her in red like that." Sebastian sighed, walking down after them.
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Anne was nearly vibrating with anxiety by the time they got to the dance, her hand over her stomach as the nerves made her queasy like they always did. She was very glad she'd decided to chug a second dose of her medicine before the dance.
They stood waiting outside the entrance of the dance hall, Anne fidgeting with her skirts as Diane chuckled softly. She set a hand against Anne's shoulder reassuringly and smiled, Anne sighing softly and nodding that she knew she needed to calm down. Diane really was nice once she had gotten to know her. She kind of felt bad she'd been so sour to her for so long once they'd met.
"A-Anne?!" Garreth said from behind them.
Anne turned around with a blush, and stared, her jaw dropping at the sight of him.
Garreth was in a green vest and tie.
Sebastian put a hand over his face with a long moan as Diane giggled wildly beside him. "Fuck, they're made for each other." He murmured.
"Let me guess, he's wearing green?" Ominis grinned in amusement.
"He is!" Diane said through her giggles.
Garreth and Anne both started laughing as well, Anne running up to him and wrapping her arms around his neck as she leaned against him.
"You had the same idea!" She said in disbelief, before laughing happily again.
"I thought it would be fun." He chuckled, running his hands along the layers of sheer ruffles at her sleeves. "You look gorgeous by the way." He said softly.
Anne blushed again and looked up to him bashfully. "You don't look too bad yourself." She smiled, knocking her first against his chest playfully while he grinned.
"It's so cute." Diane sighed happily as she watched them walk in together, Garreth holding his arm out for her politely.
"I have to admit... it is." Sebastian shook his head with a helpless sigh. That was the clincher for him.
"Come on, love." Ominis said, holding his arm out for her in offering. "I would offer one for you too, you know." he whispered over his shoulder to Sebastian quietly.
"I know." He smiled back, knowing they couldn't do anything together in public. He wished they could but... it just wasn't worth the consequences. He would never do purposefully anything that could hurt Ominis or Diane. Well... he would try not to, anyway. He seemed rather talented at doing it on accident.
He reached out and risked a small touch down Ominis' spine through his jacket that made him inhale sharply, shivering a bit as Diane chuckled beside him.
"Be good." Ominis muttered, but from the blush on his cheeks he had rather liked it.
"Good is overrated." Sebastian grinned wryly.
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Ominis took the first dance with Diane, smiling as he bowed regally to her before they started twirling along the floor. "You know, now that I know you're from London, I might have been more inclined to go to these events when I was younger." He said softly to her.
"Oh?" She chuckled.
"I do wonder what would have happened if we had met when we were young." He said softly. "Both of us have such similar pasts... it's like we're cut from the same cloth."
Diane blushed at that, smiling softly. "I probably would have gotten a huge crush on you, but I was so young the last time I went to a dance with my family. I'm glad things worked out the way they did."
"How so?" Ominis tilted his head curiously.
"I think we were both different people when we were young." She giggled as he twirled her out, bringing her back in before she continued. "People change so much through their lives."
He gave a soft, thoughtful sound about that. It was true, before he'd came to Hogwarts he had been a very different person, and certainly before he'd met Sebastian who had all but wrenched him out of his shell to be more personable. "I suppose you're right." He said thoughtfully. "We did change a lot."
"When I was little I was actually very quiet and meek. I didn't speak much." She smiled softly.
"I can't even imagine that." He chuckled, knowing how outgoing she was now. She spoke freely with everyone, almost too much so.
"It does make you wonder," she had to leave him for a moment as the dance made them switch partners temporarily before she returned, "if fate exists." She smiled up to him.
"Fate?" He tilted his head.
"That we met when we had both changed enough to actually see each other." She explained. "After we had dealt with our past and started to move on to focus on our future."
He smiled warmly and nodded. "I think I understand. We met at the precise moment we were supposed to." She left for the dance again, and he waited until she came back, "but after meeting Love in person, I would say I definitely believe in fate. Why not?" He chuckled.
"I wonder if I'll ever meet her." She said softly. "She's never called for me."
"Perhaps someday, but I will say it was not entirely pleasant. I don't envy Sebastian for his job." Ominis said quietly.
"No?" Diane glanced over to Sebastian, who was waiting off to the side for her, looking rather bored.
"No. I honestly would prefer you never have to go to that place." He said softly.
Diane wondered why he felt that way, but the dance ended and Ominis gave her another formal bow with a stunning smile. "I'll see you again in a bit, love." He said softly.
"See you in a bit." Diane said breathlessly, unable to help but feel dazzled by Ominis in this formal setting. He truly was a regal man, and add in a suit and a basilisk mask and she was all a-twitter