Amber & Roses

Chapter 2

After spending the entire afternoon in the library, preparing ahead of time for his TIMOS and trying to avoid bumping into Sebastian, Ominis finally returns to the Slytherin common room. It's midnight and the place is practically empty. Still, suddenly Ominis perceives the scent that he already associates with Danielle, and he smiles as he walks towards her... until he notices other smells. The kind of smell that would give anyone goosebumps.

"Danielle?"

The girl, who was sitting on the delightful couch by the fireplace, turns her head around, startled at the voice. But when she realizes who it is, she exhales calmly, as she leans against the couch once more.

"Oh... it's you, Ominis." The boy immediately hears a faint groan escaping from her throat as she regains her position, her movements stiff and calculated. As the girl relaxes, the blond hears something submerging in the water.

"Are you alone?" He knows the answer but still wants to be sure.

"Yes, don't worry, there's no one here who can bother you." Being now just one step away from her, Danielle seizes the opportunity and takes him by the hand to make him sit next to her. She doesn't feel like being alone right now. He obediently sits down by her side, although for several minutes the poor guy doesn't know what to say, but at the same time doesn't want to leave, when he hears again how she puts something in water, probably inside a vessel, and at that moment Ominis perceives a sweet smell of Matic, surprising him, because he knows that plant well, especially for its healing properties.

"Are you ok?"

A delicate eyebrow is raised.

"Yes… Why would you ask me that?"

"Well, first off, what you have in the container is Matic, a plant perfect for healing wounds, especially the newly opened ones. But also…" the boy pauses, doubtfully, "you smell of dirt and blood."

Danielle exhales even harder.

"I should have guessed that I couldn't fool your heightened senses."

"The smell of all these things is way too strong, anyone could have perceived it. What makes you think my senses are heightened?"

Danielle straightens up as if moved by a spring, palms in front of her, enormously worried that she has offended him.

"I'm sorry, Ominis! It wasn't my intention to assume things from you!"

Ominis chuckles under his breath at his reaction.

"Don't worry, anyway, I owed you already. It was very rude of me to assume that you came from Beauxbaton."

He may not be able to see her, but the boy can clearly perceive the discreet exhalation she makes the moment she smiles, and he feels like he has won a prize by being able to make her smile.

"You're right, now you know how it feels. But I'm glad you mentioned it because I'd love for you to explain what Beauxbaton is. Is it a school for magicians, like Uagadou?"

Ominis is distracted by her perfume, the smell of blood emanating strongly from somewhere nearby, and the movement of water in between them. Still, he tries to follow the thread of the conversation.

"Do you mean the school Natsai comes from? Yes, exactly so, Beauxbaton is another school of magicians, although this one is located on the borders of France."

"And... you say Danielle Michel is..."

"A typically French name, but again I apologize, it was my mistake because it could also have meant that your ancestors were French immigrants, something very common during the Terror and the empire of Napoleon Bonaparte, and therefore, you should not necessarily have been born French."

"During the… Terror?"

Ominis smiles at the opportunity to tell such a fantastic tale and falls into historian mode.

"Yes, during those first years after the French Revolution, when the guillotine was working 24/7, many Frenchmen fled their homeland and took refuge with us, staying and living here. But also, in the time of Napoleon, the political persecution was strong, causing several more to flee their lands."

"You know a lot, Ominis."

The boy is startled by the unexpected flattery.

"N-no! I mean... I... I like to learn, and since I can't do sports because... well, you know… I'm passionate about reading, especially because from a very young age I learned a spell that transforms books into Braille."

The girl laughs femininely, and that sound is like jingle bells on Christmas night to the usually negative boy.

"Among the things you should learn, you have to include learning to accept a compliment."

He blushes a bit more at her words.

"You're quite right. It's difficult for me to accept flattery, for it's unlikely that I'll receive any."

At his words, Danielle abruptly stops what she's doing and gives him a look of disbelief.

"That can't be possible, for you are such a kind, polite, and— and handsome boy."

Danielle lowers her head, embarrassed at her sudden confession. But it seems that Ominis is too dense to notice the intent behind her words because he continues the conversation without altering his tone.

"I can't give you an opinion about that. Honestly, I'm used to people telling me things like that because... well, you know, out of pity. And once I notice such, I have to confess, I do get really mad."

"I wouldn´t tell you this out of pity, Ominis. I'm being honest."

Now he gets her words and blushes in response. The blond boy is about to reply when suddenly he perceives an unexpected and wet sensation on his cheek, his mind taking a couple of seconds to understand that it's a kiss coming from her soft lips; However, his body reacts before his mind can catch up, and the boy unexpectedly rises from his seat at the unusual action, yelling at the top of his lungs.

"Don't do that!"

For her part, Danielle is startled too by the sudden reaction, and the scream of apparent fury against her, causing the small dish with Matic to fall to the floor, shattering into a thousand pieces and spilling all its contents on the rug. The girl, as soon as she recovers from the surprise, lowers her head, embarrassed, and slowly sits up, her gesture suddenly of intense pain, but she makes a great effort not to let him notice it.

"I'm sorry, Ominis. It- it won't happen again..."

Danielle turns away from him, when Ominis finally reacts and takes her hand to prevent her from leaving.

"Wait, Danielle! It's not what you think!" But when he grabs her wrist, he immediately hears the painful moan coming from the young woman, as she abruptly withdraws the grasped hand, while he perceives a sticky and warm moisture under his palm, as well as the powerful metallic smell that floods his senses. "You're hurt..." So that was the blood he could smell in the air... "Why didn't you go to the infirmary to be treated?"

"Don't worry, Ominis. I'll go right now. Danielle wants to walk away, minimizing his words and still embarrassed by the way he reacted, while not wanting him to find out the true extent of her injury. However, he stands in front of her to prevent her from leaving, grabbing her shoulders gently, not noticing his bloody hand tainting the girl´s white blouse, while slowly, trying to find the injured region, the boy runs his palms down the length of her arms, making her shiver. "O-Ominis..." The girl's heart begins to beat wildly, and she holds her breath, feeling like she's going to have a heart attack since she has the blonde's face so close to hers.

"Don't move, Danielle."

"B-but..."

"Please..." Ominis whispers, unaware of the effect his touch and closeness have upon the girl, as he treats her as if she were a wounded bird that he doesn't want to frighten up, his palms running gently and painfully slowly, along both arms. His left hand reaches her right forearm, which has its sleeves rolled up and is soaked in a cold liquid, when finally, the moment he reaches the level of her wrist, he's immediately alerted of the injured area, feeling the young woman startle and a second moan escaping her lips, indicating that he has hit his target.

"Ominis... It hurts..."

"Trust me. Let me do this, please." Ominis continues to whisper, while with all the delicacy he´s capable of, he raises his wand and activates his sonar to get a better idea of the problem: he can see blurrily, that, from the lower part of the forearm to the back of her hand, there are several wounds upon the soft skin, opening it almost in a track, while he feels his fingers fill with warm blood, the moment his fingertips touch the open edges of the torn skin.

"This... It must hurt a lot..."

Danielle shrinks again at the contact but manages to endure it, not understanding why she doesn't want to withdraw her hand.

"It's less painful than it looks." Danielle's eyes widen as she realizes her mistake. "I'm sorry! I..."

Ominis shakes his head.

"You're apologizing too much. There´s no need. May I ask what happened to you?"

The girl hesitates for a moment, evidently looking for a way out.

"It was... an accident during a spell. Nothing serious."

"And the spell you used usually takes the form of a wolf bite?" Danielle bites her lip, not knowing what else to say, although extremely impressed that he can guess the origin using only his wand. For his part, Ominis sighs, saddened by her silence by her evident mistrust, but decides not to press her for more information, and directs his wand towards the terrible wound, making the corresponding movement. "Violate Sanentur!" Danielle's eyes widen, as she sees her deepest flesh join together on their own, while she barely feels a slight tingle.

"How can you...?"

He smiles at her the way someone smiles at a child marveling at the Christmas lights.

"We're in a magic school, remember? This is basic knowledge for us. Or well, it must be."

She laughs a little at the logic of his words, grateful that the pain has lessened considerably.

"You're right. I guess it means I should study harder."

"Or you could just use an herbovitalizing potion."

She laughs femininely at the obvious suggestion.

"I guess I could, but..."

"Didn't you bring any?"

"Not a single one."

Ominis makes a second pass, and Danielle watches as it's now the muscle the one coming together, as if the fibers were hugging each other, welcoming one another.

"Not a very smart thing to do. And since when have you liked to play-fight with ferocious dark wolves?" Danielle, now more relaxed, laughs a little as she's caught in the mischief, though chooses to remain silent, and Ominis realizes how much he loves that sound. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but you can rest assured that your secret will be safe with me."

The girl turns to look at him, her gray eyes full of the sincerest gratitude, and suddenly she's very aware of the closeness of both their bodies, the way their breaths mix up, so she decides that it would be a lot safer to continue talking.

"It wasn't intentional, you can be sure of it. It's just... I was chasing a little cat that seemed lost, and before I knew it, I had already moved several meters away from the main road.

For Ominis, the tone of her voice tells him she's probably lying again, but he doesn't want to make her feel uncomfortable like last time.

"You should be more careful. There are lots of wolves roaming the roads."

"You don't say..."

Although he couldn't see the girl rolling her eyes, her tone makes it more than evident, so now it's Ominis who laughs lightly but decides not to comment further. With two additional passes of his wand, the skin now seems perfect, the wounds barely perceptible but by a discrete area whiter than the rest, and the pain is almost completely gone. Ominis activates the sonar to be sure and then runs a couple of fingers over the previous injury site, the warm contact tickling Danielle's skin, and she breathes in hard, straightening up more. The boy just smiles, interpreting her actions wrongly.

"I think it's ready. The injury is healed. Does it hurt?"

Danielle looks into his eyes again, those lost eyes that don't perceive light, but unconsciously exhale wisdom.

"No. The pain is now gone. It's amazing what you just did! Thank you so much, Ominis, you didn't have to."

Ominis shakes his head.

"I'm glad I was able to help. I don't like to think you're suffering and I didn´t do anything to prevent it."

Feeling overwhelmed by his words and the warmth of the action, the girl approaches again, ready to kiss him on the cheek out of gratitude, but he senses the movement, and startles, taking a slight step back, although this time his outburst is not as intense. Danielle sighs, disappointed, remembering what just happened, and forces herself to suppress her impulse, so she takes a step back to respect the boy's personal bubble.

"Thank you again, Ominis. It was very sweet what you did for me."

He recovers from the new shock when he perceives the sadness in her voice and forces himself to step forward, inadvertently bringing his face too close to hers, while he whispers again, asking for her understanding, their almost intimate position throwing electric currents down her back.

"I didn't mean to scare you, Danielle, I assure you. It's just that... I'm not used to those kinds of gestures, plus you took me by surprise. But that's about it." Trying to reassure her, he smiles at her. "Next time, you'd better let me know firsthand."

The gray eyes light up with joy and Danielle's smile is bright and exquisite upon receiving the boy's permission.

"Okay, if you say so… Incoming, Ominis!"

The boy is startled again but manages to suppress the urge to jump backward, when a soft palm grips his right cheek, while sweet, moist lips rest on the other side... almost over the corner of his mouth.

Danielle laughs femininely as she pulls away from him.

"I have to confess something, I don't want to go to the infirmary because I'm sure I'll get in trouble, but I have to keep exploring, I can't stop now. If I keep having these problems, would you be the one to heal me?"

Ominis replies automatically, barely managing to process a coherent thought.

"Of course, I would, no problem." By Slytherin! If she were to ask him for his entire inheritance at this moment, Ominis knows he would give it without question!

Danielle nods and grabs her things, unaware of the boy´s state of mind.

"Thank you, Ominis! Now I can be calm because I know that I'll be able to have all the adventures I want, and have an expert healer for myself!"

Without further ado, she retreats to her bedroom, blowing him one last sonorous kiss in the air for him to hear.

Ominis stays in the same place for several more seconds, dumbfounded, in a cloud of pleasure, and with a silly smile on his lips, while his mind repeats a single thought over and over again.

Her luscious lips were just a few millimeters away from becoming a real kiss on the mouth.

oooooooooOOOOOOOOooooooooooo

A/N: I don't know who started the idea that Ominis knew the spell to transform books into Braille, (I've read so many Ominis fanfics that I already feel lost among them!) but I loved the idea, so I'll take it up here. Credits to the author!

On the other hand, I do know who to give credit for the "Incoming, Ominis!" phrase, and it's a fantastic fanfic author called WildeWoman, in her fic I loved her character has great empathy and consideration with Ominis, so I asked her permission to use it, I highly recommend her fanfic "Omnipotent", one of the best I've ever read.

See you in the comments!