Emerson Wilmore was an exemplary Ravenclaw student, known for her unwavering dedication to academics and an unyielding moral compass. However, things took a twisted and deviated turn in her life after her boyfriend, Cedric Diggory, was murdered by L...
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In comparison to the first half of the night, the remainder of the Halloween party was rather uneventful. Since Olivia and George were now officially dating, they were practically joined at the hip for the rest of the night. They spent their time together with their arms wrapped around each other, sneaking small kisses between each other and dancing together without care in the world. It was the best outcome from the whole evening in Emerson's mind. She was finally seeing her best friend purely happy with her new boyfriend, after spending two years pining over him and dreaming of them being together.
She couldn't quite match Olivia's excited emotions as much as she should've though. As much as she tried to smile and laugh with Fred, who was joking about all their interactions over the past few months, she just couldn't naturally do it. Her head was replaying her conversation with Mattheo. After that, it didn't take much longer for Emerson to leave the party. She wanted to sleep, and wipe her mind from everything.
Even in the confinements of her own dormitory, she never properly got her desired sleep. As always, her mind was scrambling and busy with other thoughts. Whenever she slept at night since the end of her Fourth-Year, her subconscious was plagued with Cedric's death and her mind was always recreating it in various, horrific ways. However, that night after the Halloween party was not quite the same. In addition to her regular nightmares of Cedric dying in a flash of green light, she felt a very different emotion for someone else.
When she finally woke for the fifth time, she realised what it was. She was feeling guilty for calling Mattheo a monster, when she knew deep down that he wasn't.
She tried to ignore the feeling for hours and hours. It was like a cough that she couldn't quite shake. It was constantly bothering her and preventing her from breathing properly.
The day after the Halloween party, she was sitting on her bed in her dormitory, listening to Olivia gush and retell the story of her and George finally getting together in detail. She tried so hard to be happy for her friend, and there was no doubt in her mind that she was, but her concentration was elsewhere. When Emerson did not quite react to the recount of George kissing her goodnight, Olivia realised that something was wrong.
"Are you okay, Em? You haven't said very much," Olivia asked curiously, making Emerson jump out of her trance.
She didn't answer for a second, fiddling with the corner of her blanket. Emerson hadn't told Olivia about what happened between her and Mattheo, and she wasn't particularly sure if she intended to tell her about their conversation just yet. "Erm... Yeah... I'm just tired after last night," Emerson shrugged, which was half of the truth. "I'm sorry Liv, I'm truly so overjoyed for you and George. I'm just not feeling the best, I didn't sleep very well when I got back here after the party."
Olivia nodded, not quite sure whether she should believe her or not. She decided to take her word for it, not wanting to push her. There were many days nowadays where her friend struggled with social interaction and conversation due to her withdrawal since losing Cedric. "That's okay. I understand. I'm actually going to go meet up with Fred and George. Did you want to come?"
