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...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
In the days following Christmas, the air between Emerson and Mattheo became oddly serene. They started to fall into a a peculiar routine, which neither of them expected. With the castle nearly empty, and both of their friends all home for the holidays, they found themselves spending more and more time together as they were left in a world that felt like their own.
It was odd at first. Their paths began to cross and intwine coincidentally, or so Emerson thought. It seemed as if they were always wandering into each other's orbit.
They had always despised each other, clashing at every twist and turn whenever they came across each other. Yet now, their relationship was completely unrecognisable. The tension that had once defined their interactions was replaced by something softer, something that neither could quite put a name to. The tentative truce between them never ended after Christmas Day, even though they only ever agreed for it to last for the one day. It was an unspoken understanding, a mutual agreement to let the walls down just a little bit more.
Normally, Emerson hated their encounters in the corridors, because it usually involved some jesting and constant staring from the Slytherin but it was different now. Both of them were subconsciously seeking each other out, drawn by a strange, unspoken understanding. Conversations that once ended in sharp words and glares now lingered with curiosity and sincerity. Their history of animosity was slowly but surely dissolving.
At first, Mattheo randomly wandered into the library while Emerson was studying alone. She was trying to catch up on her Fifth Year study over the Christmas holidays while the castle was tranquil, without any distractions. When he noticed her, he immediately wandered over to her desk. He felt immediately drawn to the opportunity to spend time with Emerson.
She didn't glare at him, or tell him to piss off as he sat at the chair across from her, instead, she welcomed him with a soft expression and a nod, a silent invitation for him to join her. She assumed it was purely coincidental, that he was there at the same time as her. She couldn't know that Mattheo explored the entire castle before finding her in the library.
Before Christmas, Emerson would've lost her absolute marbles if Mattheo sat with her in the library, but she found herself starting to enjoy it. Their usual snarky remarks and hostility was absent, replaced by a tentative camaraderie.
From time to time, Emerson caught Mattheo sneaking glances at her over the top of his book, but his eyes were always soft. It was as if he was seeing her very differently to how he'd always seen her after their previous interactions. He had always considered her to be such a fierce and defiant person, who was perfectly polished at every corner but she wasn't. He was starting to realise that she wasn't as self-righteous and prude as he once thought. She had shown him a side to her that he never knew, and he couldn't help but be captivated by it and yearning to know more.
Without realising, Mattheo also found Emerson staring at him from time to time, as if she was trying to come to terms with the real version of Mattheo that no one ever knew or saw. She was trying to understand the enigma that he was. There was a depth to his dark brown eyes that somehow consumed her, a complexity that made her wonder about his life and the struggles he faced, that no one knew about.
