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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Olivia didn't bring up the topic of Mattheo again after Emerson's confession in the Gryffindor Common Room. Emerson was grateful for this, because she didn't want to talk about Olivia's insane theory that Mattheo might actually like her. She knew it was impossible. She also didn't need the reminder that they were no longer friends anymore, not that it mattered anyway.
Somehow, she couldn't shake the nagging thoughts of Mattheo that seemed to cling to her every waking moment. It wasn't even like he was around to haunt her of their broken friendship. In actuality, Mattheo was completely absent altogether.
As the days passed since the Gryffindor party, Emerson started to realise that she hadn't seen Mattheo anywhere. He wasn't present in the Great Hall of in the corridors between classes where she was accustomed to randomly bumping into him. He didn't even attend their their shared Herbology class on Wednesday morning, which made the worry inside of her grow into something darker. She didn't even realise that she was waiting for him to appear throughout the lesson, her eyes flickering to the door every few minutes for any sign of those dark brown eyes. But, the spot beside Theo and Enzo at their station remained empty.
She should've dreaded seeing him, but her eyes instinctively searched for him. She knew that when she saw him, it would make her chest clench because they were no longer friends but she didn't care. His absence was strange. And, the worst part of it all was that she somehow missed him. She never expected that feeling to ever be associated with Mattheo. It left Emerson unsure of how much more of this she could take.
On Thursday morning, there was a darker type of announcement that settled over the Great Hall during breakfast. Emerson and Olivia were sitting at the Gryffindor Table with Fred, George, Harry, Ron and Hermione, rather than the Ravenclaw Table. George's arm was wrapped around Olivia's shoulder, as everyone spoke and enjoyed their breakfast. As they did every morning, Emerson's eyes drifted over to the Slytherin table but she was met with disappointment once more. Mattheo was nowhere to be seen at the Slytherin Table with Enzo and Theo.
"Oh my-," Hermione slapped a hand over her mouth as she unfolded the Daily Prophet.
"What?" Ron and Harry said in unison, looking at her in surprise.
For an answer, Hermione spread the newspaper on the table in front of them and pointed at ten black-and-white photographs that filled the whole of the front page, nine showing wizards' faces and the tenth, a witch's. Some of the people in the photographs were silently jeering; others were tapping their fingers on the frame of their pictures, looking insolent. Each picture was captioned with a name and the crime for which the person who was sent to Azkaban.
Emerson's eyes widened when they landed on the black-and-white photo of the witch. She recognised her instantly. She knew who it was, without having to read the name underneath it. Her heart was already beating fast as she read the writing underneath:
