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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Valentine's Day dawned cold and grey on Hogwarts, never feeling as cruel on Emerson as it did this year. Everyone else looked past it, excited because the day fell on a Hogsmeade weekend which meant all of the couples in the school were heading to the Three Broomsticks, Honeydukes or Madam Puddifoot's for a day filled with love and affection.
To Emerson however, the sky was a murky canvas that reflected the heaviness in her chest. It was a cruel reminder of her feelings towards this day, which she dreaded in her calendar.
She awoke with a start, her heart pounding, sweat dampening her brow. The remnants of yet another nightmare about Cedric's death clung to her consciousness like cobwebs that she couldn't swat away. It was vivid, too vivid, as if she actually witnessed his death. Cedric's face haunted her subconscious at night. The nightmares always started off the same: memories of his laughter, his warm presence and the way he used to make her feel safe in a world that never was before he was gone in an instant, cruelly taken away from her again.
He was always taken, sometimes murdered in different ways but a part of her always knew that he died in a flash of green light, quick and painless, at the hand of Voldemort. She squeezed her eyes shut, but it didn't stop the ache in her chest. The day loomed over her, a painful reminder of what she had lost.
Cedric was supposed to be here. And if he was, she wouldn't be facing Valentine's Day alone.
The empty space in her life beside her felt suffocating. Last year, he spoiled her with chocolates and a bouquet of flowers. Peonies to be exact, because those were her favourite. They spent the day sharing a picnic at their spot by the Black Lake, with whispered promises and secret smiles between them. The Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament was around the corner, but Cedric didn't care. He wasn't worried about it. His focus was completely on Emerson. It was an incredible day, and it made Emerson look forward to the next Valentine's Day that she should've spent with him.
Now, the day was just an aching void. It wasn't filled with those incredible moments she once hoped for. I'll she could do was replay memories in her mind that hurt more than they healed. She missed him, desperately. More than anything, she missed the way he used to make everything better, even when the world was falling apart. And no matter how much time passed, that emptiness inside her refused to heal. She couldn't help but feel that the world moved on without him, but she was left behind.
Without him, the world felt dull and cold. She had no Valentine and no Cedric. He was stolen from her, and nothing could ever replace him.
She couldn't deny the fact that she somehow felt less alone when she was spending time with Mattheo over Christmas. Even though the holiday was a dark time for her since it was her first Christmas without Cedric Mattheo's presence had somehow dulled the sharpness of her pain. Her nightmares had lessened and the heavy weight on her chest felt lighter in his presence.
