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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The weight of the previous night still sat heavily in Emerson's chest the next morning, a tangled mess of revelations and emotions she hadn't yet begun to unravel.
Every time she closed her eyes when she tried to sleep afterwards, she saw him. His bruised knuckles flexing and the intensity in his dark eyes as he let every carefully guarded secret fall at her feet. She could still hear his voice, low and rough with confession. She could also feel the phantom press of his touch on her waist, her wrists and the back of her neck. It was maddening how much space he took up in her mind. She couldn't shake him even now, as she walked through the castle with Olivia by her side.
She had hardly slept. Even when she did, her dreams were filled with him. His voice replayed in her thoughts like a record on repeat. How he received the orders from his father. How he had used her to find out information about Harry. How he meant to keep her at a distance to protect her but couldn't. With every confession, came with a desperate look that it had all stopped being a lie.
"It was always real to me."
His words stayed with her, pressing against her chest with an unbearable weight.
The castle felt colder than usual, the crisp December air curling through the corridors as Emerson and Olivia made their way toward the carriages from the Ravenclaw Common Room. Snow blanketed the grounds, turning everything into a quiet, glistening expanse of white.
Emerson should have been thinking about home. It was the first time that her mother invited her home over the Christmas holidays, completely taking Emerson by surprise. Her mother worked every single holiday at the Ministry of Magic. Emerson stopped expecting an invitation home years ago.
Olivia groaned beside her, dragging her trunk along the stone floor with very little effort to keep it quiet. "I think I might actually die," She muttered, her voice hoarse. "I need about ten liters of water and a potion to wipe my memory of last night."
Emerson raised an eyebrow, lips twitching in amusement. "Didn't you have enough eggnog?"
Olivia made a noise between a scoff and a groan. "Oh, we finished the eggnog after about 2 hours. That's when things got bad. Enzo had the brilliant idea to go straight for the rum," She shook her head, wincing. "I don't even know how I made it back to the dorm. Theo had to practically carry me."
At the mention of Theo, Olivia suddenly seemed to remember herself, because her tired eyes sharpened as she glanced up ahead. Standing near the oak doors, hands in the pockets of his robes, was Theo himself. He didn't look like someone who spent the night drinking copious amounts of alcohol, but rather like someone who was waiting for something.
Or rather, someone.
Emerson watched as Olivia straightened slightly, her hangover momentarily forgotten as Theo's gaze locked onto hers. It was subtle; the way Olivia's lips twitched and the way Theo's shoulders relaxed as she approached. Emerson suddenly felt like an intruder in a moment she didn't entirely understand.
