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 moment Mattheo disappeared down the corridor, Emerson felt the weight of his absence press against her chest like an avalanche she wasn't at all prepared for. She stood there, unmoving, heart pounding in a way that made it hard to breathe as if her body was fighting something invisible.
He didn't tell her anything. Not really. No specifics and no explanation. None of it made sense. He didn't even tell her why she needed to stay in her dormitory. All she got from him was that look on his face and the way he spoke like it might be the last time they saw each other.
It wasn't even the cryptic words that haunted her. It was the way he said them and kissed her forehead like a goodbye.
Her mind wouldn't stop racing.
What was going on?
Why tonight?
Why the desperation in his voice?
Why the heartbreak in his eyes?
She wanted to run after him and demand the truth. She wanted to throw her promise back at him and make him tell her everything. She could force it out of him if she tried. But she didn't.
She saw something in him she wasn't sure she ever saw before in him.
Fear.
Not for himself. But for her. It scared her more than anything else ever could. What could make Mattheo so afraid?
Emerson's feet moved before her mind caught up. She didn't know where she was going, only that she couldn't go back to the Ravenclaw dormitory yet. She couldn't crawl into bed and pretend everything was fine. She couldn't sit in the Ravenclaw Common Room either, pretending not to imagine the worst possible outcomes. The silence would have devoured her entirely like a delicious meal. Her mind was already clawing at the walls of her skull like a wild thing trying to escape.
"I need to know you're safe tonight." "Please promise me." "Don't ask me questions I can't answer."
She chewed on those words like glass, each one cutting deeper into her thoughts with the sharp edge of dread.
So she went to the only place, other than the Astronomy Tower, that distracted her when she felt like she was losing control.
The library.
She hadn't stepped foot in the Astronomy Tower since that night, and she didn't intend to either. There were too many memories there underneath the stars that she wasn't quite ready to face.
By the time she reached the library, she didn't even remember the walk there. It was a crazy feeling, not remembering the path itself. The corridors blurred past in streaks of darkened torchlight, and the cold stone beneath her shoes barely registered. All she knew was that she needed somewhere quiet to stop herself from completely falling apart.
