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 day after New Year's Day, Hogwarts stopped pretending it was quiet.
The oak doors groaned open again and again as students poured back into the castle, dragging trunks behind them reluctantly, shoulders slumped and faces drawn with the collective misery of people returning to something they tried very hard not to think about.
Laughter was muted. Excitement was scarce. The brief illusion of safety and warmth that Christmas brought to their homes was gone, replaced by the oppressive awareness of the Carrows' ruling.
Emerson was standing just inside the Entrance Hall when the first wave came through.
She leaned against one of the cold stone pillars, arms folded loosely, watching familiar faces reappear as she waited patiently. A small amount looked relieved to be back despite everything, while the rest were clearly wishing they'd missed the train entirely. The ceiling was dull and undecorated, the enchanted sky above a flat winter grey. It still didn't feel like Hogwarts had fully come back to life.
Then she heard it.
"Oh, absolutely not, Darcy, you threw that one at my head."
"That's a lie, Elena did."
"I did not, Darcy started it!"
Emerson's mouth curved into a smile before she even turned around at the sound of the Montgomery siblings.
Olivia was wrestling her trunk through the doors, one hand gripping the handle, the other rubbing absently at her shoulder as she yawned wide enough to be dramatic about it. Darcy and Elena flanked her, bickering like it was a competitive sport, both of them red-cheeked from the cold and still half-wrapped in winter coats, Elena wearing her more glamorous version as always.
"I swear," Olivia groaned, voice thick with sleep deprivation. "I can still feel the bruises. I told you both: our annual snowball fight, not attempted murder."
"You're just bitter because you lost," Darcy shot back, hopping over a crack in the stone floor.
"I didn't lose," Olivia replied coolly. "I strategically retreated."
Elena snorted. "You tripped."
Olivia stopped walking abruptly, trunk bumping into the back of her heel. She turned slowly, fixing both of her younger siblings with a glare.
"I still have bruises," She hissed. "From our completely unhinged snowball war. And do you know what I'd like? Just once?"
They both blinked at her, not sure.
"To sleep," Olivia continued coldly. "On the Hogwarts Express. Instead of listening to the two of you argue about whose aim is worse while using me as a human shield."
Elena opened her mouth, thought better of it and shut it again.
Darcy muttered. "You did volunteer."
"I volunteered to sit with you rather than finding Neville, Luna and Ginny," Olivia snapped. "Not to be assaulted by my own siblings."
