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 first thing Emerson felt the next morning was warmth.
But it was not the kind that came from the rising sun spilling gold across the Astronomy Tower, though that light was there too. It was soft and hazy through her closed eyelids. This warmth was solid. It rose and fell beneath her cheek.
She didn't open her eyes at first. She just listened. In the distance, she could hear wind, gentler than the night before, the sound of distant birds beginning their morning chorus and the quiet hum of Hogwarts waking up far below.
And a heartbeat directly beneath her ear.
Her lashes fluttered open.
Sunlight spilled gold across the Astronomy Tower, streaking over the stone and catching the edges of the picnic blanket beneath them. The pillows were still there, charmed into impossible comfort. The blanket tucked around them was warm.
Emerson was still curled into Mattheo's chest exactly as she had fallen asleep. His arms were still wrapped tightly around her waist, one hand spread possessively along her lower back, the other positioned at her hip as if even in sleep he'd refused to risk losing her.
Her heart stuttered at the sensation of him.
For one fleeting second, Emerson wondered if she'd dreamt it. If the night before was some cruel and beautiful illusion her mind had conjured because she wanted it too badly.
But it wasn't a dream. Last night rushed back in pieces that felt almost too big to hold all at once. Her voice shaking as she told him she loved him. His face falling apart in anger and pain at himself. The Amatura Ruptura shattering between them like glass dissolving into nothing. Him spinning her around in the air. Mattheo asking, no, telling, her to be his girlfriend.
Her cheeks warmed at the memory of the rest of it. The way he'd moved and how careful he was. Mattheo checked her face, her breathing and her consent, like nothing mattered more than making sure she was still there with him.
Her stomach flipped, half shock and half disbelief.
Emerson was dating Mattheo Riddle.
They'd broken the Amatura Ruptura curse.
They'd slept together.
She let out the smallest breath of laughter at the absurdity of it all. Heat crept up her neck at the memory, but it wasn't embarrassment. It was disbelief.
They had done it. They had crossed every invisible line that had been holding them back for years.
She shifted slightly, testing the reality of it. The blanket beneath them still felt impossibly soft from the charm he'd cast. His jumper hung loosely on her frame. His skin was warm against hers.
