Leave Out All The Rest

Voices

Chapter Fourteen: Voices

POV: Emily

I was heading toward the greenhouses where we Gryffindors have Herbology with the Ravenclaws when I noticed a shadow following after mine. There were too many thoughts running circles in my head, creating jumbled images and incoherent mutterings, that for the last seven floors of the castle, main corridor, and the long pebbled pathway of the grounds I thought the extra shadow was just part of my mess of a brain. I took the opportunity to look over my shoulder when a huddle of First Years passed me; the shadow following after mine belonged to James Sirius Potter.

Of course.   

Sighing, I turned back to the stretch of grass ahead of me as James began to shove the First Years that got in his way. I made sure to not meet his eye or else he'd take it as a welcome sign for him to talk to me. 

Most days, I was all for having a conversation with James. Most days, I would gravitate toward James. There was something about him—a way he had about himself that made me believe he could conquer the world on his own. His voice had the power to do that; when he spoke to me, his words found my eardrums like music finds the soul. Every little syllable that passed his mouth was a melody, something light and carefree. It was like the sound of the wind. 

He was the wind.

He was light, too. He was the type of blinding light anyone would follow down dark roads—down dark, treacherous roads that are all laid out in front of me.

Still...It was on days like these that I did not need him around. I did not need his constant, self-imposed urge to protect me from the world. I needed to be alone. But James does not do well when it comes to respecting boundaries (just like the wind cannot be secluded behind a limit line).

"Em!"

Just as James' shadow was a few inches from aligning with mine, it came to an abrupt stop when my best friend's voice drifted toward me.

I turned to find Scorpius rushing in my direction, his robes flapping all around, platinum hair disheveling, too. I could have laughed at the scene, but his hardened expression left no room for it. 

James must have noticed what I had because he slowly retreated back, meshing in with a group of students. I did not miss the sad glint in his brown eyes.

"Hey, Scor," I greeted with a smile.

"Why was Potter following you?" Scorpius demanded instantly. He turned his glare in the direction of James, who was terrible at being inconspicuous. 

"Was he?" I returned. "I didn't notice."

"Did he do something to you, Em?"

"What? No! Of course not," I said immediately, bewilderment surely making my eyes gape back at him. "Why would you say that? James has always been nice to me."

Scorpius did not look to be convinced. "I'd believe that if he wasn't around every time something is wrong with you."

I adjusted the strap of my schoolbag, clearing my throat so I could say, "You needn't worry about James. You know he's just taken it upon himself to be my own personal guard ever since the Unforgivable Curse. It's like that one time last year, remember? I broke my wrist during a Care of Magical Creatures lesson and he attended it with me for the next two weeks?"