[2] after darkness → tom riddle

Chapter Twenty-Five: Emory and Fionn

It had been three months since Ophelia disappeared. No one, not a single soul had heard from her. Her office at work began collecting dust, but her colleagues didn't want to give up on her. She wasn't coming back anytime soon either. In the letter she left on her desk, she said she was lost - she wasn't Ophelia Lockwood and she wasn't Ophelia Oliphant. She was just Ophelia, a girl with no family.

It literally killed Ophelia's mother when she went missing. Lillian Lockwood died two days after her daughter's disappearance was announced due to the heartbreak. Adonis and George Lockwood couldn't cope. They lost two of the most important women in their lives in a space of two days.

It was Emory who realised she was gone. A week after he left their home he returned, first, he popped round to Dove and Rune's to leave Emma and Nikolai with them whilst he went and apologised. He asked how she was, but they thought they had left together. The day after Emory and the children left they went round to see her, but no one answered, it wasn't until Ophelia didn't turn up for work on Monday and that they found her letter that they realised she was gone. She booked the Friday off, so her work friends and colleagues' didn't assume anything was wrong when she didn't turn up on Friday.

When Emory found their rings next to each other, his heart broke further. He ruined it because he was hurt. He didn't see at the time that his wife did what was best, and now he had lost her again. Emma didn't understand at first, she thought her mother was working extra long like she used to. It finally clicked after the third day of being back home.

In the three months she has been gone, Morgandy has given birth to her and Michael's second daughter, Evelyn. She was born on Anwen's 13th birthday. Nikolai had forgotten her, he couldn't remember her face, after all, he was two-year-old when she left.

One person in particular who stood out the most after Ophelia disappeared was Orion. He became a more frequent visitor, his relationship with his sister became stronger to the point they were back to normal, as for his relationship with Harlen - the two learned to forgive one another.

Orion had told the group how Ophelia came and visited Tom before she disapparated. With Orion, Alatar and Tom being the last ones to see her before she disapparated, Orion and Alatar felt like they owed Harlen and the others the support they needed. Because of this, Harlen's strained relationship with his brother somewhat improved.

It was eating Emory up. He had given custody of Emma and Nikolai over to his parents while he struggled with his emotions. George, Ophelia's father, was able to have the children whenever he wanted, he even moved in with Emory's parents for a bit, as he couldn't stand to be in his house back in Swansea on his own.

Adonis had left the day after his mother's funeral to start looking for his sister. The group gets updates from his team every now and again, but there's no news on the whereabouts of Ophelia.

To keep his mind off of things, Emory headed back to Hogwarts. He knew teaching would take his mind off of Ophelia, that was until Fionn Walker, walked into his third-year study of Ancient Runes class. When Emory saw him for the first time, he knew instantly it was him. He was almost starstruck, he was the perfect mix of Ophelia and Tom; Ophelia's nose and freckles as well as her hair and smile, but Tom's skin tone, eye colour and bone structure. He was built like Tom too, thin but had some muscle so he wasn't sickly thin.

When he taught Fionn for the first time, he thought he was going to be harsh, but Fionn was literally Ophelia. It almost brought him to tears. He knew everything about Ancient Runes, even the more advanced stuff he would learn in his seventh year. He was Ophelia's son alright, Emory only regretted not hearing Ophelia out. The first third-year class of the year he dismissed early, half an hour early to be exact. Anwen came to check up on him afterwards, but there was no avail.