Emily yawned loudly, fuzzy lines appearing around the bookshelves. Her visions doubled as she rubbed the tears out of her eyes.
"Finally woke up?"
"Sorry Tom. I'm really tired," she slumped her shoulders, staring at her half finished work.
"I expect you to be fully alert for the tutor today..."he drawled, flipping into another page of his textbook.
"Can we go back? It's pretty late at night already... I'm really tired," Emily crossed her arms and rested her head on the table.
"We're continuing tomorrow," Tom shut his book and stood up. Emily packed the bottles of ink and her quills, stuffing a few books into her leather backpack.
"Goodnight," he reached for her hand but she stumbled back at his touch. She didn't mean to, but after that day, she - didn't want to be near him that often.
Tom didn't take her sudden action as a 'no' and wrapped his hands around her, not letting Emily to get away. She had no choice but to stay in his arms.
Emily gaze up at his handsome face. She hugged him tightly, her tears leaking out as she buried her face into his robes. She was so afraid for him, but he wouldn't listen! Tom ignored her pleading and kept telling her that power is what builds a person up, and only the best can have it.
She clenched her hands around his clothes. Tom noticed her tensed position.
"Emily?"
She was now trembling. She felt like she was breaking into little pieces, bit by bit. Her little hands were squeezing his dark robes tightly and they shook a little.
"Emily," he repeated, pulling her away but she didn't want to. Helpless. Guilt. Sadness. All of that applied to her. Emily quickly broke off, pulling herself out from his grip and ran out of the doors. She couldn't stand the pain anymore.
She slowly calmed herself down as she made her way into the common room, only to be greeted by a grim face.
"Hello Rebecca," she whispered, "What are you doing?"
"Oh this? Homework," she laughed, "It's quite late. I'll be going to sleep first. You might want to.. Talk to your boyfriend."
She stared at her friend, confused, but soon realised that Connor was sitting in an armchair, watching the flames crackled in the fireplace.
"Hey," he cracked into a smile as he saw her. Connor had shades of black under his eyes, but he tried his best to pretend that he was alright.
"Hi..." she dropped herself onto the couch, "Why do you looked so tired?"
"Hm? Oh nothing much.." he tore his gaze away from her and stared at the falling snow outside.
"What's wrong, Con? Do tell me," she came closer to him. All the days that Emily had neglected him had fall upon her, making her feel shameful.
"Con? Is this a new nickname?" he made a cheerful smile for her.
Emily grinned, "Yeah.."
His face quickly brightened up at her delighted expression. "Hey um, I haven't told you this yet, but I'll be away."
"Away?" she looked at him in disbelief, "Where?"
"Professor Dippet had approved of my father's request. I'll be with my uncle doing some... Business," Connor smiled a bit.
Emily looked at him. He had always smiled like everything's fine but his eyes told her the opposite.
"What is it that you're not telling me?"
He looked a bit alarmed."What? I had told you everything already."
"Con, you don't need to lie. Please tell me! You don't need to hide anything.. I'm not afraid," she blurted out.
Her boyfriend let out a small sigh, "I-it's an auror training, I had wanted to pursue quidditch as a career, but - my heart told me something else. If I had to protect you, then - I would need to know how to. What I meant to say was - I want to be an auror, and I'm already starting my training... "
Emily heart's pounded quickly," An auror? But - isn't it dangerous, Con? "
"N-no not really..." he forced a smile, "We're hunting down a little clan that called themselves the 'Death Eaters'.. We still don't know who's leading it, but - we're going to stop them. They've been terrorising people, stealing dark objects and transporting it to places.."
"You don't have to go!" she protested, "You can stay here, I -"
"I made up my mind, sweetheart. There's - there's a huge percent that I might not come back alive..."
"Please, Con!" she tugged onto his jumper, "It's very dangerous! You can't risk your life again! Not this time..." she lose her voice and let out a sob.
He pulled her into a tight hug, "It'll be alright. I'm leaving tomorrow... We're going to patrol Diagon Alley first. There's a dark place there called 'knockturn alley' and there's a high chance that death eaters will be there. Its a shame that their leader was never with them.. I wonder how they got orders.. "
"Tomorrow? Why so soon?" she cupped his face, her eyes filled with fresh tears and worry.
"Because they've got a meeting. We need to start the procedures as soon as possible. Have a peaceful night," he kissed her and went to his dormitory.
Emily's heart felt so down. She whimpered, her chest heaving quickly as she took in air and sobbed. She was going to really lose everything and everyone.