ᴍᴜɢɢʟᴇ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇᴏʀʏ

➳ 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 ~ 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬 & 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡

This chapter is dedicated to JilyShips69 just to prove to him that I'm not dead. Sorry for taking a million years to reply to messages!
♥️♥️♥️

(4th March 1978)

Time is not real- and yet it is a gulf between them. Time ticks by in its peripheral way, marking the days, the weeks, as if they mean something; and yet the only way to measure moments passing seems to be time. Time waits for no man, settles no quarrel, and heals no wounds– at least not these wounds.

Esme-Leigh knew it probably wasn't the best way to spend her morning, but it helped to know he was okay. She sat on the roof of one of the many corners of Hogwarts castle. One that gave her a clear view of the lake, and of the budding spring around it.

March had brought a new sense of aspiration to the world. Plants began to dream of flowering and the sun dared to shine warmer. The winds no longer howled, but whistled hopeful tunes instead, blowing air that wasn't bitter and spiteful, but new and jovial.

But March brought nothing of the sort for Esme-Leigh Bisset. It was almost as if March had forgotten she were there, and left her behind in its efforts to change the world around her. She watched the seasons change, from on top of the roof, watching but not participating. Much like the rest of her life.

But for now, Esme-Leigh was content to be left behind, time had set its limits, and it was running out as far as she was concerned. She had set herself a target: find a reason to stay by Easter, or go to France. Yet, ever since her failed date with James, now exactly a fortnight ago, she had effectively given up. Time was running out –and just like the season's change– she was electing to let it do so without her.

Esme-Leigh watched many things without hope that morning. But the reason she was there was to see him. They hadn't spoken, but she'd watched him– James. He was running around the lake at a leisurely pace, becoming almost part of the setting around him, the scenery. It hits Esme then, that James runs unaffected, although she's heard from Aliona that he is. Apparently he's more miserable than he was before their date, and it makes Esme feel even more selfish than she did before. Because her selfishness, and her eagerness for a reason, lead her here, making James miserable by being someone he can't love.

Since they were thirteen and old enough to know that love was important, the world around them had managed to convince them that they should love each other. They were pretty, they were friends, they were popular. Somewhere along the line it begun to mean something; and somewhere along the line a tether had formed, convincing them that one day they would end up together, just like everyone had said. And one day they would be old, and people would say 'I told you so' and they would smile and nod, in love because they were told so.

But she had kissed him, and the fireworks didn't blow, and the love didn't pour from her chest, and nothing happened. And just like that, everything they had been told was stripped away from them; their unspoken tether was broken, they weren't in love. No matter who told them so.