A/N: Thanks to Leprechaun123 for beta-reading!
I'm tired
Of tending to this fire
I've used up all I've collected
I have singed my hands
Amelia Winters sat in front of the fireplace in the Ravenclaw common room. It was dim, dark, and depressing.
She looked closely at the flames, an empty feeling in her body. Since last year, she had been feeling that way.
Ever since she became an orphan.
She hated being alone like this. She was a smart aleck and was almost always sarcastic. Not because she thought she was better than others, but because it was her armor, her protection.
No one wanted to get to know her. Or know why she almost cried every time she went to bed. Or know why she thought physical pain was better than emotional.
Amelia listened to music on her Muggle cell phone while she was doing homework.
She listened to a band called twenty one pilots.
They made her feel at least a tiny bit better. The lead singer's voice floated through her ears, making goosebumps rise on her skin.
He told her not to hurt herself, to stay strong, to stay alive.
She felt like she was in the city twenty one pilots talked about in their song, Leave the City.
The city of depression; of lost hope.
She lived there, just trying to get through each day.
The Potter boy, James, seemed to watch her when she walked through the halls, earbuds in, and music blasting.
She wondered why he found her so interesting. She was just Amelia. Plain, boring, sad Amelia.
The Amelia who only listened to the classes she used to enjoy, but even then, she found her mind traveling away to thoughts she should not have.
She tried to ignore him, but the heat from his stare make her neck start to burn with blush.
He spoke to her on the day that was the hardest for her; the anniversary of her parents' death.
"Hey, you alright, Winters?" he said, concern written on his handsome features.
She was sitting underneath a tree by the Black Lake, music playing out loud. She turned it off before turning to him.
She thought about lying to him. About just saying she was fine and being done with it.
But a sob broke its way to the surface and she shook her head before hiding it in her palms. She couldn't believe she was crying out in the open. She couldn't believe she was crying in front of someone she didn't know at all.
She felt him scooping her up in his strong arms and holding her close to his chest.
Once she had calmed down, she sniffed and asked, "Why?"
"Why what?" His voice rumbled through his chest and to her ear.
"Why are you comforting me? You don't know me."
James shrugged. "I've been watching you, and I know that sounds really weird, but I've noticed how sad you are. I wanted to know why, because before last year, you were happy. Now you aren't."
Amelia's blue eyes were wide and she brushed her dark brown hair out of her eyes before looking up at James. She looked like a child but the pain in her eyes told James that she was anything but a child.
"My parents died," she whispered.
His face contorted into pity, and he hugged her close as tears once again filled her eyes.
They became good friends after that.
She shared twenty one pilots with him, and he really enjoyed Ride and My Blood.
She was still in that city, that city the Muggle spoke of with amazing lyrics.
But for now, she would stay alive, and that was good enough for her and James.
In time, I will leave the city
For now, I will stay alive.
But this year
Though I'm far from home
In Hogwarts I'm not alone
Disclaimer: the two pieces of lyrcis are from Leave the City by twenty one pilots. I do not own it. I changed TRENCH to Hogwarts. Again, I do not own the lyrics or anything by twenty one pilots.