#delphini riddle

[glacierberries]

i would love to see a time travel au where a younger voldemort meets delphini

[mistressaugury]

Delphini "Diggory" undercover.

[willdarknessdivideblog]

Back with another Dramione fic🌙

artist: Mr Al

[ameriatenebrae]

Updated version

Why was Bellamort always canon

Delphini Riddle;

I actually don’t believe Delphini was born in 1998. I think it was in 97.

The reason is that in the books, Bellatrix is absent from the entire book. (Except that event in Spinner’s End, which happened in the summer-autumn of 96 and after that we see Bellatrix at the Death Eater meeting, which happens in July 97 but that's in the Deathly Hallows).

That means Bellatrix was absent for at least nine or ten months in that book. You think that’s just a coincidence? And where was she?

In my opinion, after rereading the books for I don't know how many times now (xD) she was glued to LV, who was in my opinion, fully aware of her pregnancy. And since he was traumatized by his mother dying in childbirth (which is also implied in the books), it also makes sense that he wanted her by his side. Another thing is that he certainly didn’t want anyone to see her pregnant. Because I think the death eaters were aware of something going on between them two and LV didn’t want anyone to know that Bellatrix is, indeed, pregnant with his child.

Bella wasn’t there, when Dumbledore was killed. Which I consider strange, because if you like it or not, Bellatrix was a very powerful witch and the highest ranking death eater, considering Lucius failing LV over and over. And no, Snape wasn't the highest ranking either, since LV didn't trust him 100%. LV sent Peter Pettigrew to Spinner's End so he and Snape could spy on each other basically (xD, very mindful, Tom, very demure). (And do you know why? Because Bellatrix had been telling Tom constantly that she doesn’t trust Snape, it seemed like LV ignored her opinion but I think he rethought it and sent PP there just to be sure.)

So why on earth ?! From a strategical point of view, it doesn’t make sense for Bellatrix not to be there?! And LV was aware of that so it must’ve been his meant decision to not send her there.

Just think… It had to be something really, really important… She would’ve been there if it wasn’t.

Delphini could be born in May – June 97. (It would be actually ironic, if she was born the same day Dumbledore died, 30th June 1997… Just a thought!)

Bellamort;

Secondly, I know it’s hard for some people to accept this, but Voldemort did CARE… He maybe didn’t love her or maybe he did, in his own twisted way, because we aren’t talking about fairytale love with these two. But he certainly wasn’t ignorant towards her. (opposite of love). It was unhealthy and toxic but at the same time they were kindred spirits who just accepted each other and even tho LV would never say it out loud, they also needed each other.

“But hE TrEaTeD hER BaDLy”

When exactly did Lord Voldemort treat Bellatrix badly? I can’t recall one time he was harsher to her than to other death eaters. And if you want to bring up that scene at Malfoy Manor, when he humiliated her and the Malfoys. You're right, he did, he enjoyed humiliating people. And yet, he took the shame from her in the next few sentances and focused solely on the Malfoys, because Lucius failed the Ministy mission, not Bellatrix. And he even made it up to her in the next paragraph. He didn't have a reason to be mad at her.

He actually treated her with the most respect he could.

He never punished her badly. Not so harshly like the Malfoys. She is described as unharmed after that fiasco at Malfoy Manor. And what’s more, she is by LVs side in public shortly after, whereas the Malfoys are home prisoned and I think Lucius might've been tortured even. He personally trained her, put his energy and time into her, because he saw potential in her. He saw her madness as a source for her powerful dark magic, not something she should suppress, that’s also why she was so devoted to him. Because he was the only person who respected her for who she was. Because in the end, they were both just two extremly broken souls (pun intended).

Further:

He was the happiest he had been in 14 years when she escaped from Azkaban. You may try to say that he was happy because he had 10 more death eaters. That would make sense if the other page wasn’t talking mainly about Bella. (Remember, JK Rowling was intentional when writing, it’s not a coincidence, that she’s focusing on Bellatrix after that statement. She chose every word of all their interactions and Harry's perspective on them intentionally).

He called her “Bella”, a short version of her name, that only few wizards, mainly her family used. He even called her Bella when he was angry about the borken prophecy.

She was the only one, who wasn't scared to speak first when talking to him or touch him even when he said no.

He entrusted her with his soul, whereas he gave the diary to Lucius just to get it to Hogwarts, never telling him that it’s his horcrux. But the cup was given to Bellatrix for protection. And it’s even symbolic, because that cup was Helga Hufflepuff’s, the founder of the Hufflepuff house which stands for loyalty… and who’s the most loyal servent of the Dark Lord?

He rescued her from the Ministry, I think that’s obvious. He certainly didn’t have to. And yet he did risk the whole operation and exposed himself to the whole Ministry. And we’re still talking about the most selfish man here… but he did it… and he did it just for HER, because he CARED. There’s no other logical explanation to this. He came the second she called him and rescued her because he didn’t want her in Azkaban again.

And you can see the difference in LV's behavior towards Bellatrix, Lucius and the other DEs. He didn't help Lucius to get out of Azkaban right away. Instead, he tasked his only son to kill a man, he himself wasn't able to kill simply to mock and torture him mentally.

Yes, from Dumbledore’s words, we were made to think that Tom really doesn’t care for anyone other than himself. But Dumbledore wasn’t aware of Bellatrix’s status at all! Because he didn’t suspect that Voldemort would give his horcrux to her. But we know, Voldemort did just that. And another problem with Dumbledore's preception on this is that he didn’t know much about Tom’s life (certainly not his private life) after his years at Hogwarts, so he couldn’t know about Tom’s realtionship with Bella. It was just his opinion, not a fact. He said, he *thinks*.

And Voldemort’s reaction to her death… That made everything clear, He cared for Bellatrix more than for the piece of his own soul living in Nagini. He had a worse reaction to Bellatrix's death than to, mind you, Nagini’s death… and she was HIS LAST HORCRUX. He lost the control of his magic (which doesn't happen often, since we're talking about THE Lord Voldemort here). He was so furious that McGonagall, Kingsley and Slughorn (all three very powerful wizards) were blasted through the air because: "Voldemort's fury at the fall of his last best lieutenant exploded with the force of a bomb. Voldemort raised his hand and directed it at Molly Weasley" he even tried to avenge her death and kill Molly. If Bellatrix hadn't meant so much to him, why would he waste his energy and time on killing Molly? Have you seen him avenging the death of someone else except Bellatrix? And if Harry didn't intervene, he would do just that. Because he lost it at that point. Death took another person (first his mother), who loved and admired him uncoditionally. All of his other DEs fleed or died. He knew he was alone and mortal. A human.

In my opinion they led, let's call it a Dual Relationship. As Bellatrix implies that LV tells her everything and yet he tells her to be quiet often. He calls her Bella when they're is just the two of them and mocks her in front of others. There's a disconnect between his behaviour towards her. So, in my deduction; there was Bellatrix Lestrange, the most loyal sevent of Lord Voldemort: which was basically their work mode. (And I'm a bit sad we didn't get more of their team work while fighting because I think they made an excellent work duo.) And then there was Bella and her Lord and their private life. Bellatrix wouldn't be against it being public, I'm sure about that. But I think LV didn't want others to know about him having some feelings or a soft spot for her, it would make both of them more vulnerable = since as you can see above, he lost control over his magic because of her dying. But he didn't manage to hide it that well because even Harry (from whose perspective are the books written) notices that there is something between them; "As to a lover"...

And on top of that, Bellatrix was the ideal match for Tom; a very beautiful, powerful witch from a pureblood family. Devoted solely to him.

So Bellamort had been canon even before the CC was released.

But the biggest question is; Why would Lord Voldemort want a child? A hard one… yes

Some explanations:

a) to continue with the Slytherin bloodline.

b) it was an accident, but he let Bellatrix keep the child, so she could be later trained into really powerful weapon (just like Bella)

c) it was that reward beyond Bellatrix’s dreams, he mentioned earlier in the series. He talked about it in the fourth book when he said that the Lestranges will be rewarded beyond their dreams.

d) last possibility, the most out of Voldemort’s character; In the case horcruxes failed, he would be still “alive” through his daughter. – I personally don’t believe this was the case… but who knows?

To sum it up: Bellamort makes more sense than people think. And the CC just confirmed it. period.

Delphini could be conceived around October 1996 and could be born, not in 1998, but in 1997 (before the Battle of Hogwarts). THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING THIS <3

[leonardomagne]

The Princess of House Black and her Dark Lord 💚🖤❤️‍🔥💗 By @Adelika

[heavenlybodies333]

Sneaking out - T.R. & M.R.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞, 𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨��𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐬. 𝐘/𝐍 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒆𝒕 𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡, 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫.

𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝. 𝐀 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭 𝒄𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐡. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧—

𝑨𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒌.

𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐥𝐚𝐳𝐲 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐘/𝐍 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐡��𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐥. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐝. 𝐀 𝐩𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫. 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞.

"𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫."

𝐘/𝐍 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐰𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐧, 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨 𝐑𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞, 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐥𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐣𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭. 𝐇𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐦.

"𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨, 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭," 𝐘/𝐍 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐥𝐲, 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝. "𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤, 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐢𝐭?"

𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨’𝐬 𝐣𝐚𝐰 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐝, 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐬, 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞—

𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥.

𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬. 𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐑𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞, 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝, 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐲, 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐦, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫.

𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨 𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝.

"𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟," 𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐰, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝.

𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬, 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐭. "𝐈—"

"𝐎𝐧𝐞."

"𝑶𝒌𝒂𝒚, 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒐𝒏—"

"𝐓𝐰𝐨."

"𝐈 𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐄𝐄 𝐒𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐒!" 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐮𝐩.

𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞.

𝐘/𝐍 𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰. 𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐮𝐧𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. "𝑭𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔," 𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝.

"𝐘𝐞𝐬," 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞. "𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞—𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑰 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒂𝒎—"

"𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐠𝐨?"

𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐣𝐚𝐰. "𝐈 ��𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐝—"

"𝐖𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫," 𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐜𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐲, 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫. "𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒆 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐬𝐤."

𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐥𝐬. "𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐠 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥, 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭? 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬—"

"𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐠 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭," 𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰. "𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝?"

𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬. "𝐎𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐝—"

"𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞," 𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐥𝐲.

𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬, 𝐞𝐱𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐞. "𝐈’𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝."

"𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞," 𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐥𝐲. "𝐒𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞."

𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐡. "𝐒𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐈’𝐦 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐰?"

"𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭," 𝐘/𝐍 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧. "𝐓𝐰𝐨 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬. 𝐍𝐨 𝐇𝐨𝐠𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬, 𝐧𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐧𝐨 𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭—"

"𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠?" 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐰. "𝐌𝐮𝐦—"

"𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬," 𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐥𝐲.

𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐳𝐞. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. "𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓?!"

"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠?" 𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐥𝐲. "𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡."

𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭, 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐯𝐢𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫. 𝐇𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭, 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐫.

𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐣𝐚𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝. "𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐞," 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐭. "𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒆."

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐬, 𝐦𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐫.

𝐘/𝐍 𝐞𝐱𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝. "𝐓𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬."

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐫𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞. "𝐇𝐞’𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐞."

𝐘/𝐍 𝐬𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝. "𝐎𝐡, 𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘."

⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ ˚₊‧⁺

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐧𝐮𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐮𝐭, 𝐘/𝐍 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 ��𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐫. 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐠𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐭𝐞.

𝐒𝐡𝐞’𝐝 𝐤𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐇𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐘/𝐍 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭—𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨’𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐬, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭.

𝐀𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐚 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞—𝒐𝒏 𝑴𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒐’𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒌.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭, 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤, 𝐮𝐧𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐬.

𝐇𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐲𝐬.

𝐘/𝐍’𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝. 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟, 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨’𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧, 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐬.

"𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐞. 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥?" 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝.

𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨 𝐣𝐨𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐩. "𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐌𝐮𝐦?!"

𝐘/𝐍 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞-𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐤. “𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬?" 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫.

𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨’𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲. "𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐦𝐞," 𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝. "𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕?"

𝐘/𝐍 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫. "𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨," 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬, "𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞?"

"𝐈’𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭," 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫. 𝐇𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐘/𝐍 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭.

"𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞?" 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦. "𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞. 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐤."

𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐫𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬. “𝐆𝐨𝐝, 𝐌𝐮𝐦, 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩 𝐢𝐭? 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞—𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭?”

"𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐧 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝," 𝐘/𝐍 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥-𝐨𝐧 𝐬��𝐚𝐩. "𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬," 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐬, “𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥. 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨?"

"𝐀𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧," 𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫. "𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐚 𝐛𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬."

𝐘/𝐍 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐛 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦. "𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝐟𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲, 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥—"

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞. 𝐇𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐲’𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐤. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐤 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧.

"𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨?" 𝐓𝐨𝐦’𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐞. "𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠."

𝐘/𝐍 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐦, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. "𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐰𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤," 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭.

𝐓𝐨𝐦’𝐬 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐤 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐰 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝. "𝐒𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭." 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲. "𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈’𝐦 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝐰𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞."

𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨’𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 ��𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐲𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭.

𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐨, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐮𝐩. “𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐨!”

𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦, “𝑺𝒉𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭.”

𝐘/𝐍 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐭. "𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨," 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝, 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬. "𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞?"

𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐮𝐩. "𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐑𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐰, 𝐅𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲. 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐰?"

𝐘/𝐍’𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐧𝐨 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐅𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝. "𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧?" 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐧.

"𝐀 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬," 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝, 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐧��𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞.

𝐘/𝐍 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐭 𝐓𝐨𝐦, 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫-𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. "𝑴𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒔?" 𝐘/𝐍 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠. "𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐬? 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐬����𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝, 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐲𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭?!"

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐥𝐲. "𝐒𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥."

"𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭," 𝐘/𝐍 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨. "𝐋𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞. 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧?"

𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝. "𝐆𝐨𝐝, 𝐌𝐮𝐦—𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭!"

𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐱 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞.

"𝐈’𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭, 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨," 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐚𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭. "𝐈’𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐭."

𝐓𝐨𝐦, 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐰, 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡. "𝐈 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬."

"𝐓𝐨𝐦!" 𝐘/𝐍 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐰. "𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐨. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐚 𝐣𝐨𝐤𝐞."

"𝐀𝐥𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭," 𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. "𝐋𝐞𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐭." 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨. "𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬? 𝐅𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬."

𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒏𝒆𝒅. "𝐘𝐞𝐬, 𝐃𝐚𝐝, 𝐈’𝐦 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐰?"

𝐘/𝐍’𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝. "𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞."

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐢𝐫. 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐭. 𝐘/𝐍, 𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬.

"𝐈𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧?" 𝐘/𝐍 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞 ��𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦. "𝐅𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐈 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧. 𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮?"

𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞. "𝐘𝐞𝐬," 𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐭. "𝐒𝐡𝐞’𝐬... 𝐬𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐦𝐞. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝐌𝐮𝐦."

𝐘/𝐍 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐠𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐰.

"𝐀𝐥𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭," 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐰. "𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭, 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐨𝐧."

𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨’𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫. "𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕?"

"𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭," 𝐘/𝐍 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦𝐥𝐲, 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰. "𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝, 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫? 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐈’𝐦 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝, 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐬."

𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐝. "𝐒𝐡𝐞’𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨."

𝐘/𝐍 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭 𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬.

𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨, 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫, 𝐦𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡. "𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐞. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫. 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞."

𝐀𝐬 𝐘/𝐍 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫.

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a/n: I LOVEEE writing family ones like it’s so fun I have a ton of ideas I’m excited to write

i opened requests in case anyone wants to inspire any writings lol, I will ofc tag you when I post it!

MASTERLIST

[crystcllise]

year 8 harry potter and the cursed child photo drop!!!

[valleyian]

Still frames from my latest TT!

[ostensiblehare]

[ironkoalastrawberry]

Oh my, if Delphi escapes Azkaban, she might kill Scorpius for revenge.

[capriddle]

Voldemort phone:

[mistressaugury]

Delphini: My Dad's pronouns are Was/Were

[willdarknessdivideblog]

Finally posting again but this time make it Dramione✨

artist: dracodormiensss

[the-most-faithful]

Scorpius "jealous boyfriend" Malfoy

Really, how can people not consider The Cursed Child canon when these gems are in it?

And I love how in the new version Scorpius clearly says that Delphi is "old". He's so wild when he's jealous

I'm working on a layout of the new script where Albus and Scorpius are canonically confirmed, and I'm also translating it into Italian if you're interested

[rewritingcanon]

tell me two facts about yourself and i’ll give you a hp next gen character

[heavenlybodies333]

Sibling War - Riddle Family Affair

The Riddle Manor had seen many battles—duels of power, wars of ideology, the clash of darkness and light.

But nothing—nothing—was as violent as the rivalry between Delphini and Mattheo Riddle.

"You absolute dumbass! You took my broom without asking, and now it's snapped in half!" Delphini shrieked, brandishing the broken remnants of her prized Nimbus 2001 like a murder weapon.

Mattheo, sprawled lazily across the velvet couch, didn't even look up from flipping his dagger between his fingers. "Relax, Del. I’ll get you a new one. That thing was ancient anyway."

"Ancient? Ancient?" Her voice climbed an octave, dangerously close to shattering the chandelier above. "That was a collector’s edition, you half-brained, ego-inflated, insufferable—"

"Oh, here we go." Mattheo groaned, rolling his eyes. "Merlin’s balls, you’re such a drama queen. Maybe if you weren’t so busy obsessing over a stupid broom, you’d actually have a life."

Delphini launched herself at him.

Mattheo barely dodged, leaping over the back of the couch as she swung the broken broom at his head. He laughed, dodging her second strike. "You really think you can take me, little sister?"

"You absolute prick—"

Marvolo sighed from his seat by the fireplace, flipping a page in his book. "You know Father is going to kill you both if you destroy the sitting room again."

Delphini hurled a hex. Mattheo dodged, and the spell obliterated a marble bust of Salazar Slytherin.

Marvolo just sighed louder. "And there it is."

"YOU’RE PAYING FOR THAT," Delphini screeched.

Mattheo smirked. "Make me, baby sister."

The house shook as another hex exploded against the walls. The family tapestry burst into flames. An entire bookshelf rattled, and somewhere, a window shattered.

And then—

The temperature dropped.

A sharp, suffocating chill filled the room, and the lights flickered out. Every candle in the manor snuffed out at once. The only sound was the heavy, deliberate click of polished shoes against the marble floor.

The hairs on the back of Marvolo’s neck stood up.

Mattheo and Delphini froze mid-duel.

From the darkness, Tom Riddle emerged.

His robes billowed behind him as if he were some ancient shadow made flesh. His gaze was slow and deliberate as it raked over the ruined room—the broken bust, the smoldering tapestry, the shattered window.

Neither Mattheo nor Delphini moved.

"Would one of you," Tom’s voice was silk stretched over steel, "like to explain to me why my home currently resembles the aftermath of a war zone?"

Silence.

A pause.

Then—

"Delphini started it," Mattheo said immediately.

"You unhinged, gaslighting bastard—"

"Enough." Tom didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t need to.

The air thickened, pressing down on all three of them like gravity itself had turned against them.

Delphini swallowed. Mattheo shut his mouth.

Marvolo, wisely, stayed out of it.

Tom folded his hands behind his back. "You will clean this entire room before dinner. You will repair every inch of damage done to this house." His voice lowered to something far more dangerous. "And you will do so in absolute silence."

Delphini opened her mouth.

Tom’s gaze flickered to her.

She snapped it shut.

"Good." Tom turned, his robes sweeping behind him as he left the room, leaving nothing but cold fear in his wake.

The moment he was gone, Mattheo exhaled, rubbing his face. "You’re so lucky he didn’t Crucio us."

Delphini shoved him. "You’re so lucky I didn’t Crucio you."

Marvolo just flipped another page. "Idiots."

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a/n: I changed my font guys, IDKKK I liked the old one it just made me copy and paste my writing into a font changer and then have to paste it onto here and it just took me forever to get anything done. also I found it a lot harder to read bc the font is bolded so im gonna try this out, maybe I’ll go back but idk 😭 I like this font so far it’s easier on the eyes