#delphini gaunt

[motherfuckingmaneater]

“For Voldemort and for valour!” Cried the Augury, their beloved herald of death, to the thousands. Each returned her cry, each following her chant, entirely enraptured by her, “for Voldemort and for valour!”

[overlord-of-fantasy]

Soooo, according to the play, Delphi grew up with death eaters, right? She probably wasn't allowed to learn anything about the muggle world. And children love the forbidden...

What if Delphini, in some (for the snakeman) cruel twist of fate, became absolutely obsessed with her muggle lineage instead.

I mean, just imagine:

Little Delphi at the dinner table: Who cares if I am a descendant of Slytherin and the house of Black? My great-grandparents fought in and survived world war one! And I am also a descendant of several kings! Isn't that the really impressive thing? Did you know that one of Mary Riddle's nieces was a famous film star? I want to be a filmstar too, when I grow up!

Rodolphus: *Just starts crying*

I just had to draw this version of her lol

[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 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 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 𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐭 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 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐝—"

"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 ��𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡. 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 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 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 𝒏𝒆���𝒌.

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 ��𝐚𝐬𝐧’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 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐩. "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 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 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 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞.

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 𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 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 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭��𝐨𝐧 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 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 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.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

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

[overlord-of-fantasy]

I love the idea, since albinism can cause blindness and I know from fact-videos (lol) that there is a blind Gaunt in canon, who knows a spell that he uses as an aid. He is also pretty pale:

Maybe albinism runs in the family, as blind people don't die if a basilisk looks at them... and the gaunts are super inbred, so it would make sence that more then one Gaunt would have it.

If Delphini (who can also fly and is therefore magically powerful) knows the aid spell too, she might be able to hide her blindness. And it might explain why she runs into things sometimes and trips quite often. I bet the spell isn*t as affective if she doesn't have her wand out like the other Gaunt (I forgot his name lol)

Hi! I headcanon Delphini as albino (because of the white hair, that none of her parents have), what do you think?

YES there is a form of Albinism where it can just effect hair or eyes. I had a friend who was northern Indian who had no skin pigment and no eye pigment but his head of hair was the normal natural black.

So her's could just effect her hair.

Also it might help her hide more. Since it was Harry who said she looked much like Bellatrix.:

HARRY/VOLDEMORT: I am familiar with Bellatrix and there are certain similarities in your face-

So her being a little different could give her free range. Move about without people with PTSD about Bellatrix going after her. Likely explains her intense make up too. Trying to hide in plain sight.

Ooh that does bring up if Euphemia Rowle might have guessed who Delphi mother was.

You have seriously given me so many new things to ponder.

[crookshanksagentofowca]

The reason Delphi is called the Augury in the Dark timeline (where she was raised by her parents and not bullied by Euphemia Rowle) is because of the old legend of an Aurgury’s cry fortelling death. The Death Eaters started calling her that when she was a baby because anyone who made her cry was going to get killed by her parents.

[wookiecookiesfactory]

What is Meropes opinion on Belatrix? If Belatrix has a huge crush on her son Tom?

HI! Such an interesting question!

In my AU where Merope survives, Tom would be around 40 to make their relationship not totally creepy (remember in this AU voldemort is suppoused to end up as a somewhat decent guy) At first she might think Bella is sort of an odd young girl (but she gets its, her son is handsome and intelligent, after all) and Merope can tell she is really fancy, even more so Cecilia was, which she doesnt like all that much (she ships her son with either hagrid/myrtle LMAO)but she doesnt hate bellatrix and Bella seems so enthusiastic and devoted to Tom that I think Merope would eventually like her.

Bellatrix however LOVES Merope from the get go (and she is oblivious to merope initial apprehension) Bella likes her as much as she would anything Tom related, but fr she thinks that old lady is genuinely adorbs (merope is in her 60 by this point)

If they met in the afterlife Merope would just ask bomb her about her grand daugther (delphini is canon when I want her to be)

[daughterofyourdarklord]

You've disappointed me, greatly Delphini. What do you think your father will say when he finds out? You've put me in an impossible position.

Delphini scoffs, glaring up at her mother with her father’s dark eyes before turning away from the witch, arms crossing around her small frame tightly. 

“What do you think he will say?” She hisses, teeth grit. “I suppose, I deliberately disobeyed him, didn’t I? Went to see our 'ancestral home' - if you can even call it that - without specific approval. And, clearly, I’m not the first one! If he tried to hide it away with enchantments someone ripped that magic apart long ago! I hardly even recognized his signature on that place…” Delphini looks over her shoulder slightly.

She doesn’t voice the thought that he probably prefers it that way. 

“He’s so cryptic with everything. So controlling - it's all just leverage. It’s almost as though I don’t carry that same blood in my veins…share in the same legacy,” or burden, “he’s trying to hide!”  She whirls around at that, hand pressing hard into her heart as though it could further emphasize her frustration.

Bellatrix does not look amused. 

Delphini knows it's not her job to understand Him. She's meant exclusively to obey and excel, not to understand. Her loyalty to her father is unwavering, surely he won't see this as some sort of betrayal?

Her anger is slowly giving way to a familiar anxiety. That horrible panic that engulfs her each time she doesn't quite meet their expectations flowing in like the tide.

He always encouraged her curiosity before...hadn't he?  Secretly, Delphini figured in some roundabout way he always meant for her to go, dangling the Gaunt's out in front of her like a prize to be won.  

"I just wanted to see it...I need to know..." She can feel her heartbeat in her throat, hands trembling lightly.

"Hasn't he taken you?"

[capriddle]

Analyzing, the Gaunts being Salazar's heirs would be a sort of royal family but fallen into disgrace, while the Blacks are the larger noble family that would have supplanted them. Seen from this perspective, Bellatrix and Voldemort are a sort of prince and princess who unite families and produce the royal heir.

[jlhynde-insanitybrilliance]

UDLTTOM DIALOGUE DRAFT #93

*Undersecretary Gaunt watches his daughter Delphini get bullied*

Gaunt (to Delphi): Hey what was that? Why didn’t you fight back?

Delphi: You told me to strive for verbal resolution.

Gaunt: Fuck verbal resolution! Here’s what you do, Delphi, you put that bitch on her back. You put her on her back and you gut her, understand? If someone comes at you, you put them and their whole family in the morgue. Otherwise you’re going to find yourself getting sold for a packet of cigarettes and stick of chewing gum, understand? Always answer violence with violence.

Delphi:… okay, daddy.

*Delphi proceeds to break a little ballerina’s arm*

Gaunt (grinning): That’s my girl.

[motherfuckingmaneater]

Filled with father’s poison, blessed with mother’s beauty & rage.

[overlord-of-fantasy]

Rodolphus can't take this anymore

Delphi, age 13, reading a muggle magazine she found: Dad, do you know that most kids my age have mobile phones?

Rodolphus, sitting at the window, on the watch for aurors: Do you know that there are still empty rooms in that orphanage your father grew up in?

[shockwave-of-the-sith]

Meet Aries Rex Mars Magnus Black Gaunt

Son of Lord Voldemort and Madam Lestrange, Brother to Delphini Bellatrix Merope Maia Black Gaunt, Ward of Omninis Gaunt, Heir of Slytherin, Master and Lord of Death and Successor of Gellert Grindelwald.

[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."

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

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

[thedaddylord]

thoughts in your Daughter delphini?

Bellatrix has done many exceptional, astounding things for me. Giving me Delphini is at the top of that list.

[crookshanksagentofowca]

I get so annoyed whenever I see someone refer to Delphi as “Voldemort’s daughter.” Like, excuse you, it takes two people to make a baby! Give Bellatrix the acknowledgment she deserves!