Theo, Draco, Lorenzo and Mattheo wait for me by the door, all four of them dressed in their death eater outfits with their masks. It makes me feel very underdressed yet overdressed at the same time.
There's no mask for me anymore and I think they don't have any plan to hide me this time, I have no idea where we're going but I trust them all, none the less. "You all know the plan, it should be empty since it's still break but just in case keep your masks on until we're in the office."
The three nod in unison and Mattheo turns to me. "You'll be fine no matter what, I promise." He grabs my hand and gives me a warm smile before apparating us until my feet land on grass in a big field. The grass is still muddy and my shoes become covered in the muck.
His hand stays in mine as if he's afraid to let go and we walk towards a building until it becomes obvious where we are, Hogwarts.
I freeze, unsure how to feel about being back here when I remember none of it. But the only question I manage to ask is "Why are we here?" Mattheo nods his head motioning me to walk and I stand still, looking around and taking in everything. The building is larger than I remember, and the field and quidditch pitch greener.
"Baby, I'm trying to help you here but I can't do that if you don't help me. Can you please walk with me?" His use of baby feels so familiar yet so far away. He's only called me that once before and I chose to ignore it. But, reluctantly, my feet move and follow as he leads me to the entrance of the school.
I hear a rip in the wind alerting me to the other boys arriving as well. There is no sound coming from the building and everything is so... quiet. The silence sends a shiver down my spine making me uncomfortable. At least I know it's August now, semester break. I remember going to my grandparents for the break, couldn't go home when you have no parents.
"Never thought I would be back here willingly" Theo says behind us making me and Mattheo laugh. "I never thought I would be back here in general." Silence takes over the group but Mattheo ends it. "We have four days before the first group will come back, as much as I would love to stand around and be sentimental we are also extremely wanted and being here is dangerous. We need to get this done."
Mattheo squeezes my hand and I look up to him offering a smile as we walk inside. Everything feels so familiar, I used to consider Hogwarts my home, but now it's deserted and we're sneaking in for god knows what. He tugs my hand up a stair of staircases and if I didn't have him here with me I would be extremely lost. "We're almost there, love," Mattheo says, squeezing my hand again.
He's anxious.
He looks at me nervously his eyes filled with worry and nerves and it warms my heart to know he actually cares about what's about to happen, even if I don't know what it is.
"This is so intense," Theo says behind us and I smile. "Man I so need a smoke, the way my heart is racing, I don't like it." He continues with a laugh but I keep my eyes on Mattheo who stops outside of a statue of a golden bird with its wings wrapped around it. "Didn't we spend 6 weeks trying to figure out the password to this? Just for it to be fucking stupid." Theo says again, trying to lighten the mood yet again and failing.
"Sherbert Lemon" Mattheo calls and I smile finally realising the joke. A staircase unwinds slowly and we all take turns stepping inside and waiting for it to wind back up. An office is revealed at the top and I'm stunned at the size of it. This definitely belongs to Dumbledore which sends a wave of worry through me. "We shouldn't be here, should we?" "Don't worry, Snape knows where here" Mattheo says quickly, looking at me with a soft smile.
"Snape?" I ask, confusion running through me as I turn my head to Theo. "That smoke you mentioned wouldn't be so bad" I laugh and he smiles at me, even Theo isn't laughing anymore. "Fuck this, let's go to the astronomy tower then." Mattheo walks over to the stairs and we all follow close behind, the staircase now moving back down and letting us exit.
We walk through the hallway and over a bridge until finally making it to another staircase. The boys go up first and I follow behind, sitting on the floor as soon as we make it to the top. "We should be happy" Theo says, saying what we're all thinking. "We are happy," Draco says quickly. "Why does this feel so hard then?" I ask, my voice hesitant. "Say the word and we will leave," Mattheo says concerned.
I shake my head and watch as Mattheo pulls out a packet of cigarettes and hands each of us one, including me. It makes me smile as I remember how Mattheo said I would never have another one again. The lighter is passed around the group but Mattheo takes it for me and lights the smoke.
We all finish our cigarettes in silence, it's the quietest I've ever heard of any of them and it sends a wave of worry swirling through me. "How am I getting them?" I ask, trying to break the silence waved over us. "Pensieve" Mattheo says, a single word answer that only makes the silence worse.
"I took your memories from you before obliviating you, there in the vial. The memories are yours and yours only." Then, we all stand up and walk back towards the office.
For something I have been begging for this does not feel like how I thought it would. I'm excited to get my memories back, of course, but part of me is worried it will show me I'm nothing like who I used to be. Maybe I'll find it I was nothing like the old Alora and that I'm a weaker version. Or maybe I'll remember everything about the boys and remember something I wish I didn't.
The unknown is sending me into a spiral of confusion and fear. Mattheo grabs my hand again before squeezing and letting me know that it's okay. We walk back towards the office until finally arriving, all of us standing in a circle around the pensieve that is about to give me all my memories back.
"You know, when me and Draco were trying to fix my memories I remembered something," I say, trying to bring some light to this situation. "The day you had obliviated me, I remembered everything. I had been waiting for you all day, but it felt like longer than that, or maybe it was. Then you knocked on my door and took me to the astronomy tower and obliviated me."
Mattheo looks at me with sadness in his eyes. "My biggest mistake" he whispers. Before walking over to the penseive and taking the necklace off his neck. "You still want to do this?" He asks, looking at me as if wanting me to say no. Instead, I nod and look up at him "I have to"
He opens the vial and pours the memories into the pensive where I look to Theo, Draco and Lorenzo. "Be here when I'm finished?" All three nod and smile and I turn back to the liquid now swirling around in the magical device and I walk closer.
I take a deep breath before looking to Mattheo who nods and I place my head into the device. My head swirls as I feel the beginning of my memories come back to me, but suddenly, it stops, and the memory starts to play out.
YOU ARE READING
Behind the Mask | Mattheo Riddle
Fanfiction"If you think I'm letting you out of my sight again, you're wrong. I lost you once, I won't loose you again Alora. Put on the damn mask." {18+} Mattheo Riddle had found his one and only love. After she disappeared, it was as if nothing else mattered...
