if one of them is dead.

chapter twenty-five.

"Protego Diabolica," Lilith grunted, and a ring of black fire surrounded her less than a moment later.

"Oh," Voldemort laughed. "There's a nice spell. Do you think my son would be proud?"

Lilith coughed, staggering to stand up straight. "Does what Mattheo think really matter right now?"

He was trying to distract her, and she wouldn't let him.

"Why, I would think that you would care," he started. The fire started flickering before going out. "You must keep your concentration! Otherwise nothing will work!" Voldemort snapped. "As I was saying, Mattheo means a lot to you, does he not? He thinks quite differently than you do on some things, I have come to find out.

"He thinks you are cheating on him, but I have to say that I am surprised you don't think the same."

Voldemort saw something come across Lilith's eyes, but she didn't falter her steps, not after all the training she had done with him.

He continued on. "Mattheo hasn't been around much. Not only the times that he has gone to see you— yes, Lilith, I do know that he has come to see you many times— but there have been other times that he has left. I wonder, what ever has he been doing during those times? Is there another girl that he is interested in? Is that why he has been getting distant from you as you have gotten distant from him? I wonder, does he really care about you, or is he just preten—"

"Sectumsempra!"

Voldemort reflected the spell back, laughing. Lilith couldn't block the spell in time. She swung backwards,  hitting the ground on her back. "Fuck," she groaned, but it came out as more of a cry.

Pain came from all over her torso, and she started getting lightheaded, as if she had just stood up too fast. She could feel the blood seeping out from her body. She had used the spell on other people, but no one had ever used the spell on her. And it hurt like a bitch.

She reached for her wand to try to heal herself, but Voldemort kicked it to the side with his bare foot.

He never wore shoes, and Lilith always hated it.

"Do you ever clip your toe nails?" Lilith asked, her voice strained. She coughed, wincing visibly.

"Do you ever shut up?"

"Apparently not," she wheezed, coughing again. "I'm sure your son will be happy to know that you let his girlfriend bleed out. Maybe he'll find me. What a surprise that would be."

Voldemort sighed. "I suppose you're right." He mumbled something, moving his wand over Lilith's body. The blood that had seeped onto the floor started to moved towards her, going back into her body. She could feel the blood flowing back into her, and she didn't think she liked the feeling, but it was saving her from death, so why the hell not?

"That's enough for today," he said, and turned around, leaving without another word.

Lilith groaned and stood up, grabbing her wand. She wanted to apparate out of Malfoy Manor, but she knew that she couldn't. And she needed to get out as fast as possible so that Draco and Mattheo wouldn't see her.

"I wish I was of age," she grumbled, grabbing her cloak from the coat rack near the door. "Maybe then I could fucking apparate without getting expelled." She swung open the door and started outside, putting the cloak hood tightly over her head. "Fucking stupid Ministry and their stupid fucking rules. I'm going to kill someone one of these days." She shook her head, pulling the cloak even tighter over her body. "Now I'm talking to myself. Wonderful."

☯︎︎

"Lilith!"

"Jesus Christ!" Lilith shouted, jumping as she finished closing her bedroom door. Fynn, Aven, Raine, Darcy, and Alrik were all in her room, hanging out. She sighed, and took off her hood. "What the hell are you guys doing in here?"

"We could be asking you the same thing," Ranie said from their spot in the bean bag, raising a brow.

"Uh— it's my room?" Lilith asked, taking off her cloak. She was just glad that the spell hadn't torn her clothes to shreds. She walked over to her closet and opened it, starting to search for a hanger.

"No, Raine's right," Aven said, standing next to Alrik. "Aren't you supposed to be in school right now?"

Lilith paused, for a moment, grabbing a hanger. "It's the weekend. I had a few things to do," she lied, hanging her cloak up before closing the closet door. "My headmaster let me come back for a day so that I could do what I needed to do. He didn't ask questions." She grabbed a hoodie and pulled it over her head, slipping her wand in her back pocket before the others could see it.

She wasn't wearing long sleeves before.

"Are you okay?" Darcy asked as Lilith walked over to her school bag and shoved it under her bed before walking over to her desk.

"Fine," Lilith said. She turned around to fully face them, shrugging.

"Holy shit, Lil," Alrik said. "You look like shit."

Lilith rolled her eyes. "Gee, thanks."

"No, he's right," Fynn said. "You look like you haven't gotten any sleep, and like you just got in a fight with someone."

Lilith shrugged. "I'm fine. The beds at school are really bad. I haven't been sleeping properly for a few weeks. But it's no big deal. I'm sure it's just because I'm not used to them yet."

"Good," Aven said. She chuckled. "You're boyfriend still doesn't know how you spend your summer nights?"

Lilith cleared her throat as the others started to laugh. She shook her head. "No, he doesn't. And I'm sure he's got things going on too. He probably doesn't care that I'm in a jail cell half the time, and jumping fences the other."

"Hey, we don't always jump fences," Fynn said, raising his brows.

"Wait," Alrik said, shaking his head. "He wouldn't care? What do you mean?"

Lilith shook her head. "Forget it. Look, guys, I'm really tired. Do you think we could hang out some other time? I'll probably be able to be free. I just need to sleep."

"Oh, okay," Darcy said, nodding to the door. "If you want us to leave, we'll be on our way."

Lilith nodded. "If you guys need a place to stay, you can come back tomorrow morning. I promise I'll be okay by then. I go back to school the day after tomorrow. Does that work with you guys?"

Fynn nodded as he passed her. "Of course."

After they all left, Lilith sighed and flopped down on her bed.

She hated how easy lying was for her.

And she hated imagining the look on their faces when they found out she was lying even more.