War, Love, and Riddle //Matteo Riddle x OC

Chapter Sixteen

Emma watched as the Dursley's packed up their car, Harry standing next to her. Uncle Vernon says struggling to put their entire life in a small trailer attached to the back of their car. Emma walked down the stairs to see a very empty house and a solemn Aunt Petunia staring at her empty home. Emma didn't want to be around her, she hated to admit how terrified she was of her aunt. "I have lived in this house for 20 years...and now in a single night, I'm expected to leave." she tells her niece. Emma couldn't speak, her throat front like sandpaper as she continued to stare at her aunt. Harry walks up behind Emma "They'll torture you. If they think for a moment you know where we are going, they'll stop at nothing." Harry tells her taking a step closer to her. Petunia gives them a strained look "Do you think I don't know what they're capable of? You both didn't just lose a mother that night in Godric's Hollow, you know. I lost a sister." with that she walks past the twins, without so much as a goodbye. Harry and Emma stand outside of 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging as they watch their Uncle, Aunt, and cousin drive away.

Matteo sat across from Draco at Malfoy Manor, it was odd to see him again. Matteo's whole life has been filled with physical abuse from his father, more specifically torture. It didn't help his mother was Bellatrix Lestrange, the mental abuse he suffered from her was almost just as bad. Draco was the only one he could talk to all those years before Hogwarts, the only one who could understand what he's been through. That was until he met Theo and Enzo, their home lives were just as shitty as his. I mean at least their father wasn't the Dark Lord, but this wasn't about comparison. Matteo looked across from him, he could see the internal struggle Draco was having not being able to ask about Hermione, about our friends. They had a part to play and Matteo was determined to make sure no one found out that he had fallen in love with Emma Potter.

The long dark table was filled with indistinct talking and laughter. Matteo tried not to look at her, he didn't care that this was the same professor who went out of her way to get Matteo kicked out of Hogwarts. No one deserved this. Professor Burbage was suspended upside down over the table not to far from Matteo. He didn't have to turn his head to notice Snape walking in "Severus" his father says as Snape looks at Burbage. "I was beginning to worry you had lost your way. Come. We've saved you a seat." Matteo watches from the corner of his eye as Snape takes a seat. "You bring news, I trust?" Voldemort asks him. "It will happen Saturday next at nightfall." Snape answers. Draco's eyes swiftly meet Matteo as he gives him a slight glare. Matteo didn't need Draco giving away what he already knew. Emma and Harry were being moved, Matteo hasn't been able to leave to warn them, it's been killing him being away from her for so long. "I've heard differently, my lord." Yaxley interrupts. "Dwalish, the Auror, has let slip that the Potter twins will not be moved until the 30th of this month. The day before they turn 17." he finishes as Snape rolls his eyes "This is a false trail. The Auror office no longer plays any part in the protection of Harry Potter. Those closest to him believe we have infiltrated the Ministry." Snap says commanding the attention of everyone. "Well they got that right, haven't they?" one of the death eaters laughs. Matteo just rolls his eyes as he tilts his head to the side looking utterly bored of the conversation. On the inside he was a mess.

"What say you, Pius?" Voldemort says to the man sitting at the opposite end of the table. Nagini on the floor neck to him. "One hears many things, my lord. Whether the truth is among them is not clear." Matteo sees his father smile delighted in the conversation. "Spoken like a true politician. You will, I think, prove most useful, Pius." he tells the man before looking back to Snape. "Where will they be taken, the twins?" Matteo had to push out the rising panic in his chest, the only way he was going to slip out of suspicion of his father was to feel nothing. "To a safe house. Most likely the home of someone in the Order. I'm told it's been given every manner of protection possible. Once there, it will be impractical to attack them." Snape tells him. Matteo's mother clears her throat. "My lord." Always the subservient lover. "I'd like to volunteer myself for this task. I want to kill the twins." she begs him, Matteo tries to lock the dread away. Shouting comes from the distance. "Wormtail!" his father yells "have I not spoken to you about keeping our guest quiet" He continues to shout at him in anger. Matteo never liked wormtail, he always found him to be a measly little traitor. If it wasn't for his betrayal Lily and James wouldn't be dead and Emma wouldn't be hunted by his father for the last seventeen years.