Slytherin Boys

56

I wake suddenly, the blanket that was wrapped around me falls from my lap. My chest is heaving as I try to right myself in the current world.

"Cerci?" Mattheo's warm hand caresses my cheek and I blink rapidly to clear my vision so I can look at him. I smile as his brown eyes and curly, soft hair becomes clear.

"There she is." He smiles down at me and presses his forehead to mine.

I smile so wide it hurts, "Hey Matty" I mumble. My throat is dry and raw. He leans back slightly,but not letting me go. His eyes are brimmed with tears and his shoulders slump in relief that I'm okay.

"What happened?" I rasp out, Pansy is next to us so suddenly with a cup of water. I take it and gulp it down as quick as I can but it does little to stop the searing burn in my throat.

"What happened was you were totally badass!" Pansy's voice was so loud it almost hurt, I had to fight myself not to physically wince.

"What did you do exactly?" Theo was next to me suddenly, I couldn't remember him moving closer.

"I don't know..." I clenched my eyes shut and that familiar burn of my power swelled like water rushing to the shore. It welled in my throat and I coughed to try to relieve some pressure.

"You have to know, you just fucking did it. What was it like?" He pushed, his hand wrapped around my forearm as he leaned closer.

"It's hard to explain, there was a lot of light" I muttered to words out but the same build and release of power crashed through me and the pounding in my head was unbearable until the wave of power receded.

"We saw the light. It looked like you were talking to someone what did you see?" HIs face inched closer and his hand tightened around my arm.

I could barely think over the immense pressure in my head. "The unicorn I think, the-"

"Obviously you saw the unicorn, what else?'" He pushed harder, his hand tightening around my arm even more. It started to hurt and his face was so closed when he opened his mouth again I flinched.

"Theo that's enough" Mattheo spoke, pushing at his shoulder to get him to move, but Theo wouldn't budge.

"I don't know, it happened so fast-"

"Bullshit!" He yelled, his face was a sneering mask and as he spoke in such a loud tone, spit frothed from his mouth and landed on my cheek. I tensed up, brows furring in anticipation of what I had expected next.

"That's enough!" Mattheo growled as he held Theo by the collar of his shirt. He shoved Theo backwards and he fell on his hands, his face still held that intense sneer but the silence in the room snapped him out of it.

"I-I'm sorry." His eyes never met mine as I sat in Pansy's arms, my bicep was defiantly going to bruise.

"It's fine" I mumble under my breath. "We're all under a lot of stress and I am under no illusion when it comes to why you guys are even here. You're here for me" I clear my throat as I sit up properly, smiling at Pansy as I do.

"Cerci..." Pansy was going to try and reason with me but I cut her off before she could.

"It's okay... I was in a field, a large, empty field of nothing." I closed my eyes and recounted what happened. I left out the fact that the purest being to exist demanded Mattheo's father's soul. White lies are sometimes for the best.

"You're younger self huh..." Pansy's nose scrunched as she thought about it.

"wait... The pink princess dress, it wasn't that one you wore everywhere was it?" Enzo asked, his legs intertwined with my own as we sat across from each other on the floor.

"That's the one, with the huge sauce stain on the front," I chuckled, "I kept trying to convince you guys that was part of the design." I laughed so hard I snorted and then smacked my hand over my face.

The room erupted in laughter and after the shock had worn off, I was laughing harder myself.

Theo was doing his best to join in, but Mattheo was ensuring he remined on his half of the room and far away from me. Every now and then I'd bump Matty's shoulder, like a reminder that I was okay, that this was okay.

I looked at him with all the sincerity in the world, encouraging him to remember that Theo was beat black and blue by his father, for my benefit and he was most likely dealing with the stress of it happening again.

I have no idea if I conveyed that through a look, but my calm always worked to keep him calm. I wrapped my hand around his and he moved them both to my thigh. To have and to hold.

"What's the plan?" Blaise was struggling to laugh with us and now I knew why.

"Loosen up, Zambini" I reached across to him, so I could shove him playfully but he just looked at me. His eyes were heavy and deep-set, shrouded in dark black eyebags.

"That's easy for you to say, I had to watch the life drain from your eyes." He snapped and the mood in the room changed drastically at those words.

"I murdered my damn cousin and I thought you were fucking next, I am clearly not as strong as you guys." His eyes watered and I could see the wobble in his lower lip.

I moved for him across the small circle we'd made, I wrapped my arms around him and held him to my chest so tight I'm sure it hurt. How could I be so fucking stupid, this was hard for everyone. I hadn't lost anywhere near as much as everyone else in this room.

I glanced around and all I could see were the faces of the people that should be with us, people the Dark Lord had taken. Blaise's cousin, Pansy's ex-girlfriend, Mattheo's mother. I held him tighter to me.

"That's enough" I mumble and I can hear Blaise choke back a breath enough to voice his confusion.

"I refuse to play this stupid game" I stand from my spot, leaving everyone confused.

"Cerci?" Mattheo asked, grabbing for my hand.

"No, that's enough." I don't look. I know that if I looked back I would've lost my resolve.