Word Count: 3,618.
Warnings: None.
Lyra's POV
Mattheo Riddle looked quite peaceful when he slept. It was something that I had noticed before. When his eyes closed and his mind rested, the boy seemed to be the happiest. I placed my hand in his, brushing a thumb back and forth across his skin.
It had been three days since he had appeared on our doorstep and it was Christmas morning. The entire house smelled of Molly's cooking and there was not a moment of silence in the entire Manor.
I hadn't left his side in the three days that he had been sleeping. There were surely better things for me to be doing, like seeing my mother. My mother. The woman we all thought dead fifteen years.
It was odd. Having her in front of me. Odd in the way that I had never had a mother, believing her to be dead my entire life and odd in the way that it didn't feel... right.
"Knock, knock," someone spoke up, knocking on the open door. Harry Potter walked in.
"Hey Potter," I greeted.
"How's he doing?" he asked me, approaching my side.
"Still sleeping," I sighed. "How's everyone downstairs?"
"Missing you," he replied, giving me a smile. "It's odd having your mother there."
I shook my head. "Odd is one word."
"She just found out that Sirius and Remus are together," he told me, taking another chair and seating himself down.
"Oh?" I asked.
"She said, 'well that I fucking knew'."
I laughed lightly. "Sounds like something I would say."
"I don't know," he started. "She's seems to just fit in perfectly. As though she was never missing from the table."
I nodded. "Yes. She does, doesn't she?"
Harry tilted his head at me. "Are you alright?"
I took a breath. "I don't know. There's a lot going on and I don't know how to process it all."
He settled back into his chair, opening his arms in a welcoming gesture. "Spill," he told me.
I turned to look at him. "What?"
"Tell me. Tell me it all. I'll listen."
I shook my head. "You don't want to hear my troubles."
"Maybe not, but I've got make sure you aren't going dark," he replied. "And having no secrets between us is the best way to do that."
"Lyra," a whispering voice spoke, and I my head shot to the boy in the bed. Mattheo's eyes were opening.
"Riddle?" I asked, standing up and approaching his side. "Hey."
Harry stood too, moving to the other side of the bed. "Welcome back Mr. Riddle," he told the brown-eyed boy.
"What... what happened?" he asked, making to sit up.
I quickly took the pillows from behind his head and propped them up to rest his head on when he sat back.
"You showed up bleeding on my doorstep," I explained, moving back to face him and seating myself on the bed by his side.
"Right." He pointed to me. "That."
Potter laughed lightly. "I'll leave you two to it," he told us. "Make sure you come down for food. It's Christmas." Harry made for the door.
"Potter?" I asked him, turning the boy's attention to me for a moment.
"Yeah?" He looked at me.
"You know I'd choose you, right?" I told him. "If it came down to it, I would choose you, not the dark."
He visibly sighed. "I know Black. I know." Harry left the room.
"It's Christmas?" Riddle asked me.
I turned back to him with a nod. "Yeah. It's Christmas."
Mattheo shook his head, bringing his hand up to touch the now clear skin. "All healed then?"
"Snape was here," I told him. "He's good a healing charms."
"Well then, I better remember that for when I need a little pick me up-"
"You looked dead," I cut him off, gaining his attention. "For a moment."
"Lyra –"
"There was so much blood, and I can't help but feel terrible because this is my fault."
He shook his head. "This is not your fault Lyra."
"You were punished because I couldn't kill Pettigrew," I told him. "Tell me I'm wrong."
He bit his lip. "You're not wrong."
I let out a sigh. "Riddle, if I had known –"
"You would not have done anything differently," he cut me off.
"I would have taken the punishment myself."
"I would never let you do that," he spoke sterner. "You don't deserve to be punished for being good."
"Neither do you," I argued.
He sighed. "I would suffer for the rest of my life if it meant that you didn't."
I shook my head. "That would break me. Knowing that you were in pain because of me."
He scoffed a laugh, bringing the hand that was intertwined with mine up to my cheek. "I lied you know," he started. "When I told you that I was falling in love with you."
I gave him a confused glance. "You're not falling in love with me?"
"I already love you," Riddle told me, brushing a thumb across my cheek. "I love you."
I smiled with tears forming in my eyes. "That's a mistake. Love is a weakness. Something they can use against us."
"And yet, it didn't stop me. You can't just stop feelings. Love. Hate. You can't. They happen whether you want them to or not, but we get to choose whether they are our weakness, or our strength and I choose for it to be my strength."
Mattheo wiped a tear from my cheek and gave me a small smile. "I love you," he repeated.
Nodding, I replied. "I love you," I told him. "I do."
He only smiled, moving his head forward to rest it on mine. "You don't know how happy you make me Lyra."
"Ditto," I replied.
He moved his head back to look at me. "What does that mean?" he asked him with a laugh.
I shook my head. "It means the feeling is mutual."
"Then why not just say that?"
"There is no fun in just saying it," I told him.
The boy in front of me shook his head. "Merlin, I love you."
He leaned forward, pressing a short kiss to my lip, the both of us smiling into it. He kissed me again.
"Well," a voice entered the room, causing us to pull apart and turn to the door. My father stood in the doorway.
"Dad," I greeted.
Riddle's face turned nervous, almost scared. "Mr. Black."
My father laughed lightly, shaking his head. "Mr. Black was my father. Call me Sirius."
He nodded. "Sirius."
My father sighed, approaching the bed. "First things first, is this a thing?" he asked, gesturing between the two of us.
I rolled my eyes. "If you mean to say are we dating, then yes, we are," I told him.
He nodded. "Do you love her?" he asked Riddle.
"Yes," Mattheo replied without hesitation. "More than anything."
He smiled. "Good, but if you hurt her." His tone turned stern. "I will kill you."
He turned to me then. "Don't get pregnant."
My eyes widened in shock at his instructions. "What?"
"I don't think I can make it any plainer. I love you, and I will help you, but by Merlin, if this fucker gets you pregnant –"
"Okay, dad," I interrupted him. "Can we cool it? I'm not getting pregnant. Learning from your mistakes."
His finger was still pointed at me, but he slowly let it fall, tucking his hand into his pocket. "Now," he continued, turning to Riddle. "Why, in Merlin's name did you turn up bloody and beaten on my doorstep?"
I turned rigid, looking to Mattheo who didn't see fazed by his question. What was he going to say? He was punished for my mistake, but he couldn't exactly tell my father that without telling him that I was with Voldemort.
"I didn't want to kill a man," he told Sirius. "The Dark Lord wanted me to kill some rat, but I wouldn't do it."
My father nodded. "Did you want it?" he asked him.
We all knew what my father was talking about. Riddle only confirmed this when his eyes drifted to his collarbone.
"No. I just want to be a normal kid," he told him. "And I understand that what I am in dangerous, but Mr – Sirius, you have to know that there is nothing I wouldn't do for your daughter. I would choose her over my father every time you ask."
My dad seemed content with this answer, nodding firmly and turning around. His hand on the doorknob, Sirius turned around to look at the two of us again.
"I don't want to be a controlling father Lyra," he told me. "But be careful. Both of you. You're playing with fire, and whether you love him or not, I will not see you burn."
I nodded. "I know."
Sirius Black passed me one of his signature smiles before leaving the room, closing the door behind him.
I sighed a breath of relief. "That went better than I thought," I commented.
"That was terrifying," Riddle told me.
I laughed lightly, turning to look at him. "You really love me that much?"
He smiled. "Does that surprise you?"
"I suppose not. I am very lovable."
Mattheo simply shook his head. "I love you."
"You're never going to stop saying it, are you?" I asked him.
"No," he told me, moving his head towards mine and kissing me softly. "I won't."
"Thank you for lying," I told him, bringing a hand up to brush the hair from his face.
"It was only a partial lie," he tried, causing me to smile.
I bit my lip, leaning forward to kiss him again. A loud rumble echoed through the room, and I paused.
Riddle sighed. "I'm hungry."
I laughed lightly. "I can tell."
Rising from the bed, I held my hand out towards him and helped him up.
"Fresh clothes are over there." I pointed to a chair in the corner of the room. "I don't think anyone wants to see these." I then pointed to his figure.
His clothes were still covered in blood. It seemed that although Snivels had healed all of his wounds, he hadn't cleaned his clothes.
He nodded. "Right."
Walking over to the clothes, he took his shirt off over his head, revealing the scars on his back that had been there before. I noticed a few new ones. Fresh ones.
"Are you going to watch me get changed?" he asked.
Leaning myself against the bottom of the bed he had been lying in, I looked him up and down, taking notice of his toned chest as he turned to me.
"Yep," I replied, bringing my eyes back up to his face.
He shook his head, bringing his fingers down to his trousers and unbuckling his belt. Everyone likes a bit of eye candy. Especially when it's yours.
ᵜᵜᵜᵜᵜ
When we made it down the stairs, there were people rushing around the house, running in and out of the kitchen in a hurry.
Hand in hand, Mattheo and I made our way through the kitchen doors.
Upon entering, we were greeted with my mother making her way towards us.
"Mattheo Riddle," she called his name, bringing the boy into a tight hug and then holding his arm arms length. "It is a pleasure to meet you."
"The pleasure is all mine Ms..."
"Nott," she replied. "Estrella Nott."
Riddle's eyes widened, turning to me for a moment. "My apologies, I thought that you were –"
"Dead?" she asked, earning a nod from the boy beside me. "Well, yes, that was the assumption, but the truth is I was simply hidden away in Voldemort's dungeon for fifteen years. He is actually your father, is he not?"
Mattheo nodded. "Yes, and I am sorry for what he did."
She tutted. "It's all in the past."
"You escaped three days ago," I reminded her.
"Well." She nodded her head back and forth. "Yes, but there is no need to dwell on the past, no matter how recent it is."
"Ella!" I heard my father call and turned to the top of the kitchen where I found him trying to use magic to light a fire. "How do I do this?" he asked her with a smile on his face.
She shook her head. "Men," my mother commented before scurrying over to my dad and taking out her wand.
A chill moved through my spine before I turned back to Riddle who was looking at me wide eyed.
"What is going on?" he asked.
"She isn't dead," I told him, smiling.
"I can see that."
Laughing lightly, I took his hand and directed him over to the table, sitting the two of us down. "I'll explain later."
"Lyra!" another voice called, and Tonks approached my chair, bringing her arms around me to hug me from behind. She leaned close to my ear. "We need to talk," she whispered.
I turned my head to look at her, nodding. She took her arms away from me and left the room quickly. I rose from my chair to follow.
"I'll be back in a minute, okay?" I told Riddle.
"Where are you going?"
"Just to talk to Tonks," I replied.
He nodded. "Alright, just hurry back. Your uncle is staring at me as though he might kill me."
I looked over to where Mattheo was talking about and spotted my uncle sat in a chair, eyes fixed on us. He was staring daggers at the boy beside me.
"He'll warm up to you," I told him before pecking his lips softly and exiting out the kitchen door.
Tonks was pacing back and forth along the hallway nervously when I entered. She looked up at me upon hearing my footsteps approach.
"Did you look at them?" she asked me.
I knew what she was talking about. Shaking my head, I replied. "I forgot about the bottle."
"How did you forget about them?" she asked me. "it's a small, blue bottle labelled Sirius Black."
"I was distracted," I tried.
"By your new boy toy?" she asked.
I shook my head. "My boyfriend," I corrected her. "And besides, they're just memories, how bad can they be?"
"Lyra," she sighed. "For a year after you were born, you were missing."
I bit my lip. "I know."
"You know?" she asked me. "Well then why aren't you freaking out about it?"
"I've had bigger things to worry about."
"Like what?"
I hesitated, shaking my head. "It's doesn't matter, but I will try to look at them if I can. Dumbledore is MIA and the only place that I can see them is in his office."
"Ask Sirius about it," she suggested.
"They're obliviated memories," I told her. "You can tell by their form and if I remember correctly people don't remember them if they've been obliviated," I paused. "How did you even find them?" I asked Tonks.
"My mother gave them to me. Said it was time he got them back."
"And yet, you didn't give them to him."
She shook her head. "I remember the year you went missing. Sirius acted as though you never even existed and then he came back with you from Nott Manor and all of a sudden, it was like that year had never happened."
"Lyra," a voice called from behind me. I turned to find Fred Weasley poking his head out of the doorway. "Time for food."
He then turned to Tonks. "Are you staying for food?" he asked her.
She shook her head. "I have to get home."
Turning to me, Tonks gave me a stern nod before rushing out the door.
"Is she alright?" Fred asked me.
I nodded. "She's fine," was my only reply.
Turning to Fred, I gave him a large smile before following the red-headed twin into the kitchen.
ᵜᵜᵜᵜᵜ
Dinner was as I had expected it to be. Odd. Like a family gathering that not everyone wanted to be at. It was nice, I admit, to have my mother there and to have my father and Moony happily sitting beside each other. It was nice to see all of the Weasley's safe and sound and to have Harry with us, but there was something strange that was eating at me. Something that I just couldn't remember.
Presents were handed out. Everyone got one of Molly Weasley's famous jumpers, including me. She even had time to knit Riddle one while he was incapacitated in his bed. To say that he was happy was an understatement.
"I love your family," Mattheo told me as we re-entered his room.
I sat myself down on the bed with a sigh, lying back onto the comfortable covers. "They are great aren't they?" I replied.
Following my actions, the now fully healed Riddle fell back beside me, bringing his hands back to rest them behind his head.
"You don't know how lucky you are," he started, shaking his head as he looked to the ceiling. "To have people that love you."
I turned my head to look at him, catching the sight of the side of his face. "You have people that love you. I love you."
He laughed lightly, turning to look at me. "And Merlin am I glad you do."
Taking a hand out from under his head, he brought it over to me, brushing his thumb across my cheek.
I closed my eyes, relishing in his touch. My stomach fluttered at his gesture. That was something that never changed. This boy could always get me flustered and by Merlin's name did it annoy me.
"I must be getting back," he told me, hand leaving my face as he got off the bed. Mattheo made for the door.
Rushing to my knees, I grabbed his hand before he could get too far. "No," I told him simply.
He turned his head around. "Lyra, I have to get back. I ran off and must apologize for that."
"He will only punish you more," I tried, moving forward to take his other hand and turn the boy to face me fully. "And I won't let you."
He scoffed. "You won't let me leave?" he asked.
Shaking my head furiously. "No, I will not."
With a sigh, the boy in front of me took one of his hands out of my grasp, holding my face gently. He smiled. "I never thought that I could care about something this much," he told me. "I never thought that I would get that in return, but Lyra, I have to tell you."
Pausing, he took a breath. "This is dangerous. We're dangerous. Love is weakness and you are my biggest weakness. I know that 'tis morning, I was all for admitting to you that I love you, but now I'm only thinking of what could happen –" he cut himself off.
Rising higher onto my knees, I was now level with his face. Taking my hands, I placed them firmly around the back of his neck.
"Love can be a weakness, but without love, what do we have to fight for?" I asked him. "Without love, we are just heartless beasts that cannot win." I shook my head from side to side. "I know what you're afraid of. You're afraid that if I don't choose his side, then he'll kill me."
"There is no if Lyra," he replied. "He will kill you."
I nodded. "I know, but I could choose him –"
"Don't you dare," he cut me off, turning stern, placing both of his hands on my face. "Don't do that to me. Don't willingly fall into the darkness."
I closed my eyes, taking a breath. "I'm starting to think that I don't have a choice if I want to live."
Riddle licked his lips. "I won't let him," he told me with a nod. "I won't let him hurt you. I won't let him touch you."
"Then he will kill you too."
"So be it." His tone was final, and I pulled back slightly. "Anything is better than this hell that I am living."
"Riddle –"
"I've done things. So many things that I am not proud of. Things that I can't tell you about and if it takes betraying him for you to make them realize that I'm not who they want me to be, then so be it."
I shook my head, feeling tears prick at my eyes. "I would never let you do that. You deserve to live Mattheo. You deserve something other than pain."
He shook his head. "I was a mistake. My father knows it. My mother knows it. I'm not the child that he wants. His right hand. You are."
I sighed. "That isn't true. He may be a monster, but he is still your father."
"He made me. I think that's the only thing that makes him a father. I am just another Death Eater to him. To everyone."
"Not to me," I told him. "We'll figure it out okay? It's going to be hard and dangerous, but isn't that life? Isn't life risks and losses? Isn't that what we have to get through to be happy? I am not going to lose you just because it's safer or because it is the better option for both of us. I will not do it. Let us fall and let us break, but don't let them burn us to the ground."
He closed his eyes, moving his head forward to lean it against mine. "Do you promise?" he asked me.
"Promise you what?" I replied.
His eyes met mine for a moment. "To never let them burn us."
I nodded. "I promise."