Alessia had taken a lot of time to reminisce over the events of the past day. Especially the memory she now had, that left her feeling empty and full of confusion.
None of it made sense.
After what she saw, Alessia didn't feel comfortable going to Professor Snape for his help anymore, not until she had recovered more memories and was certain he wasn't the force enacting all of this pain onto her.
And then in the heap of questions, there was Mattheo, who was now sat next to Alessia in the library, flicking through books that covered information on Seers.
He was just, well, confusing.
Right now, in the quiet of the libary, with Mattheo sat silently next to her, was where Alessia wanted and needed to be, so she could try and make sense of everything.
It wasn't even bothering her, being next to the Riddle boy, who's morals were being questioned at every waking moment, because he was helping her, and was one of the only people who actually knew her secret.
He understood her.
Alessia closed the book in front of her with a huff, the slamming sound echoing around the library walls.
"What's on your mind?" Mattheo asked the girl, who was evidently frustrated trying to make sense of this overload of information.
"Why don't you read it. You have a habit of doing that" she said bitterly, forgetting in a split second how he had been helping her. The roots of hatred took over.
Mattheo laughed, showcasing his gorgeous smile, that was beginning to become a drug to Alessia. The more time she spent with Mattheo, the more she craved to learn about the side of him that wasn't just the broody death eater.
"I would, love, but for some reason I can't read you anymore" he said, in all honestly, sparking interest in Alessia.
Well that was new.
"Do you know why you can't?" She questioned. It seemed she was always going to the boy for answers, something she would have to learn to grow sparse of in the future.
"Your power, it's strong. Stronger than I imagined it would be this early into your progression" he explained.
Alessia didn't know whether to be elated that she was growing stronger or worried.
Having a power inside of you, adapting and growing without any memory of its origins was impossible. Ever since she was thrown into this minefield, it was a constant state of perplexity.
"You are probably the only person who I can talk to about all of this, and that's pretty typical seeing as we hate each other" the girl said, a small smile on her face.
"Hate is a strong word" he said simply, looking at the girl with a newfound glint in his eyes, that never really seemed to be there when the two spoke before.
"I suppose it is" Alessia replied, an equal happiness radiating off of her.
This made all of the past issues that Mattheo had caused diminish slightly. There was still a constant reminder pounding through Alessia's head, forcing her to acknowledge his wrongs.
But when someone's good side is so beautiful you tend to ignore everything tainted about them.
"Do you have a good relationship with your father? He seemed quite intense in your memory" Mattheo asked, swiftly changing the topic. It was so frustrating seeing him try to ignore the moments of innocence and sensitivity that he was showing.
Alas, she sucked it up and answered him anyway.
"Theo has always had it worse than me, from what I remember, but dad has been especially hard on him since our mum died" Alessia explained, feeling completely comfortable sharing the information with the boy.
She got the feeling he knew how that felt.
"He looks exactly like mum. Sometimes it catches me off guard. I always assumed our dad was just tired of seeing her face in him every day"
"I'm sorry" Mattheo replied, with empathy. It was tough for him to listen to her talk about the twisted relationship, because through Theo, he saw himself, back with the dark lord, in constant scrutiny under his watch.
"It's okay. I don't remember much anyway, I think most of my childhood was removed because of these stupid powers"
Mattheo stared at Alessia as she spoke, an awful feeling pondering in his stomach. It was painful, listening to the innocence of the girl. Listening to how much she longed for a life with a closer familial bond.
The feeling only grew stronger until Mattheo realised what it was.
Guilt.
Alessia Nott was pure. That was something that was incredibly rare to come across.
He just wished that it wasn't her that had to fall victim to the confinements of her power when the dark lord returned.
"I'll help you figure everything out, that's a promise" Mattheo said softly, making Alessia's eyes light up.
No one would have noticed that detail, but he did.
Riddle hated to admit it, but he was growing tolerant of her company, and for once, he wasn't just viewing her as the girl with the power, he saw her as a human being.
A human who he wanted to get to know more.
"Thankyou Mattheo" She said with a small smile. He was the driving force behind understanding her power and her childhood, the least she could do was thank him.
It was evident that the two were slowly stepping out of their hatred, ever so slightly, as without even realising,
Alessia had called him Mattheo.
A/N- ugh I hate this chapter SO much. I just love writing the memory scenes and stuff that's actually interesting but it can be enemies to lovers if there isn't any character development from our resident dickhead mattheo 🤣
Whatevs, I'll get over my hatred (see what I did there)
This is quite short sorry!
Ellie💌
word count- 982