A/N
Read trigger warnings below if needed (contains spoilers)
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Consistency was not something Mattheo was very familiar with. When he was younger, the only consistent thing in his life was the continued times he would be let down. Not just by his father, but by his mother as well. He expected his father to let him down, but every time his mother did, it stung in his chest. She loved him, he knew that, but she was terrible at keeping promises.
However, it was easy to stay consistent when the thing you were consistent with was helping you. Ever since the letters had begun piling in, the fear of his father coming back into his life had consumed him. So naturally, Mattheo turned to the only thing that could take that fear away, even just for a while.
"Give me that," Lorenzo hissed, practically ripping the bottle of Chocolate Liquor out of Mattheo's hand. They'd snagged it from a cabin in Hagrid's hut the night before. Mattheo remembers waiting for Hagrid to return from the forest while Lorenzo snuck inside through the unlocked door.
Mattheo laughed out loud, a snort escaping his chapped lips. It had been two weeks since Theo had found them drunk outside of one of the greenhouses. Since then, Mattheo and Lorenzo had met up to drown out those voices they had talked about previously.
The alcohol didn't stop them, but it turned them down for a few hours and that was something they were both willing to go to extreme extents to achieve. It was sad, Mattheo knew that, but at least he wasn't alone.
Lorenzo tilted his head back, chugging at the bottle in his veiny hands. His eyes were closed and he used the sleeve of his robe to dry his mouth.
"Do you think Theo's still angry at us?" Mattheo asked, turning his head to look at Lorenzo. The wind was blowing at his hair. He used his hand to push the curls out of his eyes.
"Probably," Lorenzo sighed, standing up, "I haven't really spoken to him. Not properly."
Enzo sighed, leaning his elbows onto the railing. "Have you?"
Mattheo looked out at the castle. The view from the Astronomy Tower was truly astonishing. The dark sky above them was lit up by the moon and thousands of stars. His eyes wandered to Lorenzo's back. His tall figure stood entirely still, admiring the sight in front of him. "I've been avoiding him," Mattheo blurted out, his mind no longer in a sober state. He ran a hand down his face, immediate regret filling his body.
"Why?" Lorenzo asked, his eyes narrowing.
Mattheo didn't respond. He didn't know how to. His mind was on overdrive and the alcohol in his blood made it impossible to think straight. "He just pisses me off," Mattheo finally responded, his words slow and slurred. He prayed Enzo wouldn't notice.
He didn't. "Tell me about it," Lorenzo chuckled, his voice cracking, "he cares too much sometimes."
Mattheo nodded slowly. "—it gets sickening."
Mattheo's eyes widened. He didn't expect Enzo to say that about his best friend. "Don't get me wrong," Lorenzo started, turning around to face Mattheo who was still sitting on the floor. "He's my mate, but sometimes he just-," his voice trailed off.
Mattheo spoke carefully. "He what?"
Lorenzo's eyes shot up. Mattheo could tell he was thinking of the right thing to say. His brown eyes stared directly at him before slowly trailing off to the floor beneath his feet. "It's like he doesn't know," Enzo began, "he doesn't know that half the things he does, and half the things he says are so out of line."
Lorenzo's voice raised an octave or two. Mattheo could tell he was getting genuinely upset. "Like come on, what he did to you? That was fucked up."
Mattheo scoffed, the memories of his last name being outed solely by Theo flooding his mind. "Yeah I know that but-," Mattheo was cut off by another rant from Enzo.
"And do you remember the party?" Lorenzo asked, looking at him enthusiastically. Mattheo stilled, not knowing what he was talking about. "The one after the quidditch match against Hufflepuff?"
Mattheo thought back, slowly remembering the party in the common room. He nodded slowly. "He was so pushy. Wanted me to drink and drink and drink," he explained, his words slowly making less and less sense.
"And now he's just," the brunette sighed in defeat, "angry."
Mattheo swallowed a lump in his throat. He wanted to defend Theo. He wanted to say that growing up without his parents fully present in his life was bound to mess him up, but he didn't. Instead he wondered if Lorenzo had a point. Maybe everything Theo said was out of line. Maybe that was just how he was?
The curly-haired brunette locked eyes with his friend across from him. Mattheo knew Lorenzo was changing, it was inevitable, but it was weird to see just how much he had changed over the span of just a few weeks.
Mattheo slowly got up from the ground, joining Enzo by the railing instead. "Maybe we should talk to him."
Once the two boys had made the long walk back to the castle, they managed to sneak their way down to the dungeons. It was eerily quiet, and as soon as they stepped into the common room, they were met with nothing but silence. The fireplace crackled. Lorenzo went to investigate it. "Strange," he mumbled, staring at the embers, "it's barely past 10?"
Mattheo looked at him, confusion written all over his face. He immediately turned around, rushing towards the boys' dormitories. A strange feeling rushed through him. Something had happened, he was certain. But what?
As he approached the door to their dorm, the faint sound of sobbing filled his ears. Enzo was right behind him, his hand reaching for the door handle. The door creaked open, and they audibly gasped. The room was a mess. Books and papers laid scattered all over the floor, shelves hung crooked on the walls, a lamp had been pushed off one of the desks and between it all, was Theodore.
He sat on the floor, his knees to his chest, sobbing uncontrollably. His hair was a mess and his fists were bruised and bloody. He was heaving for air and hadn't even noticed his friends entering the room. Beside him laid a crumpled up piece of parchment.
Mattheo froze, his body unable to move. The worst thoughts flew through his mind. What if it had something to do with his father? He would never forgive himself if anything had happened to Theo because of him. He felt a hand on his back as Lorenzo pushed past him, rushing towards Theodore's shaking body on the floor.
"Theo? Theo what happened?" Enzo tried, his voice cracking in sheer horror. His eyes were wide and his lip quivered. He looked terrified, almost as if this was so out of Theo's character that he didn't even know how to react. Mattheo saw it all in slow motion. He saw the way Theo clutched his chest, the red stains beneath his eyes from crying for who knows how long and how Lorenzo carefully crouched down in front of him. Lorenzo placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, giving him a gentle squeeze. Theo slowly looked up.
The crying boy tried to speak, but no words managed to escape the uncontrollable sobs coming from his lips. Mattheo finally snapped back into reality. His heart was in his throat as he hastily crouched down and picked up the paper next to Theo and Lorenzo.
He unfolded it, his eyes scanning across it in a matter of seconds. Before he even managed to speak, Theo's hoarse voice finally broke through. "She's gone," he coughed, "she's really gone."
Enzo's eyes met Mattheo's. "First my sister," The dirty-blonde boy's voice lowered, "and now her."
Mattheo curled the parchment up, tossing it to the side. "I am so sorry Theo." His eyes met Theo's bloodshot ones. "I should have been there for you."
Theo closed his eyes before covering his face in his hands. "You didn't know," he whispered, pausing for a while. "She's been sick for as long as I can remember. I guess I just didn't expect her to actually-," he cut himself off, the words dying on his tongue. Enzo nodded understandingly, his head turning to look at Mattheo with worry.
"You shouldn't have had to go through this alone," Mattheo replied, his eyes scanning the chaos that consisted of their dorm.
"It's okay." Theo took a deep breath, trying to compose himself. His voice lowered and his eyes darkened. "She's been dead to me for years now anyway."
A/N
Trigger warning: mention of death
Oh my god it's been a whole month. I am so sorry. I'm not even going to excuse myself because I feel like that's all I do.
I highly dislike this chapter, but my dear friends have been requesting it, so here it is. Things are finally starting to get messy, and I am very excited for you to see where this leads.
I hope you enjoyed reading, and as always, some thoughts are appreciated!
(also wtf the prophecy and who's afraid of little old me played when I wrote this) I blame the twa playlist.