Where the Flowers Used to Grow [Mattheo Riddle]

Chapter 24

June 2003

"Where's my seat?" Florence stared at him confused, desperate to sit down and hide as everyone in the large dining hall watched her intensely.

"You look incredible, my love." Mattheo's eyes devoured her whole body, making her cross her arms tightly in front of her chest.

"You never used to care what I wore." She grimaced, trying to ignore all the attention on her exposed back. She wasn't used to having to style long hair, so she'd put it up in a simple ponytail without realising that she was removing a safety blanket of coverage. The dress had been laid out on her bed and they'd had to drag her out of her room once it was on. It hugged her too tightly for her liking, showing too much skin for someone who'd lived alone in baggy clothes for years.

"I just wanted everyone to see what they've been waiting five long years for..." Mattheo leaned forward, his arm snaking around her hips pulling her towards him. "I wanted them to see what I see, even when your hair is unruly, or when your fingernails are filled to the brim with dirt, or when your clothes are covered in rips and holes." He whispered, his teeth exposed as he grinned. "I wanted them to see how miraculous you are, how dangerously sweet and succulent you are. This is no longer just about us, Flora." He patted his lap, making her grimace.

"It never was." She growled as she slowly sat herself down onto one of his knees.

"Well, something's stopping you from leaving, from running away." He wrapped his arms around her stomach, pulling her back and making her rest on his chest.

"You'll never let me walk out of here." She whispered, looking out at all the people drinking and eating. "Not now that I know your secret, your plans. You need me, willing or unwilling doesn't matter to you." She felt the grumble of Mattheo's laugh pressing against her back, making her stomach lurch.

"Or perhaps..." He lowered his voice, leaning his lips into her ear. "... you've now learned your lesson." She could feel his smile through his whisper. "Now you know what happens when you leave me." She watched as people began to dance, couples and throuples began to kiss and touch one another. She felt Mattheo shifting his hips behind her and quickly grabbed the large hands clasped over her stomach.

"Don't mistake my current temperament for compliancy." She threw his hands off her, standing up and removing herself from his bodily trap. "And don't forget that I left you once, Mattheo Riddle, and I could do it again. The only reason you found me is because I decided you could." She breathed over him, her eyes narrowing in anger. "You don't get to ask questions, you don't get to know why I'm staying." She stood up abruptly, marching out of the dining hall anticipating feeling the hands of his henchmen grabbing her arms and pulling her back, but they never came. He didn't know why she was staying, and she had to do everything she could to ensure he never did. As she locked her door and lay on top of her beautiful sheets she smiled, but if there had been a mirror on her ceiling she would have seen her smile, she would have recognised it was not her usual toothy beam of joy, but the eery grin that belonged to another.

---

May 1998

"You're a liar! You lying-" Florence stopped the curse flying towards her as she limped away from the bloodied scene.

"I didn't know-"

"Don't!" Harry shouted, tears creating white lines down his bloodied face as Hermione held him back. "You brought him here! This could have all ended, it was supposed to end today!" Florence stared wide-eyed at the boy, his eyes aflame with hatred. She looked to Hermione and Ron, both looking horrified and disgusted as they stood before the catastrophic scene of students fighting, former school-friends throwing curses at one another.

"I... I don't..." Florence realised there was nothing she could say, nothing that she could do to come back from this. She'd led the wolf into the sheep pen. There was a long moment of silence, despite the chaos around them.

"Glutuniusal verde." Florence whispered, finally averting her eyes from Harry's heartbroken ones.

"Wha-"

"You can find it by Black Lake. It looks like a green daffodil. Mash the petals with disinfectant and put it over all medium-depth cuts, but don't be weak about it really get it in there." She sucked in her tears, knowing she didn't deserve the sympathy. "Wrap it. The mixture becomes a sticky paste, and it'll act as a glue." The three of them stared back at her blankly as she turned to walk away, none of them knowing the words to say, none of them thinking to say goodbye. Florence refused to look back, her heart couldn't take another second of their horrified looks. Her back spasmed with whatever spell she'd been hit with, making her limp and shuffle slower than she'd have liked; however, as soon as she escaped the Hogwarts perimeter she stopped. She still couldn't bring herself to look back at the crumbling castle, knowing that it encased so many dead, knowing that he still stood on those cursed grounds. As she stood, frozen to the spot, she realised she had no idea where to go, she had no one to run to.

"Flora!" The scream made her squeeze her eyes shut. There was no time to think, no time to try collect the pieces of her life. He was coming, just as he'd sworn he would. As she began to disapparate she heard him cry out, running towards her filled with anger and fear as he watched her slowly disappear in front of him.

"I warned you!" He screamed towards the empty air. "I told you what I'd do to this place before I'd ever let you leave without me!" He gasped for breath as he screamed, his eyes turning towards the sun rising through the Forbidden Forest, an eery grin growing on his lips.