Fighting Fate // Mattheo Riddle ♣️

Chapter Thirty-One - New Beginnings

Word Count: 3,008. 

Warnings: None. 

"So, how did you discover that Mad-Eye was really Barty Crouch Junior in disguise?" Dumbledore as me calmly, sitting forward in his chair.

It wasn't long before myself and Mattheo were found by Ministry members and taken back to the school. The Enforcers that found us insisted on bringing both of us to the Ministry for interrogation, but Dumbledore had strongly disagreed, telling them that he would talk to us himself and pass the information along. No one seemed to argue with the Headmaster.

I looked up at the man. Sitting on the other side of the desk inside his office, I felt his gaze harden on me. Mattheo sat beside me in silence.

The emotionless feelings that consumed me before had begun to vanish and fear was starting to eat its way into my mind.

The glass had broken, the flames growing high and bursting from its cage. It had killed Crouch, but that wasn't my worry at that moment. It wasn't the thoughts that enacted fear in my body.

There was a crack in the glass, a small break in the power's prison that I couldn't close up. No matter how much pressure I applied, pain I tried to push into the flame, I wasn't able to seal it.

"Ms. Black?" Dumbledore asked again.

"I'm sorry," I told him. "What was the question?"

My leg was bouncing up and down aggressively as the fear creeped further into my body. I couldn't stop it as it began growing quicker than I could keep up with.

"How did you discover Barty Crouch Junior was disguised as Mad-Eye Moody?" he asked again.

"I –" I stuttered.

A hand touched my upper leg, stopping my movements abruptly. His hand didn't move. Mattheo looked up to the Headmaster. "Lyra noticed a gesture Moody made after the second Task," he answered for me.

"And how did you know to look for this gesture?" His gaze turned to Mattheo, expecting the answers to come from him. The Slytherin struggled for words.

"Harry showed me a memory in the Pensieve. I saw Crouch's trial." I decided not to tell him of the attack during the Summer.

Dumbledore simply nodded at my response. "And Mr. Towler?"

My heart clenched. The fear only grew and I could feel my throat tighten as I spoke. "I found the real Kenneth in his dorm room. I went to find him after Cedric..." I trailed off.

The Headmaster rose from his desk, turning away from us to lock his eyes on a moving painting.

Mattheo's hand moved from my leg and clasped my fingers tightly. He gave me a comforting smile, but I couldn't find the strength in me to return it.

"What happened to Mr. Crouch, Ms. Black?" Dumbledore asked the question I was dreading.

I swallowed, leg beginning to shake again. I killed him. That's what happened. If I told the Headmaster the truth, he'd have me locked up. Regardless of my age. The Ministry would take any chance to throw Sirius Black's daughter in Azkaban. But could I lie to him? Would he see right through it?

"He killed himself," Riddle spoke up. My leg stopped bouncing abruptly. I turned my gaze to the Slytherin. His jaw was tense as his grip tightened on my hand. "The man is insane. Got himself all riled up and stabbed himself."

"And the burns? On his arms?"

Mattheo gulped. "I don't know. They were there when we found him. We barely got there before he..." he trailed off.