𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙗𝙪𝙜, mattheo riddle

𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙧, 𝙞𝙩'𝙨 𝙖 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙣

      I'm in my dorm with Lilly. I still haven't told her anything. It's about midnight and I'm staring at the ceiling. Lilly is painting her nails again and the music is low—Gracie Abrams is playing.

Lilly sighs and groans "Damn it, I messed up." I look over and she's dipping a Q-tip in some nail polish remover.

I lightly laugh and so does she. "So spill, what has you thinking?"

I groan and grab my pillow, covering my face. "It's so much, you're gonna have a heart attack once you hear it," I say, my words muffled from the pillow.

"Shoot. I'm sure it can't be that bad."

I throw the pillow on the floor and sit up "No, it's worse than bad. Way worse."

"Tell me."

"Well, firstly Madison isn't exactly alive."

She lifts a brow "What do you mean not alive?"

"Think of her like a...zombie."

Her jaw drops and she stares at me "You're fucking with me."

"No. I'm not. That's not even the worst part. I believe she's the one who killed my—well our mom."

Lilly just stares at me again, blinking a few times. "What the hell makes you think that?"

"She said it was a joy watching my mother die. What else do you think she was implying? She also told me it'll also be a joy when I die."

"She told you that?!" She almost shouts, but it's more of a whisper than anything.

"Yeah, Mattheo wasn't in class this morning, and so she sat next to me, and yeah she's now attending Hogwarts. She's Slytherin."

"Figures" Lilly shakes her head "What are you gonna do about this?"

I shrug "I went to Mattheo."

Her jaw drops again "You did WHAT?!"

I sigh softly "Yeah and I'm never, ever talking to him ever again. Firstly he accused me of lying because to him I just wanted a reason for him to stop talking to her. That's when I decided to never speak to him, then he practically begged me to stay."

Lilly doesn't say a word for a few minutes. But, then she sighs "Wow."

"Yeah. And then, I made up with Cedric."

Lilly then immediately smiles "See! I told you."

I smile softly "Yeah. Then my dad said my mother has secrets. And that she deserved to be killed."

Lilly's smile fades and she frowns "Your dad? That doesn't sound like him at all. He's been crying every day since she died."

"I know. I'm so confused. Everything in my life, my mind, it's confusing. I'm confused."

Lilly sighs "I'm so sorry Rory."

I shrug "Don't be."

"I still am. I'll always be."

I nod. "Should I tell Cedric?"

"Do you want to?"

I shrug "I do. But, he'll wanna help. I don't want to put him in any danger."

"Well, I wanna help."

"No. What are you crazy!? This is dangerous."

"I know and I don't care. You are my best friend, I'm helping you with this."

I shake my head "Seriously? I don't want you—"

"I don't care. I'm helping. Cedric can too. Tell him."

I sigh "Fine. Is there really nothing I can do to change your mind?"

"Not at all."

I roll my eyes "I hate how stubborn you can be sometimes."

She grins. "Alright let's go to bed. After classes tomorrow you need to tell Cedric. Then all three of us can make a plan."

"Okay."

..

It's the next day. All classes have ended and I'm currently trying to find Cedric. I haven't really looked anywhere but, I'm walking to the courtyard. He's usually always there right when classes end.

I walk over and see Cedric lying down in the grass, talking with his friends. I walk over and clear my throat. He sees me and smiles "Hey Rors, what's up?"

"Can I talk to you? Alone."

He looks over at his friends before nodding "Yeah sure." He gets up and follows me to an empty corridor. I've been thinking about this conversation and I've decided to be so straightforward about it. "Our sister is a Zombie and is most likely the one who killed Mom. She said I was next. And, I think it's related to what Dad said yesterday." I say lowly.

He stares at me for what feels like forever and I start to feel anxious. "Say something."

He clears his throat "What?"

"You heard what I said."

"Yeah, but it sounds fake. That's not—it sounds made up."

"It's not."

"Well, what do you wanna do about it?"

"Well, Lilly and I are gonna try to come up with a plan to find Mom's secret and figure out how to get rid of Madison. Do you wanna help?"

"Hell yes, I want to help. Who do you think I am?"

I scoff "Anyway. We are meeting up now to come up with a plan." I state "Follow me."

He nods and follows me through the corridors. We eventually come to an abandoned bathroom. "Why here?" Cedric asks, a disgusted look written on his face.

"So no one can hear or find us. Barely anyone knows this bathroom even exists. Lilly is already in here."

He nods "Makes sense." I hum in response and open the door, Cedric following me in. Once we're both in I lock it behind us. Lilly is sitting in a corner with some parchment, ink, quills, and sweets.

She smiles wide when she sees us "So he's helping?"

I nod before sitting down next to her, Cedric sitting in front of us. "So any ideas?" He asks.

"Well," I begin, "I think for Madison we should give into what she's saying. We all pretend to act stupid. Be her friend."

Lilly nods "Yes! That's perfect." she dips her quill into the ink and starts to write. "But, it won't work for me. For now, I'll avoid her. You guys need to befriend her."

I look over at Cedric for confirmation and he nods. "I just don't know about mom's secrets. If she even has any."

"Everyone has secrets." Cedric says "Some are just worse than others."

I shrug "So what do we do?"

"Ask." Lilly suggests "Your dad, I mean."

"You think asking my father will give us the answer?" Cedric questions, rolling his eyes.

"Maybe," she says bitterly

He rolls his eyes "That's such a bad idea. Let's go through Mom's diaries? She was always writing." he suggests

I nod "That's good, but don't you think that's a bit far? I mean those are her private thoughts—"

Lilly cuts me off "It's a plan!"

I sigh "Fine."

Cedric nods "Great. When do we start?"

"How about this coming weekend? So we have no classes or anything." Lilly says, jotting more notes down on the parchment.

Cedric and I nod in agreement. "Okay, it's a plan," I mumble, loud enough for them to hear me.

"It's a plan," they say back in unison.