if one of them is dead.

chapter twenty-six.

Minerva.

Minerva McGonagall had scolded Severus too many times to count because of how harsh he was to the student when he interrogated them. She lost count how many times Flitwick had told him 'Severus, we care dearly, but maybe you shouldn't be so harsh. Especially on the Riddle boy. We all know his father is the devil, but he seems like a decent kid.' Which, the statement had kind of surprised Minerva. Since it was coming from Flitwick, anyway.

Trelawney had actually defended Flitwick any time he had said such thing to Severus. She had always said, 'Severus, the Riddle boy and your daughter were always together in my class, and they made my day every day. I just loved to see the look on their faces when they talked to each other.'

She was right, of course. Even Minerva had to admit that.

Now, at lunch, they were having one of those conversations.

"Severus," Trelawney said, swallowing. "I love your daughter, she was one of my best students. She was one of the only students that ever answered my questions. And— oh," she put her hand over her heart, "The look on that boy's face every time she would answer a question. He looked like he was lost in her, like she was the most important thing in the world. Do you know what I mean?" She wiped a fake tear from her cheek and sighed, shaking her head. She grabbed her fork and started eating the food on her plate.

Severus shook his head, continuing to glare at the side of Mattheo's head.

"Severus," Minerva warned, nudging his arm gently, "stop glaring at the poor boys face, it won't kill him any faster than you would like it to."

Mattheo was sitting across from Pansy and Draco while Blaise sat next to him. The other three were talking to each other, leaning across the table. They seemed to be in deep conversation about something important. But Mattheo seemed to be listening and zoning out at the same time. He had both his elbows on the table with his hands in his hair.

He shook his head, putting his hands out in a gesture, saying something. The others said something else with equal enthusiasm. Mattheo shook his head again, saying something else before going back to the position he was in.

Blaise nodded when Pansy said something again, and Draco looked like he groaned. Mattheo shook his head as well as he could with his hands still in his hair. He mumbled something and Pansy looked half way offended but got over it quickly to say something else.

"He did something to her," Severus mumbled to himself. "I know he had to have done something."

"Severus," Minerva sighed, "you can't blame him for it. I know you want to blame someone, and he seems like the best option, but you can't blame him without proof."

"Minerva, if he did something to her—"

"I garentee he wouldn't have."

"But his father—"

"I know who his father is, Severus," Minerva snapped. "I've been around a lot longer than you. And I can see that he is very different from his father, no matter you want to deny it. He loved her too much to do anything to her." She sighed, refraining from slumping back in her chair. "But you are going to tell me one of your newest conspiracies anyway."

Severus didn't take his eyes off Mattheo. "I suspect that he got her pregnant—"

"Here we go again," Minerva sighed.

Severus didn't skip a beat. "And he didn't want the responsibility, so he killed her."

"Merlin, Severus. No one in their right mind would do that."

He shook his head, still not taking his eyes off Mattheo. Minerva shook her head and sighed, grabbing her goblet.

☯︎︎

There was a knock at Minerva's classroom door fifteen minutes after lunch had ended. She set down her tea and said a 'come in!' The door opened and Mattheo Riddle walked in the room, closing the door behind him.

"You wanted to see me, Professor?" he asked, walking towards her desk.

She nodded. "I did. Have a seat, Mr. Riddle," she said, taking a sip of her tea. "We have something to discuss."

Mattheo nodded and grabbed a chair, pulling it up to the front of her desk before sitting down. He moved in the seat until he was decently comfortable, not making eye contact with Minerva. "What did you want to talk about, Professor?" he asked.

Minerva cleared her throat. "Would you like a biscuit, Mr. Riddle?"

He furrowed his brows and looked confused. "Sorry?"

Minerva set her tea down and nodded to the plate of biscuits on her desk. "A biscuit. Take one."

Mattheo nodded after a second and took one before looking at her. "These aren't poisoned, are they?"

Minerva chuckled and shook her head. "Poisoned? I would never poison a student. Now, Dolores Umbridge on the other hand, she's a different story. But you can't tell anyone I said that, I could get fired. I would never hear the end of it. Right?"

Mattheo shook his head. "Right, yeah." He started to eat the biscuit, furrowing his brows slightly.

Minerva smiled. "Good. Now, you don't have to tell me, but I would like to know what you, Mr. Zabini, Mr. Malfoy, and Ms. Parkinson were talking about at lunch." Mattheo paused. "Ah, I see I've hit something. Look, Mattheo, I said you didn't have to tell me. It seemed that you were all very interested in whatever you were talking about. You looked stressed when you were talking about it, and I can't help but wonder what it was about. I can suspect that it was about something with my goddaughter, am I correct?"

Mattheo paused, then nodded after a moment. "It was just something we— they were thinking about. I don't think that it's right."

"You don't think it's right, or you don't want to think it's right?"

Mattheo paused again, and sighed. "I don't want to think it's right." He shook his head. "There is— a strong possibility that it is true. I would rather it not be."

"Now, what would this be? What were you all thinking that could so possibly be so bad?"

Mattheo shook his head. "Professor, you wouldn't want to know. It would only hurt you more than you already are. Which is why Professor Snape can be one of the last people to know."

"Would it hurt me more than it has hurt you?" she asked, picking up her cup to take a sip.

Mattheo shook his head. "It hurts no one more than me."

Minerva thought about it. What could it possibly be? Lilith wouldn't have cheated on him, Minerva knew that for a fact. She just couldn't understand what it could be. She couldn't quite put her finger on it.

After a moment, she sighed and nodded to the door. "You may leave, Mr. Riddle." He stood up and put the chair back. "Lilith really did love you, I hope you know that."

Mattheo started towards the door. "I thought so too."

"Mr. Riddle," Minerva said, and he turned around at the door. "Why would it hurt you more than anyone?"

"Because I made her promise something. And she broke that promise."

Without another word, he turned around and left.