Fighting Fate // Mattheo Riddle ♣️

Chapter Twenty-Four - Weakness

Word Count: 2,558.

Warnings: None.

There she was. My mother. My real mother. Not the voice in my head that pretended to be her, or a figment of my imagination. She was there, sitting on the couch of my home. Not dead, like I had believed she was.

"How?" I asked, still stood in the same spot.

She shook her head. "That doesn't matter right now." She rose from her seat, moving towards me quickly and taking me into a tight hug. "What matters is that I'm here. I found you."

Shocked, I gasped at the contact, but quickly returned the hug, burying my head into her shoulder.

My mother. She was here, her arms wrapped around me, her face near mine, and she wasn't a voice in my head. I knew she wasn't. This one was real.

Pulling away, I looked up into her eyes, my figure frozen to the spot. "I don't... I don't understand. How?"

She sighed with joy, a smile still on her face. "I escaped," she whispered. "I got out."

"Out of where?" I asked her.

She shuddered. "Voldemort. He had me. In a dungeon somewhere, but Peter." She smiled. "Little Pete, he left the door unlocked and I got out."

I smiled back, letting out a breath.

"Convenient," Estrella, the voice in my head commented. "Fifteen years of captivity and Pettigrew just... leaves the door unlocked."

He's crazy. I told her in my mind.

She scoffed. "Crazy, yes, but stupid?"

"Ella," my father spoke up, rising from his chair and approaching us. "We thought you were dead."

"A charm of sorts," she explained, stepping away from me for a moment. "That wasn't my body that you saw."

"Then who was it?" I asked.

She was still smiling at me. "I do not know. A Death Eater, I suppose."

My mother brought her hands out to balance herself, reaching out for something. My father rushed towards her, taking her arm and holding her up.

Lupin entered the room, approaching the two of them. "Are you alright Ella?" the werewolf asked her.

She nodded, closing her eyes as she winced slightly. "I'm afraid that... being in a dungeon for..." she trailed off.

"Fifteen years," I told her.

She only whimpered, looking up at me again. "Fifteen years," my mother sighed. "It has... had a toll. Is there... somewhere that I could... rest for a moment?"

"Of course," my father replied, directing her over to the couch for a moment, sitting her down. "I will have a room prepared. Moony."

My father made for the door, Lupin following after him. They exited the room, and I heard their footsteps rush up the stairs. I was left in the room. Alone with my mother.

"My dear," she started, holding a hand out towards me. "Sit with me."

I didn't answer her, instead quickly rushing to her side and settling myself down on the couch. She took my hands, holding them gently.

"I just need to get her to trust me," she spoke.

I looked up at her. "What did you say?" I asked her.

She shook her head. "I did not say a word," she replied. "But I do not know how I could. I am in awe. I am here. With you."

My fingers began to tingle in her hands, feeling numb. I looked down at them, tilting my head as a cloud of black lifted from her skin, approaching me quickly. It touched my face, moving my head backwards.