Darkest Desire - English

12

(TW: scars, implied self-harm and abuse).

"Let me do the talking," Riddle hissed to Liz as they made their way to the basement. Wasn't it pretty reckless, really, to send two students wandering around on their own when someone had just been attacked? Or was Snape convinced that they were both the attackers and therefore not worried?

They were just down the grand staircase when something occurred to Mattheo. "Give me your hands," he demanded.

Liz instinctively hid both hands behind her back. "Why?" she asked, making no secret of her suspicion. They had been interrupted at an odd moment and Liz wasn't keen on picking up where they had left off just now.

But Mattheo only expelled his breath in annoyance and pulled one of her arms forward. Pointing his wand at the burn his cigarette had left, he spoke, "Episkey." The fleshy wound slowly discolored and became ice cold for a moment. Startled, Liz jerked her hand away again, but the sensation immediately subsided. Instead, the hand felt - it felt good? Confused, Liz looked down. The burn was gone, leaving only a light scar.

"And the other one," Mattheo continued to demand, waving his fingers impatiently. This time she hesitated only a moment before offering him the other hand as well. Healing spells weren't exactly her forte. Healing potions, yes Liz could do that, but Snape would probably strangle her with his bare hands if she spontaneously started brewing something in his office now.

Mattheo took her hand in his. It was the side with the burned sleeve. He pushed up the charred fabric to see if she had any more wounds, but Liz stopped his hand immediately and pushed the sleeve back down.

Their eyes met and Liz bit her tongue. Mattheo was determined and did not tolerate any rejoinder. Liz had seen that expression so many times before. Not on Mattheo, but on her family. Her body reacted before she could fight back and let Mattheo have his way.

He pushed up the sleeve again, exposing the numerous scars that had accumulated over the years. Again his gaze slid to Liz's face, but she could not look him in the eye. There was a price to pay for disappointing the family.

"Episkey." Mattheo's voice made Liz wince, barely noticeable after the tension. "Come on. Let's not get caught dawdling." And then he took the lead back to Snape's office.

*

"What do you know about the Chamber of Secrets?" Snape put his long, skinny fingers together and fixed Mattheo. All this time he had been ignoring Liz, and she was beginning to wonder if she even needed to be here. At the same time, it would probably kill her not to know what Mattheo would tell his tutor.

"Just what people say. One of the founders supposedly built it to keep Muggle-borns out of Hogwarts." Liz would have sold a kidney to be as composed as Mattheo at that moment. He sat relaxed but not disrespectful in the chair, looking straight at Snape. "Will you take our word for it that we had nothing to do with this attack?"

"I will," Snape began, retrieving an empty glass from his desk drawer, "because you will willingly drink this." The glass filled with clear water and Snape dripped a few drops into it from a small, brownish bottle. Then he slid the glass over to Mattheo.

The Slytherin drank the glass down in one go and continued to look the teacher straight in the eye.

"So once again. What do you know about the Chamber of Secrets?"

"Salazar Slytherin supposedly built it in when Hogwarts was being built, without the knowledge of the other founders, to keep Muggle-borns out of the school." Mattheo sighed and leaned back in his chair. "A lot of people think it was me who opened the chamber. Because they know who my father was."

"And did you open the chamber?"

"No."

Liz felt dizzy. Was a teacher allowed to simply administer a truth serum to his student? And what would she do if Mattheo told Snape what he had seen only moments before?

"Do you know who opened the chamber?"

There it was, the question. Liz clutched the seat with both hands until her knuckles turned white. Her gaze went to Mattheo as he answered in an indifferent voice.

"No. I wasn't even sure the chamber had actually been opened."

For the first time in her life, Liz was grateful that she tended to freeze completely when the stress became too much. Otherwise, Snape would probably have seen the sheer horror on her face as he turned to her now.

"And you Miss Black? What were you doing there?"

He was about to pull out another glass when Mattheo spoke up again. "Let me answer that question," he offered. "Then you won't have to waste any more Veritaserum. The two of us were in an empty classroom when we heard Peeves. The reason we were there was because we wanted to make out, actually."

Snape raised a bushy eyebrow and eyed first Mattheo, then Liz. "You thought it appropriate, after the last attack, to hang around at night to - to pursue your pleasures?" The teacher was visibly indignant, but he could not doubt what Mattheo told him under the influence of his own potion.

Mattheo really had the audacity to let a grin cross his face. "If it really is Salazar's monster, then I don't think Lysandra Black has anything to worry about. And I didn't believe it could really be a monster until just now. I honestly thought it was students committing these acts."

Again, Snape put his fingers together and studied Mattheo Riddle intently. Liz knew the teacher was also part of the inner circle. She had met him more than once at the Malfoy house. So he wouldn't punish Mattheo for something he secretly supported. Whereby Liz was thinking less of Mattheo's confession and more of the Chamber of Secrets.

"All right. That'll be all for today. Go to your dormitories without any detours, and be sure to stay there."

"You're just going to let Miss Black go by herself?" asked Mattheo. The effects of the potion seemed to have worn off again, for his monotone manner had faded.

But Snape spitefully pulled up one corner of his mouth. "As you said yourself, I think Miss Black has the least to fear of all of us."