Surviving Fate // Mattheo Riddle ♣️

Chapter Thirty-One - The Bridge

Word Count: 2,701 words.

Warnings: None.

“You know,” her voice began as I opened my eyes, “I never thought you would last this long.”

I lay against a wooden floor, the side of my face cold from the contact. I was back in that room. The one that I had called my own in Grimmauld Place.

She sat against the wall, one leg flat against the ground while the other was bent at the knee. The Obscurus sighed when she looked at me.

“Why are you still fighting Lyra?” she asked.

“We can win… this war…” I managed, pushing myself up onto my knees.

She laughed. “I don’t care about your stupid battle with that man,” the curse explained. “”Why are you still fighting me?”

“I’ve fought you off so far, haven’t I?” I replied her question with another.

I thought that comment would leave her angry or frustrated with me, but she didn’t say a word. All the Obscurus did was let her head fall back against the wall of the room we were both trapped in, not a scowl or smirk on her face.

“I’m tired,” she told me.

“What?” I asked, confused and breathless.

“I’m tired of fighting for what I want. Do you ever feel like that?” She turned her head to look at me.

The Obscurus was still sharing my face, with the exception of her golden eyes. It wasn’t something I had paid much attention to before, but as she looked at me now, for a moment, I felt as though we could have been the same.

“I feel like that right now,” I explained. “I’m tired of fighting to live.”

“Well then we’re in the same boat, isn’t that what they say?” she laughed.

I shook my head. “What do you want? Truly? To destroy me?”

She paused, letting the back of her head hit the wall gently. “I always wanted more than I was given. We are parasites, us Obscurus’. No mind, no soul, just… inanimate objects. Created to enact pain and suffering, but I was different,” – she pointed to herself – “I came to being three thousands years ago. There was a little girl. Jane.”

The curse closed her eyes, cutting off that single difference between the two of us for a moment. She smiled.

“Such a kind girl. Her family were being hunted by people with magic. They didn’t have any name for them then. Humans were just monsters. She suppressed her magic so greatly that I entered this world and the only thing I wanted to do was bring her great suffering.” Her voice cracked.

“Why not leave her?” I asked. “If you didn’t want to hurt her.”

“Oh, I wanted to hurt her,” she assured, eyes opening to look at me again. “That will never change, but I did change when she died. I didn’t fall away to nothing alongside her. Instead, I waited, watched the family grieve her. It was… extraordinary. They loved her unconditionally and with everything they had. I wanted that. I want that. I want to live and be loved…” she paused, turning away.

“But others have to die for you to live,” I finished for her.

“And I will kill every person I need to.” Her voice was stronger this time. Cruel. “I will kill you and I will kill the next like I have done before you and I won’t stop until I get what I want.”

I thought about perhaps arguing with the Obscurus. Telling it that maybe we could find a way to live together but she would never settle for that. At the curses core, it was pure evil and although it sat here in front of me with tear-filled eyes and a hesitant gaze, it was human in its soul and if there was one thing I knew about humans, it was that we were monsters.

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When I opened my eyes, the pain returned. I couldn't pinpoint a single spot in my body that hurt more than the other. The ache was everywhere, and it was nowhere all at once. It was all-consuming and I begged my mind to fall back into the darkness. To be numb again.

“Hey… Lyra…” Neville’s voice broke through the pain as he knelt in front of me.

“Longbottom,” I greeted, letting out a groan of hurt.

“Are you alright?” he asked, sending a quick glance to my right before looking back to me. “You just appeared out of nowhere.”

I brought a hand to my side, pressing harshly against where Voldemort had hit me. “Peachy,” I told him, taking a deep breath.
It even hurt to breathe. It was agony to take air into my lungs, but I had to keep going. I wasn’t done yet.

“Help me up,” I muttered.

Neville was quick to comply, positioning his hand under my arm and pulling me to my feet. I stumbled against him, head spinning.

“Fuck Lyra, you need to get to a Healer,” he told me.

I shook my head. “That’s not going to do anything. I’m too far gone.” I looked up to him.

Pity. That’s what I saw on his face. More fucking pity. It was the thing I had grown to hate, but at this point, I just let them. I let them take pity on me because soon, I wouldn’t get to see their faces ever again.
“We’re safe for now,” he told me. “There’s a barrier between us and them.”

I nodded, channeling what power I could to stand myself. At the end of the bridge, Seamus and Ginny stood with other students. They seemed to be rigging the bridge to explode.

“Did McGonagall give you permission to blow it up?” I asked Neville.

He nodded. “I was as shocked as you were.”

“It was the best moment of my life,” Seamus added, walking towards the two of us. He held his wand tightly. “Good to see you not dead Black.”

“Likewise.”

There was a sudden burst of light through the air and I turned to see the blue barrier surrounding the school. Several wands were shooting at it.

“Fuck,” Seamus cursed. “Will they break it?”

I shook my head. “No,” I told him. “Even together, they aren’t strong enough, but if Voldemort uses the Elder Wand…” I trailed off.

“We better move quickly then. Let’s get the rest of these explosives rigged.”

“Black!” a shout called from outside the barrier and into the forest.

Facing the voice, I saw that that the Snatcher waited impatiently at the edge of the barrier. Scabior stood at the front, smiling softly.

“Scabior!” I greeted, pushing off Neville the stumble towards him. I was slow moving across the bridge, but I made it to the edge. I didn’t dare step onto the grass.

“Are you really a traitor or are you just pulling their legs?” he posed.

“What do you think?” I retaliated.

He smiled. “Tricky bitch. Well,” – he placed a hand on his chest – “you got me. I didn’t see it coming at all.”

“Glad my acting abilities are to your liking,” I spat.

He took a step closer. I could see the end and beginning of the barrier but I questioned whether he could. He seemed to only be seconds away from touching it but had no hesitance to move slightly further again.

The ground shook beneath me and my legs threatened to give out. Within seconds Neville had a firm hold of my arm, keeping me on my feet.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

He gestured to the sky. “He used the Elder Wand.”

I looked at the break that was now forming in the middle of the blue sky. He broke it. I could suddenly feel a harsh pain in my chest, but it wasn’t from the Obscurus. It was my wand. It was breaking.

“We have to go,” Neville whispered.

I looked at Scabior. He had taken his wand from his pocket and lifting it into the air, he touched the remnants of the shield between us and them, throwing it aside.

“Shit,” I cursed, grip tightening on Neville. We turned and ran.

Neville was all but holding me up completely as we rushed across the bridge. The Snatcher sprinted after us.

“Seamus! Blow it up!” the Gryffindor shouted.

With a wave of his wand, Finnegan threw something at the side of the bridge. There was a large explosion and the wood under my feet rattled.

I tripping, falling harshly against the ground. Neville came around my other side and pulled me back to my feet. He was struggling too.

“Just… keep… going…” I told him. “Leave…”

He shook his head, arm around my waist as we kept moving. “Harry would kill me if I let you die now.”

“Well, I – ”

I was cut off as Neville pushed harshly against my back, propelling me forward and back onto the ground. The side of my head smacked against the bridge, ears ringing harshly.

“Neville!” someone screamed. It wasn’t me.

I pushed myself up, turning my head. The bridge was gone, or at least half of it was. The explosion had caused it to collapse, bringing the Snatchers with it. I didn’t see Neville anywhere.

“Neville?” I called out, pushing myself onto my feet and turning in a circle. I could see Seamus and Ginny staring wide-eyed at the scene around us. The other student had kept running, their figures now vanishing from view back inside the castle.

“Where’s Neville?” I asked Ginny.

She shook her head. “He was just behind you.”

My stomach dropped. He had pushed me ahead. Neville had used what strength he had to get me onto the other side of the bridge, but he had fallen. He was dead. Because of me.