𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭, ᵐᵃᵗᵗʰᵉᵒ ʳⁱᵈᵈˡᵉ

chapter 25

it was a rainy day when Sirius Black escaped Azkaban. charlotte woke up late. without mattheo there to make sure she got up early, she'd begun sleeping till noon. remus woke her up gently, knocking on her door and laying a cup of tea on her table.
"charlotte," he said quietly, "something terrible has happened."
she reached for the tea, and waited for him to explain. her father. she curled up on her bed and turned away from remus. he rubbed her back gently for a moment before sighing. he closed her door quietly. she balled her fist and imagined running it through the wall, but she wouldn't make remus pay for those damages. he didn't deserve that. he had raised her from the time she was a baby, when her dad had been arrested. he bought her all the toys and clothes she wanted, regardless of how much they cost, and she loved him like a father. he had raised her into the girl she was today. she would always be thankful for him. she rolled over, facing the large window next to her bed, and cried.
~
the first day of hogwarts came quick after that. she walked with remus towards the train, and gave him a quick hug before he entered the staff compartment. she walked down the aisle until she reached an empty compartment. as if she had summoned him, mattheo appeared outside of the compartment door. she rolled her eyes, still feeling the anger from their fight.

"can i help you?" she asked, rolling her eyes.
"yes," he nodded, pulling the door to the compartment open. "you can."
charlotte sighed as mattheo sat across from her. "what do you want?" she asked.
"to talk," mattheo shrugged, clearly not taking the hint. just as he began to talk again, pansy burst into the compartment, glaring at mattheo.

"i think it's time to go, riddle," she said, pulling him up from the bench and pushing him out the door. as soon as the door closed, charlotte fell forward, into pansy's arms, and started crying. she sobbed, her friends arms hugged her tightly, and she ignored pansy's questions as she cried and cried.

by the time they arrived at hogwarts, she had finished crying, and cleaned herself up successfully. though it did hurt that mattheo came to see her, she knew that they were done, and hopefully, he wouldn't come to see her again. the feast was mundane as always, but it was interrupted with chatter and kids pointing at her. through all the stuff with mattheo, she forgot her dad had escaped prison. kids in younger years were glaring menacingly at her and whispering loudly about her and how she was "helping" her father. she rolled her eyes, they knew nothing.
she felt tears build in her eyes again at the cruelty her classmates were showing her. she thought after so many years of knowing eachother, her classmates would have thought more highly of her, but she seemed to be wrong so often lately.

"hey," a voice said coldly, directed at the group of snickering, pointing 5th years, "i don't want to hear any of you saying shit about her again, all right? if i find you did, i will fucking kill you." mattheo said angrily, gripping the collar of the tallest kid. he looked back at charlotte and winked once, before dropping the kid and walking out of the great hall. she ached to follow him, but something deep inside her reminded her that it wasn't her job to do that anymore, in fact, it was her job to not do that. she sighed loudly, he couldn't do things like that for her, look out for her like that, after he broke her heart. he wasn't allowed to do that, act like that, when it was clear she still loved him so hopelessly. but she couldn't forgive him. he didn't deserve her forgiveness after what he did. but she feared that maybe he would get it anyway. she was scared that she would forgive him anyway, that he would make her love him again, regardless of the fact she never actually stopped. with a sigh, she turned away from the door, focusing on dumbledor again. she found herself looking back over and over, wishing mattheo would walk back in. he never did.