LUNACY ll Mattheo Riddle x Reader

30. ᴛʜᴇ ᴀꜱᴛʀᴏɴᴏᴍʏ ᴛᴏᴡᴇʀ

 They knew we were coming.

It's pandemonium from the moment we step out- Hermione, still clutching that piece of parchment in her hand, while McGonagall and a woman with bright purple hair stand at her sides. Hermione's eyes widen when she sees me with the group- I'm the only one that gets such a reaction out of her. Nothing similar to shock resonates when Draco and Mattheo come rushing out after me.

"Stupefy!"

"Crucio!"

The purple haired woman and Amycus Carrow begin dueling with each other at once, while a devastated looking McGonagall points her wand at Mattheo and whispers, "Expelliarmus."

Mattheo deflects the spell. Returns with no attack of his own. Instead, he takes my wrist with one hand, grabs Draco's arm with the other, and starts dragging us out of the corridor.

"Impedimenta!"

"Expulso!"

"Avada Kedavra!"

More Aurors, scrambling down the steps from above, but they barely pay the three terrified students any mind. A man I recognize from the Prophet to be Kingsley Shacklebolt looks a lot more interested in the light show going on behind us than the curly haired Slytherin boy he crashes into- It's only after the three of us half already made it halfway up the stairs that Shacklebolt swears and shouts out Mattheo's name.

"Go! To the Astronomy Tower, now!" Mattheo shouts at me and Draco, urging us on. Our school robes come in useful for avoiding direct attacks from the Aurors who seem to be everywhere in the castle- They're here for the Death Eaters, not students, after all- Though technically speaking, two out of the three of us do qualify for that former title.

"Oh, Merlin-"

"Fucking-"

We collide with the group of Gryffindors turning the corner, and there's a moment when all six of us- Draco, Mattheo, and myself, along with Ginny, Ron, and a dark haired boy I'm pretty sure is named Longbottom- Just brandish our wands at each other wildly, not knowing who to point them at.

"Just stop," Mattheo states with so much authority in his voice that the Gryffindors actually pause to listen. "We don't want any trouble, alright? Just let us through. We don't mean any harm."

"Bloody Death Eaters are in the castle, and your pal's the one who let them in!" Ron shouts, jabbing a finger in Draco's direction.

"So you can blame him, then."

"Exactly! Wait, what?"

Mattheo throws Draco straight at the ginger, causing both of them to go toppling down. Faster than I can comprehend, he casts a Petrification Jinx on both Longbottom and Ginny Weasley- "S-Stupefy!" Draco stutters, shooting a spell directly in Ron's face, then clamoring to his feet.

As soon as Mattheo gets us moving again, I scream out, "What the hell are we doing?"

"Getting your bloody brother to the Tower so that he can finish this!" Mattheo shouts back.

"Finish what? Why aren't either of you telling me- Protego!" I deflect a jinx that comes flying from out of nowhere.

"Might as well, Malfoy," Mattheo says to my brother. "She's going to be finding out in a couple of minutes, anyway." Mattheo grabs the back of both Draco and my heads and flattens the three of us to the ground. A hex goes whistling over us and lands on the nearest wall with a sickening smash.

"He wants me to k-kill-" Draco swallows, lets out a whimper at an explosive spell that goes off a short distance away from us. "To k-kill-"

"Kill who, you stupid prat? Kill who?" I scream at him.

"Albus Dumbledore," Mattheo answers instead, and I think I pop a blood vessel in my eye.

"Crucio!" Aunt Bellatrix's cackle is audible even through all the chaos. She skips over in our direction, pauses when she sees the three of us on the floor and says, "Up, up, up! Come, Draco, you've got a job to do!"

We're back on our feet again, following Mattheo in the direction of the Astronomy Tower- Though what makes him so sure that Dumbledore will be up there tonight, I have no idea.

"Stupe-"

"Crucio!" Aunt Bellatrix's curse hits an Auror directly in the chest, reducing the man to a writhing mess on the ground.

"We don't have time for that!" Mattheo snaps at her from ahead of us. Groaning like a child that's been denied a toy, Bellatrix lets go of her curse and hurries after us.

It's a little while later, at the bottom of the Astronomy Tower, that Mattheo suddenly stops and rams me into the nearest wall. Draco and my aunt are left to fend for themselves as a man with multiple scars down his face and a redheaded boy in his early twenties, who I'm sure must be a Weasley, start coming at them with all the spells they can think of.

"So this is what Draco meant by nauseating chivalry, huh?" I say, out of breath, looking up at the Shield Charm that surrounds us. "This is nice. Very close proximity."

Mattheo manages a laugh amidst the explosions around us. "On the count of three," he begins.

"Three!" I shout, grab his hand, and make a wild run for it. The scarred man and the Weasley boy are too occupied with dueling Bellatrix, two against one, that Mattheo, Draco, and I manage to slip past them without much trouble.

"Mattheo?" I wheeze, as I start climbing the steps up to the top of the Tower, "How do you know Dumbledore's gonna be up there?"

"He's not," Mattheo pants. "I don't think he is, at least."

He offers no further explanation after that.

A thousand shimmering stars float up in the sky, continuing to glow as steadily as ever. They don't care about what's happening below them, and in this moment, I'd give anything to be one of them right now.

"MORSMORDRE!"

Mattheo hurls a beam of green sparks right at those stars, causing distortions in the nighttime sky. Stars churn together to create a disfigured aurora of sorts, until I'm staring up at the all-too-familiar image of a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth.

"You're bringing him to us," I say weakly.

"Find places to hide. Now," Mattheo tells Draco. "It won't be long now." Then he grabs my hand and pulls me into a corner of the Tower fully cloaked in shadows.

Minutes tick by in silence, but none of us dare move. The sound of screams and explosions from down below are barely audible now, so faint, almost like lost memories in a dream. I numbly wonder if anyone has been killed yet... And wonder what my parents would say if they knew that if only I could, I would give up the lives of all those Death Eaters than lose a single person who calls his school home.