LUNACY ll Mattheo Riddle x Reader

46. ʟᴜᴄɪᴜꜱ ᴍᴀʟꜰᴏʏ

Short chapter but i'll be making up for it with the super long length of the next chapter!! :)

The hills we pass by are a pristine white, covered in a blanket of snow, untouched and pure. Mattheo and I spend the whole train ride kissing each other, using the chill from the windows as an excuse to share each other's body heat. We roll our eyes when Draco tells us to get a room, laugh when Enzo ends up spilling his packet of Honeydukes products all over his owl's cage, causing the poor bird to start whistling out of its ears.

By some miracle, Malfoy Manor actually appears cozy as Mattheo, Draco, and I Apparate in front of its front gates. Mattheo and I walk with Draco between us, knowing that while the Dark Lord may not be occupying the estate at the moment, my parents are, and I wouldn't put it past my father not to try and turn Mattheo and my relationship into a power play of some sort.

I've never spent that many Christmases here, but as far as dinner banquets go, it's a decent one. The house-elves outdid themselves, and even the small talk wasn't so horrible. By which I mean that while Mother ignored me as she's been doing all her life, Father actually attempted to make conversation with me. He was met with only half-hearted responses on my part- If killing a man is what's got him so interested in me all of a sudden, I'd rather he go back to pretending I didn't exist.

I'm met with an unpleasant surprise when Aunt Bellatrix joins us later that evening. She greets me before anyone else, having been convinced ever since that night in the Astronomy Tower that I'll grow up to be just like her. We all gather by the fireplace and Mother uncorks a bottle of matured mead that she pours for all of us. Snow falls outside as we sit in awkward silence for a while, and if someone were to freeze this moment and paint it, it might just pass for what a loving family should look like.

It's the next afternoon that my father has one of the house-elves summon me to his study. Leaving Mattheo and Draco behind in the library, I cross through the halls and knock on his door.

"Y/n," he smiles at me, and that's enough for me to know that I'm not going to be liking whatever is about to happen next. "Come, sit." My father gestures to the chair in front of his desk. Official papers have been stacked neatly on top of the glass covering, a far cry from the mess his office was in before he'd been broken out of Azkaban.

Of course, now they've altered the records, stating that Lucius Malfoy's year-long incarceration was a great mistake on the Ministry's part.

"How have you been?" my father asks kindly.

In response, I stare at him like he's got one of his pristine white peacocks sitting on his head. "I literally just saw you last night."

"Yes, well," he clasps his hands on the desk between us. "How are you enjoying school, then? Lots of friends?"

"Kind of lost half of them thanks to you, but sure."

"And what about... What about other relationships? Any romantic interests that I should be aware of?"

"What?" I blurt out. "What do you- No. No, I'm not interested in anyone romantically. And what do you mean, that you should be aware of?"

"I am your father, Y/n," he seems to be reminding me, even though it was he who was always forgetting it more often than not. "I want only what's best for you."

My mind does a quick replay of the past years. Hidden from view, always being treated as second, constantly being reminded that no matter what, I meant nothing to him whatsoever.

"Of course, Father."

"Speaking of," he leans forward, as if to tell me a great secret, "Were you aware of how the Dark Lord's son was looking at you last night?"