LUNACY ll Mattheo Riddle x Reader

73. ᴛᴀᴋᴇɴ

He kissed me.

I didn't want him to kiss me.

Riddle sits across from me now, in the dining room where several people have gathered, setting his sights on anywhere but within a square foot of me. He nods along to whatever my mother is briefing him on, while my father sits by his side, appearing irritated. We were told of the Dark Lord's departure earlier today, and of how Riddle would be taking over the Death Eater meetings until his father returned.

Not that I was there for those meetings, of course. No, while my father and aunt and other blood relations were busy adjusting to the change in power play this morning, I was off at the Greengrasses for a lovely brunch. My secret came too close to being revealed when an innocent conversation with Daphne and Pansy turned into a reminiscing about our old school days that we apparently shared together.

The meeting I've been invited to right now is strictly a business one, covering matters on legal distributions and financial deposits. The man called Yaxley has been giving me odd looks for the past quarter hour, but then again, I can't be sure. It might just be that he has something in his eyes.

"And one more thing, Narcissa?" Riddle says, just as the meeting is about to finish up. "Father has asked that I go retrieve something from the Black vaults. Would you mind accompanying me to Gringotts today?"

"I would, my lord, but I've put off preparing for the new school year long enough. Start of term is in three days, and there are matters to be tended to regarding that front. But I'm sure Y/n could open the vaults for you. She has as much access as I do."

The uncomfortable silence that follows goes unnoticed by others at the table. Riddle gives a stiff nod in response to my mother, and she and Severus leave together. At long last, the Dark Lord's son looks at me. Tilts his head in a way that suggests we should follow suit.

Gringotts appears to be the only business left in Diagon Alley that remains flourishing anymore. The goblins, ever the smarter species by not deigning to partake in wizarding wars, have been catering to both Death Eater affiliates and secret members of the order, for they know that neither side will dare disrupt their affairs in the face of what consequences might follow.

"Your hand, Miss Black," the head goblin requests. I wince when he pricks the tip of my finger with some sort of silver needle. "Security precautions and formalities. I'm sure you understand," he says, as a security wizard comes to perform a simple Detection Charm on my person.

The descent into the Black vaults is a long one, for it resides in the deepest parts of the Gringotts caves where the tracks are ancient and the foundation is sacred. Riddle doesn't speak a word to me the whole journey. It drives me mad, not knowing what he's thinking, not knowing just what was going through his mind when he came and left last night.

"The Black family vaults," our assigned goblin announces. "Miss Black, your key?"

Riddle and I enter together, and I let him do his searching among the towers of gold and treasures. I have no interest in ogling lost artifacts or chests full of precious gems. Nor do I wish to spend any more time with him than is necessary.

At first when we surface from the vaults, I don't realize anything is wrong. Riddle carries the artifact he was sent to retrieve in the pocket of his cloak. Our goblin leads us back to the main hall. His fellow workers sit working just as they were before. Security workers patrol the corridors, other clients wander about underneath the domed ceiling, hoping to get a word with the head goblin.

Trained to catch even the slightest hints of danger in the air, Riddle senses it faster than I do. The eyes on us. Never from only one person, and never for too long. The entire room seems to take turns watching us, looking away at the right moments to keep us from getting suspicious.

"Stick close to me," Riddle mutters under his breath. "We get across the hall. Step out the door and beyond the Anti-Apparition wards. Don't return to Malfoy Manor right away. Go to the Berkshire Estate, and wait for me there."

We don't even make it halfway through his plan before chaos erupts around us.

A collective roar of, "STUPEFY!" thunders through the air, and it's only thanks to Riddle throwing himself on top of me, knocking the both of us down, that keeps me from taking a dozen Stunners to the chest.

Riddle pulls me to my feet and we make a run for it, his Shield Charm that he's thrown up around us protecting us from the hexes that are thrown at us from all directions. I don't know who's casting them, if everyone here is in on it or if innocent bystanders have been caught in the crossfire of this surprise attack. What I do manage to notice is the range of these jinxes- All are non-lethal, though a few do balance precariously on the boundaries of that line... Which can only mean one thing. The Order is here to take one of us alive.

"Go! Now, Y/n!" Riddle shouts at me, throwing me in the direction of the door as he turns back to fend off our attackers. But it's nearly ten on one. There's no way Riddle's making it out alive by himself. Already, he's taken two hits to the chest, and it's only through sheer stubbornness that he remains standing despite it.

I hesitate for far too many precious seconds, caught between doing as I'm told and listening to my gut instincts that scream for me to jump into action. Helplessly, I watch as a man with scars littering his face sends a powerful Stunner barreling right for Riddle's face. The boy staggers; He looks to me with desperation in his eyes, desperation that calls not for me to save him, but to save myself.

Relief, bittersweet relief, takes over his features as I disappear into a whirl of movement at the flourish of my wand. Just as he falls unconscious, content with the knowledge that I've managed to Apparate away, a hand grabs hold of my wrist. Its owner pulls himself into my flurry of Apparition. We end up not far from the Berkshire Estate before we're whisked off again, this time not by my own volition. Something raw and excruciating tears through the side of my face. Blood rushes down in currents, my vision blurs and darkens until the world is nothing but a gray haze.

Splinched, I realize, right before everything turns dark at last. Slowly, almost dreamily, I sink into the peace that loss of consciousness offers.

It's so much quieter here.

welp that was a short chapter

yaknow what could make up for it??

the first chapter of my new mattheo fic!!

it's called "These Wretched Oaths" and it's that enemies with benefits thing i was talking about before

but obviously, my loyalties are to Lunacy first, so i won't be updating as often with that book than i will be with THIS one :)

but anyways yep go check that out! and i promise, the next chapter for Lunacy is going to be INCREDIBLY long <33