As Above, So Below - D. Malfoy & M. Riddle

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

"So, we trusted a blind guy to tell us how to find a house in the Highlands?" Theo's voice squeaks in frustration, running his hands through his hair. "Mannaggia."

"Don't forget that it was built in the 1890s for a Keeper of ancient magic." Enzo waves his hands around dramatically before dropping them in defeat.

"No need for the attitude." I mumble. He sighs and stops walking, doing yet another three-sixty, in hopes of seeing something new around us.

"Nothing has changed."

"No shit." Draco grumbles. "You can't expect to see a change when you do a little twirl every minute. We're in a damn field and it's going to be that way for a while until we find this birch tree."

"Alleged birch tree." Mattheo corrects, gaining a huff of disappointment from Draco. "What? We can't completely believe Ominis when he never even saw the house."

"Let's stay positive, alright?" I comment with a shrug.

Their footsteps come to an abrupt halt before turning to face me, all flashing the same annoyed look, their eyes narrowed in frustration.

I raise my hands in surrender and let out a light chuckle. "My bad."

Field upon field upon field. That's all that we have seen since we arrived. The green grass is absolutely breathtaking, and the baby blue sky makes it feel like I'm in a photo. It doesn't feel real. This view, the fluffy white clouds, the soft grass tickling my ankles - none of it.

The wind has been blowing strongly in our faces for the past hour making our hair swirl up into different directions. I can feel a huge knot forming in my ends so I grab it all and tie it in a bun on the top of my head. It instantly flops down a little lower from the flimsy hair tie that I've had for years, so I huff and take it back out.

A tap on my shoulder makes me turn to my right where Mattheo is holding out a black hair tie. He smiles softly and shrugs.

"Is this Allyson's?" I joke as his face turns red and he rolls his eyes. He snatches it away from me and crosses his arms.

He wasn't that defensive to her name in fifth-year when they were spending an absurd amount of time in the broom closet. Funny.

"Forget it." He grumbles.

"Oh, come on, I was kidding." I chuckle, nudging his arm. He huffs and I take the elastic from his wrist, tying my hair in a tight bun. It holds it quite well even with the wild winds. "No need to be grumpy, Mister."

Mattheo eyes me before his lips curl into a smile. "It's yours."

Oh.

He pauses as I raise an eyebrow at him. "I kept it in case you ever asked for one again."

OH.

"Well," I hum softly and try to play it off like he didn't just punch me in the gut. "I appreciate it."

"This is useless." Enzo announces, dropping his arms by his side. "Can we give up? I give up."

"The entire place looks like a damn painting and it's starting to trip me out." Theo comments in agreement. He shields his eyes from the sun and looks up, letting out a dramatic laugh. "And those clouds look fake."

It's probably from all the weed that you're smoking, smartass.

"Have you never seen clouds before? Or is cloud watching just not a normal part of your daily routine as a Death Eater?" I say and he simply glares back.

"Have you never seen clouds before?" Theo mocks me, kicking some of the grass and mumbling to himself in Italian.

I catch onto the words "la puttana" but dismiss it, hoping I misheard.