𝖀𝖓𝖈𝖔𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖊𝖉- MATTHEO RIDDLE (hp)

F O R T Y - O N E

The next few days might've been the worst ones Alana's had to face. Her heart ached everytime- especially when it caught the sight of Mattheo. It was difficult- really difficult to look at him in the Great Hall during meal times, when they were in the same classes together, or even accidentally had to walk in the same hallway together. It was unbearable to just breathe the same air as him, staying in the same room as him was like murder. 

She made it a point to never look at him, to avoid looking at the area where he was standing. The red head was trying her best to ignore his existence, altogether. But it was very difficult to do so, considering that Alana Weasley used to wish upon falling stars that she would never have to live in a world where Mattheo Riddle didn't exist. 

Not to mention, they also happened to be potion partners. She'd already gone up to Slughorn to see if their situation could be changed, but with the school year ending so soon, there was nothing that he could do about it. So, instead they just stand to sit beside each other in grueling tension, trying to pretend that they didn't used to be each others entire world. 

Not to mention her heart- her poor old heart that was starting to whine in pain everytime their eyes even accidentally caught his sight. When once upon a time, those brown eyes used to mean everything to her, she now dreaded turning a corner and running into those same eyes. 

The boy who used to be everything she wanted was someone she now ran from. She couldn't bear to look at the same face that she once wanted to wake up to every morning and look at before falling asleep at night. His scars didn't look so enticing anymore, but broke her heart as she felt her fingers still remember every ridge and pattern. 

She was afraid of Mattheo Riddle now.

It was worse than it used to be. Where they used to atleast speak to each other in the language of taunts and insults, now they ignored each other completely- as if the other one was dead. Atleast back then, she hated him. Now she didn't even have the courage to feel anything in his presence because the Weasley girl was so afraid that he'd ruin on everything once again.

But her heart- her stubborn old heart wasn't ready to listen to the reasoning of her head, or more like it didn't want to. It still harbored the love that he'd trampled all over- not quite ready to let go of it yet. 

Her friends and siblings noticed, of course. The baggier than usual clothing, the circles under her eyes that she grew from crying herself to sleep every night, the sudden withdrawal to everything in the world and the worst of all- the glassy eyes. Alana had really let herself go. 

Her friends, faithful as well, still shielded her from the boy everywhere they went. They were eager to bring their old friend back- the one who used to smile more often. It seemed like they couldn't stop cracking jokes and trying to make her happy, while she couldn't stop grieving. She cried very often now. Ron and Ginny were worried- they wanted to know whatever was stopping their older sister from being the happiest she usually was. They missed her smile now that it was lost. 

Mattheo had lost his sleep. He was angrier, sadder and more ruthless now that there was no Alana at the end of the bad days to look forward to. He lost his temper more often and had developed some sort of insomnia. He smoked more and couldn't begin his day without a glass of Firewhisky and couldn't end it without one either- the drink becoming a substitute for the red head. Sometimes, he would even her ghost in the bottle, her hair blending into the color of the alcohol swirling around to meet his eyes with a smile. 

He'd started to torture himself. 

Sometimes, he sat in the Astronomy Tower into late hours in the morning, his heart hoping that Alana would walk in to soothe her heartaches as well. Maybe then, they could finally sit together and he could hold her like nothing had changed between them. Like he hadn't obliterated her heart to pieces. It was sliver of hope- but it's what she'd taught him.