Babysitters

Chapter 35

THEODORE NOTT

The dark silhouette at the end of the stairs stared at us intently.
His voice sent a shiver down my spine, but not in a good way.
Not the kind of chills Veronica gives me.
I glanced at Enzo, trying to hide my terror with a look of confusion. I fear I didn't succeed in it as good as I'd hoped, but now was not the time to worry about that.
"The Ministry of Magic has sent a couple of their aurors here, you thiefs," the man hissed, not taking a step in any direction. The man's shape was so bulky and muscular I was almost certain me and Enzo wouldn't be making it past him with pure physical force.
"I suggest you give me the vial now," he continued. "We'll all survive with less injuries that way."
I clutched the bottle through the fabric of my pants. I knew Enzo was thinking the same thing as me; if we had to choose between Lord Voldemort's wrath or that guy's, it'd be the latter without a second thought. Mattheo had told us enough stories of how he'd been punished as a child and a teenager when he hadn't performed to his father's expectations.
"I don't think so," I said. I was almost surprised how real the confidence and cockiness in my voice sounded.
Right now, confident would be the last thing I'd describe myself with. I'm shitting my pants.
We couldn't let the aurors catch us. The mark in our left forearms would send us both straight to Azkaban. We had to get out of here before—

Thump.

My eyes widened.
The man.
Dead.
The green light I just witnessed, it was real. Not a hallucination. And it came from Enzo's wand.
I slowly turned my head to face him. A look of mortification, surprise, determination and fear was plastered on his face.
"You actually did not just do that," I said. "You did not."
Enzo inhaled a sharp breath. "Apparently I did."
Before I could get another word out, he grabbed me by the arm and began pulling me up the stairs. I held my breath as we approached the dead figure laying on the floor before us. I never, ever, could've expected that out of all of us, Enzo would be the one to kill somebody. Torture, yes. Stun, yes. But kill?
Never.

And now he had.

We stepped over the corpse. I was careful not to touch it, not even graze it with my shoe. It was hard to comprehend it—just a minute ago, he'd been alive. Threatening us. And now, he was gone. He'd never return to this world. His life had been ripped from him
by Enzo.

"He said the aurors would be here soon," Enzo broke the silence as he opened the front door so aggressively I was surprised it didn't fall from its place. "That motherfucker. He'd invited someone over. He was just playing along the whole time. We can't even be sure this is the artifact."
"You killed him," I said.
"I did. Why are you still in denial about it? You saw me do it," he huffed, still pulling me with him as we walked down the stairs of the porch. "I did it, not you. I'm the one with his blood on my hands."
Despite Enzo's attempt to seem unbothered and indifferent, I could see the way his hands shook and the slight wobbliness in each of his steps. It was clear he got some type of adrenaline rush from it. I just wasn't sure if it was a good or bad type of rush.
"Can you apparate us back?" Enzo asked as soon as we'd gotten out of the house's residence.
"Yeah, give me a second," I replied, taking my wand out and beginning to focus on the Malfoy manor intently. Just as I cast the spell, I saw a couple of men apparate in front of the house we'd just left.

The aurors.

VERONICA VALDEZ

I was running out of patience.
I said I didn't worry anymore. That I didn't care.
I shouldn't have. But I did.

Theo and Enzo had already been gone for too long. They should have been back already.
After leaving Tom's room, my whole day had passed by with me rotting in my bed, pacing around the house and stressing so much I felt like losing my mind.
I'd been—almost—fine recently. So why was I feeling like this now? It's like I could feel something had happened to them. The only people I could actually call friends in this house.

My steps on the wooden floor barely made a noise as I walked over it. To the dining room. To Theo's and Enzo's doors. To the front door.
I was trying to run from my own mind. From my own thoughts.
But as expected, they followed behind me like a ghost. Quiet and invisible, but present. If I stopped walking, they caught me and forced themselves inside my mind, my body. They settled down around my bones, consuming me completely, taking up so much space it felt like I was ripping from the seams.

I walked past the same door thrice. The first two times it was quiet, but as I passed it the third time, my steps came to a halt. I heard Tom's voice.
"I understand."
The voice answering him sent a shiver down my spine. Even a child could recognize the coolness, the cruelty in it.
"Do you really?" Voldemort asked. "It's not something to take lightly. I've been preparing you for this, but are you ready?"
Tom was quiet for a moment before responding. "Yes, father."
"Good."

I frowned behind the door. Were they talking about me? About the marriage?
I took a step closer, to hear better. The door was annoyingly muffling the men's voices, and I wanted to hear what they were saying. It was my concern if it was about my future marriage.
"Aren't you excited, son?"
"I am, father. I've waited for this a long time," Tom replied.
I couldn't make out what tone he was using. Maybe he was being sarcastic. He surely wasn't excited about marrying me.
"We'll get to the preparations as soon as Theodore and Lorenzo return."
I heard Voldemort stand up. "This will be your first milestone. Nothing can go wrong."
"I know that. Nothing will go wrong." Tom's voice was now closer to the door, so I quickly stepped back and hurried from the hallway, returning to my room.

Was Tom really that eager for it? What did Voldemort mean by 'preparations'? I'm not even sixteen yet!

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A/N:
Hello loves
I apologize for not posting last week! I was on a vacation with my family, and had very little to no time to write. Here, however, is now a new chapter. I hope you've had a lovely week.
Please vote and/or comment if you enjoyed the chapter. I'd appreciate it a lot.
Love u all x