M Is For...

Chapter 14

"I think I found something!" Gizem cheers, and everyone huddles around her. You look at the book she's holding and frown. "That's an old spell book." you tell her. "But listen to what it says inside of it. I think it's some sort of secret language." She eagerly flips it open. "Flick your wand, but not so hard it breaks..." She waits for a reaction, but everyone just stares at her in silence. "Maybe we have to flick Mr. Riddle's wand hard enough, and it will just snap!" She puts the book down and starts clapping. "Maybe you should go lie down. You're even more delusional than usual." Tom pats her on her back and leads her to the sofa. "But- Okay." Gizem lies down and immediately drifts away.

"Maybe that's a sign to call it a night, Matty." you walk up to him. "Mom told us it wouldn't be hard to find what we need to know. I can't stop now." Mattheo explains calmly. "I know, but we're all exhausted, and if we come back-" "NO, I'M NOT LEAVING!" Mattheo's eyes darken, and you take a step back. Tom walks over and stands between you and Mattheo. "Matt. She's right. We should go back. We'll come back tomorrow." He calmly talks to Mattheo. Mattheo frowns at Tom and looks your way. He notices how hurt you look by his reaction, and his expression softens.

"Princess, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-" "It's fine. You're tired." you say, but can't look him in the eyes as you do so. "Let's head back." Tom walks over to the sofa and lifts Gizem up over his shoulder. You all stand together, and he apparates you back to Hogwarts. "I'm just going to bring her to her dorm. I'll be back in a minute." Tom walks down the stairs to the girls' dorms as you and Mattheo go up to theirs. You both get ready for bed in silence. You and Mattheo climb into bed, and he lifts the blanket up for you to get in between his arms like you do every night, but you turn away from him and shortly say "Night," as you are still hurt from the way he yelled at you earlier. "Princess, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have raised my voice at you." he whispers, and Tom walks through the door. "Is she still upset with you?" Tom asks Mattheo. "Yes." he answers. "Good." Tom says and walks into the bathroom. Mattheo sighs and turns his back towards you as well. It takes a while, but you eventually fall asleep.

The next morning, you wake up and notice Mattheo is gone. Tom is getting ready and he looks your way. "He went out early this morning. I'll go find him after breakfast, before we go back to the study." Tom says, and you nod. "Don't stay angry at him for too long, Y/N. He had just talked to our mother for the first time in over five years. He did not mean to hurt you. He would never want to hurt you." Tom finally walks out of the dorm. You take a deep breath and get ready for the day.

"So do we have a system to figure this out?" Gizem asks as she flips through a few books she has taken from one of the shelves. "Nope. We just keep looking." Mattheo shortly says as he grabs a stack of books and brings it over to the sofa. "There must be an easier way. We have been looking for hours now." Tom throws a book on the desk. "Maybe there is..." You get up and walk over to the big bookshelf. "Tom, did your mother have a favourite book when you were growing up?" You look over at him. "The Tales of Beedle the Bard." Mattheo walks over to you and searches the shelves for the book. "Right. Her parents used to read it to her when she was a child. She did the same for us." Tom realises.

You look at the bookshelf and scan over it for the book. You finally find it and immediately flip it open to find that there is nothing written inside of it. "It's blank?" You show it to Mattheo. "Maybe this also needs a spell of some sort to reveal its secrets." you tell him as you inspect the book. "I love you." you whisper to the book, but nothing happens. "It was worth a shot." you shrug and hand it to Mattheo. The book starts to glow and opens up by itself. "I guess it only reveals itself to the right person." you give Mattheo a small smile.

"Alright, now that we have the book, let's head back to the castle. There is no need to stay here." Tom walks over to you and pulls Gizem with him. He apparates the four of you to the school's library, and you all start looking through the book together.