Bound By Blood.

ch. 8~ Forget it.

"I remember a lot of things. The good, the bad, that night... stay away from the upcoming raid. Its a trap." 

Recovered translated correspondents between Order Member Alexandra Brooks to Death Eater Mattheo Riddle, 2004

Hogwarts, 1997.

Mattheo.

If you would've told me told me this morning, after Alexandra Brooks personally handed me my own ass in front of a classroom, for the second time in twenty four hours, that I would now be standing with her in the middle of the forbidden forest, holding her above my head. 

I would've called you fucking mental. 

But here I was, serving detention with her. 

Holding her, above my head for a stupid fucking plant. 

I couldn't even look at her the first hour of this idiotic detention. 

The words she spoke to me on a constant loop. 

Partially, because I knew deep, deep down. 

She was right. 

But another part of me hated how I just kept letting her dig into me. 

I couldn't stop her. 

I don't know why. 

I just... let her. 

And now, here I was. 

Holding her by the waist, above my head so she could reach the plant. 

All I felt was her skin under my hands. I could feel the way her muscles tensed slightly as she leaned to stretch for the highest branch, her fingertips grazing the leaves, yet all I could focus on was the sensation of her body against my grip, the delicate weight of her.

"Got it!" She declared triumphantly a moment later, pulling back with the blue flowers carefully nestled in her fist, slightly tousled and still vibrant amidst the mess of brambles, "bring me down!"

I slowly gripped her tighter, lowering her gently down to the ground in front of me. 

As I lowered her to the ground, my fingers lingered at her waist a fraction longer than necessary. The moment felt... different, charged with that unspoken tension that had existed between us from the start, ever since our first argument. 

The heat radiated from her skin, pulsing under my touch like a secret heartbeat I wasn't quite ready to let go of.

She landed softly, placing her hands on my shoulders to steady herself, but something in the air dampened her triumphant smile. 

Our gazes locked, and for a heartbeat, the world around us blurred into the background. I could see the surprise in her eyes...a mix of challenge and intrigue...but beneath it lay something deeper, a flicker of understanding that disarmed me.

In that charged silence, I could see her search my eyes, as if trying to peel back the layers I kept hidden. 

I was torn; I should step back, break the tension and separate us as rivals. 

Instead, I felt a strange pull that made it hard to move away. 

The rivalry that had defined us felt more like fuel than wall, igniting something unnameable between us.