guilty as sin, mattheo riddle

chapter 3

the man in the hallway was sure to be another hallucination. the air around Nott manor had begun to cool, and the chill in the air clung to her like a cloak. since the death of her parents, little was able to rouse charlotte from the dreamlike, barely there state she was in, but the sight of a strange man walking through the halls of Nott manor happened to do the trick. when she was certain he had left, she walked to the grand windows on both sides of the entranceway, glancing out at the frost covered grounds, and the tall, strange man stood in the middle of it. he wore a gray suit and a black coat on top, and as though he could feel her gaze, he turned slowly to face the manor. charlotte knew he couldn't see her due to the charms on the windows, but she felt his gaze all the same. his mouth moved, and with the distance between them, she couldn't make out what he said. curiosity filled her for the first time since that day back in august, and she reached for the doorknob, twisting it open slowly. the ground was icy white, and it crunched underneath her slipper clad feet as she took tentative steps toward him. he stood still, looking uninterested. once she got close to him though, she noticed the tense set of his shoulders and the grim expression on his face. he was handsome, unearthly so, and she stared unblinking as she observed him.

"who are you?" charlotte asked, watching her breath in the cold air in front of her, occupying the space between them.

he almost smiled, but to her, it didn't look happy or nice, "that's not something you need to know."
"why not?" she asked, regretting running out into the cold without so much as a jacket.
he didn't answer. he didn't so much as spare her another glance before he turned and continued up the frost covered walkway. she thought about hurrying after him, about demanding answers, but the white snow beneath her feet was starting to distort in her mind. she raised her cold, clammy hands to eye level and stared at them, unblinking as if she would find them covered in her parents blood if she so much as breathed wrong. all these memories from that night flooded her, and yet, when she ravaged her mind for answers, for a single moment of clarity, it was as if the memories had been thrown away, never to be found again.

the handsome stranger was gone by the time charlotte turned around, and her aunt was already leaning half out the door, shouting about the dangers of a cold at this time of year. she turned, her unbound hair blowing in the wind and sticking to her face as she walked gently back to the house, stepping on the frosty grass.
"who was that?" charlotte asked, trying and failing to gauge the emotions of her guardians, if they even had any.
"who?" her aunt said, her eyebrows drawing together slightly.
"the man," she said, her voice brittle.
her aunt smiled, her lips stretching widely as she guided charlotte to the sitting room, "no one you need to know, dear."

hearing those words made her head spin. her aunts grip on her arms took her back to many months ago, when a different pair of hands were on her, when she was walking away from a different, bloodier room. she blinked, and for a moment she saw the outline of a masked man in the shadows of the sitting room, but when she turned her head for a better look, it was gone. at one point, the rising feeling of dread and immeasurable fear would've been enough to knock her off her feet. but that was a long time ago, when home was a cottage in the woods and her mother was still around to comfort her. she swallowed down the feelings before she could fall down that rabbit hole yet again. she sat in a cushioned chair that she pulled closer to the fire and watched the flames flicker for what felt like hours. fire was a familiarity, and the comfort was welcomed with the type of day charlotte was having. what could've been minutes or hours or days later, a throat cleared from behind her. she turned, half expecting the strange man, but it was only her estranged cousin, theodore not.

she turned back to the fire, "hello."
she could hear his graceful footsteps as he made his way closer leaning against her chair, but not looking at her, opting to stare into the flames aswell.
"i know something." he said, and unlike usually when he knew something she didn't, there wasn't satisfaction or pride in his tone.
"do you?" charlotte asked, flicking her eyes up to look at him. they resembled eachother closely. their mothers had been twins, and the traits had passed down to their children, giving them the same dark hair and captivating eyes.

for a moment, he grinned, "i do."
his face turned serious yet again, and he placed a hand on her shoulder lightly, "charlotte, listen," he started, "you...are the closest i have to a sister, so it's my responsibility to tell you, okay?"
she froze. what could have him so unsettled?
"theo, what's going on?" she asked nervously, turning to look at him fully.
he crouched down next to her chair, taking her hands in his, "it'll be okay, i'll make sure of it."
"tell me." she demanded, fear filling her.
"that guy..." he hesitated, "he's the one."
"the one?" charlotte echoed, her eyebrows pulling up in confusion.
"he asked for you," theo explained, his voice hushed as if someone was listening, "you'll marry him, you'll have no choice."
her heart pounded a rapid beat in her chest.
"who is he, theo?" she demanded, standing up jerkily.
"charlotte-" he reached for her, but she stepped away from him.
"who is he?" she asked again.
theo sighed, "the dark lords son."

charlotte pressed a hand to her temple, leaving the room as if she could run away from the words. she dragged along up stairs and winding halls before she reached her bedroom. as her shaky hand pushed open the door, she almost expected red painted walls and the smell of iron in the air, a squishy blood soaked carpet below her. she blinked away the visions of that night, locking them away in her memory. what use were these memories when she couldn't remember what counted? her parents killer was still out there, and sooner would she die before marrying a death eater, one of the very people her mother tried her whole life to keep her from. it didn't matter how enthralling she found him, charlotte was set on keeping her distance from the man and all the evil that followed him.