Bound By Blood.

ch.67~ Needed you.

"You never asked questions. 

You never asked me to change, or why I was the way I was. 

You were just you, accepting me. 

For me."

Undelivered Translated Correspondents Between Death Eater Mattheo Riddle, To Order Member Alexandra Brooks, 2003. 

Hogwarts, 1997. 

Mattheo.

Usually when it got too loud in my head, I'd smoke. 

Or go to Theo, or Draco. Blaise if I needed a real pick me up.

But tonight, it felt like something herb nor the boys could fix. 

It just felt... heavy. 

Almost too heavy. 

I had just gotten back from my father manor. 

I fucked up, again. 

So, like usual, I was "punished." 

And this beating and hexing was a way he could take out his anger without repercussions. 

Without anyone questioning him, his reasonings, what went wrong... because no one gets in the way when his wand is pointed at me. 

"Father and son disagreements" they'd call it. 

"Sorting him out" they'd call it. 

"Disciplining him."

My father's words echoed in my head—harsh, unforgiving, a constant reminder of my worthlessness in his eyes. 

I hadn't done anything wrong this time; I'd merely been present, just another canvas for his rage. But what did it matter? 

I'd become the embodiment of his frustrations, and tonight was no different. He was a storm, and I was caught in the whirlwind.

With the weight of defeat pressing against my chest, I found myself pacing the room. 

My friends had all scattered, leaving me alone with my memories and regrets. Draco was likely with Enzo Theo was off playing with his latest conquest, and Blaise... well, he was probably busy being Blaise.

 But me? 

I was left with the heavy silence that filled the room, the remnants of my father's last words, and an excruciating stinging taking up most of my back. 

That thought pricked at me like a needle, and the aching emptiness settled in my bones.

I was tired of the weight in my chest, the hollowness in my soul. 

I wanted something—someone—that could lift this unbearable burden, at least for a moment. 

And that craving terrified me.