A Hufflepuff heart | Hermione Granger

LXXI

Bea moved swiftly through the manor, the halls echoing with each step. It felt both familiar and suffocating, the weight of everything that had happened pressing down on her chest. Weeks of uncertainty had passed, and she had finally been granted some semblance of freedom within the confines of this place. She couldn't waste another moment.

Her heart raced as she approached Mattheo's door, her hand trembling slightly as she reached for the handle. She had to see him, hear his voice. She needed reassurance. There had been so much happening, so many twists and turns, and the overwhelming thought that she might have lost him in the chaos weighed heavily on her.

After taking a deep breath, she knocked softly before pushing the door open. The room was just as she remembered, elegant, with traces of Mattheo's presence scattered about. He was sitting by the window, his back to her, staring out at the cold landscape beyond.

- Matty...- she whispered, her voice cracking slightly with emotion.

Mattheo turned quickly, his eyes wide with concern as he rushed to his feet. - Bea? - His voice was strained, as though he couldn't believe she was standing there. - You're...-

- I need to talk to you, - she interrupted, her eyes desperate as she walked towards him.

She could see the questions in his eyes, the concern, but there was also a hint of relief, as if just seeing her again after everything was enough to calm him, at least a little.

Bea told him everything. The prophecy, the torture, the weeks of endless pain. She told him about the Ministry, about the battle, about Sirius. How she had watched their mother kill him, how she had begged Dumbledore for help when Bellatrix took her, and how he had just looked at her with pity.

And then she told him the rest. That Voldemort had stood before her, waiting for her answer. That she had fought as long as she could, but in the end, she said yes. Because there was no other way. Because she couldn't survive the torture anymore. Because she had no choice.

When she finished, Mattheo was quiet. He didn't look at her with shock or disappointment. He just nodded, like he already knew.

- I had to accept too, - he said simply.

Bea felt her breath catch. - What? -

Mattheo exhaled slowly, running a hand through his hair. - He came to me right after classes ended. He didn't even ask, not really. He just made it clear, either I accepted, or I'd be next. I knew there was no choice. - His jaw tightened. - I knew we had already lost. -

Bea swallowed hard. They were trapped. Both of them.

Mattheo looked at her, his dark eyes unreadable. - You know what this means, right? -

She nodded. - It means we need to survive. -

Mattheo didn't argue. Didn't tell her there was another way. Because they both knew there wasn't.

A week had passed. A week of relentless training, of being forced to wield magic in ways she never had before.

Rodolphus and Bellatrix pushed her to her limits, and then past them. They drilled dark spells into her, teaching her to wield pain as a weapon, to cast without hesitation, to let cruelty seep into her magic like it belonged there.

Rodolphus, cold and calculated, taught her precision, control, how to make pain last, how to make it mean something. Bellatrix, wild and merciless, demanded more, demanded rage, demanded destruction.

- Again, - Rodolphus ordered as Bea stood panting in the training hall, her wand gripped so tightly her knuckles were white.

She gritted her teeth and lifted it. The dummy in front of her was enchanted to move, to fight back. It wasn't enough.