Bound By Blood.

ch.104~ Favorite Crime.

"Its a shame you won't remember..."

A note found in Death Eater Mattheo Riddle Muggle Studies Textbook in 1997, Intended for Order Member Alexandra Brooks.

Hogwarts, 2004.

Alexandra. 

Theres a certain moment, almost as if you could feel the rug being swept from underneath you, when you find out things that were supposed to be kept in the dark. Never to see the light. 

And when his lips spoke, "You're doing exactly what I asked you to." I felt it all change.  

As if I knew, I'd never look at him the same again. 

The air in the old dorm felt thick, almost suffocating, as I stood frozen in disbelief, gripping the horcrux tightly in my hand.

It was absurd—this small, unassuming object represented everything I had built my life around. 

"What do you mean, you asked me to do this?" I demanded, my voice shaky with a mixture of fury and fear. "Why is this here?!"

He took a step closer, his eyes searching mine. "Because I couldn't leave it anywhere else. I needed to know it was safe," he replied, and I bristled at his calmness, at how collected he seemed while I was unraveling.

"Safe?!" I practically shouted, my voice echoing off the old stone walls. "Why did you think it was okay to hide this—of all things—right under my pillow? How many—"

I couldn't finish the thought. 

My mind reeled. 

I had just been reminded of all those intimate moments we shared here, the late-night whispers, the laughter that filled the space with warmth. 

Now it was tainted, every pillow talk, every secret exchanged, stained with this dark reality.

When my gaze met his again, I saw the shadows of something regretful in his eyes, but all it did was fill me with more confusion. 

"When did you Obliviate me? How many times?" The words slipped from my mouth, a whisper of desperation. He hesitated, and that hesitation felt like a knife twisting deeper into my heart.

"Twice," he confessed quietly. "The first time was the night before the first war, and the second time... was last night."

"Last night?" I echoed, my mind racing with the implications. Was he implying that I had willingly wandered into this tangled mess without even remembering the choice? "And you just... what did I agree too? Why am I doing 'exactly what you said?'"

"You willingly promised," he replied, his voice steady but there was an edge of remorse in his tone. "That if any Death Eater came at you, in anyway, with a wand raised or in a fighting manor, that you would fight back, especially me. It was the only way I could ensure you'd actually fight, because I knew that I would."

I stumbled back, the weight of his words crashing down on me like a tidal wave. 

"Fight back? You're asking me to fight you?" My voice trembled, denial washing over me. "You made me promise to fight you? "

His eyes darkened, and I could see the truth etched in every line of his face. "You don't understand. I'm trying to protect you! I didn't want you walking in today with any sympathy, any longing for me—" His voice rose slightly, desperation creeping into the edges—an urgency that felt just as misplaced as my trust, "I made you promise If I went too far, you'd stop me."