burning embers
21 november 1996
I rub at my eyes wearily and yawn, stretching my arms up and over my head as I sit up from my books and homework; a rather frustrating alchemy assignment that is due this week. My watch reads 12:55 AM and I sigh. Sirius is supposed to be meeting Harry and I at one, which is the only reason I’ve stayed up this late doing homework on a Saturday night.
As I stand up from my desk, the door to my room burst open, Harry running through gasping for breath. “Dragons!”
“What?” I exclaim, rushing to my brother’s side.
“Hagrid-- forrest-- dragons--” Harry pants, seemingly having run all the way from the forest to her.
“Haz, catch your breath. I can’t understand. Does Hagrid have another baby dragon?” Harry’s first year at Hogwarts, Hagrid had tried to raise a baby dragon in his mostly wooden hut. Harry shakes his head as he takes in gulps of air.
“Dragons, that’s the first task,” he says once he catches his breath enough.
“Dragons?” I repeat, trying very hard to not show fear in my eyes. Harry nods solemnly just as the clock on my desk strikes one and a gasp emerges from the embers in my fireplace.
“Mia! Harry!” Sirius calls out quietly and Harry and I scramble over, kneeling in front of the fire to see Sirius’ face in the low burning embers.
“Sirius! How are you?” Harry asks.
“Nevermind that, I’m worried about the two of you,” Sirius grumbles, his face much fuller than the last time we saw him, although his eyes still have a haunted quality about them.. Harry and I exchange a look and I nod,
“I- well uh, fine I guess but, Sirius, Hagrid’s just shown me what the first task is. I’ve got to fight a dragon!” Harry stammers out, fidgeting with a loose thread on his jumper. “Malfoy’s right, I’m not going to last five minutes!”
“Harry, since when do you listen to Malfoy?” I remind him.
“Dragons we can handle, we’ll get to that in a minute. I haven’t got long,” Sirius says, pulling out focus back to the embers. “I broke into a house for the fire but they could come back any minute and I have to warn you.”
“‘Bout what?” I ask.
“There are Death Eaters at Hogwarts, Igor Karkaroff to be specific. He was in Azkaban with me but got released and I suspect that’s why Dumbledore has brought Moody in,” Sirius explains, in a hushed tone even though we are alone in my room. “We made a deal with the Ministry and gave up names of other Death Eaters but trust me when I say no one, no one, stops being a Death Eater.”
“But Voldemort’s dead,” I say slowly, “Even if Karkaroff is still a Death Eater, what would he have to gain from coming after Harry? I mean it’s not like he could be in high favor with the Death Eaters if he traded names for freedom.”
“We don’t know that he is dead for sure, Mia,” Sirius says but before I can protest he forges on ahead. “Now from what I can tell from the Daily Prophet, reading between the lines of that Skeeter woman, it seems like Moody was attacked the night before the start of term. Like someone tried to stop him from making it to Hogwarts, probably knowing their job would be harder with him around.”
“So what? You think Karkaroff put my name in the Goblet and is hoping the tournament kills me?” Harry asks and Sirius hesitates for a moment, looking between the two of us.
“Strange things are happening,” he says after a moment, “The Death Eaters are becoming more and more active. They showed themselves at the World Cup and cast the Dark Mark. We have no proof that Voldemort is actually dead, there was no body.”
“Dumbledore told me he was probably hiding somewhere my first year, that he was probably too weak to carry on but if Pettigrew found him,” Harry says, and my gut twists at the thought.
“So what? Karkaroff managed to get himself out of prison many years ago and now Voldemort has forgiven him for turning in his followers and given him the task of killing Harry?” I ask dubiously, looking between my brother and his godfather.
“I’m thinking clearly, the tournament is perfect cover for someone to attack Harry and make it look like an accident,” Sirius says bluntly. “Mia, Remus wrote to me. I hear you’re dating the Riddle heir?” Sirius’ eyes bore into me and I sigh; I’ve already received a letter from Remus warning me off Mattheo so I should’ve expected Sirius to know as well.
“I’m starting to get really fucking sick of people acting like Mattheo put me under a love potion or something and that I can’t take care of myself,” I snap, grateful Mattheo didn’t sleep over in my dorm tonight.
“I didn’t say that-”
“You might as well have. I’m an adult Sirius and Mattheo knew his father as long as Harry and I did and he harbors no love for him either. I know him, you don’t, so I’d appreciate it if everyone would stop treating me like some fool blinded by a pretty face. I would have thought that you of all people would understand looking past someone's reputation and seeing them for who they actually are,” I cut Sirius off, reiterating what I wrote back to Remus. Sirius watches me for a moment, his eyes sad but a soft smile turns his lips up slightly. “What?”
“You look very much like your mother when you’re annoyed,” Sirius says softly, managing to whip away some of my irritation. “Listen, I’ll trust you if you say he is trustworthy, but I want you to be careful. The Riddles are a dangerous family, and even if his father wasn’t included in his upbringing, Voldemort’s blood still runs in his veins. Mattheo you call him? He very easily could have a hand in all of this-”
“Well he doesn’t!” I snap.
“I-I agree with Mia, Sirius… He’s got a bit of a nasty streak but he’s good to her, and me,” Harry says hesitantly, looking between me and the fireplace and gratitude floods through me for my brother. Sirius watches us for a moment, searching my face carefully.
“Okay, if you trust him… just please be careful. You’re father trusted Peter until the end as well,” he says solemnly and I grit my teeth at the reminder.
“Can we get back to how to get Harry through this first task?” I ask, afraid if we keep arguing about my love life I’ll stomp Sirius’ face of embers out and I’m not sure if that would actually hurt him or not.
“Yes, right well there is a way, Harry. Stunning spells will be useless; dragons are far too powerful. You’d need about a dozen wizards in order for that to work,” Sirius says, turning his attention back to his godson.
“No shit, I just saw one and it took nearly twenty!” Harry exclaims loudly, causing Sirius to glance back behind him.
“Well could you fly? You’re an excellent flier,” Sirius suggests.
“We’re not allowed anything but a wand,” Harry shakes his head glumly.
“Well there’s a quite simple spell you could use to summon-” But before Sirius can finish his explanation, a noise sounds from behind him and Sirius startles. “I have to go, I’ll write again soon!” And with a quiet pop, his face disappears and Harry falls back on the floor next to my couch with a heavy sigh.
“Great,” he mutters but my eyes are still trained on the fire, trying to figure out what Sirius was going to suggest.
“Summoning…. Of course!” I sigh, jumping up excitedly. “Harry, have you learned the Summoning Spell yet?”
“What?” Harry asks, looking up at me from where he sits.
“Accio, have you learned it yet?” Harry shakes his head. “Well it’s quite simple really. You can’t take your broom with you but you could summon it to you! Then you can fly around the dragon, I doubt they’ll let it fly freely around Hogwarts grounds, they’ll have it chained down.”
“But Mia, I don’t know the bloody spell!” Harry snaps, sitting up.
“Well I’ll teach you, we’ve got till next weekend to practice. It’s far simpler than a patronus and its a fourth year spell anyhow so I’m sure you can get it no problem,” I say, kneeling back down in front of my brother. “You can do this, Harry. You heard Sirius, you’re an incredible flier.” I grab Harry’s face to make him look at me, still looking very unsure of himself. “Listen, you can do this. I know you can but for now go up and get some sleep. We can start practicing tomorrow, ‘kay?”
“Okay,” he says tiredly and stands, reaching down to help me up as well before turning and heading for the door. “Hey Mia?” He asks, turning back to me. “If Voldemort… did come back, well- do you think….”
“He’s not like that, Harry. I know everyone thinks he is but he’s not… He’s a good man, I know he is,” I say earnestly, and it’s not just because I’ve fallen hard for him and everytime I think I couldn’t fall any further I do.
“I trust you, Mia, and if you trust him then so do I,” Harry nods. “No one else’s opinion’s matter, right?” He says with a soft smile and I nod.
“Right, just ours,” I agree with a smile. “Go get some sleep.”
“Yes, Mum,” he teases lightly, causing us both to chuckle as he exits my room, closing the door gently behind him.
I crawl into bed, pulling the covers high up to my chin and try to sleep but worries keep my mind racing. It’s nearly three AM before I sigh and sit up. My bed feels so big and empty and cold without Mattheo and I’ve found that he is the only thing that never fails to calm me down. It’s as if my brain shuts off when he wraps his arms around me, keeping me safe and allowing me to relax even for just a moment.
Before I know it, I’m standing before the snake statue that guards the Slytherin Common Room entrance and whispering the password, puritas which means purity as in pureblood. Typical of the Slytherins, according to Mattheo it always has something to do with blood purity or magic power. I creep through the thankfully empty common room and to Mattheo’s door towards the back of the common room.
The doorknobs on all the prefect doors have flesh memories in them, similar to Golden Snitches, but the doorknobs can be charmed to keep certain touches from entering or only open for certain people. Mattheo and I both have full access to each others rooms so I open the door slowly, and creep into his room.
The Slytherin dorms always seem much colder to me, and even though our rooms are set up in similar layouts and with all the same basic furniture, Mattheo has very little in his room. A muggle record player, a few books- some muggle and some magical- scattered around, his Nimbus 2001 leaning against the far wall, but very little else. No pictures or keepsakes littering the surfaces like the chaotic ensemble of my room. Sometimes I wonder if the slight mess of my room ever bothers him, but he never complains.
I move to the four poster bed, rich dark green curtains and bedding adorning the bed looking black in the dark light, and I pull the blanket back carefully. Mattheo stirs slightly, his eyes blinking slowly open as I lay down next to him.
“Mia?” He asks groggily.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” I whisper with a sigh.
“Are you okay? What’s wrong?” he says, looking at me worriedly.
“Nothing, I just couldn’t sleep,” I say, gently pushing a curl away from his forehead. Mattheo shifts his position, opening his arms for me to curl into. As soon as my head touches his chest, his arms around my shoulders, my brain quiets down instead focused on his heartbeat.
“I’ve got you, princess,” Mattheo mumbles sleepily, and soon his breathing evens as he is pulled back into his dreams, and I follow soon after, the rest of the world disappearing beyond the four wall surrounding the two of us.