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MARAUDERS.
Chapter 02.
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The evening passes by, and Beverly takes every chance she can to hurl insults at Mattheo, Delphini and Tom. She takes it in turn so all three of the children can feel equally as hated.
Mattheo manages to white knuckles his way through most of the night, only barely managing to keep his mouth shut when Beverly begins to berate Delphini. Mattheo's anger even stokes when Beverly starts in on Tom (which Mattheo hadn't expected to happen).
Beverly doesn't know anything about what the three children have been up to while they're at Hogwarts. The many dangers they've put themselves through. And she wouldn't care to know. She is concerned about keeping these children in their place, as orphans, and not allowing them to think that they're anything more.
"What house is it that these children are sorted into? It says a lot about a person" Beverly asks of Reagan. This branch of the Carrow family have been Slytherins for as far back as memory can serve them. Alfie was the black sheep that was sorted into Gryffindor.
"Delphini is a Gryffindor student, and Mattheo is a Slytherin student. Tom is just starting at Hogwarts this year, but he will likely be a Slytherin student as well" Reagan tells his mother.
Beverly makes a spitting motion. "A filthy Gryffindor. They think their nobility stands them above all others. I would have kicked her out of my house the moment I found out she became a lion" Beverly sneers as she looks Delphini up and down. "After all of your care for them, and she does this to you" Beverly shakes her head in disappointment.
Mattheo really has to bite down hard on the inside of his cheek so that he won't erupt. 'Care' from Reagan? Reagan has never cared for them in any way. They would have starved if they hadn't figured out how to look after themselves when they were children.
"Boy! My plate!" Beverly barks like a banshee at Mattheo. Her clicking fingers capture Mattheo's attention, and make him angrier.
Mattheo growls out lowly, and resists the urge to smash the plate over Beverly's head. Still, Mattheo pushes himself away from the counter and brings a plate over to the old bitch.
"This boy needs a haircut! A cut that befits his station" Beverly complains at how Mattheo has styled his hair. A smart style that Beverly thinks that Mattheo doesn't deserve.
Mattheo and Tom have near enough the same naturally styled hair, and they don't really even put that much effort into styling it, not until lately.
Beverly sneers at Mattheo's shirt when he hands her the plate. "And look at the state of his clothing. Scruffy. Do they not know to dress up to receive company?" Beverly's complaining just continues.
Beverly can see the bloodstains on the shirt when Mattheo is close enough. The evidence of his scrap with Tom earlier on the evening.
"Boys will be boys, mother. They'll have been rough housing I suppose" Reagan manages to play it off. Reagan gives Mattheo and Tom equally evil glares, one after the other.
"I suppose this piece of riffraff is related in some way to the other two. Is this another bastard child that your brother lowered himself to adopt?" Beverly asks. Of course she means Tom. The newest child in the house.
"Y-Yes" Reagan mutters. Reagan is still rather glad that Beverly hasn't noticed Tom as a former student from when Alfie was in school.
Twenty years ago.
"Clearly that woman couldn't keep her legs shut at any point. She trapped my son into a marriage and then lumbered him with children that are not even his own blood" Beverly begins to grumble. Mattheo digs his nails into his palms so hard that he actually draw blood from his skin.
"I...urm..." Reagan knows that he needs to get his mother to stop speaking this way. Mattheo and Tom will not take kindly to Beverly talking this way about their mother, Cinta.
"Those two children were idiots for thinking that they could raise children at their age. And then they go and get themselves killed by You-Know-Who. A fitting end for a..." Beverly trails off with her hateful muttering.
Mattheo grips the plate so hard in his hand that is shatters in his palm. The shards cut into his skin and his blood begins to spill out onto the carpet.
"Now look what you've-!" Beverly shrieks at the boy. She thinks that Mattheo is just going to be quiet while she talks shit about his parents? She is wrong.
"Shut you fucking mouth you hateful old bitch!" Mattheo screams back at Beverly. Her eyes go wide with freight at Mattheo getting formidable. "Why the fuck do you think you can run your mouth about our parents? You don't know shit about our lives!" Mattheo screams at the women.
Alfie Carrow was not weak for taking in children to raise as his own, because he loved them regardless of if they were his blood children or not. And Cinta is nothing more than a paragon of strength, a woman who threw herself between Mattheo and Voldemort to save his life.
Reagan grips the edge of the table harshly, he can feel the room filling with negative energy from Mattheo. Reagan remembers what happened with those two boys at the beach, and what condition they were in after they crossed Mattheo.
"Listen here you gobby little hooligan!" Beverly stands straight up. "You don't get to talk to elderly people this way" she barks at the boy. She thinks that because she's old that she gets a free pass on talking shit to people?
The lights in the house begin to flicker, the growing magical energies cause them to short out. The house groans under the strain of Mattheo's rage expanding outwards from his mind.
Reagan wishes to stand between Mattheo and his mother, but Reagan finds himself unable to move from his chair. His whole lower body is almost glued to the wooden chair.
"I don't respect you" Mattheo tells the woman. "You know nothing about my mother, and it sounds like you knew nothing of your son. They died to protect me and my sister, and you think you can just throw around accusations? You're wrong, you're fucking stupid, and I'm over your bullshit" Mattheo marches closer and closer to get into the woman's face.
"A hooligan" she is adamant on that. "Your loser mother deserved everything that she got" Beverly shouts back at Mattheo. Beverly never liked Cinta, or her influence over her younger son.
Mattheo stares her down with his dead eyes. "If you won't stop, then so be it" Mattheo growls out his warning to Beverly. She has run her mouth about a lot of things, but Mattheo will not let her talk shit about Cinta and Alfie.
Mattheo takes a step back away from the table. His magical energy is crackling around his body. His anger is making him lose control of his magic. Not that he is trying to restrain his overload of magic.
Mattheo has spent the summer researching all sorts of dark magic. Salazar Slytherin's locket has been invaluable to his studies. It has pushed him to learn as much as possible as fast as possible. It's the darkness inside of Mattheo that is bubbling over now, magic that expresses itself whenever Mattheo gets angry or feels negative emotions.
Delphini shivers at the feeling in the air. The cold and dead feeling that is emitting from Mattheo. "Mattheo!" Delphini warns her brother. Attacking someone is the fastest way to end up in trouble.
Students cannot use magic when they're in the vicinity of a muggle habitat. Well, Arcanville is a muggle habitat and that makes it highly illegal.
"Mattheo!" Reagan also shouts as a warning to Mattheo. Reagan is still stuck to his chair, and cannot do anything to stop Mattheo.
Beverly is incapable of fending off such powerful dark magic. And she begins coughing uncontrollably anyways, so she couldn't counter the magic even if she was able to.
Delphini turns and hits Tom in the arm. "Do something to stop him!" Delphini shouts at Tom. Delphini doesn't know how to stop this magic, and Tom doesn't wish to stop Mattheo.
Tom smirks as he sees Mattheo summoning up powerful conjuration magic. Tom jumps up and sits atop the kitchen counter, so he has a good seat to enjoy the show. "I do not have a wand. I do not know what sort of conjuration magic that Mattheo is using. I do however wish for Mattheo to put his fist through this harpy's face" Tom is rather keen to watch Reagan and Beverly get what is coming to them.
Reagan has been acting negligent for years to the twins. Beverly has come to the house and begun to run her mouth. Now they're going to feel the consequences.
Reagan also begins coughing when he feels something heavy move inside of his throat. Beverly feels something slimy push its way up her windpipe and into her mouth.
Beverly doubles over and wretches when a long black snake slithers out of her mouth. Her whole windpipe gags at the snake slithering out.
The black snake looks around at its surroundings. It's not the habitat that it's used to living in. "This issss rather ssstrange" the snake hisses up to Mattheo.
"Slither away and enjoy yourself" Mattheo tells the snake by using his parslemouth ability. He can talk snake language. It's a genetic trait that he inherits from Salazar Slytherin himself.
The black snake sees the situation. That the house is filling with dark energies. So the snake slithers away while it still can.
Delphini shrieks as she sidesteps the slithering snake. "Mattheo!" Delphini warns Mattheo again.
Tom chuckles to himself. "Coughing up a snake? I imagine that feels rather uncomfortable" Tom has no compassion for the Carrows at all.
Beverly and Reagan continue to cough and gag as they both begin to erupt with snakes. A larger snake forces Beverly's jaw to open as wide as it can. Her throat bleeds as the larger snake's scales scratch against her windpipe.
Reagan coughs up a mouthful of black bile with his next snake. Delphini and Tom look closer, and determine that it's swamp water. There is mud and pieces of moss and reeds. Mattheo has to be chThealing those snakes from somewhere, you can't just magically summon up this many snakes.
Both of the Carrows fall down to the ground, and onto their hands and knees. The floor is flooding with swamp water and snakes.
Mattheo let's his magic draw back into his body. His curse will last for hours, and Beverly and Reagan will be vomiting snakes for hours. Or until they run out of swamp from where Mattheo has pulled his magic.
Mattheo chuckles at the sight of the two Carrows in agony. Mattheo knows that he will probably get into some serious trouble with the Ministry of Magic for this. Some things are worth the hassle.
Mattheo would rather be with people that he wants to be around when he gets expelled. It's a lot better than being here with Uncle Reagan in Arcanville.
Mattheo's door bursts open ahead of him striding up to his bedroom. His magic is going haywire with his anger.
Mattheo has kept most of his school things in his trunk over the holidays, so it's pretty easy for him to pack up his things. He grabs the last few of his books and some of his clothes and shoves them into the trunk.
Then Mattheo charges back down the stairs with his trunk in tow, it makes a loud banging sound as it strikes every step.
Delphini and Tom are waiting by the front door of the house. "Mattheo? Where are you going?!" Delphini shouts at her brother. They don't have anywhere else that they can get to at this time of night.
Mattheo shrugs. "Anywhere is better than being here" Mattheo tells his sister, he regrets how sharp it comes out when he says it, but his bad mood is colouring his words.
"Dumbledore said we had to stay here. James and Lily said..." Delphini begins to frantically mutter to her brother. It's a weak argument, but it might get Mattheo to rethink running off like this.
"I don't care what Dumbledore, or James and Lily think. I hate this place and I'm not coming back here ever again" Mattheo tells his sister.
Mattheo calms down a little when he sees how upset that Delphini looks. And how scared she is of the dark magic that Mattheo just used. "You and Tom need to stay here, and then you can head back to Hogwarts together. I don't know what's going to happen to me after this" Mattheo doesn't know if it will just be expulsion or if he'll be thrown in Azkaban.
Delphini has never left Mattheo in her whole life. They've always been in the same place, and have never been apart for a long time. "You don't want me to come with you?" Delphini asks of Mattheo. She can't think of him wandering alone in the dark Countryside without worrying for his safety.
Mattheo can't have his sick sister with him when he doesn't know where he's going. "I don't know where I'm going, Delphini. You're not well and I need to know you're safe. Tom will be here to watch over you. Artemis, Lorenzo and Frey will watch over you" Mattheo promises his sister. Mattheo can count on his friends to make sure that Delphini is safe.
Mattheo looks from Delphini, to Tom who is leaning casually against the door frame.
"Running away is the act of a coward" Tom says dispassionately to Mattheo. He never took Mattheo to be scared so easily.
Mattheo gives Tom a light smirk. "I'm running towards something better" is all that Mattheo tells Tom. Anything is better than this house.
Mattheo still hears the gagging and wrenching from Beverly and Reagan as he walks down the front garden of the house. It's his fan fair as he embarks into the cold night of the Countryside.
Mattheo walks around the dark town of Arcanville for nearly an hour, just to put some distance between himself and Reagan's house. He figures he could wait until the morning and the train station would open, from there he could make his way to London, and then to the Leaky Cauldron. Then the world is his oyster since he can use the floo network and he will be able to get his money from Gringotts.
The streets are pitch black around Mattheo, and the streetlights only give off a weak light, there's barely enough light to see ahead of himself.
It doesn't really matter which direction he's heading in, because he can't do anything until tomorrow morning. Arcanville seems oddly bigger at night.
Another two hours pass, and Mattheo decides to stop and give himself a rest. He props up his trunk and sits on it to rest his legs.
Mattheo only has a little bit of muggle money with him, and he hopes that is enough to get him to London. None of his friends live nearby, as his friends live scattered across the country.
Mattheo thinks of his broom, it's shoved into his trunk (thanks to an extension charm). He could fly that if he absolute has to, but he'd rather keep that as a last resort. He could shift into his coyote form if he's desperate and run, but then he'd have to leave all of his stuff behind.
Mattheo seems resigned in the fact that he's stuck in Arcanville at the moment. At least he can light his wand so he can see what he's doing.
The moment that Mattheo holds up his wand, a powerful gust of wind flies past him, almost knocking him from his trunk.
And a large bus materialises out of thin air.
*
Mattheo steps onto the bus willingly. It's purple and from the markings along the side, Mattheo can tell that it must be magical in some way. Muggle buses can't turn invisible like this one can.
The Knight Bus is wrote across the side of the bus in large golden letters. The bus is triple deckered. It has beds on the two upper levels, and normal bus seats on the lower level. Most of its patrons seem to have taken the beds at the top since they're on longer journeys.
A conductor steps up to Mattheo. A boy that looks no older than 19. His face is covered in spots and a little stubble. And the man seems to tower over Mattheo in height, and Mattheo is tall for his age.
"Welcome to the Knight Bus. Free emergency transport for stranded British magical beings. How may we help you this-?" the conductor speaks without looking.
The man stops when he has to look down to spot Mattheo. Mattheo is tall for his age, but not quite the height of a full grown male.
"-short, aren't you?" The man comments when he thinks that Mattheo is a man and not a boy. "Stan Shunpike. I'll be your conductor for the evening" Stan introduces himself. "In you get" Stan mutters. Stan doesn't seem to thrilled at having to say that to every customer.
Mattheo looks back to his belongings. "No, no, I'll get that" Stan mumbles. Mattheo wonders if Stan will even be able to lift his trunk, the conductor has arms like straws.
Stan flicks his wand and the luggage levitates onto the bus. "Well? On you get" Stan ushers Mattheo onto the bus. Mattheo is a little dumbfounded to see someone use some magic after so many weeks, the muggle life really bores Mattheo.
Stan puts his hand on Mattheo's shoulder to yank him onto the bus. "Hey! Watch the hands!" Mattheo slaps Stan's hands away.
Mattheo takes a seat nearest the door. His experience tells him to always be close to an exit in a strange environment. He's not too sure whether to trust the people of the Knight Bus, since it's something he's never heard of before.
"Whatchu say your name was?" Stan enquires of Mattheo. Stan points his grubby finger right in Mattheo's face.
"Ron Weasley!" Mattheo suddenly shouts back, the first name that came to his mind. He can't be giving out his real name if he's on the run. And Ron wouldn't mind one bit.
"Weasley, huh? Yous related to that teacher at 'ogwarts are you?" Stan asks of Mattheo. He must mean Professor Prewett.
"Distant cousin" Mattheo lies again. Mattheo hopes that his lack of red hair isn't going to give away his ruse.
"Where you heading, Ron Weasley?" Stan asks of Mattheo.
"Where can I go?" Mattheo asks. The further away from Arcanville that he can get then the better that he's going to feel.
Stan rolls his eyes, he hates new customers. "The Knight Bus is magical, it can take you anywheres your heart wishes, so long as it's in the UK" Stan informs Mattheo.
Mattheo does think of Diagon Alley, then of the Potter house, and even the Burrows. But, there's one place that he wants to go more than anything, one girl that he promised he'd make his way to. And the girl who always manages to help him out of his problems when he's in trouble.
"Bellator Manor" Mattheo states clearly. The promise of being able to see Artemis is too good to pass up.
Stan looks a little startled at the request. "Bellator Manor? Rub shoulders with the hoyty toyties does you?" Stan gives Mattheo an awful grin. The Bellator family are known for their wealth and influence through the wizarding world.
"Distant cousins" Mattheo lies again. All of the pureblood wizarding families are related in some way, Ron and Artemis could be distant cousins.
Ernie Prang, an elderly wizard with large spectacle glasses that make his eyes look three times their size, awakes with a startle. He pulls on a large lever and the bus roars to life.
Mattheo hadn't expected such a rough start, and he slides along the seat he's on. He just manages to put his arm out to stop himself from hitting a railing. The immediately motion still sends his stomach into backflips.
Mattheo sees the bus is coated with magic on the outside. "Is that how the muggles don't see you?" Mattheo asks. It must be some sort of invisibility charm.
"Muggles don't look hard enough at the right things. They don't see nothing" Stan chuckles. People in a small town like Arcanville might notice, the big city muggles wouldn't bat an eyelid at seeing something so strange.
Stan unfurls a copy of the Daily Prophet, and the picture of a man is looking right back at Mattheo. It's almost like the dark eyes are looking right into Mattheo's.
The man has almost dark brown eyes that are so dark they almost look black. For a moment they sort of look like Artemis' eyes, but that's just Mattheo's mind playing tricks on him.
The man has a young appearance. His face is framed with dark locks. However, most noticeable is his handsome looks and runic tattoos across his arms.
His face is contorted into pure anger as he fights against two men in the picture. His arms are chained up so he cannot freely move, and yet they're not effective enough to calm him down. Such anger seems familiar to Mattheo.
Mattheo tries to read the article on the front page, but Stan keeps shifting about in his seat. "Who's that?" Mattheo asks of Stan.
Mattheo taps at the front page of the paper. Then Stan looks at the front page and laughs. Stan thinks that Mattheo is playing some sort of joke, because everyone knows who Sirius Black is, even before his escape.
"Who is that?" Stan laughs, thinking that Mattheo isn't being serious, but Mattheo's lack of fear tells Stan that he really has never heard of Sirius Black. "Here" Stan throws the newspaper at Mattheo, so he can catch up on the most important man in all of the wizarding world at the moment.
SIRIUS BLACK STILL AT LARGE.
Ministry official still continue their search for Sirius Black, 34, after his recent escape from Azkaban Prison.
Black, most infamous for his brutal murder of thirteen muggles using a single curse, escaped during the first week of August, not being seen since.
Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, promises that all ministry resources have been allocated into capturing Black.
The muggle Prime Minister has been informed, and the muggle authorities are also searching for Black, only being told that he is a mass murderer who has escaped.
Mattheo continues to look down the page, and another more recent picture of Sirius Black is at the bottom of the page.
His styled hair now a mess of knots and matts that cover his face. His skin sullen and pale. No longer did he have the muscular physique, but that of a starved man. He wouldn't be recognisable as the same man, except for those near-black eyes. The eyes that once again make Mattheo think of Artemis' eyes.
Mattheo doesn't usually have a sense of fear, but Black's eyes seem to be looking right into Mattheo's, even if it's just a picture. It's like a chill that cocoons inside of his very soul.
"He murdered thirteen people?!" Mattheo shrieks. "With a single curse?!" Mattheo demands. Mattheo fears that he's lacking behind in his study of dark magic.
This bloke must have some really powerful dark magic in his arsenal to be able to pull that off. A single curse that killed a whole street filled with muggles.
"Yep" Stan confirms. "He did it before witnesses an' everything" Stan tells Mattheo. "Big supporter of You-Know-Who" Stan mutters. Stan says Voldemort's monicker in a shallow whisper, like his title is a taboo now as well.
"Voldemort?" Mattheo asks. Mattheo has never been afraid of saying Voldemort's name. If he fears the name then he will fear the wizard, and Mattheo isn't scared of his father. Mattheo has beaten Voldemort twice now.
Stan almost feints at hearing the name. Ernie nearly crashed the bus. Neither of them are used to people using Voldemort's name. It's almost a curse swear word to speak the name.
"Black was You-Know-Who's second in command he was. When all of his supporters were being rounded up, Black attacked a bunch of muggles. And when he was caught, all he could do was laugh like a maniac" Stan gives Mattheo the gossip. "Don't reckon that Mattheo Riddle has had a moment of sleep since Black escaped Azkaban" Stan chuckles.
Mattheo's nose gets out of joint for the second time tonight. Mattheo Riddle didn't even know that a supporter of Voldemort's was on the loose. Mattheo Riddle has never heard of Sirius Black. Mattheo Riddle thinks that Artemis Bellator owes him some answers when he sees her.
This must just be another thing that Dumbledore has neglected to tell Mattheo about. Another 'you needed to come to this information on your own' moment. Or 'it wasn't the right time. I was trying to protect you' is another favourite of Dumbledore's.
Mattheo hadn't realised how much time had passed, until he sees sunlight coming up over the Brighton countryside. A whole night has passed by with Mattheo trapped in his own thoughts about Sirius Black.
It's morning.
Other people have been getting dropped off all night, and Mattheo has just been wondering about Sirius Black for the entire time. Mattheo has been wondering about what Voldemort could be doing right now, he's not dead, his body is just broken and his spirit is free.
The Knight Bus stops outside of the familiar cast iron gates with the eagle insignia smithed onto the metal. Mattheo forget just how far that the grounds span in every direction.
"'ere you are, Ron" Stan tells Mattheo. Stan and Ernie both crane their necks to try and get a glimpse at any of the Bellator family. The manor is still a mile down the driveway, so there isn't much chance of a casual sighting.
Mattheo is glad to get off the bus. A killer that may be after him hasn't put him in the best of moods. And with the way that the Knight Bus drives Mattheo has a motion sickness feeling in his stomach.
Mattheo is still wearing his messy black shirt and jeans, and his hair is a mess, and he stinks of the Knight Bus. Not exactly how he wanted to look when he met up with Artemis again. He has definitely looked worse in front of Artemis.
"Thanks Stan, Ernie" Mattheo calls back to the Knight Bus staff. He's on his own from here.
Stan drops Mattheo's trunk off of the bus and onto the pavement outside the gates. Stan gives Mattheo one last wave, and then the Knight Bus rockets off down the road.
There's no one working on the gate yet, as it's still in the early hours of the morning. There is magic that protects the gates at all times, so there isn't any need for guards at the gates at all times.
"Well, there are no muggles around. So maybe a little bit more magic couldn't hurt" Mattheo mutters to himself, and he draws out his wand.
*
Mattheo has no luck with bypassing the magical enchantments on the gates of Bellator Manor. Aralias Bellator will have placed some of these enchantments himself, and so they'll be beyond any magic Mattheo could use.
Mattheo, however, did not try the most obvious way inside of the grounds. It takes Mattheo nearly half an hour to realise that the gates have been enchanted to let him inside when they sense him. The Bellators have given him full access to Bellator Manor.
Mattheo huffs in anger as he grabs his trunk. "Well done, Mattheo. Do not try the most obvious way inside of the grounds first" Mattheo curses at himself. At no point did it even occur to him to try the gate, he only realised it would open for him when he walked past them close enough and they opened.
Mattheo is wary of any other protective enchantments he might encounter as he walks up the mile long driveway to the manor. Aralias is bound to have put a lot of protective enchantments in place since he and Adria are both away from the manor.
Mattheo drops his trunk by the large front doors. He wonders if anyone is awake this early in the morning, but he still has to knock on the doors anyways.
It's the butler that answers the door. "Ah, Mr Riddle" the butler greets Mattheo with no show of real emotion. "Master Aralias has allowed you permanent and unfettered access to Bellator Manor, whenever you should need it" the butler speaks as if he isn't surprised to find Mattheo on the doorstep. None of the staff would be surprised, they all knew that Mattheo would show up here eventually.
"Are Mr and Mrs Bellator back from their trip?" Mattheo asks of the butler. It would help to talk to Aralias before he sees anyone else.
"They are still away on business, and have owled to say they will be for many more weeks" the butler tells Mattheo. He leads Mattheo through the manor. "Lady Artemis is in the back gardens. When she could not contact you, she began to worry, and has not been able to sleep" the butler informs Mattheo.
Mattheo swears as he scrunches up his face. "Shit" Mattheo curses. Mattheo has forgotten all about his standing midnight appointment with Artemis. And now he's going to be shouted at for it.
Mattheo nods and thanks the butler, and then he makes his way through the sliding doors that lead to the back garden. The gardens run on for miles, so Mattheo is glad to see that Artemis is by the benches.
Artemis is busy sparring with one of her training dummies. The way that she's throwing her punches and kicks tells Mattheo that she must be angry about something. Mattheo hopes that isn't anger for him running away and worrying her.
A large black dog sits beside Artemis, gulping down a bowl of chicken meat. It seems content to watch as Artemis destroys her training dummy.
"Bells?" Mattheo asks. He could stand around and watch her all day, but that wouldn't be fair.
Artemis stops mid punch against the dummy. She hasn't heard his real voice in weeks, only the pale comparison that comes through the communication stones
She almost expects for him not to be stood there when she turns around, that hearing his voice was some sort of cruel trick of worry.
"What are you-?" Artemis begins to ask. She didn't hear from his last night, but she hadn't expected him to just show up out of the blue.
"I ran away" Mattheo tells Artemis. "Bells, I think that I really messed up this time" Mattheo can feel the compounded guilt and fear finally hit him. Seeing Artemis breaks all of the adrenalin out of his system.
Artemis begins to roughly pull off her training gloves, and Mattheo doesn't know if he's going to get hugged because she's happy to see him, or if he's about to be hit for being an idiot and running away.
Artemis doesn't need to hear the details of what trouble that he's in right now, she only cares that he's here and that he's safe.
Artemis runs up and throws her body onto his. She immediately wraps her arms around Mattheo's chest and pulls her body close to his. He's once again gotten taller over the summer, and she hasn't.
Mattheo gasps at the feeling of her hugging his body. He wasn't expecting her to hug him. But he hugs her straight back.
Mattheo rests his head on top of her head.
One hug from Artemis and Mattheo seems to forget all about his problems. The outside world doesn't matter to his right now, only being close to Artemis matters to him.
"You're here" she says with a giddy happiness in her voice, making Mattheo's heart soar. "We can handle whatever trouble you're in. I'm just happy that you're here" all that matters is that he's safe here.
Artemis' worry ranged from Tom had found another basilisk and killed Mattheo and Thea, to Sirius Black had found Mattheo and killed him, and every possibility in between. When he didn't respond on the communication stone or to her owl, then she began to worry about him.
The blood on Mattheo's shirt worries Artemis. Beverly Carrow was their guest in Arcanville yesterday evening, and Mattheo has a habit of being quick to anger.
The dog watches them both curiously. It's almost as if he's trying to gauge their relationship with one and other.
Mattheo sees that there is a dog watching him, as he peers over Artemis' shoulder. "Bells, when did you get a dog?" Mattheo asks.
"It showed up yesterday and it looked starved" Artemis tells Matthro. "Which, you do as well. C'mon, you can go and shower and change, and I'll make some breakfast" Artemis tells the boy.
Artemis can see the blood all over Mattheo's shirt, and that worries her more than anything. She can see that Reagan has not fed the children much over the summer again.
"Bells?" Mattheo asks.
"Yeah?" She asks.
Mattheo grins. "I've missed you".