THE MIDNIGHT SKY || MATTHEO RIDDLE x OC x DIEGO LYON

46. just out of reach

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The days following had been silent within the group as they continued their journey to Hogwarts. They set up camp under a bridge that spanned a small creek. Mattheo lay on the ground, gazing up at the sky, feeling numb inside, uncertain of how or what to feel.

Glancing over, Mattheo observed Willow, who was fast asleep. His eyes fell upon the scar on her forearm, where Bellatrix had written the word mudblood. Mattheo reached out toward her arm to trace his fingers over it, but Willow was just out of reach.

With his hand outstretched, Mattheo continued to gaze at Willow, feeling a mix of longing and regret. The past days had been torturous for him. He loved Willow, yet he had let her go. He wished he had opened up to her; perhaps then she would never have left him.

Studying Willow's peaceful face, Mattheo regretted what had transpired between them. Part of him wished he could go back and change the outcome of that night. However, another part of him was relieved they had broken up, believing she deserved better than him. Still, he couldn't shake the desire for her to be better off with him.

As Mattheo watched Willow rest, he eventually drifted off to sleep, despite his reluctance. He simply wanted to continue looking at her; she was so beautiful, and he never wanted to stop admiring her.

The next morning, Diego was the first to wake up. He sat up and glanced around, noticing Mattheo's outstretched arm toward Willow. Despite his feelings for Willow, Diego would never try to interfere with her love. If she chose Mattheo, that was her decision. Though it would hurt him, he only wanted her happiness.

Diego knew Willow loved Mattheo, but whether Mattheo was right for Willow remained uncertain.

Standing up, Diego began to pack their belongings, aiming to be ready by the time everyone else woke up.

As Diego packed, Apollo woke up and looked over at him. He stared at Diego for a while before being caught. "You're staring, Crouch."

"I—" Apollo began, then rolled out of bed, clearly flustered.

Diego turned to face Apollo. "Look, it's not that I don't swing that way; it's just that I have feelings for Willow. It would feel wrong to pursue someone else when I... really care about her. Plus, you still have feelings for Theo, even though you're not together."

Apollo looked at Diego, somewhat surprised by his response. "You... like guys?"

Diego chuckled softly. "Didn't you hear about when I dated Cedric? It was the talk of my fifth year. Everyone said I used a love potion on him as if their precious Hufflepuff dreamboat couldn't possibly be bi."

Apollo was momentarily taken aback. "That was you?"

"Indeed," Diego nodded. "After my fifth year, Cedric and I had an on-again, off-again relationship until, well, you know."

There was a moment of silence between them before Apollo spoke again. "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it; I'm fine," Diego replied. "By then, he was dating that Ravenclaw girl and secretly pining for Potter. I was pretty lonely until I met Willow at the Quidditch game. I've never cared about someone's happiness as much as I do for Willow. She's all I have left."

Apollo listened closely, realizing how vulnerable Diego was being. He hadn't seen Diego like this before, nor had he seen him talk this much since his family died. "I hate to ask, but what was your family like?"

Diego paused, reminiscing about his childhood. "I grew up alone. My mom and dad were really into each other, that's for sure."

All of a sudden, Mattheo sat up, woken up by Diego and Apollo's conversation. "Must've been nice, having a loving family, a perfect life," he grumbled before getting to his feet.

Diego couldn't keep quiet. "It wasn't all fantastic as you think, Riddle. My parents kept secrets from me."

Mattheo halted, scoffing at Diego's words. He turned to face him. "Big deal. Everyone's got secrets—"

"It's not the same," Diego said, moving closer to Mattheo. "I knew one of them was from a pureblood family, but they shut me out. Never talked about what happened before I was born. All I got was a fuzzy story about how they met. They were great parents, but there's so much I don't know and  never will because of you."

Mattheo rolled his eyes, meeting Diego's gaze. "Just search in old archives for them. That's how my father found out about his family."

"I tried," Diego shot back, now inches away from Mattheo. Both boys were steaming. "Peony Lyon, nothing. Anderson Lyon, same thing."

"Lyon isn't one of the pureblood names I can tell you that—"

"No shit," Diego retorted, leaning in. The tension crackled between them. "Maybe they changed it. My dad could've taken my mom's name like Marlo did with Dorothea."

Mattheo's face darkened. "Do not speak his name!" his tone becoming sharp, jolting Willow and Theo awake.

Diego had a slight smirk on his lips as he scoffed, "Why can't I say my best friend's name? Is it cause you're ashamed you got him killed just like you got everyone else killed?"

"Fucking drop it already!" Mattheo snapped. "All you do is bitch about your stupid family, how I got them killed, how I got everyone else killed including my brother. Well, guess what Lyon, I fucking regret it. I even regret getting your family killed. But there is nothing I can do about it, I can't take it back, to make things better."

With a grin, Diego whispered, "I know a way to make things better."

Apollo had finally had enough of their argument, he could tell things were soon to take a turn for the worst. So Apollo stepped in, separating them. "Cut it out!" he yelled, eyeing them both.

After some time of hearing the argument, Willow finally stood up, rubbing her eyes. She made her way towards the three boys. She could feel the overwhelming amount of anger and grief, and that familiar darkness. Willow couldn't tell who it was though. "Can you two cut it out, it is way too early for this shit." She groaned.

Mattheo looked at her, a mix of shock and sorrow in his eyes. He wanted to speak, but the words stuck in his throat. Any time he saw Willow or she spoke to him, well sort of, it made him remember just how much he missed her.

She looked between the boys, "What is going on?" Willow had a mix of anger and irritation written over her face.

"Nothing," Diego muttered, shooting Mattheo one last glance before walking off.

─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

a/n - Gotta love Diego and Mattheo fighting cause they are. . .  well them.

So I have decided after each chapter, I will announce something special about the other books within The Sky series.

The two books are set before The Midnight Sky. The Bright Sky is set pre-Wizarding War One, The Gray Sky is throughout the Second Wizarding War. And I will also say, I have changed lots of dates with characters. This means some characters were born later than they are in the HP series and some are born earlier than in the HP series. I did that for the sake of everything adding up and not getting really weird age gaps with certain things.

The next a/n I will announce the 2 main characters for The Bright Sky. . .

Lots of love,
Mama Mack <3