~

He who must not be named, You know who, Tom Riddle. This individual was known by many names throughout his lifetime but the one that had set fear deep in everyone's heart, to the point where nobody said those syllables anymore, was Lord Voldemort. His menacing and ruthless nature had led to this point, this very point where Y/N Riddle, His daughter in law, the mother of his unborn grandchild and the wife to his son, was being held midair as they walked towards the ruins of Hogwarts.

Y/N had played her role to perfection, as had her entire team. They had killed all the Horcruxes then why was Voldemort still alive? The wizarding world should be rejoicing right now but instead, it stood there in shock, their last hope diminished.

"Ah what a beautiful day it is." He said, addressing the crowd of fighters that stood in the broken courtyard, pieces of marble, brick and cement resembling their own broken nature. Everyone had lost someone near and dear to them and while that pain might subside eventually a part of them will always be broken, always be lost.

"Y/N RIDDLE IS DEAD!" Voldemort announced for everyone to hear and upon these words befalling the ears of her beloved, Mattheo fell to his knees. To him, nobody existed anymore. It couldn't be true, right? It couldn't be true that he had just lost his entire family, his entire world. It had to be a ruse, a lie, anything but the truth.

"Y/N is dead. Bow down to your ruler, your Lord." He continued, with no regard whatsoever for his son. Helplessness filled the minds of everyone present. What were they to do now that their biggest fighter, their brightest star had been extinguished?

"It was foolish of you to think that you could defeat me. Yes, I do mourn for my lost Horcruxes but I'm amused you could be naive enough to think that was my only defence mechanism." Voldemort said, an air of triumph and fake pity surrounding his words.

Mattheo on the other hand was unable to process anything that was being said. He stayed on his knees. His expression was of eternal sadness, the only thought going through his mind being denial. He was unsure which pain was worse - the shock of what happened or the ache for what never will.

"Now, rise and join my ranks, if you wish to keep your life that is."

Silence. Nobody moved a single muscle. They were ready to die before having to join the dark side, almost all of them. One moved from his position wand clutched behind his back.

"Ah, my son. I'm sorry for your loss but I'm glad to see you're finally accepting your real family."

"My real family? Do you really think you are my real family? YOU KILLED MY MOTHER! YOU KILL EVERY PERSON I HAVE EVER LOVED."

"It's to make you stronger. Love is for fools."

"No! It isn't! Love is beautiful, Love is this feeling I was never able to feel because of you! Love is knowing that you have someone to go back to at the end of the day. Love is what life is worth living for. Love is Y/N." he said, a lone tear rolling down his cheek.

"Then you didn't learn after all, did you."

"I did, I learnt that my real family is the one that accepted me even after everything that I had done. My real family is every single person standing against you right now. You are nothing to me. Merely someone who ruined my life for 18 years but there is one thing I have to thank you for. Thank you for getting me married to Y/N. Thank you for letting me experience love even when I know that wasn't your intention. Y/N taught me to love, she taught me to forgive but I will not forgive you. You are not worth it."

"THAT IS SUFFICIENT. YOU WILL LEARN, THE HARD WAY." Voldemort bellowed at Mattheo before gliding over to him. Mattheo immediately withdrew his wand to protect himself but within seconds it was knocked out of his hands due to a swift punch to his gut.

"You ungrateful offspring."

Mattheo got up before running at his father at full speed, his hand formed into a fist as he punched his snakelike face, knocking a tooth out of his mouth. The crowd gasped, as did Voldemort. Blood ran down his chin and onto his black cloak. Shock was insufficient to describe his expression.

Without another sound leaving his mouth he pointed his wand in Mattheo's direction and the spell that left it next was bright red.

"CRUCIO!"

Mattheo fell to the ground in agony, every single cell of his body on fire, screaming at the top of his lungs. Squirming on the ground in pain, tears fell from his eyes. Voldemort continued to mutter spells, spells which opened up deep wounds on his back, slash marks as if someone had carved them by hand. Matheo struggled on the ground, scrambling to get away from the pain.

Voldemort saw nothing but pure fury, the wrath of which Mattheo bore. He withdrew the cruciatus curse to leave Matteo panting on the ground. Dark red blood stained his clothes before dripping to the floor, his DNA forever engrained into the cracks in the cold concrete floor.

"Trust me, son, it gives me no pleasure to do this."

He turned his wand on his son once again, determined to make him suffer until he begged for mercy. As his lips began to

form the words a loud voice was heard from behind them,

"ENOUGH!"

It was Y/N, floating midair in all her glory. She looked enraged, nothing less than the scarlet witch. She was ready to take lives, ready to kill anyone who came in her path, Her eyes white with anger, her palms filled with raging power.

"Step away from my husband."

==== End of Part 49 ====

Hi loves,

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! The end of this book is coming nearer every day! Thank you for all the love and support, I can't even begin to express how grateful I am for it.

Love,

P / Paridhi Prabhakar

Word count : 1052