TW: Blood, pain/ torture, mentions of daggers, mentions of death, negitive thoughts 

(Still Mattheo’s pov)

 I helped him over to the wall so he could rest his weight. Thomas came beside me, he looked nervous as he glanced at Theodore. I could barely look at Theodore anymore. His eyes were shut in pain, and his breathing was heavy, black blood covered his lips, chin, and clothing. He screamed in pain as I saw the dagger cut getting bigger and more and more of his veins were turning black. He started crying “Make it stop, please make it stop” 

I didn’t know what to do, everything in my body felt like it had been shattered after he screamed. I had never seen anything like this, and I had seen a lot of things. I turned to Thomas but he looked no better than I did, he had a horrified look on his face. He stood up and took a few steps back before disappearing. My eyes lingered on where he had just been. He had just left me. I snapped my eyes back to Theodore who was looking at me, eyes watery. “Please” he said weakly before he started choking and coughing out more blood, a second later his eyes closed and his body went limp. 

I just looked at him, shocked for a second before I started using every spell that I knew, trying to get him back. Spell after spell, nothing worked… Nothing worked. 

Thomas appeared at the door with one of the people with one of the people who helps out in the Hospital Wing. Thomas eyed Theodore as the helper went to check Theodore. “I already tried everything, there’s no use” I could feel anger and sadness threatening to take control. 

“He’s not dead” The helper declared “But he’s close” They looked away, not wanting to meet my eyes “I’m sorry, if you already tried everything then there's nothing we could do” 

“If there’s nothing you can do then leave” Mattheo declared. They nodded once and left. 

“I’m sorry Mattheo-” Thomas started quietly   

“Don’t” I cut him off, shouting “You don’t know what it feels like” 

“What don’t I know?” 

“What it feels like to see someone you care about, who isn’t your family get hurt, to watch them die” I took a step closer to him “Because you don’t care about anything or anyone” 

“That's not true” He shook his head “I care about you, I care about Y/n” 

“You don’t care about me” I frowned “And even if you did, I’m family, Y/n is family, and I said someone who isn’t family”

(Thomas’s pov) 

Mattheo glared at me through violent crimson eyes, it started to get really hot and I looked down at his hands. There were a couple strings of fire weaving through his fingers. He looked down as well and started twisting his hands around moving his fingers as if playing with the fire in the palm of his hand. He blinked and his eyes were black, the corner of his lips pulled up into a smirk as he looked back up from his hands. I slowly backed away until my back hit the wall. Y/n had told me about how his powers had advanced and how he had no control over it, but he had control now, or more like it had control of him. I should have just apparated away but I couldn’t, my body refused to move. 

He slowly raised his hand up to eye level and let it hover over my neck, it burned very badly, way worse than firewhiskey. I could barely breathe. 

Suddenly there was a bright flash of blue-white light. When it stopped I could see Mattheo passed out on the ground and Indu standing by the doorway, an annoyed look on her face. She shook her head and mumbled something under her breath. She looked over at Theodore and went to crouch next to him. I slowly went to stand next to her “There's nothing we can do” 

She put her hand on his neck and muttered something before she pulled her hand back and moved her head to look at me “No, there’s nothing you can do” 

I eyed her suspiciously as she put her hand around his wrist, the same one that had the bracelet. She closed her eyes and her lips started moving like she was saying something but I couldn't hear anything. Then she opened her eyes, which were now glowing the same whitish-blue as her powers, and after a couple more seconds she let go of his wrist and her eyes turned back to an emerald green. She waited a couple more seconds then stepped back. 

Theodore’s eyes fluttered open and his breathing became quicker and quicker. He started coughing up black blood for a couple more seconds before he stopped and his head fell back into the wall. He let out a couple of breaths, trying to calm himself then he looked around. His eyes landed on Indu “Why?” 

“Why what?” she asked in confusion

“Why did you save me?” 

“Your one of Y/n’s best friends, she couldn’t live without you” 

“How did you save him?” I asked

“It’s hard to explain but basically his bracelet is keeping him alive, it is already permanently on him and was spelled with very powerful magic, I just amplified the magic and enchanted it to keep him alive. Where did you get the bracelet though? It’s like nothing I have ever seen, and without it, I guessing you would have died much earlier” 

“Y/n made it” I replied and Indu smiled a moment before her mouth formed a frown again. 

“I must warn you to be careful with your magic, it’s tainted” She warned 

“What do you mean tainted?” Mattheo asked, appearing behind me, his eyes normal

(Theodore’s pov) 

Indu eyed me for a moment before her eyes moved to glance at my shoulder “First tell me how you got that?” She nodded towards the dagger cut 

“It’s a long story” I replied 

“I have time, I’m still waiting for you guys to tell me what's been going on lately” 

Thomas sighed and told Indu about all the crazy things that had happened since she left, leaving out all the Death Eater stuff. He told her all about Malachi and then about how I got the dagger cut. After he was done Indu slowly nodded her head and then she was silent. 

“Now can you please tell me what you meant by tainted?” Mattheo called out, sounding fed up 

“So when Malachi’s dagger cut you, it bonded you two in a way, and then he drained all your magic without being there in the room?” 

“Yes” I nodded, wondering what she was thinking “I felt most of my magic gone and I was pale” 

“And now your not” 

“Excuse me?” I wasn’t sure what she meant 

“Your not pale anymore, you were earlier but as soon as you started feeling pain again, when your blood turned black, your color returned” 

“Meaning?” 

“I believe that not only can Malachi drain your magic, he can give you magic. He gave you back magic, but not just any magic, extremely dark magic. That's why your blood turned black. Your body is not used to that kind of magic, so it rejected it, tried to get it out of your system. But there's no way you could get rid of it yourself, so your body started shutting down. Malachi took all your magic and replaced it with dark magic” She paused and looked into my eyes, sympathy covering her face “I’m sorry” she whispered before clearing her throat “Be careful with your magic, don’t give in to the darkness, or it will control you” She got up and went to the doorway but stopped before she went through “I don’t recommend drinking or smoking, it makes your mind weak and it makes it a lot easier for the magic to control you” With that she left    

I suddenly felt like there was a hole in my chest. I didn’t know what to think or do with the information I was just given. I pulled my knees into my chest and put my head down. Silent tears fell from my eyes. How was I ever going to get through this? Would I ever get through this? What would happen if the darkness consumed me? What if I let it? What would people think if I just disappeared? Would anyone care? 

I heard someone sit down next to me but I didn’t look up. A second later an arm wrapped around me and pulled me into a hug. I looked up and found Mattheo staring at me, his familiar hazel eyes looked like they were about to tear up and his face looked like it was about to shatter “Theo” He whispered “I’m here, I care” Another tear rolled down my cheek and he wiped it away. 

“Thank you” I could barely hear my own voice before he pulled me into a tighter hug