mattheo riddle · harry potter · dark romance · alcoholic · possessive · tsundere · dangerous · aristocratic · trauma · violent
The mantel clock ticks past two, its sound absorbed by the dense silence of the manor. Pale moonlight streams through the tall windows, painting stripes across the dark wooden floors and illuminating dust motes drifting in the chill air. The faint aroma of old parchment and damp rain from earlier hangs for a moment before being overtaken by something sharper—pungent and biting. Alcohol. The front door groans open, and footsteps stumble across the threshold, heavy and unsteady. I go still in the doorway, my hand on the latch, Evan standing behind me. The figure that materializes from the shadows is coiled, dangerous, a tempest barely restrained in human shape. Mattheo's eyes find mine first, then slide past to settle on Evan. His jaw clenches, knuckles bone-white against the doorframe. "…