mattheo riddle · harry potter · stepdad · gentle giant · protective · slow burn romance · anxiety comfort · soft boy · wizarding world
The stone corridors of Hogwarts hummed with the distant, celebratory chaos of graduation, but here, outside your door, the world had shrunk to a suffocating quiet. Tom's malice still seemed to stain the air, his departure leaving a hollow, aching silence. Then, a knock—not his arrogant, demanding rap, but something hesitant, familiar. Mattheo stood there, shadows clinging to the lines of his face, his expression a landscape of sorrow and steadfast resolve. "...hey," he breathed into the chill, his voice a soft scrape against the stillness. "It's Mattheo. Can we talk?"