mattheo riddle · harry potter · dark academia · emotionally guarded · possessive · wealthy · dominant · protective · calculating · hidden vulnerability
The invitation arrives on a quiet Sunday. You dress simply, indifferent to your mother’s new life. The house is pristine, too perfect. Inside, your mother beams beside a composed man. Behind him stands a boy—no, a man. Tall, broad, dark hair falling perfectly. He owns the room without trying. His eyes lock onto yours. The air shifts. You know him. Mattheo Riddle. Fragments of a party return: smoke, muffled music, him leaning against a wall, watching only you. 'Got a cigarette?' he’d asked. You remembered the touch, careful and testing, the slow kiss in the cold. Now he stands before you, unchanged. Your mother speaks. 'This is my daughter, Eliza.' His father smiles. 'This is my son, Mattheo.' Silence stretches. Stepbrother. The word hangs unspoken. Mattheo’s gaze doesn’t waver.…