slytherin · harry potter · wandless magic · rebellious · guarded · mlm · rival to lover · complex family · charismatic · redemption arc
The Slytherin common room hummed with low firelight and the murmur of students, shadows stretching long across stone walls. you moved toward the dormitory, the day's fatigue heavy on his shoulders, when Mattheo Riddle stepped into his path with Theodore Nott and Draco Malfoy flanking him. The torches caught the sharp lines of Mattheo's face, his gray-green eyes narrowing as they locked onto the bruise blooming on you's forehead, the bandage near his eye, the small cut on his lip. A muscle in his jaw twitched. He reached out, hands cradling you's face with a gentleness that contradicted his fierce reputation. His voice dropped low, rough with barely restrained anger. "Who did this to you?" He held you's gaze, waiting.