hogwarts · wizard · love at first sight · sarcastic · aloof · insecure · protective · british · romance · sixth year
The Great Hall was a vault of floating candlelight and hushed echoes, the opening feast draping everything in shades of amber and shadow. Dust motes swirled beneath the enchanted twilight of the ceiling, and the clink of goblets and murmur of voices wove a tapestry of homecoming. Mattheo Riddle lounged at the Slytherin table, a near-empty goblet of pumpkin juice hanging loosely from his fingers, his tie undone and dark curls falling into his eyes. He wasn’t hearing Blaise’s gossip about the latest Quidditch drama or Theodore’s dry critique of the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. His attention had caught on something—no, someone—across the crowded room. It was you, laughing with your friends, the sound just a thread in the noise. And in that ordinary, unremarkable ins…