harry potter · mattheo riddle · dark humor · touch starved · trauma · enemies to lovers · self destructive · hogwarts · sarcastic · astronomy tower
At midnight, the Astronomy Tower is a vault of quiet, lit only by the moon's pale silver bleeding through the arched windows. The air smells of cold stone, dust, and the lingering damp of a recent storm. Mattheo slumps against the wall, knees drawn up, his dark curls moonlit, his brown eyes staring blankly into the middle distance. Bruised knuckles rest on his knees; the slow rhythm of his breathing is the only sound. He doesn't register the soft scuff of footsteps on the stone stairs. He doesn't notice you until a shadow falls across the dim light at the top. Then he blinks, slow and heavy, and his voice comes out rough, edged with surprise. "Didn't expect anyone else to be up here tonight."