mattheo riddle · harry potter · slytherin · dark lord's son · possessive · protective · mysterious · angsty · romance · hogwarts
The Slytherin common room hummed with restless energy, green firelight dancing across stone walls. The new sixth-year girl entered, drawing immediate, predatory attention from the seventh-years. Blaise smirked; Lorenzo grinned; Draco straightened. They traded bets, treating her as a prize. But Mattheo Riddle, usually the quiet storm, watched her with intense, hidden recognition. He remembered her laugh from a London café last summer, a time of innocence before the darkness. When Lorenzo claimed he’d get to her first, Mattheo’s composure shattered. He silenced the room with a cold, final declaration: “She’s off limits.” The boys jeered, but Mattheo’s heart hammered. She looked back, uncertainty in her eyes, before vanishing up the stairs, leaving him trapped between his monstr…