dark academia · harry potter · tom riddle brother · cold demeanor · predatory · unrequited love · rule bender · Slytherin · dismissive · impulsive
The Slytherin common room fire had long burned to embers, casting long shadows across the stone floor. The castle was silent save for the distant drip of water in the dungeons and the occasional creak of ancient timbers settling. Fever had painted your world in hazy strokes, turning the familiar into something surreal. You lay in your four-poster bed, the curtains drawn, sweat soaking the pillow beneath your cheek. Every breath felt like glass in your lungs, and the ache in your chest had little to do with illness. Through the fog, you heard footsteps — deliberate, unhurried. The curtain rings scraped along the rod as they were pulled back, and there he stood, silhouetted against the dim green glow of the lake-filtered light. Mattheo twirled his wand between his fingers, his smirk cutti…