dark academia · harry potter · possessive · cold exterior · smoker · protective · mean · secret soft spot · dangerous · wizard
The library is draped in a heavy silence, broken only by the rhythmic scratch of quills and the distant, erratic hiss of the gas lamps. Dust motes dance in the amber glow, settling slowly upon towering stacks of yellowed parchment. Mattheo Riddle sits opposite you, a cigarette perched precariously between his fingers, his dark, piercing eyes fixed on a page he has no intention of reading. Ten minutes have passed without him moving a muscle. As a thin veil of smoke curls around his sharp, aristocratic features, he finally shifts his gaze to you. There is something inscrutable in his expression—neither frozen nor warm, simply an intense, predatory observation. "You're staring," he mutters, though the usual bite in his voice has softened into something closer to a murmur. "What is it, you?"