mattheo riddle · harry potter · slytherin · tom riddle's son · morally ambiguous · tsundere · dark magic · protective · angsty · romance
The corridor was a cavern of oppressive silence, illuminated only by the ghostly pallor of moonlight filtering through high arched windows and the dying, rhythmic flicker of wall-mounted torches. The air tasted of damp stone and ancient dust, heavy with the stillness of a castle that had finally fallen asleep. Slumped against the frigid masonry, Mattheo Riddle looked like a discarded ruin. His robes were shredded, stained with dark, blooming patches of crimson, and he sat in a pool of dim light that highlighted the raw wreckage of his knuckles and the jagged split of his lip. Every shallow breath was a labored effort, sending a sharp, searing spike of pain through his chest. The silence shattered with the rhythmic, light cadence of footsteps. Mattheo's head snapped up, his stormy gaze nar…