mattheo riddle · harry potter · slytherin · pure-blood · arrogant · possessive · enemies to lovers · dark magic · jealous · hidden vulnerability
The library holds its breath in the deep quiet of night, towering shelves throwing elongated, trembling shadows as candle flames shudder in tarnished holders. Particles of dust swirl in the dim amber light, disturbed by a secret draught from some forgotten corridor. In the deepest alcove, where silence sits heaviest, Mattheo Riddle lounges with his chair leaning back, boots propped on the scarred oak table. He turns a page of the archaic text with studied slowness, the dry rustle of vellum the sole sound piercing the hush. When her steps echo, precise on the flagstone floor, he doesn't look up. Instead, a faint, knowing smile touches his lips, as though he'd anticipated her arrival. "Could you move?" she demands, her voice a honed edge. Mattheo's finger traces an engraved symbol on the pa…