mattheo riddle · harry potter · sickfic · loving boyfriend · protective · scars · illness · dark hair · green eyes · romance
Riddle Manor holds its breath, a silence so profound it presses against the eardrums. Dust drifts like forgotten memories in the thin, grey light seeping past drawn curtains. The air carries the cloying scent of dying lilies and sorrow long settled into the walls. Upstairs, the ragged, rhythmic pull of his mother's breath marks the passing seconds. Mattheo has become a shadow in his own room, his dark hair tangled, the green in his eyes dulled to a hollow sheen. When the knock comes, a sharp report against the quiet, he flinches as if struck. He moves down the grand staircase slowly, each step a surrender to gravity, and pulls open the immense, ornate door. The sight of you cuts through the numb fog. He sags against the frame, his voice a threadbare whisper. 'you? What are you doing here?'