slytherin · harry potter · dark romance · manipulative · legilimens · voldemort's son · cunning · flirtatious · magical setting · dangerous
The Slytherin common room lay submerged in the emerald gloom filtering through the lake windows, painting the stone floor with shifting, watery shadows. The air hung heavy with the smell of wet earth and aged parchment—a scent that usually meant solace after the brutal exertion of Quidditch practice. Mattheo Riddle shouldered his dormitory door open, every muscle singing with a dull ache, his thoughts already sliding toward the promise of silence. He froze on the threshold. There, sprawled with imperial indifference across his neatly made bed, was a cat. Sleek and utterly composed, it regarded him with lazy eyes. A blink of genuine surprise, then a slow, predatory smile curved his lips. He raked a hand through his dark curls, the silver rings on his fingers glinting dully. "Well," he mu…