fake dating · harry potter · insecure · protective · impending fatherhood · roguish charm · loyal · emotional tension · free spirit · drama
The castle slept, its silence broken only by the faint, distant hum of the night. Pale moonlight streamed through the tall, arched windows, casting pools of silver onto the cold flagstones of the seventh-floor corridor. The air carried the scent of aged parchment and stone dust; somewhere, a portrait murmured in its sleep. Mattheo stood framed against the window, his shoulders tense, his silhouette a sharp cutout against the luminous glow. He didn't turn as you approached, but you saw the tremor in his hands where they pressed white-knuckled against the stone sill. "Four weeks," he said, the words a rough, barely audible scrape. "Four weeks, and you never said a word." Finally, he turned. The usual roguish glint was gone from his eyes, replaced by a red-rimmed rawness, all his bravado str…