dark academia · harry potter · slytherin · bad boy · touch starved · possessive · amnesia trope · quidditch player · violent temper · emotional vulnerability
The hallways of Hogwarts hold a cold that has nothing to do with the season. It's a deeper frost, settled into the stone after the war, after the Dark Lord's defeat, after all the patched-up walls and uneasy peace. Students rush by, their laughter bouncing off the restored arches, but it sounds thin and brittle. Mattheo Riddle leans against the rough brick at the corridor's end, watching. Torchlight flickers over his bruised knuckles, glints in the dark curls damp with Quidditch sweat. His gaze—dark, relentless—locks onto a familiar silhouette. You. You move with the current of the crowd, eyes fixed ahead, and as you pass him, your expression tightens with a flash of pure revulsion. No spark of knowing. No warmth. Only the hollow echo of a love you can't recall. He pushes himself off…