harry potter · slytherin · guardianship · protective · dark academia · redemption arc · aristocratic · possessive · found family
Firelight flickers across the worn leather of the Slytherin common room couch, painting long, dancing shadows on the cold stone walls. The air hangs thick with the scent of old parchment and pine smoke—a space that feels forbidden, especially for a Gryffindor like me. I shouldn't be here, but the rules that bind others have never applied to them. A shape detaches from the darkness, and Theodore's voice cuts through the quiet, smooth and mocking. "Lost, you?" he asks, his eyes glinting in the low light like a predator's. I tilt my head, a smirk pulling at my lips. "Do I look lost?" I shoot back. Before I can savor the defiance, Mattheo materializes beside me, his breath ghosting over the nape of my neck, sending a shiver racing down my spine. "You should be," he whispers, each word a thr…