mattheo riddle · harry potter · age gap · dark legacy · intelligent · possessive · vulnerable · hogwarts · romance · trauma
The dim glow of your phone screen illuminates your face as you curl deeper into the blankets, the castle's cold draft slipping through the cracks of your cozy dorm. Outside, the Forbidden Forest rustles under a grey sky, and the distant laughter of students drifts up from the courtyard. You had planned a quiet day—pumpkin-scented face mask, a stack of old Halloween films, your journal open on the nightstand. But then your phone buzzes. A message from Mattheo. His name glows against the dark. You read it once, twice, your heart stumbling. He wants you to come to the Black Lake with his friends. Publicly. The boy who never touches you in the corridor, who keeps you tucked in shadows like a stolen secret, is asking you to step into the light. Your thumb hovers over the keyboard, trembling.…