Spirals || Mattheo Riddle

꩜ Chapter 4 ꩜

Theo and Blaise crouched down next to me as I gasped to fill my lungs with much-needed air.

That motherfucker.

My throat felt bruised and my head still spun but I felt slight glee as the image of his shaking hands and contorted face came to mind. My God he was easy to wind up.

His triggers sat so openly on the surface of him, just waiting to be attacked. As complex as he may be, working him up was a piece of cake. I almost smiled thinking about it.

There was something satisfying about seeing the darker side of people, knowing what their limits were and knowing how to break them. It could be as simple as insulting their ego, but seeing that raw anger, well, that was something else.

My fathers blood status was a low blow, but I suppose fighting dirty was to be expected of such a repulsive person. There was a reason my Dad worked hard, it wasn't easy to have power as muggle-born.

"Merlin, are you okay?" Theo asked, crouching next to me. His hand sat on my shoulder, waiting to offer support in case I fell back or something.

I reached a hand up to touch the back of my head, pulling it back to find it clear of blood. "I'm fine, Theo. I promise." His face instantly relaxed a little as he watched me shake my head a little and readjust my tie. The concern in his expression was real and comforting.

"What the fuck were you thinking!? He could have fucking killed you!" Draco was nearly frothing at the mouth, his chest heaving and his hands shaking.

"That's sweet that you're worried about me Malfoy, but I'm a big girl. I can handle myself." I rolled my eyes, taking Theo's outstretched hand and hauling myself up.

"You're lucky to still be fucking alive Holt," he sneered at me. If I had any energy left I would have thrown something at him.

I turned back to Blaise, who was inspecting me like an overprotective parent. "Does your head hurt?"

"A little, but I'm sure it's okay. I'll go to the infirmary if I get dizzy or pass out." The ache in the back of my head thumped in time with my heartbeat, getting slower as the adrenaline emptied from my system. Blaise was still looking at me nervously and I had to reassure him that I was fine. What was not fine was Riddle mentioning my mother like that. My mother, a pureblood, whose name was removed from most of the sacred twenty-eights vocabulary after she birthed me.

Very few things could get to me like her, and she was privileged information anyway. What made this bastard think he could fuck with my head like that. How does he even know? There was a fine line that shouldn't be crossed with me, and that bastard just fucking crossed it.

No longer hungry and trying to conceal my slowly growing frustration, I told the boys that I was leaving early for class and made my way out of the Great Hall.

...

The Forbidden Forest stood tall and mildly terrifying in front of me as I walked slowly to the edge, where Care of Magical Creatures was supposed to take place. I was early, leaving me to wander around the tree line, trying to see past the thickness of the trees that obscured the contents of the forest from my sight. The birds didn't chirp and twigs snapped ominously beneath my feet, too loud in the empty silence that the forest emitted during the day.

"You part of me' class are ya?"

I jumped and suppressed a shriek. Behind me stood one of the tallest men I had ever seen. His hair was longer than mine and he wore large ragged clothing. After a moment it clicked, having had Pansy point out all the teachers at dinner the night prior.