War, Love, and Riddle //Mattheo Riddle x OC

Chapter Eight - Ghosties For Life

Mattheo Riddle had never been the kind of boy to let anyone close. Girls had come and gone, fleeting sparks, quick distractions, never permanence. He didn't do girlfriends. Not until Emma Potter walked into his life like a storm he hadn't seen coming. From that moment on, everything changed.

She unsettled him in ways he couldn't explain. He wasn't used to needing anyone, but with Emma, he felt as though he couldn't breathe unless she was within reach. The obsession terrified him, because beneath his smirk and swagger lived truths he had buried so deeply they rotted in the dark. Secrets his father had forged in him, secrets that would tear her away the second she discovered them. Loving Emma was as dangerous as it was inevitable, and Mattheo had never been more afraid in his life...... afraid of losing her, of destroying her, of being his father's son.

Emma was fighting her own battles. At Beauxbatons, her friends had tried to shield her from the heavy pull of grief and the black tide that threatened to consume her but in the end, they hadn't been enough. She had been left to drown alone in her own shadows. But here at Hogwarts it was different. Her new friends did not let her slip beneath the surface. They anchored her with laughter, with mischief, with relentless presence. For the first time, Emma wondered if this was what family felt like: people who refused to leave. And when the dark pressed closest, it was always Mattheo, his fire, his sharp light, that broke through the black.

She had agreed to Pansy's Halloween party, though each passing day made her chest tighter with unease. She wanted to be brave, but her nerves coiled tighter with every hour. Pansy had all but dragged her into planning, insisting Emma's costume would kill him.

"He's going to be drooling when he sees you," Pansy declared, watching Emma stitch the final line of thread with a grin that was equal parts wicked and proud.

Emma's eyes stayed on her sewing, teeth worrying her bottom lip. "You don't think it's too much?"

Pansy scoffed, flicking her hair back. "Too much? No, darling, it's perfect. It's sexy. Mattheo will lose his bloody mind. Honestly, you'd better hope he doesn't catch anyone else staring."

Emma blinked up, startled. "Matty wouldn't....."

"Wouldn't he?" Pansy cut her off smoothly. "He broke Cormac's nose at Slughorn's dinner. Because of the way he was looking at you." She said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world, inspecting her nails as if debating whether to paint them white to match her own costume.

Emma's hands froze on the fabric. "What? How did I not know this?"

"You've been a little distracted under a certain bad boy," Pansy teased, smirking.

Color rose furiously in Emma's cheeks. "We haven't—I mean, I've never....." She stumbled over her words, mortified.

Pansy's expression softened instantly. She set aside her teasing, her voice dropping into something steadier, kinder. "Em. I'm not judging. I might poke fun, but you know that's all it is. You're my best friend. I love you. Always."

Emma's chest loosened with relief. She smiled faintly, but her voice was quiet when she admitted, "I just... worry I won't live up to the fantasy."

Pansy tilted her head, watching her closely. "You really don't see it, do you?"

Emma's brow furrowed. "See what?"

"You are his fantasy." Pansy's smile curved, slow and catlike. "There is nothing you could do that would ever disappoint him. He's completely gone for you, Em. I've known Mattheo my whole life, and I've never...... never, seen him like this. You are the air he breathes. He's utterly whipped."