Mind Over Matter || Mattheo Riddle

D I N N E R

"I'll sleep on the floor tonight, you'll take my bed." Riddle says to me when we get into his room once again.

"What?" I respond quickly, turning to look at him. "No, this is your home, I'll sleep on the floor."

He takes a step towards me again. "You're absolutely insane if you think I'm going to let a woman sleep on the hardwood floor of the Malfoy Manor." I feel like I suddenly can't breathe.

"So then I'll sleep somewhere else, because I'm sure as hell not taking your bed." I cross my arms, and I can see a bit of a smile appear on Riddle's lips.

"If you're going to be stubborn," he leans down to be closer to me. "Then I suppose we'll have to share the bed."

I feel my face heat. I'm blushing.

He notices, because I see the infamous Mattheo Riddle smirk make an appearance the second my cheeks go red.

"If that's what it takes to make you blush, I wonder what the things I've been doing at school did to you." He walks past me and into his bathroom. I feel a little bit like I'm going to pass out.

•••

Riddle pulls out my chair for me, then sits beside me.

He doesn't say anything when his uncle and father sit at the table, or when his mother does. I almost ask him who the rest of the men at the table are, but I can guess that much.

The Malfoy Manor is known to be the meeting place of all the Death Eaters, and the long sleeves on each of the men make it clear that's who they are.

After a few silent moments, with the Dark Lord's snake circling the table, Narcissa walks out holding trays of food.

Well, not technically holding, but bringing. Magic is weird.

When Narcissa sits across from me, her husband speaks. "Eat." It's all he says before people start taking things from the trays of food.

I don't.

Riddle doesn't either, I just see him stare at a point on the table. His face almost looks like he's in pain, I'm not sure why.

I move my hand under the table, so the back of my fingers are touching his thigh lightly. He looks at me and shoots me a strained smile.

"So, Julia, how is school? What house are you in?" I look at Narcissa when she says this. Her smile seems genuine, and much nicer than her sister's. Her hair is so well done. I wonder who her hair dresser is.

"School's great. I love Hogwarts." I glance at Riddle quickly before answering the second question. "I'm in Hufflepuff, actually."

I see Bellatrix's eyebrow raise when she hears what house I'm in.

Riddle really did a good job at picking someone his family would hate for this.

It looks like Narcissa was going to say something more, but Lucius speaks before she gets the chance. "Mattheo, you look... sickly." I hear a sharp inhale beside me.

"Now that you mention it, I agree." His father says.

Mattheo stands and takes my hand, and I quickly stand after him.

"You seem underweight," Bellatrix adds next, "you must eat well, sit back down."

"Oh, I can assure you," Riddle starts. He sounds almost... passive aggressive?

"I will be eating very well tonight. Isn't that right, Julia?"

I feel my face go completely red again when he looks at me. Why the fuck would he say that in front of his parents?

As Riddle practically drags me back to his room, I try furiously to blink away the embarrassment I'm feeling. I get that it was all for show, in front of his parents, but what he said definitely gave me butterflies.

I mean, it was all for show, right?

The second Riddle brings me into his room, he closes the door and immediately presses me against it, leaning down so that he's barely an inch away from my face.

"You're so fucking pretty, you know that?" I feel like he's avoiding bringing up what he said barely two minutes ago.

I feel his hand lightly touch my face, his thumb running over my bottom lip. His eyes travel down to my lips, which suddenly feel incredibly dry. "So fucking pretty."

He slowly leans closer to me, his lips lightly touching mine. This kiss is much different than our last.

His hand makes its way behind my head, gently holding me closer to him, and his second hand finds my hip.

He's so gentle this time. So tender. As if I'm going to disappear into thin air.