D I L E M M A x Mattheo Riddle

trophy wife

Vivienne Leclair

As the first rays of sunlight peeked through the curtains of my bedroom, my eyes fluttered open. I turn over to say good morning to Briar, but I'm only met with a cold, empty space on the left side of my bed. I blinked away the remnants of sleep with a yawn and a contented sigh. I sit up and slide on my slippers.

The smell of maple syrup hits my senses as I walk down the stairs. I see Briar flipping pancakes as my mother laughs at him from the kitchen island, sipping on coffee from her mug. She allows Briar to spend the night with me, but my dad doesn't. So we don't tell him whenever Briars over. He never notices anyways.

"You didn't wake me up?" I say, confused. I'm also a little bit addled that my mother and boyfriend are chatting it up like old friends. They have an... unusual relationship. It's a little unsettling if you ask me, but who am I to judge?

"You were sleeping so peacefully, I didn't want to disturb you," He says. My mother presses her lips together and avoids eye contact with me, sipping on her mug.

"Okay..." I walk over to the stove and serve myself pancakes.

"Big day today, huh? First day back!" My mum exclaims. "Are you excited?"

The only thing I'm excited for is seeing my best friend Alice. I haven't seen her since last month when she came to Greece with my family and I for vacation.

"I've done this six times before mum. It doesn't have the same thrill it did six years ago," I explain.

"I don't know, I'm kind of excited," Briar chimes in. He's probably going to say he's excited for Quidditch, or the pub in Hogsmeade...

"I heard Mattheo Riddle is coming back," He says. My heart stops for a moment and I freeze.

Mattheo Riddle. Voldemorts son.

Mattheo's the same age as Briar and I. They let him attend Hogwarts starting his fourth year because he claimed he has no connection to his father anymore, and therefore is not a threat to the school.

I don't believe that. His very best friends are the children of the most loyal followers of the Dark Lord, called Deatheaters. And there's no way all of them have cut ties with their affiliated families too, so I'm almost positive there's something fishy going on with them.

He disappeared from Hogwarts after Christmas break last year, and no one knows why.

"That's probably just a rumor though, right? I mean there's no way Dumbledore would let him back into the school after he mysteriously disappeared," I say.

"That's just what I've been hearing," Briar shrugs, taking a bite of his pancakes.

"Well I'm sure the Order would put a stop to anything mischievous going on with Mattheo and his father, so enough speculation. Go get ready!" My mum says, pulling my chair out to signal me to go upstairs.

"Okay. Bye babe, I'll see you at the train station." I kiss Briar on the cheek and head upstairs.

Entering my room, I take a deep breath. The white walls of this room suffocate me, even in the open sunlight. This room represents the person my mother wants me to be. Tidy, organized... not a spec of dust in sight. No way to slip through the cracks.

Vinyl records of my favorite bands are hidden in baskets under my bed, instead of being hung on the wall like I would like them to be.

This is courtesy of my mother, of course. She claims the music I listen to is weird and shouldn't be displayed where people can see it.