He's No Good || Mattheo Riddle

~ THREE ~

"Hey dove." I hear a masculine voice coming from behind me to the right. He'd come from the same way I'd fled. I quickly wiped my damp cheeks and peered in the direction the words had come from.

"Dove?" I ask when I identify the Slytherin man making his way down the hill towards me. His hands were concealed comfortably in the pockets of his black pants. It was not Draco. Not in the slightest.

"Yeah." He shrugs. "I call it as I see it." His comment makes me grin a bit but I make sure it's nothing noticeable.

"Hi, Mattheo." I'd never paid much attention to this man. Not in class, not on my way through the slytherin corridor, not hardly ever. We'd never had a conversation before. Why is he out here with me now?

"I come bearing gifts." He says with a smile and finally reaches my spot on the lake front. He squats down next to me and presents me with my own wand. My eyes light up wide.

"Where did you find this?" I exclaim and retrieve my item from his hand.

"Draco had it. He figured he shouldn't be the one to give it to you."

"Well he figured right, for once." The jab at Draco wasn't necessary but, I can't lie, it felt great. I set my wand down beside my thigh. That's one less thing I have to worry about now.

"I saw what happened." Mattheo started. "Both in the Slytherin common area and at the great hall."

"Yeah? Quite the drama, huh?" I expected some dull remark from him but he surprised me.

"I think Draco's an idiot."

"Aren't you two friends?"

"Sort of." He shrugs. "We're more just friendly. I wouldn't consider us friends necessarily. We get along." A warm breeze gusts from over the lake and combed itself through his curly brown hair. The sun illuminated his brown eyes. I noticed he wasn't making eye contact with me. He's avoiding my gaze.

Mattheo takes out a pack of cigarettes and tries to light one. The breeze is not his friend. The flame continuously extinguishes in a second.

"Here, let me help." I offer my hand as a shield against the wind. He sparks the lighter once more and this time it sticks. I watch him suck in a drag, hold it deep in his lungs, and exhale the smoke.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

"Would you like a hit?"

"Sure." I take the cigarette in my fingers and share it. I haven't had a nicotine buzz since coming to Hogwarts. "I wasn't aware you smoke."

"I didn't peg you as the type, either."

"Oh, I'm not. I only smoke every once in a while."

"You aren't addicted?"

"No, are you?" He lifts the carton of Marlboros and shrugs.

"What do you think?" We converse for a time longer about nothing in particular. Mattheo takes my mind off of everything that has happened today. All the drama, embarassment, betrayal. He completely clears my mind of all the emotions I was feeling prior to him following me out to Black Lake.

We finished the cigarette between the two of us and Mattheo checks his watch.

"We have ten minutes before our next class." He sighs. "I'm enjoying this view. How about you?"

"It's calmed me down, but so did you. Thank you for helping me feel less alone."

"Of course." He grins, feeling accomplished with himself. I follow him with my eyes as he stands from his spot beside me in the sand. "Don't be late to class. I'll know."