echos of fate

1•experiments and chemistry

     being a woman is tiring. most women can relate. ive never dated a man, or really had male friends and i don't plan to for a long, long, time. sometimes when im walking somewhere i like to not move out of the way when i man is going to walk into me; it's a little experiment i tend to do.
     one of the times i did this "experiment" it changed my life. forever.
     you might want details so, let me set the scene.
     it's the middle of december and im walking in hogsmeade with my (not identical ((THANK GOD))) twin brother, draco malfoy. he's the only man i could really tolerate, i guess. we just got back from dogweed and deathcap because i wanted a new plant for my dorm, preferably one that wouldn't die within a few weeks; i have one ordered and sent to hogwarts.
     while we walk we tend to bicker about things that are really irrelevant to anything that has to do with whatever is going on.
     "it wasn't even my fault that we got the 15 house points taken away! potter is the one who keeps being a stupid little-" draco starts.
     "oh, don't even you idiot. you know it was your fault. something we can agree on is that we don't like him, but it doesn't mean every time you falter it has to automatically be his fault." i retort.
     he doesn't have much to say after that. i look ahead and give a smug smile to myself proud that i won yet another fight between my brother. then, i spot someone walking our direction.
     mattheo riddle. if there's anyone i loathe more than "the chosen one" himself, it's him. though, ive never actually spoken to him before. he's always getting in fights and he just seems like the only thing he has going for him is a whole lot of toxic masculinity. plus, he's friends with my brother so that means i have to hate him regardless.
     perfect... i think. what an amazing time to try out my favorite "experiment". i act like i don't see him coming and let him continue to walk in my direction, right in front of me. i start to look in other directions and make small talk with draco, hoping, praying, he won't move so then ill truly have a reason to not like him.
     miraculously enough, he actually doesn't move. which also means we slam into each other's paths. you know he is a lot bigger and more muscular than he looks. i fell back a couple inches right into the snow filled path. i look up a little embarrassed; i didn't mean to hit him that hard.
     mattheo makes eye contact with me. i can't look away. why did i never notice how gorgeous his eyes are? bloody hell. absolutely not. snap out of it. i think.
     i hear draco laughing but im so focused on mattheo it sounds like it's only echoes. mattheo smiles slightly and reaches a hand down to help me up. i hear draco say "oh, look, it's blaise! hey, mate, wait up!" he leaves.
     we're alone. "mattheo", he pauses, "um, my name i mean. its mattheo." he cocks his head to the side. "i don't think we've ever properly met."
     we lock eyes again. even though im sitting in a pile of snow i start to get hot. he was also absolutely gorgeous. how did i never notice that? he was wearing black tuxedo pants, a tight-ish black puffer jacket that was unzipped, a white long sleeve button up, and a black tie that was slightly undone. he always had a slight mischievous smirk on his face, he had a perfect jaw line, black curly hair, handsome amber-brown eyes, and a horizontal scar across his nose bridge from the time he got in a fight with the weasley twins.
     im still looking into his eyes. i grab his hand and he pulls me up. he's a lot stronger than i thought because i fly upwards and run into his chest. breathing heavily we stand, chest to chest. i can tell my face is bright red.
     "my name is darcy. darcy malfoy."
     i pull away and look into his eyes.
     maybe this man was different from the rest.