Whispers in the Shadows || Slytherin Boys

the fire we crave

The moment his words left his lips -
"Go on. Check it out"
- I knew I should’ve walked away.

Everything inside me screamed that I was stepping into something dangerous, something I couldn’t predict. Yet, as I met Draco’s amused gaze, a knot of anticipation twisted in my stomach. He wasn’t just daring me; he was testing me. And, for reasons I couldn’t explain, I wanted to pass.

I shot one last glance back at Felix, still lingering by the lake’s edge, oblivious to the turmoil rolling through me.

Rationality clung to me like a lifeline, urging me to return to Felix’s safe, steady company. But the pull of Draco - his smug confidence and the thrill he stirred in me - was overwhelming.

There was something intoxicating about the way he looked at me, like he knew every thought racing through my mind.

Screw rationality. Screw caution. I wasn’t thinking straight, and maybe that was the problem. Maybe the alcohol had a weird effect on me, loosening the grip of reason and amplifying the tension. Either way, I was walking toward the tree line, heart hammering, pulse roaring in my ears.
This is so stupid, I thought, my inner voice full of reproach. This isn’t me.

And yet... it felt so much like me. The reckless part. The part I buried deep down, afraid to let her out. But she was surfacing now, as I stepped away from the bonfire’s glow and into the shadows, the cool night air wrapping around me like a second skin.

Draco’s figure grew smaller behind me, and I found myself moving deeper into the trees. For a few moments, the world seemed to still around me - the party fading into the background, the night growing quieter, more intimate. I didn’t know where I was going, or what Draco had meant by his challenge, but I kept moving, driven by a strange mix of curiosity and desire.

Then I saw him.

Leaning against a tree just ahead, Mattheo Riddle stood, half-hidden in the darkness, the glow of his cigarette lighting up the sharp angles of his face.

His eyes were on me, and the way they roamed over my body - slow, deliberate - sent a shiver down my spine. He didn’t move, didn’t speak, just watched me with a look that was almost predatory. Like he had been waiting for me all along.

I stopped, my heart racing, unsure of what to do. I had barely taken him in, and yet his presence felt like a gravitational force pulling me closer.

His dark, tousled hair, the lazy way he exhaled a cloud of smoke, the way his lips curved into a smirk that made my stomach flip - it was all so unnervingly magnetic.

“Lost, Catalina?” His voice was low, velvety, dripping with amusement.

I swallowed hard, caught off guard by how much he rattled me. Mattheo wasn’t like Draco. He wasn’t loud or attention-seeking. He was quieter, darker, more dangerous in the way he held himself, like he knew things no one else did.

“No,” I managed, though the word felt too small for the way my pulse quickened under his gaze. “Just... thinking.”

He chuckled, the sound deep and rough, sending a thrill through me.

“Thinking, huh? I didn’t take you for the type to overthink things... in the woods.” He stepped closer, his eyes never leaving mine, and the space between us seemed to shrink, the air thickening with unspoken tension. “You look... different tonight.”

His gaze dropped, sweeping over the short skirt and tight top I had chosen for the evening. It wasn’t overly revealing, but under Mattheo’s intense stare, I suddenly felt exposed.

Vulnerable. But not in a way that made me want to run.

“Different how?” I asked, though I already knew the answer.