When Genevieve Hart, the pureblood Hufflepuff daughter of notorious Death Eaters, first meets Mattheo Riddle, the brooding and complex son of the Dark Lord, she is instantly drawn to him. Despite the stark contrast in their personalities-her kind-he...
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"WHERE ARE YOU SNEAKING OFF TO?"
Mattheo froze, caught halfway through fixing his hair in the mirror, Esmie's voice startling him. He looked over to the bathroom door, where she stood, arms crossed and one eyebrow quirked in suspicion. A smirk played at the corner of her mouth, but her eyes gave away a hint of something deeper — curiosity. It was the look she always had when she suspected he was up to something. She knew him too well for his own good.
"Out," he mumbled, his gaze shifting back to mirror as he smoothed out his hair one last time. He tried to sound casual, uninterested, but he could already feel the telltale warmth creeping up his neck. Why did she always have to notice the smallest details?
"Out where?" Esmie's tone softened a little, her curiosity growing as she stepped further into the bathroom, "You've been fussing over your hair for the last ten minutes, and I know you don't do that unless it's for someone. So ... who is she?"
Mattheo turned around, attempting a nonchalant shrug, "What are you on about, Esmie? I'm just going for a walk."
"With a girl, right?" She teased. Her voice was lighthearted, but he saw something else beneath the humour — a glimmer of something he couldn't name but that always managed to unsettle him. It left him feeling exposed.
He stared at her, unsure of how she managed to unearth the thoughts he worked so hard to bury. Esmie was his best friend; they'd been close since first year, inseparable. They'd laughed together, gotten each other out of trouble, and faced every challenge Hogwarts threw at them side by side. She knew him better than anyone. That was why this was so hard — because the more time he spent with her, the more he had to fight back against feelings that had been growing, hidden in his chests for years.
And it was was even to accept those feelings when he knew she had her sights set elsewhere. It wasn't difficult to see how her eyes brightened whenever Enzo walked into a room, or how her laugh rang out a little more easily when he was near. She probably didn't even realise it herself, but Mattheo did. Every lingering glance, every brightened smile she offered Enzo was a reminder that he needed to push his feelings down, no matter how fiercely they surfaced.
