Mattheo Riddle - Imagines/OneShot

A Love Quiet & True

Word Count: 937

Song Inpso: Wondering Why - The Red Clay Strays

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The air in the corridors of Hogwarts was thick with the hum of magic, but for Mattheo Riddle, the hum was a mere whisper compared to the sight of Y/N walking ahead of him. Their laughter echoed faintly, a sound he found himself lingering on far longer than he should.

They weren't friends. Not yet. Just two students crossing paths in the castle's labyrinth of hallways. But the way Y/N's hair caught the light, the way she carried herself, it stirred something in Mattheo he couldn't explain.

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The first time I saw her, she wasn't doing anything extraordinary. Just standing there in the corridor, balancing a pile of books in her arms, her brow furrowed as if she carried the weight of the world. I didn't know her name then, but I knew she wasn't like anyone I'd ever met.

Y/N had this way about her-an unspoken defiance in her stance, a quiet grace in her movements. She wasn't loud or boastful like the others in her house. Gryffindors were supposed to be bold and brash, but she was something different. Her bravery was quieter, more resolute, and it fascinated me.

I brushed past her that day, barely sparing her a glance, but even then, I felt something shift.

The weeks that followed were filled with fleeting moments. I'd see her in the library, her quill dancing across the parchment as she bit her lip in concentration. In the Great Hall, she'd laugh at something her friends said, and the sound would carry, unbidden, to me.

She noticed me too, I think. At first, it was nothing more than a flicker of her gaze in my direction. But then her glances lingered, and sometimes, she'd even smile-a small, hesitant curve of her lips that felt like it was meant only for me.

I began to wonder what her voice sounded like when she spoke directly to someone, what her laugh would sound like if I were to be the one to draw it out.

It wasn't until a chilly November evening, when I found her standing alone by the telescopes of the Astronomy Tower, looking up into the stars with a certain intensity but calmness that seemed welcoming, I finally spoke to her.

"Bit cold to be out here, isn't it?" I asked, leaning casually against the stone wall.

She turned around, startled, but her expression softened when she saw me. "And yet, here you are too."

I chuckled, walking to her side to gaze upon the view that held before me. "Fair point."

We didn't say much that night, but it didn't matter. The silence was comfortable, the kind of quiet that feels less like an absence and more like a presence.