A heart beneath the mark

26. Part

The dungeon corridors always had a strange chill, but that night it bit deeper than usual. My arms were full of Transfiguration books, Callum walking at my side, his stride relaxed but purposeful. We'd spent hours buried in the library, our quills scratching across parchment until the candles burned low.
It should have been an ordinary walk back to Ravenclaw Tower. Just another evening at Hogwarts.
But the further we went, the heavier the silence became.

Something wasn't right.
The torches sputtered weakly against damp stone, shadows pooling in the corners. I found myself glancing behind us more than once, my heartbeat uneven. Callum noticed.
"You alright?" he asked quietly, his green eyes flicking toward me.
"I don't know," I admitted. "It feels... off."
And then I heard it.
The sound of footsteps—slow, deliberate. Too heavy to be an echo of our own.
I froze. Callum shifted slightly in front of me, his shoulders squaring. The footsteps grew louder, until three tall shapes slid out of the shadows ahead.

Avery. Mulciber. Travers.
Every instinct in me screamed danger.
"Well, if it isn't Bennett," Avery drawled, his pale eyes glinting cruelly. "And Ashbridge, playing knight in shining armor again."
Mulciber gave a low laugh. "Perfect timing. We were getting bored."
Travers' wand was already in his hand, twirling between his fingers. "Let's see if Ravenclaws are as clever when they're cornered."
I tightened my grip on my own wand, my stomach dropping.
"Leave her alone," Callum said, stepping forward. His voice was steady, though I saw the tension in his jaw.
"Oh, protective, are we?" Mulciber sneered. "That's cute."
And then, without warning, Travers flicked his wand.
"Expulso!"
The spell blasted toward us in a streak of blue light. Callum shoved me hard to the side. The wall where I'd been standing exploded, shards of stone raining across the floor. The boom echoed through the corridor, and dust filled my lungs.
I coughed, my wand raised, but before I could react again, another voice cut through the smoke.

"Enough."
My head snapped up.
At the far end of the corridor, leaning against the wall like he'd been there all along, was Mattheo Riddle.
For a moment, the world stopped.
He wasn't rushing in like a savior, wasn't drawing attention to himself. He was just... there. Watching. Dark eyes sharp, jaw tense, like the chaos unfolding before him was equal parts amusing and irritating.
Avery's grin widened. "Riddle," he called. "Perfect. Want to join in? Let's see what happens when Bennett isn't protected."
My blood ran cold. They were testing him. They wanted him to prove his loyalty, to them, to the whispers of the Dark Lord's son.

Mattheo's gaze flicked over Callum—still in front of me, still shielding me—then landed on me. His eyes lingered, and for a second I swore the air between us tightened, like some invisible thread had pulled taut.
He didn't move.
Mulciber laughed harshly. "What's wrong, Riddle? Going soft?"
Mattheo's wand was in his hand in an instant, faster than I could blink. He stepped forward, his voice low and cutting.
"I said enough."
The corridor went deadly still.
Travers hesitated, his smirk faltering. "You can't be serious—"
But then Mattheo's wand slashed through the air, and a spark of raw magic snapped from the tip, scorching the stones inches from Avery's feet. The force of it reverberated through the floor, a warning shot more powerful than any curse I'd ever seen.
"Try me," Mattheo murmured.

The threat hung heavy in the air.
For the first time, the three Slytherins looked uncertain. They exchanged glances, then slowly backed away, their swagger crumbling.
"This isn't over," Avery spat, though his voice cracked slightly.
"Get lost," Mattheo growled.
And just like that, they were gone—retreating into the darkness, their footsteps echoing until the corridor fell silent again.
I stood frozen, my wand still raised, my whole body trembling.
Callum let out a shaky breath, lowering his own wand. He turned to me immediately. "Hannah, are you hurt?"
I shook my head, though my heart was still hammering in my chest. "I—I'm fine. You—thank you."
He gave me a small, reassuring smile. "That's what I'm here for." His hand brushed against mine, steady and grounding, pulling me back to myself.
But my eyes weren't on him.

They were on Mattheo.

He stood a few feet away, wand still in his hand, chest rising and falling like he was holding something back. His expression was unreadable—cold, detached, but his eyes... his eyes burned.
Callum noticed him too, his voice sharp. "Why were you here, Riddle?"
Mattheo's lips curved, though it wasn't a smile. "Enjoying the entertainment."
"That wasn't entertainment!" Callum snapped. "She could have been—"
"She wasn't," Mattheo cut in, his tone clipped. His eyes stayed locked on mine. "Because of me."
Heat rushed to my face. My throat tightened, though I couldn't find words.
Callum bristled, stepping closer. "You think that makes you some kind of hero?"
Mattheo ignored him completely. He walked past, brushing dangerously close to me. As he leaned down, his breath ghosted against my ear.
"Don't fool yourself, Bennett," he murmured, low enough that only I could hear. "Ashbridge won't always be there to save you. He doesn't know the half of it."
Then he was gone, disappearing into the shadows like he'd never been there.
I stood rooted to the spot, heart pounding, Callum's steady presence on one side and Mattheo's storm lingering on the other.

And no matter how much I wanted to feel safe, I couldn't shake the truth:
Even when he was gone, Mattheo Riddle's presence clung to me like smoke I couldn't escape.