War, Love, and Riddle //Mattheo Riddle x OC

Chapter Twenty Six - Severus Snape

The appearance of Crabbe and Goyle seemed to change the atmosphere of the room immediately. One moment Emma had been searching through mountains of forgotten objects, surrounded by dust and shadows and centuries of abandoned treasures. The next, every instinct in her body was focused on the two boys standing across from them with raised wands and expressions she barely recognized.

Looking at them, Emma found herself thinking about Draco, about Theo, about Blaise, Pansy, and Enzo. All of them had been raised beneath the same pureblood expectations. All of them had grown up hearing the same rhetoric, attending the same dinners, listening to the same people praise Voldemort's ideals. Yet somewhere along the way they had made different choices.

Crabbe and Goyle hadn't.

The realization sat heavily in her chest.

Because they weren't looking at Harry and Emma the way former classmates should.

They were looking at them like prizes.

Like rewards.

Like two people whose lives had already been traded for favor with the Dark Lord.

"The Dark Lord's going to be pleased," Crabbe said, breaking the silence that had settled between them. His voice echoed slightly through the endless room, bouncing off mountains of forgotten furniture and broken cabinets. "Both Potter twins delivered right to him. Didn't even have to leave the castle."

Emma almost laughed.

The confidence would have been amusing if it weren't so pathetic.

"You couldn't deliver a package to the Owlery without getting lost," she replied, folding her arms across her chest. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves."

Harry made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a laugh before disguising it as a cough. Even Luna's lips twitched slightly, though her attention remained divided between the confrontation and the endless rows of objects surrounding them.

Crabbe's expression darkened immediately.

Emma wasn't surprised.

Bullies rarely enjoyed becoming the joke.

"What happened to you, Potter?" he sneered, his gaze moving over her in a way that instantly made Mattheo shift closer. "You don't look nearly as terrifying as everyone says."

Emma felt the subtle movement beside her before she fully registered it. Mattheo hadn't stepped directly in front of her. He hadn't drawn attention to himself. Yet somehow he had moved just enough that part of her disappeared behind his shoulder. The gesture was so instinctive she doubted he even realized he had done it.

Unfortunately, Crabbe noticed.

The grin that spread across his face made Emma's stomach twist.

"Oh, I see."

Mattheo's fingers tightened slightly around his wand.

The reaction was small enough that most people wouldn't have noticed it.

Emma did.

She always did.

"What are you looking at, Crabbe?" Mattheo asked quietly.

The calmness in his voice was infinitely more threatening than shouting would have been.

Crabbe, however, was too stupid to recognize the warning.

His attention remained fixed on Emma.

"Nothing." He shrugged. "Just expected more. The way everyone talks about her, you'd think she'd actually be dangerous."