as the world caves in; mattheo riddle

one

I inhale deeply, feeling the familiar rush of smoke fill my lungs before exhaling slowly, spirals of smoke escaping my lips as I feel a warmth spread across my chest. 

"Yeah maybe he only got the good genes– if there even is any," Pansy adds, a playful tone in her voice. "No offense, Draco." 

"None taken. But seriously, he is a psychopath." Draco replies, a nonchalant shrug in his voice.

I roll my eyes slightly, passing the joint over to Blaise. Over the years I have learned to never take what Draco says too seriously, as he had a habit of overdramatize everything. And, my mother always taught me to never judge someone who wasn't there to defend themselves. 

 But something about the way Mattheo looked at me during the ceremony really gave me the chills. Like he was staring into my soul. Out of all people, why me?

After the joint had been passed around several times, I begin to feel the effects of the weed flooding my system. 

"You know, maybe it wasn't the smartest idea to do this on a school night." I say, laughing at some idiotic comment Theo made. 

"But it's our yearly tradition, Amora." Theo replies, his words slurring together slightly as he flops back against my bed. 

~~~

I startled awake to Pansy nudging my shoulder. 

"Amora, darling," she drawls in a far too positive tone for the morning. "It's time to get up." 

A groan escapes my lips, turning my body over in an attempt to escape her. To my dismay, she doesn't relent, now practically thrashing my shoulder to get me out of bed. 

"Merlin, I'm awake." I grumble, sitting up as I let out a tired yawn. 

She greets me with a warm smile as I shoot her a look. I was somewhat envious that someone could be this cheerful in the morning, as I was the complete opposite. 

I stretch out my limbs in a tired fashion, resisting the urge to curl back up under my sheets, finally finding the energy inside me to get ready for the morning. I do my typical routine– a quick wash up, brushing my teeth, and applying a bit of mascara and eyeliner to hide any leftover irritation from last night. 

I slip on my uniform, throwing my book bag over my shoulder before Pansy and I head out of the dorm, descending down the spiral stairs towards the Common Room. Upon reaching the bottom, we find Theo, Blaise, and Draco waiting for us. 

"Merlin you two take forever," Theo groans. "We almost missed breakfast." 

"Almost? We still have a half an hour, dipshit," Pansy replies with a small laugh.

"Thank god, I'm starving." I add. 

We head down to the Great hall for breakfast, each table lined with just about any breakfast food or beverage you could imagine. I fill my plate with scrambled eggs, fruits, a piece of toast, and of course, a large cup of coffee. 

By the time we had finished up, Theo and I ended up being late to our first period–potions– but only by a minute or so. Luckily, there was one last table where we could sit together, avoiding the dreaded split-up. 

"Sinclair, Nott, nice of you to join us for class today." Snape speaks up, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Don't worry too much about your current seats as I will be assigning partners." Professor Snape continues with careful precision. 

Groans of disappointment could be heard across the classroom, students muttering curses. Assigned partners was always such a gamble, and knowing my luck, this wouldn't end well. 

"Nott and Weasley, Potter and Brown, Zabini and Granger, Malfoy and Patil, Thomas and Goyle, Finnigan and Longbottom, Parkinson and Crabbe and Sinclair and Riddle." Snape announces.

The room goes silent for a moment as students begin shuffling to grab their things to take their seats by their new partners. Of course I had to get stuck with him. Of course. I didn't even know if this was really a bad thing, but him being Voldemort's son only meant trouble.

Reluctantly, I go find my place next to Mattheo, trying to ignore the growing knot forming in my stomach.

"Late on the first day," Mattheo leans over, whispering to me with a smirk. "very naughty." His words sent a chill down my spine, as if he knew exactly what to say to make me squirm. 

"Well I didn't exactly mean too." I mutter, trying to ease my discomfort. But something tells me he's the type to enjoy making people uncomfortable.

"You and your boyfriend?" he questions, his voice laced with curiosity– and something else that was rather undistinguishable.

I roll my eyes, shifting uncomfortably in his presence. 

"Theo isn't my boyfriend, just my best friend." I reply in a somewhat defensive tone. 

I had known Theo practically since birth, as our mothers were best friends as well. And while they had always hoped we would end up together, I couldn't imagine it for myself. 

"Sinclair and Riddle," Snape drawls, grasping my attention with his monotone voice. "That's detention for both you now stop talking in my class." 

"Wow detention on the first day," I whisper to Mattheo. "very naughty." 

He clenches his jaw, turning his attention back to Snape as I was satisfied with my small victory. It was hypocritical, considering I had also just received detention, but I couldn't help myself. 

Class had finally ended after what felt like hours of Snape going on about liquid luck. Just as Snape began to dismiss the class, I felt an unexpected hand rest against the inner side of my mid-thigh. My breath hitches in my throat, feeling my heart skip a beat. 

"You better watch what you say, witch." Mattheo whispers, his voice low and dark, sending a chill to roll down my spine. 

Before I had the chance to respond, he grabbed his bag in one fluid motion, quickly walking out of the classroom in a hurried manner, leaving me utterly confused and taken off guard. 

It's going to be a long year.

———

a/n: hi my loves, welcome to my story! this is the first i've been writing in like 6 years, so please join me in this journey. hope you enjoy :)