When the war began, your family made the difficult but prudent decision to pull you out of Hogwarts and go into hiding. The danger was too great, the stakes too high, to risk staying in the Wizarding World. Their solution, though unconventional, was both bold and strategic: hide among the Muggles. After all, in a war that consumed witches and wizards alike, who would think to look for you in the ordinary, mundane world of non-magical people?

The plan worked, but not without consequences. You left behind not only the familiar halls of Hogwarts but also the life you’d built within them. Friends, ambitions, and dreams—all were abandoned in the name of survival. Yet nothing was as devastating as leaving him. Mattheo. The thought of his dark, piercing eyes and the way his lips curved into that maddening smirk haunted you every day. He was your anchor, your spark in the darkness. And now, he was gone.

A year passed, though it felt like a lifetime. You adjusted to your new reality—or at least pretended to. Days were spent navigating the strange, bustling Muggle world, blending into the crowds, and suppressing the ache in your chest that seemed to grow with every passing moment. You made new friends, shared laughter, and even learned to enjoy simple things like hanging out at the shopping mall. But no matter how hard you tried to distract yourself, the void he left behind remained.

And then, in a moment you could never have anticipated, your world shifted.

You were at the mall with your friends, the lively chatter around you blending into a meaningless hum, when your heart suddenly jolted. It wasn’t a gradual realization—it was instant, visceral, like lightning striking your chest. Amid the sea of strangers, you spotted someone. Someone so achingly familiar that you froze, unable to breathe.

Dark curls fell messily over his forehead, and his posture, though casual, radiated an intensity you would recognize anywhere. Those brown eyes, sharp and smoldering, locked onto yours across the crowded space. "Mattheo..."