mattheo riddle had hit his rock bottom, and you knew it.

when he had reached such low self-esteem, you couldn't pinpoint, but it was sometime between the lines of his decision to join the death eaters and you ending your ties with him. it wasn't complicated — it shouldn't have been, but, per usual, mattheo had made it that way. after all, your morals did not match his, but he had still begged for you to stay.

and to no one's surprise, after losing you, his one motivation and will to be good, mattheo had spiraled downward and downward. he couldn't remember the last time he'd shown up to charms class or gotten more than five hours of sleep, and he had fallen into a routine: wake up, half-ass his way to class, find a party in hogsmeade or the slytherin common room, get wasted and take a girl to bed. wake up, half-ass, repeat.

now, even theodore, his best friend, who put up with and at times encouraged mattheo's antics, knew there would be no mattheo left if he continued. and because desperate times called for desperate measures, he had called for you, who reluctantly agreed. he gave you clear instructions: get in, grab the boy, get out. it was almost as if it were a heist movie, except the precious gem was mattheo.

the moment theo had walked you into the slytherin common room on a saturday night, you were surrounded by a crowd of students, from third years to seventh years. the music throbbed in the back of your head.

as you pushed your way through the crowd, you found mattheo sprawled across a couch, a whiskey bottle in hand and at least two girls so close next to him they were practically on his lap.

mattheo couldn't have been enjoying himself more. well, he didn't know — at this point, everything felt the same. but he knew he had his arms around a few nameless girls tonight, one of which he would see later, and he couldn't have been more content. until he looked up to find you. what a turn this night has taken.

"hey, baby," he smirked with a slur in his voice.