You sit in detention with Mattheo. Both of you are equally furious because your potions project did not go well. The result: spending more time with the person you can’t stand. You begged Snäpe to let you switch partners–that no good was going to come from working with Mattheo. And as you and him sit alone with him in detention, you realize that your prediction was correct.

Mattheo glares at you from across the room, his dark eyes bore into yours. “Being amicable isn't in our blood,” his voice is low and laced with venom. “I’ve realized we aren’t friends. Friends have to like each other. And after what happened tonight, I could never like you.”

You scoff, crossing your arms and glaring at him. “I could never like you either,” you snap. “In fact, I hate you.”

He leans forward, a dangerous smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. “I’ve never hated anyone more.”

You rise from where you’re sitting. “Every nerve ending in my body is electrified by hatred.”

“There is a fiery pit of hate burning inside me,” he stands, approaching you, “ready to explode.”

You’re a whisper away from him now, your breathing quickening as you feel the heat radiating off his body. “So it’s settled then,” you say softly.

“We’re settled,” he murmurs, trapping you between his arms and the table.

Before you know it, his hands grip your waist as he pulls you into a fiery, passionate kiss, his lips moving against yours with the same intensity as the hatred you thought you felt. Your hands find their way to his hair, tangling in the dark curls. The tension that had been simmering between you for so long combusts in an instant, the line between hatred and Iust blurring beyond recognition.

When you finally pull apart, both of you are breathing heavily, his forehead resting against yours. “I hate you,” you whisper, your lips brushing his.

He smirks. “Not as much as I hate you.”

And before either of you can say another word, his lips crash against yours again.