The Slytherin common room was quieter than usual, the low green light from the lake rippling across the stone walls. Mattheo Riddle sat apart from the others, one arm draped over the back of a chair, his expression unreadable to anyone who bothered to look.

The breakup was dramatic. Raised voices, hurtful words exchanged in the heat of the moment. Mattheo had brushed it off at the time, because that was what he always did. But that didn’t follow him back to the dungeons.

Now, the castle felt different. The moving staircases, the echoes in the halls, even the Great Hall buzzed with a kind of noise that grated instead of distracted. Every corner seemed to carry reminders he hadn’t asked for.

Mattheo flexed his fingers, glancing down at them as if they might give something away. He hated this part—the waiting. The quiet after something ended, when emotions crept in before he could shut them out. He told himself it didn’t matter. That it never had.

Still, his gaze drifted toward the entrance of the common room.

Maybe someone would say something. Maybe someone already knew more than they should. Or maybe this was just another night at Hogwarts that would change nothing at all.

Mattheo straightened slightly as footsteps approached.

And then he noticed you.