War, Love, and Riddle //Matteo Riddle x OC

Chapter Ten - He's Off Doing Scary Boyfriend Things

Matteo really liked Professor Lupin, he was one of the few professors at Hogwarts that didn't treat him with disdain. He did however get great pleasure out of knowing how agitated the professors would be knowing what an exceptionally gifted wizard Matteo Riddle is.

Professor Burbage was furious when he became head boy in sixth year. Matteo was the first in Hogwarts history as the youngest head boy. Burbage even spoke with Dumbledore trying to dispute the choice. Luckily for Matteo he got to continue to be Head boy and was doing exceedingly well in her class.

His arms were wrapped around Emma's waist as they stood in Lupin's class listening to Enzo talk about crashing the Gryffindor party later this week. The wardrobe was back in it's place as some students looked nervous. Non-verbal casting was a difficult spell for most adults, Matteo rather enjoyed being given a challenge. He was vividly impressed by Emma when she was able to cast it. The only thoughts in his mind were how incredible she was, and how lucky he was to date her.

He tried to keep his nerves at bay, there wasn't much that made him feel out of control. Boggarts were one of them, during third year when they had to learn the Riddikulus charm, the boggart changed into his father. Matteo could remember the embarrassment he felt when everyone had to see his greatest fear was his father. He wasn't ready for Emma to see his fear of him too. He talked about how much he hated him, vaguely touched on the abuse he has endured growing up. But this just felt different.

Luckily he was the last one for the day, Emma gave him a wink before he took his place in front of Draco's zebra looking snake. He takes a deep breath waiting for his father to appear, but he didn't. The color in his face drained when he looked into those cloudy green eyes. His heart fucking sank as he stood there looking at Emma dead. He knew this wasn't real, knew that she was perfectly alive standing right behind him.

But he couldn't look away, he couldn't move his chest was tightening as he watched her lifeless corpus start walking towards him. He took a step back, tears were threating to spill. Lupin steps up his wand at the ready but Matteo shook his head. "They can't see me weak" he whispers as Lupin nods his head dropping his wand.

Matteo takes a deep breath, as he does he quiets his mind, no emotions, nothing. He thinks of the spell in his mind, nothing else. It was like a light burst from his mind when he chanted Riddikulus in his thoughts. He watches as Emma's dead body transforms into a white sheet ghost dancing around the room. He slowly he smiles at the reminder of her dancing in their common room with their friends as a ghost.

"Excellent Matteo.....It looks like the majority of you have a lot of work to do. I encourage you to try simple spells from first year and practice your non-verbal spellcasting. Go on, get out of here" he teases them shooing everyone out of the class.

Emma had come up to Matteo as he stood frozen in place looking at the wardrobe. She was rubbing his arm telling him everything was okay but he couldn't get those cloudy green eyes out of his mind. Lupin gives her a small reassuring smile.

"Emma why don't you go ahead to your next class, I want to chat with Matteo for a moment." she nods her head, getting on her tip toes to kiss his cheek. Lupin waits until Emma walks out of class before he turns to the curly brown haired boy who was frozen in fear.

Lupin was impressed with Matteo, which isn't really new. He's always been impressed with his gifts. Matteo was a very gifted Legilimens, he was born with a great aptitude for the skill. Lupin knew this scared others, the worry that he would turn out like his father was a risk that Dumbledore took on when he allowed the boy to walk through these very halls. It was a risk that the ministry of magic and some of the order were not supportive of. In third year when the boggart revealed that the boy feared his father the most, Lupin saw a glimpse of a scared boy just looking to be loved. In that moment he promised himself just like he did with the Potter twins, to look after Matteo for as long as he was here.