𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭, ᵐᵃᵗᵗʰᵉᵒ ʳⁱᵈᵈˡᵉ

chapter 5

charlotte spent the day after the party in her bed, all day. she didn't go to class, feigning a stomach ache. pansy tells everyone it's alcohol poisoning, which she's grateful for. no one will ask her questions if they think she had alcohol poisoning. she had thought -really, really thought- that her and mattheo were friends. she didn't know what to do, or say, or think, but she did know that she needed to go to class today, and that she was gonna see him.

she dragged herself out of bed, thankful for the time to herself, but dreading seeing him again. she rushed to potions, opting to get there before him rather than bumping into him in the hallway. charlotte arrived to potions approximately 8 minutes early, but despite how weird it was to sit all alone in the potions room until other kids started filing in, she was happy she avoided on unnecessary encounter with him.

class starts, and mattheo isn't there. five minutes pass, and he still doesn't show up. worry burns in her heart, but she ignores it. he doesn't deserve her worry. when ten minutes went by without him arriving, she starts the potion on her own. she finishes her batch of the draught of peace and finishes putting back almost all of her ingredients when mattheo riddle rushes into the potions lab and to his seat. charlotte wants to ask him where he was, what happened, if he was okay , but that was something friends did, and they were not friends.

"you finished the potion?" mattheo asked, sound surprised.
she nodded silently, not wanting to start a conversation. she reached forward to stir the potion, but disastrously, she leaned to far forward and fell into Mattheo's side, causing him to wince loudly. she threw herself off him quickly, as if his touch scorned her.

"what's wrong with you?" she asked, trying her best to not sound as concerned as she felt.
"nothing." mattheo answered bluntly, smoothing out the wrinkles in his shirt from where she fell on him. "hurt my rib is all." he explained after noticing her expectant look.
"oh." she said, and then after a moment added, "are you alright?"
"oh yeah," he nodded, "just a bit bruised."
"your rib?" she asked, "like internally?"
he nodded once again, answering her question.
"what happened?" she asked, not caring if she was agitating him. they had about half an hour left of potions, and their potion was already done, so she might as well find out what was wrong with mattheo.

"i hit it on the stairs." he answered bluntly.
"really?" charlotte asked, surprised that something as small and insignificant as the stairs could hurt someone as great at mattheo. she rid herself of the thought almost as soon as it entered her mind. he didn't deserve her mental praise when he had crudely rejected her friendship in front of everyone.
"yeah," he said with a laugh, clearly amused by her shock. "is that so unbelievable to you?"
"yes." she said, indulging him.
"okay," he said, looking at her in a way she would identify as friendly even though right now, outside of this moment, they were far from it.
she loved talking to him, she loved moments like these, where it felt like it was just them, together.

"i'm sorry charlotte." he said quietly.
"okay." she said, not wanting to have this conversation right now, or ever for that matter.
"do you forgive me?" he asked, like her answer was the most important thing in the world to him.
"why does it matter?" she asked, tired of his bipolar attitude towards her. if they weren't friends, why would he care what she thinks?
"because it does." he stated, as always not giving her a clear answer, "it's not that i don't want to be your friend." he added after a moment of silence.
"really? cause that's what you said." she stated coldly, the moment of joy between them gone.
"i didn't mean it like that, you should know that."

"how could i?" charlotte asked, fed up with him.
"because if i could, i would love to be your friend."
"oh." she said, surprised at his honesty.
"yeah," he laughed, "can you help me with something?" he asked, pulling out his charms homework.
"sure." she nodded, happy that things were at least semi fixed between them. she leaned over his textbook, close to him, and felt the warmth he always seemed to have wash over her.