D I L E M M A x Mattheo Riddle

astronomy tower

Vivienne Leclair
I freeze in my tracks. I almost let out a gasp, but I stop myself and cover my mouth. My stomach drops and I swear my heart stops for a second.

I'm alone, in the same room as the Dark Lords son. I do not feel safe at all.

I'm never one to judge, but my parents make sure I stay far away from anyone who's even remotely connected to You-Know-Who and his Deatheaters. So basically, the entirety of the Slytherin house.

He hasn't turned his head and I don't think he's noticed me, so I turn around as quietly as I can and attempt to tip-toe away, until I hear a deep voice say to me,

"You want one?"

I turn back around and my palms start to sweat. Mattheo Riddle is holding out a cigarette and offering it to me.

I'm scared to talk to him. To say something wrong, or heaven forbid, something that upsets him.

But of course, my curiosity gets the best of me and I can't contain my questions. It's just my nature.

"I thought you were dead." I say blatantly. To be fair, he was gone all last semester. I feel justified enough in asking. Friendly conversation, right?

He looks back at me with a dark expression.

Oh shit.

"Well I'm not." He responds. Silence ensues and he turns back around, gazing at the stars. He takes his hands off the railing.

"So? Do you want one or not?" He holds out the cigarette again. I'm obviously reluctant to accept anything from him, but I still can't take my mind off of my fight with Briar. The stress and overthinking is eating me alive.

I know substance abuse is bad, but I guess a cigarette wouldn't be the worst thing in the world...

And so far he hasn't tried to kill me.

So I walk over to him and take the cigarette out of his hand. I think my hand was shaking a little bit for sure, but nevertheless, I lean against the railing, keeping my distance from Mattheo, and bring the cigarette up to my lips. I try to take a puff, but nothing comes out.

I pause, dumbfounded.

"You have to light it first." He says.

I stop, wondering just how much I can embarrass myself in front of him.

"Oh. Yeah. I knew that."

"Mhm. Sure." He purses his lips together and walks over to me. I feel the need to back away, but that would be rude. So I stay in place as he takes the cigarette and lights it while it's still in my mouth.

"Thank you." I say.

He doesn't respond.

We stand in silence, looking up at the stars. I'm infatuated by the fact that I'm here, alone, with the son of the most evil person in the Wizarding World. I catch myself sneaking glances of him.

I see his messy brown curls across his forehead, and notice his soft brown eyes sparkling in the moonlight, complimented by his long, dark eyelashes and strong jaw.

I will admit that even though he's evil or whatever, he's definitely easy on the eyes. I would even say attractive. If I didn't have a boyfriend, of course.

We look at the stars for a while longer, saying nothing. The silence is quite comfortable actually, and I feel more relaxed after being up here with him.

He doesn't seem so bad.

Then again, I don't know him at all. I get a little ballsy and decide to ask him another question. I know I shouldn't talk to him, but  I can't help it.