𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐎𝐟 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞 - 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨 𝐑𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐡 [17]

☞ 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 1𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫, 1996

Yesterday began as an innocent trip with my friends, our day spent in the quaint town of Hogsmeade. It ended with yelling, tears and broken appendages.

After the girls and I noticed Cormac's deathly glare, we quickly left and headed back towards the castle as quickly as possible. Despite our excessive speed walking, Cormac was hot in our trail, calling, no, yelling after me. He demanded I give in to him. He demanded that I apologise for rejecting him. He demanded I face the consequences of my actions.

Suddenly, someone else began yelling. "I'm going to fucking kill you!". He said. "Stay the fuck away from Y/n." He said. "Come and face me pussy!" He said. Suddenly I was running towards him. Mattheo had yanked Cormac back, gripping the back of his robe, and threw a heavy-handed punch straight into Cormac's cheek.

Shocked Cormac stumbled a few steps back and turned to see Mattheo standing tall with a deathly glare in his eyes. Cormac's eyes narrowed as he threw himself at Mattheo. As they began to fight, tears began to brim my eyes watching the fury in Mattheo's eyes as he took punch after punch. I watched in fear, as Hermione tried to push me away and lead me back to the castle. I refused.

Soon Cormac was on the floor, and hit after hit Mattheo punched his face in until it was raw with blood. Blaise finally managed to pull the Slytherin off the Gryffindor and mutter words to his friend that were not acknowledged. Quickly I approached Mattheo, asking him to calm down and come back to the castle with me. His eyes locked with mine, and he slowly nodded as his breaths began to even.

As a consequence, roughly 16 hours later, you will find myself, Draco, Blaise and Theodore gathered around a bed in the hospital wing, looking down at our friend who was deep in slumber.

"What an idiot." Blaise tutted while shaking his head. He stood right beside Mattheo's head, looking at his broken nose and bandaged knuckles. Theo sat in a chair beside Blaise, also looking at Mattheo with a frown. Draco and I sat on the other side of Mattheo, next to each other.

"I agree." Draco huffed as he sat back in his chair, his hands rubbing his lower thighs and knees. "He's never one to get into fights... without a very good reason." Draco added with a smirk, his head turning towards me.

I slowly turned my head towards him with a pointed look. "Don't make me feel worse about this, Malfoy." I grumbled while turning back towards Mattheo. He looked so, so peaceful while sleeping, even with dried blood under his nose and staining his bandages. His undereyes were blue and green with bruises from his broken nose. With his eyes closed, I could see his long lashes and the more I stared the more I envied them. "I shouldn't have humiliated Cormac." I sigh as my head falls into my hands, my eyes never leaving Mattheo.

"What! Y/n you must be joking. He deserved what happened, the humiliation and the beating." Theo argued as he waved his hands around, emphasising his point. Draco agreed with him with a hum as he rubbed my upper back in comfort.

"Exactly. So try not to feel guilty over everything, Mattheo chose to fight him. He wouldn't want you feeling so down." Blaise smiled slightly at me, his words easing the pain in my chest slightly. I nodded, accepting their words and tried to let the guilt wash away.

"We'll see you later, Y/n. Blaise and I have to attend Ancient Runes." Malfoy huffed as he and Blaise began to leave. I waved them goodbye and turned back towards Theo, to see him grabbing his bag too.

"I'm going to take a nap." He smiled and bid me goodbye. I waved him off and turned back to the sleeping boy beside me.

I began to contemplate what should I do. Stay here and hope he awakens? Head to the library and read a book to take my mind off things? Find Astoria and spend time with her? I rummaged through my bag, in hopes of finding some form of entertainment, and I found the astronomy book I was reading under the willow tree. The one Mattheo took an interest in.