My real enemy / Mattheo Riddle

• JUST A MISTAKE •

"Want some?" I asked, tossing a strawberry at him.

He caught it midair and popped it into his mouth. "Still hoarding white chocolate, I see."

"Still eating all my food, I see."

He just laughed, leaning back against the headboard.

We sat there, eating and talking. The kind of talking that flows easily even when it's been months since you've really said anything that mattered. He asked about school. I told him about my classes, how Potions has been hell lately, how Professor Binns still talks like he's narrating a slow death.

He chuckled. "You always hated History of Magic."

"You always copied my notes."

"And you always let me."

I couldn't help but smile at that.

Then things got quieter. Softer.

He asked about my family, and I didn't hesitate. "They're good. Sirius is... you know, loud. Still somehow louder than me. But he asks about you sometimes."

Thomas looked down, smile flickering. "He always treated me better than I deserved."

"No," I said quietly. "You just don't see yourself the way he saw you."

He didn't answer that. I didn't expect him to.

We talked about Regulus for a bit. How he's always two steps ahead, how he's too clever for his own good. How much he cares. How he always used to come in just before we where about to kiss or came home just in time for us to get dressed and hide. We really just had no time to fuck at my place. I guess that's why we where always at his house. He was home alone a lot. His parents aren't the best. He really has to take care of everything himself. His mother and father just throws money at him and his little sister Cassie. I feel so bad for them, I tried my best to always be with Cassie and play with her, she was so alone in that house when Thomas wasn't  there and in school. Al she had was their babysitter and she was pretty much to old to speek. She this year started at Hogwarts, she is a Huffelpuff just as we both always known. 

I think talking about my family and his grounded me a little. Made me feel real again after the chaos of the night.

Then, after a long pause, he said it.

"So... you and Riddle?"

I blinked. "What about me and Riddle?"

He shrugged, not looking at me, reaching for another grape. "You seem close."

I sighed and leaned back against the wall, crossing my arms. "We're not... anything. We argue more than we talk, and he's... complicated."

"But you like him."

It wasn't a question. And I didn't answer.

Because I didn't know.

"I don't even know who he is half the time," I muttered. "He's quiet, intense. He shows up when I least expect it. And when I think I get a glimpse of something real, it disappears just as fast. He is like a question mark to me. So mysterious. I don't know why.."

Thomas looked at me carefully. "He's not like me."

"No," I said softly. "He's not like anyone."

We were quiet again. The kind of quiet that didn't feel awkward, just thoughtful.

I pulled my knees up and rested my chin on them. "You know, I used to think I needed everything figured out. That love was simple if it was real. But maybe it's not."

Thomas looked like he wanted to say something, maybe that he still cared, maybe something else but he didn't. Instead, he reached out and took one of the strawberries between his fingers.

We stayed like that for a long time. Just talking, eating, sitting in the low candlelight with the window cracked open and the distant sounds of Hogwarts at night seeping in. No pressure. No drama.  And for some reason, that felt nice. I think i needed this badly right now.

Now the candles i had lit earlier were low, flickering on the edge of burning out, and I'd finally pulled the blanket up around my knees. Thomas was sitting at the foot of the bed, leaning back on his hands like he didn't have a single care in the world.

I looked at him, really looked at him. That face I used to love so much. He still had the same smile, the same stupid charm. But everything was different now. I was different.

"I need to say something," I said softly, my voice barely louder than the crackle of the candle.

He glanced at me, his head tilting slightly. "Okay."

"The kiss," I said, fiddling with the edge of the blanket. "it was a mistake."

Thomas didn't say anything right away. Just nodded slowly and looked down at the floor for a second before meeting my eyes again.

"I figured you'd say that," he said, not mad, not sad—just real. "And honestly? Yeah. It kinda was."

I gave a soft smile. "We're better like this. Friends. I missed this, talking to you like this. I don't wanna mess that up again."

He nodded. "Yeah. Me either."

There was another pause. Then, typical Thomas, he smirked and added, "But listen... if you ever need a quick fuck—"

"Oh my god." I rolled my eyes so hard I almost saw my brain. "Do you offer that to everyone?"

He grinned. "Only the prettiest girls."

I snorted. "So basically everyone who breathes?"

"Nope." He pointed at me. "Just you, Agnes. You're the lucky one."

I shook my head, laughing again as I threw a pillow at him. He caught it, grinning like an idiot, and we both just dissolved into laughter again.

God, I'd needed this. Not the kiss. Not the chaos. Just... the comfort. The reminder that people can change, and so can feelings. But not everything has to end messy. Some things can just shift into something new.

And maybe, just maybe, that was okay.

________________________________________________________________________________

3175 Words