mattheo riddle x fem!hufflepuff!reader
warnings: overthinking, bullying, loneliness
Tell me if theres any more!!
Divider from @saradika-graphics
The greenhouses were your most favourite place at Hogwarts.
They were silent in a comforting way.
The plants added colour and looked beautiful.
It was the calm you needed to escape from the overwhelming halls of the school.
Which was why you often found yourself there most weekends.
Usually, the only thing you thought about was the plants.
This morning, you were thinking about Mattheo.
He had all of a sudden become almost kind towards you. It was such a weird change after six years of being a bully.
He had taken a spell for you, defended you in class, and brought you meals.
It was like he was under an imperius curse and was being forced to do all this.
At least, not the Mattheo you knew.
However, you did quite enjoy when he sat with you in the library, which he had decided to do for the last few days since you had confronted him.
He made you laugh sometimes.
Most of the time, he sat in silence on the bean bag he had claimed, flicking through old books.
People had started noticing you.
Not in the way they used to. That you were some weird girl who talked to plants.
They noticed you because Mattheo had suddenly seemed to have taken a liking to you.
You didn't like attention.
Just then, one of the girls you used to be dormmates with, Eliana, waltzed in, picking a leaf off of some plant hanging from the ceiling.
"I thought you'd be here. You always did like getting your hands dirty." She sneered.
She had never been a very nice girl. You still had no clue how she could be in Hufflepuff.
"Hi," you said quietly. Not unconfidently. You were as shy with her. You had known her too long despite her horrible personality.
"So... what's going on with you and Riddle? I haven't seen him pull some prank on you in forever."
"I mean... if you've fallen for him, I don't blame you. He is extremely good-looking. But I think he'd rather someone like... me! He's probably pitying you."
Before you could try and get words out, the greenhouse door opened again.
This time, Mattheo strolled in with a bag from Honeydukes.
He looked up, eyes flicking between you and Eliana before grimacing.
"Why are you here?" he asked Eliana.
She smiled and walked over to him, running a manicured nail down his chest, "Just talking. I've only known her since first year, haven't I?"
"Yeah, well..." He pushed her hand away. "I think your friends must be looking for you. They were waiting at the entrance hall."
Eliana narrowed her eyes at him before stomping away, glaring at you through the glass windows as she walked past.
You let out a small sigh and turned back to the roses you were potting. Bit basic considering there were thousands of magical plants, but you liked the simplicity of them.
"I brought sweets." Mattheo spoke up after a few moments, setting the bag down next to you, "They just restocked the sugar quills. You like those, don't you? ...I think."
You blinked as you peered into the paper bag, "How did you know I like those?"
Mattheo froze a little, eyes flicking away from yours.
"You always eat one at lunch on Fridays."
You felt your lips quirk up a little.
You shook your head and went back to tending to the flower.
He was holding up a watering can. He literally did herbology until fifth year.
"It's a watering can," you deadpanned.
'Is he stupid or just really forgetful?'
"Can't you just pour water from a goblet or something?"
"No…" You almost laughed at his cluelessness.
"It has to be evenly distributed to the plant; otherwise, you could drown it. That's why it has little holes for easier control."
He tipped the can upside down and used the top of it to water the rose you had been tending to, pouring way too much onto it.
You grabbed the watering can away from him and immediately got to making sure the water drained into the basin.
"How would you like it if someone poured water on your face, hm?" You bit back.
Mattheo smirked, "It would be quite refreshing, Petal."
Surprisingly, Mattheo stayed for longer than you expected.
He had a knack for being a bit too curious, though.
"Don't touch that!" You warned quickly.
Mattheo flinched and pulled his hand back.
"That's Venomous Tentacula. It bites."
"Surely not. I've never heard of that."
"That's because you dropped Herbology before sixth year."
"Yeah, because it's a load of shit."
"You won't be saying that when you get killed by a flower."
"Why do you own a biting plant anyway?" He mumbled, eyeing the plant that was apparently fatal.
"It's fascinating." You smiled as you turned away.
"You can leave anytime?"He glanced around the greenhouse as if he was deciding if he had anything better to do.
He leaned back on his arms. You could feel his eyes on the back of your head.
"You're always here. Or at least always around some sort of plant."
You glanced at him, "I like it here."
He kissed his teeth and rubbed at his jaw.
"Yeah, just... always. Not that I try to notice or anything." He straightened up a little at that.
Then, you really looked at him.
Whether that was on purpose or accidental, you weren't sure you would ever really know.
He shook his head. "Greenhouses creep me out, you know?" Filled with so many living things that are so unlike people. I always feel watched."
"I feel calm." You blurted out, "Like, they don't judge anybody." They just want to be looked after..." You trailed off slightly.
"Right. Well, still weird." He deflected.
Later that evening, you were sitting in your dorm.
The common room had become too much since all of your housemates seemed to be talking about Mattheo.
You had settled into your cosy bed and opened up your scrapbook where the two yellow petals lay.
Originally, you were going to add a few stickers and doodles around them.
Instead, you had picked up the fancy black and green quill and begun writing pros and cons of Mattheo above the petals.
But the cons really made you question everything.
Bullied you for six years and made your life a living hell.
'Maybe it was all too good to be true?'
Over the next few days, Mattheo still showed up.
He still came to the library.
He still randomly appeared in hallways.
But you couldn't help but doubt that it was all some sick joke because he had gotten bored of the traditional bullying.
You were confused, and you were sure Mattheo had noticed. He did most of the talking when you sat together, but lately, it seemed he was trying to get you to talk as well.
He wasn't very successful, though.
It was yet another Thursday morning, which meant double potions first thing.
The veritaserum still had exactly three weeks until it was ready, so the class were still working on their essays.
You were probably on your fifth 4-foot essay of the week when you felt a tap on your shoulder.
Blaise, who had been pretty quiet next to you, was grinning at you and pointed to your quill.
"Looks familiar," he observed, a grin widening.
"Oh..." you twisted the green and black quill with your pointer finger and thumb, "It's not mine." I just found it in my bag one day. It actually writes really nicely."
He blinked, "Is that so?"
You tilted your head at the look on his face. He looked far too smug.
"What? Do you know whose it is?" You gasped, "Is it yours? I'm sorry—"
"No, no... it's not mine, sweetheart. Maybe the colours are just familiar," he shrugged. "Pretty Slytherin, right?"
You let out a relieved sigh, "Yeah... maybe."
His eyes flicked to Mattheo, who looked as though he wanted to set his parchment on fire.
Mattheo had practically the exact same one. It was just a little more worn.
"Hm..." Blaise smiled, "Matty has the same one."
Hearing the nickname he hated so much, Mattheo looked over to Blaise with a glare, but his eyes locked on your quill not long after.
His eyes widened a little in recognition before he quickly looked back down at his parchment.
"Funny coincidence." You whispered, not very convinced that it was a coincidence anymore.
Mattheo didn't look back up for the rest of the lesson.
Not even when Blaise began telling you a story about a time when Mattheo got trapped in a suit of armour.
He simply snapped at his friend without even glancing over.
"If you're going to talk about me, at least say it to my face, Zabini."
"Turn and look at me first, then I'll say it." Blaise shot back, and Mattheo shut up.
You glanced between the two boys, not sure if you should laugh or scold them for not focusing.
They were so hopeless that you did neither.
Class had about ten minutes left.
You had kept your eyes on your parchment despite the fact that you weren't really writing anything anymore.
Mattheo still hadn't looked back up.
It made you wonder that, maybe, you were right.
Maybe it all was one big joke.
Maybe he had already gotten bored of the pretend niceness.
Now, you weren't sure if his avoidance was worse than the teasing.
And if he was joking... you didn't want him to pretend any longer.
You would rather have him openly hate you than pretend to like you.
He still hadn't looked up.
Taglist: @pixiiiiiiiiidust • @corpsebride25 • @wtfisastiles • @bitchyphilosophergentlemen @slutfordpr • @anonymousmuffinbear • @hagridshaircare
A/N: i dont really like this chapter? im a little lost right now tbh 😭 i had a small outline of the story written down from before i started it but it didnt include every single moment so most of the chapters are done as i go. i cant wait until i get to the parts that are actually written down lol.
anyways if you wanna be tagged ask in replies!!! 🫰🏻
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