Tutoring | Mattheo Riddle
!!! This is an excerpt of chapters nineteen and twenty of my story So It Goes...| Theodore Nott on Wattpad and Ao3 !!!
Words- 2,300
Info- Ciara Huntsman, Draco Malfoy's cousin, is fake dating Mattheo Riddle and it might not be equally platonic on both sides.
!jealousy !angst !comfort
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Ciara
hey are you out with Draco and Theo rn?
Mattheo
no
you alright?
Ciara
i’m just in my room studying
i kind of need help
do you think you can come?
Mattheo
yeah i’ll be right there
Ciara's stomach turns. She tries not to reach out for help often, but after everything today with the interview, the headache, the way Mattheo had somehow managed to calm her down when nobody else could, asking him doesn’t feel so bad.
A few minutes later, Mattheo swings open the door to her dorm. “Oh my Merlin!” she jumps in her seat before seeing it’s just him. “Knock next time–”
“Oh you’re actually studying?” he interrupts.
“Yeah? What else would I be doing?” “I don’t know,” he says, dropping onto her bed kicking off his slippers. He’s wearing a white vest and his Slytherin plaid pajama pants, his dark curls are messy in a way that looks intentional, and he brought his messenger bag hanging across his chest.
“I’m doing Defense work. We’re on the hex unit.”
“Oh, I actually pay attention in this one,” he says, lifting his upper body off the bed. “See? I knew you’d be the one to ask,” she smiles. “I’m trying the stickfast and the stinging hex.”
Mattheo walks over to her desk, looking at the textbook then swatting the portable practice dummy onto the floor. “No luck so far?”
She chuckles softly. “None.”
As he stands closer to her something amazing fills her nose. Not only is his dark and woodsy cologne but there’s something sweet coming from inside his bag. “What’s that smell?”
Mattheo smiles, dropping the bag on her desk.
She opens it up, tons of sweets and snacks spill out. “Mattheo.” she says, smiling up at him.
“That’s not all. Flip that pocket.”
She does, it’s filled with a baggy of pre rolled joints. “Merlin, my savior!” She says in a pretend prayer.
“Just some motivation.” He smirks, then he pulls his wand from his waistband pointing it toward the dummy, “Colloshoo!” a sharp bolt of yellow magic hits it with a pop. “Kick it.”
Ciara rolls her eyes, but stands up walking over. She nudges it lightly with her foot, it doesn't move. “Kick it harder.”
She chuckles, “Seriously?” but she kicks it harder. It’s still not budging.
Mattheo crosses his arms. “Harder.”
She laughs, then dramatically winds her leg back. Before her foot can reach, Mattheo shouts the counter curse. The momentum still carries her forward and she leaves her on the ground. “Mattheo!” she laughs, getting herself off the ground.
“Whoops.” he says casually with a smile. “You try.”
She stands, still laughing. “Colloshoo…” A small yellow spiritz of light reaches no more than 30 millimeters forward.
“No, you need more aggression in your incantation. Your movement is right, it’s just the words.” he says. “Colloshoo!”
“Colloshoo!” she repeats a little stronger.
“No, Colloshoo!” he pushes from his chest.
“Colloshoo!”
“Stronger! Like you’re shouting at your dad!”
“Colloshoo!” She screams.
“Great.” he smiles, “with the wand now.”
Ciara takes a deep breath, pointing her wand directly at the dummy. She takes a big inhale and “Colloshoo!” a long burst of yellow magic hits the dummy, just like Mattheos’. She turns to him with a grin.
“Not yet.” he says moving toward the dummy. He swings his leg backward and kicks the dummy. It goes nowhere, the corners of his mouth creeps up, “good work, C.”
He unsticks the dummy from the floor and places it back on her desk. “What was the other one?”
She flips through her textbook, “Stinging hex.” Mattheo groans, “This is a good one, but it bloody hurts. You have to be careful.”
Ciara rolls her eyes. “I won’t get you, trust me.”
Mattheo points his wand at the dummy. "Pungosus."
A sharp white bolt shoots from his wand. The dummy immediately jerks backwards. A moment later a cluster of angry red welts begins appearing across its silicone chest.
Ciara winces, “yuck.”
“I know.”
“That looks worse than a punch.”
“Which is why we learn it.” he smiles. “So try it out.”
Ciara raises her wand. "Pungosus."
Nothing happens. Mattheo sighs. "Again."
"Pungosus." Still nothing.
"Again."
Ciara lowers her wand. "I am doing it."
"No, you're saying it."
"What does that even mean?"
Mattheo looks at her like the answer should be obvious. "It means you're saying the spell but you're not casting it."
“Well obviously, there’s no magic coming out my wand.” she says, slightly frustrated. “Is it the motion?”
“No, it's the same problem as last time. You’re not saying it with enough conviction.”
Ciara rolls her eyes. “Pungosus.” Nothing.
"Again."
She does, but nothing. Then again, and nothing. Then again, a tiny spark, then nothing. The frustration starts creeping in stronger. Mattheo keeps repeating the same instructions and she keeps getting the same results. Twenty minutes later neither of them is having fun anymore.
"You're overthinking it."
"I'm not."
"You are."
"I'm literally doing exactly what you're telling me."
"No you're not."
Ciara lets out an exasperated laugh. "Mattheo, every time I ask a question you answer it with 'just do it'."
"Because that's how you do it."
"No it isn't!"
"Yes it is!"
"No, it's not!"
Mattheo runs a hand through his hair. "You point your wand and cast."
"That's not an explanation."
His jaw tightens. "It doesn't need one."
"Of course it does! That’s why we go to school!”
“And how much is it helping you!?” he snaps.
The room goes quiet. Ciara folds her arms. "What exactly is that supposed to mean?"
He sighs. "It means some people can just feel magic."
"And I can't?" she asks sternly.
"That's not what I said."
"It sounds like what you said."
Mattheo looks away. “Just try again. I’ll look harder for the problem.”
“No, why the fuck am I even doing this with you?” She rolls her eyes, turning to pack up her desk.
“No, Ciara. I want to help. Just do it.” he groans.
“Fine, okay!” she shouts sarcastically, “let me just pull it out my arse!” she wiggles her arm in the air and lazily directs the spell at the dummy, “Pungosus!” She screams, immediately she turns back to Mattheo, “see?! Nothing!”
Suddenly a huge flash of white light blasts out of the tip of her wand, launching Mattheo back.
She gasps, but he’s silent on the floor. His pant leg is ripped open. They both freeze.
Mattheo hisses through his teeth as a burning red mark bursts from beneath his skin. “FUCKKK” he shouts.
“Oh my Merlin, Mattheo I didn’t mean to!” she cries, kneeling down to him.
“You hit me!”
"I know!"
"You actually hit me!"
"I know! I’m sorry!"
Mattheo presses his wand against the welts forming on his leg. The sting starts to fade, but he’s fuming. "You’re bloody impossible." he growls, throwing his wand across the room. “I feel sorry for every one of your teachers. No wonder your tutor wanted to bail earlier.”
Ciara stands up, pressing her lips in a thin line. Of course he’s frustrated, but that really hurts. “Kay.” She tosses his bag over at him. It hits his chest, but he doesn’t move. Ciara nods and leaves her dorm, closing the door behind her.
She tries to take grounding breaths climbing up to the Astronomy tower. She’ll return and apologize later, maybe. But, right now she needs to calm down. The castle stairs blur beneath her feet as she takes one turn, then another, and a staircase, then another. The higher she climbs, the harder her heart pounds. Her chest burns by the time she finally reaches the top.
Cold evening air immediately comes crashing at her. The sun is nearly touching the ground only allowing a few strips of gold in the night sky before it disappears, leaving her in darkness. For a few moments she just stands there gripping the railing. Everything looks peaceful, but her stomach won’t stop dropping.
Mattheo’s words bounce back and forth inside her head, you’re impossible to teach, no wonder your tutor wanted to bail.
Embarrassingly, the words hurt more than they should. She knows he’s hurt and he’s upset and neither of them were at their best, but this is the same Mattheo that helped her relax before her interview. Merlin, how she wishes she could see that vision of him again.
She wishes she never asked him to tutor her, or asked him to leave after the first spell. It genuinely hurts to hear his words. She kicks a loose pebble and watches it bounce across the stone floor. Theo would've explained it differently. Theo would've slowed down. Theo would've answered her questions. Theo never got annoyed when she needed something repeated, did he?
The pebble drops over the edge of the tower and disappears into the darkness below. In her relief over the fake date excuse, she'd barely stopped to wonder why Theo had lied in the first place. Is he genuinely sick of tutoring her? Is he just too polite to say so?
She folds her arms tightly. What can she do now? No one tutors like him. It feels strange being taught by someone else, almost like it’s wrong. Not because he belongs to her, but tutoring has become theirs. It’s something consistent that helps. She knows she can trust him and she’s not scared of asking anything. It’s just different with him.
If he genuinely had a date today then whatever, that’s on him, she can’t expect to come before a girlfriend. But if he’s lying, if he used that as an excuse to get away from her, then that would be the second time he did that this week… and then Mattheo’s right, she’s impossible.
The noise of cautious footsteps sends her back to reality. The footsteps are unmistakable, her body tenses. Mattheo appears under the soft light of the tower. He doesn’t step to the railing, he lingers around the crates, then climbs them, sitting on the highest stack. She turns to look at him. He pulls a joint from his bag and lights it.
Unable to stop herself, Ciara walks over and climbs next to him. He silently offers it over. She accepts, taking a drag. The smoke settles warmly in her lungs. For a while they sit there quietly waiting for it to kick in, passing it back and forth. Eventually Mattheo sighs, “I’m sorry.”
Ciara’s heart stops. “What?”
“I’m sorry,” he shrugs, “for earlier.” He sounds genuine. “I was trying to help,” he looks out at the stars which glow brighter every passing second, “but I got annoyed. And I think I was scared?”
“Scared?”
“Yeah, the hex hurt bloody bad… but as soon as I took it off I should’ve just slowed down.” he sighs. “I know you didn’t mean to hit me.”
“I’m sorry for making you tutor me.”
He bumps his shoulder onto hers, “it was better than spending the night consoling Blaise.”
She chuckles, “that bad?”
“That mate’s genuinely depressed.”
Caira groans, “oh, no. Pansy’s going to feel horrible.”
“When he finally stopped crying he stared at the wall for forty minutes.”
“You’re exaggerating.”
“I’m not.”
They both chuckle softly and the tension begins to ease.
Ciara looks down at her hands, the weed helps. Her body feels worlds lighter; it's like it’s all the stress left as she inhaled. “I’m sorry for being impossible to teach.”
Mattheo shakes his head, “no.”
“I am.”
“No.”
“Mattheo–”
“You’re not.” His answer comes so quickly she stops talking. “I’m just a bad teacher” Ciara opens her mouth, she can’t find any words to say. She can’t believe how honest Mattheo is being. "It made sense in my head so I assumed it'd make sense in yours."
It stays silent for a long minute before Mattheo speaks again, “so… who’s your tutor?” he asks.
She freezes again, her brain moving slower. The answer is so simple, but maybe it’s the weed or the embarrassment that he left or the fact that it’s his best friend who's sitting next to her, but her mouth goes dry and she can’t respond.
Mattheo waits patiently, “hello?”
“It’s no one important.” she mutters.
He nods, “right.” It’s quiet again, then he smirks “I wouldn’t make fun of you if you’re getting tutored by a Gryffindor by the way. I’m just glad someone is helping you.”
She can't stop a smile spreading across her face. “It’s weird,” she says slowly. “I don't think you've been this genuine and taken responsibility for your actions once in your entire life.”
“I know I’m in the wrong a lot of the time.” he laughs, “I just don’t usually feel like I need to apologize for it.”
She starts laughing with him, laying down on the floor. The stars spread endlessly above them. “Last time we were both up here, I was hiding from you behind these same crates.” she says softly.
Mattheo groans, laying down beside her.
“I was so mad.” she whispers. "If you'd told me six weeks ago we'd end up fake dating, I would've slapped you."
“But here we are.”
“But here we are…” she smiles. “And you’re taking responsibility.”
For a moment they both just stare at the stars. Then, Mattheo pulls out his phone and takes a picture. Ciara turns her head.
“What?” he asks. “It just looks good for instagram right now.”
She laughs, stealing his phone and snapping another photo on it.
Mattheo watches her, a slow grin takes up his face. “Maybe we should kiss for a photo?”
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Read the full story here or on AO3:
https://www.wattpad.com/story/409963719-so-it-goes-theodore-nott
