summary: female reader (she/her) x Mattheo Riddle You had always been close with Mattheo. You weren’t exactly sure when things changed but you’re love for a friend turned into something so much more. You just hoped that he saw you the same way
notes/warnings: mutual pining, kind of friends to lovers (friends to more?, overall fluff
word count: 678
“And where exactly is your usual partner in crime Ms. Y/L/N?” Filch asked accusingly.
“Sorry sir, I’m not sure who you’re referring to,” you answered cheekily.
“Don’t play dumb girl, I know he’s around here somewhere.”
As Filch began to walk away, following Mrs. Norris who meowed as she sniffed along the corridor, you turned to see where Mattheo was hidden.
With the top of his head slowly peaking behind a pillar, he sent you a dazzling wink to which you rolled your eyes.
Nodding your head slightly you took a small step back, doing your best not to alert Filch and his snitch of a pet.
When you deemed it to be the right timed you turned quickly on your heel and sprinted down the corridor, opposite of where Filch was headed.
Mattheo caught up in no time and sprinted alongside you as Mrs. Norris took off after the both of you.
Looking back, you gasped in shock to see her gaining speed and closing the distance.
Mattheo took your hand his and yanked you down another corridor, pulling you behind him as he navigated the way towards the dungeons.
As you stood in front of the large stone walls of the dungeon you dropped your hand from his, bracing them on your knees as you tried to catch your breath.
Mattheo assumed a similar state before standing largely.
“Pure-blood” he spoke.
The passage opened, and he extended his arm forward, motioning for you to enter first.
As you walked into the common room you couldn’t help but break into a fit of giggles.
“I can’t believe we got caught,” you exclaimed, a slight amusement in your voice as you plopped yourself down on the couch.
“Uh, I believe you got caught. Filch never saw me so it doesn’t count.”
“Hey!” you protested, throwing a pillow in his direction.
“It was your idea to sneak out after curfew because you wanted a snack from the kitchen."
“I stand by that decision,” he stated happily, popping the rest of the treacle tart into his mouth.
You gave him a stern look before breaking out into a large smile, he mirrored you with a similar one.
******
If only you knew, Mattheo thought to himself
If only you knew what your smile did to him.
Mattheo always saw you as a close friend.
Right, that’s what you were…a friend?
He wasn’t so sure anymore.
I mean sure, his friends teased him all the time about how he was in love with you, but that didn’t mean it was true.
He told you everything that he told Theodore and Lorenzo.
But he didn’t think about kissing them like he thought about kissing you.
There had been so many times over the last few months where he felt like he should just reach for you and do it, but he never did.
He didn’t know if you felt the same way, and he refused to ruin the friendship because he had a crush on you.
That’s right.
That’s all it was…
A crush.
******
“I’m going to head up to bed, I’ll—" you started.
“Yeah, it’s getting late” Mattheo spoke up.
“I’ll see you in the morning,” you finished, standing up from the couch at the same time Mattheo did.
Walking towards the stairs your arm bumped against his, you looked up at him delicately.
“Good night, Y/N” he spoke softly.
"Good night, Mattheo,” you returned.
As you lay in bed you couldn’t help but think about how deep you were falling into him.
You wish that you could just throw all caution to the wind and just tell Mattheo how you feel.
You found yourself always lowering your guard around him. You weren’t sure if you were just being reckless or if it was actually more.
There were times where it felt like more, like someone was going to make the first move.
Until then, you would wait patiently. For some reason, you believe that being with Mattheo, truly being with him would be even better than you imagined.
