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Chapter Text

The sound of metal on metal and the wind screeching as the fast train shoots through the air fills the ears of the many passengers on the express. There's a soft rumble from the engine, and if you look out of the window, you’ll see the familiar view of the meadows, with the dark blue lakes and tall green trees. The sky is blue, the weather still hot from the, just now, bypassed summer and the excitement is rising between the students across all ages, who’ve gotten on the train to return to their studies. 

Somewhere in a closed compartment sits four boys, each laughing and smiling, happy to be back at school, not for the studying of course, but to be back together. They’ve been friends since they started at Hogwarts, each finding each other through their one thing in common. The Slytherin house. 

The four boys are dressed in their robes, each wearing green around their neck to symbol their part in the house of the serpent. One of the boys is bleach blonde, his hair almost completely white, just like his skin. Another one is the exact opposite of him. His skin is brown and his hair short and black. The third is a brunette, his hair messy and his eyes the same color as the chocolate frogs, served on the train. The final boy is blonde, his hair sits like a mop on his head, swooped to the side in an attempt to hide away his forehead. His eyes are blue like the ocean, and he smiles widely as he talks to his friends. 

“It feels good to be back, don’t ya think?” the blonde one says, leaning back in his seat, arms crossed across his chest. 

“Sure is Theo,” the other blonde replies, eyes fixated on the window beside them before he eventually turns to look at his friends. “I missed you lads,” the brunette, Lorenzo, says with a smile, “except for Blaise’s snoring.”

“Fuck you Enzo,” Blaise shoots back, making the blonde boy beside him laugh. 

“Shut up Malfoy,” Blaise turns to Draco, one eyebrow raised, “don’t think you should be laughing, when you snore as well.”

“I do not.” Draco crosses his arms, making eye contact with Theo who’s trying to hold back a laugh. 

Lorenzo shakes his head and turns to look at the scene on the other side of the glass. 

At Hogwarts, the students all gather for the sorting ceremony in The Great Hall. The four boys sit down at their assigned table, chatting and catching up with friends from their house. A group of girls sit down next to them, each smiling and waving at the four boys. 

Enzo’s eyes meet Blaise’s, who seems to be smirking at one of the girls. 

As they sit there and chat, Theo feels eyes on him. He looks up, eyes meeting the infamous Harry Potter, watching from the Gryffindor table. “Look,” Theo pats Enzo’s shoulder, “Potter’s watching.” 

“Don’t mind him.” Draco says from across the table. He’s overheard the conversation. “He’s just a prick, you know that.”

Theo shrugs. Their conversation gets interrupted by Headmaster Dumbledore, who’s hosting a speech. “Welcome to Hogwarts,” he starts, “the start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but first, we must do our sorting.”

Dumbledore pauses, his eyes moving to the large doors in the back of the hall. “But before we begin, I would like to introduce you all to our new student.” The doors open, and in walks a dark-haired boy. He’s dressed in an open robe, on top of white dress shirt that seemingly has a few buttons undone. His hands are in his pockets and his eyes are firmly planted on Dumbledore.

“Who is that? ” someone asks further down the table. Theo’s jaw is dropped on the floor, Draco’s eyes are wide open, Enzo can’t take his eyes off the scene and Blaise is too distracted by the girl from earlier to notice what is going on.

“This is Mattheo,” Dumbledore says after a moment of silence. His eyes glide across the whispering students, all having something to say about the school’s newest subject. “He will be joining our 5th year students.” Dumbledore tries to grab their attention, but fails. Mattheo stays silent as he seats himself on the wooden chair on the stage. The Sorting Hat gets placed on his head by Professor McGonagall, and the whole hall goes impossibly quiet. Even The Sorting Hat seems at a loss for words for a while, until eventually a loud, ‘Slytherin!’, sounds through the hall. 

There’s a moment of silence. Lorenzo looks at his friends, making eye contact with them one by one. Then he claps. Draco looks profoundly confused as he stares at his friend. Theo then joins followed by Draco and Blaise, and soon the whole hall is clapping and cheering for the new student. Mattheo rises from his seat, then walks off the stage and makes his way to the Slytherin table. 

“What the fuck did you do that for?” Draco hisses under his breath, leaning over the table to reach Enzo so that he could hear him without drawing attention. 

“It’s called being nice,” Enzo whispers back, “how would you like it if that was you?”

At the same time, Mattheo heads down the middle of the hall, eyes on the exit. Most people, if not everyone, is staring at him as he opens the doors and slides his body through the small gap. 

“Who is this boy?” Theo asks, looking at his friends as if they could possibly answer his question. “I have never seen him before,” Blaise says with a shrug. 

“He looks familiar, don’t you think?” Draco says quietly, inching closer to his friends across the table. His friends don’t seem to agree, instead they look at Draco in hopes of an explanation to what he just said. Draco looks around, scanning to see if anyone might be listening to the conversation. “He looks like you know who , when he was younger,” he whispers, gaining a soft gasp from his friends. 

“Wait, how do you know what he looked  like?” Theo asks, leaning back from the intensity of their conversation across the table. 

Enzo, Draco and Blaise each look at Theo, eyebrows raised and displeased looks on their faces. “What?” Theo asks, clearly not understanding what is going on. 

Once the large doors to The Great Hall are shut, Mattheo breathes out. This must’ve been the first full breath he’s caught since arriving at the school. For hours he’s settled with half inhales, cutting like daggers at his dry throat. He arrived this morning, way before any of the other students. Dumbledore mentioned something about safety, but Mattheo would have preferred to ride the train with everyone else. 

He rushes down the halls, looking left and right, trying to memorize his way back to the Slytherin dungeons. He’s been there once, led there by the current head of house, Philip Crooks, but trying to find his way there by himself, seemed way harder than he had initially thought it to be. 

He eventually found it, made his way inside and found his dorm room. He had seen his dorm earlier that day, but all of the other beds had been empty, and now they were not. 

Trunks were spread out on each bed, some opened, others not. Clothes laid cluttered throughout the room and by the back wall stood cages with owls. 

Mattheo had yet to meet his dorm-mates, and he dreaded it dearly. 

He lets out a sigh as he slowly wanders to one of the windows in the back. He climbs up, finding himself a comfortable seat with an extraordinarily pleasant view. The night sky is lit up with stars, and the moon’s bright light fills the dark lake beneath with life. 

Mattheo presses his hand to his heart, feeling how it beats faster than ever before. He’s been afraid before, many times actually, but none of those times made him feel as uneasy as he did right now. It’s not that he didn’t want to come to Hogwarts, because he did. Anything to get away from his house. His father. His life before. But having to constantly put up a parade in order for no one to truly figure out who he was, that was going to be exhausting. His eyes are firmly on the glass window as he tries to slow down his mind. Oh how he hated feeling so little and helpless.

Chapter Text

Mattheo doesn’t know how much time has passed with him sitting in the window before he hears voices on the other side of the door. He quickly gathers himself and goes to stand, his back resting against the wall behind him. 

The door swings open and four boys walk in. They look equally as shocked as himself when they see him standing there, in their dorm. 

“I can’t do this right now,” Blaise says, pushing past his friends, still stuck by the door, to lay on his bed. Theo stays frozen in place and Draco crosses his arms across his chest.

“Hello,” Enzo tries, “I’m Lorenz-”

The new boy turns to look away from the door. He quickly rushes to his bed where he lays himself down, pulling the covers up to cover everything but his head. He stares ahead, feeling thankful for the odd shape of the room so that he won’t have to look at any of the other boys.

“Go to bed Enz,” Theo says softly, “we’ll chat in the morning.”

Enzo lets out a tired sigh, then walks to his bed to undress himself and go to sleep. 

The sound of an alarm clock rings through the room, awaking the boys from their slumber. “Fucking hell.” Theo exclaims as he sits up in his bed, rubbing his eyes. “I thought we agreed to destroy that vile thing last term.”

Draco mutters something, but ultimately agrees with Theo. 

“Uh lads,” Lorenzo says from the other side of the room, “he’s not here.”

“What?” Blaise asks, barely awake yet. 

“Mattheo,” Enzo responds, “he’s not here.”

The boys look at each other confused. 

“We don’t have time to worry about some bloke who won’t even introduce himself to us.” Draco hisses and pulls himself out of bed to get changed into his uniform. “Besides, we don’t have much time to get breakfast.”

With those words they all get ready for school, hurrying into The Great Hall to have breakfast before their first class of the day. 

“Don’t you think it is weird that he just disappears?” Enzo finds himself asking as the group heads down one of the long corridors to find their classroom. 

“That bastard is weird,” Draco spits, “Dumbledore didn’t even say his last name at the banquet.” 

This sets something off in Blaise. “You’re right?” he stops in his tracks. “I did not even notice that.” 

“What can I say,” Draco scoffs, crossing his arms, “I am the observant one of the group.” 

Theo sighs loudly. “You lads are thinking too hard. Has it ever crossed your moron minds that maybe the boy is simply dim witted and not used to having friends?”

“Or chatting to people in general,” Draco adds, clearly upset by Mattheo’s lack of manners. 

At this point, all of the boys are turned to look at Blaise, their backs turned to the entrance of the classroom. Lorenzo turns around, hoping to enter class when he almost bumps directly into Mattheo, who looks far from pleased. 

“Uh guys,” he gulps, taking a step back, almost backing into Theo who turns around to see what is going on. 

“Hello there.” Theo says, unbothered by the fact that Mattheo most likely heard everything they just said about him. “Didn’t expect to see you attending class today, since you fancy sneaking around more than actually participating in school activities.” 

Mattheo doesn’t say anything, instead he leaps forward, grabbing onto Theo who’s eyes widen with pure shock. For a short second, he is stunned, but soon he realizes what is going on, and begins to fight back. Enzo steps backwards, his hands clutching his face. “What are you looking at?” Draco hisses, eyes meeting Enzo’s before he eventually tries to grab Mattheo’s arm. “Do something!”

Draco loses his grip, allowing Mattheo to launch his fist straight at Theo, who doesn’t see it coming. Theo’s head flies back and a loud gasp escapes the crowd that is slowly forming around the boys. Theo gathers himself, gripping onto Mattheo’s robe with one arm before launching the other at his head. 

Blaise is trying to pull Theo away from Mattheo’s grip, while Draco tries to pull away Mattheo. Mattheo is just about to fire another shot at Theo, when Enzo notices and puts himself in the way. His hand collides with Enzo’s ribcage, sending him backwards until his back meets the floor. He lets out a loud groan, grabbing Theo’s attention. 

“Stop this at once!” Professor Mcgonagall yells as she rushes down the hallway, a group of professors right behind her. Mattheo and Theo let go of each other, allowing them to be pulled away by Draco and Blaise. Theo’s eyes never leave Enzo’s body on the ground, as he lays there, clutching his stomach. A Gryffindor girl crouches down to help him. Mattheo is looking at him too now, his eyes turning from a look of hatred to terror. He looks away, meeting Mcgonagall's gaze, who looks beyond pissed. “All five of you, follow me.” she says, pointing at the five boys. Draco and Blaise give each other a look of disbelief. “But professor-,” Draco tries, but Mcgonagall will not listen. 

“And help the poor boy!” she nods to Enzo who is sitting up now, with the help of the girl. Draco and Blaise let go of Mattheo and Theo, hurrying to grab Enzo, pulling him off the ground.

“Enzo I am so sorry I-,” Theo says, rushing after Enzo, Draco and Blaise who are now following McGonagall closely behind. 

Mattheo trails slowly after them. 

Moments later, the five boys are sitting across each other on some of the beds in the hospital wing. Enzo is lying down in the middle, his shirt pulled up with a large bandage on his ribs. On one side of him are his friends, sitting next to each other on the bed, eyes on Enzo who is looking at the ceiling. Theo is holding ice to his eye. On the opposite side of Enzo sits Mattheo alone on the bed. There’s a wet cloth around his hand and a bandaid above his eyebrow. Blood is stained around his nose. 

“This behavior is outrageous,” McGonagall hisses, pacing back and forth between the beds. “And you young sir,” she turns to Mattheo, “dare I remind you just how thin ice you are on?”

Mattheo looks down into his lap. The door to the hospital wing cracks open, grabbing Mcgonagall's attention. “One moment.” she beelines for the door, exiting the room. 

“Enzo,” Theo says, voice soft as he hops off the bed to stand next to his lying friend, “why would you even think to do that?”

Enzo opens his mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. He shuts it again. 

“Maybe he’s dim witted,” Mattheo says, obviously mocking Theo’s comment from earlier, grabbing everyone's attention at once. 

“Pardon?” Draco almost immediately says, getting off the bed. 

“Want to go again?” Mattheo replies, eyebrows raised as he too jumps off the bed. He takes his hand out of the cloth. “I could go for a round two.”

“I might have to,” Draco hisses, taking one step forward as to seem intimidating. 

“No, stop!” Lorenzo finally speaks from his bed. “This is ridiculous.”

Draco stares directly at Mattheo. Mattheo clenches his jaw, looking away from Draco and at Enzo who uses his elbows to push himself up. He winces from the pain on his ribcage, but nonetheless manages to sit up. “Clearly you don’t fancy being friends with us,” Enzo says, looking at Mattheo, “and we’re obviously not going to force you. But, we do live in the same dorm, and therefore have to at least try to tolerate each other. No matter how hard that may be.”

There’s a moment of silence. “No.” Draco steps back, going to sit back down on the bed. “I’m requesting that he transfers to another dorm. Another house would be preferable but the likelihood of that is close to zero.”

No one says anything. Instead, Theo retreats to the bed, Mattheo too. They wait in silence for McGonagall to return, which she does only a few minutes later. “All five of you will be expected to attend detention every day for the rest of the week,” McGonagall declares once she returns from speaking to other professors and most likely Dumbledore. 

“You young sir,” she turns to Mattheo, “will head straight to Dumbledore’s office.”

“But professor-,” Mattheo tries, but McGonagall shuts him down immediately. “The rest of you will follow me to potions where Professor Snape will be waiting for you.”

“Oh bollocks,” Blaise whispers as the boys head out of the hospital wing and begin their journey to detention.

Chapter Text

“This is ridiculous,” Draco says, slamming both palms onto the table, “they said my request to have Mattheo transferred was declined.”

Theo’s eyes widen, his mouth is stuffed with food. “Did they say why?” he asks, using a napkin to dry off his mouth.

“Only that if anything, now there’s an even better reason for him to stay, so that we can resolve our issues ,” Draco scoffs, sitting himself down on the bench next to Blaise. 

“Oh wow,” Enzo mumbles to himself, “did not see that one coming.”

“It’s ridiculous,” Draco says with a frown. Suddenly Theo gets an idea. His face lights up, but his mouth is full so instead of taking time to chew, he downs a whole glass of water. “Charming,” Enzo says, eyes wide and face full of disgust.

“I have a splendid idea.” Theo ignores what Enzo said and begins explaining himself instead. “Now that we’re all already in detention for the rest of the week. How about we play a prank on some of the professors?”

Blaise’s eyes light up. “Wonderful idea Nott! I’m in!”

“But what would we do?” Draco asks, seeming a bit skeptical. 

“I heard one of the professors talking about Hagrid bringing in a bunch of Nifflers for the Care of Magical Creatures class,” Theo says, “I bet you they’d be cheeky to let out.”

“But we like Hagrid,” Enzo replies, “I don’t want to prank him.”

“Then we don’t,” Blaise chimes in, “there’s an assignment tomorrow morning for DADA. We could let them into the classroom to take the piss on Professor Snape.”

“That has to be your best idea yet,” Theo smiles, putting his hand up for Blaise to give him a high five.

“Okay so tonight at 12?” Enzo asks, receiving nods from his friends. 

“Oh and let’s try not to wake Mattheo,” Theo adds, “the last thing I want is for him to rat us out.”

Draco sighs as a response to Theo, then goes to stand up. “Let’s go lads, we’ve got detention to attend.”

Once the group makes it to the potions classroom, Mattheo is waiting for them by the door. He is leaning his back against the wall and his arms are crossed across his chest. 

He doesn’t say anything as they approach. He just heads through the open door and into the classroom. 

Yesterday, Mattheo never made it to detention, because he was held back by Dumbledore. “Do you understand what kind of trouble you are in Mr. Riddle?" he’d said, his eyes serious as he stood there glaring at him. “If you are to cause any more trouble at this school, I will have to send you home.”

This set something off inside Mattheo. The absolute last thing he wanted in this world was to return to his home. “Please don’t,” Mattheo pleaded, “you cannot make me go back there.”

Mattheo wasn’t much of a beggar, but when it came to avoiding his father, he would do anything. 

“I will not have to, if you follow our rules.” Dumbledore replied, not even the slightest of emotion in his voice. 

That day, Mattheo swore to himself that he would not break another rule. 

“You will start by cleaning all of the bottles and pots thoroughly,” Professor Snape says as soon as the boys get into a line in front of him, “I doubt you will have time to finish other tasks, so you may begin. I will let you know when you are finished.”

Snape walks to the corner of the room, sitting down at a desk. The boys look at each other in confusion, then begin cleaning. 

“Merlin this is vile,” Blaise says, a look of disgust plastered across his face as he empties a bottle full of some brown substance with big lumps in it. “Is this what the first years are doing?” Theo asks, using his fingers to pinch his nose shut as he dramatically moves a bottle of the same substance as in Blaise’s from one place to another. 

“I hope so,” Enzo says quietly, “because if this is someone who’s supposed to have more experience, they might want to reconsider their life choices.”

Draco snorts at that comment, his hands using a sponge to clean up a large pot. 

Enzo finishes what he’s currently working on, then sees out a large pot on the floor a few feet away. “Uhh Professor?” he asks, “are we supposed to clean that as well?” 

Snape barely removes his eyes from the paper he’s reading, instead he just nods.

Enzo sighs loudly, then tries to lift it. It is way heavier than it looks, and just as he’s about to give up, Mattheo comes to help. He grabs one of the handles on the side, looking Enzo in the eyes before nodding to the pot. Enzo grabs the other handle. “1, 2, 3.” they manage to lift it onto one of the tables, before letting go. 

“I think I’ll take it from here,” Theo interrupts, shimmering his way in between Enzo and Mattheo. Theo stares at Mattheo until he surrenders and flees to do something else. Theo turns to Enzo who simply shrugs. Together they begin cleaning the pot. 

No one knows how long has passed when Snape excuses himself to leave for a moment. He makes it clear that they are to continue with their work while he is gone. 

The moment the door closes behind him, Draco lets out a loud sigh. “I cannot take another moment of this.”

“Well then you’re in luck princess,” Theo replies, “you merely have three days left.”

Draco dramatically bangs his head into the table, making his friends laugh. Enzo uses this as a distraction to head over to where Mattheo is seated. He’s sitting down on a chair, a few feet away from the rest of them, cleaning smaller bottles off with a cloth. 

“Hey,” Enzo whispers, pulling out a chair to sit opposite of Mattheo who shoots him a small smile before looking down at the table again. “Why’d you help me before?” 

Mattheo looks up, finally meeting his eyes. “Don’t want any trouble I suppose.”

“No I get that,” Enzo frantically explains, keeping his voice low, “it’s just, with the fight and all that?”

“Just tell me if you don’t want me to help you again,” Mattheo replies, looking at Enzo through glossy eyes, “and I’ll stop.”

“That’s not what I mean-,” Enzo gets cut off by Theo grabbing his arm. “Enz, we need you to talk about our-,” Theo stops mid sentence, looking oddly at Mattheo before shaking his head and continuing, “our plans .”

Mattheo meets Enzo’s eyes. “What plans?”

Theo eyes Mattheo up and down, his eyebrows raised in surprise. “None of your concern.”

Mattheo lets it go, quickly realizing that he doesn’t want to pick a fight with Theo. Enzo sighs but eventually turns away with Theo, returning to Draco and Blaise. 

It is almost midnight when Blaise pokes Draco’s side as he lays asleep in his bed. Blaise signs for Draco to be quiet just as he is about to cuss Blaise out for waking him up. Enzo and Theo are already up and dressed in black, waiting by their beds. Enzo glances at Mattheo’s bed, but he seems to still be asleep. 

Once Draco is ready, Blaise motions for them to leave. Every step they take towards the door makes the old floorboards creek. “What are you guys doing?” They all freeze in place, none of them daring to turn around. Mattheo lights a candle, making it easier for him to see the four boys trying to sneak their way to the door. 

Mattheo rubs his eyes as Enzo turns around to face him. “Don’t worry about it,” he says, “we’ll be back in 30 minutes.”

Theo elbows Enzo’s side, making him wince. “I told you it was none of your concern, didn’t I?” Theo says, standing up straight, crossing his arms.

Mattheo’s eyes widen and his mouth falls slightly open. “My apologies, but if my dorm mates are sneaking out past curfew, I am going to be concerned,” Mattheo scoffs, “so I guess I will ask you again. What are you doing?”

Lorenzo and Theo look at each other, debating what to say. Theo closes his eyes in a moment of thought, but opens them in shock of what Enzo says next. “Get dressed.”

Before Theo can protest, Draco is already at it, grabbing Enzo’s arm. “What the hell mate?”

“Mattheo is coming with us, but only if he promises not to say anything about what happens tonight.” Enzo explains, looking from his friends to Mattheo who is still sitting on his bed, looking very confused. “Do you promise?”

Chapter Text

Moments later, all five of the boys are sneaking down the corridors, looking for the room where Hagrid would have hidden the Nifflers. The plan was simple, they would check every door on the lowest level of Hogwarts for the Niffler cages. Once they found them, they would head to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and let them out. Blaise and Draco even headed to the kitchen to try and find some leftovers from dinner to give to them.

While they were looking for food, Mattheo, Theo and Lorenzo were opening doors left and right to find the cages. “What if we don’t find them?” Mattheo whispers, closing a door behind him. “Well then we’ll have to head back to our dorm,” Theo responds, creaking a door open and checking inside. 

“Luckily we won’t have to.” Enzo says from the other side of the hall, he's smiling widely. “In here! Come quick!”

Theo and Mattheo share a look before heading towards the room Enzo just disappeared into. Once they make it to the open door, they find Enzo crouched down on the ground next to two cages with approximately 5 Nifflers in each. “Blimey,” Theo says in a breath of relief, “come on, let’s pick them up.”

They all gather around to help each other carry the cages to their next destination. “Oi they’re in here,” Blaise says from the door, waving at Draco who’s out in the hall. Blaise is eating some sort of bun while carrying a load more in a folded up blanket. Draco appears in the door, hesitating as he sees Mattheo struggling to pick up the cage, but eventually goes to help him. 

Together, they leave the room, closing it up behind them, before making their way to the DADA classroom. “Careful,” Lorenzo whispers, almost getting stepped on by Draco who’s trying not to fall over behind him. “I’m trying!” Draco hisses. 

“We made it,” Blaise whispers, opening up the door and holding it for his friends who walk in slowly. They put down the cages in the middle of the classroom, each taking a step back to admire their work. Blaise closes the door, then makes his way over with his food. He unwraps the load of buns he’s been carrying and lets them fall to the floor between them. “Are we ready?” Theo says quietly, crouching down to the cage closest to him. Everyone agrees and Draco crouches down to open the other one. 

In a matter of moments, the Nifflers run out of the cages, immediately heading towards the bread in the middle. They squeak and squeal in excitement. The boys look at each other, victory on their faces as they highfive and fistbump each other. “We better go before someone hears,” Theo says, nodding towards the door. Everyone follows him out into the hallway. Mattheo, who exits last, closes the door shut behind them. 

“I cannot believe we did that,” Draco says quietly, a wide grin on his face. Blaise bumps his shoulder with Draco’s and they laugh together. A door shuts in the distance, and everyone stops dead in their tracks. Theo, who’s in front, leans ever so slightly forwards to catch a glimpse of what is happening down the hallway on their left, but falls back quickly once he realizes that it is Mr. Filch, wandering the halls. 

He turns around in pure panic, making eye contact with the others. Blaise is quick to grab Draco, pulling him backwards to find somewhere to hide. Filch’s footsteps get louder and louder in the distance. Enzo is frozen in place, and he almost lets out a sound of pure shock when a hand wraps around his upper arm and pulls him in between two stone beams by the left wall. They are wide enough to keep them out of sight, as long as Filch doesn’t decide to head down the hallway they’re currently hiding in. 

Enzo’s back is pressed against the cold stone of the wall behind him, and he finally looks up to meet Mattheo’s eyes. His finger is raised to cover his lips, signing for Enzo to stay quiet. The space is quite tight, and Enzo wishes deeply that Filch doesn’t decide to take a right turn, capturing them as he’d head down the hall. 

That’s when it strikes him that he never saw Theo get away, and panic washes over him, but there’s nothing he can do. 

Filch’s footsteps come to a halt, and both Enzo’s and Mattheo’s hearts stop for just a second. They then continue, and to their luck, they continue down the hallway and away from where they’re standing. 

Mattheo’s eyes widen, and they stay quietly in place for a few more seconds, trying to listen out for Filch. It is completely silent, and none of them expects it when Theo’s head pops around the corner. “Hey?” 

“Fucking hell Theo!” Enzo immediately pushes himself away from the small space with Mattheo, and out into the hall. “Are you trying to get us caught?” he adds, fury in his eyes. 

“Calm down Berkshire, it was just for laughs,” Theo chuckles, “besides Filch is long gone.”

Mattheo shakes his head, a smile on his face.

That night the five boys went to bed with smiles on their faces. They were equally excited to see how Snape would react when he found his classroom in shambles after discovering the, now free, Nifflers. To their luck, his reaction did not disappoint, when he opened the classroom door, his face turned red as the Weasley’s hair and he slammed it shut immediately. He then proceeded to stomp his way to Dumbledore’s office, where no one but Dumbledore himself and professor Snape knows what went down, but judging by the loud complaints from Snape, he was very displeased. 

“Merlin, that's the best thing that’s happened since we got back,” Blaise laughs, moving a few pots from one shelf to another, as they’re stuck in detention yet again. Today consisted of cleaning up one of the greenhouses. “Agreed,” Lorenzo says, smiling to himself, “I only wish we could have seen the mess.”

“I’m astonished that we are not to clean it,” Theo says from the corner of the greenhouse, looking at his friends, “I mean, they don’t know we’re at fault, but still.”

Draco shrugs. “Let us keep it that way eh?”

Mattheo has been awfully quiet the whole time they have been cleaning. “Surely they will try to find out who did it?” He asks, suddenly feeling rather guilty about last night's actions. As if he hadn’t just the day prior promised the headmaster that he wouldn’t break any more rules.

Theo makes his way to the others. “They are going to try.”

Enzo swings a long cloth over his shoulder. “But they won’t know who did it.”

“They probably think the Weasley’s did it,” Draco says, “which is likely, considering their abnormally large interest in causing destruction at this school.” Draco scoffs, crossing his arms.

“So you don’t think we are going to get caught?” Mattheo asks, pouring some water on the magical plants. 

Draco sighs deeply. “There is no we in this,” he pauses to look at Theo, “the only reason you were there was because Enzo invited you.”

Mattheo doesn’t say anything. He merely stares ahead at Lorenzo who has fallen awfully quiet. Theo steadies himself with a caught, breaking thought the heavy silence slowly occurring. “Draco is right.” He crosses his arms. “This does not mean that we’re friends.”

Mattheo takes a deep breath. “I didn’t say that, did I?” 

Enzo opens his mouth to speak, but is interrupted by the entrance to the greenhouse suddenly opening in a rush. “You five,” Professor McGonagall says, “come with me at once.”

The five boys share a look of terror before following McGonagall to Dumbledore’s office. At their arrival, they discover Harry Potter, seated at Dumbledore’s desk with a wide grin on his face.

Chapter Text

Professor McGonagall escorts them inside, telling them to settle down around Dumbledore’s desk. Enzo sits down in the chair next to Harry, while Mattheo and Blaise find a spot by the wall on their right. Theo and Draco stand side by side behind Enzo. 

“What’s going on?” Draco asks, looking from Dumbledore to Harry with confusion written all over his face. 

Dumbledore looks at Harry. “Are you certain?”

Mattheo feels as though there’s a large pit in his stomach, and he feels his blood run cold when Dumbledore speaks those words. This means that they’ve been caught, and it seems there is nothing left to do. 

“Yes sir,” Harry says in that annoying voice of his, “I overheard them speaking about their plans to let out the Nifflers the other morning at breakfast.”

Lorenzo’s head lowers, and he intertwines his fingers with each other to keep them still. “It is settled then.” Dumbledore says slowly, his gaze falling upon Mattheo. “You may leave now, Harry.”

Harry stands up and exits the room, allowing Draco to take his chair. “You cannot be serious?” He scoffs, “Potter has a personal vendetta against us, you cannot claim him to be a reliable source.”

Dumbledore inhales slowly. “I believe Professor McGonagall and I have made it very clear to you that there are rules which must not be broken,” Dumbledore completely ignores what Draco just said, “and now you must suffer the consequences.” 

Mattheo sighs in utter disbelief, looking away from Dumbledore and Draco who looks like he’s about to explode. His eyes land on Enzo, who’s still looking down into his lap. His hands are shaking profusely and his knee is bobbing up and down anxiously. 

Mattheo feels bad for him, even though he has no reason to. These boys have done nothing but make his Hogwarts experience living hell, yet here he is, feeling pity for one of them. He then realizes that the only one out of all of them, who’s even tried to give him a chance has been Lorenzo, and suddenly the pit in his stomach grows. 

Enzo was the one who tried to talk to him on the first night, Enzo was the one who did talk to him when they had detention and Enzo was the one who invited him to do the prank. If he had to feel bad for anyone in this room, it would be Enzo. Yet he still cannot believe himself when he opens his mouth to speak the following words. “It was my idea Professor,” Mattheo completely interrupts Draco’s rant to Dumbledore, “I was so desperate to finally make some friends and I thought the only way to do so was to do what I do best.”

“-Destroy things.”

There's silence. All eyes are on him, but Mattheo won’t take his eyes off Dumbledore. “Malfoy, Nott, Zabini and Berkshire, you may leave,” he says, “return to your dorm and wait for any news on the subject.”

None of them says anything as they leave the room. Mcgonagall follows them out, leaving Mattheo alone with the headmaster. Mattheo takes a seat, inhaling slowly to calm himself down. “Please don’t send me away,” he says quietly, “I am aware that I messed up. Just give me one last chance.”

Dumbledore stands up, turning his back to Mattheo. Mattheo closes his eyes, trying to get ready for the punishment he is about to have. “I will not be sending you home,” Dumbledore turns around to face Mattheo, “I know you took the blame and I believe that to be a lesson in itself.”

Mattheo is shocked to say the least. “I don’t understand?”

“When you got here,” he begins, “I found it difficult to believe that someone of your bloodline could even feel emotions such as remorse. But you have proven yourself otherwise, therefore I am letting you stay.”

“Why you feel remorseful will be a riddle to me, but I am hoping that you from now on will consider your actions more carefully,” Dumbledore sits down yet again. 

“Thank you,” Mattheo replies in an exhale. 

Back in the dorm the remaining Slytherins are practically losing their minds. “I don’t understand?” Theo runs a hand through his hair, sitting down on his bed once they closed the door behind them. 

“Me neither,” Draco says out into the room as he stares ahead, sitting on his bed. 

“Do you think he wants something from us?” Blaise asks, looking out of the window. Lorenzo flops down onto his bed. He doesn’t say anything, he just rolls onto his side to face the wall. He raises his hands to look at them. They’re still shaking. 

“Do you think we’re getting in trouble?” Blaise then asks when no one really responds to what he said before. “What are they going to do? Give us more detention?” Draco scoffs. 

"Expel us?” Theo says slowly, as if it only just hit him now that he’s got a lot at stake. 

Enzo closes his eyes. Getting expelled is the absolute last thing he wants. “My father would kill me,” Draco replies, “he would cut my head off if he had to.”

“We’re aware that your father is a terrible man,” Blaise says, walking away from the window to sit down on his bed. 

Draco scrunches his nose at the comment. “I did not say that.”

“No. I did .” Blaise throws a pillow at him.

Suddenly the sound of footsteps appear out in the hallway, and the boys immediately gather themselves. The door handle moves and Mattheo walks in. Theo gets out of his bed immediately, walking up to Mattheo. “So?”

Mattheo sighs loudly. “You’re not in trouble.”

Enzo gets out of his bed now too. “And you?”

Mattheo shakes his head. “Nothing.”

There’s a long silence. Blaise turns to look out of the window again. Enzo fiddles with his hands and Draco tries not to say something stupid. “Do you lads want to do something?” Blaise asks suddenly, “maybe it’s time we show Mattheo the Quidditch pitch?”

Draco looks at Theo and Enzo who doesn’t know what to say. Enzo turns to look at Mattheo, whose eyebrows are raised in shock. “Okay,” Enzo replies, “if Mattheo wants to?” Mattheo looks from Blaise to Enzo in confusion. He knows that this is some sort of act to be nice because of what he just did to them, but the more he thinks about it, the nicer it sounds to finally just hang out with someone. As friends . Not because they’re scared that they’re going to rat them out, but because they want to give him something in return for what he did. 

“Uh sure,” he responds, looking at Theo for confirmation. Over the course of the last few days, Mattheo has noticed how all of the boys seem to respond to Theo. Not necessarily because he’s in charge, but the real reason is yet unknown to him. 

“Let’s go then.” Theo grabs his robe from his bed, waving at Draco to get up.  

The rest of the day is spent teaching Mattheo how to ride a broom and the rules of Quidditch and at last they practice how to shoot the Quaffle into the baskets. They stay out until nightfall, completely missing dinner, but none of them really cared. “I mean we’ve snuck into the kitchens before?” Blaise bumps his shoulder into Draco with a laugh, “we can do it again.”

Chapter Text

Once Mattheo was finally accepted into the friend group, things surely but slowly got a lot better. Things were less tense, and they actually got along really well. Mattheo found himself getting closer to Lorenzo and Theo out of them all, despite his and Theo’s fights and differences they came to realize just how much they have in common. Him and Theo are both very competitive. Mattheo realized that one day on the Quidditch field when Theo got really angry after losing to Enzo and Blaise. He’d absolutely lost it and wouldn’t speak to them for the rest of the day until Enzo got the idea that they should bring him his favorite chocolate and suddenly all was well. 

Theo was the one who talked Mattheo into trying out for the Quidditch team, and he was probably the reason he got on, considering his status as team captain. 

They all went to Hogsmeade together. They drank Butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks, and went shopping after they were done. They’d go into different stores, try out funny clothes for a laugh and then walk out again without even buying anything. Mattheo and Enzo did homework together, helping each other with the subjects they each found difficult. Mattheo also learned, in his time of being friends with them, that Draco and Blaise mostly just look intimidating, but they are rarely the ones who start anything serious. 

Theo is definitely the most hot headed out of all of them. Blaise is the jokester. Draco is the most loyal, which would be the only reason he gets into fights, because he sticks up for his friends, not because he initiates them. Lorenzo is the glue. He takes care of everyone and makes sure that they’re okay. He cares for them so deeply. That is something Mattheo has never experienced before. 

They’re well into November now, inching closer to Halloween and then Christmas. The first big Quidditch match is around the corner. Slytherin against Hufflepuff. It is pretty nerve wrecking, but they help each other, practicing together and studying various plays and tricks. 

“Do you think you’ve got it?” Draco asks, looking at Mattheo whose eyes are firmly in the paper beneath Draco’s finger. There are various drawings of possible plays and outcomes for the first game of the year. “I think so?” Mattheo replies slowly, eyes still scanning the pages before him. 

“You don’t need to think. You need to know.” Draco slams his hand on the table, removing the paper at once. “Simmer down Malfoy,” Theo laughs, “a few months ago, he barely even knew what Quidditch was.”

“How can you be so calm about this?” Draco asks, voice irritated, “we need to win.”

“And we will,” Theo responds, “because quite frankly, our team has never looked better than it does now, and we’re going up against Hufflepuff . If anything, we only need to worry about Gryffindor and that game won’t be for at least a few months.”

Draco sighs. “Whatever you say, Nott.”

By now, it is the day before the match. The five boys are sprawled out in their common room, bored out of their minds. “Hey can I ask you something?” Theo asks, turning his head to look at Mattheo. Mattheo raises his eyebrows, nodding slowly at Theo, who moves to sit up on the couch instead of laying down. 

“We never found out your last name?” Theo looks at his friends across the room. They’re equally as interested in the conversation as he is himself. “I’m not going to force you to say it,” Theo pauses, “but if I’m honest, I’ve been thinking about it a lot.” 

Mattheo sighs. He knows that if he told them the truth they would never speak to him again. He can’t afford to lose them now, that would be a disaster. 

“Uhm,” he begins, thinking of every possible way to get out of this conversation, “I’m trying to cut the ties to my family, so I prefer not to be referred to as my last name.” 

Mattheo glances nervously in Theo’s direction, scared of what he’ll say. What he said wasn’t necessarily a lie, but it was definitely a way of dodging the actual truth. The actual truth would be that his last name is Riddle, unfortunately making him related to Tom Riddle, who sadly enough, is Mattheo’s father. 

Theo nods slowly. “That makes sense,” his mouth turns into a smile, “I’m sorry I even asked that. It’s none of my business really.” 

Mattheo chokes out a nervous laugh. “It’s alright.” 

“What happened?” Draco says, blankly, causing everyone to look at him. “Mate? Seriously?” Blaise elbows his side, causing Draco to look at him with a disgusted expression on his face. 

Draco ignores Blaise’s attempt at shutting him up. “Can you really blame me for asking though?” Draco sighs, eyes darting to look at Mattheo, “you never tell us anything.” Draco shrugs, looking between Theo and Mattheo. 

Lorenzo stays silent for a moment, watching the conversation play out in front of him. “This is stupid Draco,” he then says with a sigh, “it’s been months and now you start to ask questions?” 

Draco rolls his eyes. Mattheo takes a deep breath. “My father is a bad man, alright?” he looks directly into Draco’s eyes, knowing there’s truth in the words he’s speaking. “I’m at this school because I don’t want to be at home .” 

And what he said wasn’t a lie. He was at Hogwarts because he didn’t want to stay in the same house as his father. But frankly, there are more reasons than one. 

Draco's face falters, his heart sinks. He swallows the saliva that’s caught in his throat. 

“For Merlin’s sake, Draco.” Enzo hides his face in his hands. 

Draco opens his mouth, but nothing comes out. Theo bites down on his lower lip, looking at Blaise who shakes his head in disappointment. “I- I’m sorry.” Draco looks at Mattheo. 

Mattheo looks away. “It’s fine.” 

Theo takes a deep breath. “Bloody hell mate,” he says, exhaling slowly, “I’m sorry to hear that.”

Mattheo shrugs, his face blank at the reminder of who his dad is and what he’s done. “Can we just talk about something else?” 

Everyone agrees pretty quickly. “So are we throwing a party after the match tomorrow?” Enzo asks, trying desperately to enlighten the mood. 

Blaise’s eyes light up. “Oh yeah.” 

Theo laughs. “Can’t have Hufflepuff throw the first party of the term now can we?” 

Mattheo looks at the others with concern. “A party?” 

“Yeah,” Lorenzo begins to explain, “when we win tomorrow.” 

Mattheo raises his eyebrows, a faint ‘oh’ escaping his lips. “And if we don’t win?” Mattheo couldn’t help but smirk a little, knowing his competitive friends would dislike his comment. “Oh we will,” Theo replies almost instantly, “but at the very rare chance that we don’t, we’re still going to be partying.” Theo said that last portion of his sentence with a ‘duh’ kind of tone. 

“Of course,” Mattheo responds, agreeing with Theo. They share a laugh. “Do you guys want to break into the kitchens?” Lorenzo asks suddenly, looking nervously between his friends. 

“Enzo?” Theo laughs loudly, “since when do you initiate rule breaking?” 

Lorenzo shrugs, a smile growing on his face. “I thought we might celebrate a little before the first match of the term?” 

“Are you taking the piss right now?” Blaise opens his mouth wide, his eyes lighting up. “We are so going to the kitchens.” He gets up in a hurry, waving at his friends to follow him. “Come on then! We have places to be.”

Draco snorts at him, but gets up from the couch too. “What are you waiting for?” Draco looks at Lorenzo, who smiles in return. Then his eyes land on Mattheo, his lips curl into a smile. Mattheo feels like he should be mad at Draco for what he said, but he can’t quite seem to find it within him to actually be angry at him. Instead all he feels is excitement about going to the god damned kitchens with his friends. 

“Alright,” Mattheo says with a sigh, “but if we get caught-,”

“We’re not getting caught,” Theo interrupts, standing up too, “and even if we do, no one can resist my irrevocable charm. We’ll be alright.”

“What charm?” Lorenzo says, folding his arms across his chest. Theo pretends to be hurt by his comment. “That might actually the meanest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

“Get over yourself prince charming .” Lorenzo shakes his head, walking past Theo as he beelines for the exit of the common room. “You prick! Take that back!” Theo follows him closely out of the door. 

Mattheo, Draco and Blaise share a look of confusion, then head out after the two morons that they call their friends.

Chapter Text

Theo didn’t know it at the time, but he was right when he said they’d win against Hufflepuff. The match had gone by smoothly, both teams scoring and catching up with each other, until Slytherins star seeker finally caught the snitch, allowing them to win at once. 

Draco Malfoy was carried out of the field by all of his teammates, cheering and screaming because of their victory. On the stands were all of the remaining students of Hogwarts. Some were sulking because of their loss, others cheering for their win. Somewhere in those stands stood Harry Potter, whining to his friends about his nemesis winning the first match of the year, but neither Hermione or Ron wanted to listen to him anymore, so they shut him down. 

“Bloody hell Malfoy!” Theo cheers at his friend as he gets put down on the ground again once they’ve made it away from the spotlight. Draco laughs, his smile wide on his face.

“Told you we’d win eh?” Theo adds, smirking at his friend as he thinks back to all the complaining Draco did before the game. 

“Shove off Theo,” Draco scoffs, beginning to get himself undressed so he can shower and get ready for the mandatory victory party they’re about to attend in their common room. 

Mattheo, Lorenzo, Theo, Draco and Blaise all walk into the Slytherin common room together. The party has already started and music is blaring through the night. “How is no one finding out about this?” Mattheo asks, referring to the loud music. “It’s a wonder, really.” Blaise raises his shoulders in a shrug. 

“Come on then, let’s get you all started shall we?” Pansy Parkinson approaches the five boys, leading them to a table in the back with all the liquor the students have managed to sneak in. 

Enzo’s eyes widen at the sight. The table is filled with various bottles in different colors and sizes. “Do we even know what’s in there?” he points to the table, looking a bit confused as his eyes glide across the scene. “Does it matter?” Theo wraps an arm around Lorenzo’s shoulders. “It just needs to go down the hatch.” Theo smirks and pretends to down a bottle with a hand motion, making Enzo laugh. “You’re an alcoholic, Nott.” 

Theo narrows his eyes at Enzo, then goes to fetch a bottle. He pops the cap off and heads straight back to him. “Down the hatch Berkshire!” Lorenzo looks utterly terrified but grabs the bottle and takes a few sips nonetheless. “I won’t stop till you’re all groggy,” Theo winks at his friend who has yet to recover from the horrible taste of the alcohol he just drank. 

“I think the star seeker deserves to pick a bottle,” Pansy says, winking at Draco who takes a step forward and grabs something he finds interesting. “This shall be a very fun night.”

The group agrees in unison. “Alright Mattheo,” Blaise says, a smug smile on his face, “your turn.”

Mattheo sighs loudly and then steps towards the table. He reaches out to one and grabs it. “Good choice,” Blaise says, smirking at him. 

After a while, the group settles down in a few of the couches in the corner of the room. Mattheo takes a few large sips from his bottle as he tries to listen to what Theo and Enzo are talking about. Lorenzo leans backwards as much as he can, laughing as he shakes his head in an attempt to get Theo off him. Theo, on the other hand, is almost hovering over him, trying to get him to drink from the liquor in his bottle. “I do not want that sickeling drink,” Enzo says in a long breath as he struggles to push Theo’s arm away. 

Eventually Theo gives up, but he continues to bribe Lorenzo into drinking more and more at every chance he gets. Draco is off chatting to a group of girls in the opposite end of the room, and Blaise is talking to Pansy. Mattheo slowly begins to feel the effects of the alcohol as he sits there, drinking more and more. “Are you drunk yet?” Theo asks Lorenzo, and Mattheo’s head shoots up. He doesn’t want to miss this, especially not since Theo himself definitely is quite affected already. 

“I am not,” Lorenzo tries, in the sternest voice he can muster, but fails miserably. His voice is slurry and his breathing short. Him and Theo both have a crimson red covering their cheeks. “Didn’t think you’d be such a lightweight, Berkshire.” Theo folds his arms and takes another swig of his bottle. Mattheo doesn’t even remember how many Theo has had, nor himself for that matter. 

Lorenzo scoffs loudly. “Well we can’t all be alcoholics from the day we turned 12 now, can we?” Lorenzo folds his arms too, and Theo looks at him in utter shock. Mattheo’s eyes widen and he stares at Enzo who only now, moments later, realizes what he just said. “Oh- I-” he stammers, but he doesn’t get a chance to apologize before Blaise shows up with his arm around Draco’s shoulders. “Who’s ready to get this party started?”

Time passes, no one knows how long, but it was well spent nonetheless. Theo and Blaise spent a long time on the dance floor, yelling along to the songs and dancing with anyone who passes by them. Draco prefers talking to people, so he spent most of his time by the table with the drinks where everyone would eventually stop by so he could talk to them. Lorenzo and Mattheo spent most of their night in the couches, except for the 10 minutes Blaise and Theo persuaded them into dancing with them. 

The air is filled with heavy breaths as the four boys crash into the soft couches after showing off their impeccable dance moves to the surrounding audience. Theo falls down flat on his back and Lorenzo has to push his legs down onto the ground so he can sit down in the other end. Blaise and Mattheo flop down next to each other on the opposite couch. 

“Can I ask you something?” Theo says suddenly, sitting up abruptly. He stares directly at Mattheo who doesn’t realize that it’s him he’s speaking to. “Me?” he points to himself, looking at Theo who nods. “Yeah.”

Mattheo shrugs and takes a large swig of the new drink he just recently acquired. “i’ve been thinking, right? About that day when we got caught after the prank,” Theo starts, immediately grabbing everyone’s attention, “how come we didn’t get in trouble? What did you do?”

“And why did you do it?” Draco adds, flopping down on Mattheo’s opposite side. He’s clearly overheard Theo’s question. 

Mattheo sighs. He needs to think carefully about what to say now. Although, thinking straight is quite hard when there are loads of alcohol in your blood, clouding your mind. “I did it for Enzo,” he blurts out, surprised by his own honesty. Lorenzo’s head snaps up and he stares at Mattheo with confusion written all over his face. “I saw that you were uncomfortable and I took the blame,” Mattheo closes his eyes as he speaks, trying to thread carefully without even knowing why. Whatever was happening to Enzo in that office, seemed personal and speaking up about it around all of his drunk friends, didn’t seem quite right. 

“Oh,” Lorenzo says slowly.

“I assume you saw that my hands were-,” he paused, looking for the right word, “shaky?”

Mattheo nods, his eyes flashing to Enzo’s hands. “Yeah… It happens sometimes.” Lorenzo looks at his hands, flexing them slowly. 

The other boys seem awfully quiet. “It is okay though,” Lorenzo adds and sighs, “it’s manageable." 

“When did it begin?” Theo asks, his voice filled with worry. 

Lorenzo shrugs, looking down at his hands. “Thank you for taking the blame though,” he looks up at Mattheo, desperately trying to change the subject. “I mean, it’s not like they were going to expel you in the first week of your attendance. Smart thinking.”

Mattheo nods, sinking a lump in his throat. He knows that Dumbledore wouldn’t hesitate to expel him, but of course his friends didn’t need to know that. “Let us call it a night, yeah?” Blaise says, standing up. 

Theo agrees and stands up as well. “I'm good with that.”

Draco, Mattheo and Lorenzo get up as well. “Let us go then,” Draco says slowly, nodding towards the exit before walking away. His friends follow him out.

Chapter Text

It is snowing outside when the group of five boys head out of the main entrance to their school. “This is wonderful,” Mattheo says in awe as the white flakes fall upon the cold skin of his face. He stares at the sky, watching the blue collide with the white. 

“Have you never seen snow before?” Theo asks, smiling ear to ear as he crouches down to pick up some snow with his gloved hands. 

Mattheo shrugs. “Didn’t go outside much as a child.” 

Lorenzo sighs. “No offense but your childhood sounds miserable.” 

“It was,” Mattheo replies, turning his attention back to the sky. He doesn’t even hear the loud chuckles coming from Theo as he forms a perfect snowball in his hands. He launches it straight at Mattheo who turns just in time for the snow to hit him in the face. 

Theo and Enzo erupt in laughter as Mattheo stares at them in disbelief. He crouches down and picks up some snow before tossing it at both of them. “You’re going to regret that, Nott!” Mattheo tells as he takes off to chase Theo down. 

“Oi!” Someone yells from a distance. “No one can bully Nott without inviting me first!”

Lorenzo laughs as Draco stomps towards the snowball fight, Blaise right behind him. Enzo picks up a large handful of snow and rushes to smear it out into Draco’s face. “Oh this is war,” Draco snickers before lunging out to grab onto Lorenzo’s jacket. 

Before they know it, a whole fight has broken out. Every man for themselves. It doesn’t stop until Mattheo finally feels as though his payback against Theo was enough, and all five boys are heaving for air. 

Lorenzo flops down into the tall snow. It didn’t even hurt him. Theo joins him and soon they’re all sprawled out on the white ground. “What are you guys doing for Christmas?” Blaise asks, trying his best to look at his friends from where he’s laying. 

“My parents want me to go home,” Lorenzo sighs, “I would’ve preferred to spend it with you lads though.” 

Draco huffs. “My father would never allow me to spend Christmas here.” 

Blaise nods, turning to look at Theo who’s fallen awfully quiet. “Nott? Mate are you listening?” 

Theo takes a deep breath and sniffles a bit as a product of the cold weather. “I’m staying here,” he replies quietly. He turns his attention to Mattheo. “And you?” 

Mattheo lets out a deep sigh, pausing for a moment before he finally opens his mouth. “I’m staying too.” 

A smile spreads across Theo’s face. “Yes!” He grabs Mattheos shoulder, shaking it lightly. “You and me for Christmas baby!” 

Mattheo snorts out a laugh, quickly grabbing some snow from the ground on the opposite side of where he’s laying next to Theo. He tosses it at Theo’s face. “Don’t be a moron.” 

“Hey!” Theo squeaks, wiping the snow off his face. 

Lorenzo shakes his head at them, a bright smile on his lips. 

Christmas inches closer and the five boys spend as much time together as possible before the holidays begin. “What would you do if I got you a present, Nott?” Lorenzo chuckles as he neatly wraps a present he’s brought for his mother. “Would you give me a kiss?” He jokes and pokes his lips out towards his friend who furrows his brows at him in return. 

Theo glances at Enzo’s wonderful gift wrapping job and then back at his own. His present barely looks like a present anymore. He groans in frustration. 

The boys all went to Hogsmeade together, buying gifts for their loved ones. 

“Here.” Draco pushes himself in between Lorenzo and Theo, who look equally surprised to see him. He hands them each a small box. “Thanks Malfoy,” Theo says in shock, inspecting the small present with his eyes. 

Draco doesn’t respond to him. Instead he finds Blaise and hands him one as well. He stops in front of Mattheo who’s leaning back into a comfortable armchair. Draco reaches out, the small box in hand. “For you.” 

Mattheo’s eyes widen and his mouth falls slightly agape. “Thank you,” he whispers, his heart fluttering in his chest. Draco nods and walks off. 

Merely a few days later, the group of friends are saying goodbye. Lorenzo, Draco and Blaise are each standing at the entrance with small trunks by their feet. They’re covered head to toe in coats, gloves and hats, prepared to make an exit into the tall snow outside. 

It had been snowing rapidly for the last few days, blocking everyone inside the castle. But now it was time for the students to leave. “I’ll miss you lads,” Theo smiles, going in to hug Blaise. “Don’t miss us too much,” Enzo chuckles, “it’s only two weeks.” 

Theo snorts out a laugh as he makes eye contact with Lorenzo. He gives him a bear hug, rocking him side to side just to get on his nerves. “Okay okay! Enough,” Lorenzo laughs, pushing himself away from Theo who merely smirks. 

Theo wraps his arm around Draco’s shoulders, squeezing him close to his side. “Bye Malfoy, don’t miss me at the manor.” 

“As if,” Draco scoffs and pushes Theo off.

Blaise steps forwards, stopping in front of Mattheo. “Do you think you can refrain from getting into any trouble with the professors while we’re gone?” 

A smile spreads across Mattheo’s face. “We’re not making any promises,” Theo chimes in, nudging Mattheo’s shoulder. Blaise sighs and gives Mattheo a quick hug. 

“You lads and all of your affection,” Draco huffs, crossing his arms. 

“Want a hug Malfoy?” Mattheo asks, opening his arms with a wide grin. He looks at Draco in anticipation. Draco sneers and turns around while grabbing his trunk off the ground. “See you in two weeks!” He says, heading out of the door without looking back. 

“We should probably go with him,” Blaise sighs and looks at his friends. 

Lorenzo agrees and looks at Mattheo. “I’ll take that hug if you’d like.” Mattheo smiles and nods, waving him over. They share a quick hug and soon Blaise and Lorenzo are on their way as well. 

Mattheo and Theo share a look. “Biscuits?”

“Yeah let’s go.”

Theo and Mattheo lay sprawled out in the Slytherin common room, chowing down biscuits like there is no tomorrow. “You’re kidding right?” Mattheo laughs, looking at Theo with wide eyes. 

“No,” Theo grins, taking a bite of his biscuit, “we had detention for a month.” 

Mattheo shakes his head in disbelief, enjoying every second of Theo’s story about himself and his friends’ previous years at Hogwarts. 

The two boys are too busy laughing and talking to notice someone entering the common room. Snape appears in the doorway. “Mr. R-,” he cuts himself off before he can finish. His eyes are directly on Theo who’s been taken quite aback by Snape’s sudden appearance. “Mattheo. The headmaster is waiting for you.”

Mattheo chuckles nervously. “I’ll be right there, sir.” 

Snape nods and walks off. Theo looks at Mattheo with his mouth hanging open. “What was that?” He asks, feeling a little uncomfortable at the turn of events.

Mattheo shrugs and stands up. “See you in our dorm?” 

Theo brushes it off with a sigh, watching as Mattheo wanders off. A part of him tells him to follow Mattheo to see what this is about, while the other is trying to convince him of how wrong it is. Theo stands up with a sigh. He was never really a reasonable person anyways. 

He sneaks his way down the hallways at Hogwarts. They’re mostly empty now. Everyone is either in their dorms or back home with their families. He stops a few feet away from the door. Something feels off. The door handle pulls down and with a swift motion, he ducks behind a corner as the door to the office opens. Mattheo walks out and heads directly down the hall in the opposite direction. Theo manages to get a glimpse of his face. His expression is blank and emotionless. 

He quietly moves closer to the door, peeking through the keyhole. “You do not understand,” Snape growls, “soon the other students are going to ask questions.” Dumbledore looks distressed. “They will figure out who he is eventually,” Snape adds, “they must.”

Dumbledore looks at Snape as if his eyes could kill. “You are not going to tell them.”

Snape goes silent for a moment and turns to face the door. “I advise you to be prepared with those answers.”

Theo feels his heart drop to the pit of his stomach. The floorboards creak underneath his feet as he runs away. What did he just overhear?

Chapter Text

Theo didn’t go directly back to his dorm that night. Instead, he spent a few hours wandering the halls of his school. He even went outside for a quick breath of fresh winter air before he finally decided to head back. He knows Mattheo is waiting for him. Theo’s eyes gently glide across the glass of a broken window in the common room. Cracks are slowly spreading all throughout. Soon it’ll burst, he thinks.

Theo keeps quiet. He doesn’t utter a single word when he goes back into their dorm. Mattheo is already in bed, laying on his side. He isn’t asleep but Theo pretends to believe that he is. 

Theo slowly gets into bed, facing away from his friend. 

In the morning, Theo awakens before Mattheo. He knows that he has to get their dorm for himself if he wants to figure out about Mattheo’s past. Whatever Snape had said last night, was obviously regarding Mattheo. Theo knows that Mattheo would make up an excuse if he asked him directly so he has to get creative. 

“Matt,” he hisses, throwing one of his pillows directly at Mattheo’s face. Mattheo groans, grabbing the pillow to scowl at his friend. “What?” 

“We need to do something today,” Theo explains, “I cannot stand this silence for another day.” 

Mattheo sighs. “It is almost Christmas. Can’t it wait?” 

Theo shakes his head no. “I’ve got an idea.”

Mattheo questions his entire existence as he follows Theo down an empty hallway towards the library. It is early in the morning and the two of them have not passed anyone on their venture yet .

Theo silently opens the doors to the library, slipping in without a sound. Mattheo follows him, still blissfully unaware of where this whole plan is going. He blindly follows Theo until he takes a halt right before the restricted section. “Theo,” Mattheo pauses, looking at the entrance with wide eyes. 

Theo looks back at him. “Yes?”

“This is a horrible idea, you’re aware of that right?” Mattheo asks, looking around as if to see if anyone’s watching. 

“I need the book for this prank,” Theo responds, spinning around and entering without a second thought, “are you helping me or not?” Theo glances back at Mattheo who hesitates but ultimately follows his friend. 

Once they get inside, Theo instructs Mattheo of what to do and where to look for this supposed potions book that he apparently needs. They split up, each heading in different directions. 

The restricted section is very old and dirty. Spiderwebs hang on the walls and a thick layer of dust covers any possible surface.

Theo knows this part of the library like the back of his hand. Mattheo however does not. He uses this to his advantage and accidentally stumbles into an old load of books on the ground. The books tumble down and each land on the old wooden floor with loud thuds. “Merlin!” He cusses, grabbing Mattheo’s attention from across the room. “Hide!” Theo exclaims and quietly slips through a hidden doorway and out of the section without ever getting caught. 

Mattheo feels his heart skip a beat as he hears Theo from across the room. A million thoughts rush through his mind but his body doesn’t seem to move. 

Theo hears the sound of hurried footsteps in the distance as he rushes down a completely dark hallway. 

He tiptoes through quiet halls and peaks his head around corners until he’s back at the dungeons. He enters his dorm quietly, locking the door behind him. 

He kneels down beside Mattheo’s bed, pulling out a trunk. There’s a lock on it but luckily he’s prepared. No prankster succeeds without knowing how to pick a lock. 

He opens the trunk, slowly letting his hand glide across the variety of things. There are clothes, books and other essentials all within but none of those things catches his eyes. Instead, his eyes land on what seems to be an old letter at the very bottom of the trunk. Theo hesitates, his hand reaching out but slowly drawing back. This seems too personal, perhaps it is a bad idea to rummage through his friend’s things. 

He thinks back to Snape in Dumbledore’s office. They will figure out who he is eventually.

Theo’s hand grabs the letter and pulls it out from underneath an old knitted jumper. 

Mattheo Riddle it reads on the front in a nice cursive writing. 

Theo’s eyes widen and his mouth falls open in shock. There’s a pounding in his chest and he almost feels like he’s going to be sick. Mattheo said his father was a bad man, but Theo had never imagined that his father would be The Dark Lord himself.

The letter had been opened before. Theo pulls out an old piece of parchment. 

Dear Mattheo

It pains me that you must leave under such circumstances. I never thought it would come to this. If you’re ever willing to see me again, know that I will be waiting for you with open arms. 

Love, your mother

Theo folds the paper up erratically. His hands are shaking as he puts the letter back where he found it. He shuts the trunk and locks the lock before sliding it back under the bed. He turns his back towards the bed, his right hand gripping his shirt above his heart. He pauses, trying to catch his breath. It feels like he’s just ran a marathon. 

He hurriedly gets back on his feet and heads straight for his bed, falling down face first into the soft mattress. It is completely silent, and for a long time as well. The pounding in his heart sees no end and especially not once he hears footsteps approaching in the hallway on the opposite side of the wall. 

Theo’s mind spins and he sits up quickly. The lock turns a few times and the door swings open to reveal Mattheo in the dim light of the hallway. Theo wants to yell. He wants to scream at Mattheo and tell him he’s a traitor and a liar for not telling them the truth about his family. But not a single word slips out from between his lips. 

Mattheo sighs loudly, scratching the back of his neck. “Filch caught me,” he says, unaware of the dark secret Theo just discovered while he was away, “I had to beg him not to tell anyone.” 

Theo opens his mouth to speak, and just as he feels as though he’s going to spill it all out, he stops. “Good,” he replies in the most steady voice he can muster.

“I thought you might’ve gotten into trouble,” he adds, putting on his best performance. 

Mattheo shrugs and shuts the door behind him. He tosses his key into the air and catches it again. “Not this time.”

A shaky breath escapes Theo’s lips. 

Theo couldn’t fall asleep that night. He spent the rest of the day pretending like nothing was wrong when in reality he felt completely torn. It took everything within him not to lash out at Mattheo at any given moment. Suddenly, it felt as though a switch had been flipped within him, and the urge to rip Mattheo’s head off overcame anything else. Everything Mattheo did set him off. Every word he spoke and every move he made, made Theo’s blood boil. He felt so betrayed. But he knew he couldn’t do anything. Not while all of his friends were away. 

Theo falls completely silent. He knows that if he speaks, he won’t be able to lie anymore. If he opens his mouth, he’ll yell and cause ruckus right before Christmas. He doesn’t want that. Especially not without his best friends around to steady him again.

The following day when Mattheo tries to reach him, he doesn’t reply. He acts as if Mattheo doesn’t exist. 

“Nott,” Mattheo tries, his voice raising slightly as he taps Theo’s shoulder, “what is it?” 

Theo doesn’t say anything, he merely pulls his shoulder away from Mattheo. Mattheo bites down on his lip, an eerie feeling filling his body. “What happened?” Mattheo tries again, taking a few steps back from Theo who’s sitting on his bed with his back facing Mattheo. 

Once Theo doesn’t reply the tenth time that Mattheo tries to speak to him, he finally stands up and rushes out, slamming the door on his way. Mattheo walks right past the broken window, wondering what went wrong.

Chapter Text

Mattheo didn’t expect his Christmas to be spent all alone yet again, but here he is, sitting by himself while staring into the glistering fire before him. The common room is empty. Not many students like to spend Christmas in a dungeon, not even if it is decorated nicely in the brightest variations of red, white and green.

At least he actually got a present this year, Mattheo thinks to himself, the tiny box from Draco in his hands.

He gently unties the bow and pulls off the red wrapping paper. Mattheo stares at the tiny box in his hands. He slowly opens it, not really knowing what to expect. Inside is a thin silver chain bracelet. There is not much to it, but it is still a greater gift than he’s ever received before.

He slowly pulls it out of the box, looking down at the shiny metal in the palm of his hand. It takes him a few attempts to put it around his wrist, but at last he manages.

It didn’t take more than a day before Mattheo found out why Theo was ignoring him. It turns out, Theo hadn’t been very good at putting Mattheo’s stuff back in its place. Or rather, Mattheo knows exactly how the letter is supposed to lie, tugged away under an old jumper.

He knows the letter like the back of his hand, every scribble, every curve. It must be from reading it over and over again, he thinks.

The sound of the entrance takes him by surprise and he stands up in anticipation. A small part of him wishes whoever it might be to be Theo who’s finally realized that he overreacted and has come to apologize.

However, it is not. Instead, a small group of girls walk in, giggling to themselves. Mattheo sighs and flops down on one of the large black couches.

What a wonderful time.

Every morning Theo wakes up before Mattheo to leave before he gets a chance to say anything. It is the same today. When Mattheo awakes, the dorm is empty. Mattheo slowly rises from the comfort of his bed before beginning to get himself ready.

It’s the last day of the break, meaning that the rest of his dorm mates will return. He doesn’t know whether Theo has told them about Mattheo’s secret yet and he honestly wishes to never find out.

Unfortunately for Mattheo, the second his friends step through the doorway, he can tell that something is off.

Draco barely looks at him and Lorenzo has a sad expression on his face. Blaise pushes past them, clearly ignoring Mattheo who’s standing in the middle of the room.

Theo walks up behind them, his arms folded across his chest. He glares directly at Mattheo with dead eyes. “Really?” Mattheo scoffs, carelessly throwing his arms out. “So this is how it’s going to be now huh?”

They all stare at him, none of them uttering a single word. “Fuck this,” Mattheo cusses, making sure to bump into all of them as he pushes past them and out of the door.

For a second he hears his name being called, but once he looks back, no one is following him. He shakes his head, an ironic grin appears across his face. Mattheo heads towards the Astronomy Tower. He prays that no one is there and eventually heads up the spiral staircase.

To his luck, it is completely empty.

Mattheo sighs, taking a halt by the railing. It is cold outside and he is not nearly dressed appropriately. Every breath he takes is visible in the cold winter air and he slowly feels his fingers going numb.

He taps them along the railing, his mind anywhere but at the tower. This was never meant to happen. One of the reasons why he was even sent to Hogwarts in the first place was to be able to get a new start. Yet here he is, feeling no different from before he even went.

Mattheo gets sucked out of his thoughts by the sound of footsteps behind him. He doesn’t look back, scared to see who it is. The person stops beside him, leaning onto the railing with their elbows, their eyes staring straight ahead at the scenery.

“Nott has already told the entire school,” Lorenzo states quietly, his eyes darting down towards his hands. There is a long deafening silence. “I’m sorry,” he then adds, not even glancing at Mattheo. The steam from his mouth lingers in the air.

Mattheo’s breath hitches. He knew it would happen eventually, but the thought alone scared him so much that he didn’t ever want to think of it.

“Why are you here Lorenzo?” Mattheo asks, his voice stern and emotionless as he turns to look at Lorenzo in anticipation. It has been awhile since he used Lorenzo’s actual name.

The question alone makes Enzo finally look up at Mattheo. For a moment, he doesn’t know what to say, but at last he finally opens his mouth. “I understand why you wouldn’t want to tell anyone about your family, I really do.”

Mattheo doesn’t know what he was expecting, but it definitely wasn’t that.

“And sure, I may be slightly pissed that you didn’t think you could just tell us, but I don’t blame you.” Lorenzo draws his lips into a thin line. He pauses again. “And you certainly can’t control where you come from,” his voice trembles slightly. Mattheo can tell that it wasn’t supposed to but decides not to ask about it. Now is definitely not the time.

Mattheo doesn’t know what to say. He just stands there, mouth slightly open as he stares at his friend.

“Anyway,” Lorenzo says in a breath, “I shouldn’t be here.”

Mattheo narrows his eyes at him, his ability to speak immediately coming back. “What? Why?” He questions, his voice raising an octave or two. He’s fully facing Lorenzo now, his arms falling down to his sides. Enzo does the same, except his left hand is grasping the railing, his knuckles turning white.

“It may sound stupid. Idiotic even. But those guys have been my best friends since we were 12, and as much as I know that they’re overreacting, I can’t just walk away from them. You must try to understand me,” Enzo explains. There’s a hint of desperation in his eyes.

Mattheo clenches his jaw. What Lorenzo said was idiotic and stupid, but he tried to understand where he was coming from. If Mattheo were to have the privilege of having childhood friends, he thinks he might’ve done the same thing Enzo is doing right now. He would stand by them, even if he knew that they were in the wrong.

“I’m sorry,” Lorenzo utters, his eyes falling down to Mattheo’s left hand. He sees the hint of silver beneath the sleeve of his shirt.

Mattheo sighs, his teeth shuttering as he folds his arms in an attempt to keep warm. “Stop apologizing.”

Lorenzo bites back a small smile before slowly wandering off and down the spiral staircase.

Even though Mattheo should consider Enzo’s words cruel, he can’t even force himself to dislike him. At least now, he knows that he has one friend. Even if they have to pretend not to be.

Mattheo absolutely dreads going back to the dorm that night. He pauses just outside the door, hoping that he’s come back late enough for all of them to be asleep. To his dismay however, Draco is still awake, and his head jolts up when he hears the door creaking. He’s sitting on his bed with an open book in his lap. The only light in the room is from a lamp next to him on his nightstand.

The look on his face when he sees Mattheo is one Mattheo will never forget. His jaw is clenched and his lips drawn shut. His eyes bore directly into Mattheo with fury. Before Mattheo even has the chance to react, Draco shuts the book with such strength that Blaise sits up on his bed in pure confusion. Draco hurries off his bed and his body collides with Mattheo’s, loud enough for Theo and Lorenzo to wake up as well.

Draco pushes Mattheo back into the door behind him, grabbing onto the collar of his shirt. He’s angry, very angry. He’s angrier than any of his friends have ever seen him before.

Theo’s eyes widen in shock and Blaise is rubbing his eyes in an attempt to figure out if this is reality or not. Lorenzo however jumps out of his bed to cling onto Draco’s right arm. “Malfoy. Stop it,” he pleads, his voice worried.

Draco doesn’t even look at him. “Why should I? He’s nothing but a liar.”

Mattheo keeps calm, looking back into Draco’s eyes. He knows that if he tried hard enough, he could turn this whole situation around like a flip of a switch.

Draco holds Mattheo’s arms on each side of his head, trapping him against the door. “Oh yeah?” Mattheo starts, “as if you wouldn’t have lied.”

“You should have told us the truth,” Draco says through gritted teeth.

Lorenzo’s hands wrap around Draco’s right wrist. He tightens his grasp. Draco glances at him, a slight hint of uncertainty flashes his eyes before Mattheo grabs his attention again. “Oh really?” Mattheo is fuming. “Why? So you could have told the whole school earlier?” Mattheo’s eyes dart to Theo, who looks guiltier than ever.

“I-” But before Theo even has the chance to explain himself, Mattheo is speaking again. “I trusted you, and instead you made a whole plan to get me in trouble so you could go through my stuff?”

Lorenzo lets go of Draco’s arm, his eyes meeting Theo’s.

“I’m not stupid Nott. I know you planned the whole thing. You wanted me to get caught so you could find out if your uncertainty about me was true.” Mattheo had wanted to say this ever since he put two and two together.

Draco hesitates for just a mere second. It turns out Theo has been keeping secrets as well. Mattheo uses this to his advantage, he rips his hands out of Draco’s, no longer tight, grip. “Well you found what you were looking for,” Mattheo spits, his voice raising significantly, “so keep your little puppets the fuck away from me.”

He glares directly at Draco who pushes past him and heads for the door, Theo right behind him.