Riddle Me This

20

Mattheo leaned in and slowly pressed his lips to mine. Fireworks erupted in my stomach. 

The world could've ended. Voldemort could even have appeared. But I wouldn't have cared. This was the best moment of my life. 

I wrapped my arms around his neck, and his rested on my waist. I began to lean away, but he just pulled me closer. I fought a smile off my face. He wanted me. 

Or it was just good acting. I really hoped not. 

"Cae! How have you...been?" a voice trailed off behind me. I immediately released Mattheo and spun around. Standing there was Harry, Nini, and Ron. More than twenty students, from all houses, were acting like they weren't looking at me and Mattheo. I felt my face burn despite the cold. "Hey Harry," I said, smiling awkwardly. "So the rumors are true?" Nini asked. 

My brows furrowed. "Rumors?" I asked. "The rumor that you're dating Mattheo!" Ron exclaimed. I saw anger written on his face. "Well-" I began. "Yeah, she is," Mattheo said, kissing me on the cheek and putting an arm around my shoulders. I blushed deeper. Nini giggled.

"Well, me and Theo should go on our date," I said, taking his hand and leading him away. "Okay, see you later. Oh, and Cae? Thanks for what you did there at breakfast," Harry said. I turned to flash a smile and a wink at the Golden Trio. Then, I walked to Three Broomsticks, my fingers tangled in Mattheo's. 

"You're a good actor," Mattheo remarked after we had ordered our drinks. "Actress. And thank you," I corrected. "Okay, actress. But I thought you might freak out or something," he said. I raised an eyebrow. "We had an audience. I'm not blowing our cover before the day's over," I said.

"So, I'm Theo now?" he asked. "Yup! You're stuck with it now!" I said, nodding and grinning. "What about the other Theo?" he asked. "He's now Dora," I said, shrugging. "Isn't that from Little Women when-" he began. "When Laurie and Jo meet. He told Jo about how he was called Dora by his friends," I finished, amazed. Mattheo grinned. 

"I never took you for a reader," I stated. "Most people don't," he replied. Then, a woman came over with our drinks. I mumbled thanks and took a long sip from my butterbeer. Mattheo drank his.

"So what about that backstory?" I suggested. "Let's do that somewhere a little...private shall we?" Mattheo said in a low voice. I raised an eyebrow, but nodded. "Well then, let's set some boundaries. Like in To All The Boys I've Loved Before!" I said. "From what?" he asked, his nose wrinkling. "It's another book, Theo," I huffed, rolling my eyes. 

"So, what kind of boundaries? Like 'no making out' or something?" Mattheo asked. "Oh we're making out. Only in public though," I said, smirking. Mattheo gave me a sly smile. "Okay, I see how this works. My suggestions are: we can't do anything dirty, we can't lie to each other, and don't tell anyone at all costs," he said. 

I folded my arms across the table. "What if your dad finds out?" I asked. "Eh, he won't give a shit," Mattheo replied, shrugging. I caught a glance of a first year girl looking at Mattheo with wide eyes. I smiled kindly. My 'boyfriend' frowned and turned around. He and the first year locked eyes. 

I fought off a smile as the first year's jaw dropped as Mattheo smiled at her. She ran out the door. "Huh. What's her problem?" Mattheo asked, looking after the girl. I rolled my eyes. "I'm sorry Theo, but don't you realize that you have that effect on girls?" I asked. "What 'effect'?" he asked. "You know—making them flustered," I said, blushing. 

"Hmmmm. Has this effect washed over you somehow?" Mattheo asked. I gave him a look, then handed my empty glass to a waitress walking by. "Could I have a refill please?" I asked as politely as I could muster. "Yes, Miss Potter. Anything for you Mr. Riddle?" the waitress asked, turning to Mattheo. "I would like a refill too," he said, grinning as he handed her his glass.

"See? That's the kind of effect I mean!" I said, waving a hand after the waitress, who was blushing as she walked back to the kitchen. Mattheo just smirked at me, and rested his elbows on the table. I was irritated at how little he cared. 

"Well, the restrictions are figured out. Now, what are you allowing me to do?" he asked after a bit. "Anything in front of my brother is out of the question," I said immediately. Mattheo laughed. "Don't want to bleach his eyes?" he asked, grinning. I gave him a look. 

"But, you can hold my hand, kiss me, and make out with me in public," I went on. "And you will be...?" Mattheo prompted. "I'll do girlfriend duties, like hug and kiss you. And we are going on dates every week. But I plan them. So no complaining if it's in the library," I said. 

Mattheo shrugged. "Okay, fine. So, we're all set?" he asked. "Yeah, I guess so. We'll figure out the backstory tonight," I said. I stood up to go, but Mattheo caught my arm. He pulled me down and leaned forward to whisper in my ear. 

"Cae, Rita's here," he hissed. He cocked his head in the direction of another table, and I turned to look. Sitting there, pen and paper in hand, was Rita Skeeter. The cause of my stress right now. Bitch.

"Well what do you want me to do?" I hissed right back at him. "Do your girlfriend duty!" he whisper-shouted. I rolled my eyes and plastered a smile on my face. "So, what's your plans for tomorrow?" I asked like we hadn't just been arguing five seconds ago. "Nothing really. Wanna go out with the rest of the group?" Mattheo asked. "Ooooo! We could see if there's any parties!" I said. I already had an agenda of how we could make our 'relationship' popular knowledge. 

"Let's just get out of her sight," I whined, leaning forward so that only he could hear. "Okay then. Let's go," Mattheo said, standing up and leaving $10 on the table. I stood up too, and I tried to hurry out the door without attracting too much attention. Mattheo was right behind me, pushing me forward with a hand on my back. 

As soon as we were out of the Three Broomsticks, we saw Nira and Theo walking in our direction. I waved to them, and put my arm in Mattheo's. Nira waved back and we met them in the middle. 

"How was your daaaaaate?" Nira sang. "It was fine. We got out of there fast though, since Rita Skeeter was being nosy today," I said. "Paparazzi already, Cae?" Theo asked. "Welcome to my life," I grumbled. Nira, Theo, and Mattheo laughed. I crossed my arms sassily and flounced off into the snow.

Something small and cold hit me on my ass. "MATTHEO RIDDLE I SWEAR IF YOU THROW ANOTHER SNOWBALL AT ME AGAIN I WILL BEAT YOUR ASS," I yelled, whipping around. The three of them were laughing their heads off. I grabbed as much snow as I could and dumped it on their heads.

"CAELIA POTTER YOU ARE SO DONE," Mattheo yelled. Both of us laughing, he tackled me to the ground like earlier. "Mattheo, we're in public," I wheezed as he pinned me to the ground. "I win. Again," he said, smirking and helping me up. As soon as I was standing, I delivered a punch to his shoulder. He didn't even make a face.

"So, where are the others?" I asked, slipping my hand into Mattheo's and leading him to where Nira and Theo were standing, trying not to laugh. "Jenjen's with Draco, Zee's with Enzo, and Didi's with Tom," Nira said. We started walking to a line of clothing stores. 

"Well boys, time to take out those wallets. You'll be needing them," I said as the four of us walked in.

Just hit 2k guys! Thank you so so so much for reading. Love y'all! <3 GO MALIA!

-clare