"Psst. Psst."

Was there a gnat in her ear?

"Psst. Nora."

Possibly some form of pest?

"Noooora. Noooora."

Well, now that sounded like a ghost.

"Nora, I swear to Merlin if you don't respond I'm going to scream—"

"What, Mattheo?" she growled, looking up and seeing the way that Mattheo Riddle was completely turned backward in his seat.

He grinned. She hated how much she liked the sight of that damn, dimpled grin. "Hi, pretty girl."

"You are impossible."

"Just impossible? Not insufferable? Have I been demoted?"

Nora rolled her eyes and continued to take notes while Professor Trelawney drolled on and on about some prophetic dream she had about a cat and an umbrella. She had a bad feeling that this would come up on examinations later. Trelawney was just batty enough to do it.

"Psst, Nora... Princess... Sexy bi—"

"Could you stop talking?" Nora hissed as she whipped up, her tight half-up braid shrieking in pain with how quickly she moved. "Do you even know how to close your mouth?"

"No, he doesn't," Theodore Nott supplied from where he was sitting next to Mattheo. "I think he was born with a different jaw structure."

"That explains it," she muttered under her breath.

Nora went to turn back to her class—you know, the thing she should be paying attention to—but Mattheo grabbed her hair and twirled it around his finger, bringing her attention right back to where he sat, staring at her like a puppy looking at its master. She couldn't help but melt a little bit at the way he so casually touched her. Like it was second nature. Like he couldn't help but not touch her.

In a way, it made Nora feel a little better. She wasn't entirely sure why it made her feel better because she definitely still hated him. But after a few weeks of fucking in the darkness of his bedroom or the quiet of a broom closet, it was almost nice to be out in the open. Like he didn't need to hide her or something.

Not that Nora cared or anything. Liking Mattheo Riddle would be utterly ridiculous. And Nora was not ridiculous.

But already, there was a small part of her that disagreed. She hated that part but it existed all the same. Remember what happened? You can't afford to trust him, she reminded herself. So she forced herself to distance herself from him as much as possible. She rarely talked to him outside of fucking unless it was to insult him. She never stayed a minute after they were done, never cuddled, never called him a name outside of sex. Because liking Mattheo Riddle wasn't just ridiculous. It was dangerous too.

She remembered a time when those chocolate brown eyes pulled her in like a river dragging her out to sea. She remembered a time when she longed to know what those curls felt like underneath her fingers. She remembered a time when Mattheo made her feel like men might be more than fools destined to break her heart.

But there was a reason memories were in the past.

"Can I help you with something?" Nora said dryly.

Mattheo grinned again. The dip dimple in his cheek popped out as if it, too, were waving hello. "You can help me with a lot of things."

"Ugh." Aditi pretended to dry heave from beside her, finally pulling herself into the conversation. "I liked it better when you two were seconds away from killing each other."

"We still are," Nora said.

Aditi just rolled her eyes. "Uh-huh. And I'm a vegetarian."

You were, Nora wanted to point out but then she realized Aditi's point. Both of those things were in the past. Both of them weren't true anymo—

Nope. Still not true. Nora still loathed Mattheo Riddle. Loathed. As in, more than hated.

Mattheo let go of her hair and held his hand out to Aditi, shifting until he was straddling his chair backward with a lazy grin plastered onto his face. "Hi. Mattheo Riddle, your future husband."

Nora scowled and turned back to her notetaking just as Aditi said, "Glad I can meet you before the altar then."

"You okay, Nora?" Theo asked in a soft, deep voice. "You're seconds away from breaking that quill."

"I'm peachy," Nora growled.

"Nora doesn't like feeling jealous. It doesn't happen often so it sends her hormones all out of whack," Aditi supplied as if that were the reason frown lines marred her forehead. Which it definitely wasn't. She just didn't like having her class interrupted.

Mattheo laughed. Nora hated how her stomach felt like it was filled with bludgers at just the simple sound.

He leaned forward and whispered huskily into her ear, "Are you jealous, princess?"

"No," she lied as her cheeks turned the faintest shade of pink. Most people wouldn't have noticed it. But Mattheo Riddle paid far too much attention to her to her to allow her to go unnoticed.

His grin just widened. "I'm already yours, Nor. Just say the word."

"The only words you'll get from me are shut up."

Mattheo clicked his tongue and tipped his chair backward lazily. Nora had to bite her tongue to keep from snapping that he would break it "I thought that you might say that. But what would you say if I told you that I don't want to shut up?"

"Then I would tell you too bad because we're in class and you're distracting me."

He chuckled under his breath and looked down. "Distracting you," he muttered to himself while fiddling with the maroon tablecloth. "I suppose I should be keeping quiet."

"For once, you'd be correct. That's quite a rare occasion—should we celebrate?"

"And you would want me to do whatever I need to be quiet?"

Nora frowned. Where is he going with this? "I suppose within the boundaries of the school, yes."

Mattheo clicked his tongue. A large smirk overtook his face. Nora's stomach dropped at the sight, though she wasn't sure if it was from excitement or dread. Probably a mixture of the two. "Well then, guess I'll have to shut up."

Before Nora could ask what he meant, Mattheo turned to Aditi. "Mondal, mind being a peach and switching seats?"

"Of course," Aditi responded with a sly grin just as Nora shouted a bit too loudly, "Absolutely not!"

Luckily, they were in batty Trelawney's class in the back corner or the Professor would have actually cared.

Aditi began to stand but Nora grabbed her. "Don't," Nora pleaded with both her voice and her eyes.

"Please do," Mattheo said with a smirk.

Nora could see Aditi's eyes light up with amusement. "Sorry, Nor, but Mattheo used his manners and you didn't."

Nora had a feeling her friend was anything but sorry. Plus, who was she? Her mother?

A deep scowl etched its way onto Nora Rosier's face as Mattheo Riddle plopped happily into the seat beside her while Theo and Aditi watched with mirroring smirks. Their friends turned forward to the class, leaving Nora hopelessly alone in the darkest corner of the Divination room while Trelawney began speaking on how her dream shifted from a cat and an umbrella to a dog and candy floss.

Great.

"Hello, princess. How are you today?" Mattheo asked with an exaggerated sigh, his brown eyes fixated on her.

"Terrible, now."

"Would you like me to make it better?"

"Yes, by leav—"

But Mattheo cut her off by moving his large, steady, veiny hands to her upper thigh where the skirt had slid up from how much she had been shifting in her seat. Every thought in Nora's head escaped as his fingers crawled up the skin, moving the plaid fabric and dancing dangerously close to no return.

"What are you doing?" Nora finally hissed as Mattheo drew circles on her bare skin. She wanted to clench her legs together but it was impossible to with his fingers holding her open like she was nothing more than a door to enchant with the whisper of his fingers.

Mattheo grinned. "Making you feel better."

"We're in class."

"And I want to be in you."

She tried to force herself to scowl at him but she was pretty sure she just ended up looking constipated. The heat inside of her was rising. Frustration, anger, annoyance, lust.

Being with Mattheo Riddle was like being on fire. But burning had never felt so good.

Nora tried to hold the flames at bay but they just got stronger the moment she watched his chocolate eyes darken. The smirk was still on his face but it shifted into something darker, something more intense. And damn if it wasn't attractive as hell.

"Isn't it wonderful how we have tablecloths?" Mattheo murmured when he leaned over. His fingers toyed with the lace on her panties. Nora refused to admit that she wore them for him but they were as uncomfortable as they were sexy so… you do the math.

"I suppose in certain circumstances it could be convenient." Nora shuddered.

Mattheo snickered. "You said cum."

"What are you? Eight?"

"Inches, yes, babygirl. But shouldn't you know that by now?"

Merlin, yes. She did know. She hated how much she knew and she hated how much she wanted to know again. But when his fingers brushed over her clit, hatred went out the window. Desire—hot and heady—took its place.

Mattheo pushed back the hem of her panties. "Keep quiet unless you like detention."She wanted to argue because like hell Mattheo was going to order her around. But she didn't for two very compelling reasons. The first was that she was in the middle of an active class, which meant that she didn't want to be loud either.

The second was that Mattheo's finger entered her slick folds like it was gliding through butter.

Nora bit her lip to contain the very unladylike moan she wanted to make. It was milliseconds away from exiting her anyway.

"Do you like that, princess?" Mattheo muttered huskily as his finger twisted inside of her. "Do you like me reminding you that you're mine? Do you like being the only woman that I do this to?"

"Yes," she breathed because right now, lying felt impossible when all her mind could say was Mattheo, Mattheo, Mattheo, Mattheo.

Even when it should have been saying I hate you, Riddle.

Mattheo's thumb brushed over her clit just before he notched another finger inside of her. Nora couldn't help but open her legs wider. A part of her knew that she was in class, that this was wrong.

But a bigger part just wanted more of him.

Waves of pleasure rolled over her like fire burning a field to nothing but ash. It was all-consuming. It was everything.

"I hate you," she whispered just as stars—no, not stars, sparks—danced at the edge of her vision.

"Oh, Nor. Didn't I tell you I love it when you say that?"

"I hate you, Riddle," she whispered just as tears filled her eyes from the sheer pleasure of it all. From having to hold in her moans, to feeling his deft hands move inside of her, from knowing what it was like to be destroyed all over again.

"I hate you too, princess."

And when Mattheo's thumb pushed further into her clit, she was gone. Nora bit her lip hard enough to draw blood just as the orgasm crashed over her, burning her to nothing but a heap of ashes at his feet, waiting for the wind to blow her away. But nothing—no wind, no water—could affect her as much as he did.

Mattheo's movements slowed but they didn't cease as he eased her back into reality. Despite his usual persona, his face looked serious as he stared into her eyes with darkened chocolate irises. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," she whispered because snarkiness wasn't coming to her when she was still spark-struck by her orgasm.

Blood ran down her chin from where she bit her lip. With a half-smile on his face, Mattheo brought his hand to her face and wiped it gently with his thumb. Nora smelled her juices on his fingers. It made her want to come all over again.

"Do you want to get out of here?" he asked with a smirk.

And even though she definitely still hated him, she couldn't help but say, "If it's with you, yes."

He grinned. "I like that answer. Follow my lead?"

She nodded.

"Bloody hell, Rosier!" he shouted, turning all the heads of the classroom back to them. "What the bloody hell was that for?"

"For being a fucking git!" Yes, this was good. Anger around him was natural. Normal. Predictable.

The fire inside of her wasn't. She wanted it gone. She wanted him gone.

Nora hated how that felt like a lie.

"You must have fucking failed astrology because it's clear that you fail to grasp you're not the center of the universe." That was a good one. She'd have to give him points for that later.

"Oh, like how you repeatedly fail Flitwick's class because the only thing you can charm is Goyle with a love potion?" The class snickered as they remembered that iconic prank.

"There's the Nora and Mattheo we all know and love," Aditi muttered under her breath before rolling her eyes.

"Well, if you hate me so much, then why don't you fucking leave?" Mattheo yelled with a hidden wink as he turned around.

"Wow, congrats! You had a genuinely good idea for once. I'm out of here." Nora slung her messenger bag over her soldier and strolled out the door, happy to finally be out of her cast and walking again.

Just as she was walking out the door, she heard Mattheo say, "Professor Trelawney, Nora has completely broken my connection with the beyond. May I be excused?"

She wanted to roll her eyes when the professor stupidly fell for his scheme but all she could focus on was hurrying to the nearest broom closet. His footsteps pounded the spiral staircase not too far behind her. Nora giggled just as he grabbed her waist with a tight grip and quickly pulled her behind the nearest door.

"Hi, princess," he breathed as he fumbled with the belt of his pants.

Liking Mattheo Riddle was dangerous. Like walking into a house fire and hoping the flames would only warm you, not burn you to the ground. But maybe Nora liked the spark he brought her, the adrenaline rush being around him gave her. Because as he sheathed himself inside of her, she couldn't help but sigh. "Hi, Mattheo."

What do you guys think so far? I love their flirty little banter that they have but ofc I had to give a nod to the hatred Nora is still hung up on hehe hence the little fight. Also, Mattheo is so hot IMO.

Hope you're liking it! Let me know thoughts, predictions, wishes, etc. :)