𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐋𝐘 𝐓𝐄𝐗𝐓𝐒, mattheo riddle

𝒊𝒊𝒊. you promised, zach, promised...

✧⋆· *ೃ⁀➷

  "CHERRY!" SOMEONE CALLS, and I turn around.

  "Yes━? Mattheo!"

  "Yes, Mattheo," he mimics. "Great job identifying me━next time, need a bigger clue?" he snarked. My face probably housed a manical, maybe━dare I say━egoistic grin, but it didn't faze me in the slightest. Mattheo and I were good friends (some may say too good, my call on it: bullshit), and our friendship was, by my guess, built on one thing━bantering.

  It was how we met, after all.

  "Hey, Cher, you a-okay?" he nudges me, and I force a bright smile onto my face. He frowns, then says (in a sort of quiet tone), "you ain't foolin' me, Cher... tell me what's wrong?" He does his adorable act of pulling a pout onto his face, amber eyes shining at me. How could I resist that? It took all of my willpower to not spill my entire mind, to not cry, to not yell, to not do something━but regardless, I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat (but when did it get there━?) as I answered, 

  "Yeah, just thinking, Matty." Wisely, he ignored the fact that I called him 'Matty'━a name I hadn't uttered in years, instead, cracking a smile and joking.

  "━don't hurt yourself!"

  I pulled a silly face, "Of course I won't━do you take me for an alec or some other motherfucker?"

  Mattheo pretended to look hurt, "of course I don't━oh, screw that━duh I do!" Laughter erupted from both of us as we stood in the Hogwarts' courtyard. 

  "Not very Hufflepuff like, is it, Cherry?" remarked a familiar-sounding voice. Ugh. Zacharias Smith━utter pain in the ass, a little fucker━and, unfortunately━my brother. Little, my brain supplied (an ongoing argument between us━one that Mother and Father choose to stay neutral in!)

  I smirked, "And it's not like I'm a hufflepuff or some other shit, is it, Smith?"

  "Unfortunately for you, Cherry, I don't mean the house, Hufflepuff━I mean the family, the Founding House of Hufflepuff," Zach replied, with a tone filled with something I named egoistic, "and just for your information, Lorelai, the last-name approach doesn't work as well when it's your own brother, does it, now." 

  The fucking prat! Idiot! Motherfucker! "Really Cherry, cursing people in your head does nothing," he chided in a mocking tone. "I thought that you of all people would remember Mother's lessons━you know."

  "And I hoped━no, I thought that you of all people wouldn't be such a bitch, but unfortunately, not everyone's dreams come true, do they?" 

  "Cherry, Cherry, Cherry," he shook his head. Taking a step closer━and towering over me with his height of 6'2, against my foot-shorter frame━he leaned down (narcissistic motherfucker, cunt, bitch━!) to whisper in my ear. "Take it as a warning, perhaps━a warning from your elder, Heir Hufflepuff. It'll do you good to remember that you are, simply put━and with offense intended━merely but a girl from the House of Hufflepuff." 

  My blood boiled. Who was he to tell me what to do? Heir Hufflepuff, who cares?! You do, another part of my brain whispered, not only that, but it hurts you that he's your brother━there's no fooling me. Well, fuck that━of course I cared! Aside from Mother and Father (who I had never been particularly close to), he was the only family I had left━and, in my head, he treats me like crap. Does he though? Another part wondered. Is he really, truly, honestly that mean? Who does that to their━I'll say it━little sister? The same sister he swore to protect over ten years ago? Did he forget about his promise━? Or did he truly never care about me?