The One
SYNOPSIS: it would’ve been fun. If he would’ve been the one.
FANDOM: Harry Potter
PAIRING(S): Mattheo Riddle x Fem!Reader
RATING: G
CHARACTERS MENTIONED: Goyle, Crabbe, Draco, Theo, Pansy, Enzo, Blaise, Tom, Voldemort
GENRE/AU: Angst, Unhappy ending, Arranged Marriage Au!, reader is married to Goyle (not by choice),
WORD COUNT: 2.4k
WARNINGS: Angst
A/N: *cough* the 1 by Taylor Swift was my inspo. *cough* header and dividers made by me. I would also like to make a part two to this. Note: Voldemort/Toms son Tom Jr who looks exactly like him! (Pre-Voldemort)!AU hope this helps.
DEDICATIONS: the people who voted for him in the poll :)
CREDITS: N/A
The silver band on your finger glistens in the bright lights of the wedding hall, looking anything but enticing; instead of a symbol of love and comfort, it was like a shackle that tied you to a man you didn’t love forever.
Your eyes scan the crowd for the millionth time this evening, trying to seek out a pair of familiar brown eyes— your heart drops for the millionth time this evening, and you realize all over again that no matter how many times your eyes search for his, it will not make him appear.
He won’t come, you know that now as your new husband leans over to ‘kiss the bride’.
You try to wipe the disappointment off of your face, let go of his messy brown curls and smooth words, his rough hands and intoxicating scent.
Mattheo Riddle wasn’t yours to think about anymore; the man in front of you was.
Why your father thought a marriage alliance with Gregory Goyle would help your family, you’ll never know.
Worse, Goyle was, at one point, at least a decent friend of yours; You, Mattheo, Draco, Theo, Enzo, Blaise, Tom, Goyle, and Crabbe, used to strut around Hogwarts like you owned the place— let’s be honest, you damn near did. You and your protective group of Slytherins.
You allow your lips to touch Goyle’s for only a moment before you pull back and smile cordially; the two of you walk arm-in-arm down the aisle until you reach the doors at the end.
The moment you’re through, you push him away.
“I’m sorry, Y/n.” He says sadly. “If I could have said no, I would have.”
You shake your head, not even listening. “He didn’t even come, Goyle. I thought he’d at least try.”
Goyle sighs. “It wasn’t up to any of us. Not even Mattheo.”
Your eyes sting so you force your face to go deadpan and stare at Goyle. “I will always love you as a friend, Goyle, but I will never love you as anything more.” You say, retreating towards your dressing room.
He says nothing in return. He doesn’t need to. The feeling is mutual.
You enter your dressing room and release a strained breath, resting your head against the door after you close it.
Taking a deep breath, you allow yourself to daydream; to think what this day would be like if Mattheo was the one wearing a suit, the one saying his vows and sliding a ring onto your finger. You let yourself imagine all of the things you would’ve shared with him in this alternate reality, all the joy you might’ve felt. The future you might’ve been able to look forward to.
A tear slips silently down your cheek as your throat closes, suffocating you in the feelings you wish you were feeling.
Someone clears their throat and your eyes fly open, as your whole body snaps stick straight.
It’s your father, sitting eery and alone in a dark room. “You had to grow up one day, Y/n,” he says as his cold gaze sweeps over you. “Stop running around with that Riddle kid and risking your future.”
You shake your head. “The only real future I had was with him, Father.” You tug on the skirt on your wedding dress, and then your hair. “All this— this glamour and camaraderie is you, father, you playing puppeteer with real live people. I don’t know what status you think you’ll get from Goyle, of all people.”
Your father just sneers and pulls up his sleeve— an elaborate tattoo meant to symbolize his allegiance to Voldemort. The dark mark. He says, “You know exactly who that boy’s father is, and exactly where that puts me in relation.” He pauses. “This is what the Dark Lord wanted, Y/n.”
“…what?” Your mouth hangs open, and you wonder why the dark lord would want to torment you personally. “Why would he… I don’t understand.”
Your father just brushes past you and twists the door open. “If the Dark Lord doesn’t tell, you do not ask.”
……
“You’re going to marry him, right?” Pansy asks, smiling at you in the way that friends do when you have a crush on someone.
You shrug, playing it cool but despite your heart going a thousand miles a minute; excitement courses through your veins at the thought of Mattheo. “I think we’d have to become an actual thing first, Pansy.” You laugh.
She winks at you playfully. “I don’t think that’ll take too long, Y/n, He is whipped for you.”
You shake your head. “He is not.” Your heart still flutters.
“He is.” A new voice cuts in, and it sends a shiver down your spine. You turn to face Mattheo, who is now leaning in the doorframe.
What an entrance.
Pansy looks between the two of you and smirks mischievously. “I‘ll leave you two alone and go bug Blaise.” She slips past Mattheo.
You can’t meet his eyes as you grin stupidly at the floor, and the shirt in your hand.
“You talk about me often?” He says, settling on the floor next to you; he breaks you out of your stupor by gently tugging the shirt out of your hands.
You finally look at him. “No, only when Pansy brings you up. Which is always.” You bite your lip as you smile. “I don’t mind it though, you’re one of my favourite subjects.”
“That’s good,” he agrees, toying with a lock of your hair. “I think the guys are sick of hearing about you.”
“Of course they are,” you banter, “They already know everything about me.”
Mattheo leans in closer. “I don’t think they know everything.” His head dips down until his lips are just millimeters from yours. “They wouldn’t know what your lips feel like, would they?”
He bridges the gap and the two of you spent what is probably several minutes just kissing, and when he pulls away you’re breathless.
“No, I don’t think they know that.” Your voice comes out high-pitched, still trying to catch your breath both mentally and physically.
“I hope they never find out.” He says quietly.
You nod absent-mindedly. “Me too.”
….
You sigh deeply and set down the box in your new living room. Trying to put a positive spin on it, you think about how it won’t be terrible living with a friend instead of your parents, who were never there when they needed to be and always there when you needed them to leave.
Emotionally and physically.
You and Goyle are throwing a housewarming party, per his mothers request; so, technically this box really shouldn’t be in this room right now. It needs to be prepped for the party.
Goyle walks into the room. “Malfoy wants to know if he should invite Mattheo.”
You shrug. “Tell him to invite him, I don’t think he’ll show up either way.” Getting over Mattheo has not been easy, and when you think about him, his absence still sends several intense stabs through your heart.
You can still feel the ravines where the cracks in your heart formed. If he did show up, it would either put you on the path to healing or destroy you all over again and possibly forever.
You were fully prepared for the latter if it meant seeing him one last time.
But he won’t show, just like he wasn’t there when you really needed him just a few months ago, when some other man’s ring was being slipped onto your finger and you were near powerless to stop it.
Goyle stares at you for minutes, as if you’re fragile and need to be handled gently. “It is short notice.”
You pick the box back up and walk past him, just to stop at the foot of the stairs. “That’s not what I mean and you know it.” Then, you go upstairs and place the box in the guest bedroom. You have all this space in your new house and absolutely nothing to do with it.
Rooms filled with expectations and soured dreams.
….
Parties should be fun; this cake, considering it’s your favourite flavour, should taste good. You’re surrounded by the faces of your closest friends, all your family— though you aren’t fond of many of them— and all of Goyle’s family. Yet, all you feel is unfulfilled aching for Mattheo.
You feel so pathetic, always thinking about Mattheo, always relating everyone moment to your first love.
But you had wanted him to be your last. Your only. Your everything.
Draco is here, and he’s the one who asked about inviting Mattheo, so you’re pretty sure he’s not coming and you know you absolutely shouldn’t ask.
Instead, you stare at Draco as you eat the tasteless cake, wishing he’d somehow understand what you wanted to know.
Doesn’t help that he’s across the room.
“Y/n, come upstairs for a minute.” Pansy says, dragging you away from the party and into your bedroom. Or what will be your bedroom, anyways.
When the door has shut and she’s locked it, she turns back to you. “You can’t spend the whole party pining over the possibility of Mattheo showing up, Y/n; I know how much he means to you but you have to accept that you’re married and it’s over. You’re only going to hurt yourself more if you keep obsessing over this.”
You reel back, though you’re thankful for how bluntly Pansy says it. “I know, Pansy, I know. I just— I don’t know if can ever get over him. I mean…” You trail off trying to find your words. “Goyle was probably the last person out of our group that I would’ve chosen if I couldn’t have Mattheo. Truly, I think I could live if it was Enzo, or Theo, or even Draco, but not Goyle.”
She sighs. “But it’s not them, and it is Goyle.”
“So, what now?” You huff. “I’m just supposed to… I don’t know, keep his house and have his kids?”
Pansy’s eyes soften but she doesn’t respond; its a rhetorical question and there really isn’t any proper answer for it.
Then, there is a knock at the door. Pansy unlocks and opens the door, just enough for her to see who it is.
When she does, she says nothing. You watch her slip out the door before you even see who is behind it.
And then he steps in.
Mattheo Riddle.
“Hello, Y/n.” He says, so plainly as though he hasn’t just affected you in more ways than you could ever possibly count.
You look away. “You actually came.”
He clears his throat. “I did.”
You can almost picture him a few years back, standing in your dorm room door, smiling at you in that teasing way that made you knees weak.
Except he’s not smiling, and there is absolutely nothing blissful about this moment.
“There’s something I have to tell you.” Mattheo shuts the door behind him. “If it changes anything at all.”
…..
“There’s something I want to tell you, y/n.” Mattheo says one day, cryptically. “I’m just not sure if I should yet.”
You brush his hair out of his face. “Whatever it is, you can tell me, whenever you’re ready.”
He shakes his head, but he’s not disagreeing. “I’m worried you’ll see me differently.”
“There is nothing in the world that could make me see you differently, Mattheo.”
He seems sated by your words, and pulls you into a hug, resting his chin on top of your head. The two of you stay like that for a long while before he finally says, “I’ll tell you, but not today.”
You nod silently and focus on the feel of his arms around you, not wanting to take a single moment with him for granted.
…..
“What is it, Mattheo?” You say exhaustedly while you sit down on the mattress. “What could you say that would change anything?”
He takes a deep breath and sits beside you. “I know why this is happening, why Voldemort singled you out.”
You look up at him. “Mattheo…” trailing off, you stare at his sleeve in horror, dreading what you think he’s going to say. “Please tell me you didn’t.”
He furrows his eyebrows, following your gaze; when he realizes, his eyebrows shoot up again. “No! No, That’s not why I know.”
You visibly deflate with relief. He instinctively curls his arm around you but then quickly pulls it away. “Okay,”
He chuckles dryly. “My reason is actually much worse.” Mattheo pauses, blowing out a breath. “I’m his son.”
.
.
.
After a moment's hesitation, you shoot up from your spot, your eyes blown wide with disbelief. “Mattheo, you cannot be serious.”
He stands up, and sits you back down, trying to keep you calm. “It’s not like I want to advertise that my father is the most notorious dark wizard in history.” He reaches out and pushes a strand of hair out of your face, like you used to do to him so many times. “But he didn’t want you with me, Y/n, all of this is happening to you because of me.”
He sinks down to his knees in front of you and takes your hands in his.
“So,” You start. “I was personally targeted by the dark lord because you couldn’t bother to mention what’s probably a very important detail.”
His fingers tighten around yours. “I was so scared that you wouldn’t love me anymore if I told you, and then, by the time you were engaged, it was too late.”
You push his hands away. “Mattheo, I would have loved you no matter what you told me.” The hurt in your voice makes him back away from you and you can see the pain swirling in his eyes too.
“I told you. You know. Now, we can fix this.”
“No, Mattheo,” You stand up and push him towards the door. “It’s too late. You’re too late.”
He shakes his head rapidly. “No. No, it’s not.” Mattheo tries to stop you from opening the door but ultimately you push him over the threshold. “Please, Love, We can make it work— we could run away, do anything— please.”
You can’t look at him as you speak, while tears flow freely down your cheeks. “We were something, don’t you think so?”
His face falls, and you can see his heart shatter— you can feel your heart mirror his.
Perhaps, though, the most painful part is when he replies; “Yeah, we were.”
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