Chapter 7

The next day slowly dawned, and Y/n awoke as the early morning light crept through the green curtains in her Slytherin room. The day seemed to start fresh, but inside her everything felt different. The alcohol had left her body, but the unpleasant feeling of the previous evening's events clung to her like a heavy cloak. She lay still in her bed for a moment, the feeling of an inexplicable emptiness filling the room, before she decided to get up.

Pansy was still in her bed, wrapped in a blanket, but she was obviously sleeping soundly. Y/n had no desire to wake her and left her in a peaceful sleep. Her own thoughts still felt blurry, the alcohol in her veins, the intoxication from yesterday, still seemed to be present. She slipped out of bed and poured some water from the jug, the cold water sharpening her senses, but thoughts of Mattheo and the way he had turned away yesterday weighed heavily on her mind.

She took a deep breath and stepped out of the room, down into the Slytherin common room. The other members had already gathered around the fireplace when she entered. Some, caught up in waking up, were talking quietly, while others were poring over their homework with their wands in hand. Everything seemed normal, like another morning after an ordinary evening, as if nothing had happened.

"Good morning, Y/n!" she heard Blaise Zambini call as he sat relaxed in one of the armchairs, his eyes fixed on a daily newspaper. She nodded at him with a shallow smile, but the fragment of conversation brought a cold wave of uncertainty over her. Something about the normality of the morning made the tension of yesterday all the more palpable.

"How was your night?" he then asked out of pure curiosity, noticing that Y/n seemed a little more thoughtful than usual.

Y/n took a deep breath and gave a slightly reluctant but polite smile. "Nothing unusual," she then said curtly, trying to end the conversation.

"Oh, I think you're a little misunderstood. Don't worry, we have the best drinks here and..." Blaise grinned, but knew that Y/n didn't really want to delve deeper into the topic, so he quickly fell silent.

Y/n sighed as she shouldered her bag and left the room, aiming to prepare for class. As she walked through the corridors, she felt her steps slow down. As she passed the door to the Potions room, she noticed a familiar presence. She stared at the floor until she heard someone calling her name.

"Y/n?"

Her face froze when she knew who it was before she even raised her head. The sound of his voice was as calm but deep as when he had protected her from the afternoon. She was sure she didn't want to meet Mattheo. But it was too late to just turn away.

"Mattheo," she said with a mixture of reluctance and caution as she looked at him. His face was serious, his eyes had a certain heaviness, and for a moment it seemed as if he was looking at her just like he had yesterday.

"Can you give me a moment?" he asked without turning away from her.

Y/n suddenly felt constricted by that thick tension in the air again, just like that evening. She knew she didn't want to hear from him anymore, that it was better to just forget the whole thing and just leave. But another side of her, something she couldn't quite describe, made her take a step closer.

"What's wrong?" she asked quietly, still cautious.

"I don't want you to think that this was my decision out of... bad intentions." Mattheo had thrown a hand into his hair as he looked at her, the words so uncharacteristically calm that Y/n didn't know what to make of them.

"Do you think I really want this? Yesterday was a mistake," he continued. "But you should know that I didn't mean to hurt you, Y/n."

A silent moment left the conversation hanging heavy between them, and Y/n felt her thoughts darting in all directions. Should she trust him? Shouldn't they just call the incident what it was - a single moment of weakness, an unfortunate turn of events? Or was there something more to it? Something else between them that was more than this misunderstanding?

"I understand," Y/n finally answered, her words sounding distant. "But that should never happen again, Mattheo."

He nodded and then turned away. "I'm sorry."

With these words, Mattheo turned around and left without another look. Y/n stood still for a while, lost in thought, before continuing on her way. It was all too much in this moment.

The rest of the day passed relatively quietly. Their classes were tiring, the conversations superficial, and the thought of yesterday evening slowly faded away like an unpleasant fog that blended into the background noise of everyday school life. When the class finally ended and Y/n returned to the Slytherin community, she was breathing heavily and knew that she would have to process it on her pillows that night. She couldn't suppress it forever, but now was not the time to go into depth. Maybe it was better to forget the moment.

When she finally went back to her room, she sat on the bed and looked out the window, where evening was slowly falling. Everything felt unreal, as if it was only a matter of time before they met again.

But until then she knew one thing for sure: she would not let the night, the tension, or Mattheo hold her back. There was so much more to discover – even without what had happened between them.

Evening came, bringing with it a silence that almost overwhelmed Y/n. After entering her room and getting into bed, she lay there, unable to shake off the constant stream of thoughts. The conversation with Mattheo was still fresh in her mind, as was the memory of the moment when he had suddenly turned away. It was clear that these things were not so easy to forget.

But at this point, the whole conflict felt somehow distant. In her mind, the events of the evening played a repeated loop - the kiss, the rejection, his words, the cold distance he had suddenly kept. But what now? Why couldn't she just be content with it being over?

It was as if that one moment had triggered something she could no longer contain. As the cold breath of doubt and unfulfilled hope spread inside her, she couldn't help but feel that she had been changed somehow. By him, by herself, by the situation. And it was hard to just let the moment go.

But then, in the middle of her thoughts, she suddenly heard a knock on her door. She sat up immediately, surprised by the interruption. Was she expecting someone? With a hesitant step, she opened the door, and there stood none other than Regulus Black.

"Hey," he said with a smile that was both shy and laden with a hint of conspiracy. "I thought we could chat. Are you busy right now?"

Her eyebrow inevitably raised. Regulus had really been less interested in her in the last few days, but today he seemed somehow... different. The suddenness of his appearance and his somewhat uncharacteristically open attitude confused her.

"Uh, sure. I wanted to take a break anyway," Y/n replied, although she still wondered what exactly this visit from him meant. Regulus entered, closed the door behind him and sat down on the armchair that was near the window. He didn't seem like the rest of the Slytherin company - quiet and thoughtful, not particularly keen on making a scene, but rather someone who preferred to operate behind the scenes.

"I wanted to know how you were," Regulus said, and Y/n immediately recognized the serious tone in his voice. "Yesterday, at the party... were you really in control? It seemed like too much, somehow." His gaze was direct, a little worried, and it was the first time she had really felt that side of him.

Y/n stared at him for a moment before deciding to give him a piece of the truth without giving it all away.

"It was a lot, but it's okay," she finally answered with a weak smile. "I just pushed it aside. It will get better. And it wasn't like I didn't want anything... it was just... kind of confusing."

Regulus nodded thoughtfully, and it seemed like he understood the meaning of her words. But it was clear that he had more on his mind.

"Maybe you should take care of yourself, Y/n," he said finally, his voice uncharacteristically serious. "There are things that are better not to rush, especially here. The Slytherins have their own rules - and not all of them are good for you."

Y/n looked at him for a long time as she tried to decipher his words. "You mean Mattheo?" she finally asked cautiously. She was surprised by the immediacy of the question, but she felt like she had to address it now.

Regulus looked at her and then sighed deeply. "I don't just mean him," he said calmly. "There are many forces here that influence more than you first think. You'll see what I mean if you continue to be here. Don't get your hopes up too high, and don't let too much get too close to you."

She nodded quietly and replied, more to herself than to Regulus, "I know what you mean. I'm trying to understand."

Regulus stood up, leaned toward the door and turned to her again. "Take care, Y/n," he said in a friendly but no less serious tone. "It's never wrong to be careful."

"Thank you, Regulus," she replied quietly.

He nodded and left the room. Her thoughts continued to swirl, even though she tried to organize them. Regulus had set the ball rolling - so was what had happened between her and Mattheo yesterday really just a misunderstanding, or was there more to the picture than she was initially able to understand?

Y/n sank down on her bed again, her thoughts bursting open in a way she hadn't expected. Maybe yesterday's incident was just the beginning of a bigger, much more complex game that she had no idea about. She had to learn to understand these dynamics if she wanted to survive in this house. But today she was too tired to think about it any further. She closed her eyes and simply hoped that tomorrow would bring clarity.

But the thought of Mattheo - and what had happened between them that night - did not leave her alone.