𝐀s she walked into the Great Hall for breakfast, Eden was still furious with Mattheo. While he'd been having a good time with Jenna, he'd prevented her from having a good time with Ron, and that made her angry. She sat down at her table, ignoring the Slytherins, and took some biscuits to dip into her milk. She hated coffee, the smell gave her a headache and the taste was awful. Still half asleep, she didn't see Joshua give her a sign, and it wasn't until she got up to go back to her dormitory to get her things that she noticed him. 

"Got a minute before class? Same place as usual," he said.

Eden nodded and waited five minutes before following him. She huffed and puffed up the stairs and entered the Astronomy Tower. Elina was sitting by the window, amusing herself with a feather she'd probably taken from her owl. 

"So, are we going to do something?" she asked, dropping the feather again. 

"I've thought about it and I think it's a really bad idea," Joshua said, "but we're a team and if two of you want to do it, I'm in." He pushed up his glasses and Eden smiled. 

"Perfect, then I guess we'll have to figure out how to kill Voldemort," she blurted out.

"But how?" Elina bit her lip in concern and Eden shrugged. 

"I don't know, and there's no point in asking me to get close to Mattheo to find out about his father, because that's dishonest, and I may be a bitch, but I'm not that bitchy," the redhead said. Eden dropped onto the sofa and rested her head on the edge, staring up at the ceiling. She loved that ceiling, it was like the ones you'd find in a museum, filled with angels, figures of all kinds and it was breathtaking. 

"Draco or Theodore," Elina blurted out. "You might be able to get some information if you approach them."

Eden snapped out of her thoughts and turned her head towards her friend. Elina was as brunette as she was redheaded, and she had short legs, whereas Eden had very long ones. 

"I'll see if I can talk to Draco," Eden said as she stood up. "But I'll do it my way, see you later." She walked back down the stairs and then up a few more to her dormitory, picking up her things before going down again. Out of breath, she stopped to catch her breath and entered the botanical greenhouse.

Professor Sprout was already talking to Neville about belladonna and Eden took a seat at the back. The tiled table was full of dirt and she swept it away with her hand to put down her book. Mattheo abruptly put his down and sat down nonchalantly on his stool. 

"I see we both got up on the wrong foot," Eden said. She turned her head towards him and noticed a cut on his swollen lip. "I see, I grant you, you have the right to be in a bad mood," she mumbled. 

"I'm not the other guy, he didn't even get up," Mattheo joked.

Eden rolled her eyes and opened her book to the page she wanted. Harry sat down next to her and greeted her with a smile.

"Today you'll be working in pairs to extract some poisonous Tentacula seeds," the teacher announced. "Beware of their teeth, and above all, do not keep any seeds for yourselves." Professor Sprout looked at the students and Eden winced. This plant was dangerous; her father had been a friend of Professor McGonagall's and had told her that her husband, Elphinstone Urquart, had died after being bitten. "They're just babies," the professor added, "so wear gloves and you'll be fine.

"Shall we team up, Marks?" suggested Mattheo. He had straightened up on his stool and had that grin on his face that made Eden want to slap him. 

"Do I have a choice? But Don't think you're a god, Riddle," Eden said, "it's just because I want to get a good grade and you're good." She got up to get one of the plants and put it on her desk as Harry left to be with Ron. Mattheo nodded in his direction. 

"So how did it go with Weasley yesterday?" he asked. 

"How... How did it go?" blurted out Eden. She poked Mattheo in the arm and he grunted.

"Hey, all you had to do was lock the door, I was going to take Jenna but you took our place," he said amusedly. Eden sighed and pulled on her gloves. 

"Admit it, you're enjoying this, I know you're tripping over yourself for ruining my evening", the redhead replied. 

"You've found me out," Mattheo replied with that silly grin. "And by the way, nice lingerie, Jenna was really sexy, although I'm sure it would have made me cum just looking at you." He locked eyes with her and tugged at his lip.

"Don't tell me Jenna told you they were mine?" Eden said, looking up. "What an idiot." She sighed and tried to retrieve a seed that she had placed in a jar. 

"What, Jenna? Of course not, she was moaning too much to speak," Mattheo scoffed before leaning a few millimetres away from Eden. "No, actually, I know because only you wear that stuff. Red is your colour. You're a fucking goddess of the underworld and I'd bet my life it's your underwear." He leaned in a little more, his lips touching Eden's. 

"I was thinking of you when I was fucking her and she was begging me to continue, and believe me, it turned me on so much she can't even walk this morning," Mattheo murmured.

"Oh yeah? Well, one day you might get to see the original version," Eden breathed against his lips. "In hell," she added, placing her gloved hand over his face to push his head back. 

"Eden, you may be named after heaven, but you're a fucking demon," Mattheo snapped. She laughed and rolled her eyes before pulling out another seed. 

"Are you going to let me do this alone or are you going to move?" Eden said. Mattheo didn't answer and put on his gloves before taking two seeds. They finished first and Mattheo walked beside her. 

"You know, it's very frustrating to look at you and not be able to touch you," he growled.

"Poor Mattheo, what a sad life," Eden said, pretending to cry. "Follow me." She took his hand and walked back to the castle, already sensing that he was excited, believing he was going to win the bet. Holding back a laugh, the redhead entered her common room and led Mattheo to her dormitory. He inspected the room and gave a small surprised squeal as she pushed him onto his bed. 

"Marks, you're driving me crazy," he said. 

"That's the point," Eden replied. The redhead undressed and threw her clothes at him, but Mattheo pushed them away to look at her. 

"Shit, Eden..." he growled.

He bit his lip and his eyes roamed the redhead's body, stopping at her curves. That lingerie, as black as the darkness, would have made him accept anything, even if it meant burning alive. Eden felt her heart skip a beat at the way he looked at her, but she'd brought him there for revenge and that was exactly what she intended to do. 

"Damn you, queen of the underworld, you're diabolical," he said as he got to his feet and approached her. He reached out to put his hand on her hip, but she pushed him back onto the bed and climbed on top of him. 

"Don't touch me, you'll burn yourself," she breathed against his lips.

"We'll split the money," Mattheo growled as he tried to kiss her. Eden smiled slightly as she rubbed against him, sending a shiver down his body, and she stood up before putting her clothes back on. 

"What money? You didn't win the bet," she said. She looked down and laughed when she saw how hard he was. His trousers were tight from his erection. 

"Fuck, you're such a bitch," he said as he collapsed onto the bed. "Eden, you're killing me." Mattheo wasn't ashamed to say it, he wanted to have sex with her and didn't hide it. 

"I know, that's what I'm trying to do, so get the fuck out of my room and go grope yourself somewhere else," she said as she dropped onto the bed.

Each on one side of the bed, their faces at the same height, Eden turned her head towards him. Mattheo looked at her in silence for a moment before moving his hand to her cheek and caressing it gently. This tender gesture surprised Eden and she flinched, feeling her hair stand on end. 

"I know we love to hate each other," he said, "but if you want to talk about what happened with your parents ... I'll listen, even if I really want to wank." He smiled and Eden laughed before giving him a slap. It was a real laugh and Mattheo stared at her, giving her a gentle look. 

"I'm fine, talking about it won't bring them back," she said.

"No, but it might do you good," he replied. There was silence again and he leaned in to find her lips. Eden had never kissed a boy in this position before. Her nose touched Mattheo's chin as she responded to his kiss. It was a kiss that contrasted with who Mattheo was. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" he asked. 

"As sure as I'd never fuck your dad," she said. Mattheo laughed, but something in his eyes had faded. 

"Good, because I really need to jerk off," he joked as he stood up. 

"Dumbass," Eden laughed as she sat up. Mattheo ran a hand through his hair and put his hand on the handle before turning back to her. 

"I meant it, I'm here if you want to talk about it," he didn't wait for an answer and walked away, leaving Eden. She put a finger to her lips and stroked them, a troubled look on her face. Why was Mattheo looking so serious? It wasn't like him, and Eden felt uncomfortable. It was like what had happened on the train, something was changing but she couldn't work out what.

Mattheo returned to the hall, looking darker, but quickly recovered as he passed some students who lowered their eyes at him. He heard Galen Peregrin talking about Eden, words that made Mattheo's jaw clench. He shoved one boy aside before grabbing Galen by the collar and pinning him against the wall, his face so close to his that he could see the lines under his eyes. 

"Say one more word about Marks and I'll pull your teeth out one by one before I make you eat them out of your butt, is that clear? You don't go near her, you don't talk to her and you don't think about her," Mattheo let go.

There was silence as he released Galen, who nodded, but a chuckle escaped from the small group and Mattheo turned back to Edward Black. 

"You spend all your time talking about girls and now you're upset because we're talking about Eden? We're just telling the truth, she's a whore who loves having cock in her mouth," he said. Mattheo didn't bother to reply, just punched him in the face and threw him to the floor.

The altercation attracted many students as Mattheo brought his fists down on Edward's face. Ignoring the brawl, Theodore let Mattheo settle his problems and simply helped him wipe his bloody fists as he got to his feet, leaving Edward in a small pool of blood. 

"Don't ever say that again, Black, or I'll kill you," Mattheo said, throwing the handkerchief he'd used to wipe his fists on the floor. He left without a backward glance and Theodore followed, still there to tend to his wounds. He wasn't blind and he knew what was going on with Mattheo, but he was probably too much of a coward to say it out loud.