pairing: slytherin!group x fem!nott!reader (romantic interest to come…)
summary: mattheo’s sure he’s cracked the case this time, but his “genius” plan drags everyone into a mess. theo’s annoyed, blaise is convinced he'll die, enzo’s just trying to stay out of it and draco’s researching ways to dispose of evidence. what started as a small mystery spirals out of control, and now they’re all in way deeper than they ever imagined. oops.
warnings: mentions of drugs, mentions of murder, but in a funny way (you’ll see lol), swearing, teenagers being teenagers
note: chapter one is finally here!! so excited to hear your opinions in the comments. also: what do we think about the possible love interest hinted at the end? are we in favor??
mattheo riddle was sitting on a couch in the slytherin common room, body bend forward, only the the tip of his arse still on the seat. he was holding a magnifying glass, studying a piece of parchment on the table in front of him.
"huh" theo muttered when he came down the stairs and saw mattheo's weird position. "working on your divination essay? you know we have to submit it in three days, you're about five days too early"
mattheo rolled his eyes at his friends lame joke, but didn't look up from the parchment.
"he's been staring at that for the past twenty minutes" draco added, who was slumped on an armchair across from mattheo, reading the newspaper. "he's acting all mysterious"
"that was awesome" blaise' voice suddenly bounced off the walls of the common room, when he and enzo entered, highfiving each other, before peeling out of their quidditch gear. they threw themselves down on the sofa on either side of mattheo, who frowned in annoyance.
"it was pretty peaceful before you guys came along" he muttered, eyeing theo, blaise and enzo.
"well, what's ruined your day, huh?" blaise puffed out air like he was smoking a cigarette, as he leaned back on the sofa and tried to reach for mattheo's shoulder, who moved out of the way before blaise was able to touch him.
"yeah" enzo agreed. "we missed you on the pitch. blaise learned this really cool—“
"this is serious, okay?" mattheo interrupted, reaching for his parchment, that theo had been studying while mattheo was preoccupied.
"that just looks like random numbers" theo shrugged, a little surprised by mattheo's sudden maturity.
"he believes it's a code" draco exclaimed with a roll of his eyes.
mattheo, completely ignoring draco, put on a knowing look. "i believe it to be a code" he said, matter of factly.
draco pointed a lame hand in mattheo's direction, followed by a very clear facial expression that basically said: 'i told you, he's crazy.'
theo sighed, realizing that he probably wouldn't be able to spend the rest of his day in peace, if he wouldn't indulge further. "a code?" he asked. "what makes you think that?"
"well" mattheo smiled smugly, like he had just been waiting for someone to ask about his investigation. "i spyed on your sister—" he paused at theo's sharp glance and lowering gaze. "not like that, mate, come on." mattheo shook his head, like he couldn't fathom theo jumping to such a conclusion. "well, i heard her talking, to pansy. they were discussing something dangerous, i just immediately knew"
"what did they say?" enzo perked up. "are they in danger?"
"life-threatening danger" mattheo nodded ominiously.
theo crossed his arms. "are you sure?" he exchanged a glance with blaise. "last time you said that, you got us convinced pansy had a stalker. turns out her and y/n had been talking about an episode of 'unsolved mysteries', but by the time we realized that mcgonnagall didn't really care anymore, did she?"
"that was a simple mistake, could've happened to anyone"
"i still have nightmares about that day" enzo muttered.
"i had to step down from my position as a prefect!" draco argued. "i was only allowed to be one the next year for special services, which required me to be filch's little helper for a month"
"i said i was sorry" mattheo crossed his arms in annoyance. "and this time i'm sure, by the way."
"you are?" enzo asked.
"i am" mattheo confirmed. "this message isn't any regular one. i know those numbers. it's part of benny's code"
"benny?" blaise repeated. "you mean blackout benny?" he asked with a worried expression as he leaned forward to try and study theo's reaction.
theo's face had whitened, shortly getting rid of any emotion, before anger crossed his features. "i swear to god, mattheo, if i find out my sister's taking heroin or cocaine, you're gonna die a painful death"
"what?" mattheo asked stunned. "what do i have to do with that?"
"i don't know" theo shrugged sarcastically. "who was the one to buy coke from benny for that ravenclaw party last year?"
"that was one time"
"impossible" blaise shook his head. "either you suddenly have eidetic memory, —what should be impossible after all the weed you smoked— or you used that code often enough to remember it."
"i'm kinda convinced it's the second one" enzo shrugged.
"i'm gonna kill you" theo muttered between clenched teeth, but draco's arm shot forward, before he was able to throw himself at mattheo.
"maybe we should all calm down" draco send a sharp look in theo's direction, who finally nodded.
"yeah, yeah" mattheo nodded, slumping back onto the couch, from which he had risen the second he thought he might have to fight theo.
"let's not jump to conclusions without properly thinking"
"couldn't we just ask black— i mean benny, what y/n and pansy wanted?" enzo suggested.
"and get roped into this?" blaise asked in disbelief. "who knows how deep they're in. it starts with coke and quickly evolves to a cartel level of involvement."
"i think we're still pretty far from that" theo smiled sarcastically.
"you all go ahead and search for benny" draco directed.
"and what about you?" mattheo asked confused.
"i'm gonna stay back and search for legal ways to dispose of evidence." he sent a look in theo's direction, who had started frowning at the mention of evidence. "just in case of course"
"sure" theo nodded. the others were easier to convice as they got up from their position and followed mattheo outside the common room.
"so where do we find benny?" blaise asked as soon as they were out of the dungeon, he looked around suspiciously, as if someone was spying on them.
"the code is the answer" mattheo grinned, pointing at the confusing numbers. “each number stands for a different information.”
"i think i got it", enzo mumbled, studying the parchment, mattheo held in the middle of the four. "ehh, he's waiting behind the witch with the black hat? no, wait next to hagrids— does this even make any sense?" he looked at theo, who quietly shook his head.
"he's in the courtyard" mattheo shrugged. "benny had these complicated codes back when he started, but he always forgot where he was supposed to be, so he started handing out the same over and over again. he's in the courtyard, trust me."
"i'm not so sure we should" theo send mattheo a suspicious glance, before he started walking in the direction of the courtyard, enzo right behind him.
a hand slipped onto mattheo's shoulder. "i'm getting the baddest vibes from this, mattheo" blaise muttered, quiet enough for the others to not hear. "maybe we should start asking ourselves how much we love pansy and y/n"
"yeah" mattheo nodded ominiously. "come on."
the courtyard was empty when the slytherins arrived, but there was a shadow creeping behind a tree and when he heard the approaching steps, benny revealed himself.
"remember, confidence is key" mattheo reminded his friends. "we don't know what's going on, but that doesn't mean benny knows that"
"sayonara, nott!" blackout benny greeted.
"'sayonara' means goodbye, idiot" theo crossed his arms, unamused.
"wow" benny shook his head, pressing a hand against his chest as if he had been wounded by theo's words. "why so hostile?"
"yo, benny," blaise stepped in front of theo, puffing out his chest like he was auditioning for a gangster drama. "we need answers. pronto. and no funny business, alright?"
benny squinted. "funny business? i am funny business. what are you even talking about?"
mattheo stepped forward, his expression dark, dramatic, and entirely too intense for the situation. "we know you know about everything, benny."
benny blinked. "what?"
"you know what," mattheo said cryptically and benny shook his head cluelessly.
"don’t lie to us, benny," blaise jumped in, his voice shaking slightly. "we know the stakes are high, but some of us—" he paused for dramatic effect, swallowing hard, "—some of us might not make it out alive."
"okay, whoa," benny held up his hands. "what in merlin’s saggy socks are you talking about? make it out of what?"
theo sighed, glancing at blaise with an incredulous look in his eyes. "ignore him," he furrowed his brows, stepping closer. "have you talked to my sister today?"
"oh" benny smiled and a smug smirk displayed itself on his features. "depends"
"depends?" blaise repeated with a sudden panic in his voice. "oh god we know too much, right? and now we've seen your face, there's no other way" he sank to his knees in front of benny and closed his eyes, as if he was waiting for an incoming shot or hex. "i mean i always knew i would die this way, i'm sure another way would've been way too boring considering my bright personality, at least i go down like—"
"what the fuck are you doing?" mattheo interrupted, dragging blaise back onto his feet by his arm.
"i'd like to point out that we've known how benny looked for years" enzo added and hid a giggle behind his hand. "also: how long was that final monologue supposed to be?"
"you're not gonna kill us?" blaise questioned, opening one eye and then the other to glance at benny.
"the fuck? of course not, i'm selling coke, i'm not a fucking killer"
"well, matter of interpretation" theo shrugged. "but calm down, blaise"
"so, as i was saying" benny muttered, sending a sharp gaze in blaise's direction as if to try and see how many times he would throw himself down on the ground. "depe—well, how much is it worth to you?" benny smirked.
"worth to us?" enzo repeated confused.
"due to your elaborate spending habits, i know you guys are loaded, don't go stupid on me now" benny held out his hand, moving his fingers, repeatedly opening and closing a fist. "well?"
theo sighed, before he grabbed a few galleons and threw them in benny's waiting hand. the others followed quickly after.
"i do think that might be enough to get me to talk" benny nodded, putting the money away. "pansy and y/n were here this morning and bought something for their, well, let's call it an event"
"event?" enzo repeated with furrowed brows.
"wow, very specific, thank you benny" mattheo rolled his eyes. "what did they buy?"
"supplies" benny shrugged, not even trying to break it down further. "well, the usual, had to bring it to one of those giant abondended classrooms"
"how much?" theo asked between clenched teeth.
"oh" benny laughed. "a lot. the girls spend more than double of what you guys just gave me"
"oh god. this is bad." blaise muttered. "we all know what kind of event need this much of supplies—"
"a party?" enzo suggested.
"a massive smuggle" blaise quickly interrupted before enzo could continue. “drug cartel, mafia, pablo escobar level”
"my sister isn't smuggling drugs," theo shook his head, clearly annoyed at blaise's suggestion.
“how do you know pablo escobar?” enzo muttered confused.
“well, i’ve done my research”
“you mean you’ve watched narcos” mattheo rolled his eyes. “told you muggle shows were stupid. you’ve turned all paranoid.”
"well, whatever your sister is doing, i can’t discuss it further, because i have to go now" benny said, mingling himself back into the conversation. "got places to be"
"very practical, huh?" mattheo called after him. "you're probably involved in this—in this eh— drug scheme! yeah!"
"so what now?" enzo asked, staring at the door benny had just disappeared behind. "i mean we know close to nothing, right?"
"we know enough" blaise disagreed. "enough to keep out of it now"
"keep out of it?" theo repeated. "whatever my sister got herself into, i won't just leave her to deal with it on her own."
"well, she's still got pansy" blaise shrugged, unbothered. "isn't one of us going down with her enough?"
"no one's going down just now" enzo said, surprisingly calm. "what is the plan, theo?"
"well, i think we should find draco, tell him what we know and see how to go from there and maybe also search for that classroom."
"i didn't know your name was theo" theo furrowed his brows and send a look to mattheo, who shrugged like he had simply overheard that enzo hadn't been talking to him.
the slytherins walked back through the door to the castle and into the direction of the common room. before they could walk down the stairs to the dungeon, a frantic draco came running up, a thick book in hand.
"ha!" he called as soon as his eyes fell on his friends. "i got it!! the perfect loophole: we're allowed to get rid of evidence, as long as it doesn't include any illegal substances—" he lowered the book. "no! why are you all looking at me like that? took me an hour to find this"
"well, draco—" enzo muttered, but was interrupted by mattheo.
"they're in deep" he quickly said. "meth, coke, heroin and whatever else comes to mind."
"drama queen" theo muttered with a roll of his eyes. "as long as we make sure it ends now and doesn't escalate further, no one is in deep."
blaise shook his head in disbelief. “we’re already in deep. why can’t we just save ourselves and send a nice postcard to pansy and y/n in azkaban? you know, like, ‘thinking of you—hope the dementors are chill.’”
“stop whining,” theo growled, clapping him on the shoulder. “if they’re going down, we’re going down too. that’s what friends do.”
blaise shook his head, muttering, “friends don’t let friends get killed by drug smuggling”
"so far you're the only one speaking about getting killed" enzo smiled. "so you might be a tad bit paranoid. we just go and find pansy and y/n in that abandoned classroom and everything will turn out to be okay."
the rest of the group nodded, before they fell into easy step, enzo and draco following the group as the last.
"i don't enjoy saying this" draco whispered, so only enzo was able to understand. "but if it's really something to do with smuggle, then we're doomed. no one comes clean from that, not even in the wizarding world."
"i know" enzo nodded, sending a fake smile in blaise's direction, when he turned around and looked at draco and enzo suspiciously. "we just have to hope it's anything but that."
"hey, nott?" a sudden voice behind them made them perk up. hermione granger was standing at the entrance of the library, a stack of books under her arm and a piece of paper in her other hand. she was waving it around frantically.
"granger?" draco and theo said at the same time.
"your sister left this here earlier" she handed the paper to theo. "don't know if it's important, but i'd hate losing stuff i wrote down while studying, so i thought she should have it.“
"ehh, thank you" theo nodded. "i'll pass it on."
hermione send the group a tight-lipped smile, tinged with a little bit of suspicion, before she turned around and started walking in the direction of the gryffindor common room.
"well, are you gonna read it?" mattheo questioned, as the five of them stood leaning over the paper in theo's hand.
"i don't know" theo mumbled unsure. "what if it's private?"
"i think private went flying out the window about an hour ago" draco remarked, crossing his arms.
theo sighed, but nodded and unfolded the parchment. this one was a little simpler than the last, a list with names. it took them all a moment to comprehend that their own ones were written on it.
"i'm the only one talking about killing, huh?" blaise screeched at enzo, before he ripped the paper from theo's hands, holding it up and pointing at it like a madman. "this is a fucking HITLIST!"
enzo shrugged. "it could very well just be a guest—“
"AND LOOK WHO'S NAME IS RIGHT AT THE TOP!" blaise continued screaming. "WELL, YOU GUESSED IT! MINE!!!"
"woah" mattheo muttered, his eyes scanning the names. "if anything i should be worried. my name is the first one, yours is only the third."
"technically you just have to be faster than mattheo and draco," theo shrugged sarcastically.
"well, that's really comforting, theo" blaise' eye seemed to be twitching in an unusual rhythm. "especially knowing your name comes last between all of us. i bet you're just waiting to throw us under the bus and save yourself."
"don't be ridiculous, blaise" enzo shook his head, trying to reach for the list, but blaise moved his hand before he was able to.
"enzo is right" draco nodded. "theo would never do something like that, come on."
"he doesn't have to" blaise nodded as if he was seeing through everything. "i mean he's got his killer sister to take care of it, am i right?"
"wait when did we establish y/n was a killer?" mattheo asked confused, exchanging glances with theo. "thought she was just a coke whore or whatever that kind of job is called nowadays."
"you've all gone way too far with your disrespect" theo muttered between clenched teeth. "my sister is neither a killer nor a fucking coke whore, what the actual fuck mattheo?"
"i'm just the messenger" mattheo held up his hands in surrender.
"yeah! he's right!" blaise nodded frantically. "and you know what they say about the messenger? DON'T KILL HIM!!"
"let's just all calm down, eh?" enzo suggested in a soft voice, one of his hands each on blaise's and theo's shoulders. "we just have to find out what's going on. and that abandoned classroom seems to be the best way to do that, right?"
the group all collectively nodded, while mumbling a few inaudible sentences.
the slytherins continued to walk through the giant hallways of the castle, following noise around corners, until they arrived in front of a door, which was probably the one you and pansy were behind.
mattheo outstretched his hand to twist the knob, when a person quickly slid between him and the still closed door.
the group made similar noises of surprise.
blaise screamed loudly.
"you can't go in there" pansy smiled sweetly, "not yet anyway"
"what are you hiding?" mattheo narrowed his eyes, watching the girls expression closely.
pansy furrowed her brows and crossed her arms. "why are you so eager? i thought today was firewhiskey friday. shouldn't you be slurring your words by now?"
"this isn't funny, pansy" theo interrupted from behind. "we're worried."
"worried?" pansy repeated with a hint of surprise. "unusually caring for you guys, huh? and you, blaise? been through it, what?"
blaise exchanged a nervous glance with draco. "for the protocol: i know nothing, about nothing and have no idea who's involved in anything. that should do it, yeah" he nodded, quite proud about saving himself from a seemingly dangerous situation.
"involved in what?" pansy smiled as she shook her head. "is it possible y'all watched too many muggle films about cartels or something?"
"there!" blaise screeched, pointing an accusing finger at pansy, who raised her brows impossibly higher. "she said the c-word. oh god, this is it."
"relax, blaise" enzo clamped a hand around blaise's shoulder. "that was obviously a joke. where's y/n?" he asked, with a little hope to break up the situation before it could escalate.
pansy's eyes wandered to the door. "she's busy"
"pansy" theo muttered in a warning tone. "i want to see my sister. now"
"oh god, she's probably already dead" blaise shook his head, the panic temporarily returning.
"she's not dead, idiot" pansy rolled her eyes. "she's just doing something at the moment."
"doing what? coke?" mattheo snorted, but his laughter quickly died down at the expression on pansy's face.
"you're gonna let us through the door, pansy" theo demanded.
"yeah, he's right" draco nodded with slumped down shoulders, already accepting his fate. "there's no point in hiding it any longer."
"hm" pansy nodded. "i guess you're right"
faster than any of them could react, she had thrown the door open. blaise winced, throwing his hands up in front of his face.
"surprise!" the room was filled with party decor in every possible corner. there was a huge banner that read 'happy birthday', drinks and food had been organized on a table and various guests were smiling at the clueless group of slytherins, who all seemed to sigh in relief at the sight in front of them.
"what—?" blaise let his hands sink down as his eyes flew around the room, almost passing out from the shock of well, nothing threatening ahead of him.
"hey guys" you smiled, walking through the crowd of people. "happy birthday, mattheo" you grinned, hugging the boy, who reluctantly returned the gesture.
"eh thank you" he muttered with a nod, before turning in draco's direction. "that was today?"
draco just shrugged.
mattheo had been so busy with this whole conspiracy theory, he had completely forgotten what day it was, not that he was normally very excited to remember his birthday. this was probably the first party he had gotten since he had been a kid.
that realisation made him unfreeze, as he broke into a smile. "thank you!" he repeated, pressing a sloppy kiss to your cheek before walking into the room and greeting the other guests.
"what's gotten into you?" you still smiled, but looked a little confused as you looked from one boy to the next. they still hadn't walked into the room, the same confusion on their faces as on yours.
"oh god" theo finally mumbled, walking through the group until he reached you, pressing you close to his chest and hugging you. "i'm so glad you're not a coke-whore"
"huh?" you mumbled against your brother's chest.
"long story" draco shrugged, when you found his eyes.
"oh" you suddenly remembered. "so i guess you guys found the clue pansy and i left behind?"
"clue?" enzo repeated.
"well, we thought the best way to keep mattheo from finding everything out was to keep him busy with thinking he's finding everything out." you smiled. "seems like it worked better than we thought" you chuckled nervously.
"benny said you bought a lot of supplies" theo added.
"yeah, party supplies" you nodded. "benny has a side hustle, he's pretty good with the decor and stuff"
"fuck" blaise suddenly said, breaking out in obnoxious laughter.
"oh yeah" enzo said at that. "blaise was sure he was going to die."
"—die for you, y/n" blaise interrupted. "i was ready to sacrifice my own life, so that the bad guys would spare yours"
"aww blaise" you smiled after him as he walked around you and into the party.
"ladies, who's ready for some blaise?"
"don't believe a word of that" draco chuckled, clasping a hand around your shoulder and squeezing it, before he followed after blaise.
"well, now that we've discussed that, are you gonna come inside or what?" you asked, pointing behind you.
enzo and theo answered at the same time: "yeah."
sometime later, you were standing near the table with the drinks, watching mattheo cut the huge birthday cake in the middle of the crowd, when enzo stepped next to you, holding a cup filled with your favorite drink in your direction.
"oh, thanks" you smiled surprised, taking the cup from his hand.
"that was a crazy afternoon" enzo giggled. "but i have to pay pansy and you my respect, you guys got us pretty good. mattheo was busy the whole time, so i guess it was pretty successful. i think the code for benny was enough for all of us to start panicking."
"you really did?"
"well, mostly blaise, but yeah" he nodded, taking a sip from his cup. "i had a feeling it was something like this in reality, although i have to admit i was unsure from time to time too."
"you knew?"
enzo shrugged. "you have a lot of qualities but dealing or smuggling drugs isn't one of them, no offense"
you laughed at that and enzo felt a sudden warmth spread in his chest at the sound.
you opened your mouth to say something else, when enzo and you both saw pansy standing across the room, eagerly waving you over. "oh, seems like i'm needed."
"yeah" enzo nodded with a sigh of disappointment. "it's probably important."
"probably" you nodded, before you glanced back at him. "well, thanks for the drink and everything else" you smiled, before you went off, helping pansy to reorganize a few rogue balloons.
enzo wasn't able to take his eyes off of you.
your smile was enchanting and he was sure he had been under the influence of your special magic longer than he realized.
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