Matthew, too, reached for his wand, but before he could take it out of his pocket, he came to his senses -- well, in some small way, at least. This was his best -- and some might venture to say, his only -- friend, and he didn't want to destroy that friendship, or that friend, even! And furthermore, he knew that Stephen had every right to hex him, for his part in bringing the Dark Lord to power! (Which was, perhaps, not so sensible of him, but even so-- he felt his guilt like a weight crushing his very CHEST in, and any hex would have to be a relief from THAT!)
And so when Stephen didn't hex him, but spoke again, Matthew was again caught off guard. "...What?" He blinked slowly, and allowed his jaw to hang open for a long moment before closing it again. "Stephen, I... you can't possibly think... I..." He blinked again, rapidly this time, as if hoping to clear away a stray eyelash, or possibly his tears. "I mean-- honestly, Stephen, how could you not know me? After all this time-- has my base guilt really changed me so much!?"