OF SERPENT AND ANGEL ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎➝ tom riddle ¹ | ✓ |

THIRTY-FIVE

Eliza sat still as a statue, frozen by her fear as her heart altered indecisively between stopping to hammering viciously against her ribcage. Her lip was quivering, her teeth chattering as if she was cold.

She sat on the throne-like chair, not nearly as powerful as the one on the opposite end of the long table, her back straight, and her hands symmetrically placed on the table.

Tom brushed back her hair, picking a section on either side of her head to leave framing her face, the rest falling down her back. He had told her what to wear, selected precisely how to accessorise. He was preparing her like she was the main attraction in an art gallery.

A few minutes passed until he took a step back, walking around the table to ensure he observed her from every angle. Upon his return, his spindly fingers came below her chin and he lifted it up a quarter of an inch. Then he brushed down her hair one more time to ensure there were no flyaways before taking a step back once more and evaluated his work.

Tom gave a hum of approval. "Perfect!" he announced. "Now, don't move a muscle or you'll pay for it."

He left the dining room. Eliza sat completely still aside from the subtle rise and fall of her chest and the occasional blink of her eyelids.

A fire was burning under the mantlepiece but it provided no heat in the room. If anything, it seemed to suck it away. The table was set, a silver platter and perfectly polished cutlery carefully placed before each seat beside the one directly opposite her, where Tom sat. Sustenance would never fill the plates, they were but mere ornaments.

It was all an exhibition and she was the centrepiece.

Eliza had no idea how much time passed, but it couldn't have been longer than an hour, when the doors opened once more. It was not, however, Tom who entered, but rather his delegation.

The Death Eaters were clad in their usual black robes, simple yet effective. Eliza didn't move at their arrival, she didn't turn toward the movement. Her green eyes remained staring into the void in front of her; don't move a muscle.

Some of the men were confused by her presence, others intrigued, and a few barely reacted. But regardless of their reactions, they all sat down around the table. They seemed to know exactly where their place was.

Once everyone was seated and the scraping of chairs no longer echoed in the dining hall, the room was once more engulfed into silence. Though this was much less frightened and was quickly broken as some of the company began to converse amongst themselves.

Ten minutes passed and the door was opened for the third time. Tom Riddle - or perhaps the Dark Lord was a better title in the current society - grinned as he walked into the room, which had instantly fallen silent.

"My friends," he spoke in a grand tone, "welcome."

Nobody spoke. Nobody moved. They kept their heads slightly bent down as Tom approached the table with long strides and sat down at the end. The atmosphere was contradictory; some seemed fearful, others excited.

Tom let his scarlet eyes scan the table, studying his brigade with his lips turned upward, then continued in a carrying voice. "Some of you may be wondering about the presence of our guest."

Many of the Death Eaters looked embarrassed or even ashamed. We aren't to ask questions.

"I assay that if you're all going to chat about my plans with her, she may as well hear it from me directly. Don't you agree, Lestrange."

Thaddeus sunk back in his seat. Eliza let her head turn just a little to see him better. He seemed a shaken up, not quite as confident as he had been earlier that day. Osmund Lestrange, Thaddeus's older brother seemed shocked, for a moment thinking he was the culprit and not understanding what he had done wrong.

"But you have learnt your lesson, haven't you, Thaddeus?"

"Yes, My Lord," Thaddeus whispered hoarsely, "you are merciful, thank you."

Tom lifted his gaze from the shrinking boy forward and Eliza instantly snapped her head back to where it was supposed to be. But she knew Tom had noticed the movement.

He stood up swiftly, slowly beginning to walk up the table to the other end. The wizard behind which he stood always seemed to hold his breath. They knew they couldn't turn to face him, but they knew also that as long as he was out of their vision, they were in danger.

"I know some of you question my motives to keep her," he spoke as he walked, his black robes fluttering behind him. "What could I possibly want with a girl? But she truly is one of my most prized possessions - aside from a select few, of course."

His fingers went to spin the ring of Marvolo Gaunt on his opposite hand and he laughed shortly.

He was now right beside Eliza and she felt a few crystalline tears roll down her cheeks in fear. His fingers found their place under her chin and he repositioned her head back to its correct angle.

For a moment she feared that his fingers would close around her throat and on placebo her breath already hitched in her throat. But then his hand had already fallen to rest at his side once more and he continued his circle around the table.

"As you all know, I was unfortunate enough to grow up in a Muggle orphanage. It was where my loathing for that vermin truly began, their foulness surrounded me everywhere. They run around like rats, feeding of the filth they could scrape in their pitiable fingers.

"But before my true heritage had been revealed to me, before I was aware of the blood that ran through my veins, I was forced in their ways. As a child, I never got to play with the nice toys. The older kids would always take them from me. For which they paid, of course. Billy Stubbs's rabbit didn't just hang itself from the rafters by coincidence."

Tom gave a shrill laugh and a few of the men around the table laughed manically too.

"But now, I, who have pushed the boundaries of magic perhaps further than anyone before me, I, who will soon be the greatest wizard of all time, I, who will soon have so much power that the filth covering this earth will not dare speak my name," he paused for a moment, his words echoing within the room until he continued, his voice now barely a whisper. "Now, I will make them all pay. And now nobody will ever take from me, and nobody will touch my toys, if they value their life."

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