antebellum [t. riddle]

xv.

november 1944

the rest of the day could not have been worse.

sicaria could take no pleasure in her win; riddle had failed to give her a proper angry reaction (opting only to take his wand back, not saying a word to her, and not an ounce of the usual rage stirring behind his eyes) and her friends were walking on eggshells around her, like they were afraid this would be the last time they ever saw her. 

something was... weird.

as usual, riddle was late to dinner, but this time she couldn't help but feel relieved. she didn't particularly want to see him, especially since the boys seemed to be acting like the entire defense against the dark arts class never happened. 

her nausea was returning, and her appetite was still gone. in the halls, several people had taken to congratulating her, using it as the perfect opportunity to hit on her. the reminder made her anxious for being in the great hall; she was a sitting duck. not wanting to give anyone else the chance to accost her, she stood. 

"where are you off to?" nott inquired, all four boys looking up at her apprehensively. 

"library," that was just the first place that came to her mind, but she decided she could use a bit of time in there. anything to get away from these four, who were acting like she would drop dead at any moment. she didn't bother asking what was wrong. they're waiting on riddle to be angry at me for beating him. "not really hungry. i'll see you all later."

they watched her walk away and then looked to each other questioningly. 

"where is he?" rosier asked to malfoy, but he only shrugged. none of them had seen him since the last class period ended. 

"at the end of ancient runes, he started acting kind of weird," lestrange said, moving his food around his plate. "i think the potion was starting to wear off."

nott sighed and put his hands in his head. "i was hoping it would last longer. i assume that means he'll want us to go through with the plan tonight then?"

"probably."

"it's not going to work." nott asserted. "we've known her for a month, why would she-"

"can't you try to talk him out of it?" lestrange grumbled, snapping his head toward malfoy. "it's reckless, even by his standards."

"i tried this morning, before he even took the potion, but he thinks it'll work," malfoy said. rosier tapped his foot on the ground in anticipation. 

out of the corner of their eyes, they saw riddle storm into the great hall. it was as though he had done a complete 180 of his behavior earlier. while this morning he was calm and unresponsive, he was now seething, the anger rolling off him in his steps.

"where is she?" he demanded, not sitting down with his friends. 

all of them gaped at him, hesitant to speak. nott finally did. "mate, none of us think this is a-"

"i didn't ask what any of you thought. i asked where she was." he hissed, eyes glinting red. 

lestrange spoke up this time. "can you listen to us this once? this isn't like you, riddle, this plan you've got is irrational."

his eyes flashed, the redness gleaming. "so you're backing out then? what happened to 'we're brothers in this life and the next'?" riddle said. it was taking everything in his power not to curse his friends where they sat. 

they all recognized the manipulation, but they knew it was true. they'd do anything for each other. riddle for them, and them for riddle. the problem was that riddle would refuse to see that he could be wrong about things, and his friend worried that his ambition and hubris would be his demise. 1'1'1'