Sacred Silence | A Tom Riddle Story

13: Toms big speech.

Siobhan had never expected she would be so eager for guests to start arriving to the Selwyn Estate.

These last 24 hours had been a horrible, slowly stretched out nightmare. Her father kept pointing out flaws. Her mother quietly agreed with him. Altair and Amos did almost nothing to stop the verbal abuse. It was normal to all of them.
With waves, her father would become kind and parental towards her or her brothers. He would compliment them on their hair or posture, never something they worked hard for. It never lasted long, but it felt like gasps of fresh air after choking on smoke for hours.

Siobhan twirled nervously with her knife, sitting at the long side of their dinner table.
Cillian sat next to her, he had arrived only an hour before lunch. His dark curls covered his gray eyes as he didn't raise his head from his plate.

Their father had spent the first half hour of their shared family lunch giving a horrifying speech about what a disappointment and failure Cillian was for a recent mishap at the ministry. He did it in front of the whole family, until Cillian stopped speaking in defense of himself and started looking down and apologizing.

They now resided in the awkward silence between outbursts. Siobhan had managed to get a few bites down her throat before she put down her cutlery and became so nauseous that she was convinced she would vomit. The nerves of being home were taking their toll on her.

'Now, I need everyone at this table to be on their best behavior tonight. That means welcoming, friendly, and presentable. So Siobhan, please don't wear something awfully blue again. We need to show the people our proud and strong alliance to Slytherin house. And Cillian, just.. try to talk as little as possible.'

Nobody fought his words, everyone just nodded. Dorian had always been the hardest on his youngest son. Cillian was just too much like him, Shiv guessed. He had a quick temper, was completely unpredictable and never knew when to accept defeat. To be very honest, Cillian was a complete maniac.
He worked for the department of magical law enforcement, where he took great joy in manhandling suspects and breaking them for information. Just like his father, he got a high from inflicting misery upon the world. The only person she had ever seen her brother back down from, was their father.

The house elves cleared the table, and Siobhan had to restrain herself from sprinting upstairs to her room.
Slowly but methodically, she got up and gave a small nod to her parents as she walked around the table and into the livingroom.
She let out a shaky breath and slowly made her way up the stairs. She had an excuse, she had to start getting ready.

With a flick or her wand, she lit several candles across her room. She sat down at her dressing table and looked at her reflection. Her pale blue eyes looked tired and worried. Her hair was tied back in a tight bun, the way her parents preferred it.
She turned around and looked at the satin, dark green dress that hung on her closet door. Her mother had left it there, so there was no question in what she had to do. She despised her parents' micromanaging.

She took a shower and tamed her abundance of dark curls. She tied up the upper half, but pulled out the white strand at the front of her face. Her make-up was light and classy, so she wouldn't be called a whore by her dad in front of dozens of people.
She sat in bed, naked but with her hair and make-up fully done, covered by her blanket. She played with Juno who was very interested in the curtains around her bed.

When she knew people could start arriving any minute, she slipped into the dress. It fit her like a glove. She stepped into her black heels and strode across the upper floor, towards the master bedroom that belonged to her parents. Her mother had laid out some pieces of jewelry. They were all a part of the family jewels.

Two thin silver necklaces, a longer one with an emerald pendant, a few small hairpins with diamonds on the ends, and a set of small pearl earrings.

Bejeweled, she walked down the grand staircase into the entrance hall. Altair stood at the bottom, looking effortlessly handsome in his perfectly tailord suit. She took his arm, and together they made their way into the spacious livingroom, that was cleared of all of its furniture to fit the large number of guests.
They were careful to avoid their parents and mingle with the few people who had already arrived.