Oh, my dear... (Mattheo Riddle ff)

how the plans were interrupted...

M.R.

The few candles on the long dining table did very little to hold back the suffocating darkness of Malfoy Manor. Flickering Shadows stretched across the walls, the floor and the windows, dancing in the weak golden glow. 

The air was think and heavy, with the scent of roasted meat, expensive wine and something that smelled rotten and poisonous. But somehow, it was still so cold that it made me shiver. 

All the people on the table were dressed completely in black, suit after suit, dress after dress, tie after tie. A little green here, some silver there. Fine clothing. But not fine people. This whole thing seemed like a bloody funeral. And maybe it was exactly that. A funeral for the magic world. 

At the head of the long table, my brother sat, his presence pressing down on my chest like an oppressive weight. His snake-like eyes roamed the room like he was overlooking his kingdom, like her was a hungry predator searching for the weakest prey. And when they landed on me, the stopped and lingered, cold and calculating. 

Tom knew. He had broken me before, multiple times throughout our life. And finally, when he had forced the dark mark into my skin like a brand of ownership. My forearm still burned whenever I thought of it, like my body was trying everything to get rid of the mark.

Under the table, I tightened my grip on Penny's hand. Her fingers curled around mine like they were the only thing keeping her steady. Or maybe I was the one who needed steadying. But at least she was here. She was here, breathing and alive. And as long as that girl was by my side, I had something worth fighting and dying for.

Across from me and Penny, on the other side of the table, Draco sat between his parents. Next to Narcissa, there was Ms Zabini and Blaise. Next to them, Theodore and his uncle. Every few seconds, I exchanged a knowing glance with one of my friends. All five of us were shifting in our chairs, fists balled under the table, breathing unsteady and eyes flickering around the room nervously, like caged animals. We were just waiting for the right moment. All of us had been forced into this, brutally and against our will. But tonight, we'd flip the table. We'd turn the game.

The man next to Snape was the first one we got. I didn't even notice Snape pulling out his wand, neither did I hear him mutter the imperius curse, but it happened at some point. I didn't even know the man next to him, but when Snape leaned over to him to whisper something in his ear, the man didn't even react properly. He just nodded, heavily. Like he was drunk. Or under the imperius.  

Penny got the next two. Her stepmother and that Marcus guy. I heard her mutter the curse quietly, but her wand was hidden somewhere. Closing my eyes, I just begged the gods that neither Tom or one of the others would notice what we were doing.

I attempted to put a man diagonally over the table under the imperius, but my hand was trembling and shaking, so I stopped trying before anyone could notice my weird behaviour. Blaise took over. He was closer to the guy anyway. 

Even Theo managed to spell the deatheater next to him during the meal.

That was five people under the imperius already. 

Suddenly, after most of the guests had finished their meal, Mr Malfoy rose from his chair. And like the obedient puppet he always was, he lifted his crystal goblet of wine with a smirk. „A toast, my lord." he nodded towards my brother. My stomach turned at the title. It used to be our fathers. „A toast to the rebirth of power." 

Glancing at Penny, I catchend her rolling her eyes. I felt that. 

The other glasses at the table lifted, and we had no choice but to join them.