Promised - Tom Riddle x reader

Part 6 - Of Vows and Wrangles ★

Marvolo noticed the look you gave him and seemed to take it as a challenge, so he stared back at you, his filthy grin still in place. His head leant sideways as he waited for you to say something, his eyes squinted as if to tell you to go on and tell him what bothered you.

How you would have loved to smash his face against the table or curse him into oblivion. Your teeth hurt from how hard you clenched your jaw. You couldn't. You wanted to tell him so badly what an awful, disgusting, obsolete excuse for a man he was. But you mustn't. He still had Elsie's life in his hands. So you stayed silent when he whispered, "That's what I thought."

"Anyway," Father said in an attempt to ease the tension. "What are your plans for the remaining holidays?"

"There's not a lot to do these days, is there?" Marvolo answered. "But now that you bring it up, we had something special planned for today."

Morfin grinned as he shoved the last spoonful of mashed potatoes into his mouth.

"And what is that?" Father asked.

"Well now that your little one is doing much better, which I assume you're very thankful for," he paused to wait for your parents to agree. "We decided to accept your invitation for today to bring our mutual pact to the next stage."

Mother quickly told the elves to take Elsie upstairs, while you looked over at Tom in question. He only shook his head, letting you know he didn't know what was going on either.

"The next stage?" Father asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"Since we've done our part of the agreement already, exceedingly fast and precise might I add, and the wedding is still months away, we want to make sure we will get what we asked for. You see, I respect you and your family of course, but one can never be sure enough. We don't want to be tricked or exploited. So we're asking for an unbreakable vow. Between Tom and your daughter."

"A vow?" Mother was appalled. "What for?"

"For the marriage of course," Marvolo said. "A promise that the marriage will be solemnized, that cannot be withdrawn from either side."

A breath got stuck in your throat. First the marriage and now this? If you agreed, the Gaunts would have both Elsie and you under their control. Infringing an unbreakable vow resulted in death and they would never stop asking for things if you agreed to this.

"Marvolo," Father sighed. "Don't you think it's enough? That we agreed to do this for the sake of my youngest child? You haven't broken her curse entirely so you can use her as leverage. And now you expect me to bring my eldest daughter in mortal danger as well?"

"There's no danger if the plan proceeds as we agreed," Marvolo answered. "The vow can't harm her if she plays by the rules."

"She played by the rules," Mother said. "She still does. Everyone's been playing by your rules, so why do you want to add the vow?"

"As I said, I don't want to be tricked. It's merely a way to protect my family. And with all due respect, your reaction makes it seem like you're up to no good already. Who knows? Perhaps you've changed your minds."

Protect his family... He would sell both Tom and Morfin for a galleon and a half if he could. He was paranoid. Tom watched you in silence, his face void of emotion as your eyes met. What could you possibly reply to such an insane proposal? Every word that could leave your mouth right now would be filthy and full of anger, and Marlovo was already waiting for you to burst. 

He turned to you. "What do you say, child? Don't you want to prove your loyalty?"

You sucked in a breath and were about to answer when Tom suddenly stood up.

"Enough! I want a word."

"You want a word?" Marvolo laughed disparagingly.

"Now," Tom turned to your parents. "Is there a room we can go to?"

"The reading room, right across the corridor," Mother said and showed them the way.

You followed the three men and watched them enter the reading room before Mother turned towards you. 

"Don't eavesdrop, darling," she said. "Give them some privacy."

"Do you really think Marvolo deserves privacy?"

"No. He's an awful man."

"He is," Father said as he joined you.

"We're not going to let him do this to you," Mother promised. "You've already done enough. Marvolo is out of his mind."

"He's greedy," Father added. "Unreasonable."

You leant your head against the door to the reading room and pressed your ear onto it, trying to hear what they were talking about. Mother motioned for you to stop, but didn't prevent you from listening.

First, you heard nothing. Silence, then footsteps tipping across the room. Mumbled words that were so washed out you could barely understand what they meant.

Tom's voice echoed from the walls. "You can't be serious. Why would you ask for more? And why didn't you tell me?"

Marvolo answered quietly. You could only guess what he was saying. Something like "Why would I?"

Mother appeared next to you, visibly displeased with herself as she flicked her wand and cast a spell that diminished the sound barrier, so you could hear every word that was spoken inside the room. Privacy has to be earned in this house.

"I'm not going to let you go through with this," Tom said.

Marvolo snickered. "And you think I care what you're allowing me to do?"

"I know you don't," Tom answered. "But I won't comply. You can't force anyone to make an unbreakable vow. Not even with the Imperius curse. And you know that."

"What are you doing this for?" Morfin suddenly participated. "For the girl? You know things will only get worse if you refuse."

A moment of silence occurred.

"Oh would you look at that," Morfin chuckled. "You do like her, don't you? Well, at least Father's letter wasn't in vain then."

Tom didn't answer.

"And her? How will you make her fall for you?" Morfin asked. "If you need a little love potion, I can provide that."

"How dare you bring that up?" Tom spat. "You're very brave today, uncle. Comparing me to her."

"Well, Father," Morfin went on. "Looks like Tom thinks he can do it all on his own."

"Now listen to me, son," Marvolo said. "If you think you can disobey me like that, without any consequences, you must take me for a fool. To say that I'm disappointed is an understatement. Just know that there will be more to it."

They scurried around. Marvolo and Morfin seemed to leave through the Floo Network. You assumed Tom would follow them but could hear him roaming around the room for another minute until his steps wandered towards the door.
Both you and your mother stepped away quickly. Mother fixed her hair and you had suddenly found a deep interest in your nail beds, studying them as if your life depended on it.

Tom stood in the door frame, chest heaving slightly, with the doorknob in his hand.

"Grandfather and uncle left through the fireplace," he said. "I'll go too, I just need a minute, if you'll allow."

Mother looked at him like she looked at Elsie when she grazed her knee or hit her head. Her eyes weren't as stern as you expected them to be, but soft and full of pity.

"Why don't you stay for a bit, Tom?" she asked. "We still have so much food left from lunch, we could need a bit of help before it goes to waste."

Tom looked at her and nodded slowly. He must have known that she didn't invite him to prevent wasting food. But apparently, he didn't care what her reasons were. He just accepted it and that was fair.

"Would you show him around, darling?" Mother asked you. "While I tell the elves to prepare the guest room."