Harriet had stopped at the park on her way home from school, determined to put off returning to Privet Drive for as long as possible. She'd missed the first day of term, but wasn't worried about that after Tom told her she wouldn't be attending after the month was out anyway. It wasn't something she'd be losing sleep over, she actually couldn't wait to get away from the muggle children.

It had been a rather strange day. Lessons had been as interesting as ever, but she'd been left alone completely by the pupils, which was nice of course, but a little strange. Even her cousin, who hadn't seen her in over a week, had made a point to avoid her. It had been a relief at first, but after a while she thought maybe he was waiting to attack her once she got home. Tom said they would be nicer to her, but a lifetime of experience wasn't easily pushed aside.

Eventually though she knew she'd have to return before she got into trouble for being so late. Still, she took her time, enjoying the soft tread of her brand new school shoes, and when she finally arrived found a van in the driveway delivering furniture.

Her aunt was standing on the lawn to direct the delivery men, making a point to be seen by all the neighbours. Harriet didn't know it but the new items were all top of the range, designer products and her aunt was making sure that everyone saw them. However her snooty expression faded to something more strained when she saw Harry approaching.

"You're things have arrived." Was all she said by way of greeting before retreating back into the house. Harry was confused for a moment before she realised this must have been what Tom meant when he said he wouldn't have her living in squalor. He could be so dramatic sometimes!

Cautiously she followed the men carrying a desk up the stairs into the spare room. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she took in the sight. The room was nothing like she'd ever seen before. All the furnishings were thick and heavy and rich, the furniture all solid wood of elegant design and as she carefully sat on the new bed she knew it would be every bit as comfortable as the one at the Malfoy's. All of Dudley's things had been moved out and on the floor were two huge suitcases, probably bigger than her, that she found to be full of muggle clothes. She couldn't contain the huge grin as she looked around again. Maybe most children wouldn't be too impressed with such things, but Harry had never had anything of her own before. It was wonderful, but also utterly bizarre – like she was suck somewhere between her old life with the muggles and her new life with Tom. She sat in silence as a man appeared with the desk chair. It was overly ornate. Tom always called her silly, but she thought he was rather silly. This was all so unnecessary – she'd only be here a month and as long as she didn't have to return to the cupboard she'd have been satisfied. Although, this was all very nice, so she wouldn't be complaining about the excess any time soon.

Once everything was in place she set about carefully putting away all her new clothes, changing into a beautifully embroidered sundress as she did, before deciding she should get her homework out of the way. She took a moment just sitting at the desk, feeling rather giddy that it was hers. It was of course all rather modest in caparison to Malfoy Manor, but she had felt more like a guest there; sleeping in someone's spare bed and using their wardrobes etc.

"We'll have to get you your own things when you return then." She beamed again as Tom spoke.

"Tom, this is all incredible, but you really didn't need to." She felt a distant amusement coming from him – he knew how much she appreciated it all and that was worth the trouble. Ok, so maybe ordering Narcissa to arrange the new items hadn't been that much trouble to him.

She set out her school books and pens before pulling forward the maths book. She was actually a little thirsty, but resigned herself to doing her short division before she ventured downstairs.

"Go get a drink." Tom commanded, before thinking better of it. "No, actually just call down and have one of the muggles make you one." Harry rolled her eyes.

"I'm perfectly capable of making my own drinks."

"I know. You are capable of doing the dishes and laundry and cleaning, but that doesn't mean you should." He was actually more concerned with correcting her hesitation of facing her family than her ability to make drinks. He wouldn't have her spending the next month afraid to face them, and she needed to understand her superiority as much as they did.

She started to argue that she was fine and would get a drink later, and that he was making a big deal out of nothing, but he stayed firm.

"If you don't order them to get you a drink, I'll not help you with any homework for the next week." He said calmly, but she knew he was serious and so huffed dramatically before standing. She didn't particularly need his help, as even if she didn't understand something she knew he wouldn't let her fall behind in the long term, but she wasn't prepared to forfeit his company over something so silly. She stood at the top of the stairs and opened her mouth. "Order." He reminded her, so she steeled her voice as best she could.

"I want a cup of tea." She paused, "One sugar and milk." Her family wouldn't know how she took her tea. Tom held his amusement in: that was a terrible attempt at an order, but at least she hadn't phrased it as a question, so he stayed quiet. It was something they could work on.

All was quiet for a moment as she waited at the top of the stairs, preparing herself for the argument that was no doubt coming and then focusing her magic when she realised she'd probably have to give another demonstration as to why they should obey her. But of course no such thing was necessary, and after a few more moments her aunt stepped into the hallway and shouted back uncertainly.

"O-ok."

Her eyes were wide with shock, but Tom directed her back to her work while brushing the women's actions off as her merely knowing her place. Harry of course knew where Tom thought her aunt's place was, but hadn't expected her to agree so easily.

It had taken a week for Harry to accept that the muggles were going to cooperate, but when she did she decided to have some fun with it. She had mostly been left alone, but had been given three meals a day – meals that she took in her room after the first awkward dinner when she decided that she didn't want to eat with them. Her cousin had a permanent scowl when he looked at her but said nothing more than necessary. The only time he had started to bully her, Vernon had quickly snapped at him to shut up. Harry never heard anyone berate Dudley before! Vernon himself had yet to utter a single word to his niece.

"Uncle Vernon?" She asked from the doorway to the living room. The large man looked up, his cheeks puffing out as he struggled not to say the nasty things he wanted to. She gave him what she hoped was a hard look and was satisfied when he averted his eyes. Tom had told her not to let them look at her. It was a weird thing to ask, but she rather enjoyed it. "I want you to make my breakfast tomorrow." She saw one beefy hand clenching. "I want a full English." He made a noise somewhere between a grunt and a growl and she smiled. She was getting braver; trying to see how far she could push before they resisted.

"I'm not going to eat it!" She stressed to Tom later that evening. "I just wanted to see if he would."

"He will, if he knows what's good for him." He was amused by her attempts to exert her authority, but knew there was nothing really malicious about it – she was just being a child pushing new boundaries. He'd let her do it at her own pace though and hoped it would become second nature easily enough.


If the Malfoys had found Harry Potter's presence disconcerting, it only took a few hours of her absence for them to reassess that judgement and after a few weeks they could think of nothing they wanted more than to welcome the little girl back. Especially at times like this; when they were all lounging awkwardly in the living room, barely daring to breathe.

They had been enjoying a calm and lazy evening. Lucius sat in an armchair before a grand fireplace reading the late edition of the Prophet, while across the room Narcissa flicked through design folders in search of inspiration for this year's Winter Ball and Draco sorted through his chocolate frog cards, moaning every so often about duplicates. It was a peaceful night. That was, until the Dark Lord strode into the room without acknowledging that it was already occupied, before taking a seat in the other armchair and staring into the roaring fire, the flames basking him in an amber glow of power.

It had taken a moment or two for Lucius to react and then he stood swiftly, his wife quickly following his example. "My Lord?" He half greeted/half questioned with a bowed head.

"Relax." Voldemort said, though it was ordered in such a tone that made them want to do anything but. All the same, the blonde returned to his seat, sending a brief look to his wife and rather at a loss of what to do. The problem was it was clear for anyone to see that the powerful man was annoyed. Not angry – nobody was screaming after all, but they all felt it might not take much to push him over the edge tonight. He sat back comfortably, but still managed to command the room without saying a word. Most wizards' magic was unnoticeable, but the air was always heavier when Voldemort was near and right now it felt as though waves of malicious intent rolled off him, permeating the air and making it a little harder to breath. Even Draco felt it and had become quiet and still, staring at the card he'd been holding when the man arrived, not wanting to draw attention by moving to pick up another.

The death eater also remained silent, trying to read so as to not disturb his master's thoughts, even as he secretly thought that maybe a distraction would be helpful.

Nobody would say it – they would barely dare think it – but the Dark Lord had been better company while Harry was staying with them. Ever since she'd been gone he was a lot less tolerant, a lot less patient and much quicker to anger.

Voldemort was annoyed that he couldn't pick up where he'd left off before losing his body. It had taken decades to build up a solid following and to infiltrate the various bastions of power in wizarding Britain. It would be easier than last time, already having a strong base to work on, but he still had to be careful about how he acted. For example, he decided against dealing with Snape right away.

As he thought about the traitor, his small tsk made the Malfoys flinch rather violently. He normally revelled in the fear his mere presence could inspire in others, but at the moment it only served to irritate him further and his hand twitched with a desire to draw his wand.

Harriet continued to report that she'd seen nothing unusual – no strange people watching her or odd events, but today Tom had a spare ten minutes and by-chance had joined her as she was walking home from school, and just before she turned onto the path of number four, he'd seen her: a familiar tabby cat that was far too still as it watched the young girl from across the street. Knowing Dumbledore had sent one of his sheep to check up on Harry was almost enough to condemn Snape, and oh how he wanted to get have the man under his wand, to learn for sure just what he'd told the old man. But that would have to wait. If Snape was to suddenly go missing it would only cement the suspicion of the Dark Lord's return.

He let out a sigh – almost growling when Lucius flinched once more, wondering just when he'd gotten so used to Harry's cheek – and decided to put the matter to one side for now: it was infuriating that he had to be, but he could be patient when necessary. His next headache came from the Dementors of Azkaban. The dark creatures had always been ready to indulge his whims, but this time were less than happy that he wasn't planning to free them from ministry control any time soon, and as a result were making him work for their cooperation. Their current offer stood thus: 101 people in exchange for each prisoner the Dark Lord wanted released; one to replace the each prisoner (the ministry never checked on these old inmates), and one hundred souls as compensation. Voldemort was looking to free ten of his inner circle, which left him wondering how to source 1010 people without raising suspicion – or at least less suspicion than an outright attack on the fortress, otherwise what was the point?

The answer, naturally, came from Harry a few days later.

"You need 1010 people? Whatever for?" He grinned, thinking of her reaction if he were to tell of his intentions.

"You don't need to know." He replied, almost laughing at her own annoyance about being treated like a child, but he couldn't let her muttering go unpunished.

"Stupid Dark Lords with their stupid plans and... ouch!" She cried out as a short sharp pain shot through her head. She held her head a moment more before huffing. "Fine, I'm sorry." She bit out.

"Harriet." She was instantly humbled by the warning tone, quickly realising she didn't want to feel that pain again, fleeting though it had been.

"I'm sorry," She said out loud. "I shouldn't have been so disrespectful." All was silent for a moment. She knew he would forgive her, but sometimes he made her work for it, so she quickly moved back to the previous topic. "You could sink a ship!" Feeling ever so faint confusion through the link, she continued: "I heard there is this place called the Bermuda Triangle where boats go missing all the time, though obviously you would have to do it closer to home," She rambled, "You could sink a cruise ship and direct all the life-boats to… wherever…" She wasn't sure if he was even being serious about finding so many people and decided this was just one of his strange ideas.

Tom was pleasantly surprised. It was true that sometimes the best (most childish), solution was the best solution. He could imagine diverting a ship (no need to mess about with sinking it), and running it aground on Azkaban.

Instead of responding to her throw-away idea, he chastised her for her laziness. After all, she hadn't been practising the Occlumency exercises he gave her.


I apologise for the delay – I've been away from home – and for the slower chapter. I'll try to update again ASAP.

Also thank you so, so much for all the wonderful reviews. You are amazing xx