Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!

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February soon arrived.

By then, Merope had managed to scrape together enough money for another rose, which she sent to Tom, who promptly gave it to Harriet.

In March, she sent another flower.

In April, another.

Harriet's smile never faded each month when Tom presented her with her newest rose, although Hermione's suspicions about his true feelings for her friend only increased.

May brought with it another rose for Harriet, but June sadly held the conclusion of the school year.

Merope barely managed to get June's rose to Tom in time.

The delicate flower arrived in his morning mail the day before Hogwarts' summer break began.

Tom enchanted the rose just after breakfast.

After he searched the castle, he found Harriet sitting alone by a window in one of the lengthy stone corridors.

"Hello, Harriet Potter." Tom politely greeted her.

Politely.

In her letters, Merope had emphasized the need for Tom to always be polite to Harriet if he wanted her to return his feelings.

"Hello, Tom." Harriet replied with a bittersweet smile as she turned away from the window to look at him.

The sadness on her face made his stomach lurch.

Without another word, Tom reached into the pocket of his robes, pulled out the rose, and handed it to Harriet.

Her forlorn expression instantly vanished as a bright smile of genuine joy spread across her lips.

Tom drew in a deep breath as his chest swelled with pride.

He had done that…..he had brought Harriet Potter that happiness.

He had taken away his darling's pain.

"Thanks!" Harriet exclaimed as she looked at her flower.

No one had ever given her a Christmas gift before Mrs. Weasley, that was true, but no one had ever given her as many gifts as Tom Riddle.

"Why were you sad?" He asked.

"...What?" Harriet blinked at him. She looked down as she replied, "Oh…...it's nothing, don't worry about it."

Tom regretted his question for a fleeting second as he was forced to endure seeing the anguish on his beloved's face again while whatever unpleasant thought she had previously entertained returned to her mind

"If it was nothing, then you wouldn't be sad about it." Tom reasoned.

"Well," Harriet said with a sigh as she held her rose and looked at Tom, "I'm not very excited about the summer holiday, that's all."

Tom thought back for a moment.

When one of their previous conversations danced through his mind, he asked, "Because of your aunt and uncle?"

"They're not really the most pleasant people." Harriet explained with a mirthless laugh.

She declined to say anything else about the Dursleys out of embarrassment.

Tom's dark eyes flashed as a primal need to protect Harriet rose within him.

"The summer won't last long." He reassured her, "Besides, I'll still bring you a rose each month."

"...Will you?" Harriet chuckled in disbelief.

Tom gazed at her with such sincere intensity burning in his dark eyes that her smile of amusement faded.

"Are you excited about the holiday?" Harriet asked as she moved over on the stone bench to let Tom sit beside her.

"Very much." He nodded.

His pulse accelerated as he sat down next to Harriet, more than happy to be near her.

"I expect your mother will be glad to see you." Harriet smiled as she looked over at him.

"Oh, yes." Tom nodded.

As their conversation died out, they both looked down at the stone floor for a moment.

Harriet was curious.

She admired the sweet boy who had been kind enough to give her beautiful roses every month…..the boy who possessed such devastatingly dark eyes.

Hermione was usually right…...but was she right about Tom Riddle too?

Harriet cleared her throat and let her hand slide off of her lap to lay against the edge of the bench.

Silently, Tom accepted her invitation and snaked his own hand over to grasp Harriet's.

As they sat there, young and innocent, holding one another's hands while their hearts raced, Harriet smiled.

Tom smirked.

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As Tom and Harriet returned to their seperate homes to begin their summers, neither of them forgot about those fleeting moments of bliss they shared together on the bench.

Tom amused himself by chatting with the snakes in the garden outside of his apartment building while Merope was at work.

Harriet amused herself by remaining in her new prison, which had previously served as Dudley's bedroom.

Her uncle Vernon had told her many times over how generous they had been to allow her to sleep there.

The fact that Harriet had spent more than a decade inhabiting the cupboard under the stairs didn't seem significant to the Dursleys.

Tom often wrote to Harriet, but to his great disappointment, none of his letters were ever returned.

As each day passed with no reply, he became more and more irritated.

He had learned from the time he had spent with Harriet that her birthday was July thirty-first.

As she did each month, Merope purchased another rose in July.

Tom was determined to give the flower to Harriet for her birthday.

Unfortunately, he was unsure of where Harriet lived.

If he learned her address, he had no transportation and no means to gain any.

………...Or did he?

Too young to work a job and too poor to hire anyone, Tom shrewdly used his connections to achieve his desires.

One evening, he sat down and penned a letter to one of his best enemies, er, friends:

Dear Draco Malfoy,

I hope that you and your family are well. I'm writing to ask if I may have some assistance with something important? There's a muggle house that I need to visit on the thirty-first. Is there any way you could aid me? I would be greatly indebted to you and your family.

Tom Riddle

Tom mailed his correspondence the following morning.

Draco Malfoy was terrified of his eerie housemate. He certainly wouldn't reject the opportunity to have his frightening peer in his debt, but no reply letter from Malfoy manor arrived.

Tom waited patiently.

And waited……

And waited……

He began to wonder if he was using the magical postal service correctly, but on the morning of July thirty-first, his response from Draco finally came.

He woke up to the sound of rustling from inside the tattered wooden door of his closet as he crawled out of bed with a suspicious scowl on his face.

Merope had already gone to work.

Tom grabbed his wand off of his nightstand as he prepared to defend himself.

Cautiously, he crept towards the closet as the rustling sound grew louder.

Tom slowly reached out to grab the tarnished door knob.

In one harsh yank, he threw his closet door wide open.

The creature inside his closet shouted and Tom shouted back in surprise as they saw each other.

The creature was short, with pinkish skin, large eyes, and huge, floppy ears.

It wore a little sack around its body that looked like a soiled pillowcase as it looked up at Tom.

"Mr. Riddle, sir!" The creature cried as it stretched a hand out and offered him a letter.

"Who are you?!" Tom demanded, "What are you doing here?! What is that?!"

"Please, sir!" The creature implored him, "I-It's for you! From my master!"

Tom kept his wand pointed threateningly at the creature as he snatched the letter out of its hand, opened it, and quickly scanned over the lines it contained:

Tom Riddle,

Wonderful to hear from you! Hope your summer is going well. I'm not sure what I can do to assist, but my Father allowed me to send one of our house elves, Dobby, for the day. He's mostly a useless git, but he should be able to manage the simple task of taking you to a muggle house. Tell him who you want to see and he'll find them for you. Have him back by midnight, he's part of our preparation staff.

Sincerely,

Draco Lucius Malfoy

Tom's dark eyes flickered from the letter to the creature.

"You're Dobby, the house elf?" Tom asked.

"Yes, sir! At your service, sir." Dobby, the house elf, nodded nervously.

Tom glared down at Dobby for a moment while he thought.

Dobby whimpered as he waited anxiously for his assignment.

"Very well……" Tom frowned, "Dobby, I need to visit the home of Harriet Potter. Take me there immediately."

When Dobby seemed to brighten up a bit, Tom asked suspiciously, "...Why are you smiling, elf?"

"Dobby has heard how much his master hates Harriet Potter." Dobby beamed, "That must mean that Harriet Potter is better than Dobby's master!"

"Yes, well, never mind that!" Tom snapped, "Take me to her…..now!"

"Does Mr. Riddle have a piece of Harriet Potter's clothing that Dobby can use to find her with, sir?" Dobby asked as he cowered.

"No." Tom frowned, "I don't have any of her clothing."

"Does Mr. Riddle have a memory of Harriet Potter, sir?" Dobby asked timidly.

A wide smirk curled across Tom's lips as he answered, "Oh yes, I have many of those~."

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No cake, no cards, no presents, no smiles, Harriet's twelfth birthday passed like most of her previous ones, without any sort of particular commemoration.

That evening, as she washed the dishes while Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley sat in the living room watching their television, she doubted very seriously that Hagrid would come and break down the door to give her a cake like he had last year.

Harriet was as disappointed with the magical postal service as Tom.

She had only hoped for, not expected, a letter from him…….but Ron and Hermione?

Harriet found it very odd that neither of her best friends had written to her once during the summer.

The pots clanged together as Harriet washed them in the sink, which prompted her uncle to turn around and hiss, "QUIET!"

"Sorry….." Harriet murmured as she glanced up at him with a nod.

A single knock on the front door broke the monotony of the evening.

Everyone looked up for a moment and glanced at each other.

"Must have been the cat outside." Petunia nodded before they settled back to watch the television while Harriet resumed her work.

Knock, knock, knock.

When the unmistakable sound came from the front door again, Vernon scowled at his wife and spat, "It's late! Who could that be at this bloody hour?!"

"We're not expecting anyone, Vernon!" Petunia exclaimed as she watched her husband stand to his feet with a huff and shuffle out of the living room to answer the front door.

Harriet craned her neck to listen, along with her aunt and cousin, while Vernon made his way to the foyer.

He wrenched the door open with a hideous scowl on his face.

There, on the Dursleys' front step, stood Tom and Dobby.

"Yes?" Vernon blinked, "What do you want, boy? We already take the paper! You've got some kind of nerve to bother people at this hour!"

"I've come to see Harriet Potter." Tom firmly declared as he stared straight up into Vernon's beady eyes.

Tom calmly held the enchanted rose that he had brought for his darling as he faced the angry mountain in front of him.

Vernon's eyebrows rose for a moment in disbelief before his eyes narrowed distrustfully.

"You're one of them, aren't you, boy?" Vernon asked as he glanced suspiciously from Tom to Dobby, "One of the freaks from that oddball school?"

"I've come to see Harriet Potter." Tom firmly repeated as Vernon stooped down to stare into his face.

Vernon Dursley was too daft to understand that Tom Riddle presented him with a statement, not a question.

"You listen to me…..the girl doesn't take visitors, not in my house…...especially not visitors like you! Now, be gone! Off with you and your…..dog." Vernon snapped as he scowled over at Dobby before he glared back at Tom.

Tom's dark gaze bore into Vernon's soul as a wicked smile twisted his lips while he spoke, "Your house is very ugly, perhaps it would look better if it burned to the ground."

Vernon's small eyes narrowed as he sneered, "I know the rules from that place….I know the rules….You can't do magic away from school, so there's nothing you can do to me! Now, get off my property before I call the police!"

The unsettling look of joyful malice that ignited in Tom's black eyes deeply disturbed Harriet's uncle.

Vernon frowned while Tom agreed, "You're right, sir. I can't perform magic outside of Hogwarts."

"Yes, well, goodnight." Vernon huffed after he straightened his back.

He went to close the door, but Tom stopped him with a strong hand as he held the entrance to the Dursleys' house open.

"I can, however…." Tom went on as he gestured to Dobby, "...order my elf to do whatever I please."

Vernon's beady eyes widened.

Tom fed off of his enemy's fear.

He let his cold, black stare focus on Vernon as he went on, "You're rather ugly yourself, you know. Perhaps you'd look better if my elf peeled all of your skin off. The vultures could come and pick the fat from your bones………..if your wife and son are as ugly as you, then I think my elf could do them a similar favor."

Vernon swallowed thickly as Tom glowered at him and added, "...They say real beauty is on the inside, after all."

As Dobby stood beside Tom, crouching and quivering, any witch or wizard would have laughed at the ridiculousness of those threats, but Vernon knew very little about the magical world.

"POTTER!" Vernon shouted over his shoulder.

"Coming, Uncle Vernon!" Harriet called from the kitchen.

The ominous glare left Tom's face as happy triumph washed over his expression when Harriet came up to the doorway.

She stepped under her uncle's arm to see…..

"TOM!" Harriet cried.

"Hello, Harriet Potter." Tom greeted her with a handsome smile.

He blinked as Harriet threw her arms around him in a tight hug as her delight at seeing him overrode the usual formal conduct they displayed towards one another.

No one had ever hugged Tom Riddle besides Merope.

Slowly, he raised his hands and pressed them down against Harriet's back to return her gesture.

As Harriet pulled away, she noticed Dobby standing there and she asked Tom, "Oh! Who's this?"

"Oh…..that's Dobby, the house elf, don't bother with him." Tom said hurriedly, but Harriet was interested.

Dobby cowered as she stepped towards him until she held out her hand and smiled, "Hello, Dobby, I'm Harriet Potter! It's nice to meet you."

Dobby blinked for a moment before he hesitantly reached out and shook Harriet's hand as he replied, "Dobby is pleased to meet Harriet Potter too, ma'am."

"You don't have to call me 'ma'am', Dobby. Just call me Harriet!" She laughed.

Dobby felt his heart glow as the kindness of Harriet's smile brightened his weary world.

As Tom watched Harriet introduce herself to Dobby, her actions confused him.

Why should she show kindness to one as lowly as a house elf?

Harriet turned and interrupted his thoughts as she stared at him with her beautiful green eyes.

Tom remembered himself as he handed her the rose that he held and smiled, "Happy Birthday, Harriet Potter."

"Thanks, Tom!" Harriet cried as she grinned widely and took the rose.

She and Tom silently held each other's gazes for a moment.

Dobby clasped his hands together and smiled at Harriet, who had been one of the first decent witches he had ever met, until Vernon shattered everyone's peace.

"Are those dishes finished yet, Potter?!" He barked.

"No, sir…..not yet." Harriet admitted as she glanced at her uncle.

Another scowl fell over Tom's handsome face when Harriet's attention was called away from him.

"Then why don't you tell your freaky little friends that you have work to do?!" Vernon hissed.

"Yes, Uncle Vernon." Harriet nodded.

She turned back to face Tom and Dobby as she looked into Tom's eyes and said, "Thanks for the rose…..I...I've got to finish my...um, work now, but it was really nice to see you again…..And nice to meet you, Dobby!" Harriet smiled as she glanced over at the house elf.

Dobby cheered gratefully as Tom watched Harriet reluctantly walk back into the house.

He noticed how old and worn her clothes looked and how much thinner she seemed since he had last seen her at school.

"...Write to me sometime?" Harriet called to Tom before she disappeared around the corner of the hallway behind Vernon.

Tom's dark eyes narrowed as he realized that Harriet hadn't received the many letters he had written to her.

"Away with you, boy!...And your stupid elf too!" Vernon spat hatefully at Tom and Dobby before he slammed the door in their faces.

Tom stood silently on the Dursleys' front step for a moment until he eventually looked over at Dobby.

Dobby whimpered, but Tom held up a hand to signal him.

Quietly, Dobby followed Tom as they crept around to the back of the house.

Tom and Dobby crouched in the bushes outside of the sliding glass door that opened up into the Dursley's dining room while they listened to the shouting from inside.

"I'll make sure none of your bloody friends ever come looking for you again, do you hear me?!" Vernon roared at Harriet, "Do you hear me, Potter? You'll never see the light of day! I'll put bars on your window! I'll lock you in your room day and night, you'll never escape!"

"...Dobby?" Tom whispered in the darkness outside.

His voice sounded terrifyingly smooth and disturbingly relaxed.

"Y-Yes, Mr. Riddle?" Dobby whispered back.

"I need you to take me somewhere else." Tom stated.

"...Is Mr. Riddle ready to go home now?" Dobby asked.

"No." Tom scowled as he watched Vernon closely through the sliding glass door, "...Not yet."