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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After the Weasleys' flying car landed back at the Burrow, Ron, Harriet, and Tom stepped out.
Determined to show chivalry to his darling, Tom insisted on helping Ron bring Harriet's luggage into the house.
After Harriet's things had been safely placed inside, she walked back to the flying car with Tom to bid him goodbye.
Ron ignorantly followed them.
"Thanks again." Harriet nodded at Tom with a smile, "You don't know how happy I am to be out of there! I can even let Hedwig fly tomorrow!"
"As long as you're happy, Harriet Potter…,.." Tom said with a bitter grin as he gazed at Harriet, "...Then I am as well."
While Tom and Harriet stared at each other, an awkward moment of uncertainty passed between them.
He considered extending a hand for her to shake until Harriet laughed and reached forward to embrace him again.
Tom closed his eyes for a moment in sheer delight.
Once their brief exchange ended, Harriet turned and walked into the Burrow to escape the cool breeze that blew from the nearby lake.
After she had gone, Tom turned to Ron and nodded, "Weasley……….give your father my thanks for his assistance."
"Um……..sure." Ron nodded.
Tom stretched out a hand.
Ron blinked as he hesitantly took it.
Tom jerked Ron towards him before he whispered into his ear, "Remember, Weasley…….Harriet Potter is mine…...if you touch her or think of her in any way that challenges that, I will find out…...I would implore you to keep in mind that I do know where you and your family lives."
Ron's pale face was a mask of wordless terror as Tom pushed him back with one smooth motion as he ended their handshake and glared at Harriet's best friend.
Tom turned his back on Ron, walked over, and climbed into the flying car to let Fred and George take him home.
Ron stared into the night as the enchanted vehicle rose into the air and soared through the sky.
He felt too frightened to do anything else.
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Harriet and Tom were both at peace for the rest of the summer after she had been successfully rescued from her prison at the Dursleys' home.
Molly and Arthur had prepared themselves to answer questions from the authorities once Harriet's family reported her abduction, but whether from not being able to find her or a total lack of concern, no one ever visited the Burrow to inquire about Harriet.
She gladly spent the rest of the summer playing with the Weasley children, accepting Molly and Arthur as her adopted parents, and writing letters to Tom.
Tom Riddle became a much happier boy as soon as he began receiving replies to all of the mail that he sent his darling.
Tom and Harriet kept the magical postal service busy.
For the rest of the summer, they wrote to each other every day.
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Tom Riddle used his second year at Hogwarts as a time of preparation.
After a season of planning and reflection, he sought to groom himself into the man that he one day dreamed of becoming.
Tom poured himself into his studies, eager to learn everything that he possibly could from his professors.
Like a sponge, he skillfully soaked up the knowledge they shared.
He balanced working on his academic assignments with his attempts at becoming closer to Harriet.
Tom continued to give her an enchanted rose every month.
He always wore a charming smile and whispered kind words of sweet compliments to his darling.
Tom studied with Harriet during their free periods and watched all of her Quidditch games.
At one of Harriet's matches, Tom noticed a second year boy from Hufflepuff staring at her in admiration as she whirled through the air on her broom.
A terrible, ominous scowl clouded Tom's handsome features as he glowered at his unexpected rival in utter loathing until eventually, the boy from Hufflepuff felt someone watching him.
The boy from Hufflepuff frowned and scanned the crowd to discover the source of that eerie feeling.
He visibly started when he noticed that Tom Riddle had fixated his sinister gaze upon him.
Instantly, the Hufflepuff boy took his eyes off of Harriet.
Tom kept a close watch on that Hufflepuff boy for weeks, but the boy never once looked at Harriet Potter again, on the Quidditch field or off.
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Close to the end of Harriet's second year at Hogwarts, the vase full of lush, red roses that stood on her nightstand had become a popular topic of conversation amongst the castle's female students.
Tom's actions had inspired many fights between Hogwarts' student couples.
Why didn't every boy bring their sweetheart enchanted roses each month?
Some giggled and mocked Harriet for the flowers that Tom Riddle brought her out of their own secret envy.
Nearly all of Harriet's peers were deeply jealous, except Hermione.
"Have you snogged Tom yet?" Hermione asked Harriet while they sat alone in their dormitory one evening.
"Have I…...WHAT?" Harriet gasped incredulously.
"It was an honest question, Harriet." Hermione shrugged.
"No!" Harriet scoffed, "I haven't snogged Tom yet, thanks…...He hasn't mentioned anything about that!"
"Well, clearly he does fancy you, Harriet." Hermione said as she nodded at the vase full of roses, "Look at those flowers….He brings you one every month…..that's so romantic!"
"I don't know much about romance." Harriet shrugged.
"I'm certain that Tom will be willing to teach you when the time comes." Hermione smirked.
"Hermione!" Harriet exclaimed.
Hermione laughed as Harriet smacked her with her pillow.
Both of the girls giggled as they battled for a while, but when they laid down to sleep later that night, Harriet found herself unable to close her eyes.
She rolled onto her back with a sigh and stared up at the fabric stretched between the posters of her bed.
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As Summer arrived, Harriet no longer dreaded leaving the castle since the Weasleys had thoughtfully invited her back to the Burrow.
Hermione threw Harriet a knowing smirk, but Ron just blinked when his best friend climbed into a compartment with Tom Riddle and left them to ride alone as the Hogwarts Express pulled away from the castle.
"You can come visit, you know." Harriet smiled at Tom while they sat together, "I'm sure Mr. and Mrs. Weasley wouldn't mind."
"Perhaps they wouldn't." Tom agreed as he nodded at Harriet, "I'll write to them and ask."
Silence fell between the couple as they rode along.
In their usual, silent gesture of fondness, their hands found each other as their fingers intertwined.
It took Harriet an hour or so to work up her nerve, but as she contemplated spending months away from him, she looked out the window and asked, "...Tom?"
"Yes?" He answered as he glanced at her.
"Why do you give me a rose every month?" Harriet frowned.
A warm smirk of mischievous arrogance glided over Tom's lips as he replied, "...Because you belong to me, Harriet Potter."
Harriet laughed as she questioned, "What does that mean?"
Tom blinked at her in disbelief.
His dark eyes narrowed as he explained, "...It means that you're mine and no one can ever change that."
While his words were darkly possessive, especially for a boy his age, Harriet took his statement as a type of compliment.
After a lifetime of rejection, loneliness, and abuse, it felt wonderful to be wanted and desired.
Tom's piercing gaze bore into her as she cleared her throat and replied, "Well, perhaps I might be one day…...no one's presented yet. You don't know how we'll end up...What if I'm an alpha and you're an omega?"
Tom made a noise in his throat between a scoff and a mirthless cackle.
Harriet chuckled at him before he gently squeezed her hand and grinned.
As he stared at her through his thick lashes with his dark eyes glinting, Harriet couldn't help the blush that tinted her cheeks while he spoke, "No, Harriet Potter, you have it all wrong…….I will be your alpha and you will be my omega. We'll marry after we graduate and I'll become Minister for Magic…..I'll give you a good home and a good life…….and in return, you'll give me everything that you have…...your heart, your body, children…."
Tom had moved his face closer to Harriet's while he had spoken.
In response, she had done nothing to maintain any distance from him.
As he finished, he glanced down at her lips and curiously, she glanced down at his, before their gazes met once more.
Harriet felt her heart race as she leaned in and closed her eyes……
While the Hogwarts Express thundered along its track, Harriet and Tom experienced a life-changing event as he pressed his lips against hers.
It was their first real kiss, but though it rang with innocence and dripped with the sweetness of unspoiled youth, that didn't decrease its meaning or its importance.
Tom Riddle had told Harriet Potter that she belonged to him.
Harriet Potter had eagerly agreed.
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That summer, the letters flew back and forth between Merope's apartment and the Burrow.
Tom woke early each morning and sat by his windowsill in his small, dingy room, impatiently waiting for an owl to bring him the day's message from his darling.
Merope and the Weasleys agreed that Tom could visit Harriet.
Whenever George and Fred could come and pick him up, that was exactly what Tom did.
Snogging became Tom and Harriet's new pastime that summer as they approached their third year of magical education.
They had to be careful about their affectionate displays at the Burrow with so many people around to catch them, but Tom fed off every taste he received of his beloved, no matter the brevity of their stolen kisses.
As the school year approached and the summer ended, Tom sat at the vinyl dining table in the cramped kitchen of his mother's apartment one evening while they ate dinner together.
"Mother?" He asked.
"Yes, darling?" Merope answered.
Their portions were small, but their meal was decent and for that, they were both grateful.
"I need you to sign my permission slip before I leave on the train next week…….They won't let me visit Hogsmeade without your approval." Tom reminded her.
"Of course, love." Merope nodded, "Bring it to me once we're finished with dinner and I'll sign it tonight."
"Thank you, Mother." Tom said with a handsome smile.
"Anything for you, my precious Tom." Merope beamed as she reached out and lovingly laid a hand against Tom's cheek.
He reveled in his mother's touch for a moment before he dared to reveal his scheme and wants to Merope.
"...Mother?" Tom asked.
"Yes, darling?" Merope answered before she took another bite of her food.
"You're always working so hard…..I've decided that I'm going to find a job in Hogsmeade this year and send my wages home…...You'll be able to take a day off then." Tom nodded.
A bright smile spread across Merope's face as she laughed and shook her head, "No! I want you to focus on school, alright? I'm the parent...I'm the one who's supposed to take care of you, my sweet boy, not the other way around."
"...But I want to earn money." Tom frowned.
Merope mirrored his forlorn expression as he pressed, "Please, Mother? I'll only work on the weekends or at times when it won't interfere with my studies…...Please……?"
"Well…..alright." Merope shrugged, "I don't want you to feel like this is something you have to do, though, sweetheart."
Tom changed the subject as he anxiously blurted out his next question, "If I earn enough to pay for the extra food, may I invite Harriet Potter to spend the winter recess with us?"
Merope blinked in surprise.
Tom watched as a sly smirk washed over his mother's face as she replied, "Ah, so that's why you want to find a job….."
"No." Tom frowned, "I will send home my wages, Mother…..but if I do get a job and I do earn the money, would you allow me to invite her into our home?"
"Darling," Merope said with a long sigh, "...I would dearly love to meet Harriet Potter. Of course you can invite her here for the winter recess! We'll be a proper little family."
"Thank you, Mother." Tom whispered as a grin of adoring admiration curled his lips while he gazed at Merope.
Sweet, loving, kind…...Tom's mother possessed similar qualities that he saw in Harriet and that strengthened his feelings for both women.
"You're growing into a fine young man." Merope said proudly as she took another bite of her meal.
"Do you really think so?" Tom asked.
When Merope nodded, he pried, "Does that make me old enough to finally learn about my father?"
Merope's happy expression of pride melted into one of anguish as she looked at Tom.
He frowned in disappointment as she sniffed, stood from the table, and walked her dishes over to the sink while she replied, "Another time perhaps…...I'm quite tired tonight, darling."
Tom sadly watched Merope walk out of their small kitchen and go into her bedroom for the evening.
He didn't understand why his mother avoided talking about his father.
Tom also failed to see the tears Merope shed as she cried herself to sleep that night.
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After his return to school, Tom found employment as a stock boy in Hogsmeade's largest apothecary during his first visit to the village.
By October, he had become accustomed to the duties of his position and had already been offered a promotion to junior clerk by the store's owner.
Tom Riddle balanced his studies, his pursuit of Harriet, and his young working life amazingly well.
True to his word, he sent his weekly wages home to Merope with the singular request that she save enough to buy the groceries needed for Harriet's visit.
Harriet had already accepted Tom's generous invitation.
The thought of being able to share all of that time with his beloved in just a few short months made his heart race.
Tom smiled to himself as he sorted bunches of lavender one Saturday afternoon while his classmates frolicked through the village, carefree.
To Tom Riddle, it was worth all of the work in the world to earn the privilege of spending a single moment in Harriet Potter's company.