Harry wasn't sure how long she sat on the sofa, her thoughts a mile away from all the hustle and bustle around her. She barely even registered Professor Prewett entering the common room to remind the students that it was a weeknight and that classes would not be cancelled the next day.
It wasn't until Hermione sat down next to Harry again, placing a gentle hand on her arm that Harry snapped out of her quiet state of shock.
"I'm so sorry, Harry," Hermione said, leaning closer to Harry so she could be heard over the continuous noise around them. "Here I am celebrating while you're now forced to marry Riddle." Before giving Harry a chance to respond, Hermione leaned even closer, now with a rather shrewd look on her face. "But perhaps there is a way out of the contract now. You told him to break Grindelwald's curse, after all, and we now know there never was a curse made by Grindelwald."
Harry's eyes widened as she stared at Hermione, a small spark of hope erupting in her chest. "That might be a loophole to break the contract." She jumped up, her whole body suddenly alight with purpose. "I'm not sure if that would work, but I know some wizards who probably do know if it's a valid loophole or not. I'll be right back."
Shoving her way through the wild crowd of Gryffindors, Harry managed to find the door almost blindly and once she stepped into the hallway she started running.
Regulus opened the door moments after she knocked, not at all surprised to see her. "Come, we have tea ready." Regulus stepped aside and waved Harry into their quarters.
"I think I've found a loophole!" Harry panted, flopping down on the sofa while her heart hammered in her chest. "I told Riddle he had to break Grindelwald's curse, but it's not a curse by Grindelwald at all as it now turns out, right?"
Severus rolled his eyes while he poured her a cup of steaming tea. "Magic works on intent, Harriet. Your intent was for Riddle to break the curse known as Grindelwald's curse the world over for about half a century. The contract will keep you to that intent, no matter who the curse's true creator turned out to be."
"Oh." Harry accepted the cup while her stomach sank. She barely managed a tiny smile. "Well, it was worth a shot."
"Certainly." Regulus gave her an even stare, face full of calm reassurance. "Now at least you know what to expect from your future. The snitch has been caught and the game has been played."
Harry chuckled at Regulus' choice of metaphor. He had played Seeker in his own schooldays, as he liked to remind Harry every once in a while. But the faint humour she felt disappeared quite quickly when she understood the true meaning of Regulus' words.
The Snitch well and truly had been caught. By Riddle. There was no way out for Harry now and a cold sense of dread seeped into her entire body at the idea of marrying Riddle in a year and a half and then being stuck with him for the rest of her life.
Regulus' smile was full of sympathy. "Harriet, stop worrying so much. Riddle might not be the man you'd have chosen for yourself, but he is the kind of man who truly treasures the things he cares about. He'll treat you well, if you let him."
"I'm not a thing," Harry snarled, voice cracking as her chest suddenly erupted in anger at the whole bloody mess she found herself in.
Regulus tsk-ed and shook his head in a disapproving way. "Don't go to war over semantics. So far the preliminary marriage contract is very favourable for you and Riddle both. You'll be able to do what you like for the most part."
Harry gritted her teeth as she clenched her fingers around her teacup. "But it won't have been my choice to marry him."
"You never had a choice," Severus said with a sneer, taking Harry aback. "The whole bloody system forced witches to marry wizards whether they liked it or not. Perhaps there was an illusion of freedom because you could at least pick the bastards you were forced to spend your life with, but the whole system has been one of sexual slavery for witches for decades now. Nothing more and nothing less."
Harry gaped at him, unsure what to think of all the things Severus just said. Yes, he was right that she'd always been expected to follow the rules and do her duty. She'd just never thought of it as slavery before. It was such a loaded word…slavery.
"And it was your choice to marry Riddle," Regulus gently pointed out. "You made him the offer out of your own free will, correct?"
Harry nodded, her lips trembling as she realized that she'd only reached the point she was at now because she'd been impulsive and she thought she could trick Riddle into leaving her alone. But Riddle proved far more powerful and resourceful than she could ever have imagined.
"Harriet," Regulus said with a small sigh. "You cannot change the past. You will marry Riddle once you turn seventeen. Don't ruin your whole life just to spite him or yourself. Get to know him. Try to find some common ground, some shared interests. Whether or not you'll find happiness in your marriage depends on you as much as it does on him."
Blinking, Harry gave Regulus' words some thought. She was stuck with Riddle now, she knew that. And Regulus was absolutely right that she could make or break her experience going forwards. She could try to sabotage their relationship every step of the way, just because she felt slighted. Or she could put in some honest effort to try to make their relationship work.
Perhaps this was something she should discuss with Riddle himself. See how much he was willing to invest in their relationship, seeing as how she was just a prize for him to access his family magics. She was meeting him in Hogsmeade in a few days so she'd have ample opportunity then to gauge his real interest in her.
"I'm not sure you want to hear it just yet." Regulus leaned back in his seat while giving Harry a proud smile. "But it was you who saw to the abolishment of the Coven System, Harriet. Don't ever forget that."
Harry shrugged. "I suppose I just gave Riddle the motivation to actually put some effort into breaking that curse."
Severus snorted. "That is one way to look at it. Riddle finally wanted something else more than he wanted to control our society so he decided to do away with the curse." When Harry looked at him with her mouth hanging open, Severus rolled his eyes. "I'm willing to bet quite a significant pile of Galleons that Riddle knew how to break the curse all along. If he wasn't the wizard to create the curse in the first place."
A cold wave of realization washed over Harry. Riddle might have been behind this whole bloody mess right from the start.
"We have no evidence of this," Regulus was quick to point out with a significant look at Severus. "But Riddle is the consummate Slytherin, so I wouldn't put it past him either."
Harry gulped. What sort of man was she going to marry? The more she learned about Riddle, the more determined she became to really get to know him, inside and out. She was going to be bound to him for the rest of her life and she'd like to know if he was the kind of man who could condemn an entire nation to a form of legalized slavery for his own, as of yet unknown, benefits.
It took Harry a long time to fall asleep that night, her mind spinning and spinning with possibilities pertaining to Riddle's motivations. She had so many questions and she was determined to interrogate Riddle during their upcoming meeting.
While the whole castle celebrated, Harry spent the next few days in a bit of a daze. She was truly happy for everyone else. Of course she was. But her upcoming marriage dominated her thoughts and there was nothing she could do about that.
Riddle had booked them the same private room at the Three Broomsticks again and he was already waiting for her when Harry arrived.
"Good morning, my dearest Harriet." Riddle looked utterly smug as Harry sat down across from him.
"Morning," Harry said, clasping her hands in her lap. "I noticed you've been busy this week."
Riddle laughed outright, which was an unexpectedly warm and deep sound. "You can say that again."
"Congratulations on breaking the curse," Harry said primly, remembering her manners. It also gave her a few moments to figure out how to ask some of the questions she really wanted answers to.
"Thank you," Riddle said with a regal nod. "We are busy overhauling our laws. The Coven System should be officially abolished in a month or two."
"That's great news." Harry swallowed, still unsure how to address certain delicate topics. Then she remembered she was a Gryffindor so she might as well just barge ahead. "There's some rumours going around that you knew how to break the curse all along."
Riddle quirked an amused eyebrow, face giving not much else away. "Are there? Truth be told, those rumours have been going around for decades already. The most common one is that the whole curse was an experiment set up by the Department of Mysteries and that they spent the last few decades blackmailing me to not break it until they were done learning all they could."
Harry blinked. That was a rather outrageous theory, to be honest. It was also an obvious attempt from Riddle to distract her, Harry quickly realized. "There's also talk about how you were the one to create the curse in the first place," Harry said daringly, gaze never leaving Riddle's.
Riddle's eyes were instantly full of that quiet admiration again while the corners of his mouth quirked up. "I can honestly say the Flamels made that curse, dearest."
Yeah, Harry wasn't about to take Riddle's word for it. He was a smooth-talker if there ever was one, even she could see that. "Would you be willing to swear that?"
Without comment, Riddle whipped out his wand. "I swear on my magic that Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel created what is generally known as Grindelwald's curse." A brief but bright flash indicated the oath had activated. Without saying a word, Riddle aimed his wand at the tea set on the table and levitated it. He spun it around a few times before lowering it again. "Satisfied?"
"Yeah," Harry said with a huge sigh of relief. That vow at least confirmed Riddle wasn't behind it after all, and that was a realization that brought her a sense of calmness. She wasn't about to marry a monster after all. "There's some other things I'd like to discuss, but I'm not sure how to address them," Harry said honestly, since she figured Riddle would appreciate that more than having to listen to Harry's attempts at being polite while trying to discuss personal topics.
"I don't bite," Riddle said with a crooked smile. "I won't take offense at anything you say, you have my word."
"I understand you want to marry me to access the Slytherin magics," Harry said, once again making sure she met Riddle's steady gaze with her own eyes, no matter that her stomach was a nervous knot. She wasn't a coward, after all.
"You are very well informed," Riddle murmured, looking just a bit impressed.
Harry inclined her head once. "I merely want to know if you're willing to put in the effort to make this relationship work beyond using me to gain access to those magics."
"Ah." Riddle glanced down while he smiled before staring at Harry again with a solemn look on his face. "It is true your parseltongue is the initial reason I decided to pursue you. But the more time I spend with you, Harriet, the more I'm starting to realize that you are so very well suited for me." Riddle crinkled his eyes which were full of obvious desire. "I am more than willing to put in the effort to make our relationship a pleasant one. Am I to assume you're willing to do the same?"
Harry licked her suddenly dry lips. "Yeah, I'd like that. If we're going to be stuck together, we might as well have a good time together."
Riddle laughed again, and this time the sound travelled straight to Harry's belly where it left a trail of tingling heat. "I have an idea how we can get to know each other better."
"How?" Harry asked, carefully intrigued.
"That's a surprise. Just know that from now on I'll visit you in the castle every Thursday evening." Riddle leaned forward to pick up the teapot. "Tea?"
For the next hour they drank tea and talked about all sorts of things. Riddle explained how they were going to abolish the Coven system, and what sort of laws would replace it. None of it was bad. Polyandry would still be legal and for the next decade or two witches were still encouraged to take more than one husband until the ratio of boys and girls born was a bit more balanced again. Witches who did so could get some generous tax breaks, but there would be no negative consequences anymore for those witches who only took one husband or none at all.
Riddle also asked Harry about her schoolwork and he told her a bit about his own days at Hogwarts.
All in all, it was a pleasant meeting. Harry found she was able to relax in his company and she enjoyed listening to him talk since he was an excellent storyteller. Regulus had been right. The Snitch had been caught and Harry could stop worrying about the game and simply focus on the aftermath that was the rest of her life.
In the following days Harry got several letters from her family. James promised her he'd find a way to break the contract if she told him to. Harry wrote him back that the contract was legal and that he shouldn't risk his own life and freedom trying to break that which couldn't be broken. Sirius had the same kind of pragmatic wisdom for her that Regulus had given her. That it was in her own best interest to make the situation work for her by putting in some genuine effort. And Harry's mother expressed her sympathy that Harry was stuck with a much older man than she might have liked. But she also reminded Harry that at least Harry would only have to marry one man instead of four like Lily had been forced to do.
It was the first time Lily openly spoke about how her marriages had been forced. It gave Harry a most peculiar feeling to read those exact words, that the perfect family Harry had grown up in wasn't so perfect after all.
And it made Harry realize that perhaps her marrying Riddle was a worthy sacrifice to ensure the freedom for every other witch in the country. And in the rest of Europe, since all the other countries were abolishing their versions of the Coven system as well.
"It's unfair that Riddle's getting all the recognition for breaking the curse," Hermione said one afternoon in the library. "While it was you who motivated him to do so. You should at least get mentioned as well in the media."
"Nah," Harry said quickly as she opened her Charms book. "I'm more than happy to remain in the background. I'm just happy the whole sordid system has finally been done away with."
"Thank you," Hermione said with a watery smile. She'd been thanking Harry several times a day ever since the announcement had been made that Grindelwald's curse had been broken. After the first few times, Harry simply waved her off, even though she did appreciate hearing Hermione's honest gratitude.
Thursday rolled around and Harry waited nervously yet eagerly for Riddle in the Entrance Hall. The first thing she noticed when Riddle entered the castle was that he wasn't wearing his usual black robes, but that he only had trousers and a shirt on under his wool cloak.
"Come along," Riddle said after a brief greeting. He hurried up the grand staircase without waiting to see if Harry would follow.
Of course Harry followed, since she was far too curious to see where they were going. Riddle entered the second floor corridor and led Harry to a girls' loo.
"Are you serious?" Harry asked when Riddle held the door open and waved her inside.
"Utterly." Riddle gently gave Harry a push in her back and she had no choice but to cross the threshold. "I want you to say 'open' in parseltongue," Riddle said as they stopped in the middle of the bathroom.
Harry frowned and imagined a snake in her mind's eye. She'd discovered that she could only talk parseltongue if she pictured a snake. "Open," Harry said because she saw no reason not to play along. At once a few sinks to her left moved away from the wall with a loud scraping noise. "Wait, is this the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets?" Harry asked, remembering reading about Riddle's discovery some decades ago.
"It certainly is." Riddle stepped closer to her. "I'm going to hold you tightly and fly us down there."
"Fly?" Harry swallowed when Riddle wrapped both arms around her and squeezed her against his body. He was a good head taller than her and Harry wasn't particularly short to begin with. "Where is your broom?"
"We don't need one." And without further comment, Riddle flung them down the dark hole, Harry held securely against his body.
Harry let out a surprised shriek until she realized that they were flying. Without a broom.
"How is this possible?" Harry demanded while her whole body grow hot with excitement while she clung to Riddle, hands tightened in his cloak.
"Magic," Riddle answered with a smirk, that utter tosspot. He managed to touch them down gently at the bottom of the gaping black hole, which turned out to be a damp cavern littered with animal bones.
"Wait," Harry said as she looked around anxiously. "Wasn't there a basilisk down here?"
"I killed it when I discovered the Chamber," Riddle said conversationally as he gestured at Harry to follow him through the rocky tunnel. "Once I realized a basilisk was hibernating below the school, I commandeered a cockerel from the old groundskeeper and did away with the beast. She was quite deranged from having lived in isolation for so long and killing her was a mercy."
"Did you get to keep the body?" Harry wondered out loud. She didn't know everything about potions and their ingredients, but her grandfather Fleamont was a Potions Master and Harry knew enough to understand that a large basilisk carcass was worth a small fortune.
Riddle glanced at her over his shoulder and gave her a knowing smile. "After I reported my findings to Headmaster Dippet, he insisted I keep half the profit from the sale of the basilisk while the other half went to Hogwarts. I thought that was more than fair, especially for a penniless orphan, which I was at that time."
Harry nodded in understanding, walking carefully after the Minister. There were plenty of rocks great and small littering the tunnel and she had to be careful not to trip. "That must have been a relief then, to have a vault full of gold after living in poverty for so long."
"Yes," Riddle said with an unexpected raw edge to his voice. "It was an enormous relief. Most people don't understand how stressful poverty is, especially if they've never been in such a situation personally."
Harry nodded again, though she'd never experienced poverty for herself. But she'd been raised mostly by Remus, who grew up quite poor and always made sure Harry and her siblings understood how fortunate they were with their upbringing in which they wanted for nothing. It was usually Remus as well, though occasionally Lily also jumped in, to make sure James and Sirius didn't go overboard spoiling their kids with whatever expensive item they wanted.
"But that is in the past. I'm gainfully employed and have been for decades, so thankfully my vault remains quite full of gold." Riddle halted in front of a round, metal door. "Open," he said and once the door swung open he gazed down at Harry. "Welcome, my dearest Harriet, to the Chamber of Secrets."
"Wow," Harry said as she stepped inside the cavernous room, torches bursting into flame along the walls.
"It's quite something, isn't it?" Riddle slowly walked around the room, his smile soft with nostalgia. "It's been a few decades since I've been here." Eventually Riddle halted in front of an enormous statue of what might be Salazar Slytherin. "There is a reason I brought you down here, besides showing off one of my most proudest discoveries. I want to start teaching you how to duel."
Harry looked up at Riddle in surprise as she approached him. "I know how to duel," she said, feeling just a bit insulted that Riddle would assume she couldn't. "Severus does not accept failure in his classes."
"Very well." Riddle's wand fell into his hand from a holster hidden in his sleeve. "Let's duel."
Harry grabbed her own wand, suddenly nervous. She was quite talented at Defence and she was one of the better students in her class. But she was only a teenager and didn't have that much practice yet. And Riddle was ancient, with decades of experience. As Harry met his brown eyes, she vaguely recalled that Riddle had been active in the professional duelling circuit when he'd still worked as an Auror. Yeah, Harry realized she was about to get her arse handed to her when Riddle cast a non-verbal stunner at her.
"Protego!" Harry managed to raise the shield just in time and quickly followed it up with an attack of her own. "Expelliarmus!"
Riddle batted it away with an almost lazy gesture and shot some blue spell at her she didn't recognize. Severus had always warned them that when confronted with unknown magic it was always better to avoid than to shield, since there were plenty of spells that could pierce through even strong shields. Harry darted to the side and hurled a stunner Riddle's way, which he sidestepped without even looking at it.
It soon become clear that while Harry was doing her very best to get a hit in, Riddle was merely playing and barely doing even that. After ten minutes of Harry growing more and more frustrated and Riddle's smirk becoming more and more smug, Riddle finished Harry off with a unknown yellow spell that Harry sidestepped, only to walk straight into Riddle's disarming charm.
Harry's wand went flying and Riddle caught it with ease. The moment his fingers closed around Harry's wand, his eyes widened. "What is your wand made of?"
Harry couldn't stop panting for a few moments while she wiped sweat off her face. "Holly and phoenix feather. Why?"
Riddle got a peculiar look on his face as he examined Harry's wand with gentle strokes of his fingers. "It's feels very familiar. Here." Riddle held out his own wand, handle first, for Harry to take.
The moment Harry closed her hand around Riddle's wand she knew what he meant. His wand felt very much like her own wand, the tingle of magic that shot up her arm warm and inviting. "Ollivander said that the phoenix gave two feathers, and that the other one was placed in a wand that was being used to do great things," Harry said absently, marvelling at the feeling of comfort and recognition she got from holding Riddle's wand. "But he never said who that wand belonged to."
"Brother wands," Riddle mused as he gave Harry an agreeable smile. "For some wand cores, like unicorn hair, this is quite a common phenomenon. But phoenix feather cores are quite rare as it is. To then have brother wands is rather unique." Riddle narrowed his eyes as he took a few steps closer to Harry until their bodies almost touched. "In fact, I do believe it is quite a strong omen that we were always destined to find each other."
Glancing down, Harry licked her lips, a nervous coil springing to life in her belly. Part of her wanted to deny this conclusion, but she knew enough about wands and their lore to understand that Riddle wasn't wrong. Their wands were so similar that it said quite a lot about their own fates.
"I find it comforting to know that we were meant to find each other," Riddle murmured as he slowly handed Harry her wand back.
That nervous coil tightened in her belly while it grew almost unbearably hot. "Yeah," Harry sighed, giving Riddle back his own wand absentmindedly. She looked up at him, unsure what to make of his gaze full of heat and what might be possessiveness. It unnerved her. "It does make me wonder why our wands would think it perfectly all right to pair up a fifteen-year-old girl with a sixty-year-old man," she said boldly, just to break the tension between them.
Riddle laughed outright at her. "You won't always be fifteen. It is true that I would not have selected a teenager for myself if given the chance, but whenever I doubt myself for my choice of future wife I remind myself that soon enough you will be an adult."
Shrugging, Harry took a few steps back to create some much needed space between them. Riddle could be almost suffocating when experienced up close. "I suppose that's true."
Riddle seemed to understand that the topic was making Harry a bit uncomfortable because he cleared his throat and looked Harry up and down. "You have plenty of power and for a beginner your posture and casting is quite good. But you have a limited spell repertoire and your lack of non-verbal casting also works against you." Riddle gave her a kind smile to take some of the sting out of his judgement. "I do believe there is plenty I can teach you, if you want me to."
"Yeah, I do," Harry said at once, because she wasn't stupid. Not only was learning how to duel from Riddle a good opportunity to get to know him better. It was also a genuine opportunity for Harry to become an excellent duellist and seeing as how she wanted to become an Auror at some point in the future that would only benefit her in the long run.
"Very well. We'll meet here once a week on Thursday evenings. I will send you a list of spells every week that I expect you to look up and practice by yourself. Once you master them I expect you to use them in our duels. That will help grow your spell repertoire." Riddle narrowed his eyes a little. "I also expect you to start working on non-verbal casting. What is the most powerful spell you know?"
"The Patronus charm," Harry said after some thought. "Severus and Regulus taught me in my fourth year. They insisted it was an important spell to know, since it lets you send messages to anyone no matter where you are."
"Show me," Riddle said with a sweeping gesture of his hand.
"Expecto patronum!" A silver wolf burst out of Harry's wand and prowled around the room, giving Riddle a few suspicious glares before coming to sit in front of Harry.
"Impressive," Riddle said with a genuine smile. "Most adults have trouble with that spell." Riddle flicked his wand and out burst a silver raven that flapped its large wings as it flew around them a few times. "In the wild, wolves and ravens are often allies, helping each other find food. They're even seen playing together from time to time."
Harry gave a few nods as she absorbed that information. She'd always believed her Patronus was a wolf in honour of Remus, who had been the main parent to raise her and who always made her feel the most safe and loved out of all her parents. But now she wondered if there was more to her Patronus, seeing as it somehow was compatible with Riddle's. Was it another gentle nudge from destiny?
Was this strange relationship between them always going to happen? Had Harry even stood a chance when it seemed that fate and destiny were determined to push them together? Both parselmouths, with brother wands and compatible Patronus forms.
Over the coming weeks Harry thought about that often as she met Riddle in the Chamber of Secrets once a week. Riddle was a patient teacher, surprisingly, but he did have high expectations. The lists of spells he sent her were full of advanced magic that Harry had to work hard to master. He also started teaching her how to fly without a broom, which was unexpectedly difficult magic to learn. Riddle kept telling Harry she was making good progress for one so young, but Harry was determined to learn it before the summer holidays. Harry refused to admit that might have been a bit too optimistic of an expectation.
Hermione wasn't sure how to feel about Harry's private lessons. "It's great he's teaching you all this magic," she said more than once. "But it's also a bit unfair to the rest of us, so close to our OWLs. Can't you ask him to train others as well?"
Harry shrugged and ignored Hermione's clear expectations that she should arrange private tutoring for every student in their year. "Riddle's much too busy for that," she said every time Hermione brought it up. This wasn't a lie. Riddle was a very busy man who couldn't be expected to spend hours tutoring a bunch of students at Hogwarts. But if Harry was completely honest, she also liked having Riddle to herself during their lessons.
Riddle was a very impressive man in more ways than one. He was incredibly good-looking, but he was also far more intelligent than Harry had ever imagined. On top of that he was magically powerful in ways Harry didn't even know was possible. Riddle often demonstrated amazing feats of transfiguration or enchantments during their duels that literally took Harry's breath away every time she saw them.
And that man, inexplicably, seemed genuinely interested in young Harriet Potter. Because after a few weeks of private meetings in the Chamber, Harry was convinced that while Riddle might have chosen her for her parseltongue, by then he was making a real effort to get to know her. To impress her. To charm her.
And dare Harry say it, to woo her.
Truthfully, with the way things were going, Riddle didn't have to do much more wooing to impress Harry and to get her to really enjoy spending time with him.
Riddle was intense in ways that made Harry's body heat up in all the most naughty places. The way he looked at her was full of obvious desire and no small amount of possessiveness. Whenever Riddle smiled at her it seemed as though Harry was the one thing Riddle had always been missing in his life and he was truly overjoyed that he'd finally found it.
No matter how much Harry tried to hold off getting close to him because a part of her was still feeling all sorts of angry that she wasn't allowed to choose her own husband, she couldn't help the growing feelings of friendship and admiration she gained every time they met.
Riddle, as it turned out, was a very hard man to resist when he made you the entire focus on his attention. And the more time they spent together, the more Harry wanted to give up resisting at all.
She was plagued by more than one dream of how a duelling lesson in the Chamber of Secrets morphed into a lustful encounter when Riddle would kiss her against the wall before conjuring a large bed and deflowering her right then and there. Harry would wake up panting and full of fiery lust and the amazing knowledge that one day Riddle would absolutely fuck her. All she had to do was wait for the wedding night.
It was one thing Harry no longer looked up to as much anymore. Or at all, really.
They also took the time to exchange more options for their marriage contract, though most of the larger topics were now decided.
One Thursday evening in May, two weeks before Harry would sit her OWLs, Riddle brought up one last thing he wanted to add to their marriage contract.
Riddle cast a refreshing charm first on Harry and then on himself after they were done duelling. Harry had improved dramatically over the last few months and she glowed whenever Riddle pointed this out to her. He was quite generous with his compliments about her growing skills.
"I'd like to add sex magic to our marriage contract," Riddle said, face utterly serious while he gazed steadily at Harry.
"Er…" Harry's mind was full of dream images of Riddle fucking her right there in the Chamber of Secrets. "Isn't that dark magic?"
Riddle snorted and shook his head. "Not at all. It does require a certain level of trust and openness between spouses. Not to mention a certain level of submission. But the pleasure that can be reached by using sex magic is unlike anything else."
Much to her mortification, Harry's private parts started throbbing just at the thought of her and Riddle performing sex magic together. "That's…er…fine, I suppose."
The smile that appeared on Riddle's face was absolutely addicting to look at. "I'm glad to hear that, Harriet." Riddle stepped closer to her and gently placed the palm of his hand against Harry's cheek. "I do believe we would be exceptionally well-suited to perform sex magic together, seeing as how you're mine in every way."
Harry blinked, willing her mind to do away with the heady fog of arousal that tried to swallow her whole. "How am I yours?" she managed to ask, her voice a lot hoarser than usual. "We're not married yet, Riddle."
"Tom," Riddle said, like he did every time Harry called him by his title or last name. But Harry was stubborn and had vowed to herself she wouldn't address him by his first name until the wedding. "And you're mine because I made you."
Harry pulled away from Riddle's touch while a shiver ran up her spine. "What? I'm pretty sure my parents made me, and if for some bizarre reason it was you instead of James Potter who sired me our upcoming marriage just got a whole lot more illegal."
Riddle laughed in a way that made Harry's body instantly warm again. "I had nothing to do with your conception, don't worry. What I meant to say is that I created you specifically for me to marry." When Harry's expression remained completely confused, Riddle added, "Are you familiar with blood curses?"
"I know they're used to curse bloodlines, stuff that passes down in certain families," Harry said carefully, not sure if she even wanted to know where Riddle was going with this.
"That's an adequate description. I adapted a blood curse, turned it into something that would create instead of destroy, and then cast it on my own blood," Riddle said quietly, eyes sharp as he gauged Harry's response. "I was the last of Slytherin's line. There were no other parselmouths anywhere in the world. The only way for me to marry another parselmouth was to ensure one was born with magic."
"We're related?" Harry asked, stomach sinking as she took in all that Riddle was telling her.
"Very distantly," Riddle said at once. "The Gaunts, my mother's family, are incredibly inbred, which means that their lines have been mostly linear for centuries. There were no branches left. So when I cursed my own bloodline to create another parselmouth, the curse had to travel an enormous distance into the past to find a branch of the Slytherin line."
"So I am related to Slytherin?" Harry asked, finding it hard to comprehend what Riddle was truly saying.
"Through the Peverells, who are our common ancestors, many centuries ago. I cast the curse when I was in my twenties and to be honest, I'd given up hope that it had worked when nothing happened for decades." Riddle cupped Harry's face again, and Harry let him, too shocked to pull away. "But then I found you." Riddle's eyes were blazing with desire and many other things Harry wasn't sure she wanted to identify. "Magic made you for me, Harriet. Magic made the perfect wife for me." Riddle bent down and brushed a soft kiss against the corner of her mouth. "That is why you are mine. Because I made you."