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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Harriet was released from the hospital later that day, after a few hours of careful observation by the healers.
With each passing second, Tom seemed to become more and more paranoid something would come out of nowhere to attack his lover.
………Or that Harriet may go into labour unexpectedly.
……….Or that she would need him to provide something for her he could not.
As time went on and her husband fretted over every breath she took, Harriet tried to see Tom's attentiveness as an advantage instead of an annoyance.
Not every omega was lucky enough to be so very loved.
While Harriet struggled through the last weeks of her pregnancy, Tom drowned himself in his devotion to her.
They involuntarily let the mystery of the strange occurrence slip from their thoughts.
Mr. and Mrs. Riddle became too consumed with their upcoming graduation and their baby's impending arrival to ponder the question they should have considered.
What had saved Harriet from her four attackers?
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Every evening, Tom clutched his darling against him during the hours the couple spent asleep.
Late one night, Harriet cracked her green eyes open.
Her full bladder made her frown as she heaved herself into a sitting position with a sigh.
She prepared to stand to her feet when a smooth voice whispered in the darkness, "Sweetling, what are you doing up?"
"I have to go to the toilet again, Tom." She huffed as their baby woke inside her.
A low groan left her lips as her alpha's son or daughter began to stir.
No one had mentioned to Harriet how painful the baby's movements would be in those last few weeks.
The little fists that beat against her organs and feet that kicked her bones made her long to just go into-
"AAHH!" Harriet cried out as one sharp blow landed in the worst spot.
Tom sat bolt upright in bed after he watched fluid pour onto the mattress.
"SWEETLING!" He cried as his dark eyes widened.
Harriet blinked as he scrambled out of his spot and knelt in front of her on the floor.
His voice tightened with seriousness as he placed a hand on her belly and gazed into her eyes, "Breathe, my love, breathe…….like the midwife taught us, remember? Let's get through this pain and I'll summon her immediatley."
"I'm not in labour, Tom!" Harriet snapped irritably as a blush dusted her cheeks, "I……The baby….hand me my wand, will you, please?"
Tom narrowed his eyes as he hesitantly obliged his mate's request.
He watched her embarrassment end once she cleaned her spilled urine with a murmured spell.
"That wasn't your waters?" He demanded.
"No, that was not my waters." Harriet quietly confirmed.
"My poor darling…..." Tom whispered as he raised her nightdress and kissed her mounded belly.
His words were sympathetic but the haughty smirk on his face conveyed his arrogance.
Harriet scowled as he rubbed slow, smooth circles over her sides in an attempt to calm their little one.
"Stop looking at me like that." She grouched after she sat back in her nest.
"...Like what, sweetling?" Tom teased as he crawled over her while he stroked her belly.
"Like you want to eat me." Harriet sighed as she cuddled against the pillows and turned onto her side.
"Oh, I'd love to eat you." Tom chuckled darkly as his hungry eyes ghosted along her creamy cleavage, "...Though I wouldn't have any of you left for later if I did."
"I want to go back to sleep." Harriet said as she changed the subject.
"Go ahead, sweetling, I'll watch over you." He whispered as he gently patted his wife's womb.
Harriet frowned.
Tom chuckled, "What's the matter, my love?"
"You don't have to stare at me every second, Tom." She sighed.
"Clearly, I do, though." He answered with a smirk, "I can't have my mate wandering off again, only to be attacked by a group of thugs while I'm oblivious about where you are, not knowing what's happened to you."
"I-" Harriet began but Tom cut her off.
He pressed a finger against her lips as he glared, "-If I have to hold you as my captive, Harriet Riddle, you will not leave my sight until you give birth………That's not a question."
While Harriet hated being told what to do, her heightened instincts made her shiver at her alpha's protective command.
Brave enough to challenge Tom's willpower, she parted her pink lips and snaked her tongue out to wrap around his exposed finger.
Desire glimmered in his dark eyes while he watched his mate begin to kiss his finger as if she had a much more intimate bit of himself in her mouth.
Harriet smirked as her husband leaned down to take her into his arms.
Tom didn't need much convincing to satisfy his expectant wife's cravings.
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One afternoon, while Tom and Harriet endured another school day, a knock fell on the front door of Riddle Manor.
Merope and Tom senior enjoyed their lunch in the dining room while Lawrence dutifully went to greet their unexpected guest.
The elderly butler opened the door and blinked at the tall, thin man who stood on the front porch.
"Good afternoon." The pale man nodded with a smile too wide.
"Good afternoon, sir." Lawrence replied with a low bow, "May I ask what brings you to Riddle Manor today? My master is not anticipating any visitors."
"Pardon the intrusion." The pale man smiled, "I've only come to bring the queen her carriage. Her orders were unmistakable." He explained as he glanced down.
Lawrence followed his eyes and scowled at the large rock the pale man held.
"I'm sorry, sir…..I don't understand." Lawrence frowned.
The pale man nodded again as he placed the rock into Lawrence's hands and walked away.
Lawrence cradled the rock as he closed the door and went straight to the dining room.
Merope left to visit the lavatory just before the family butler entered and called out to Tom senior, "...Master?"
"Yes, Lawrence?" Tom senior asked as he looked up from his plate, "What's the matter? You look troubled."
"A man came to the door spouting nonsense about queens and carriages." Lawrence explained as he walked over to Tom with the rock in his hands, "I'm afraid he left this."
Tom senior narrowed his dark eyes at what Lawrence held.
"Is that some sort of rock?" He sneered.
"Perhaps, sir." Lawrence replied, but Merope would have easily recognized the dragon egg in his hands.
Tom senior shrugged, "Clearly, he must have been a wandering madman. Toss the rock into the forest and tell me immediately if that fool returns. I'm not in a killing mood today, but I'll do what's necessary."
"Of course, master." Lawrence nodded.
At Tom senior's command, the Riddle family's butler promptly walked outside and left the dragon egg in the forest that bordered the estate's grounds.
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While the rest of Hogwarts' seventh year students prepared for the upcoming parties scheduled to be held after their graduation, Tom and Harriet prepared for the birth of their first child.
In between their classes and studies, the couple made frequent trips to Riddle Manor.
Together, Tom and Harriet decorated the room beside their bedchamber to be a suitable nursery for their unborn son or daughter.
Harriet helped with choices and ideas.
Tom and his parents did the bulk of the work, knowing full well the expectant omega could not complete any strenuous tasks.
Harriet followed the midwife's advice and rested when she felt the need.
Tom reread each book he had managed to secure on labour and delivery.
As his wife entered her final month of pregnancy, Tom had learned more about childbirth than his mate.
It bothered him to think that his darling seemed to grow more and more anxious about the event as it approached.
Whenever Tom tried to talk to Harriet about her wants or expectations, she shooed him away like a bothersome fly.
Left on his own to try and anticipate what his mate's needs would be when the time came, Tom spoke to Harriet's midwife and his mother about how he could possibly aid her.
He purchased all the approved tonics and potions from Hogsmeade's apothecary over a delightful conversation with his former employer.
He outfitted the Chamber of Secrets with a refillable tub and supplies the midwife had mentioned, in case Harriet chose to give birth there instead of Riddle Manor.
One evening, she left the lavatory in the Chamber and watched Tom fumble with a large, round, enchanted ball.
"What's that?" Harriet asked curiously.
"Well, sweetling….." Tom grunted as he latched the last strap of the magical stretchy material over the ball's curve, "...This is designed to help you when our pup decides to enter the world."
"How's it going to do that?" She pouted.
"Come here and I'll show you myself." Tom taunted with a wicked smirk.
Harriet cautiously waddled over as her hands cradled her belly.
Tom chivalrously offered her his hand and held the ball in place as he helped his pregnant wife lower herself onto it.
Harriet frowned at Tom as she took her seat on the ball's buoyant surface.
"Are you comfortable, sweetling?" He asked as he brushed Harriet's dark hair behind her shoulder.
Harriet moved her hips slightly as she thought.
"A bit more than I am in a regular chair, actually." She concluded after a moment before she shrugged and added, "I still don't see how it's supposed to help."
"I was told this can ease some pressure off of your joints." He smiled as he let his fingers trace over the swell of Harriet's belly, "And soothe some of the discomfort during the earlier stages when your time comes."
"Oh……." She nodded.
Tom watched her expression change as she prepared to respond until her eyes widened as a strong kick landed against her side.
He chuckled as he placed a hand over the moving swell.
"It's not funny when your ribs are being bruised." Harriet huffed, "This baby is brutal! I've asked the midwife if it's supposed to hurt this much, but she brushes me off."
"Forgive me, sweetling." Tom chided as he suppressed his amusement. His hand stayed in place as he glanced up at Harriet and spoke, "Your pain doesn't bring me any joy, of course, yet you're quite adorable like this…..For your sake though, I hope the birth happens sooner rather than later."
"So do I." Harriet confessed in a breathless gasp as Tom raised up and dove in for a kiss.
He enjoyed the sweet taste of his expectant mate a bit too much as he hungrily attacked Harriet's lips.
She sighed into their kiss as she let her arms wrap loosely around his neck.
As their affection became more heated, Tom held what he could of Harriet's heavy belly in both of his large hands.
"Do you remember the midwife telling us, sweetling…?" Tom purred as he reminded his wife, "That making love can start labour……..give the mother an easier time with delivery……help you-"
Harriet cut him off as she crushed her full breasts to his chest in an expression of silent permission.
Tom growled as he scooped his lover into his arms and carried her back to her nest, eagerly anticipating spending the next hour indulging himself in the supple luxury of his mate's sweetness.
Harriet looked forward to the end of her pregnancy.
Tom couldn't wait to meet his son or daughter, but he silently admitted to himself that he would greatly miss his darling's state of decadent dependence.
As he stripped his pregnant wife bare and began to worship her, a smirk curled his lips.
He had no intention of allowing a terribly long time to pass after the baby's birth until he filled Harriet's womb again.
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Later that night, Tom sat in bed with Harriet asleep on his chest as he read over his ancestor's spellbook he had retrieved from the library's Restricted Section.
It was a delight for Tom to analyze Salazar Slytherin's handwriting, but as he turned a page towards the end of the volume, an ancient, tattered letter slipped out and floated onto his chest.
Tom frowned as he laid the book down and carefully unfolded the aged parchment.
His dark eyes narrowed as he read over the lines:
To my dearest Marjorie,
If you ever read this message, take comfort in knowing that I may yet make it to your deathbed. With you prepared to leave this wretched world, I have little to lose in the duel. Should I emerge victorious, my triumph will be meaningless. Gryffindor has reduced my legacy to a mere shadow. My dominion over scaled creatures will be forgotten! The serpents are what my descendants will know, nothing more. Gryffindor has erased all records of my pact with the mermaids. He has undone every advancement I've made with the dragons. While most remain blinded by the stupidity needed to view him as a hero, our house has fallen into shame for no truthful reason. My strength fails me. I have removed the most central part of myself and hidden it somewhere even our enemy cannot find or destroy it. It may take one hundred generations or one thousand years, but that piece of myself will enter the world again. Gryffindor is powerless to stop it! I've hidden Natarin's last egg as well. Purity above all else, my love, in life, in blood, and in death. Purity will rectify us.
I will be with you soon, my darling.
Salazar Slytherin
Harriet continued to sleep peacefully but Tom lay wide awake for the rest of the night, unable to calm his racing mind.
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As a side note, I have heard pretty sufficient rumors that this site may be shutting down soon. If that does happen, please know that this story along with my others is posted on archive of our own under my username there - mermaid886.