A New Beginning
Chapter Two: Meeting Tom
Harry saw Tom and a number of his inner circle stalking towards the gates, wands in hand, and yet none of them seemed to want to fire any spells, yet. Harry thought that was a good sign. He hoped so anyway.
He was surprised at Tom's appearance though. Instead of the snake face he was used to seeing he now looked like a thirty year old version of his younger self from the diary, except with red eyes.
The group stopped in front of the gates but made no move to open them. They all had dark looks in their eyes but Harry was happy to see that Severus was there, and that the man had as much fear and worry in his features as he could show Harry.
Just as Tom went to open his mouth to speak, however, a searing pain surged through Harry's stomach and he fell to his knees, eyes wide with pain and fear.
The world seemed to stop for a minute.
His hand clung to his stomach desperately as tears filled his eyes and pain filled him. George dropped down in front of him, eyes wide and panicked.
"Harry, what's happening?" George whispered.
"No. No. I can't lose my baby, George, I can't," Harry muttered, tears falling as his other hand clung to George, needing something to as the pain spread through his abdomen, "Please tell me I'm not losing my baby," a pained cry escaped him.
"We need a Healer!" Fred yelled, hand resting on Harry's shoulder.
"And what makes you think we will provide a Healer for you, young Weasley?" Tom said.
"Because if you don't then you are allowing your unborn child to die," Fred said, and didn't that get a reaction.
There were shocked gasps and cries of outrage from a number of the Death Eaters, Tom scoffed, and Harry cried out in pain, leaning into George as he curled in on himself.
"There is no way that…" Tom started, but he stopped when Fred cast the spell to show the parents of the child Harry carried, staring in shock and almost awe at the gold words hovering above Harry's curled body:
Baby Potter-Riddle
Mother: Harry James Potter
Father: Tom Marvolo Riddle
"Narcissa, Severus, heal him," Tom ordered, and the gates opened, allowing the two to rush over to Harry even despite their shock.
"Harry, I need you to tell me what you are feeling, okay," Narcissa said gently as she waved her wand over him, casting a diagnostic spell.
"It hurts," Harry cried quietly, uncurling slightly and turning to Severus, "Sev, please don't let my baby die,"
"My Lord, you need to get over here, now," Narcissa said worriedly as she looked at the diagnostic results, "Severus, do you have the potion to stop a miscarriage available? It isn't too late for him to take it,"
Harry looked pleadingly at the man who's dark eyes were looking at him worriedly, and filled with pain.
"No, the last of my batch was used at the end of term and I haven't had the time to make more since," Severus said apologetically.
Harry couldn't stop the sob that escaped.
"Harry sweetie, it is okay," Narcissa said gently, stroking his hair gently, concern in her light eyes, "We can slow it down until Severus has the potion ready, it doesn't take too long to make, supposing you have all the ingredients, Severus," Severus nodded, "My Lord, we need to get Harry inside, preferably to a bedroom. Could you call one of your elves to take us all there please?" Narcissa said, staring down the Dark Lord who was glaring at her dangerously, "For the sake of your child, My Lord,"
"Tiffy," a small, well kept house elf appeared, "Take us to the second bedroom in the family wing,"
"Yes Master," the elf said and snapped her fingers, transporting them instantly to a bedroom that Harry wasn't able to pay much attention to because the pain was all just too much.
After everything that had happened, after escaping to try and save his baby and himself, it was all for nothing. His baby was dying, he could feel it.
They had succeeded.
They had killed his baby.
The pain was like nothing else he had ever felt, both physically and mentally.
He saw dark, voluminous robes and felt himself being placed onto a bed but he couldn't pay much attention to his surroundings, or the voices around him.
"My Lord, I need you to place your hands on Harry's stomach and let your magic flow into him. Your child needs you both to stabilise long enough for the potion to be effective," Narcissa said, her voice strict and her gaze unwavering as she looked at the man who was still glaring at her.
He sat on the edge of the bed, concern, confusion and awe coursing through him. He just couldn't help it. Especially whilst he was getting used to having emotions again. Somehow this child was his and he needed to know how. But he also needed to help it.
He placed his hands on Harry's stomach and let his magic flow into the boy, sighing in relief when the cries of pain didn't get worse, the potion Severus gave him to minimise their connection a week ago must have helped.
"Good. Now, you two," Narcissa turned to the twins, her hands on her hips and her eyes demanding compliance, "I have some questions for you two. I am monitoring things, no need to worry, the magic from My Lord will help stabilise things so they don't progress to the point where the potion won't fail. However, we need to know how this pregnancy occurred. And I need to know why he is severely malnourished, why his magic is depleting, and why his diagnostic charms told me abortion charms and potions have been given to him at least a couple hundred times over the last six weeks,"
Tom looked at her and the twins in shock, pain filling him that he didn't quite understand, yet at the same time did.
"Right, well, you know that fight," Fred started.
"At the end of the year," George continued.
"In Hogsmeade?"
Narcissa nodded.
"Well, when Lucius hit Harry," Fred said.
"With that spell," George said.
"At the same time,"
"As Voldie's blast of magic,"
"It created the baby,"
"We didn't know at first,"
"All that showed up was some bruising to the abdomen,"
"But then Harry went home,"
"And got sick to the point where he fainted,"
"The Order member watching the house took him to Headquarters,"
"And they found out about the baby,"
"They told Harry when he woke up and found a gold shield around him,"
"They had tried to abort the baby, but failed,"
"Harry didn't want an abortion,"
"He wants the baby,"
"But they kept throwing the charms at him,"
"All the time,"
"Then they got creative and started putting the potion in his food,"
"But each time the shield would appear,"
"And stop the abortion from happening,"
"But Harry's magic was getting weaker the longer it lasted,"
"And the more they did it,"
"So we knew we had to get him out of there,"
"So we, and our oldest two brothers,"
"Broke him out,"
"We were going to go to Gringotts,"
"To see if Harry had any properties we could escape to,"
"After we had laid a false trail,"
"But Bill told us that they had someone stationed at Gringotts,"
"So we couldn't go there,"
"Then Harry decided to come to you,"
"Because he thought Voldie deserved to know about his child,"
"And he wanted to stop fighting and running,"
"And he wanted a safe place for the baby,"
"And he hoped that you would provide one,"
"So here we are,"
"But Harry has been struggling to eat,"
"Because of the potions being in his food,"
"And his stress,"
"And fear,"
"And because his relatives starved him his whole life,"
"He just wants to be safe,"
"For his child to be safe,"
"But he never has been safe,"
"But if he is safe he should be able to start eating again,"
"At least as much as he can handle at the moment,"
"With his morning sickness,"
"And the starvation,"
"We protected Harry as much as we could at Headquarters,"
"So did Bill and Charlie but they did so more discreetly so they could spy for us,"
"But we had to leave too because they started attacking us for protecting him and the spawn he carried,"
"And we can't abandon our brother,"
"Not after everything,"
They finished, both looking and feeling sad as they watched their brother crying on the bed, in more pain than they could ever imagine. They were hoping, praying to Merlin, that the potion would be made on time. They couldn't bear it if Harry lost his child after all the pain and betrayal that had already happened. They knew that Harry wouldn't be able to cope with it either.
"They were keeping him prisoner?" Tom asked incredulously, anger in his voice.
"Yes, sir. Us too once they realised we were helping him. They wanted to make him see the error of his ways. Keep him hidden and isolated until he relented and let them abort the baby," Fred said, anger in his voice too.
"He is terrified that the baby has been damaged because of all the spells and potions. Even though his magic stopped the baby from dying it was getting weaker and he is worried that maybe something slipped in. We all are," George said, a tear slipping out of his eye as he looked at his brother.
"Right," Narcissa said, fury in her eyes at what the Order, the so-called 'Light' side had done to this young man on the bed, "Thank you. I won't be able to do an in depth scan on the baby until Harry is thirty three weeks along. Unfortunately. However, I can heal him, and give him the correct pre-natal and nutrition potions to help himself and the baby. I know he might not like it, which is understandable, but he needs them,"
Harry could hear the words being spoken now, the physical pain slightly lessened by the extra magic surging through him. He looked at the man who was his baby's father and was shocked by the fear and awe in his eyes, not that there was much of it, the man was clearly trying to hide and control his emotions, but they were there.
Harry felt a little bit of hope in his heart that maybe he had made the right choice, but that hope was gone with the next cramp that coursed through his belly and he cried out.
Narcissa sat next to him and stroked his hair lovingly, "Harry child, I need you to breathe for me, okay. I know it is difficult, I know how tough this is, but you need to remain as calm as possible,"
"I can't be calm," he bit out, trying to glare at her but not having the energy to do so.
"I know. I really do. But the more stressed you are… We need to stall this as long as possible so that Severus can make the potion you need and you can be given it on time. And remaining as calm as you can will allow your magic to calm down, which will then stress out the baby less. I know you don't have any reason to, but please, trust me when I say that I know how difficult this is. But you need to breathe, and you need to help your magic, and your baby calm down. I know it has been a stressful pregnancy so far, that you haven't had the chance to rest. But you can now, you are safe now," she said and glared at Tom, who was glaring at her.
"Tom hasn't said anything yet. We're not safe," Harry whispered.
"You are safe. I am sure this isn't how you wanted this to go, Harry. I will give you the chance to talk about what you wanted to talk about when you are better. But I am not going to hurt you, or the baby, or your twins," Tom said, though Harry noticed a tightness in his face, even despite the slight softness in his eyes, at the mention of his true name.
Harry tried to believe him, he really did. But nearly everyone he cared about had let him down, betrayed him in a way he never thought they could. Now he was here, with his once enemy and he didn't know what to believe. He could feel truth in the magic that was pouring into his body, but he was so used to pain and loss and betrayal at that point that he just couldn't fully believe it.
Harry closed his eyes and tried to take some deep, calming breaths, despite the pain he was in. He felt the mattress lower on either side of his head and opened them again to find Fred and George sitting on either side of him, looking down at him with love and worry in their eyes.
"It's okay, Harry," George said, running his fingers through Harry's hair gently.
"Everything will be okay," Fred said, holding Harry's hand.
"How can you be so sure?" Harry chuckled darkly.
"Because we're here. And we will do everything we can to protect you and our niece or nephew," Fred said, determination emanating from his face and voice.
"And because you, Bill, Charlie and Percy are the only people we can truly call family. You have done so much for us, Harry. You have cared for us in ways that even our parents couldn't. Now it is our turn to look after you," George said.
A sob tore through Harry's throat as another pain shot through his stomach.
"I don't want to lose my baby," Harry cried.
"And you won't," Fred said.
"Sev will give you the potion on time," George said.
"And everything will be okay,"
"We haven't come this far just to lose it all now,"
Harry nodded but he struggled to believe them. It hurt too much.
Harry didn't know how long they were there before Severus arrived with the potion in his hand. He was rather lost in the pain of everything. Severus sat next to him, Fred and George helped him sit up and then he gulped down the potion, almost praying for relief.
They waited with bated breaths as Narcissa looked over the scan results and sighed in relief when she told them the baby was stabilising.
Harry couldn't help but cry himself to sleep, curled in a ball around his stomach.
…
When he woke up again he found himself still curled in a ball and Severus was sitting beside him, looking at him worriedly. He looked around the room, still not really taking anything in as he was too out of it, but he did notice that no one else was with them.
"Where are the twins?" Harry asked, concerned.
"Narcissa showed them to a bedroom about an hour ago so they could get some sleep," Severus said and Harry breathed a sigh of relief as he slowly sat up, his hand on the tiny bump of his stomach.
"Have they filled you in on what has happened?" Harry said, looking down at his legs.
"Yes. I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you. Why didn't you write to me?" Severus asked.
"I tried, so did the twins. But they added wards preventing owls from getting out. And they put wards on the floo to make sure we couldn't use it to get to you. They also didn't tell Kingsley, who hasn't been to Headquarters since before the beginning of this whole debacle according to the twins. We would have gone to your house once we escaped but we knew that you would be dragged into it at some point once we had gone missing and they would have gone to your house to search for you,"
"Well, I'd imagine that if they had told Kingsley then he would have stopped them, or gotten you out of there. And, if you had come to me then I would have been able to take you to my Manor. No one knows about it other than me, you now also, so you would have been safe there. I won't fault you, though, since you didn't know about it. But you should have trusted that I would have done something to keep you safe,"
"I do trust you, Sev. You have looked after me and saved my life more than anyone else has. I just didn't want to drag you into it when you already have enough on your plate. And… And I figured that Tom deserved to know. I-I don't really know anything about the war, I have just been chucked into everything. But I know a few things about Tom. Before he became the Dark Lord he was kinda like me. And I figured, maybe there was a little bit of him that was still like that. Still just an orphan boy who wanted a family, or just someone who gave a shit. I knew you would be here, too. For some of the time anyway. Because you were on a mission, at least, according to Dumbledore you were. So I knew if I came you could help me. And if not, then at least I would be with my baby and my parents, right?"
Severus hugged him, and he melted into it. It wasn't their first hug, he had had his fair share after they had become close during Harry's second year. Severus had tried to get him removed from the Dursleys but no matter what he did Dumbledore or the Ministry would get in the way. So Severus looked after him and protected him in other ways. Almost like a father. Although he was closer to how Harry imagined a mother to be, not that Harry would ever say that aloud.
But this hug was probably the most meaningful of the ones they had shared over the past few years. He could feel Severus' worry emanating from the usually stern man. He could also feel the caring side that Severus was forced to hide from the world because of the old man. And he soaked it up because he needed it more than anything else at the moment.
Well, almost anything else.
"Is my baby okay?" Harry asked quietly.
"Yes, from what we can tell at the moment your baby is just fine at the moment. We can do a more in depth scan at thirty three weeks to find out more," Harry breathed a sigh of almost relief, but he knew he would spend the next twenty three weeks worrying about any potential damage caused by the spells and potions.
"How is Tom taking it? Why does he look different? Is he going to kill me?"
"He looks different because of a potion I made for him that repaired the damage he has sustained over the years to his looks and sanity. His eyes are something he didn't want changed though because he likes red eyes for whatever reason. He is angry at Dumbledore and the Order for keeping you prisoner and trying to kill your child. He is thinking of ways of getting back at them. And he will be keeping you here and protecting you and the baby, as well as the twins. Myself and the oldest two Weasley children will be spying on the Order, and Percy Weasley will be spying on the Ministry alongside the few others who are already stationed there. He will not be killing you, or the Weasleys here with you, along with anyone else you do not want him to hurt. But he is looking for revenge for you and the child,"
Harry nodded, "I suppose him and I will be talking at some point about… everything,"
"Yes. When you are feeling up to it,"
"Is… Are you okay?"
"Harry," Severus pulled back slightly to look down at him with concern in his eyes, "I am beyond angry at what the Order did to you, tried to do to you. And I will be making sure they all get the punishments they deserve for hurting you in such a way, especially the ones you loved. And I am worried about you, as always, and your child. But I will be with you both through everything if that is what you want,"
"I know, Sev. And I want you there for everything. I don't think I can do this without you. But I… does he know? Does he know that you have been protecting and looking after me?"
"Yes, him and I talked after Narcissa and the twins left. He didn't hurt me, though, if that is what you are worried about. He is sane now, and he understands why. He has also been working on new plans since taking the potions. However, we can talk about that another time since I can see how tired you are. You need your rest, child,"
"Will you stay with me?" Harry asked, almost desperately.
"Always,"
Severus laid them both down, keeping his arms around Harry and pulling him close.
Harry slept better than he had in months that night.
Hiya my lovelies, how are you all today?
I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. It was a bit dramatic, I know, but I guess that is the way of life sometimes. Don't worry though, there will be a happy-ish ending eventually.
Also, to all my friends who celebrate it, I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
I have a Facebook group called Maraudering_Paige which you are all welcome to join if you would like to and are able to. It is where we can talk about Harry Potter, fanfics, life, share memes and more. It is also where I have an update schedule sharing the order in which I am going to update my stories, and will be sharing with you news on what I am working on and such, both fanfics and original works. I am more than willing to accept any and all of you so if you want to feel free to join.
I hope you are all having an amazing day!
Kind regards,
Paige xx