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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The next day, Lily baked Harriet's favorite cookies in the afternoon after she had placed the boys in their beds for naps.
While Lily tended the baking in the kitchen, Severus glided down the hallway to Harriet's room and knocked on her door.
He scowled as he heard some shuffling for a moment before the door cracked open and Harriet peered out.
They stared at each other while she greeted him, "...Hello, Dad."
"Come downstairs." Severus commanded, "Your mother and I need to speak with you."
"Right now?" Harriet frowned.
"Yes, right now……..Come along." Severus nodded.
Harriet sighed as she reluctantly stepped out of her room, shut her door behind herself, and followed Severus down the stairs.
As they walked into the kitchen, Lily placed a large plate of cookies in the middle of the table as she smiled at her husband and daughter, "Harriet, darling! I made your favorite!"
"Thanks, Mum." Harriet replied as she blinked at the cookies before she frowned at Lily and asked, "...Why?"
"To show how much I love you!" Lily beamed as she reached out and affectionately patted Harriet's head, "Go on, sit down and enjoy."
Harriet sat down at the table and began to eat some of the freshly baked cookies as Severus took a seat after he helped Lily into a chair.
When she noticed that her father and mother left the cookies untouched, Harriet nodded to them, but they both shook their heads in silent, polite refusal.
"What did you and Dad want to talk to me about?" Harriet asked as she finished her cookie and looked at her mother.
Lily took Severus's hand, squeezed it tightly, and cast him a glance.
"...Are you two having another baby?" Harriet blinked.
Severus scowled at his daughter,
Lily's eyes widened before she gasped, "No, sweetheart! Of course not! Your father and I just wanted to share some of our experiences with you…….We hoped that may give you some…..confidence."
"...Confidence?" Harriet asked.
"When I was your age," Lily began, "I was quite popular. I had a lot of friends and everyone liked me. Or at least, I thought they did. No matter how many friends I had though, there was one group of girls that despised me! They used to say hateful things behind my back and mock my hair colour…..They trapped me in the lavatory once and wouldn't let me leave the stall until I did the horrible things they asked…..They were really quite awful to me."
Severus frowned at his wife as he whispered, "...You never told me those things, Lily."
"I don't think about it much now." Lily shrugged as she glanced over at Severus, "That was during sixth year when we weren't talking much, remember?"
"You should have told me." He insisted.
"That's terrible, Mum." Harriet remarked with a sympathetic pout.
A silent moment passed.
Lily squeezed Severus's hand and nodded at him in silent encouragement as she whispered, "Your turn, love."
He gathered his own courage, looked at his daughter, and shared with her some of his most difficult memories, "When I was your age, I was the daily target of four jealous boys. Their leader wanted your mother and was willing to hurt me so that he could possess her. I was beaten, cursed, gagged, and humiliated…….A very serious attempt was made on my life when I was sixteen, but for reasons I'll explain at a later date, no justice was ever brought against those who tried to harm me."
Harriet's eyes had widened while Severus had spoken.
She had never been one to cry easily but as she listened to the pain in her father's voice as he listed off his traumatic experiences, it was all Harriet could do not to burst into tears after she learned of Severus's struggles.
"Dad……." Harriet frowned while she reached out and laid her hand on top of his, next to Lily's, "I……I'm so sorry all of that happened to you!...To both of you!" She added as she glanced over at her mother.
Severus hardened his face as he explained, "Your mother and I aren't trying to win your sympathy. We merely want you to understand that whatever adversity you find yourself saddled with, we may be able to help you. We've both had our own trials and dilemmas……As your parents, you can and should depend on us to protect you."
Harriet nodded at Severus and Lily while she squeezed their hands.
Severus felt pride swell in his heart as he noticed that his plan had worked.
The veil of harsh, anguished bitterness vanished from Harriet's face.
She spoke with a genuine smile, "Thanks, Dad……Thanks, Mum. I'm really sorry about everything you two had to go through……it makes my problem look small. I really appreciate your willingness to help, but I…..I'm not being hurt by anyone like you two were."
"That's wonderful, sweetheart! We don't want you to be hurt! Will you please tell us what's troubling you, darling?" Lily asked with a frown.
Harriet took a deep breath as she glanced between Severus and Lily.
"...Please?" Lily pleaded with her little girl.
"...Will you two promise that you won't be angry?" Harriet asked warily.
Severus straightened his spine in his seat as his jaw clenched but Lily nodded at Harriet and reassured their daughter, "Yes, love, we promise. We won't be angry! You can tell us anything."
An anxious moment passed before Harriet looked down at the plate of cookies.
"When I was in the Hospital Wing," She began in a quiet voice, "I heard Draco Malfoy say he loved me…….He said all kinds of things because he thought I was still asleep……and……and….."
Lily squeezed Severus's hand when she noticed her alpha's scent had grown sharper as he gnashed his teeth in pure rage that someone had dared to confess such notions to his little girl.
"That's lovely, darling!" Lily said with a supportive smile, "How do you feel about it, though? Do you share his sentiments or not?"
"That's what's upset me, Mum." Harriet sighed, "I don't know how I feel about it."
Lily prepared herself for the happy challenge of navigating her young daughter's confusing adolescent love life.
Severus held onto Lily's hand as he mournfully decided he would have to assign his wife the majority of the work in a similar manner as he had the day Harriet had been born.
He would provide whatever support and encouragement he possibly could to Lily during the task ahead, but like giving birth, discussing young love with his little girl was largely beyond Severus Snape's capabilities.
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After that long summer passed, Harriet, Draco, and Tom Riddle returned to Hogwarts castle for the beginning of the next school year, along with all of their fellow students.
The opening announcements went well as Hogwarts' many inhabitants shared dinner together in the Great Hall.
A couple of hours later, Harriet and Draco laid down to sleep in their respective dormitories.
Harriet slumbered on peacefully but moments after Draco had drifted off, he woke suddenly with a wheezing strangle as his grey eyes popped open.
Draco gasped for air as he felt something squeezing his neck that constricted his ability to breathe.
He heaved against that enormous pressure as he raised his hands and clawed at his throat.
Draco's eyes bulged out of his head when his fingers found only his skin.
To his horror, he slowly understood that he had been cursed…….
"Why have you stopped writing on your scrap of paper, Draco Malfoy?." A low voice hissed in the darkness.
Draco recognized Tom Riddle's dangerous, threatening tone as he clutched his throat and gasped, "W…..What?!"
"Why have you stopped writing?" Tom repeated, "Do you not know that everyone in Slytherin house has seen you stare down at that page you tore from some poor bloke's private journal? It's no secret you have it, Draco. Why have you stopped using it?" Tom sneered.
Draco struggled to swallow as blood rushed to his ears and his vision started to fade.
"Why….have you stopped writing?" Tom asked again in his eerily calm voice.
A gurgling noise came from Draco's throat before he managed to croak, "I…….I can't."
From beside his bed, where Draco could not see, Tom made a slashing motion with his wand and released his enemy from his cruel captivity.
As Draco drew in a horrible, shuddering breath to fill his air-deprived lungs, Tom smirked down at him.
"...You had better start writing on that page again soon, Draco Malfoy, if you value your safety…..and your family's well-being….." Tom whispered in a low, sinister chuckle.
As soon as Draco had sucked in enough air to rid himself of the ominous wave of dizziness that had been brought on by Tom's merciless attack, he rolled over in bed to face his assailant.
The hair on the back of his neck prickled when he found himself greeted only by darkness.
Darkness……
Draco could not rid himself of the feeling that darkness approached him and Harriet both.
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That night had terrified Draco.
As Tom sought to stave off his own weakness, Draco hurried to the Owlery as soon as the sun rose and sent an urgent letter home to his parents.
His letter detailed what had happened the previous evening, confessed that he had stolen the diary, and begged Lucius and Narcissa for help.
Tom sat at breakfast that morning, completely unaware, as he glared at Harriet from across the room.
Her beauty seemed to blossom more every day as she grew older and matured.
It irritated Tom to see her, but not have her as his own.
However, since Harriet and Draco had stopped writing in the diary, everything irritated Tom as he felt himself fighting to stay strong.
Tom had hoped that the limited use of his Horcrux would be enough to sustain him, but he held onto the crippling fear that without Harriet and Draco's communication, he would eventually vanish from existence once more.
His dark eyes narrowed as he watched Harriet stand and leave the Great Hall that morning after she had finished her breakfast.
A terrifying glare settled on his face as he noticed that a moment later, Draco leapt from his seat at the Slytherin table to hurry after her.
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Harriet had nearly made it to the courtyard when Draco caught up to her as he shouted, "Snape! SNAPE!...Stop!"
Harriet scowled as she whirled around and snapped, "What do you want, Malfoy?!"
"I'm trying to save your life!" Draco hissed as a hateful sneer manifested on his features, "I heard you have some sort of weird, black diary…..Crabbe and Goyle have snickered to me about the way you're always scribbling in it. Throw it out! It's dangerous, you know….not that you would of course, as thick as you are!"
Harriet saw through Draco's charade of snobby insults as her emerald gaze sliced into his heart.
"...I heard what you said to me that day, Malfoy." Harriet quietly revealed as they stood alone in the arched, stone entranceway to the courtyard.
"...What?" Draco asked as he narrowed his grey eyes to slits, careful to look annoyed and confused while his heart sank into the bottom of his stomach in mortification.
Harriet had heard his secret declaration of love?!?!
"What you said to me after the accident." Harriet nodded, "The next day, before you left, I heard it all.
"...I don't know what you're talking about!" Draco scoffed, "You must be a complete nutter if you believe that I bothered to say anything to you!"
Harriet's expression twisted into an anguished look of rage as she stared at Draco.
She had told her parents the truth, what bothered her most about his confession had been that she remained unsure how to feel.
No one could irritate her as badly as Draco Malfoy, no one could anger her like he could, no one could get her as upset, and yet……..
Draco frowned as Harriet glared at him for a long moment there in the silence.
And yet…….
Harriet possessed Lily's brazenness.
It was her mother's fierceness that she utilized as she leaned forward and boldly pressed her lips against Draco's.
Draco stumbled backwards in pure shock.
Suddenly, Tom Riddle disappeared, the diary disappeared, his own wounded heart healed itself, and the sun came out from behind the clouds as the flowers of the world exploded into bright blossoms.
As Draco Malfoy finally received Harriet Snape's kiss, reality instantly became a brighter place for him.
His darling's lips tasted even sweeter than he had imagined!
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While Draco basked in the enrapturing awe of Harriet's kiss, at Malfoy Manor, the morning passed by much less peacefully.
Lucius held Narcissa in his arms while the pair read over the disturbing letter they had received that day from their only son.
"Oh, Lucius……" Narcissa gasped as she laid a hand over her heart.
It pained her to learn of the attack her darling Draco had been forced to endure.
Lucius promptly released his wife and stomped away.
"Lucius!" Narcissa called with a frown, "Where are you going?!"
"To gather my cloak and cane!" Lucius shouted back, "It seems I have urgent business at Hogwarts this morning, 'Cissa!"
Narcissa chased after her husband as she clutched Draco's letter in her hand.
Lucius stormed down the hallway and into their bedroom with a scowl.
He gnashed his teeth while he pulled on his cloak and gloves before he grabbed his cane.
"I'm coming with you!" Narcissa shouted as she ran through the doorway.
"You….." Lucius sternly commanded his wife with his steely gaze, "...are going to stay here where it's safe. Let me handle this, my love. I'm the boy's father and your mate."
"But-" Narcissa protested.
"-I'll be back in time for lunch." Lucius interrupted her.
It only took a single tap of his silver, snake-headed cane for him to apparate away.
Narcissa sighed to herself as Lucius landed on the hillside next to Hogsmeade moments later with a determined frown on his handsome face.
Tom Riddle was in more trouble than he realized.
He had threatened the Malfoy heir and Draco's father had heard about it.