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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Tom kept Harriet clutched safely in his arms until he was certain the enemy's gunfire had ended.
Shouts were heard in the distance as the last-remaining enemy soldiers fled.
Tom had few concerns with his wand tucked in his glove, but Harriet had no idea about her rescuer's impressive abilities.
She gasped for breath as she held onto Tom until he reassured her with a confident smile, "It's alright. They're gone now…..They're gone…..Don't fret, no one can hurt you as long as I am near your side."
His words seemed incredibly intimate for a stranger.
Harriet blinked in disbelief.
Haughtily sure of himself, Tom propped his head up under one fist as they lay in the dirt and gravel.
Through the smoke and dust, he grinned as he reached his other hand forward and introduced himself, "Second Lieutenant Tom Riddle at your service, Miss……?."
"I……My name is Harriet Potter." Harriet managed to stammer as she boldly reached a hand out and shook Tom's, "You're Second Lieutenant Riddle? The man my aunt and uncle read about in the paper?"
"Well, I don't know much about the paper." Tom shrugged, "But yes, that is my name. You have quite a bit of courage, Harriet Potter." He smirked, "There aren't many women who would have braved an onslaught of bullets to bring a cup of tea to a thirsty soldier."
"There aren't many soldiers who would have defended our street…..It's rather ugly." Harriet frowned.
The smirk on Tom's face widened as he noticed the blush on her cheeks.
Adrenaline raced through Harriet's system in the wake of the peril she had overcome.
Besides the thrill of avoiding death, she realized Tom Riddle was the most handsome man she had ever seen.
Chiseled features, with deep, dark eyes and darker curls to frame his angular face, Harriet wanted more than anything for Second Lieutenant Riddle to take her away.
Perhaps she could make food for the soldiers each evening while they rested around a campfire?
Perhaps she could polish their boots?
Perhaps she could do anything to go with Tom and stay far from-
"Harriet!"
"Harriet!"
"HARRIET!"
Harriet and Tom both looked over to see the door of the Dursleys' house open as Petunia and Vernon rushed into the street.
To Harriet, their cries sounded like the screeching of vultures as they marched towards her.
Tom watched curiously before he asked, "...Your parents?"
"No, I'm an orphan." Harriet said immediately before she nodded at the Dursleys. "That's my aunt and uncle."
Before Petunia and Vernon reached them, Tom smiled as he commiserated with Harriet by revealing, "Ah, I'm terribly sorry to hear that……Though I do understand. I'm an orphan too."
Harriet's emerald eyes widened as a weary smile danced across her lips.
Her aunt and uncle's shouts melted into the background while she drowned in her rescuer's smouldering stare.
After being locked up in the Dursleys' house like the unfortunate princess of some long forgotten fairytale, Harriet Potter wondered if she had finally met her prince.
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She could have stayed in Tom's arms forever, even if that would have meant she had to remain on the rocky, soiled ground.
A single second in his embrace brought her more comfort than she had known in her depraved life, yet comfort was yet again denied to Harriet as Petunia and Vernon rushed over, introduced themselves and ushered Tom and his troop inside.
Their generosity would have been admirable to most, but Harriet knew her vile relatives well enough to understand they only tended the soldiers for bragging rights.
Tom conducted his conversation with the Durselys as any officer in his position would have been expected.
Their chat was proper, his tone was formal, and his words were polite.
Harriet had been in charge of serving the family's meals since her early childhood, but that night, she finally found appreciation for her work.
Tom couldn't keep his dark eyes off her as she flurried around and delivered bowls of the hearty soup she had cooked to her aunt, uncle, cousin, Tom, and each of his men.
"Second Lieutenant Riddle, it's an honour to have you and your men as guests in our home!" Vernon chortled as he plastered a smile on his pudgy, red face.
"Yes, indeed it is!" Petunia echoed as they sat across from Tom and beamed with smiles of exaggerated excitement.
Dudley blinked.
Tom masked his irritation with a polite nod to his hosts.
He wanted to snarl at the Dursleys for forcing him to look away from Harriet.
He could easily tell by her sweet scent the brave girl who had been foolish enough to risk her life by offering him some tea was without a doubt, an omega.
A repressed, unmated omega who Tom sensed would be more than happy to-
"-Second Lieutenant Riddle?" Petunia asked with a frown.
"-Yes?" Tom nearly snapped as his dark eyes narrowed once Petunia's ugly face replaced his view of Harriet. He quickly resumed his gentlemanly facade as he nodded, "Forgive me, Mrs. Dursley. I can't begin to describe the horrors my men and I have witnessed…..I'm afraid my mind often wanders these days."
"Don't worry about it, my boy!" Vernon exclaimed, as eager as his wife to make a good impression, "We've been reading about your victories in the paper. They mention you on the radio all the time! I can't possibly imagine what you and your men have seen! Hats off to you, son! We're glad to assist in any way possible! All efforts towards victory, eh?"
"Yes." Tom said as a wicked smile formed on his thin lips, "How very right you are, sir."
As he nodded again, his dark eyes moved to linger on Harriet in the kitchen while he echoed, "...All efforts towards victory."
Harriet felt Tom's hypnotic stare fall upon her as she washed dishes while her family and their guests ate the meal she had worked for hours to prepare.
Tom's pulse sped as he found himself fortunate enough to peer into Harriet's mind for a fleeting moment as their gazes locked.
It was over too soon as she looked away and returned to her work.
At the table, one of Tom's men happened to approach the Dursleys and engage in conversation, glad to talk with civilians about anything except the war.
While Petunia and Vernon found themselves ensnared in their unexpected conversation, Tom seized his opportunity and stood from the table.
Dudley frowned as he watched the tall, handsome officer stride into the kitchen towards his cousin.
The sink's running water concealed Tom's footsteps from Harriet.
If she hadn't turned her head, she would have failed to notice his arrival entirely.
She switched off the water as she turned and blinked at Tom with wide, startled eyes.
"Sorry, sir!...Er……Would you like some more soup?" Harriet kindly asked.
An amused grin cracked across Tom's lips.
The omega's eagerness to tend to his needs while hers remained unsatisfied pleased him.
"I've had quite enough. However, I thank you for your consideration." Tom smiled, "The food was excellent, my dear…..Still, it bothers me that you have not eaten any yourself. Surely they can't mean to starve you to death?"
"I……I beg your pardon, sir?" Harriet frowned.
Tom kept his dark eyes locked on Harriet for a moment before he stepped over to the stove, took the last remaining bowl from the nearby counter, and ladled it full of soup.
Harriet blinked as he placed a silver spoon he found on the other counter across from the stovetop into the bowl, scooped it through the mixture, and lifted it to her lips. He gazed into her eyes as he commanded, "Eat, Harriet Potter. We're in a war, all of us. You should keep your strength as well…..for whatever is to come next."
As she looked into Tom Riddle's handsome face with her belly growling from hunger, Harriet had never before been so elated to receive an order.
She parted her pink lips and let Tom slip the spoonful of soup into her mouth.
Tom watched her swallow before he raised another, then another, then another.
While his men distracted Harriet's annoying aunt and uncle, he stood in the kitchen and spoonfed the omega who had managed to capture his attention.
Harriet said nothing as Tom gave her her meal, one sip at a time.
The silent exchange between the couple seemed as touchingly innocent as it was unbelievably erotic.
Tom found a surprising amount of delight in feeding the cautious omega, while Harriet enjoyed how wonderful it seemed to finally have someone take care of her.
She had spent her entire life neglected and abandoned.
At the age of five, she had taken over the majority of household chores.
No one had held her hand when she had been sick.
No one had been there to dry her few tears, but as Tom stood in front of her and fed her the soup, Harriet was awed by his thoughtfulness.
"Wonderful." Tom smiled once Harriet drained the bowl. He placed the utensil down after she swallowed the last spoonful while he asked, "Better?"
"...Yes." Harriet frowned, "Um……..Thanks."
"It's always a pleasure." Tom smirked, "...To help an omega in need. That's what alphas enjoy."
Harriet drew a deep breath as Tom blatantly admitted his secondary gender.
In polite society, someone's identity as alpha, beta, or omega was usually kept secret as a fact revealed between lovers in private circumstances or quietly amongst family for personal purposes.
For a near stranger to boast of it, there had to be a reason.
"Second Lieutenant Riddle!" Vernon snapped from the table as he glared at Harriet, "Come on, then! You and your men must be tired! My wife will make you all at home here, don't you worry a bit!"
Tom wanted to be outright rude to his host, yet as he carefully considered the chances his situation may provide, he decided to humour Vernon.
He cast Harriet one last, longing glance as he walked out of the kitchen.
As she looked into his dark eyes, her heart beat with hopeful excitement.
Perhaps Tom Riddle had mentioned his alpha status, merely because he wanted her to know?
Harriet's hands trembled as she began to store the meager remains of the soup for later consumption.
Between his scent, his stature, and the sheer effect his intoxicatingly smooth voice had, Harriet didn't understand why Tom could have imagined she thought he would be anything besides an alpha.
A dominant, powerful, handsome alpha.
Her cheeks burned again as she dared to dream someone like Tom Riddle could ever be interested in her.