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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"THOMAS!" Mary Riddle shrieked.
Her eyes widened as she stared down in horror at the lifeless body of her fallen husband.
"Father!" Tom senior shouted while he rose from his chair.
Tom junior clambered to his feet, clutching the oozing wound on his shoulder.
He swallowed thickly against the sickening feeling of his own warm blood flowing freely from the gaping hole in his body.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" Tom senior roared at his son.
Tom junior took a step back as he contemplated the murderous look in his father's eyes, but Tom senior snarled as he strode towards his offspring and continued his tirade, "I'll kill you, you miserable son of a whore! You-"
Tom senior severely underestimated the similarities he shared with his son.
Cruelty was a Riddle family trademark.
Desperate to take from his father as much as Tom junior felt his father had taken from him, he turned his cold, dark eyes onto his grandmother, pointed his wand at her, and shouted, "AVADA KEDAVRA!"
Mary Riddle screamed as another burst of hideous, green magic flew from the tip of Tom junior's wand and crashed into her.
In one ominous pause, Tom junior roared as that awful sensation ripped through him again as his evil curse sucked the air from his grandmother's lungs.
Tom senior gasped as his mother fell from her chair to join her husband in death as they both lay on the floor of their fine home.
As he continued to clutch his wound, Tom junior fought off the feeling of lightheadedness brought on by his blood loss as he gnashed his teeth and pointed his wand at his father who turned to face him.
Tom junior sucked in a breath of victorious relief as Tom senior glared at him while he raised his hands in surrender.
"What do you want, boy?...Have you come to kill me too?" Tom senior scoffed.
"No." Tom junior murmured, "I want you to be my father, a true father, pure and noble. I want you to love my mother with all of whatever heart you possess and I want my birthright! I want this house, I want your name, I want your wealth. I want it all!...I am your son, whether you freely admit it or not…..and you will give me what I am due!"
Tom senior chuckled darkly as he answered, "Well then…….You may as well kill me now, boy."
"That won't be necessary." Tom junior smirked.
Tom senior narrowed his eyes as his son pulled back his uninjured arm, brandished his wand, and shouted, "IMPERIO!"
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The Basilisk pressed its massive, scaly body to the outside of Riddle manor after it bent down and allowed its passengers to slide off its long back.
Merope and Harriet hurried inside the mansion's wide open front doors while the giant serpent waited and listened patiently, prepared to crash in through the prestigious home's large windows if it heard a call for help in Parseltongue.
Harriet and Merope both began a frantic search for Tom as they rushed through the foyer, down the hallway, and-
"THERE!" Harriet shouted to Merope as she pointed towards the dining room's open doors.
From the hallway, the two women clearly saw the lifeless lower half of Thomas Riddle's corpse.
Side by side, Harriet and Merope raced forward until they skidded into the room.
Harriet gasped, but Merope covered her mouth to repress the wail of shock that threatened to leak from her lips as she beheld the two bodies and……
"TOM!" Harriet cried.
Across from the table, Tom sat on the floor with his back against the wall.
His wounded shoulder had been placed on full display.
Behind him, his crimson blood stained the elegant, mahogany paneling of the wall.
Merope screamed as Harriet dove forward.
"Tom!" She gasped, "W-What's happened?! W-What have they done to you?!...What have you done to them?!"
"My uncle, he…..he's deranged." Tom choked weakly before he lowered his head to cough, "He fled the house after he…...My grandfather…..My grandmother……I-"
Harriet turned her head as she heard a surprised squeak.
Merope had launched herself forward, desperate to aid her poor, injured son, but strong arms wrapped around her waist before she could reach Tom.
The grip that fastened itself on her pulled her back as warm lips pressed against hers.
As she squealed in shock, Merope's dark eyes widened when she realized who had caught her in such a passionate kiss.
Harriet blinked but Tom junior grinned weakly as he watched his parents embrace.
In front of the dining room table, with the bodies of his slain parents littering the floor, Tom Riddle senior pulled back to melt Merope with his devastatingly handsome smile.
His dark eyes bore into hers as he reached up and touched her face with all the loving tenderness any alpha could possibly offer while he sighed in exalted relief, "Merope, my love, my world, how exquisite it is to have you back in my arms at last!"
Harriet turned back to Tom junior as he swapped his grin of triumph for an honest grimace of pain.
There were many things about him that his beloved had not learned yet, the odious nature of his conception remained one of them.
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The rest of that night passed in pure chaos.
Muggle police swarmed Riddle Manor after Tom senior reported the murders he insisted had been committed by Morfin Gaunt, the man who had broken into his house, shot his son, and slaughtered his parents.
The Minister for Magic arrived a short while later and took several moments to speak to the chief of police in quiet, hushed whispers about the magical crime that had been committed against two muggles.
To use the Killing Curse actually took a fair amount of skill.
The idea that a young Hogwarts student could manage to use it twice in the same night was easily debunked as ridiculous by the Minister, who agreed to aid the muggle police in their quest to track down Morfin Gaunt.
Morfin made an easily believable murderer, known throughout Little Hangleton for using his powers to torment innocent people on more than one occasion.
Tom junior eagerly confessed to recently meeting his uncle.
In front of the authorities, he dramatically lamented the fact that clearly their discussion of his parents must have sent Morfin into a murderous rage of jealousy.
Before Harriet left the scene with the Minister for Magic to secure treatment for Tom junior, she stared over at Merope, whom Tom senior kept firmly in his protective grasp.
Tom's father held Merope in his embrace as if she were the most precious treasure in the world while he spoke to the police and let his fingers trail deftly over her arm.
The sight would have been touching, if the worried frown of displeasure on Merope's pale face hadn't caused Harriet to mirror her expression.
Before she could question Tom's mother, as the chief of the muggle police thoughtfully walked his officers outside, the Minister for Magic removed a special Portkey from his pocket.
Harriet's frown stayed on her face as she carefully held onto Tom junior while the trio whizzed through the air.
She wasn't certain if Merope had been saddened that Tom's father wouldn't allow her to accompany their son or from something else, but that question bothered Harriet…..
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"Goodness!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed as she pressed a hand to her chest as the Hospital Wing doors flung open before the Minister rushed inside with Tom suspended in the air by a spell.
"This poor boy's had a rough night, Madam Pomfrey…..I imagined he'd be more comfortable here than at St. Mungo's." The Minister quickly explained as he gently lowered his wand to let Tom float down onto an empty bed.
Harriet stayed close beside him, but Tom didn't notice.
He kept his eyes closed in pain as Hogwarts' healer bustled around his bed.
"What's happened to him?!" Madam Pomfrey gasped, demanding information from the Minister.
"Well, you see……..I believe it was…." He began.
"-Muggle gun shot, to the shoulder, that's all." Tom interrupted as he kept his eyes closed and clenched his jaw.
"Oh, you poor thing!" Madam Pomfrey frowned as she hurriedly walked off to collect a certain potion from her cart on the other side of the room.
"Done by his own uncle!" The Minister called across the empty Hospital Wing to Madam Pomfrey, "A wizard willing to use muggle and magical means of destruction! How unfathomable, the savagery! The deranged buffoon murdered this young man's grandparents and would have finished him off too, had his father not saved the day! Somehow……How awful is that, Madam Pomfrey?"
Harriet watched the two adults closely as she slipped her hand into Tom's while Madam Pomfrey frowned and shook her head as she scurried back over to her patient's bed with a large bottle in her hand.
"That's absolutely terrible, Minister." She scowled before she poured a small amount of the liquid from the bottle into the cap that sealed its top, handed it to Tom, and nodded, "I'm very sorry about all this, Mr. Riddle, though I'm glad to hear you finally met your father…….Here, swallow this to numb the pain, then I can get to work mending you."
Tom groaned as he pondered how he could grasp the cap full of potion.
His injured arm caused him too much pain to move, but he refused to let go of Harriet's hand with his other.
"Here!" Harriet said quickly as she took the cap from Madam Pomfrey.
The two adults watched as Harriet lovingly held Tom's hand while she helped administer his medicine.
Their gazes locked together as Tom bent forward as much as his wound would allow and swallowed the potion.
It startled Harriet how quickly he fell back against the pillow, unconscious, but Madam Pomfrey eagerly soothed the surprised gasp that came from her throat.
"Don't fret, Miss Potter, don't fret! I've placed him into a deep sleep for his own good!" She quickly reassured Harriet, who gazed over at her incredulously.
"Oh……." Harriet nodded. She frowned as she asked, "May I stay with him?...Please?"
"...Perhaps…..yes." Madam Pomfrey nodded, "I could use a spare set of hands."
"I should be on my way." The Minister nodded as he turned to take his leave. Before he walked out of the Hospital Wing, he glanced over his shoulder and looked back at Harriet with a kind smile as he nodded, "When Mr. Riddle wakes, Miss Potter, assure him he has no need to worry! The Ministry will take care of this messy evening, have no fear."
Harriet nodded at the Minister gratefully while she spoke, "Right……thank you, sir."
The Minister smiled again before he turned and left the infirmary.
For the rest of the night, Harriet learned a great deal about a healer's duties and capabilities as she assisted Madam Pomfrey in caring for Tom.
Once he had been cleaned and settled to let his body finish its work, Harriet sat at his bedside and held his hand.
Although she had not been permitted to crawl into bed and comfort her future alpha, just before dawn, she did lay her head down on his mattress and sigh to herself as she closed her tired eyes.
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Far away from Hogwarts castle, trapped between sickening anxiety and disbelieving shock, Merope found herself unable to rest as morning threatened to arrive.
She laid in Tom Riddle senior's bed, on top of his chest as she held him close while she worried about their son and he mourned his parents.
"Oh, my dear Merope……" Tom senior sighed as he stroked her dark hair, "How I've longed to see you all these years. I've lost my parents tonight, but it's as if my life started anew the moment I was able to once again look upon your flawless face…..Don't concern yourself with our boy, it's better that we let him heal before we go to him…..The worst insult you can deal a Riddle is to injure his pride."
Merope frowned as Tom senior tilted her chin until she met his gaze.
Tom's father was devastatingly handsome.
Merope blushed as her lover's dark eyes bore into her, their intensity smouldered in her very soul………
Tom senior cast her a sweet, charming smile as he gently stroked her cheek and sighed, "I love you with all of my being, my darling Merope."
Before Merope could reply, Tom senior pressed an addictive kiss to her lips.
Tom melted against her in the most decadent sort of temptation, but while they kissed, a single tear ran down Merope's cheek.
Years ago, she had found the strength to end her addiction to the man who held her in his arms.
Merope's selfish love for Tom senior had been so great that it had nearly destroyed her, but then Tom junior had entered her life.
With her son's help, she had recovered, she had survived, and she had moved on.
Tom junior thought he had given his mother a gift when he had really renewed her affliction.
A subtle resentfulness grew in Merope's heart for her son as Tom senior pushed her back onto the bed and began to kiss his way down her neck.
She sighed as she felt him cup her breasts in his hands while her dark eyes flickered up to stare at the top of his canopy bed.
Merope wondered if she had the ability to break the same terrible habit twice?