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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A short while later, Tom and Harriet safely completed their brief trip to Riddle Manor.
"Really though, Tom, aren't you at least a bit nervous about telling your parents?" Harriet pressed as she blinked at her alpha once they arrived in his large, opulent bedroom.
"Why should I be nervous, sweetling?" He laughed, "I am Slytherin's heir and future master of this house, my mother and father are dedicated to my happiness."
If Harriet had known the real depth to Tom's seemingly innocent statement, a chill would have run down her spine.
"Well…..I….I didn't mean they wouldn't be happy for you…..for us." Harriet shrugged, "It is sort of an embarrassment though, isn't it?"
"...What do you mean? What's an embarrassment?" Tom asked as his face contorted in anger.
"For us, Tom…..now…..We're not married." Harriet anxiously chuckled.
"That can be remedied today, if you'll allow it, sweetling." He answered very seriously, "You're my mate and I'm yours. Ceremonies and papers can be conducted and signed at any time. Those proceedings won't change the bond we share or cement it further, that's a common misperception in our world…..and an easily correctable one."
"Right, but……" Harriet said as she lifted a hand and tucked a strand of her dark hair behind an ear, "We're still in school, Tom. What's everyone going to say?"
"That our love for each other is like no other love that's ever existed before." Tom purred to Harriet in his smooth voice as he glided over and placed his hands on her hips. He gazed down into her emerald eyes as he spoke, "Don't worry, sweetling, I'll take excellent care of you and our little one! You needn't worry about that…..You needn't worry about anything at all."
Tom planted a sweet kiss on her lips before he gently pulled her close and guided her to lay her head against his chest, which Harriet readily did.
She closed her eyes with a sigh as she listened to his heartbeat and mused out loud, "Tom, love…….it's going to be so difficult for us…."
"Not at all, sweetling." Tom whispered back as he kissed the top of Harriet's head, "I'll see you have everyhing that you need and more……We'll finish school and leave that stifling castle….Then our son or daughter will join us. It's going to be wonderful, my dearest, absolutely wonderful."
As Tom rubbed soothing circles into Harriet's back, another soft sigh escaped her.
"I'm tired, Tom." She confessed as a frown formed on her lips, "I'm already tired and I've barely done anything today, not that that's a huge change in what I've felt for the last week… This pain in my head won't stop and it wears me out."
Wordlessly, Tom carefully lifted his lover into his strong arms and carried Harriet over to his sumptuous bed.
He delicately lowered her down onto the buttery sheets and helped her situate herself amongst the soft blankets and luxurious pillows.
"Sleep then, sweetling." Tom ordered as he gazed down at Harriet with a smile on his face and one of his hands over the area of her lower belly where their unborn son or daughter rested.
"You're spoiling me already." Harriet replied as she yawned.
Tom chuckled before he let go and turned to take his leave.
He hadn't moved from her bedside yet when Harriet caught his hand and pulled him to look back at her.
"...Won't you stay?" She asked with a frown.
Tom froze for a moment before a charming, genuine smile crossed his lips as he stared down at his darling and nodded, "Of course, my love. It would be my pleasure."
Harriet rustled around in her alpha's bed as he took off his shoes, climbed under the covers, and pulled her to snuggle against him.
As she lay there on the plush mattress, with her mate's heartbeat echoing through her ears like the sweetest song and his scent filling her nostrils from her position on his chest, Harriet fell asleep almost instantly.
Tom experienced no drowsiness himself, but he smiled down at Harriet and held her close while she slept.
As she rested, he slipped a hand under the covers, careful not to wake her.
His fingers resumed their position, splayed protectively over the lower area of her belly, just below her navel.
While Harriet napped, Tom smirked.
He could hardly wait to establish himself outside of Hogwarts as a powerful wizard, become a husband to Harriet, and father to the person he had not yet met.
And many more during the years ahead…..
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In the massive Riddle estate, Merope and Tom senior weren't instantly made aware of their son's arrival.
Merope laid on the bed while Tom senior kissed over her for what felt like the tenth time that day.
"Tom……?" She asked as his lips circled her navel, "...Did you hear something a moment ago?"
"No." Tom senior whispered against her skin, "Though if I do this next bit properly, I intend to hear you scream, my darling~."
Merope furrowed her brow as she sat up suddenly and pushed him away, "That's not what I meant! I heard a sound, didn't you? Maybe Tom's come home! He usually does on the weekends."
Tom senior moved to steal a kiss from her lips before he pulled away, leaned his forehead against Merope's, and whispered, "And if he has, my love, there's little you and I can do for him right now. The boy will knock on our door if his needs are that urgent…..Go on, lie back and let me have my fill of you…..I promise I'll make it worth your while~."
Tom Riddle senior was a legendarily handsome alpha.
His smooth voice was as tempting as the richest chocolate, but that day, Merope found it within herself to push past the obvious enticement of her alpha's pleasing, physical features.
With a huff, she obstinately stood to her feet and marched into the lavatory connected to their bedchamber.
Merope closed the door behind herself and turned the antique lock a second before Tom senior's gentle rapping fell on the wood as he called out, "Merope, my love…..are you alright?"
"I'm fine!" Merope called through the door, "Just give me a moment!"
As Merope stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, she drew a deep breath.
She had spent weeks gathering her courage, her strength, and her resolve.
Whether Tom had come home then or not, Merope vowed that the next time she saw her son, she would confront him about the unwanted gift she knew he had given her.
As she thought, Tom senior shuffled nervously outside of the bathroom door, eager to look after his wife as any attentive husband dutifully should.
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At Tom junior's request, Lawrence soon visited Merope and Tom senior's room to announce the arrival of their son and his darling Harriet.
The couples met a short while later in the dining room for dinner after they greeted each other with fond smiles and pleasant embraces.
As the servants brought the meal to the table, the consumption of fine meats and rich sides began.
While the family enjoyed their dinner, Tom and Harriet could not wipe the grins from their faces, ready to burst with their secret news.
"How good that you brought Harriet with you again this weekend, my dear." Merope smiled at her son.
"Yes, son!" Tom senior chortled, "A few months more and we'll be able to hear those wedding bells ring, eh?"
"Perhaps sooner than that, Father." Tom junior smirked as Harriet blushed slightly. Tom glanced between his parents while they all sat in the fine room before he took Harriet's hand in his and grinned, "The truth is, there's a reason behind our visit this weekend."
"...Oh?" Tom senior blinked.
As Tom glanced over at Harriet, Merope's heart skipped a beat while intuition whispered in her ear the hope that many omegas with grown children silently nourished.
Tom and Harriet were still so young, had they really come to say-
"Harriet and I have conceived our first child." Tom proudly announced to his parents, "We plan to marry in the next few weeks."
Although she suspected it a mere instant before the words fell from her son's lips, Merope's eyes widened as her mouth dropped open.
Harriet smiled proudly while Tom gave her hand a gentle squeeze, which she gladly returned.
Tom senior gasped before he laughed joyfully and let one of his large hands fall on the table in a gesture of delight.
"Well, congratulations, son!" He bellowed as he rose from his seat. His dark eyes moved over to Harriet as he eagerly exclaimed, "And welcome to the family, Harriet Potter! Or should I already say, Harriet Riddle?!"
"Oh….." Merope gasped as tears filled her dark eyes, "I'm so very happy for you both! What wonderful news!"
"Thank you." Harriet said as she let go of Tom's hand, to his annoyance, and reached across the wide table to accept his mother's offered palm while she nodded at Merope, then Tom senior.
The rest of the meal passed in eager, pleasant conversation as the little family looked forward to what would come next and discussed the happy musings that Harriet's pregnancy inspired.
Tom sat through it all with an air of calm contentment, pleased that everything had gone exactly as he had planned.
Harriet sat by in quiet amazement as she watched Merope and Tom senior display nothing but positive emotion.
It shocked her that Tom's parents seemed so……accepting of their scandalous circumstances.
Regardless of their plans to marry, wizarding and muggle societies often frowned on the notion of conceiving children out of wedlock.
Tom's parents appeared to be an exception to that rule, or at least, Harriet hoped.
She noticed as dinner droned on that Merope's tears never really dried.
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After the meal concluded, instead of going to their respective rooms, the family of four retired to the parlor and chatted quietly for a while.
When Tom junior eventually stood to visit the lavatory, Merope nervously straightened her back.
Her chance had come.
She would have no better opportunity to approach her son without causing suspicion.
While Tom senior and Harriet sat engaged in their discussion of what topiary shape would look best on the estate's grounds, Merope politely pardoned herself from the room and pursued her son as she walked down the hallway.
A moment later, Tom junior stepped out from a door towards the end of the hall.
Despite the lack of light, Merope could see Tom junior's dark eyes glinting as he came to stand in front of her.
"Hello, Mother." He spoke in his eerily smooth voice, "Miss me already?"
"Tom, I need to speak with you." Merope frowned.
In the dim light of the hallway, Tom mirrored her expression as he asked, "Oh? What about?...Has Father done something wrong?"
"No, actually, he's done nothing wrong and that's the trouble." Merope sniffed, "He…..I……Tom, I'm no fool. I appreciate the thoughtfulness of what you've tried to do for me, though your actions have been truly wicked. Do you not remember I saw the error of my own ways? Your father is more of a curse and less of a gift, if you can understand that."
An unsettling smile ghosted across Tom's handsome face as he laughed and asked, "Are you accusing me of something, Mother?"
Merope narrowed her dark eyes at her son's insolence.
It irritated her that her baby boy expected her to believe Tom senior had fallen madly in love with her after years of merciless hatred.
"Tom, I know what you've done." Merope scowled, "I demand you to release-"
"-Is everything alright?" A voice called out.
Tom grinned as Merope whirled around to see Harriet peering into the hallway.
"You two have been gone awhile. Mr. Riddle and I were starting to wonder if you'd gotten lost." Harriet chuckled.
"Of course not, dear." Merope smiled reassuringly at Harriet, "Everything's fine."
"Shall we return, Mother?" Tom asked politely.
Merope glanced over her shoulder and threw her precious son an angry glare before they both walked towards Harriet.
Together, the trio rejoined Tom senior in the parlor, sat back down on the sofa, and resumed their evening of quiet company, but Merope burned with the determination to speak with her son privately again that weekend.
She preferred to have their conversation out of earshot of Harriet, knowing the news would be upsetting to the poor girl.
As happy as Merope felt that she'd soon have a little one to snuggle, the baby complicated everything.
The last thing Merope wanted to do was put stress on Harriet, fearing that she would gamble both her adopted daughter and her unborn grandchild's health, not to mention their emotional well-being…….