Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
—————————————————————
New Year's Eve brought with it a thrilling fervor of excitement for the Riddle household.
The day was intended to be a mutual celebration of Tom junior's eighteenth birthday and his wedding to Harriet, an event he and his parents had painstakingly planned.
Some of the invited guests had arrived the prior evening, upon which they had been promptly shown to their prepared rooms.
Tom junior detested having to part from his darling for that single night.
Harriet gave a sweet kiss before they retired to their respective bedchambers, but Tom barely slept at all.
Instead, he rolled around on his sumptuous mattress with a harsh scowl on his handsome face.
His bed was cold and his arms were empty.
As he turned onto his back, he frowned at the ceiling while a frustrated sigh escaped his lips.
How was he supposed to rest without his beloved in his arms?
Down the hallway, Harriet slept peacefully with a soft expression on her fair face.
She certainly missed her alpha, but the life she carried would not allow her to resist drowsiness merely from the aching of a pining heart.
—————————————————————-
Early the next morning, Riddle Manor teemed with activity.
Item after item was put into place for the event while decorations were hung in the ballroom.
Caterers scurried to and fro preparing food.
Guests wandered the hallways and continued to arrive every few minutes, much to Lawrence's dismay.
His handsome, wealthy master had always been a surprisingly unpopular man.
The elderly butler was not accustomed to the hustle and bustle that Tom junior's wedding had elicited.
Upstairs, an hour before the ceremony began, Harriet stood in front of a floor length mirror while Merope and Hermione helped her prepare for her walk down the aisle.
Merope combed her hair and placed one small, pearl pin after another in her carefully arranged dark tresses.
Hermione tied the many ribbons intertwined with the lacing down the back of Harriet's gown.
She gasped at one point and placed her hand over her chest, "Ah! Hermione, not so tight!"
"Sorry….." Hermione frowned quickly as she loosened her grip, "I don't want it to fall off. I didn't hurt your belly, did I?"
"The breasts are more tender than the belly at this point, my dear." Merope chimed in before all three women shared a laugh.
"I just had a fitting last week." Harriet breathed as she kept her hand held to her chest.
"A week for an expectant mother can mean several changes." Merope wisely nodded as she smiled, stepped back, and declared, "There we are, all done!"
Hermione fastened the last knot before she moved aside to let Harriet admire her reflection in the mirror.
"You look so lovely, my dear." Merope told her soon-to-be daughter-in-law with a bittersweet smile.
"Absolutely beautiful, Harriet!" Hermione nodded.
Harriet smiled wryly as she admired her reflection in the mirror.
"I hope Tom thinks so." She responded quietly.
"I don't see why he won't." Hermione smirked.
It was blatantly noticeable.
As Harriet examined herself a bit more, she frowned as she pulled at the low neckline of her dress.
Her hair had been skillfully styled, ready for her veil.
Her lips had been rouged.
Her green eyes were bright.
Her figure demurely highlighted by the swirling layers of ivory silk, but………
No matter how much Harriet pulled on the neckline of her gown, the half inch higher she managed to bring it didn't make much of a difference.
Her dress had put her ample cleavage on full display.
Harriet blushed as she imagined her alpha restraining himself through the ceremony while he drooled over her tempting curves.
—————————————————————
While Harriet prepared for their nuptials, Tom junior did the same in his own bedroom, with his father beside him.
"Very handsome, my boy!" Tom senior declared as he clapped his son on the shoulder once Tom junior had slipped on the jacket of his black suit.
"Thank you, Father." Tom junior cooly replied, "I do hope my bride thinks similarly."
"Look at us, son." Tom senior smirked as he stood beside his offspring and gazed into a nearby mirror.
For a moment, the two blinked at their reflections before Tom senior chuckled, "We're Riddle men. Any woman who wouldn't want to share our beds would have to be insane."
Both alphas smirked haughtily.
In the early days of his boyhood, Tom junior had imagined his confidence had come from his own convictions.
However, the more time he spent with Tom senior, the more Tom junior realized his arrogance may very well have been hereditary.
—————————————————————
Tom junior had been honest when he had told Harriet of his desire to expand the guest list for their wedding.
Riddle Manor's grand ballroom buzzed with hushed whispers as those seated in rows of chairs chatted with one another while they waited for the ceremony to begin.
The Malfoys had come, along with most of those in Slytherin House and their families.
Several important Ministry officials were there too, as well as many members of Hogwarts' staff.
Professor Dumbledore himself spoke with Professor McGonagall as they passed the minutes before the ceremony started.
Harriet's allies were present, including the entire Weasley family, Ron, Hermione, and the Gryffindor Quidditch team.
Even Neville Longbottom had come to the event, with his parents, Alice and Frank sitting next to him.
Several minutes later, as Tom junior stood at the front of the room with his father behind him and the wedding officiant at his right, a wide smirk crossed his lips as his most esteemed guest entered.
Gasps and fond greetings rang out as the Minister for Magic strode proudly into Riddle Manor's ballroom.
Sensing he had a moment before his bride arrived, Tom junior slyly wove his way over to the Minister's seat and nodded politely as he spoke, "What an honour it is to have you in our home today, Minister."
The Minister nodded in return with a fond smile as he gazed at Tom junior and replied, "The pleasure is all mine, Tom. I don't think the Ministry itself has ever had such a talented intern! Keep up the good work, my boy, and you may very well have a permanent position upon your graduation day."
Tom's lips curled into a wicked grin.
As the band in the corner began to play the bridal march, he shook himself from his daydreams of professional advancement and came to stand beside the officiant again.
The ballroom doors flung open a moment later as Harriet made her entrance.
Escorted by Arthur Weasley, she began her walk down the aisle while everyone watched, though no one stared with quite as much scrutiny as Tom junior.
His jaw went slack as his dark gaze seared through Harriet's viel.
He marveled at the plumpness of her lips, the subtle elegance of her plaited dark hair, and the obscenely tempting silhouette of her figure, irritatingly covered by pesky swirls of ivory silk.
Harriet blushed as she noticed her alpha's gaze did indeed light on her cleavage, which jiggled with every step she took.
Tom junior silently contemplated casting a few freezing spells to numb his guests' senses while he slaked his desires there instead of waiting.
The radical idea vanished from his mind as Harriet came to stand in front of him.
They joined hands and looked into each other's eyes while the officiant began their wedding ceremony.
Harriet blushed slightly as Tom's smouldering stare burned into her.
As he looked at his beautiful bride, he had only one regret……….
Harriet's dress hid the evidence of their coupling too well.
Tom junior had hoped her wedding gown would accentuate the truth that her womb had already rounded with his child.
He wanted everyone to be reminded in no uncertain terms that he had already claimed his darling Harriet.
………..And he would continue to do so every day for the rest of his life.
Regardless, the young couple listened to the officiant's words very carefully.
At last, the time came for them each to state their vows.
"If you'll repeat after me," The officiant nodded as he looked at Tom junior, "I can lead-"
"-Forgive me, sir, but I have my own declarations I'd like to make." Tom interrupted with a charming smile.
The officiant blinked in surprise for a moment before he nodded stiffly.
Tom gave Harriet a serious, smouldering look of pure devotion while he spoke, "Harriet Jane Potter, you are my love, my life, and my world. I take you as my wife, my mate, my everything from this day until forever. If death separates us, I will find you. If this world parts us, I will chase you and know peace once more after I'm with you again. You will want for nothing, you will need nothing as long as you and I are together. On this day, I give you my solemn vow."
Harriet gazed at Tom with her mouth open and her eyes wide at his touching declaration of sentiment.
Several of the happily married couples in attendance grasped hands and smiled at each other as they listened.
While the older wedding guests thought Tom's declaration had been sentimental, few realized the weight with which he spoke.
"Would you like for me to lead you in response?" The officiant whispered to Harriet.
"Um….I can manage, thanks." Harriet nodded quickly.
She squeezed Tom's hands as she stared into his eyes and prepared to speak.
Somewhere from the side of the room, a camera flashed.
"Thomas Marvolo Riddle Junior," Harriet began, using his full name too, "You are the one I love and the one I've chosen to spend my days with…….I carry your child inside me and hope you see that as proof of my feelings for you. I will stand beside you, walk beside you, and sleep beside you from this day until the day I die. I won't need to search for you because I won't allow this world to part us…..You and I will be together forever. On this day, I give you my solemn vow."
Tom's smirk widened as he gazed at his mate, nearly twitching with impatience for the officiant to conclude the ceremony and let him taste Harriet's sweet lips.
The officiant nodded as he lifted his hands and declared, "Under Ministry law, these two young lovers are now officially husband and wife. I present to you for the first time……Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Marvolo Riddle Junior. Mr. Riddle?" He said as he glanced at Tom, "You may now kiss your bride."
Tom grinned as he lifted Harriet's veil and leaned towards her.
Everyone expected the usual, brief kiss that newlyweds shared to cement their bond, but Tom saw no need to follow polite society's annoying restraints.
Harriet squealed in surprise as he wrapped his arms around her waist, dipped her, and crushed his lips against hers with such passion anyone would have believed he intended to make love to her right there.
Hushed gasps turned into quiet whispers of disbelief before the wedding attendees began to shift uncomfortably in their seats.
As Tom thoroughly enjoyed his first kiss with his new bride, it was no wonder to anyone Mrs. Riddle had already conceived.