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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Mae's wound failed to heal as the gala approached.
The bruise spread down her elbow and across her forearm while the healers reassured her worried parents it would right itself if they only used a little more salve.
Harriet's belly swelled more with each passing day.
Determined to tease her husband, she hired wizarding Britain's finest seamstress to weave her a set of custom robes for the Ministry's gala.
Merope and Tom senior thoughtfully offered to tend Mae while her parents attended the event, but Tom junior shrugged their kindness aside as an expected gesture.
Harriet expressed her gratitude to her in-laws, though Tom thought she had little reason to be grateful.
Why shouldn't his parents care for his daughter?
What more important matters could they possibly have to tend to than his whims or the needs of his child?
On the night of the gala, Harriet stood in front of her vanity mirror and brushed her dark hair.
Her new, black robes cleverly highlighted her ample cleavage and hinted at her rounded curves.
She had been assured by the seamstress that the colour would taunt her alpha by hinting at her belly.
With her dark hair spilling over her shoulders, Harriet wasn't particularly worried about how others may perceive her, she only wanted to impress Tom with her beauty.
As she leaned towards the mirror and adjusted her glasses, she hoped that her husband would appreciate the efforts she had taken to speed his pulse.
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As Harriet walked down the stairs and came to stand in the foyer, she noticed Riddle Manor seemed quieter than usual.
Lawrence's footsteps couldn't be heard.
Merope and Tom senior were presumably in their room, where he often preferred to keep his omega, even during a simple evening of babysitting.
Harriet furrowed her brow as she glanced around and wondered where everyone had gone, including Tom junior.
It happened in a single rush.
By the time Harriet realized hands had grabbed hold of her, she cried out.
One cupped her heavy womb and the other cradled her throat.
Suddenly, she found herself enraptured in the intoxicating smell of her handsome alpha as he began to kiss her exposed neck.
"T-Tom…..?" Harriet gasped while her husband let his hands slip to explore her widened hips.
"You taste as good as you smell, sweetling." Tom whispered huskily in her ear as he nuzzled the most sensitive spot on Harriet's collarbone.
She sucked in a breath as her nipples hardened at the seductive sound of her mate's smooth voice.
"W-We'll be late…." Harriet whispered as Tom's obvious arousal pressed angrily against her leg.
The tremble in her voice dangerously betrayed her eagerness as her instincts urged her to forget the gala and use the raging storm of hormones to lure her alpha into her nest instead.
If she could get Tom upstairs, she could pull him down on top of her and then-
A low growl issued from Tom's throat as he pulled back to scowl at his mate.
"You're trying to make us late, aren't you?" He snarled.
"I am not!" Harriet insisted, "I just wanted you to…..to…….look at me tonight."
"Sweetling?" Tom sighed as he idly played with her soft, dark tresses, "Why would I ever look at anyone else?"
His smoldering stare bore into Harriet as he whispered, "You'd better be glad I already promised the Minister himself we'd make an appearance this evening……Mrs. Riddle….else, I'd already be inside you."
To her embarrassment, a wanting pout marred Harriet's lips as she stared at her mate and imagined how incredible it would feel for him to haul her into his arms right there.
Both Tom and Harriet frowned as he reached out and waited for her hand.
Before she could grasp his palm, he pulled away for a moment and asked, "You do understand that as the night progresses and you with it, when we get home this evening, I won't have the patience left for mercy, don't you, sweetling?"
Harriet's emerald eyes widened in eager anticipation as her hand shot out to clutch Tom's.
In a flash, they left Riddle Manor, whizzed through the air, and arrived in the middle of the Ministry's main hallway, alongside a plethora of other witches and wizards who all migrated towards the gala.
Before Harriet could step forward, Tom slunk behind her and possessively splayed a hand over her swollen belly.
"It's just as well your womb is occupied again, sweetling…" He whispered as a mischievous smirk manifested on his handsome face, "If it were empty, I'd undoubtedly change that by the end of the night."
As Tom released Harriet, stepped beside her, and chivalrously offered her his arm, Mrs. Riddle walked towards the gala with her cheeks burning a bright shade of red.
Tom moved with the arrogant confidence of a panther who had successfully stalked its next meal.
Between the pair, it was difficult to determine who would end up seducing who.
Harriet was as vulnerable to her husband's dark gaze as Tom was to her hypnotic scent.
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Although Tom greatly valued his advancement in the world, that evening, every smile, every conversation, and every subtle social interaction seemed like a cumbersome chore.
It annoyed him that not a single member from the International Board of Magical Medicine attended the event.
Tom didn't want to make small talk with the senior undersecretary.
Tom didn't want to throw one charming smile after another at each person who approached him and Harriet.
As her unpredictable hormones decided to demand Tom tend her, she struggled not to let anyone notice her plight.
Walking around the room helped a bit, but not terribly much.
Eventually, while Tom was caught in a brief chat by a foreign law specialist, Harriet managed to temporarily escape.
As she slipped into one of the side corridors close to the Ministry's vast lobby, she sighed to herself as she slid to the ground and let her shoulders brush against the coolness of the wall's lacquered stone.
Harriet sighed as she closed her eyes for a moment and willed herself to continue.
The noise of the party seemed to melt into one cacophonous hum until Harriet opened her eyes and blew out a breath.
Determined to remain by her mate's side, she placed a hand on the wall and shakily rose to her feet, mercifully out of sight from all those in attendance.
"Did you think you could hide from me here, sweetling?" A smooth voice called out.
Harriet's emerald eyes widened as she turned and blinked to see Tom standing behind her in that lonely, forgotten, narrowed corridor.
"T-Tom!" Harriet cried. Arousal surged between her thighs as she inhaled and allowed her senses to be overcome by the intoxicating aroma of her alpha, "W-Weren't you just out there? Sorry…..I needed a moment."
"You can't lie to me, sweetling." Tom said calmly as he took a menacing step forward, "I know a moment isn't all you need."
Harriet tried not to groan as she stared at her mate and admired his handsome face, his gorgeous, dark eyes, and his elegant physique, highlighted by his broad shoulders and tall, lean body.
"A couple hours more, that's all that's left now." Harriet nodded as she managed a wry smile, "I've made it this long, I can keep going."
The words cracked from her lips.
Harriet swallowed thickly as Tom continued his slow, deliberate approach until he stood in front of her.
His dark gaze burned into her heart as he spoke in his pleasant voice, "It pleases me to know you have the patience to wait, sweetling……That's very noble of you. I must confess, however, I seem to lack similar talents."
Harriet blinked for a moment as a wide smirk danced across his lips.
Tom Riddle's possessive, mischievous stare, reduced her to little more than a beating heart amidst a pile of want and need.
"T-Tom?" She asked before he leaned in and pressed a kiss to her lips.
Harriet had wanted him to be rough and demanding.
The startling sweetness in his affection seemed so gentle it nearly broke her in two.
"Tom!" Harriet whispered breathlessly as he pulled away.
It seemed to be a crueler torture to taste her alpha and yet not have him than to speak with him from a distance, but Tom had no intention of letting his mate suffer needlessly.
Harriet's eyes widened as Tom grabbed her wrist, spun her around, and carefully pressed her against the wall so that both her hands lay flat on the cool stone.
"TOM!" Harriet cried out as she felt her alpha's elegant hands slowly raise the hem of her robes.
She shivered as air hit her exposed bottom just before Tom lifted her from behind and spread her for his access.
Harriet's heart threatened to explode as it pounded in her chest from excitement.
Was it possible…..?
Would he really……?
"TTTOOOOMMM!" She roared as her alpha treated them both by plunging deep into her waiting center that impatiently welcomed him.
Harriet's emerald eyes widened as her body eagerly pulled her lover in as he clamped a hand over her mouth.
As she peered out from their safe hiding place and watched the other guests go about their business, completely unaware of what happened in that side corridor, Harriet whimpered against Tom's hand while a restrained groan escaped his lips.
By the time they reached their end, Mrs. Riddle shivered as her husband slowly withdrew himself.
"Oh, Tom……" Harriet sighed in satisfaction as her alpha helped her turn to rest her back against the wall.
"Go on, my love." He whispered as he kissed her lips, "Go home and I will meet you there in a moment. We've made our appearance…..I'll join you shortly in your nest…..Then the remainder of the evening will be ours."
Harriet frowned but before she could protest, Tom slipped out his wand and poked her full breast with its tip to promptly send her on her way.
He stepped from the corridor and moved through the crowd to make his last round.
Tom had nearly finished saying goodnight to the most notable guests present when someone tapped him on the shoulder.
"Tom, my boy!" The Minister smiled, "So good of you to come tonight!"
"Thank you, sir. It's been a lovely evening, though I am on my way home. I'm afraid my wife had to leave early." Tom nodded.
"Oh, dear……" The Minister frowned, "I hope nothing's the matter with the poor girl……She told me everything was going well when I spoke to her earlier, though she did mention your daughter…..My boy, I was hoping I could see you in my office for a moment? A moment, that's all I ask! I have something rather important to tell you."
Tom covered his frustration behind a polite grin as he nodded, "Of course, sir."
Silently, he followed the Minister out of the party and up a winding set of stairs.
Tom gnashed his teeth as they walked.
Wait.
Wait to go to Harriet.
Wait to have Harriet.
Wait to be Minister.
Wait to use the Dark Arts.
Tom Riddle junior genuinely despised waiting, but he had yet to realize he would despise the conversation the Minister had pulled him aside for even more.