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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Riddle Manor bustled with activity on the morning of James and Lily's first birthday party.
It irritated Tom beyond measure that Harriet insisted on hosting the dual event, though he dared not infuriate his wife by enforcing his refusal.
With a sly smile, Tom politely spoke to Amelia and her husband during the party.
He made sure to do so whenever Harriet was in ear shot.
She failed to see his real motivation.
Instead, Harriet glanced over at her husband as a smile danced across her lips while he chatted and laughed with her friends.
Still only babies, James and Lily seemed delighted to be together.
The two little ones passed the majority of the party's hours happily playing on the floor with the wide assortment of toys they had received as gifts.
Shortly before the party's end, all four parents watched as James and Lily covered themselves in the small cakes that had been baked specifically for their use and placed in front of them.
Their highchairs became as ruined as their clothes while they squealed and kicked their feet, their chubby little faces coated in cake and icing.
Harriet laughed as she watched her son play.
Her hand laid on Tom's chest as his arm possessively snaked around her back to pull her close.
"Aren't they adorable, Tom?" She asked as she leaned her head against him.
"They are indeed, my love." He whispered as he kissed the top of Harriet's head.
She missed his frown as she kept her eyes on the babies instead of looking up to meet his gaze.
Tom mercifully told Harriet the lie she wanted to hear.
His son was adorable, certianly, but the muggle girl?
Tom knew the party would have been greatly improved if Lily and her family had simply…….not been invited.
While James and Lily explored their fascinating cakes as everyone looked on, one party-goer was not quite as adept at concealing their evident disdain.
A dangerous scowl marred Mae's fair face as she clutched onto Tom's leg and narrowed her eyes at little Lily.
Amelia couldn't help but say something when she spotted the toddler's hateful expression as Mae gazed at her daughter, "Don't worry, little one! There'll be plenty of cake for everyone!"
Lily's mother's words were an unbearable annoyance.
Instead of giving a reply, Mae turned her emerald gaze onto Amelia.
The muggle woman gasped quietly at the merciless coldness she saw reflected in the child's unfeeling eyes.
Amelia should have considered herself fortunate.
Had Mae been years older, that promise of cake may very well have been the last thing she ever said.
Mae wasn't concerned about the food or the mess………or even the attention, although little James stole everyone's heart.
From the depths of whatever soul she possessed, Mae's dislike of Lily melted into pure hatred that day as she watched the baby girl.
In Mae's mind, the only one next to James should have been……..her.
Tom had said it, so then, it must have been true.
James was her brother, but more than that, James was a living piece of Mae herself.
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As soon as the party's many guests left, Harriet and Tom cleaned up from the event using a few spells.
Tom senior went to fetch Lawrence and Merope sat with their grandchildren.
Baby James dozed on her lap.
In his sleep, his chubby cheek had become squished against his grandmother's breasts.
Merope didn't mind, she merely stroked his silky strands of dark hair.
She smiled softly as she gazed at James and silently contemplated how much he reminded her of Tom junior as a baby.
"...Do you love him, grandmother?" Mae's inquiry shattered the peaceful moment as she watched Merope and James.
Merope laughed at the odd question, "Well, of course I do, sweetheart……Just as I love you and your father…..and your mother."
Mae frowned.
"What's the matter, darling?" Merope asked.
James wriggled in his sleep, which prompted her to lay a protective hand over the baby's small back.
"Do you think Daddy loves him too?" Mae asked with great concern.
"What kind of questions are these?!" Merope laughed, "I daresay your father loves you and your brother more than you'll ever understand, my dear."
Merope silently attempted to delve inside Mae's mind so that she may better understand her granddaughter's thought process.
Whenever Merope used Legilimency, she could see the inside of someone clearly; their memories, dreams, imagination……fears, it was all there.
It bothered her that her stealthy attempt to read Mae ended in………blackness.
Inside Mae's mind, Merope found no recorded memories, no dreams, no fears, and no imaginative wonderings, which should have been plentiful in a child her age.
Merope frowned in surprise as she ended her secret spell and stared at her eldest grandchild.
The calculating stare Mae threw at her in return suggested to Merope that perhaps her secret effort had been discovered.
"If Mummy and Daddy love my brother, why would they let that awful girl be so close to him?" Mae frowned.
Merope blinked.
"Why, grandmother?" Mae pressed.
"Well…….because he's her friend, sweetheart." Merope smiled, eager to move on after their uncomfortable exchange, "As he grows, he'll make more friends one day……so will you and then they'll come to your parties and you'll spend time with them too."
As Mae glared at Merope as if she had three heads instead of one, Merope braced herself not to shiver at the chill that ran down her spine.
Tom had his moments during his own youth when she hadn't necessarily felt at ease, but she had never endured the frightened torment she found herself faced with as she cared for her young granddaughter.
As Mae's emerald gaze flickered down to James, Merope instinctively tightened her grip on the baby, as if her maternal side commanded her to protect the sleeping baby from a lurking monster.
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"Thanks, Tom." Harriet said as they stood in the middle of Riddle Manor's freshly-cleaned parlor.
All evidence of the party had been disposed of, save for the many gifts James had received, which his parents had thoughtfully stored in his nursery.
The parlor had been set back into place with everything tidied, much to Lawrence's relief.
Internally furious the party had taken place but eager to please his mate, Tom swept up behind Harriet and wrapped himself around her while he whispered, "I would do anything to please you, sweetling."
A wide grin spread across Harriet's face as Tom bent down and gave her shoulder a kiss that suggested more than platonic affection.
"Mother will watch the children for another hour……." He purred in her ear, "How shall we pass the time until then?"
Harriet couldn't help but laugh as her alpha fished for an invitation into her nest.
Her smile was brilliantly beautiful as she broke free from Tom's hold, gazed up at him, and took his hand.
He smirked as Harriet led him out of the parlor and upstairs to their bedroom.
The fact that she wasn't in heat didn't deter Tom in the slightest.
Heats offered the highest chance of fertility for an omega, but Tom wanted Harriet regardless.
Legilimency was a hallmark talent of Slytherin's descendants.
Unlike his mother's usage moments earlier, Tom employed the magical art to discover a map of exactly where and how Harriet wanted him.
She never questioned how her mate found the best places on her body at the best times when they coupled, she merely enjoyed her luxury.
Most women had to guide their husbands and show them what they liked.
Harriet never experienced that inconvenience.
If another child joined the family as a result of their actions, then Tom would merely count his victory doubled.
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With the birthday party behind them, the Riddle family focused on their next upcoming event……the election.
Harriet assisted her husband with his campaign in every way possible.
She handed out flyers, she participated in interviews, she and the children were present for each public gathering the election's candidates were expected to attend.
Just as Tom wanted, his darling Harriet stood by his side every step of the way to prove herself a loyal and loving mate.
James was too young to understand, although the crowds of onlookers and flashes of journalists' cameras never dampened his happy, toothy grin, which the magical press loved to photograph.
Mae realized that the attention her father received meant he must be an important person, which endeared him to her all the more.
As Tom charmed his way through numerous debates, speeches, and parties, his arrogant grin never wavered.
He would win the election, he knew it within the depths of his very being.
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Britain's wizarding world teemed with nervous excitement on the long-awaited day.
Tom had made one last plea for votes that afternoon at the platform the Ministry had erected in its central lobby for each candidate to use during their final speech.
As he waited by the radio in Riddle Manor's parlor, he tapped his fingers impatiently against the arm of the velvet chair.
Merope and Tom senior sat across the room as they smiled encouragingly at their son.
Harriet would have been beside him but the hour had grown late and with it, the children had grown sleepy.
She had taken James and Mae into her nest to read them a bedtime story.
Mae had shown no interest in lying next to her mother before James's birth, but as long as her brother was near Harriet, she made sure to be as well.
Tom's breath hitched when the radio's static ended suddenly.
A voice shouted an enthusiastic greeting before it declared, "Ladies and gentleman of British magical society, it with great pleasure that the Ministry for Magic would like to announce the winner of today's election………."
Merope sat up.
Tom senior kissed her hand.
Tom junior held his breath.
The voice teased as it took its time relaying the news, "Our next Minister for Magic is………er, will be……."
"Out with it!" Tom hissed as he narrowed his dark eyes at the radio.
"TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE JUNIOR!" The voice cried.
Merope leapt to her feet with a joyful shriek.
Tom junior's eyes widened as he gasped at his own success.
It had happened.
It had finally, truly, happened.
He would begin his ascension to power, real power.
Merope ran over to her son and embraced him as his bewitched father stood to offer his congratulations too.
Tom junior lingered only a moment to accept his parents' well-wishes before he rushed down the hallway and charged into the room he shared with Harriet.
His haste ended when his eyes fell upon the bed.
There, in her nest, Harriet had fallen asleep, exhausted from assisting in the long weeks of Tom's campaign while she cared for their two young children.
Baby James slept on his tummy with his tiny fist over his mother's breast.
Mae had positioned herself closely beside him, with her head against her mother's side.
Tom's love for Harriet overpowered his desire to wake her and tell her of the incredible news.
She could hear it all in the morning.
Until then, he decided to join his family and rest for a while.
Tom carefully slipped off his shoes before he crawled under the covers to pull Harriet and their sleeping children against him.
He wrapped his arms around his wife and Mae while he kissed baby James's tiny head as he closed his own eyes to sleep.