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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The Riddle family slept through the night in one giant, cuddled heap, warmed by each other and the many, fluffy blankets of Harriet's nest.
Little James' early morning whimper woke his mother just after dawn.
Mae lay still asleep but as the youngest Mrs. Riddle turned her head, she noticed her alpha staring at her with a smirk.
"Good morning." Harriet yawned as James squirmed and huffed impatiently.
"Good morning, sweetling." Tom whispered.
As his black eyes flickered down to their son, he sat up and volunteered to tend their little boy.
Harriet watched from her nest as Tom stood from the bed and used a bit of magic to change, dress, and amuse James.
Tom's clever spell ended with the illusion of a glittering, gold rattle that lasted long enough to keep the baby's attention before it vanished by touching his tiny nose.
Watching Tom with their children always gave Harriet the feeling of utter comfort, a sensation all omegas sensed whenever they saw their mates act as good fathers to their little ones.
Without warning, Harriet jolted herself from her groggy state of bliss as her eyes widened.
She sat up so quickly she woke Mae as she gasped, "Tom!!!...The election?!?!"
Behind her, Mae scowled in annoyance as she noticed the warm, soft pillow she had spent the last hours upon had been exchanged for a cool, fabric one instead.
"Don't excite yourself, sweetling." Tom chuckled as James cooed in his grasp, "The Minister-elect does not wish his mate to become upset."
Harriet let out a happy cry as she pressed her hands over her mouth.
She leapt from the bed and padded over to throw her arms around Tom and James while she exclaimed, "Oh, Tom! That's brilliant! Congratulations!"
Tom sincerely loved Harriet.
In a blatant display of his deep affection for her, he willingly shared his victory as he kissed her lips and pulled back with a purr, "The triumph is yours as well, sweetling. As the Minister's wife, you'll have some public duties, certainly, but a great deal of freedom and notoriety as well. I've done it, Harriet………Our family is going to be catapulted to wealth, power, and fame! Won't that be grand?!"
The exaggerated elation reflected in his expression as he concluded his announcement seemed almost sinister.
Baby James blinked as his parents spoke.
He placed a tiny hand on Harriet's arm to lovingly pat his mother.
Harriet smiled up at her baby while she slipped a finger into his miniature fist.
James looked into her smiling face and mirrored her expression as a cute grin curled his tiny lips.
The sight made Mae want to vomit.
"...Daddy?" She called from the bed.
"Good morning, sweetheart." Tom smiled, "Are you awake, princess? We didn't know if you were going back to sleep or not."
"I can't go back to sleep with all this noise." Mae complained with a frustrated sigh.
She didn't hear Harriet sigh in return, although Tom sought to appease mother and daughter both as he asked Mae, "Shall I carry you back to your room and put you in bed?"
Mae ignored his question, "Will you really be the new Minister for Magic, Daddy?"
Tom pecked Harriet lips before he slipped out of her grasp, walked over, and sat down on the edge of the bed with James still in his arms.
He couldn't suppress his grin as he gazed at Mae and nodded, "Yes, my princess, I will."
Mae blinked, "Does that mean you'll be a king, Daddy?"
That idea flattered Tom.
The more he thought about it, the more that comparison seemed reasonable to suggest to his daughter as he nodded, "Of sorts, my dear…….Which will make you a true princess, won't it?"
"Daddy!" Mae laughed.
Harriet watched from the background as Tom and Mae shared yet another bonding moment in which she was not invited to participate.
"I'm not 'a' princess!" Mae giggled, "I'm 'the' princess!"
Tom dove forward and tickled Mae until both her and James crawled over him in a squirming ball of giggles, but Harriet silently frowned.
Her husband dismissed their daughter's startling arrogance as a cute display of confidence, but Harriet wisely understood the implications it could have on Mae's future.
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Tom endured a whirlwind of formalities in the weeks that followed.
Sign this.
Say that.
Dispose of the former Minister's rotted corpse late one evening after everyone had left the Ministry and then use the Imperius Curse on the night guards to endorse a believable lie…….
Tom grew frustrated at the small, annoying details he had to tend to before he officially took office!
His inauguration finally arrived one pleasant afternoon.
The Ministry's lobby was flooded with people, packed shoulder to shoulder, wall to wall.
There were Ministry officials and employees, of course, along with several foreign dignitaries, crowds of journalists, and more than several regular citizens from Britain's wizarding world.
Cameras flashed.
The radio broadcast the entire event.
Quick-Quotes Quills flew across notepads.
Harriet stood on the side of the platform while Tom took his public vows.
He spoke his promises to serve all those who dwelt within his new domain honestly, fairly, and loyally, to the best of his ability.
Cheers erupted.
Tom's smile widened as he reached towards Harriet.
Wizarding Britain's public loved a family man.
Although Tom's genuine love for his wife and children was undeniable, he knew that as he kissed Harriet while he clutched James and Mae, the camera flashes doubled.
The applause from the crowd would have become quite a different noise if they knew the truth about their new Minister for Magic.
Acting as a government leader was no easy task for anyone but after murdering, lying, and cursing his way into the position, it seemed that Tom Riddle junior would find it nearly impossible to ethically uphold the vows he had made to the wizarding public.
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Once the ceremony had been completed, the Ministry held a large party in Tom's honour.
Harriet never strayed from his side in the hours that followed, but Mae and James tired quickly of the unending amounts of boring, adult conversations to which they were forced to listen.
Tom senior waited back at Riddle Manor while Merope congratulated Tom junior again, fetched the children, and brought them home.
James needed a nap.
Mae wanted to play with Polly.
Tom junior continued to mingle with the event's most influential guests, both out of duty and his own selfish need to gloat.
To Harriet's surprise, eventually she and her husband spoke with three members of the Board of International Magical Medicine.
"A colleague of mine told me the child's arm hasn't healed in more than a year?" The first board member asked, "And no salve will repair the wound?"
"None at all." Tom frowned, "At first it was a bruise, then it quickly spread. Now, it-"
"Now it…….it drips…..it leaks a sort of fluid." Harriet frowned, "It's almost like a burn."
The three board members glanced at each other as they each took a sip from their small goblets of wine.
Anger burned in Tom's heart as he once again encountered a hindrance in seeking further treatment for Mae.
"Perhaps you kind gentlemen would be willing to examine our daughter?" He asked the board members with a forced smile, "She's only a child. My wife and I are concerned about what her plight could mean."
The three board members shuffled on their feet before they exchanged anxious glances amongst themselves.
"The local healers haven't been much help thus far……Neither have your peers." Tom went on with a dangerous undertone in his usually smooth voice.
Harriet frowned as the three members of the International Board of Magical Medicine nodded before the first member spoke, "Forgive us, Minister Riddle, but……we've already heard mention of your daughter's case."
Harriet frowned.
"...And what exactly does that mean for our little girl?" Tom snapped.
"Well, sir," The first board member nodded before he cleared his throat and spoke, "As you're certainly aware, Britain's most talented healers contacted our organization some time ago about the child's bizarre predicament. I myself had a meeting scheduled with the former Minister to discuss the matter three days after he fell ill and became unable to attend. The case file was reviewed by members of our department, after which an assessment was made."
Quick to weasel his way out of suspicion as Harriet cast him a doubtful glance, Tom hissed, "And you thought it unnecessary to contact the parents directly when the previous Minister failed to keep his appointment?"
"Certain communications may only pass from us to the Minister himself, sir. It's a matter of international law, which since you are now a part of, surely you can understand." The board member implored Tom with a nervous smile.
"Forgive me, sir," Tom sneered, "Although I am more than familiar with the law, I fail to understand the criteria by which a child's affliction becomes an issue of international security."
Harriet frowned as dread filled her heart.
"Such instances are few and far between, sir, that's correct." The board member nodded, "Although I am afraid that any malady caused by Dark Magic falls into that very category."
Tom grit his teeth.
"Is there no help for her at all, then?" Harriet asked before her husband could growl his response, "...Nothing that can be done?"
"Mrs. Riddle…….." The board member politely nodded at Harriet, "Even the magical world cannot correct what has been defouled by the Dark Arts."
"But our daughter's only a little girl!" Harriet pleaded, "She can't even hold a wand yet! She hasn't done anything wrong! A child her age can't perform Dark Magic!"
Tom could bear it no longer.
Harriet's presence rendered him incapable of slaughtering the three board members in a fit of rage.
Before his homicidal urges overwhelmed him, he suddenly turned on his heel and stalked away.
Harriet frowned at the three board members after Tom had gone, a desperate mother begging.
"The recipient of such a foul wound is not always the caster of the responsible treachery, Mrs. Riddle." The board member nodded.
"...Are you saying my husband caused this?" Harriet dared to ask, "...To happen to our little girl?"
"Your husband…..or perhaps his father……or his father before him." The board member shrugged.
"His father is a muggle," Harriet frowned.
"Then anyone in his family line, or yours, could have been the culprit, Mrs. Riddle. We don't know all the secrets of those who have lived before us, do we?" The board member chuckled, "Any witch or wizard in the child's direct bloodline could very well have transferred this burden onto her. The condition is rare, rare indeed……..You see, the Dark Arts are similar to ink…….fluid and staining. I'm sorry, but I'm afraid we can't offer any potion of salve that will remove the mark they've left behind."
"...So what's next for her, then?" Harriet asked with her brow furrowed and her lips pursed in worry, "Will it spread?"
The board member raised his hands in a gesture to communicate his uncertainty, "These things are quite unpredictable, Mrs. Riddle. We cannot say for certain. Keep the wound as clean and dry as possible, that's the only advice I can offer."
"...Will she live?" Harriet whispered, terrified of what she may hear.
The board member's reply was far more unsettling than Harriet had expected as he nodded, "Yes, unfortunately, the child marked by darkness itself will indeed live, madam, longer than any such a person should."
Harriet opened her mouth to retort but the three board members had no further interest in prolonging the uncomfortable conversation.
They turned quickly and disappeared into the crowd, leaving Harriet to look around in a frantic search for Tom.
She politely pushed through the throngs of people and traipsed up the stairs to the Minister's office, hoping to find her husband there.
She wanted to talk to him, to tell him what she had learned.
Besides that though, Harriet wanted Tom to hold her close and whisper words of soothing comfort in her ear, even if each one was just a fragile lie.