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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Harriet counted the days until her final task while Ellery wished the Triwizard Tournament would last forever.
As he walked with Gabrielle Delacour early one chilly morning, the two enjoyed one of their many conversations.
Spending his free time with Gabrielle had become Ellery's favourite hobby.
"It is very cold here." She remarked as they walked along.
Ellery frowned as she shivered and clutched her blue silk capelet.
"Here," He said as he unfastened his robes and slipped them around her slender shoulders, "Wear these for a bit, they'll keep you warm."
The sun had risen only moments earlier and had failed to heat the earth yet.
Gabrielle blinked her blue eyes at Ellery as a smile brightened her fair face, "Merci, Ellery! But what about you? Now you will be cold."
"Oh no, don't worry about me, I'll be fine." He insisted, "My sweater's made of wool and my scarf is very thick."
Although he confidently reassured Gabrielle otherwise, he braced himself to not shiver in the whipping wind.
"That's very kind of you." Gabrielle smiled.
"Are you any warmer now?" Ellery asked as he glanced over at her.
"I am, yes." She grinned, "Though I'm still worried about you."
"Don't be." He sniffed and fibbed, "I'm used to the temperature here."
"It is not quite as cold at Beauxbatons this time of year." Gabrielle commented. Not missing an opportunity to flirt, she added, "Perhaps you can come and visit me this summer."
Ellery's breath hitched.
Although they had spent many pleasant hours cultivating an unlikely friendship, neither had mentioned what would happen once the Triwizard Tournament concluded and Gabrielle returned home.
"I'd like that very much." Ellery said with a smile. His happy expression fell away as he added, "...But I don't know if my Mum and Dad would allow that or not."
"Do they let you write letters?" She blinked.
"Of course they do." He frowned.
"Then write letters to me instead." Gabrielle shrugged, "And one day, once we graduate, you can visit without needing their permission."
"We don't graduate for years." Ellery scoffed, "You want to write to me for…….years?"
She stopped abruptly to face him.
Caught off guard, he did the same as he stared into her sapphire eyes with a sad frown that perfectly mimicked the expression his father often wore.
"My dear Ellery," Gabrielle said as she lifted one of her soft hands and laid it on his cheek, "I will write to you for a lifetime if that is what it takes."
Fleur had not embraced her Veela heritage as much as her little sister.
Gabrielle was well on her way to fully exploring her unusual gifts.
Having already happily chosen her intended mate, Gabrielle closed her eyes and leaned towards Ellery, who watched with his heart racing.
He needed no convincing to fall into his darling's trap.
Their kiss was instant, innocent, and sweet as they pecked each other's lips.
Once they quickly pulled away, Ellery opened his eyes with a gasp.
Gabrielle laughed as a warm smile spread across her fair face.
It was done then.
Gabrielle determined she had officially claimed the man that would be hers one day.
Ellery fully gave her his young heart that very moment.
"Shall we walk back to the castle now?" He asked shakily as he tried to catch his breath.
Gabrielle nodded, but before she could take a step, Ellery chivalrously offered her his arm, having learned the behaviour from watching his parents.
His kindness brightened Gabrielle's brilliant smile as she slipped her arm in his before they walked on together.
High in the clock tower, Lily squealed as she clutched Severus's hand while they watched their son and his sweetheart.
"Oh, Sev! Aren't they adorable?!" She laughed, "They remind me of us."
"Have you paused to consider what could come of this, my love?" Severus asked in a serious, low tone as he narrowed his black eyes at Ellery.
"What do you mean?" Lily blinked.
"Do you want the Delacour girl to be with child?" Severus scowled.
"That's not going to happen! They're far too young! We'll talk to Ellery soon…..We can even teach him how to brew Contraceptive Potion. He's smart like his father, he'll be fine." Lily nodded.
Severus's chest swelled with pride as he raised Lily's hand to his lips and gave it a tender kiss before he crushed her enthusiasm, "My love, I would beg you to remember that until the war ends, this romance our son is trying to kindle can never burst into open flame."
"Why do you say that? The Delacours aren't muggle-born." Lily frowned.
"No…..However…..Their Veela heritage will prohibit the Dark Lord from viewing them as pure-bloods." Severus frowned, "Should our son choose to pursue the match, it will end in devastation and pain."
"Unless we can convince You-Know-Who that having someone with Veela blood on his side may be useful." Lily shrugged.
"...And the girl will agree to that?" Severus asked as he raised an eyebrow.
Lily let out a weighty sigh as a pout marred her beautiful face, "I only want our children to be happy, Sev. We don't live in a very happy world, right now, I understand that. You'll have to forgive me, it's a mother's instinct to want the best for her little ones."
Lily's lament combined with her melancholy frown ground Severus's heart to a fine pulp.
He led her towards him by the hand until he slipped one arm around her trim waist as he used the other hand to press her tightly against his chest, "Our children will be happy, Lily. I have no doubt……especially after witnessing our daughter's recent performances……The prophecy will be fulfilled. Harriet will end the Dark Lord's reign."
"I hope you're right, Sev." Lily whispered as she clutched a fistful of his black robes while she listened to the steady beating of his heart, "...For everyone's sake."
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"Mmm, Tom……" Harriet whispered.
As their lips met once more, Harriet gasped into their kiss.
Her fingers clutched Tom Riddle's wrinkled, white uniform shirt underneath the enveloping wings of his dark robes, which he had draped around her to guard her from the cold air that wafted through the Chamber of Secrets.
"Tom….." Harriet whispered again.
Tom Riddle's diary had gone largely unused since the Yule Ball.
Harriet saw little point in writing to Tom when she could visit him instead.
"Tom……" Harriet pleaded as he splayed his fingers across her hips.
Ron and Hermione had started to grow suspicious.
Every morning and every evening, Harriet offered them a new excuse as to why she needed to run off somewhere.
Instead of spending time with them, she either had to study, go to the lavatory, lay in bed for a stomach ache, or whatever else convenient activity popped into her mind.
"Tom!" Harriet laughed as she finally managed to pull away. She chuckled as she looked into Tom's handsome face, amused by his irritated expression, "I have to go to breakfast! They'll start asking too many questions if I miss meals."
Harriet's boldness became her downfall.
Confident that no one had seen her, no one would follow her, she had been lackadaisical enough to leave the round door to the chamber wide open after she gave the Parseltongue command for the bronzed snakes to move that morning.
That morning, after weeks of following her, Draco finally secured a glimpse of Harriet's new pastime.
As he watched Harriet and her mystery lover through the open door, his nails raked the stone wall.
He ground his teeth together in sheer, repressed rage that some other fool dared to kiss his darling.
The hope offered by his betrothal to Harriet was what motivated Draco to continue going through the motions of normal life.
He had no intention of relinquishing that silent promise to some unknown enemy.
"Is there any chance you can return before classes begin?" Tom asked Harriet with a remorseful frown.
"No!" She laughed, "It's breakfast, then straight to the dungeons, you know that!"
As Tom removed his robes from her, she shivered once she was left with only her own uniform on as she grinned, "All you want to do is snog, anyway."
"That's not true, Harriet." Tom calmly retorted in his smooth voice, "I enjoy the hours we spend talking more than you know. It's not my fault you taste so delicious."
Harriet scoffed as she glanced down while an uncharacteristically shy blush covered her cheeks.
Under Tom Riddle's smoldering gaze, her daring nature threatened to bend to his will.
"I have to go, Tom." She said as she lifted her emerald gaze to meet his intense stare, "I'll see you tonight after dinner."
That notion left Tom unsatisfied.
He stepped forward to steal one last kiss from her lips until she stopped him as she laid a finger over his mouth and lifted her eyebrows.
"After dinner……" Harriet firmly repeated.
As she turned and hurried down the stone walkway that led into the Chamber's center, Tom licked his lips as he watched her leave.
Draco balled his hands into fists as he noticed his rival's dark eyes landed on Harriet's bottom while her skirt flounced with her motion.
As Harriet exited the Chamber, Draco barely remembered himself in enough time to duck into the shadows and hide before she crawled through the rounded doorway.
Once Harriet had gone, Draco swallowed hard.
His instincts told him to flee, but his love for Harriet held him firmly in place.
Generously gifted with the perfect opportunity to confront his nemesis head on, Draco made the fiercest decision of his life.
He drew in a deep breath as he stood and crawled through the round door, into the Chamber of Secrets.
Tom had turned to the statue of Slytherin by then, though he glanced around eagerly when he heard footsteps as he called, "Harriet? Oh…….Who are you?" He asked Draco with narrowed eyes, "How did you get in here?"
"Do you really have to wonder when you're careless enough to leave the door wide open?" Draco spat, "I am Draco Malfoy, heir to house Malfoy and house Black, the only son of Lucius Malfoy, named after the dragon itself."
Emboldened by courage, he raised his wand at Tom Riddle and snarled, "I've come to respectfully request you keep your filthy hands off my fiancé, if you don't mind, whoever you are."
Tom's arm shot towards his wand pocket in one fluid motion, but Draco's unbridled anger granted him skill.
"EXPELLIARMUS!" He cried.
Tom gasped as his wand clattered to the floor just as he managed to grasp it in his hand.
"Very well, you can have my wand." Tom said as he raised his palms defensively with an evil smirk, "I can summon the Basilisk whenever I wish. It will kill you where you stand, you-"
"-Heed my warning!" Draco hissed fearlessly.
Tom laughed darkly as Draco spat, "Leave Harriet Snape alone or I'll……I'll……"
"You'll what?" Tom smirked. He chuckled mockingly as he asked, "What will you do, Draco Malfoy?"
Draco failed to think of a convincing threat he could levy against the strange boy in the cave who claimed to have the legendary monster as a pet.
It bothered him to consider that perhaps he had been wrong and Harriet was not in fact, the heir of Slytherin.
Was his enemy the heir instead?
In a fleeting attempt to make a lasting impression, Draco lifted his arm and shouted, "STUPEFY!"
The blast that followed sent Tom soaring to crash against the stone wall of the Chamber, which allowed Draco enough time to make his escape.
He ran with his teeth gnashed together and his soul wailing in pain.
Harriet was his, would be his.
He had no intention of losing his love to anyone, heir of Slytherin or not.
Tom laughed as he stood and shook off the impact from Draco's spell.
A wicked smile danced across his lips as he noticed the small drop of blood that trickled down his cheek from the slight cut the wall's rough stone had opened on his handsome face.
Merely a memory persevered in a diary, Tom knew that he should not have been able to bleed.
No one realized that Harriet's love could make young Tom Riddle whole.