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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Despite Tom junior's wily attempts to delay the process as much as possible, to Harriet's delight, the construction of the children's triplex finally finished.

On the morning of the dedication ceremony and official opening, Mark watched from the sidelines as his mother stood with her friends, Hermione and Ron Weasley, to announce the new resources that would be offered to the public.

Hordes of onlookers and journalists had come to listen and watch while the Golden Trio made their introductory speeches and listed all of the many services the new facilities would administer.

Cameras flashed.

Quick-Quotes Quills jetted across parchment pads.

Harriet, Ron, and Hermione were pleased with the enthusiastic applause they received once their talks concluded and the red ribbon in front of the triplex was sliced by all three of their wands in one synchronous swipe.

As the crowd gradually dissipated while employees and those in need began to enter the impressive buildings, Harriet stood with Tom's aides, next to Mark, when a hand touched her shoulder.

She blinked as she turned around and found herself staring at a young, bright-eyed woman with a camera around her neck and a puffy, pink quill in her hand.

"Good morning." Harriet politely greeted the stranger.

"G-Good morning." The young woman stammered, "Sorry!" She exclaimed with a nervous smile, "I never thought I'd actually meet the Minister's wife in person! I'm Thelma Thousin, I-I….I'm an associate reporter for The Quibbler."

Harriet had learned during her years in the public eye to be especially on guard whenever she interacted with members of the press.

"Well, it's lovely to meet you, Ms. Thousin." She graciously nodded, "I'm Harriet Riddle."

Thelma nodded nervously as she blinked and spoke, "I was wondering, Mrs. Riddle, if I may ask you a question? I…….I didn't want to bring it up in front of everyone. The Quibbler stays ahead of only the most breaking news, as you know."

"...Brilliant." Harriet said as she resisted the urge to grin while she fondly thought of Luna Lovegood, "Of course, go ahead. What would you like to ask?"

Thelma blinked again as she boldly ventured, "Do you think the Minister's hatred for muggles and muggleborns will affect the services rendered by the triplex? Or who they can be rendered to? I know you mentioned muggleborns and muggle parents of magical children will be welcomed here, but does the Minister agree?"

Harriet's fair features twisted in shocked mortification.

Her heart fell as she realized the flaws she had spent so very long trying to ignore in her husband were not really ignorable at all.

"All will be welcome here." She firmly told the reporter, who eagerly jotted her notes as she listened to Harriet, "The Minister and I stand in absolute agreement on that, I have no doubt."

Before Thelma could ask any further questions, Harriet nodded at Tom's aides and allowed them to escort her, Mark, Ron, and Hermione away for a moment of respite.

They quickly apparated back to the Ministry and prepared for another public engagement scheduled to immediately follow the first, a tedious meet and greet with all the healers who would be working in the triplex.

Before the next event began, Harriet excused herself to the lavatory.

She leaned against the closed door as she placed a hand over her racing heart.

Her love remained with Tom, although her alpha could be attentive, protective, and loyal to a fault, he had many flaws.

Harriet had made excuses.

Harriet had lied to herself over the years to refrain from facing reality.

After she left the bathroom, she bravely gathered her nerve, walked back out into the Ministry and participated in the meet and greet alongside Ron and Hermione.

Mark stayed glued to the skirts of her robes, anxiously blinking at each new person his mother spoke to, afraid of strangers.

By the time that two hour session concluded, Tom found himself in a meeting.

Harriet knew his schedule better than he did most days.

Unable to wait on her husband to return due to her remaining obligations regarding the triplex's opening day, Harriet left a simple note for Tom on his desk.

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Tom had no idea what had happened.

His eyes narrowed as he returned to his office later, collected the note from his desk, and squinted at the letters on the parchment.

He instantly recognized his wife's scrawled handwriting.

Her words made his black heart race with fearful dread.

Only Harriet could make Tom Riddle junior feel fear.

Harriet's message had been clearly written on the parchment:

We need to talk.

Tom looked up with a disgruntled sniff while his world crashed down around him.

What did that mean?

Had Harriet finally discovered the truth about his grandparents' death?

Or the former Minister's demise?

……..Or maybe she had found out about that law he had passed last week, under her nose?

What about the one the week before that?

Tom sat down at his desk and put his head in his hands.

His lengthy list of crimes would easily be enough to earn Harriet's scorn, see to his ruin, and land him in Azkaban prison for a hundred lifetimes.

What had his darling finally learned about his many misdeeds?

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While Tom sweat through his own fears, Harriet enjoyed lunch with her friends and son during a brief break from their busy day.

In what would serve as the employee lounge of the children's hospital, Harriet sipped tea next to Hermione as they both watched Ron play with Mark.

She couldn't help but smile at the wide-eyed look of wonder on her little boy's face as Ron folded pieces of parchment from his pocket into animal shapes and animated them with waves of his wand.

"He's better with our children than I am." Hermione confessed to Harriet, "That's odd considering I'm their mother, isn't it?" She frowned.

"I dunno, I don't think it's odd." Harriet chuckled, "Some people are better than others are at it, I suppose. Mae's always disliked me, since the day she was born, and I….I can't understand why."

"You mentioned that, but I wouldn't worry, Harriet." Hermione said as she reached over and laid a hand on her friend's, "I think it's harder with girls. Rose and I have our differences sometimes…..I think it's getting worse as she gets older."

"Mae and I have maintained a steady pace of being at odds as she's aged." Harriet chuckled.

The two mothers shared a laugh for a moment before Harriet looked at Hermione and confessed, "Tom wants another."

Hermione blinked, "...Another baby?"

Harriet nodded.

"Oh……" Hermione breathed as she nodded and asked, "How do you feel about that?"

"I dunno." Harriet sighed, "He was lovely with Mae…..and with James, but when Mark arrived…..something changed. He just doesn't treat him the same. It breaks my heart because I know he's a better father than that."

"Why do you think he treats Mark differently?" Hermione asked before she thought.

Grim realization dawned on her as she noticed Harriet's frown while she watched Mark curiously touch Ron's wand.

"Oh, Harriet……" Hermione scowled, "It's not that….Surely it's not that!"

"What else is it then?" Harriet demanded as she looked at her friend again, "He's always denied it, of course, but I'm no fool, Hermione! There's no other explanation for it and that's the worst part."

"There's something else." Hermione insisted as she cleared her throat, "There must be, right?"

Harriet shrugged as she glanced over at Mark and Ron again once a happy little giggle erupted from her son during their imaginative play, "...Maybe, I don't know. Honestly, it's what Tom's always wanted, but I think this is the worst thing that could have happened to him."

"What?" Hermione frowned, "Having a non-magical child?"

"No." Harriet said as she pursed her lips, "Becoming the Minister."

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Harriet had chosen an inconvenient day to leave her note for Tom.

She eventually made it home after her day of quiet introspection while she hid behind bright, public smiles for hours on end, but as she entered Riddle Manor, she knew she had become too exhausted to open an argument with her alpha.

Without a word to her mate, she walked upstairs, readied Mark for bed, then herself, and laid down to sleep, purposely avoiding Tom.

She would deal with him the next day, when the weary weight of the world no longer lingered on her shoulders, or at least, when the press no longer reminded her of that every thirty seconds.

Harriet sighed as she pulled the covers up to her head and closed her eyes.

She hovered on the verge of sleep when the door to their bedroom quietly opened and shut.

Harriet's eyelids fluttered as she resisted the urge to look up and see who had entered.

There was no real need, she could smell Tom junior's delicious cologne.

Besides, if she looked at her husband, she would have to talk to her husband.

While Harriet clung to the idea of feigning sleep until she actually did slip into slumber, she felt the indention on the mattress as Tom walked over and sat beside her.

Harriet furrowed her brow in surprise as he gently swept a strand of dark hair away from her face before he leaned in and pressed a kiss against her cheek.

His whispered promise built Harriet up before it broke her down to fragments, "...I will always love you, Harriet Riddle."

As Tom stood from the bed and quietly readied himself for sleep, careful not to disturb his wife, a single tear rolled down Harriet's fair cheek.

She had always despised the notion of being overly weepy.

Regardless, as she turned the situation over in her mind and examined the many conflicting emotions that battled for dominance within her heart, there was little she could do to stop that rebellious, pesky tear.