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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It was difficult to imagine a pair of brothers happier to be reunited than Mark and James.
The best of friends besides being family, James and Mark attacked each beautiful, summer day with more zeal then the next.
James shared his stories about Hogwarts.
Mark told his brother of his adventures at Harriet's side.
Lily saw both boys every day at some point, whether during their morning explorations of the nearby forest or for afternoon lunches.
If Tom hadn't been so busy tending Harriet that season, he may very well have tried to separate James and Mark, but fortunately for his sons, his preoccupation with their mother lingered on as Harriet endured one cycle after another in an unprecedented burst of fertility.
One evening after Lily had gone home, James and Mark sat outside, on the rear porch of Riddle Manor while they both looked up at the starry sky.
"Sorry I can't do any magic." James chuckled.
"...I'm not." Mark quietly answered.
James immediately frowned as he realized the offense his unwitting remark had unintentionally carried, "Oh, Mark, no, I didn't mean-"
"I know." Mark smiled as he glanced over at his brother, "I think it's nice that we can just….have a laugh…..without worrying about it all."
"...Don't you think so too?" Mark blinked.
"Yeah." James nodded as he returned his brother's wry smile, "...Yeah, it's quite nice."
Without another word about magic or Hogwarts, both brothers turned their attention back to the night sky and spent the rest of the evening laughing and joking as they admired the twinkling, summer stars.
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Inside Riddle Manor, Harriet sighed as she slipped off her robes and unfastened the tie that held her long, dark hair in place.
"Hurry up, sweetling, the water will get cold without you in it to warm me."
Harriet looked over at her alpha as Tom's deep, smooth voice curled through the air like some seductive scent carried on the wind.
A smirk danced across her lips as she walked over and joined her husband in the large, clawfoot tub.
Harriet didn't even have to step in all the way.
As soon as she came close enough, Tom reached up and helped her, careful to hold her by her hips as she slipped into the warm water with him.
An impish grin made itself plain on his handsome face as he settled his wife in the frothy bath, purposely letting her straddle him as they relaxed together in the heated water.
Harriet gazed into Tom's dark eyes while they enjoyed the sensual silence that filled the room.
Slowly, she allowed her hands to dip into the water and place some of the soapy bubbles over the dark patch of hair squarely in the center of Tom's toned chest.
He found his fascination with admiring Harriet so intoxicating that he barely noticed.
His dark eyes were wide with careful study of each inch of her skin as they roved over her, followed by his fingers, determined to feel and see everything.
Harriet sighed as his touch drifted from her neck to her breasts, before it ghosted over her nipples only to whisper down her abdomen and dive under the water.
She chuckled when Tom chose to run his hands over the silvery stretch marks that lined her lower belly instead of gliding across her hips and thighs.
"You aren't supposed to touch me there, Tom." Harriet said with a wry smile, "They're only flaws."
"You're mine, Harriet Riddle." Tom scowled, "I can touch you wherever I want."
"Don't I have better things for you to touch?" She playfully laughed while his fingers purposely stayed on that same area, "I don't know why you always bother with those."
"You bear the scars on your body from carrying my children." Tom said as his fingers lovingly massaged her skin while he gazed into Harriet's green eyes, "Why should I not like the physical reminder of your dedication to me and the sacrifices you've made for our family?"
A smirk twisted Harriet's lips as she inclined her head and let Tom lift a hand from the water to place it on her wet cheek.
"You are my goddess, sweetling." Tom whispered as his lips brushed Harriet's, "My life, my perfection……..You are my world, you are my everything."
"I'm yours, Tom." Harriet whispered back as she gave him one long, slow kiss.
The water splashed in the tub while she rolled her lips over him teasingly as she pulled back and whispered, "...And you…..are mine."
Tom growled at Harriet's possessive declaration before he attacked her lips with his own.
Her raging hormones had given them a brief respite that night, although indulging in rest interested neither Harriet nor Tom.
Instead, while their sons shared an evening of brotherly bonding, Harriet and Tom sloshed half of the tub's water onto the floor as they coupled.
Once they had finished, Harriet found herself fighting the urge to fall into a deep sleep.
She didn't need to worry about caring for herself though as long as her alpha was there.
Tom whispered sweet words of adoring praise into her ear as he wrapped her in a fluffy, warm towel and dried the droplets of water from her skin, still flushed from pleasure and bruised from the eager, savage bites he had given her in their fury.
Harriet sighed as she slumped against his chest while he carried her out of the bathroom and towards their bed once he had made certain she had been completely dried.
"I'm tired, Tom." She sighed with a weariness that seemed too extreme for her years.
The sound of her voice broke his heart as he gazed at her before he extinguished the candle that burned on their nightstand.
"Then, rest, my love," Tom whispered as he crawled into her nest, hidden under the cover of darkness in the lightless room, "Rest against me, I'll watch over you."
Harriet didn't need to be told twice.
As she moved over in bed, she and Tom scooted around for a moment until they found the ideal position.
He laid against the mound of pillows that bordered their headboard as Harriet placed her ear to his chest.
She fell asleep with incredible speed as she listened to the slow, steady beating of his heart, her hand on his bare skin, but Tom had no interest in chasing sleep right away.
His dark eyes shone with a touching softness as he gently stroked Harriet's arm while he held her there, in their blackened room, so deep in her own sleep.
Tom leaned his head down and closed his eyes as he breathed in his beloved's sweet scent and thought.
His children, his mother, his role as the leader of Magical Britain, all lovely gifts he had been given in his mortal life.
Yet nothing could compare to the joy that simply holding his mate for a close cuddle brought.
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The ocean itself was on fire as yet another bypassing ship saw its end unmercifully brought.
Mae blinked as she watched the carnage in front of her.
Standing on the craggy rock next to the foreboding cave where her teacher and creatures like her enjoyed hiding, Mae blinked emotionlessly as one tragedy after another occurred in front of her very eyes.
Men died like slaughtered animals, as the ocean's foam turned red with their spilled blood.
The flaming ship splintered into pieces by the force of the siren's many claws.
As the fire burned, the hints of a smile tugged at Mae's lips.
The power to seduce, the power to destroy.
Mae couldn't wait for the new school year to resume.
Wouldn't her dear brother love to see all that she had learned?