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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On the evening that Harriet revealed the happy news she had learned earlier that day, Tom was beside himself with joy.
She had almost forgotten how much her doting husband had pampered her during her previous pregnancies.
He asked a hundred questions and gave her a thousand loving kisses.
Harriet smiled through the night as Tom cradled her close in his loving embrace, as if she were made of fragile glass that could shatter at any moment.
When morning came at last, she woke to Tom gazing down at her with a look of fierce devotion glimmering in his dark eyes.
"...And how are you this morning, sweetling?" He asked as he idly stroked the ends of her long, dark hair.
"Fine." Harriet said as she yawned through a languid stretch, "I slept well…..Did you?"
"Don't worry about me." Tom whispered as he bent down and kissed her lips gently, "I'm not the one who's carrying a life."
Harriet chuckled quietly as she pulled him down for another kiss, but Tom's concern for her well-being could not be pushed aside easily.
"Give me a moment, sweetling, and I'll send for Lawrence to bring our breakfast." He purred.
"...Here?" Harriet frowned, "No, I…..Why would we eat in here? I want to be downstairs with the family, like we always are."
"You usually prefer your nest when you carry our children." Tom reminded her as he gazed down at her with that same fondness in his eyes.
"Not this early on!" Harriet laughed, "Honestly, Tom, what's the matter with you? You've never been this protective so quickly."
Tom quickly shut out the hideous flashbacks of Mark's birth that raced through his mind.
"...Call it learned instinct." He smirked.
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If Mae hadn't seen it clearly in her impromptu nightmare and woken with her affected arm burning, she never would have believed it.
A whimper escaped her throat as she fought her way out of the covers while nauseating rage pulsed through her.
To think that her parents would dare bring not just another girl into their midst, but a rival…..Mae could imagine no higher insult.
She barely bothered to pull on her house robes before she fled her dormitory.
As she pounded through the corridor, she forced thick tears to swell and fall from her eyes as her impossibly fair face twisted with weighty anguish.
By the time she reached the heavy, wooden door, she was wide awake and wild.
Her thick, dark hair was messy and unkempt, her clothes appeared ragged and wrinkled, even her feet had blackened from being slapped against the aged, dungeon floors on her desperate run.
She practically threw herself against the door as she banged on it with her fists with all the urgency of a chased prisoner seeking refuge from an oncoming and inevitable persecution.
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Deep inside his personal chambers, Severus Snape had just finished critiquing another submitted essay when the sudden torrent of noise against his door demanded his attention.
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
His face melted into a scowl as he looked in the direction of the noise.
No one ever called on him after hours, not unless Dumbledore needed assistance with a staff emergency.
Curious, annoyed, and terrified all at once, Severus sat aside the parchment and quill he held to rise from his seat in one elegant motion.
A wary frown marred his pale face as he glided over to the door.
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
The incessant knocking only grew louder as he reached a hand out and turned the antique knob.
Professor Snape pulled the door open.
His black eyes widened as a pained wail rang out while Mae Riddle crumpled to the floor.
For a split second, the stoic Potions Master was rendered speechless with shock as he watched his least favourite student grovel at his feet.
Mae unashamedly wrapped her arms around his legs and clung to him as if he were her very last hope in the entire world.
Severus's eyes widened for a moment as he took in the display she put on.
Barely human at that point, Mae seemed little more than a chaotic lump of sobs, knotted hair, and grabbing hands as she knotted herself in a heap of despair that had come to beg for her head of house's mercy.
When her outburst showed no signs of slowing, Severus did his best to handle the never before encountered situation as he spoke in his low drawl, "Miss Riddle……Miss Riddle! Pull yourself together!"
With his wand in his hand, a quick flick of his wrist removed Mae from his person and promptly helped her back onto her feet, leaving her to wipe the latest tears in the unending stream from her eyes as she blinked up at him.
"May I ask the meaning of this intrusion? Do you find yourself ill or in such desperate need of assistance that a prefect may not be adequate for the task?" Professor Snape snapped as he kept his dark eyes narrowed.
His scowl cleverly conveyed anger and concealed his fear.
It made him shudder to think he was alone with……..
Forcing those thoughts from his mind, he focused on upholding his silent Occlumency practice, all too aware of the needle-like feeling of Mae picking at the outer edges of his guarded thoughts, even while she sobbed through whatever crisis she endured.
"Oh, Professor!" She whimpered, "Professor Snape, please! I…..I've come to beg for your help! I….I….."
In an attempt to gain entrance to his private chambers, Mae stumbled as if a wave of dizziness threatened to overcome her.
Terrified she would fall and make him responsible for seeing the Minister's precious daughter injured, Severus played right into her plans as he rushed forward and caught her in his arms.
"Miss Riddle!" Severus snapped as he helped her stumble over to the nondescript wooden chair at the plain table he kept in the living area of his chambers.
Mae sighed as he helped her sit down, as if the journey of a few steps had been too burdensome for her petite frame.
"Miss Riddle……" Severus drawled again as he took the seat across from her and frowned, "If you are unable to at least mention the manner of your plight, I will find myself unable to assist."
"...Have you ever loved someone, Professor Snape?" Mae asked as she raised her tear-filled emerald gaze to meet his.
Severus already despised where their conversation was headed.
In a desperate attempt to keep the subject as on track as possible, he snapped, "I have no use for…..puzzles." He said after a moment, careful not to use the word "Riddle", although the double meaning would have been accurate.
"Explain the nature of your trouble or mention who you would like me to send for as counsel." Severus ordered.
"That's what I was going to say, Professor." Mae sniffed as she choked back a sob while another tear rolled down her cheek, "I…..I've made a dreadful mistake! I fell in love and…….."
Severus watched her with his expression as unfeeling and unreadable as usual, hoping with all of his heart that the Minister's underage, deranged daughter hadn't sought him out in the middle of the night for some immature seduction attempt.
"...And I find myself alone, yet not alone at all." Mae sniffed as she placed a hand over her lower belly.
Severus scowled as he contemplated the veiled meaning of her subtle words.
Mae tried to look as pitiful as possible as she feigned both a broken heart and an unplanned pregnancy, knowing full well that if her father himself could not read her thoughts then neither could her stoic Professor.