Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
—————————————————————
Harriet's belly had rounded quite a bit during that semester.
She placed a hand over her side while she, Tom, and Mark stood waiting for the Hogwarts Express to pull into the platform later that afternoon.
"Are you alright, my darling?" Tom asked as he stood with his cloak draped over Harriet's shoulders to warm her, his hands splayed across her abdomen under the cover of the thick velvet while they stood chest to chest.
"I'm fine, Tom. It's actually fairly warm today." Harriet chuckled.
"Look, Mum, I think I can see it!" Mark excitedly informed Harriet while he gently tugged on the loose end of the cloak.
"Don't pull it off her, she'll freeze!" Tom hissed.
His voice was so heartlessly hateful, Mark instantly turned to look at his father with a remorseful frown, but Harriet's eyes narrowed while she quipped at him, "Don't speak to him like that, Tom! He wasn't hurting me!"
"And I saw to it that he won't." Tom huffed as Mark let go of the cloak and turned back around, fearful of offending his father any further.
Harriet threw a disgruntled huff at Tom before she pushed his cloak off of her shoulders and stepped over to take Mark by the hand.
She could feel Tom's angry scowl burning into her back as the train pulled into the station.
Once James and Lily disembarked from the train, Mark spent the next fifteen minutes speaking to his brother and friend while Harriet and Tom passed the time arguing in whispers between themselves.
For once, it was their daughter who ended their battle.
The word widened both Tom's and Harriet's eyes as it fell from her lips in a happy exclamation.
"MUM!"
They both blinked over to see Mae beaming at Harriet as if she had been reunited with her most favourite person in the world.
Harriet's mouth fell open.
"Hello………Mae." Harriet greeted her with a wry smile, "It's……good to see you."
She never imagined she would speak those words to her daughter.
Quiet gasps rang out from every member of the Riddle family as Mae rushed forward and pulled her mother in for a firm, loving hug.
Over their daughter's shoulder, Harriet gave Tom a cautious glance of uncertainty which he returned with a warm smile, having spent years dreaming of the day when his two darlings would finally bond.
"...What's happening?" Mark whispered to James while their parents were preoccupied.
"Nothing good, you can be sure of that." James whispered back.
His eyes narrowed in suspicion as he watched their sister cling to their mother.
With her head buried against Harriet, no one could see the spiteful grin on Mae's lips.
—————————————————————
"What's the matter, son?" Draco asked as he watched Scorpius slouch across Malfoy Manor's foyer as soon as they returned to the house, "You've been nothing but melancholy since you stepped off the train."
"I'm tired." Scorpius snapped.
Draco and his wife, Astoria, blinked as their son gave them both a hateful scowl before he sighed and trudged away, "I'm tired…..and I'm going to my room."
"...But you've just come home, sweetheart." Astoria reasoned with a wry smile, "Won't you sit and talk with us for a while? Tell us all about your adventures at the castle?"
"I don't have adventures." Scorpius curtly remarked as he made his way out of the room, unswayed by his mother's plea.
After Scorpius left, Draco and Astoria blinked at each other..
"Do you think he's ill?" She asked.
"No." Draco shook his head, "If he was ill, he would have mentioned it."
"Do you think he's been hurt?" She frowned, "Or cursed?! Oh, Draco, what if he's been cursed?"
Draco shook his head, "I…..I don't think that's what the issue is, my love."
"Then what is the issue?" Astoria frowned, "If he won't talk to us, how are we supposed to help? Did you see that look on his face? He's miserable!"
A shadowy scowl crossed Draco's pale features before he replied, "...Don't fear, my love. I think I know very well who he'll talk to."
—————————————————————
Draco mercifully chose to wait and send his spy until after dinner, which for Scorpius, had been nothing.
He sat in his chair staring down at the blank parchment on his desk when a knock suddenly fell on his door.
"Who is it?" Scorpius called out.
"Your living ancestor." The smooth answer came.
Scorpius sighed as he lifted himself to his feet, shuffled over, and opened the door.
"Good evening." Lucius smiled, clothed in one of his finest black suits even around his own home, "May I come in?"
"Sure, Granddad." Scorpius sighed as he walked across the room and plopped back down in his chair.
"Did Mum and Dad send you?" He asked in a bored tone.
"Your mother and father expressed their concerns to me, yes, but I chose to seek you out on my own once you failed to attend dinner." Lucius nodded as he sat in one of the velvet, wingback chairs across from the roaring fireplace in the opulent bedroom.
Grandfather and grandson stared at each other for a moment before Lucius went on, "Do not worry…….You have no need to explain, I've merely come to inquire as to how I may be of help."
"Of help with what?" Scorpius scoffed.
"With the girl, of course." Lucius nodded.
Scorpius's eyes widened.
His awed expression seemed to amuse Lucius, who cracked a sly grin and chuckled, "Have you forgotten that I was once a young man too? And your father before you? I am no fool, Scorpius, I know the look of love when I see it. I trust at your age, you've already had a rut, yes?"
Scorpius slowly nodded.
"Very well……and now you've chosen a mate. So then, tell me, what exactly is the problem?" Lucius asked.
"Her family won't allow us to be together." Scorpius sighed, "I invited them….her and her family…...for dinner and….her father refused."
"Did he?" Lucius asked as he cocked an eyebrow, "The man must be either very wealthy or very foolish to shun an invitation from the Malfoys. Who is this girl, Scorpius?"
"Mae Riddle." Scorpius breathed in a dreamy sigh, "She's the Minister's daughter and—What's the matter, Grandfather?"
It was Lucius's turn to widen his eyes then.
Without another word, he rose to his feet and gave Scorpius a quick nod, "Fret no further. Allow your father and I to handle this matter. You'll be betrothed to your beloved before the summer solstice, mark my words."
Scorpius blinked as he watched his grandfather march out of the room and close the door behind himself.
Instead of chasing Lucius down to protest, a small smile curled the edges of Scorpius's lips.
If his parents and grandparents could offer any real assistance with his predicament, he intended to gladly accept.
Winning Mae Riddle's heart had proven to be harder than catching Cornish Pixies.
—————————————————————-
Lucius was seated at the heavy, mahogany table in his study by the time Draco finally found him an hour later.
"Well, Father?" He huffed, "How did it go?"
"Well enough, Draco, though as usual, your lack of realization baffles me. What will you do after my death one day leaves you to sort this family's matters on your own?" Lucius grouched as his black quill swept across the parchment while one cursive letter after another sprang from his hand's motions.
"...What are you talking about?" Draco asked.
"Your son has fallen in love." Lucius remarked.
"Oh….." Draco frowned, "I see."
"-With the Minister for Magic's only daughter." Lucius concluded as he glanced up.
Draco blinked.
Lucius scowled.
"Can you possibly imagine how their union will benefit this family? And our many companies? Can you dream of what this can do for our status?!" He snapped.
"But, she's……the girl's parents aren't purebloods." Draco frowned.
"Her father is the heir of Slytherin and the Minister for Magic, the most powerful man in our world!" Lucius fumed, "Act as if you have some vague ability to think, won't you?!"
Draco scowled as he shuffled out of the room, too humiliated and frightened of his father to ask what exactly it was he had been writing so diligently.
—————————————————————-
The following morning, Tom collected the mail from the snowy owl who brought the day's post while his wife and children slept through the gray morning.
He scowled as he noticed the ornate envelope addressed from the Malfoy family.
Curious, Tom slit the seal with his tapered finger, pulled out the parchment that lay inside, and began to read the letter.
As his eyes scanned over the elegantly written lines, his mouth fell open.
In a rush, he hurried up the stairs and down the hall to the bedroom he shared with Harriet.
Although he would not disturb his pregnant mate's sleep, as soon as she woke, he intended to share the happy news with her.