The Love Story of Harriet Potter and Tom Riddle

Chapter 80 - Preparations

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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Hugo Weasley sighed to himself as he stood from his bed late one Saturday morning and shuffled towards the boys' lavatory high in Gryffindor Tower.

His eyes widened when he walked in the quiet room and found James crouched on the floor next to his bubbling cauldron.

"What's all that, then?" Hugo scowled.

"What's all what?" James asked without looking up as he added a few, tattered leaves to the mixture.

"What on earth are you doing, James?" Hugo asked.

"I....am using....." James said distractedly while the mixture hissed until he gave it another form stir, "The formula I memorized last night.....from the book I came across during my search through the restricted section."

Hugo's eyes widened as the last of his lingering drowsiness faded away, "......The Restricted Section? How'd you manage that?"

James flashed Hugo an impish grin that eerily resembled the one his father often wore.

"How did you do it, you cheeky bastard?" Hugo huffed.

"With my Mum's Invisibitly Cloak, of course." James shrugged.

Hugo gasped, "She gave that to you?! My Dad's told me all about it, they used to-"

"She didn't give it to me, exactly." James shrugged, "But she would have if I had asked her.....before I left for school. She never used it anymore, she won't need it."

A frown of concern crossed Hugo's face as his eyes moved from James to the cauldron before he frowned, ".......Is this to do with what you were you raving about the other night?"

"Are you asking if this is to bring my next sister into the world?" James calmly asked, "It is to assist with that, yes. All my Mum needs to do is have a swallow of this and-"

"-You're really going to give that to your Mum?" Huge frowned.

"Why shouldn't I?" James blinked as he lifted his eyes to meet Hugo's disapproving frown.

"Suppose you make a mistake....." Hugo shrugged, "What if it all went.....poorly? You don't have much experience brewing after all, I can help if you like, but I'm no expert either."

"I am the Minister's son and heir to Slytherin." James smirked in a rare moment of Tom-like arrogance, "brewing Potions is in my blood. What could possibly go poorly?"

While Hugo brushed his hair and teeth, he couldn't help but keep glancing over at James in silent disbelief.

Although he trusted his friend, he couldn't shake the fear he felt for James's mother, in the event that his brave gamble did not pay off the way he expected.

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That evening, while James finished his work and spent the night chatting by the fire with his friends, Mae once again crept out of the castle, undetected.

Instead of smirking at her own malicious use of her affected arm to hide the noise of her footsteps and the beating of her heart from Filch and Mrs, Norris's detection, she kept a serious frown on her face as she made her way down to the Black Lake.

Crouching behind a large rock, Mae braced herself to wait.

She watched the moon move across the sky as time passed.

Minutes.

Hours.

Close to gnashing her teeth and giving up, Mae let one more frustrated hiss escape her clenched jaw before she looked over the rock for the hundredth time that night.