The Love Story of Harriet Potter and Tom Riddle

Chapter 88 - Mum's the Word

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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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.

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"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."