The Love Story of Harriet Potter and Tom Riddle

Chapter 105 - Not Long Now

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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Tom's dark eyes shone with joy as he stared at his eldest daughter once more.

"...........Is it really you, my princess?" He slowly asked, as if he were afraid she may vanish from his sight.

"It's really me, Daddy." Mae answered with a smile dipped in feigned bittersweetness, "After all this time........It's really me."

The conditions of her banishment evaporated from his mind.

Tom rushed forward before she could say anything more and swept her into his arms as he had done when she had been a child.

"Oh, Daddy....." Mae whispered as she laid her head on his shoulder while they embraced, "I've missed you so much!"

"I assure you, my pain has been greater, my darling girl." Tom whispered as he gave her a tight squeeze.

Once they released each other, Mae put a sickly sweet smile on her face as she gestured to the two sofas that stood adjacent to each other by the fireplace, "Shall we sit, Daddy?"

Tom gladly nodded.

As he followed Mae over to the sofa opposite hers while she took a seat, his usual calm demeanor wavered as he felt himself threatened to be overcome by his own pesky emotions.

Joy, fear, anguish.........

Out of all those many feelings, he couldn't help but notice a sharp stab of guilt that pride swelled in his soul.

His eldest, his only living daughter, had managed to place herself in such a position of power, over more people than he himself commanded.

As Tom gazed at Mae, the smile on his handsome face was purely genuine.

"What is it, Daddy?" She chuckled.

"You've become as beautiful as your mother." He nodded.

Her smile faded at her father's unintentional insult.

"........I beg your pardon?" Mae spat.

"You've become as beautiful as your mother." Tom gladly repeated, "You have her thick, dark hair and her emerald eyes. I'd be surprised if you haven't found a mate yet. Do you have children? May I meet them?"

Mae's mouth twisted as if she fought off a sickly wave of nausea.

"I have no interest in mates or children, Father." She hatefully snapped, "And to compare me to my mother is abhorrent....I've been on muggle billboards and in magazines. There are those that have attempted to end their lives out of the desperation of not being with me. I can hardly imagine that my poor, dear mother can boast of similar accomplishments."

Tom frowned.

Mae's claims were all distasteful but  true.

As she sat there, across from her father on that sofa, she seemed more like a living doll than a real person.

From the flawless hair that fell around her shoulders in a great curtain of shimmering, loose curls, to the almost unnatural brilliance of her green eyes, her high cheekbones complemented her red lips perfectly.

The black suit she wore only highlighted the hourglass figure she had used to amass a fortune from muggle advertisements and magazines, an unimaginable sum entirely separate from her devious, pharmaceutical earnings.

"I am ten times the woman my mother will ever be." She hissed as she looked Tom in the eyes and scratched the edge of his heart with her verbal knife.

"She misses you." He lied.

"Does she?" Mae smirked without bothering to hide her contempt, "How is brother?"

"Your brother's flying those muggle machines they call airplanes at his school." Tom nodded, "Mark continues to surprise me, but who knows? He may make a career out of it yet."

Mae narrowed her eyes, growing irritated by being forced to endure more irrelevant news.

"No, Father. How is James?" She impatiently demanded.

"Well." Tom shrugged, "He's already a seventh year.....Between you and I, I imagine he'll be engaged by the spring or very shortly thereafter. I think he really loves that girl. He's been asking me question after question on the subject lately."

As Tom opened his mouth to speak again, he failed to notice Mae's narrowed eyes and grit teeth.

Instead of listening to what else her father had to say, all she could focus on was the dark rage that boiled deep in her blackened soul.

She and James were pieces of the same whole, Tom had told her so himself years ago.

How could her beloved brother choose someone else over her?

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Blissfully ignorant of the danger that ventured uncomfortably near, James sat beside Lily that same morning as they looked out over the calm waters of the Black Lake.

He counted the days until the custom ring he had decided to order finally arrived, unbeknownst to Lily who held his hand while he stroked the back of her palm with his tapered fingers.

McGonagall patrolled across the courtyard some distance away, which meant it was far too risky to embrace or kiss just then.

"A few more months until graduation." Lily chuckled as they enjoyed their peaceful moment, "Doesn't quite seem real, does it?"

"Not really." James replied as he flashed her a handsome smile.

Lily's cheeks tinted a slight, flattering shade of pink as James lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a gentle kiss against her knuckles.

"Are you excited?" Lily blinked as she asked, "........For what's to come?"

"For us to be together?" James replied, "Do you mean to ask if I'm excited to marry you and raise a family? To put my full efforts into working with Mark while I spend my days at your side? Yes, I'm quite excited about that, Lily."

A grin spread across her lips as she shyly looked away, unable to withstand the warmth her promised alpha's deep eyes ignited in her core as the intensity of his gaze set her heart aflame.

"Oh, James!" She laughed as she gathered the strength to look into his face, "It won't be long now!"

Cautiously, James glanced over towards the courtyard.

The second he realized McGonagall had turned her back, he pressed a deep, loving kiss to Lily's soft lips.

Since the prestigious magical school's opening, there had been more than a few great love stories fostered within Hogwarts' hallowed halls.

Regardless, there had been very few of those couples quite as destined for each other as Lily Trendell and James Riddle.