Chapter 4
Harriet has been walking slowly, testing the Potion Master and Voldemort's patience. She was defenseless and scared, but her fear wasn't for her safety but rather her son's. With each step, her fear grew more and more. Once they all reached the throne room, the girl hugged SJ protectively as she was about to face. Voldemort was at the end of the room, surrounded by his Inner Circle. "Ah, Harriet Potter, it has been an interesting three days, don't you think?" He chuckled.
The girl looked directly at Voldemort when she came in. This time, she focused on how he looked and was surprised. He was taller than six feet with ruby eyes, luscious brunette hair, and a normal-looking nose. For the first time, Harriet had no way of hating the man until she heard his tone of voice. Harriet lowly growled without scaring the young boy. "Still a sadistic bastard, I see."
"Now, now, Miss Potter, that is no way to treat to treat your savior." He chuckled once more. "Now, onto business; I want to know how the savior of the Wizarding World was left defenseless in the hands of a muggle."
"I don't want to talk about it...'' Harriet mumbled.
"Care to speak up? I am giving you sanctuary, after all. The least you could do is answer my question."
"I don't want to talk about it, especially with the likes of you. I just want to be out of this house and this war!" She growled once more.
While the two enemies argued, SJ grew tired of playing with his mother's hair. He wiggled out from her grasp, and before she could catch him, he ran towards her enemy. "SJ, come back here." Ignoring his mother, he ran around the room, escaping his mother's grasp. He ran and hid under Narcissa's dress, causing her to giggle and pick him up. "Aren't you full of energy?" He giggled and stayed until he grew tired once more.
"Seems to me that he has a lack of discipline." The teen's enemy grinned with twinkling eyes.
"He's a kid, TOM," Harriet yelled angrily.
"Still the right age to show him what he must and must not do, don't you think so, Lucius."
"My Lord..." That was all he had to say. For the first time, Lucius Malfoy was afraid of the young Savior. When the grown wizard saw the anger in the young mother's eyes, he knew he had to keep quiet.
"Alas, we can not talk with a child running around. Bellatrix, if you please."
"My pleasure, my Lord," She cackled. "Crucio!"
Her world crumbled when the young mother heard the Dark Lord talk to Bellatrix. She ran as fast as she could to land in front of her baby, feeling the effects of the curse. It didn't take the man to realize calling Lestrange was a good. "ENOUGH!" The man said.
Bellatrix stopped the curse, bowing to her Lord. Poppy ran to check on Harriet to have a sobbing baby crying for his mother. "BAD," the boy yelled, and Bellatrix felt the same pain his mother was feeling. Everyone in the room froze when the boy retaliated on behalf of his mother.
"I'm fine," Harriet whispered. The girl carried her son to have eye-to-eye contact with him. "SJ, we don't hurt them because they hurt Mama. That's bad. Okay, SJ." The boy pouted, understanding what she said. "Giving her my pain was not okay."
The girl stood up to leave the room. "Poppy, could you answer Mr. Riddles's questions? I need to put SJ to sleep after what happened." She glared at the dark Lord. "When I have an Unbreakable Vow that you won't hurt me or my son, I'll see when we see each other. For now, hurt Poppy or my son; I'll gut you before you can say the killing curse!" With those words, she left the throne room with a babbling baby.
The Lord sighed, "What happened to Potter?"
The Mediwitch looked at Tom Riddle, remembering him from her school days. She was angry at how he reacted. "From what she has told me, it was on the day she was left on her relative's doorstep all night without much heat. Most of her years, she has lived in a cupboard under the stairs. She received little to no food, which stunted her growth. She was treated like a House Elf, working in the garden, doing house chores, and cooking.
If she didn't complete her chores, her uncle would beat her till she lost consciousness. If she burnt the food, she was either burned or hit with a frying pan. Since she was nine, her uncle used her for promotions or job raises. When her first term at Hogwarts ended, I requested another home placement, but Dumbledore stopped the report I sent from reaching any Aurors. The summer before her fourth year, her godfather rescued her from a fanatic wizard who paid to have a way with the Savior. Two months later, she arrived at Hogwarts sick. We both found out she was pregnant with the wizard's child. Then you signed her up for the tournament!"
Voldemort's eyes widen to remember what he had done to the young witch. The rest of the inhabitants of the room gasped in horror. "She could have lost her child in the end. She gave birth to a healthy baby boy. Vernon was unaware of SJ since he stayed with Sirius Black until Mrs. Lestrange spelled him into the Veil. I believe you know the rest."
The dark witches and wizards were in shock with Poppy's revelation. The Dark Lord dismissed everyone and began to think about all he had done to the poor girl. Thanks to his need for vengeance on the "prophesied" child and the insanity of separating his soul led him to destroy a child's innocence. For the first time in many years, Voldemort... No, Tom Marvolo Riddle felt an immense guilt for going against his vow of not letting someone feel the same pain he felt as a child.
--
In Harriet's room, the energetic one-year-old played with the glittering butterflies his mother conjured for him. He was in his new crib trying to catch them, filling the room with laughter. Meanwhile, Harriet was attending Hedwig. The owl was excited that her master/friend was finally safe from the madman's clutches.
When the teen arrived, Dobby was distressed. It turns out Vernon burned most of her books, her hand-me-downs, and most pictures of her son and Sirius. She watched over her son, seeing how happy and innocent he was. It was all she could wish for him; she wanted him to live a life free of pain, yet she was failing. Her train of thoughts was interrupted by knocks on the door frame. "Harriet, may we come in?" Poppy asked, with Severus behind her.
Harriet nodded and continued watching SJ. "Harriet, I have to go back to Hogwarts before Dumbledore notices I'm gone," the Mediwitch explained. Severus will look after you for me until you go back to the castle, okay?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine. As long as SJ is safe, I'll be fine." Harriet answered. "You go; he needs to believe you're still loyal."
"Alright. Severus, take care of her." Poppy then left the same way she came in. On the other hand, Severus had been thinking how he had broken his vow to Lily. He let his hatred of Potter cloud all the signs of abuse. This time, he had a chance to protect Lily's daughter from Dumbledore and the Dark Lord, if necessary. "Po- Harriet, I would like to apologize..."
"You don't have to," the teen interrupted. I should apologize; I looked into your pensive without permission. If I knew what my dad did to you, I guess I understand why you were mean all these years."
"Harriet, my attitude towards you was wrong. I vowed to protect you when your mother died, and I let my hatred toward your father ignore the signs of abuse. I let Dumbledore's words rule over how I treated you. For that, I am sorry."
"Apology accepted, and please, call me Harri." She smiled. "You saved me just like Sirius did, thank you."
"The house elf will inform you when dinner will be ready. You should rest. If you need me, you can call Pippy." Severus left the room, leaving Harriet tucked in, resting.
--
Tom Riddle sat in his room waiting for Lucius and Severus to discuss his latest plans to bring down Dumbledore's reign. He destroyed two lives without adding Harriet and her son. Tom's life was miserable in the orphanage. He was beaten and insulted every day, and when he found a home in Hogwarts, his world crumbled, and Dumbledore denied him the chance to stay in the castle. His treatment got worse when he tried to work in the Ministry to equalize everything for everyone, especially creatures and abused children; Dumbledore once again denied him. Then there was Severus. Who was mistreated by his father and schoolmate? No one saved him from the aggressiveness, and Dumbledore encouraged the bullying in school. This only angered him and caused him to dive into dark arts, splitting his soul to ensure he could accomplish all his plans.
There was a pop from one of the house elves, who told him Severus and Lucius were outside. "Tell them to come in." The elf popped out, and the two followers came in, bowing to their Lord. "Stand this. You're here as friends. How is Harriet?"
"She's well considering what happened with Bellatrix," Snape said.
"Marvolo, you know I have never disagreed with your decisions, but letting Bellatrix 'discipline' a child out of spite was not the right way to go!" He yelled, losing Malfoy's composure. "He's only one year old; he did not deserve the Cruciatus Curse!"
"I know Lucius, I am already beating myself for that. I asked you here to discuss how we can take Harriet out of Dumbledore's leash." Tom yelled back.
"The only way is for her to get emancipated or someone from our ranks blood adopts her," Lucius explained. "If we go through adoption, the Malfoys can't be involved, or Dumbledore would put a stop to it."
Marvolo began to consider how to keep Harriet safe from the crazed headmaster. "What if you adopt her?" he said, pointing at Severus.
"He'll throw me to Azkaban before I can administer the potion," Severus said, appalled.
"There is also emancipation, Marvolo," Lucius remarked.
"Dumbledore will stop the documents from reaching the Ministry. Blood adoption is the only way to go." The Dark Lord snarled.
"We'll talk to her after dinner, but I don't guarantee she'll agree," Severus said.
--
The house elf popped into Harriet's room, waking her to prepare dinner. She thanked Pippy for the warning but asked for her dinner to be brought into her room. Later, she asked for some squashed vegetables for SJ's dinner, to which Pippy complied. Once she had the food, she fed Sirius to the nearest coffee table. "Come on, SJ. Please eat your food." The young mother pleaded, but the kid didn't budge. Instead, he grabbed a pile of his food and threw it in his mother's face.
Harriet let out a frustrated cry. "Please eat the food."
"No!" The baby said and threw more food at his mother's face. "No!"
The teenage mother sighed, gave up, and began breastfeeding. She wanted to get him accustomed to food, but it has only worked with fruits because of the sugar. "You're a smart-ass SJ." Her little boy only kept drinking more milk, making noises of satisfaction.
The mother cleaned her face and began to eat her dinner. She heard a knock and turned around to see Severus waiting for entry. She covered up immediately and asked him to come in. To her surprise, Lucius and Tom followed him inside. "Unless I have an Unbreakable Vow, I want him out."
"I apologize for my behavior this afternoon... It was uncalled for." The man said.
"Uncalled for?! He was almost hit by the Cruciatus Curse, Tom. I don't know what could have happened if I hadn't stepped in!" She yelled. "He is not one of your minions!"
"Can we move on from this?" Tom snarled. "We have things to discuss."
"Unbreakable Vow first, or you leave!" The teen glared, not backing out from her request.
"Fine! I, Tom Marvolo Riddle, vow to never harm and kill Harriet Lilliana Potter and Sirius James Potter and won't order the Death Eaters to do so. So mote it be." A flash of light formed, binding Tom and Harriet.
She settled SJ to start burping him and said, "See, it wasn't so hard. Now, what do you want to talk about?"
"Do you want to be free from Dumbledore's leash?" Lucius said.
"I want more than that; I want to be out of the war," Harriet replied.
"Alright, Harriet, we want you to consent to the blood adoption between you and Severus." Harriet's eyes widen at the suggestion. Maybe that's why SJ yelled at Pappy when Severus was in the room earlier.
"I- I... Do you want this?" She looked at her professor worriedly. This opened the possibility of having a family, and she didn't want to be out of obligation or an order.
"All I want is for you to be safe, Harriet," Severus said. "Making you my heir would be a bonus."
"I-I..." the teen sighed. Would you drop everything for me? For SJ? Would you risk your life for us, even if it meant risking your position with him or Dumbledore?" The potion master smiled at her and nodded.
With a tight grip on her son, the teen looked into her professor's eyes and said, "I would like to become your daughter."