The Love Story of Harriet Potter and Tom Riddle

Chapter 93 - A Wonderful Evening

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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As Mae returned to the table and took her seat again, the reality of her crushing defeat nearly destroyed her.

She kept her head down, bored by each spoken word until she heard Scorpius's father say that terrible phrase, "Actually, Minister Riddle, there is quite an important reason we've invited you and your family here tonight."

Scorpius sat upright in his chair, his back painfully straight as he squared his shoulders, intent on appearing as impressive as possible.

For once, Mae's perception of him was not what concerned him most.

Scorpius wanted the Minister's approval, craved it from the bottom of his heart.

He would be a strong man, a good alpha, a kind and caring husband.

Scorpius vowed to prove himself worthy of becoming Mae's mate, no matter what it took.

"..............Is that so?" Tom asked Draco.

Harriet took her husband's hand under the table and gave it a gentle squeeze.

Although she had never been close to her daughter, she wanted to see all of her children thrive and live long, happy lives.

It came as somewhat of a surprise to Harriet that Mae could love and that someone had fallen in  love with her, but regardless, the idea made her smile.

"My son has made his intentions towards your daughter abundantly clear." Draco nodded, ".....And the Malfoy family approves of the match."

The slight warning tingles of creeping nausea threatened to tighten Mae's throat.

"My son has much to offer, if they were to be married, one day.......With your and your wife's permission, I would very much like to unite them both by means of a formal betrothal." Draco finished.

Astoria smiled.

Scorpius's heart pounded in his chest.

Mae fought back a gag as he glanced over at her, his gray eyes glimmering with hope.

"Oh, my........" Harriet let out a breath.

"Relax, sweetling." Tom murmured as he squeezed her hand in return before he turned to their daughter, "Mae, darling, what do you have to say about this? Do you care for this boy?"

Mae opened her mouth to speak, feeling the venomous words that wanted to hurl from her lips like poisonous darts, which could have crushed Scorpius into a devastating depression for the rest of his life.

The doors to the dining room swung open suddenly and in walked a parade of house elves carrying the first course of the evening's meal.

The same one Mae had tripped over placed the plate of bread that had taken the brunt of the potion's splatter on the table.

She scowled at the magical creature as they locked eyes briefly once the elf turned to leave the room,

A soft squeak of fear escaped his lips before he hurried away.

While everyone remained distracted by the topic being discussed, Mae closed her mouth and smiled.

"Of course I care for him, Father." She nodded, doing her best to put on a convincing act, "Scorpius has my heart........perhaps with your permission, he can gain my hand too."

Her weaponized words hit their targets perfectly.

To hear Mae speak so highly of him sent Scorpius on an accelerated trip around the moon and beyond the stars.

His gray eyes threatened to glaze over with a disbelieving dreaminess that disgusted Mae to notice.

"What about you, Scorpius?" Draco asked as he looked at his son, "Am I to assume the morose pining you've done since you came home may be soothed by this arrangement?"

"Father, I....." Scorpius swallowed, "I can hardly speak at all! Forgive me, I......I never believed this day would really come!"

While the confirmation went on, another house elf shuffled over and pushed all the plates with food towards the center of the table, into the reach of each person seated.

Mae silently bided her time.

Scorpius's obsessive focus on gaining his sweetheart's hand in marriage blotted out his earlier memory.

The Malfoys' did not seem particularly interested in the rolls, nor did Tom, Mark, or James.

Having been craving something soft and warm to eat for the last hour, however, Harriet could hardly wait to taste the golden brown bread that had been placed directly in front of her.

While everyone else immersed themselves in the matter at hand, a sinister smile lit up Mae's face as she watched her mother reach out and grab one of those supple rolls from the plate.

Not wanting to topple the pile, Harriet chose a roll that laid close to the side of the plate's outer edge.

Mae drew in a silent breath as her mother raised the roll to her mouth.

Harriet took a bite.

Mae's emerald eyes widened.

To his horror, Scorpius suddenly realized what had happened.

"NO!" He shouted at Harriet, "Don't eat those! They're-"

"-Scorpius!" Astoria gasped..

"Be quiet, son!" Draco snarled.

Harriet gasped.

A jolt ran through her body, heart, and mind, all the way into her soul as the room seemed to tremble with a sudden, ominous pulse.

The poison-laced bread melted into her tongue as her heart accelerated.

".........Sweetling?" Tom asked nervously as his dark eyes scanned her face, "What's the matter?"

"Mark!" James gasped, "We're too late! It's happened! It's happening!"

Draco, Astoria, Lucius, and Narcissa rose from their seats as Harriet's eyes slowly rolled into her head before she slumped over and collapsed,  hurtling towards the floor.

"MUM!" Mark shouted.

James drew in an exaggerated breath as he leapt from his chair.

Scorpius quickly rushed to help as well, but no one moved as hastily as Tom.

In a single instant, his instincts had already guided him to move smoothly out of his seat and sweep Harriet into his arms before she could smack painfully against the unforgiving floorboards.

"Harriet!" Tom shouted as he gave her a firm shake, in desperate hopes of seeing her eyes open, ".....HARRIET!"

In the panic of that anxious moment, Tom could have cared less about the others in the room.

He would deal with the Malfoys later.

As everyone flustered around Harriet, no one noticed that Mae sat calmly at the table with a pleased smile on her face.

Her anger at the house elves faded away as she gladly swallowed her own delicious victory.

Scorpius had indeed given her a wonderful evening.