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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While Tom desperately wanted to stay at Riddle Manor and lounge about with his mate for the foreseeable months ahead, his desire to succeed was driven to a crescendo by his own ego and the emergent need to prove himself worthy of his new family.
Tom left Harriet in the care of his parents and servants as he answered an urgent summons from Lucius Malfoy when baby Mae was only two weeks old.
He walked with a heightened sense of confidence that morning as he marched through the Ministry's lacquered halls.
Tom's black robes billowed elegantly at his sides as a firm frown of utmost seriousness cemented itself on his face while he made his way between the throngs of people with his shoulders back and his chin held high.
Eventually, he arrived at Lucius's office, raised his hand, and knocked sharply on the door, just as his employer preferred.
"Come in......" Lucius's smooth voice called out.
Tom turned the doorknob and stepped inside the room as he greeted Lucius with a charming smile, "Good morning, sir. You asked to see me?"
"I have indeed, my boy, come in and have a seat." Lucius nodded as he gestured to the empty, black leather chair across from his large, ebony desk.
The dark floorboards creaked under Tom's polished shoes as he walked over and obliged his employer.
"I understand you've recently become a father, congratulations." Lucius nodded at Tom.
"Thank you, sir." Tom nodded with a proud smirk, "My wife and I are very proud."
"A boy?" Lucius asked.
"A girl." Tom corrected, "A perfect, strong girl."
"Ah, what a pity." Lucius frowned sympathetically, "You're young, Riddle, don't fret. You can try again for an heir."
"Oh, I have no doubt my mate will bear many sons and daughters for me before the end of our years, sir." Tom chuckled darkly, "Though Slytherin's inheritance has nothing to do with gender. There is no reason my daughter cannot receive all I have to give her one day."
Lucius frowned at Tom in disbelief for a moment before he nodded and went on, "Be that as it may, I have called you here for another reason this morning."
"I'm listening, sir." Tom replied as he flashed Lucius a pleasant smile.
"Richard Yardley announced his retirement yesterday afternoon." Lucius spoke.
Tom blinked before he asked, "The Minister's assistant has-?"
"-Yes." Lucius interrupted, "He's resigned from his post effective three weeks from today. I understand the timing is less than ideal for you, Riddle, but as soon as the news broke, the Minister himself came to my office and asked if I thought you'd be interested in the position."
Tom's dark eyes widened.
Saliva pooled in his mouth as he marveled at the wonderful opportunity Lucius presented.
"In my heart...." Lucius began as he watched Tom closely, "I thought you very well may be....interested. However, I wanted to consult you first before I officially nominated you for the job."
"Oh yes, Mr. Malfoy....." Tom said after he swallowed the drool that threatened to run down his face as greed nearly consumed him, "I am exceedingly interested in the position! You don't have to trouble yourself on my behalf, I'll gladly go and speak with the Minister myself."
Tom stood in one swift motion, but Lucius stretched a hand out and stopped him as he spoke, "Since you are still an intern, you will need my recommendation before the Minister contacts you, Riddle. Not to mention he's traveling today and will be far too busy with his speeches about the recent bit of news for a casual conversation."
Lucius nodded while Tom frowned, "Go home to your wife and enjoy your new family for a bit while I sort things out here.....I do hope as you ascend your path to greatness, you'll keep the Malfoy family in high regards."
"Of course, sir." Tom smiled as he nodded at Lucius politely, "I'll forever be grateful to the assistance you've offered me, no matter how far I advance in the world. The Malfoy lineage will always be well-respected in my eyes."
Lucius and Tom stared at each other with silent, warning glares until Tom turned to leave.
"Riddle..........?" Lucius asked before his assistant could open the door.
"Yes, sir?" Tom replied as he glanced over his shoulder.
"May I offer you a bit of advice, from one father to another?" Lucius asked.
"Of course, sir." Tom nodded.
"Whatever you do.....don't drink it." Lucius instructed Tom as he flashed him a wry smile.
".......Sorry, sir?" Tom frowned.
"Don't.......drink it." Lucius repeated with a solemn frown.
Tom mirrored his expression as he turned and left his employer's office.
He didn't know exactly what Lucius had meant, but he shrugged aside his employer's austere statement as an eager smile manifested on his handsome face.
Tom saw the assistant position as a way to increase his salary and visibility, certainly, but his real hope lay in the fact that the next election was a mere three years away.
Three years.
Tom had to work for someone else for three years while he maneuvered, charmed, and persuaded his way into every voter's heart and family's home in magical Britain.
As he entered a Floo chimney at the front of the Ministry, his heart swelled with the intoxicating dreams he knew would become realities.
Tom junior made up his mind while he traveled back home that working as the Minister's assistant would be a necessary waste of his time.
At the next election held in wizarding Britain, the people would choose him as the new Minister for Magic.
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Harriet had spent her morning quite differently than her alpha.
From the moment she had woken, she had known a new pain.
As she pulled herself out of bed while her newborn whimpered in her bassinet, Harriet groaned as she instinctively laid a hand across her chest.
Her chest........
She blinked as she gently palpated her breasts and gasped at the heaviness that had settled there overnight.
Harriet stood to her feet and frowned once she saw her loose nightdress barely contained her enhanced curves as the delicate fabric clung to her changed form.
She lamented that she was not afforded the luxury of priding herself on her new developments as she winced at the pain they brought her while she walked over to the bassinet.
With a quiet groan, Harriet leaned down and pulled baby Mae into her arms.
Silently, she carried her little one back to her nest and settled down amongst the mound of blankets and pillows.
Harriet couldn't free herself of her gown's shoulder strap fast enough as she pushed it down and winced as her overfull breast jiggled with the motion.
Mae's angry whines continued until Harriet gently turned her baby on her side and guided her little daughter to the proper target.
The relief came before the pain.
Harriet grit her teeth and bristled while her newborn sent sensations of razor blades trapped in her flesh shooting from the center of her breast through her body while she nursed.
Mae seemed frustrated too with whatever had gone wrong.
Harriet watched her emerald eyes open as her little brow furrowed while she flailed her small arms.
Once her infant smacked her tender flesh, Harriet gasped as she willfully unlatched her daughter and quickly switched sides before the baby's inevitable shriek of rage could ring out.
Harriet had her arm curled defensively over her aching breast as Mae finally received her meal from the other side.
While Mae closed her eyes and settled down, Harriet frowned as the ache in her chest worsened with each passing minute.
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Once Tom arrived home later that afternoon, he could hardly wait to share his good news with his mate.
He stepped out of the hearth in Riddle Manor's foyer before he walked up the stairs and opened the door to the spacious bedroom he shared with Harriet.
"My darling.....?" He called out softly.
Tom silenced himself as soon as his eyes fell on his sleeping daughter.
Quietly, he slipped inside the room as his gaze moved to find Harriet cuddled in her nest.
Dreams of joining her there, pulling her into his arms, and watching her face light up in a proud smile as he announced his new victory whirled through his mind as he took a step forward.
The sole of his shoe had barely touched the fine carpet before his dark eyes widened as a hypnotic smell wafted through the air to reach him.
Tom's lips parted involuntarily at the scent.
He swallowed thickly as he called out, "S-Sweetling?"
Harriet groaned before she glanced over and saw him.
"Tom.....?" She whispered, "How was your meeting?"
"It went well." Tom replied with his dark eyes wide, "I have a new job. Or should I say, I will soon....."
"A new job?" Harriet moaned.
His brow furrowed in sympathy as he approached his mate's nest and explained, "....As the Minister's assistant."
"Oh." Harriet sighed, "I'm proud of you, Tom. That's brilliant."
The enticing scent irritated him more than the obvious fact his mate was in pain, which decreased her joyful reaction to the news of his accomplishment.
"Sweetling?" He asked as he knelt next to Harriet, "What's the matter? What's hurting? Do I need to call Madam Pomfrey?"
"My breast......" Harriet huffed as she sat up and showed her alpha the evidence of her plight, "Tom, I....I can't feed her from that side now, it hurt us both. I think you should send for a healer of some sort, look at me! What's happened?!"
Tom's dark eyes glimmered with want as he stared at the swollen, pink gland his mate gladly exposed to him.
As gentle as fluttering butterfly wings, Tom let one elegant finger barely touch the surface of his wife's heated flesh before he concluded, "Your skin is unnaturally warm, sweetling. Do you think you have a blockage?"
"I dunno." Harriet frowned, "Is that what it is? I just want the pain to stop."
Tom had read enough books and articles on postnatal health to recognize the warning signs of Harriet's supposed predicament.
"It's possible, shall we try to clear it before we put you through another exam?" He asked.
Harriet thought for a moment before she nodded, "Alright...."
That was all the permission Tom needed.
Harriet bit her lip and whimpered as her alpha moved forward to latch onto her fattened nipple.
Although his methods had been questionable and his solution a bit extreme, Tom had correctly diagnosed his mate.
His furious suckling successfully dislodged the blockage that had formed inside Harriet's breast, which sent her milk flowing into his mouth as she sighed gratefully once the pain finally eased.
Instead of releasing her to express it on her own or wake their baby and offer it to her, Tom selfishly drained Harriet, too addicted to the sweet taste of his darling, the sound of her satisfied sighs, and the sensation of her fingers running through his hair to let go.
If only Lucius Malfoy had explained the reasoning behind his advice in greater detail, Tom may have been willing to heed his warning......