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Hermione may have came from an upper class background and her parents were more than slightly well off however that didn’t stop her from associating with whomever she wanted to and that included Harry – Although not Harry was not a high class citizen who came from well to do family and could afford to go to a private school, Hermione’s parents had always allowed her to be friends with whoever she wanted. Class and social circles didn’t matter to her and so Harry was one of her very best friends.Which now lead to her sitting in front on the Tom Marvolo Riddle having afternoon tea.Hermione had done her research – born 31st December making him currently 27, raised in Wool’s Orphanage as his mother died in child birth, ostracised by others at the orphanage due to his intelligence, found out about his father and confronted him when he was 16, destroyed him and took over his business leading to where he was today in charge of all of London which was gradually branching out, thought to be undefeatable.However Hermione did her homework, she always does her homework and nobody is undefeatable. His online security had been good but she’d been better and she was capable of destroying everything online, or worse, she could expose everything with one tiny press of a button.He would be ruined – she wanted him to know this.Hermione sipped her tea delicately as she pushed forward some copies she had made of his bank accounts across the table for him to read. Nothing incriminating but obvious to him.Hermione watched as he raised an eyebrow and spoke calmly, “And what do you want from me Ms Granger? Money, a position or something else entirely? What can I do to make this mutually beneficial?”She sipped her tea again before she spoke, “Harry is very important to me. I would like to ensure that he is kept happy. As long as he is happy and you do nothing to harm him then I don’t see why anyone should need to see anything. However, as you can understand if my friend was to get caught up in something and get hurt then it would be my duty as a good law obeying member of the public to report anything I happen to come across in order to protect my friend.”Hermione had no qualms about destroying a major underground organisation if it came to it. Harry was her best friend who had always been there for her. She would be there for him if need be.She observed as Tom seemed to sit silently in shock for a moment before nodding slightly, “Obviously my priority is ensuring Harry is happy. Anything else I can do for you Ms Granger?”Hermione shook her head then drained the last of the tea from her cup, “Nothing else today Mr Riddle. For future note lets pretend this never occurred when Harry introduces us properly. And also, you simply must let me know where you get this tea from! It divine! I look forward to seeing you again soon.” Smiling at him, she placed her cup back down and stood up to leave. Smiling at him once more really just so she could admire the look of overwhelming shock on his face she turned quickly and showed herself out.Tom had now been warned.
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Tom was looking forward to this godforsaken meeting to finally end. For four hours he had had to sit there and listen as his lower minions had regaled him with every single thing that had occurred within the last three months whether it was important or not.Yes an increase in police patrols was important however, what was not was the fact that Uncle Albert had found out that information because he happened to be sleeping with Jessica who lived in the area but had to be sneaky about when they met up because Jessica’s family didn’t approve and she had a cousin on the police force who told her offhandedly that she’d be in a safer area now, who had then obviously told Albert in case he got caught and Uncle Albert informed David who now informed him. And it was like that for every single piece of information collected.If they had taken all the excess gossip out he could have been finished in half an hour. But finally it was coming to an end and his one consolation was that he wasn’t suffering alone; Draco, Pansy and Blaise were all required to sit in in order to learn more about the business and, if his plans succeeded, would take over this role and he would never have to sit through this inane babble again.Tom interrupted a long tale, something about a cat and Mrs Willow’s grandson, “I believe that this meeting can be concluded. Any relevant items not yet discussed can be forwarded to me either in writing or by speaking to one of your higher associates. Now please leave the room. Now.”He felt relieved as he watched them all shuffle out not daring to make any more comments. If they had the stress may have got to him and he may have shot one just for the hell of it to relieve some stress although he knew he really shouldn’t. Awful for morale but sometimes his anger did get the better of him, and sometimes they really did deserve it. Really.However what was now bothering him was the fact that Draco, nor Pansy or Blaise had followed his orders and left. He glared at them, their families may be higher in in the figurative food chain but it didn’t matter to him that much right now when they were not following his orders.Draco broke the silence, “We hear that things are beginning to get serious with Harry.”Tom raised an eyebrow just daring them to continue.Apparently Pansy dared, “Harry may be slightly inept however we all hold him in high regards and, if you will excuse my language, we would be severely pissed off if we find out that something has made him upset. That main something being you. If something does occur then my father will be hearing about it, and I can assure you that he too will not be happy and may subsequently decide to take his vast amounts of money elsewhere.”Tom could not believe this. Ms Granger he could understand but his own minions, he could already feel a headache emerging as Draco picked up where Pansy had left off.“My fathers would also be hearing about it. And if just after it had occurred then some delicate information may somehow find it’s way to your competitors then that is just coincidence. What will not be is our family moving away, obviously nothing to do with you, London is just so dangerous at the moment with such a lot of crime, relocating would be much safer.”Tom definitely had a headache. At least Draco was now showing some backbone though. Got to look for the positives as Harry would say. One massive positive is that they now appeared to be leaving, soon he could finish off his paperwork at get back to Harry and have that dinner they planned.Tom observed as they left, three more steps, two, one. Draco walked out the door followed by Pansy followed by… Blaise stood by the door. Tom watched as he turned around and stared at him.It felt a lot like Blaise was staring into his soul and he was judging. Blaise’s expression tole him that whatever he had saw was seen to be lacking.“Harry is not one of my closest friends however his is becoming one. If you do hurt him in any way then my mother shall be informed. In certain circles you may have heard of her as the Black Widow, the truth of these rumours have never been certified however I just thought you ought to know.”Blaise left. Tom felt a little bit ill.He had clearly underestimated Blaise, he certainly wouldn’t again.He would never underestimate any of them again. Harry would undeniably be over the moon about learning how much his friends care however he would certainly not include quite what was mentioned in order to get that across.
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Despite what many thought about Colin, he had actually managed to grow up just slightly and now knew when was the correct time and place to take a photo.So it was slightly out of place for him to now be covertly taking photos of the major death eater meeting occurring below him as he hid upstairs hoping that he had remembered to turn off his flash. That happened way too often for him to be confident – at least he’d get a decent picture. And it was all for a good cause.He just needed enough photos first before putting the remainder of his plan into action. * * * * * Sat upon Toms desk was a folder. What made it so peculiar and out of place in regards to all the other documents strewn all over the desk was the fact that it had Tom’s name on it. Not his business name but written in bold black marker was ‘TOM’ - nobody was ever bold enough to take the risk of offending him by doing this.Scowling, he opened it and rifled through the papers within to stop abruptly. Photos – lots of photos. Of him, of his death eaters, of him with his death eaters. All of which could be quite damaging if the wrong people were to get a hold of them. This was a problem. Looking through the rest of the photos taking note of when and where he believed each had been taken. He would be having words with his death eaters on how one should properly secure an area before conducting business. Reaching the last few photos he came across a note; ‘ I hope that you like these photos. They were really fun to take. Just imagine how much fun it could be if others could see them too. That will happen if you hurt Harry Potter. Until then I’ll just be happy adding to my collection. This is your only warning. Say hello to Harry for me!’
* * * * * Colin watched from the rooftop on the building opposite occasionally taking a picture with his new camera. He really must check all the functions at some point before taking it out properly, but for now it sufficed to collect proof that his message had been received.He hoped that Tom would pass the message on. It had been forever since he’d managed to meet with Harry and he need some new photos! For now he would be happy with his old ones and Tom was to hurt Harry then he knew what to do.
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He felt like he was drowning in a sea of red – trying adamantly to stay afloat however the current was too strong and was going to pull him under no matter how hard he tried. No matter where he looked was yet another red head. He’d lost count at six and it appeared as if they had brought others along just in case. So here he was, the Tom Riddle in charge of hundreds who can strike fear into his enemy’s hearts by just standing there, tied to a chair whilst red heads stalked around him ominously. What had his life came to? They were undoubtedly the Weasley's. He had never met in person with any of them bar one Ronald Bilius Weasley who he had once seen in passing, but he knew enough of them from Harry who regarded them as family. Which he had figured was why he was now in this position.Yet another ‘don’t hurt Harry chat’ as if he would. He would much rather burn his organisation to the ground than hurt Harry. But nobody needed to know that except him. Realising he had been daydreaming Tom was drawn to the man standing in front of him as he cleared his throat, “I am Arthur Weasley and I am Head of the Misuse of Ancient Artefacts Office. Over many years with my wonderful wife my family has grown considerably. We now have Weasley's working all over the globe so that means a lot of resources if one person was to hurt one of my many children. For example, Charlie my second oldest works with shocking pink dragon millipedes and travels all over the world to study them – we are all very proud. Not exactly what career we had in mind but he loves it and we’re all very happy for him” Tom saw out the corner of his eye as one red head blushed and bowed his head slightly. “Then my oldest Bill, he works in Egypt. We actually got to go out there once and visit him. It was a wonderful time. He helps out in the Archaeology department and visits all the pyramids to check that they’re safe before anyone else can go in. Because a lot of his work is all very ground breaking he has to sign a lot of NDA’s and it turns out that a lot of solicitors really enjoy his humour. Who knew!” That did cause Tom a small amount of panic. Nobody wanted to deal with a solicitor – not even him. “Well I could just go on forever. I am so so so proud of them all, and I know that they can all look after themselves now they’ve grown up and are out and about in the real world but I still worry. And we all take care of out own. So this is just a friendly chat to say that Harry si one of our own and we would be very disappointed if we found out that anything had upset him and we would sort out whoever had upset him no matter what.” Tom nodded. “Now that’s all out of the way I just have one small question to ask you! What exactly is the function of a rubber duck in the late 19th Century?” * * * * *Ron glared at Riddle still tied to the chair. It had been decided upon earlier that he would be the one to release him which was just a plus point for him because it meant that he had Riddle alone. “I don’t trust you Riddle. You may pretend to love Harry but just know that I will always be here watching and waiting for you to show your true colours. And when you do I will be there to pick up the pieces and then I will destroy you and your entire empire. You will have nothing by the time I’m done with you and you will regret ever crossing me. So just for Harry’s happiness I hope that you never betray him.” Ron stood silently as he waited for Riddle to acknowledge him before he moved to untie him. Silently leading Riddle to the door and pushing it open he motioned for him to leave. “If I do ever hurt Harry. I expect nothing less than exactly what I deserve.” Riddle left. Maybe, just maybe Riddle may not hurt Harry. But he would be there for him regardless.
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It was going well. Talks had been ongoing since 9 °Clock this morning and now just coming up to 3 it was winding down with a secure contract to hopefully be signed by 4. Tom had been setting up this key occasion for the past 6 months and now it was culminating. The Fenrir Greyback was sitting across from him reading over the most recent contact, if he signed it then a million pound business deal would be in progress with him supplying certain inventory items that could be slightly harder to get a hold of without decades worth of previous history showing just how ruthless you could be. But finally it was coming to fruition. “I want another clause added.” Tom tried not to frown as he nodded and motioned for Mr Greyback to continue. Annoying him now would be unforgivable. “I want it to clearly state that if you hurt Harry Potter then this contract is null and void. And also I will be really pissed off and show just how bad I can be.” Tom did not know what was happening, all of his prior research showed no connections to anybody currently close to him. He couldn’t have it, they could have manipulated him and sold insider secrets which would be disastrous. Somebody was obviously going to pay for such a large mistake. However currently he needed to resolve the issue at hand, and the only way he could see the contract being signed to day was if he added this clause. So added it would be.“It can certainly be added Mr Greyback. If I can ask why though?” Greyback growled – For a moment Tom thought he may be leaving with no deal and needing to up security. “Harry Potter is important to Lupin. Lupin is important to me no matter how much he wants to ignore it. This means that Lupin is protected, Potter is protected, Black is protected. He may hate me but I do not care. You understand?” Tom inclined his head in agreement. If that is what it took to ensure that this contract went ahead then it would be done, no matter that it already occurred. It would now just be in writing as well. “Good” Fenrir signed then stormed out as seemed to be his fashion if Tom had learnt nothing but that in the last 6 hours. As long as Harry is happy, then Tom is happy and his business is a success. Why could he have not chosen somebody with fewer scary people willing to kill for him? No matter, Tom loved Harry no matter what.
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Tom was lounging on the sofa when he saw Harry shuffle in, sitting up slightly he turned to give Harry his full attention when he didn’t immediately start speaking like usual now they had got past the odd part of the relationship where neither of them were really sure what to talk about. “Ermm... Tom I. I wanted to ask you something. But I mean you don’t have to if you don’t want to and you know what just don’t and I’ll just go now and we can pretend I didn’t even come in here and-“ Tom shushed him as he wrapped his arms around him having got up quickly when he saw where this was going. “Whatever it is that you want to ask me Harry I’ll probably say yes. Okay? Now what was it?” Tom felt as Harry mumbled something into his chest but still got no real answer. Whatever it was could wait for the moment he decided as he shuffled them across to the room to the sofa where he could deposit Harry. Once safely cocooned in blankets Tom left the room to make a cup of tea, something he was sure would be greatly appreciated, as well as grabbing some biscuits.Coming back into the living room Tom was happy to see that Harry had stayed as placed on the sofa rather than disappearing as he had done so previously when panicked.Placing the mugs of tea onto the side table Tom offered Harry a biscuit, a lone hand managed to worm its way out from underneath the mass of blankets to grab one. “Now do you want to try and ask again or did you want to give it go in another hour?” If Harry didn’t want to talk about it now then he’d respect that and they wouldn’t but it was never good to keep everything locked away and never talk about anything. He’d learnt that the hard way. “I.. I have something to ask you.” Tom nodded at Harry to continue. Whatever it was couldn’t be that bad, could it? In any case he would do his best to make Harry happy and he would be especially sure to keep calm. “We’ve been together a while now and you’ve met most the important people in my life. But it’s there’s people. No what I mean is that you haven’t met everybody but I want you to. Do you understand?” Tom did not understand but he could see it clearly meant a lot to Harry so he was hoping that it could be explained. He thought he had met everybody, even the people Harry didn’t know he had already met. Regardless he would figure out what Harry was trying to tell him. “Harry, I would love to meet whoever you want me too. I would be very happy to meet them whenever you want.” It was worth the dedication Tom spoke with his words to see the blinding smile on Harry’s face.- - - - - A few days later found Tom walking to a church with Harry by his side. Harry was leading the way obviously familiar with the path they were now taking however this was all new to Tom who carefully observed everything in case he would one day need to find his way here without Harry.Finally coming up to the church Tom decided it was a slightly odd place to meet but with the people Harry called his friends and family who ever really knew?It had seemed to Tom that Harry seemed to grow quieter as they drew in closer so Tom pulled him closer to share his warmth, maybe these people weren’t so good if they made Harry act like this? Tom would reserve his final judgement until after they had met. It was only when they go much closer that it finally dawned on him. Instead of Harry taking the path up to the church entrance he continued around to behind it. The graveyard. Tom stayed silent as he realized why Harry was now so subdued about this meeting. He followed along silently until Harry stopped in front of a pair of headstones.
‘Here lies James Potter and beloved wife Lily Potter. May they forever rest in peace’
His parents. Harry had wanted Tom to meet his parents. He had always known Harry had been an orphan due to Severus and Lucius looking after him but he had never realised it was because his parents were dead he had assumed that they had abandoned him and he was never going to invade Harry’s privacy by looking him up. “Thank you for allowing me to meet them Harry.” Tom turned to address the graves, “Mr Potter, Mrs Potter. I want to thank you for all the love Harry has. It obviously comes from yourselves and I am so grateful to this very day that I managed to find him and he was lovely enough to take a chance on me. So thank you very much for bringing Harr into this world and allowing me to meet with you.” His speech was stopped abruptly as Harry threw himself into Tom arm’s with Tom just managing to catch him in time to stop them both from falling. To Tom’s dismay Harry was crying. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything, I can go now and leave you to talk with them in private if you want me to.” “Shut up you stupid idiot. That’s the nicest thing anybody has every done and I love you so so much and thank you so so much for speaking to them and not acting like they aren’t here just because they’re dead. I love you” He did not know what to say. He had thought Harry may be angry with him for speaking out of turn but no it was the right thing to do. Kissing Harry once before pulling away he smiled. “Why don’t we both talk some more about what’s been going on and then we’ll go to that little café we passed on the way here before we return home and then next time we visit we can make sure to bring some warmer clothes with us and can stay for longer.”Harry’s smile said it all. Although there were still things neither of them knew about one another, they would both accept everything that came as a package deal with open arms. For they were in love and to make a relationship work you both had to be open.So Tom would visit Harry’s parents with him in the middle of winter if need be because they were a part of Harry’s life and made him happy. Just like family should whether blood or chosen.