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Harry Potter and the Slytherin Heirs	By : SilverAngel621 Category: Harry Potter > Slash - Male/Male Views: 9448 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and I make nothing from this fic.

Chapter List
- 11
- 12
- 13
Chapter 12
The rest of the week passed in a flurry. There were of course whispers about the article, but their guests were no strangers to keeping captives in the name of war. Other newspapers posted numerous stories speculating on the things Rita Skeeter hinted at but nothing concrete came out of their lukewarm investigations. There was no more mention of the book but the newspapers did accurately report that the dark lord had something to do with that. Harry let Tom deal with the public fallout as he was too busy with their private one. At least the week flew by fast and they returned to Riddle manor for Christmas.
After a few days, Hadrian came to him and offered to help him escape from Tom. Tom of course found out and the two began a shouting match, this time thankfully without wands getting involved but a number of priceless statues and vases were destroyed by Hadrian's magic. Salazar often played negotiator between the two. Lily spent her time scouring the Slytherin palace libraries, looking though scrolls and spell books about the third dimension. He knew Tom wouldn’t like it but Harry helped her sneak around her research as it kept her mind occupied. Alfred generally avoided Tom, who either didn't seem to notice or if he did didn't care. His son often looked on the verge of crying whenever he saw Harry. If that wasn't enough to worry about, James completely shut off Harry, Tom, and his siblings and began sleeping outside in the forests with Fenrir's pack. He rebuffed all of Harry's attempts to talk until Harry resorted to asking Tom for help. But of course, the older wizard thought James was being dramatic and told Harry that James would get over it soon. Teddy kept him updated on how James was, but the boy didn't move beyond sullen and silent. Harry tried to reach out to him but to no avail. The twins picked up on the sudden tension in the family and were much more subdued. Harry wouldn't dare say it out loud but he missed their shenanigans. Cerise though remained oblivious of the tension and often followed her father around, trailing her stuffed dragon at her feet and prattling on. Tom allowed it and he girl couldn’t be more pleased.
His family was falling apart. He took solace in Orion, who was the only one it seemed that readily gave him toothy grins and greedily took his cuddles. He'd thought that the winter solstice might bring them together again but it had been the most strained one since his first celebration with Salazar when he was seven. They all apparated to Stonehenge at different times. Harry accompanied Tom with Orion, Lily, the twins, and Cerise. Salazar, who held up at work went with Hadrian who refused to stay in the same room as Tom since Harry enacted the ban on magic among family memebers. James went with Teddy, no surprise there. But it had broken Harry's heart when Alfred told him he'd be going with Scorpius and his family. Harry was mad enough to avoid talking to Draco, despite the blond sending him daily letters asking him how he was doing after the events of the ball and the morning after. Without the familial bond to connect with, the ritual had felt hollow and empty.
Christmas Eve wasn't much better. Harry was left alone nursing a cup of cocoa, wishing he could add a generous splash of fire whiskey to the cup. But he was still breastfeeding and didn't want to taint his milk supply. Tom and Salazar were working overtime on the Chinese treaty, which Harry couldn't begrudge but he demanded of all his family members that they had to be there the entire day for Christmas. His childhood Christmases had been dismal at best. He'd grown spoiled by the holidays he'd spent at the Weasleys’ and he wanted those big celebrations for his children.
So when on Christmas morning-when the Riddles would usually gather to open presents and sometimes Tom would pull him under a mistletoe to steal a kiss or two, much to Harry's annoyance and embarrassment- Harry walked into an empty room, he'd had enough. Handing Orion to Dobby, he marched to the fireplace and floo’d to the ministry. He found both Salazar and Hadrian in their offices. The ministry workers were agog when the shorter wizard grabbed both of his sons ears and practically dragged them through the entire floor to the public transport fireplaces. Neither Salazar nor Hadrian would dare think to hex Harry, especially when he was in this mood and if Harry pinched their ears a bit too viciously-well they thought it prudent not to complain. Only when the Riddles left the ministry did the entire floor burst out in laughter. A few took pictures, mainly Pansy, to tease Salazar with later. It would be hard showing his face again after that debacle.
Then Harry went to find James and found him among a puppy pile with Teddy and a few of the other wolves their age. The serene, worry free expression on James face as he slept incensed Harry. So, with a stinging hex aimed strategically right on James buttocks, he dragged his third son screaming and cursing through the snow-covered ground. Lily and Alfred came willingly enough, having heard about how their elder siblings had been forced to the family room. They woke the twins and Cerise, got them to brush their teeth and brought them down hoping to curry Harry’s favor.
With the complicit order to start exchanging gifts, Harry left spelling the doors and windows locked in the family room and went to the library to drag Tom to the celebration. He didn't bother knocking, just barged in to find Tom fast asleep amid mountains of papers strewn all over his desk. An empty bottle of fire whiskey rolled around on the desk and Harry caught it just in time before it could fall and shatter.
Huffing in great annoyance-drink would he?- Harry cruelly shoved open the heavy curtains to the large floor to ceiling windows. Tom hissed awake, his hands going to his bloodshot eyes.
“Bloody hell, Harry!”
“It is Christmas morning and we are exchanging presents. You come with me willingly or I drag you through the halls by your ear, much like it did to Salazar and Hadrian. Your choice.”
Bleary eyes glared at him. “You wouldn't.”
Harry stalked forward and slapped his hands in the desk, making Tom groan at the noise ricocheting through his drink addled head. “This is Orion's first Christmas and You. Will. Not. Ruin. IT! Now up!” Harry spelled the chair away from under Tom. He was forced to fall forward on the desk lest he fall on his ass. Tom reached for his wand to show Harry the dark lord would not be commanded as such when Harry anticipated his intentions and accio’d the wand to him.
“Don't forget Tom, because I have your soul inside me, I can still use the elder wand to its fullest ability. And right now, I'm liable to Imperio you. And if you force me to do that I might just decide to have you go door to door and sing Christmas carols.” Harry menaced, completely serious.
Tom's eyes widened fractionally before giving Harry a curt, albeit begrudging, nod. Using the elder wand, Harry cast a freshening charm on Tom and spelled away the smell of alcohol on him. He then handed back the wand with a meaningful look. “Remember Tom, caroling door to door. So you'd better be on your best behavior.”
Without a backwards glance, Harry stormed out of room with the full expectation that Tom would follow. When they walked into the family room with a visibly cowed Tom in tow, the room went silent. Not a single one of the presents had been opened.
“Why are the presents still under the tree?” Harry's voice quivered, the words barely legible from between his clenched teeth. The children looked at one another before lunging almost comically towards the tree and grabbed up a random package with wide, fake smiles. Anyone who thought Tom or Hadrian were the temperamental ones were deluded. Anyone who knew Harry for even a day knew he had a short fuse, and once lit there was sure to be an atomic explosion.
Harry nodded in satisfaction before taking Orion from a wide eyed Dobby and sat in his usual armchair.
“Is master Harry sir angry, sir? Can Dobby be doing anything to make master Harry sir feel better?”
Harry sighed and shook his head. “Unless you can roll back the clock, then no.”
Dobby jumped up and down in excitement, his floppy ears flapping wildly. “Dobby can get master Harry sir a time turner, yes Dobby can! Then master Harry will be happy again. That will please Dobby very much sir, master Harry Potter sir!”
Alarmed, Harry frantically shook his head. “God no, please Dobby don't do that. The family is here now so it's all fine for now. Why don't you go down to the kitchens and-“
“Begin preparations for Christmas dinner, master Harry sir. It would be Dobby’s greatest pleasure, master sir!” Before Harry could correct the overzealous elf, he popped away. He'd actually meant meant for Dobby to help himself to the snacks that went uneaten but whatever made Dobby happy was fine with Harry.
The children were busy making their way through mountains of presents. There were the presents from Severus, the Lestrange brothers, the Malfoys, the Parkinson's, the Carrows, Crouch, Fenrir, even Luna Lovegood and so many others plus the presents from Harry and Tom plus the presents the Riddle siblings gave to each other. In addition to that, there were presents from foreign governments to the children as a way to curry favor with Tom.
At the back of the tree, wrapped in shiny green wrapping paper were large oblong boxes. Harry levitated the identical boxes in front of each of the children, even Tom. They looked at him in confusion.
“I had them preordered, they don’t come out until June of next year.” Harry explained.
Intrigued, the children tore into the packages and took out identical Galactic Comet first edition brooms for each of them. For the younger children, the sleek brooms had been sized down.
For the first time in months, there was genuine excitement in James’ face. “Holy fuck, no way! There's already a thousand names in the waiting list for one of these babies! I had to throw around my name just to get on the list. How did you get these?”
Harry wanted to reprimand James for using his name to get something but he just happy that James wasn’t being his normal, snarky self. He smirked. “I went to school with the creator. He was my quidditch team captain for three years.”
“What? Really? You know Oliver Wood? Why didn't you tell me? You could have helped get me the last model of the firebolt!”
Harry rolled his eyes. “Your old firebolt wasn't broken and you really shouldn’t be complaining when you’re holding a limited-edition broom.”
Hadrian reverently ran his hands down the smooth wood of the hand. “I read this has dragon heartstring inside the wood and it's shatter proof. It's got the best speed and makes the sharpest turns.”
James smiled eagerly. “I know, and you can customize it so that only you can fly it. And you can sync your wand to it did you know?”
“Yeah? Show me.” James scooted over to Hadrian to show him the mechanics. Though James and Hadrian weren't as close as Hadrian was to Salazar, they both shared a love for quidditch and flying that was only matched by Harry. Next to Harry, Hadrian had been immensely proud when he'd heard his brother was being scouted to play professionally during his sixth year.
Salazar on the other hand gingerly held it up. “Did you really need to get me one too?” His eldest son wasn’t the best of flyers. The only Riddle child that hadn't played quidditch at Hogwarts was Salazar; it was a huge point of contention for him. It was something that he didn't excel at and would prefer to not be reminded of it.
“Yes, it is necessary because we’re all going to play quidditch, even your father. I will be team gold and your father will be team green.” Harry declared,. “This is mandatory by the way.” He pointedly looked at Hadrian and James. They were too excited to try out the new brooms to put up much protest, though.
“I'll watch Orion while you play,” Tom offered, who hadn’t even opened his present.
Harry smiled sweetly and reminded him if his earlier threat. “Caroling, Tom, caroling. And Dobby is more than capable of looking after Orion but it's nice of you to offer.”
“That threat is quickly growing old.” Tom grumbled. He finally reached for the present and began unwrapping it. He held it aloft the same way Salazar had, as if he'd never seen such an object.
“How about this, we’ll play for favors. If you win, you get whatever you want from me and if I win I get whatever I want from you. No restrictions.”
Suddenly interested, Tom perked up. “Anything I want?”
Harry rolled his eyes. The wizard was so predictable- he only focused on his win as if that as a given. Did Tom not remember Harry was the youngest seeker in a century? “Anything you want.” Harry himself had something he wanted in mind that he knew Tom would never agree to. He extended his hand and with an innocent smile offered the deal. “Magical bet so that we can't renege on it.”
Without thinking, Tom took his hand and incanted the spell. A light, purplish line wrapped around their clasped hands to seal the bet. “You Gryffindor’s are so foolish,” Tom smirked, already tasting victory. Harry begged to differ. Who said Slytherins had the monopoly on being sneaky?
Smiling cheekily at Tom, he offered “you can pick first, you are older than me.”
Tom huffed and nodded his head at Salazar who quietly walked over to his side. Harry waved his wand and his sons entirely black ensemble turned to silver and green colors.
“Okay, I'll pick James.”
They continued to sort through the children, with Tom taking Lily next, and Harry took Hadrian. Then Tom took the twins, who were a package deal anyway and left Cerise and Alfred to Harry. He welcomed them all with a hug while Tom huddled his own team and already began strategizing. Harry smiled, glad they were putting aside their differences at least for a little while.
Harry was nominated seeker by a unanimous vote, Hadrian taking the position of beater and Alfred played keeper, and James and Cerise played chasers. It was the same positions they all played at Hogwarts, except for Cerise of course. On Tom's team, Tom and Salazar took the positions of chasers, Rom played a beater and Reggie a keeper while lily played seeker, same as her position on the Hogwarts team. Since the game was so prominent on so many of their lives, they’d often have these games but they'd never actually played family to family. Usually Harry and the older kids played with a group of death eaters.
They trooped out of the house and to the stadium sized quidditch pitch behind the manor. Their contingent of death eater guards stood off to the sidelines, already placing bets. Harry grinned and waved at a few of them he was friendly with. Dobby had Orion bundled up in blankets, regardless of the warming charm placed on him. He was sleeping at the moment. The two teams, now in color coordinated uniforms of their teams met in the middle of the field. Harry kicked off and faced off with Lily, who gave him a friendly wave. Below, Tom and Salazar faced off with James and Cerise. Rom was already playing with his club while Hadrian gripped his tight and at the ready. Both Alfred and Reggie flew over to their goal posts waiting for the whistler to blow.
Though there was a large age difference among the players, it was pretty evened out when it came to their skill lever combined with their respective ages. And the youngest children, who though hadn’t played at Hogwarts yet looked to certainly head that way. Cerise, not much of quidditch player, was never the less a brilliant flyer. She would make an excellent seeker if she put her mind to it. And the twins, well, they were a men and on the ground so they could be no les on brooms.
A death eater brought out the balls and stood in the middle of the opposing teams. He held out his wand, holding a quivering snitch. With a large bellow emanating from his wand tip, he released the golden ball and the match began.
In hindsight, Harry had sorely miscalculated and overestimated his children. He'd wanted a nice, clean game that he was sure would dampen the animosity among his family. But who was he kidding-they were all Riddles to the core and it showed prominently in the game.
It all started off well, with both Lily and Harry flying around looking for the seeker. They'd shared a small smile, in no rush to capture the small golden ball. They'd bother wanted to see the family, especially Tom and Salazar who never played, try out the game. Harry had seen the snitch in the first five minutes but he'd forced himself to ignore it. Lily having learned from the best (Harry) had probably already seen it but she too ignored it.
James more than made up for Cerise’s inexperience. Matched with Tom's and Salazar’s horrible coordination and shaky flying, it gave James the advantage. But he had Rom sending bludger after bludger careening after him so often James was forced to drop the quaffle into Salazar’s unsteady hands to defend himself from the flying balls. Hadrian should have been protecting his brother but he was too busy sending every single one of his bludgers at Tom. Four times Tom had been knocked off his broom and once he hadn’t been able to stop his fall. All the death eaters gasped in horror when they saw Tom plummet to the field from a fifty-foot drop. Tom used his broom to break the fall but not without sustaining some nasty cuts along his forearm. Rarely did Alfred and Reggie have a chance to block a ball. A few points were scored but after Tom's nasty fall, the entire game devolved to cheating. Tom cursed Hadrian's beater stick to attack him. Rom multiplied his bludger to attack all of Harry's team. Hadrian, once gaining back control of his beater stick sent another bludger his father’s way then exploded it into small shrapnels that embedded themselves into Tom's exposed arms and thighs. James transformed one of the goal posts to have teeth and kept snapping at Reggie every time he got close.
It wasn't all because of Tom. The kids were just very competitive and each wanted to win. When Harry began a vigilant search of the snitch to stop all the madness, Lily too began her search. She didn't want to be beat by her mother and zipped around him to catch the snitch. They spent thirty minutes flying around each other, barely avoiding getting eaten by the magicked goal post and being hit by one of Rom’s bludgers before Harry made a hard turn in front of Lily, sending her crashing to the stands among the death eaters and caught up the snitch. Lily wasn’t hurt, one of the death eaters created a cushioning charm that safely delivered her to the ground. She huffed and kicked up grass with a fierce scowl when Harry triumphantly held up his snitch.
James and the rest of his team yelled in triumph. Salazar, sweaty and looking unkempt, flipped his brother off before stomping back to the manor without a word. Tom growled at Hadrian and sent a tripping charm at him before following Salazar. The twins stuck their tongues out and promised dire retributions before thrusting their noses up in the air and following their father and older brother. Harry rolled his eyes at their antics. Sportsmanship must be a foreign concept to their repertoire.
Harry turned to his team with a beaming smile. “Good show everyone.”
Cerise shot him a disgruntled look. Her braids were a mess and there was streak of mud across her cheek. Hadrian was dusting himself off but wore a satisfied smirk. James too was happy crowing to the death eaters about his amazing new broom. Alfred was the only one who smiled back at him.
“That was really cool to see you, that last turn was so sharp you were a blur,” Alfred praised. James walked away from the death eaters who were settling their bets, half of them triumphant and the others aggrieved to part ways with their galleons.
James came up behind Alfred and slapped his shoulder. “He's right mom. You could have played for any quidditch team if you'd wanted. You were brilliant!” It dawned on him a second later why Harry hadn't had the opportunity to do that. His face fell and he turned around.
Harry reach out and stopped him. “You played brilliantly too.” James nodded his head but couldn't look at Harry.
“Is was because of father you didn't play for the Chudely Canons,” he muttered with great conviction.
Harry sighed and shook his head. “No, James, I never wanted to play professionally. I just liked the game. I actually wanted to be an auror.”
James rolled his eyes. “Same difference. You're still stuck here playing housewife.” He turned away and headed for the manor before Harry could say anything else.
They all headed back to the manor, mainly to freshen up. Cold winter air blew over their sweat streaked faces and dampened uniforms, making them shiver. Harry hurried to get Orion inside, his child fussing and wanting to be fed. It was almost time for his afternoon nap. After Harry cleaned up and put Orion to bed, he went in search of Tom to claim his bet. He didn't have to search too far; Tom was in the atrium, which also doubled as a greenhouse, with Nagini, feeding her live rats. They were kept grouped in a cage.
“Shouldn't she be chasing them?” Harry questioned, walking to stand beside Tom.
Tom tipped over the cage with his foot and the creatures went scurrying away to hide in the shrubbery. Nagini lifted her lazy head and hissed at Harry before slithering away to hunt down her prey. Harry chuckled.
“I was spoiling her. She is my pet,” Tom explained, if a bit defensively.
“You know a normal pet is an owl or a toad or a cat. But I forget you make pets out of basilisks.”
“You expect me to take on a cat?” Tom spat out the word as if it was something highly toxic.
“Hmm, that does seem too tame for a dark lord. You need something intimidating and dangerous like a dragon.” At Tom's pause, Harry jerked his head in the negative. “No, no, no. Get that thought out of your head right this instance. You are not going to do that.”
“Harry, she's very responsible and there will be death eaters to supervise.”
“Tom, you will not be getting Cerise a dragon!”
“Is that your favor for the bet?” Tom asked with the slyness of a fox.
Harry blinked. “I almost fell for that. That's unfair Tom. You don't even know what I was going to ask for.”
“I can imagine it is not something I will like. So I'm giving you this choice. Do you really want our daughter, our six year old daughter to have a dragon?”
Harry sighed and shook his head. “This is important to me. Please don't use Cerise against me. I thought you wanted to start over and this is not the way to do it.”
Tom grunted. “Fine, then, what is your request?”
Taking a deep breath, Harry revealed “I want to be there tomorrow when Ron is released from Azkaban.”
………
There was a small room, the location undisclosed and only known by a few who had clearance, hidden deep in the ministry. It served as a sort of transition room for prisoners going into or coming out of Azkaban. Guards were stationed there for 24/7 and were rotated out frequently at four hour intervals. Dementors hovered in the generous space given by the expandable ceiling and the guards had to protect themselves by a patronus, hence the frequent rotation. A clerk sat by a desk in the middle of the plain, nondescript room keeping track of all scheduled released and incoming inmates, took inventory of their belongings and supervised any and all visitors that wished to say goodbye to the condemned or greet the fortunate released. A shimmery, translucent curtain disappeared into the shadows of the high ceiling just a few feet in front of the clerk.
It had never been as crowded as it was today, but that was to be expected with such a high profile prisoner. Ronald Weasley had fought in the Great War for the Order but had been incarcerated ten years prior for orchestrating a devastating attack on a prominent Death Eater family. Harry had convinced Tom to pardon the remaining Order members after the war officially ended as a sign of good faith but he couldn't protect them if they decided to commit crimes after the pardon. The pardon only applied to crimes before the war. And truth be told, Harry had no sympathy for Ron after he'd attacked the family. The order had lost, Ron should have accepted that. But he had still been Harry's very first friend. And Harry was sorry for the circumstances that Ron to Azkaban.
Harry stood with Hadrian and Salazar behind him.After a multitude of protests Tom gracelessly realized he had to grant Harry his request. He had wanted to be there with him though. But Harry had quickly nixed that idea. Him being here was antagonizing enough, but to have Tom here too would be asking the Weasley family to outright attack them. So they'd compromised and Harry agreed to take Salazar with him, knowing his eldest was the most level headed and wouldn't go off like a firecracker. But of course Hadrian found out and just when Salazar had been escorting Harry down the empty halls, he'd popped up and insisted on tagging along.
Clear to the other side of the room stood the entire Weasley clan and their extended family, with a few notable missing persons. The severely aged and withered patrons Molly and Arthur stood in the middle framed by the contingent of red heads and their significant others. Bill held his veela wife Fleur close with their three children. Charlie looked tense, eyes flitting between the fluttering magical curtain to the Riddles. Hermione stood with her back ramrod straight and shoulders stiff, her hands around her two children Rose and Hugo. Ginny glared venomously at the two Riddle children. Hadrian responded with a mocking smirk and Salazar ignored her all together. Dean Thomas was trying to calm his girlfriend down and turn her attention away from the brothers. Angelina Johnson, who wasn’t technically part of the family also came with her daughter by Fred Weasley. Shacklebolt, former head auror and the man's who'd defended Ron at his trial with the help of Susan Bones, another Order sympathizer was present to lend support and oversee the process. The ones able to do magic cast a small army of patroni to welcome back their imprisoned family member.
The missing Weasleys – Percy, Fred, and George visibly hurt Harry to see, or not see in this case. Percy had been killed fighting for the order, as had Fred. Tragically, George, unable to face his grief committed suicide soon after his twin brother’s death.
Harry knew the family blamed him. Percy died during a raid Harry had lead during his time with the Order and he'd blamed himself for not being able to save him. But Fred had died two years after he'd surrendered to Tom to be able to stay with Salazar. George had been unable to cope with the loss and soon followed after overdosing on alcohol. So of course the Weasleys blamed him, they had every right to. But that didn't mean it hurt any less or that a day didn't go by that Harry didn't thinks of the twins. Every time he saw Rom and Reggie he was reminded of the twins. It was bittersweet.
Elissa Rathbone, the clerk cleared her throat to the empty room and walked briskly to stand before the curtain. She tapped her wand to it and it began to glow. A few seconds later two prison guards entered through the veil with a thin and haggard man shuffling between them. Matted red hair dulled by captivity hid the majority of the man's face but from what Harry could see, calling Ron a man was generous. He was a mere shadow of his former self. Deprived of sun, food, and freedom the man's already pale skin was deathly white and paper thin. Bones protruded hungrily from the thin, bruised skin. Skeletal features grimaced out a smile when he saw his children, who were all crying. The Weasleys rushed to Ron and enveloped the malnourished man in their arms. Hermione almost knocked him down in her overzealous affections, hiding her sobs against his thin chest.
Harry was an intruder here, he realized. He'd wanted so bad to apologize, to tell Ron how sorry he was, to perhaps make him understand that he couldn’t fight for a cause he didn't believe in. But that was selfish-because that was for Harry. He'd needed for the Weasleys to see he was sorry. It hadn't crossed his mind how painful and hurtful it would be for them to see him.
With a choked breath, Harry grasped Salazar’s wrist in a death grip. His eldest son jerked to attention, as did Hadrian, who'd been watching the reunion with great interest.
“We shouldn't be here, we should go,” Harry was already turning and ready to run out of the room as fast as possible. He could more acutely feel the ominous chill of the dementors above him. The creatures sensed the morbid turn of his emotions and it was intoxicating to them. The guards strengthen their patroni at the increased closeness of the dementors, who flew down a bit closer.
“Harry.”
He halted at the quiet croak, the voice rusty from disuse. Dread laced his limbs as he turned and faced Ron for the first time in over a decade.
“Come to gloat, mate? And with your devils spawns no less?” A menacing scowl, turned all the more terrifying on Ron’s skeletal features made Harry take a step back. Salazar and Hadrian took a step forward but Harry held them back and shook his head at them. This was not their fight, it was his.
Harry shook his. “I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come. I-I'm sorry.”
“No!” Ron exploded. “I should be sorry for ever thinking you were my friend. All you were interested in was fame. You showed your true colors during the tournament didn't you? And then that shit with Pettigrew? That was disgusting. You belong with Voldemort, you two are the same!”
“Ron, I-“
“Enough, Harry.” Hermione interrupted with a tired glare. “Enough. No one asked you to be here. None of us wanted you here. Because of you, we lost family members we loved.”
As if he'd been physically struck, Harry stumbled back into Salazar’s body.
Ginny chimed in. “Hugo here was still in Hermione’s stomach when they took Ron away, and Rose was just a toddler. They don't even know their father. This is the first time Hugo has even seen him. And you dare come in here to what? See how you've won over us poor Weasleys?”
A bit uncomfortable, Arthur put a hand on his daughter shoulders. But she shook it off with a growl. “No, dad, he needs to hear this through his perfect, insulated little bubble. While he's living it up in the lap of luxury as Voldemort’s pet, we've been suffering.”
“I never meant for this to happen!” Harry burst out. The burn of tears stung his nose.
“Just leave. I wanted the first thing I saw to be my wife, my daughter and my son. Not the wizard who betrayed everyone who cared for him.” Ron turned his back on him and the Weasleys, one by one followed. Only one red head lingered, exchanging a meaningful nod with Harry before they too turned. They went over to the clerk’s desk to gather Ron’s belongs and waited to be escorted out to the general floo area.
Harry stumbled out of the room with Salazar. Hadrian lingered for a sneered parting shot. “You expected a child to fight your battles and you sent him out to face hell. You dare condemn him for putting his family above you lot, who showed him no loyalty?”
Ron shook off Hermione’s restraining hand and stumbled forward a few steps. “He doesn't know the meaning of loyalty. You Riddles are all scum. Voldemort tortured and killed people, and Harry was no better. You don't know half of the shit they've done.”
Hadrian whipped out his wand but Ron didn't blink. The other Weasleys didn't dare to pull their own wands out, knowing it would be a death sentence.
“Hadrian?” Harry called his son back with a sharp cry and after a moment of hesitation, the hotheaded boy followed his mother out of the room.
“What did I tell you about being silent?” Harry growled. He was angry at himself but found himself unfairly taking it out on Hadrian.
“Should I have just stood there and allowed them to insult you?” He asked disbelievingly.
Harry deflated. “I deserved it.” Harry held up a hand when Hadrian opened his mouth again. He ran a shaking hand over his face.
Salazar pulled the hand away but kept it in his firm grasp. “Shall I escort you back home now?”
Harry nodded. He squeezed his sons hand to let him know he was okay. Tom had been right, this had been a terrible idea.
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Harry Potter and the Slytherin Heirs