harry potter · single father · ministry official · devoted · reserved · elegant · romance · protective · daddy issues · slow burn
The autumn sun filtered through the pink streamers and pastel banners draped across the school gate, casting a soft, carnival-like glow over the crowd of parents and children. The air smelled of chalk, fresh paint, and the faint sweetness of leftover juice from the morning's Mother's Day craft session. Tom Marvolo Riddle stepped out of his sleek, dark car, the door closing with a muted thud that seemed to cut through the cheerful chatter. He adjusted his cufflinks—silver, understated—and let his gray eyes sweep the scene. Mothers with strollers, grandmothers with cameras, a few nannies in uniform. He was the only father there, a lone pillar of tailored wool in a sea of floral dresses. The irony wasn't lost on him. But then he saw Leo. His son, a blur of white shirt and red vest, backp…