Chapter Text
Harry was late.
It was always the mornings that tormented him, because Harry was not a morning person and his hair never seemed to understand the concept of grooming. He sighed as he saw himself in the reflection of his flat building's lift; twenty minutes of him trying to neaten his cursed Potter hair was in vain, apparently. It wasn't like he would be penalized for being late, because he was the head of his own department. It was just that he didn't want any special treatment on himself only because he was the boss, especially when his promotion was only two weeks ago.
Fortunately, Harry's company was in walking distance. Harry ran as soon as his feet landed on the lobby of his building.
After some cycles of running and speed-walking, Harry passed a cafe that he hasn't seen before. The taste of coffee and muffin was so desperate to his tongue, and the smell of feshly baked bread and coffee that spilled out of that cafe was just too good to be true. He really didn't have much time left, but he was very hungry and tired. After a short while, Harry decided to use his promotion to his advantage for just this once, and stepped inside the delicate cafe.
The cafe was lovely, and there was a short line of which Harry hurriedly became a part. Impatient, Harry checked his phone almost three times before it was Harry's turn to order.
Finally, with a large cup of coffee with one freshly baked chocolate scone, Harry walked outside of the cafe. He was now thirty minutes late, which was bad, but not terrible. Munching on his scone and walking at the same time, Harry wondered about the current project their department was undertaking.
Soon, he arrived at the giant Morsmordre building. It was tall and glistening under the morning sun.
Harry was almost finished with his scone when he waited for the lift. While waiting, another person came and stood beside Harry, which he didn't give much thought to. The lift arrived at the lobby, and Harry stepped in with the other stranger. By this point, Harry hadn't spared a glance to that man. He only knew, from peripheral vision, that the man was wearing something black, and was definitely a man.
Harry pressed the button to his floor, which was the fourteenth, and was surprised to see that the other man press the thirtieth floor. Although Harry has been a employee at Morsmordre Co. for almost five years, he has never seen anyone who went to the thirtieth floor. Nobody really knew what was at that floor. Curious, Harry spared a glance to the stranger, and was surprised to find a strikingly gorgeous young man in an impeccably tailored black suit.
The man should be a movie actor or something, Harry thought. Noticing Harry's stare, the man looked back.
"Hi." Harry said.
"-Hello." The stranger answered, eyes suddenly intent.
Now that was enough for an awkward lift talk, Harry thought, as he took his eyes away from the man. It was almost his floor when he heard a voice next to him.
"Fourteenth... is that the IT department?" The gorgeous man asked.
Surprised that the man said something, Harry looked back and answered. "Yeah. And you are from?"
The man just smirked, and instead of answering Harry's question, he asked another question. "What is your name?"
Harry frowned a bit, but answered anyways. "Harry Potter."
The lift stopped, and with a woman's voice saying "Fourteenth Floor," the door opened. Harry looked at the strange man for his answer, but it didn't look like he would get any. Because Harry was already late, and he barely knew the man, Harry decided to just go to work. A strange lad for asking but not answering, he thought, as he stepped outside of the lift.
Harry walked towards his room. Perks of being the head of his own department included having his own room, where his privacy was a bit more respected than the other employees who worked in an open environment. Harry's room still had windows that the other employees could see through, but they had blinds. While passing other employees, Harry waved to Ron, who waved back at him.
"Harry!" greeted Luna. Luna was Harry's secretary, whose seat was right outside Harry's room.
"Hi, Luna. Um, do I have any new messages?" Harry asked.
"No, not today." Luna answered, checking her phone. "You still have that meeting today, at three o' clock."
"Yeah, I know." Harry smiled. "Well, see you then."
"See you, Harry."
Luna's spirit was something good to start the day with. She was always positive and never had a single ounce of malice. Some colleagues disliked Luna for being 'weird', though, which Harry didn't agree with. Harry went inside his room, and started reviewing the paperwork that has already arrived on his desk.
* * *
Lunchtime came, and Harry and Ron met Hermione, who was waiting for them at the lobby as always. The three of them debated heatedly about their lunch menu, only to arrive at their most popular conlcusion, Hagrid's. Hagrid's was an italian restaurant, where despite its shabby exterior, served some of the best foods in town.
"I bet today's special is a spider-themed pasta." Ron said, as they headed to the restaurant. "He told me last time that he got this huge spider as his newest pet. And you know how everything Hagrid does has to do with his pets." The petulant look on Ron's face made Hermione snicker.
Hagrid gave them a warm welcome and they sat at their usual seats. Harry and Hermione ordered today's special - it was indeed spider-themed, but rather than a pasta, it was a dark cream risotto with fake spider toppings - and Ron ordered his usual steak. He abhorred spiders, fake or not.
"They have fangs!" Ron said in his defense.
The food was delicious, as always. The spiders were made out of garlic bread, and it went well with the creamy rice. Harry chewed on one of his spiders' legs as he listened to Ron and Hermione's banter.
"Honestly, Ron, you don't know a thing about science, do you?" Hermione said.
"Just because you read every book in existence doesn't mean you can't be wrong once in a while." Ron grumbled, mouth full of chips.
Harry snorted and giggled, only to meet Hermione's death glare and stop doing so immediately. He resumed eating.
"Aside from the baseless, yes, baseless, Ronald - accusations, how about you, Harry? Is the new boss life treating you well?" Hermione asked after a few more arguments with Ron.
"Er- well. It's fine." Harry answered. "Work's basically the same from what I've been doing as a project manager. It's just, I have a whole lot more of them."
"And a huge raise with a separate office." Ron added enthusiastically.
"Yeah. And that." Harry agreed. "Oh, and I have to go to that Heads meeting. It's today, actually."
"-Heads meeting, does that mean you get to meet Tom Riddle, mate?" Ron asked with his mouth open. Hermione used her hand to physically close it herself. Because Ron's mouth was full with chewed food, Harry was more than grateful.
"Tom Riddle?" Harry asked.
"Don't tell me you don't know who Tom Riddle is, Harry." Hermione said, her tone serious.
"-I, um, I don't?" Harry answered, puzzled.
Hermione put down her spoon. That was the sign that says things were getting serious. Ron mouthed 'oh-oh.' to Harry. It roughly translated to 'you're in trouble.'
Hermione calmed herself down before starting.
"Harry James Potter. You are James Potter's son and Sirius Black's godson AND you are working at Morsmordre and you don't know who Tom Riddle is."
"No...?"
"Oh my god Harry. Do you live under a rock?!" Hermione exclaimed, slapping Harry's back. Harry flinched with a "Oww!" but Hermione did not bat a single lash.
"Tom Riddle is the CEO of Morsmordre, the company you have been working for for FIVE years, possibly the richest man in the world, and the biggest rival to your godfather's family company. Not to mention that he's been selected as the hottest celebrity in Britain the past three years." Hermione said. "You would have heard about him if only you watch the TV or the newspaper at least once a week. My God, Harry!"
"It's not my fault that the news is full of crap." Harry said instead. He poked at his risotto as he listened more about Tom Riddle from Hermione.
"...and he's said to be so well-mannered and gentle- Harry, haven't your dad or your godfather mentioned Tom Riddle to you?"
"No. You know how Sirius doesn't care much about the Black company. And my dad doesn't talk much about business when he's with me. He knows I don't really care about that either." Harry said.
"Well, whatever it is, mate. If you do meet Tom Riddle, you have to tell us how he's like, like in real life." Ron chimed in as he picked one of the spiders from Hermione's plate.
"Yes, Harry, you should!" She said as she let Ron do that. "But he might not be there today. I've heard that he doesn't frequent to those Heads meetings."
"If he does, I'll be sure to let you guys know." Harry said. "Do you guys want an autograph from him or something?"
Hermione threw another one of her spiders at Harry. Harry laughed.
It was a beautiful day.
* * *
It was almost three o' clock, and Harry headed to the main conference room for the Heads meeting. The IT department did not really have much to report, other than some minor accidents that happened with the company's server the past month. They had fixed it swiftly and nobody should be interested in what happened, Harry thought. The conference's main interest was going to be about the Marketing Department today, since they were planning on launching something new next season.
The conference room was huge, and several secretaries made sure Harry knew where to sit. The seats all had nameplates in front of them, and Harry could see the stern and serious faces of other Heads. They seemed very nervous. Except for one of them, sitting behind the nametag of 'Cedric DIggory'. He was striking, much like the man Harry saw in the lift that morning, but he looked much more kind and nice. This man was sitting comfortably in his chair, with his arms crossed and lips pursed, deep in thought. Harry didn't know that he was staring until the man noticed his attention and looked straight back at Harry.
Harry was startled, and a bit embarrassed too. He quietly mouthed 'Hi,' which the man answered with a silent 'Hi' and a wave, smiling. So he was as nice as he looked. Harry averted his gaze, blushing.
The head seat had a nametag of, 'Tom Riddle'. So this was the Tom Riddle Ron and Hermione were raving about, Harry thought. It seemed like that the famous CEO was coming to today's meeting, contrary to what Hermione has said, and was also probably the reason of why almost everyone there looked so nervous.
"Mr. Riddle is coming in." A voice rang through the room.
Everyone stood up immediately, except for Harry. He did not know that he fucking had to stood up to the CEO's entrance. What does he think he is, a Queen? Harry cursed under his breath as he hurriedly stood up, following others.
The door opened and a man walked in. Harry's eyes widened as he recognized the man. It was the rude man from the lift!
The man was striding into the room with an air of natural arrogance. He was wearing the dark suit Harry saw him in in the morning. As he walked, he looked through the people standing up, only to stop when he met Harry's eyes. Harry was surprised at how the man smirked as he found Harry. Without a word, the man's eyes were away from Harry, and he sat at the head seat. Everyone else sat down as he did.
The meeting started, and Harry finally understood why everyone looked nervous.
The man was brutal. 'Well-mannered and gentle' were the words Hermione used when describing Tom Riddle; they were a bunch of bullshit. The man insulted the three Heads of the Marketing so much that their voices were going smaller and smaller until they were almost whimpering. Grown middle-aged men in suits, whimpering. The other two Heads of the same department were ordered to go back to their departments this instance for a better marketing strategy. He ignored the Human Resources Dept.'s report fully and shamelessly, and the Accounting department had to suffer the embarrassment of being called on several accounting mistakes on their reports by Riddle himself. Riddle was good, Harry had to give him that, because those errors were very easy to overlook, yet had the potential of being important.
"Does this meeting ever go on well when I'm not here?" Riddle said, as he pointed out the fourth error he found and threw away the presentation papers handed out by the Accounting Head. She hurriedly went to retrieve them, and Harry felt so, so sorry for her. The other Head of the Accounting managed to give him the rest of the report, trembling in fear.
The nice, handsome man who was Cedric Diggory, was apparently the Head of R&D, where Hermione works for. His report was clean and efficient, and their department's work was fine. Harry wouldn't be surprised, considering Hermione being the supervising manager of the department and that she never lets anything out of her sight. The man's charismatic presentation was surely a plus. For the first time, Riddle did not sigh loudly during the report, or criticised it from head to toe. Instead, he listened silently, looking as if he had a problem of this report being too perfect, and finally said, "Good."
Hermione was surely something, Harry thought. The other Heads were looking at Diggory like he was a miracle, and the man graciously accepted the half-hearted praise. Harry noticed that while the others were pretty old, Diggory was quite young, like Harry himself. Well, the vicious CEO was young too, of course, but that could be because the man inherited the company or something. Harry could ask Hermione more about it later. Harry could become the Head at a young age because IT was not a big part of this company, although there were still quite a few workers just because the Morsmordre was quite a sizable corporation. Harry wondered if it was because Diggory was some sort of a genius like Hermione. He could be, surely, from the way he talked.
It was Harry's turn to give his report. Harry felt uneasy, even though he really didn't have much to report on. But he was never a coward. He stood up, handed out his reports to Riddle and others, and started on his presentation at the end of the room, facing everyone else.
He was in the middle of explaining the second trivial error that nobody was listening to, a voice interrupted him.
It was Riddle's.
"Mr. Potter, move a bit towards your right, please."
A gasp came from somewhere in the room, probably because of how different Riddle sounded. His voice was gentle and soothing, in stark contrast to the frustrated, cold, and cynical voice of his just before. And, he was smiling at Harry. He looked like a totally different person now, compared to what he looked like when he insulted his employees mercilessly minutes ago. Not to mention that he said 'please'.
Harry was standing where everyone else stood to give their reports, so he didn't know why Riddle asked him to move. But he followed Riddle's words, and noticed that he was now standing closer to where Riddle was sitting.
"A little more." Riddle said. He then proceeded to put his legs on the table, sitting back. Nobody dared to say a word against it.
Harry hesitated but did as he was told. Riddle gestured him to come closer, until Harry was almost standing right next to Riddle. Harry felt a little awkward, but tried not to show it.
"Great. Now please, continue." Riddle said. And he smiled. Quiet murmurs filled the room due to the unusual circumstances, which Riddle silenced with a glare towards everyone else.
Harry continued on his presentation, while feeling weirded out by the way Riddle's eyes moved up and down on Harry's body as he spoke. It was as if he was... checking him out.
He tried not to give it much thought and went through the rest of his report.
"Well done, Mr. Potter. A fine presentation indeed." Riddle said, voice and face charming and sweet. It was almost scary, to see someone change so drastically at the snap of a finger. His legs were still on the table, and his whole posture was laid back, as if he has been enjoying his view.
"But do look at page three. Why is the data usage on Application number 11 analysed as type C? It seems to me that it is type B." Riddle said as he put his legs back down.
Harry was startled at the comment. He was pretty sure that nobody, including Riddle himself, was listening since his reports were on very minor events. But apparently he was, and very carefully indeed. Harry took a minute to find the right part before answering.
"-Yes, sir. It looks like it should be type B, but if you look at page one, you'll see my report on our analyst's simple mistake on Application number 14. It impacted her prototype analysis on type C to look more like the double-type C. We soon corrected her mistake and correctly analysed that the real type C is closer to Application number 11's data usage on our platform."
Riddle nodded, and he looked like he had already known the answer. Was this man testing him? Harry asked himself. Whatever he was doing, the man really wasn't just eyeing him all along. What Riddle just said was a very minor detail that was very easy to overlook, yet could impact the rest of Harry's presentation if it was indeed an error. It was the same pattern with what he did to the Accountings, though they were actually wrong and Harry wasn't.
"Again, well done." Riddle said, and he gave Harry a charming grin. "I enjoyed your... report."
Somebody squeaked.
Harry blushed, not knowing what to say. In his peripheral vision, Head of Human Resources was wriggling in his seat, as if he wanted to say something but gave up. Without much time for Harry to think, Riddle spoke again.
"I see that your department doesn't have a lot to report this month. Is that why you came in late for work?"
Oh.
Harry was horrified. Why was the only day when Harry succumbed to his breakfast needs was the day he met the freaking CEO at the lift?
"-No, sir. Today was the only exception for my punctuality. And this month was a particularly uneventful month for our department, sir." Harry managed to answer.
Riddle nodded. "I'll take your word for it." He said, face still grinning, eyes intent on Harry.
The rest of the meeting was something similar to what it was like before Harry's presentation. People giving their presentations, and Riddle criticizing them from head to toe. He looked so different doing so - he looked bored, frusturated, and vicious. He even ripped the Production Management's papers in half, mid-presentation.
New tasks were given by Riddle himself, and everyone furiously scribbled their notes except for Harry and Diggory. He did not give them any new tasks since he was satisfied enough with their reports.
As Riddle finished talking, he stood up swiftly and left the room with his arrogant™ stride. Harry couldn't stop himself from admiring the way his impeccable suit moved along with the man's sculptured, perfect body. He wished he could be as tall as the man. As soon as Riddle left the room, all the others started to gather their stuff in their arms.
"Mr. Potter?"
While Harry was also about to take off like the others were, someone called after him. He turned around to see the Head of R&D, Cedric Diggory. The man who managed to get a compliment - no matter how unwillingly given - without the embarrassing comments. Harry sighed.
"Mr. Diggory, fine work today. I'm friends with Hermione." Harry said, holding out his hand.
Diggory took Harry's hand with a warm smile. Harry could feel himself blushing a bit. The man was bloody fit, as Ron would say it.
"Ms. Hermione Granger, indeed. I can see smart people befriending one another." Diggory said.
"Oh no, you shouldn't say that. Hermione's way smarter than me." Harry said, chuckling.
"I should disagree not to be rude, but frankly I don't find that surprising, considering her massive intellect," answered Diggory. Harry realized that Diggory was blushing faintly as well. "I consider myself to be her assistant." Diggory added in a playful note.
He's flirting with me, Harry noticed.
"You should never say that in front of her. She'll be even more confident. We can't have that." Harry flirted back. Diggory smiled at his answer, and said, "No- we can't."
Harry was about to ask him what he wanted to talk to Harry about in the first place, when Diggory said it first.
"-I hope this doesn't come across as rude, but, would you like to have coffee with me?" Diggory asked, as he bit his lower lip.
Harry found the bite to be cute.
"Yes." He answered.
"-Good, good." Diggory's face brightened up immediately. "I'll contact you via the company messenger."
"You should." Harry said with a smirk.
Diggory smiled, eyes full of anticipation. "See you then, Harry." He said as he walked away.
Harry was mildly surprised with Diggory suddenly addressing Harry by his first name, and decided it was rather nice. He then took the rest of his stuff and left the conference room, finally.
* * *
[RW] Psst.
Harry, who was deeply engrossed in his work, jumped at the sound of the messenger.
[HP] What?
The reply came in almost instantly.
[RW] Did you see Tom Riddle? At the meeting?
[HP] Yes.
[RW] Oh mate! You're so lucky!
[RW] Tell me, is he like what Hermione described?
[HP] ...Yeah, pretty much.
[HP] Excpet that he's a massive arsehole.
[RW] What?!
[HP] He's fit allright, Hermione hit the mark on that. But he's rude and arrogant.
[RW] Really? Was he rude to you today?
Not really, but Harry knew that there was something weird in the way Riddle treated him. It might be worse than being rude to him, but Harry didn't know how to describe it to Ron.
[HP] Not to me, but to almost everyone else.
[HP] Ron, you know Cedric Diggory?
[RW] Diggory? Yeah, isn't he Hermione's boss?
[HP] He is. He kinda asked me out today.
[RW] WhAT?!!?!
[RW] You Have to
[HP] ??
No response. Harry waited for a minute only to forget about it. He was back in his work when two consecutive Ping, Ping arrived.
[HG] Harry! Is that true!
[HP] Hermione? WHat is?
[HP] And you never message me during work!
[HG] This IS about my work, Harry. Is it true that my BOSS asked you out?
[HP] Er. Yeah.
[HP] I don't see why it's such a big deal...?
[HG] Harry, you can't date my boss. You CANT!
[HP] What? Hermione, calm down and explain.
[HG] You don't date people at work, Harry. It's because it can get messy real fast. If you date Mr. Diggory and you two break up or fight or anything, he'll hate me!
[HP] Woah. We're just going out for a coffee and that's all. Nobody said anything about dating and breaking up.
[HP] And besides, even if we DO date, is Mr. Diggory the kind of man who does that? Taking his anger out on someone else?
[HG] No. He's not. But that's not the point. Anyone can be blinded by emotions, even the noblest men.
[HP} I think you're underestimating human judgment.
[HG] Harryyyyyyy
[HP] All right Hermione. Geez. Did Ron tell you?
[HG] He did.
[HP] Did you train him or anything? To tell you as soon as something like this happens?
[HP] I always thought he'd make a good dog.
[HG] Stop it Harry. I can't be seen giggling at work. I have reputations!
Harry smiled at this.
[HP] Anyways, mione, I already agreed to a coffee with your dear boss. I'll go and tell him my predicament. He'll understand.
[HG] He will, he's a really nice guy.
[HG] But Harry, I can't believe I'm telling you this but
[HG] If you go to that coffee date and you figure that you DO actually like him, then go ahead. But under one condition.
[HP] What?
[HG] You have to marry him.
[HP] Go back to work, Hermione.
[HG] All jokes aside, if he is like this your soulmate or something, don't let me get in your way.
[HG] But ONLY if you are soulmates.
[HP] Bye
[HG] Soulmates, I say!
Harry closed his chat and went back to his work, grinning.