AN: This took longer than I wanted it to, but life happens.

oooOOooo

Play Date

"I think we do have everything," Tom stated while closing the bag holding everything one could possibly need while not at home and also responsible for a toddler. Without an expansion charm on it, the bag would have had to be much bigger than it was. It was astounding how many things such a small human needed.

"You're sure?" Lily asked from the other end of the room where she was dressing Harry in a new set of clothes, bracelet already clasped around her wrist.

"Yes," Tom nodded, swinging the bag over one shoulder and starting to recite everything that was stored in its depths. "Teething potion, two sets of clothes, several diapers, a few bibs, his favourite blanket…" He trailed off, sure Lily got the point. "And a few snacks." He was feeling decidedly uncomfortable. Determined to offer his son the opportunity to make friends but at the same time not all that willing to open himself up to others like this. Sadly, there really wasn't much of an alternative.

"That probably is all," Lily conceded, settling Harry on her hip and turning to look at Tom. "And now we probably should settle on what you're going to call me. And what we'll call Harry."

Tom felt his brows wing up, not really surprised Lily didn't want to reveal herself yet, but surprised that she would admit to it so bluntly. "I had planned to simply not use any name for you." It should be easy enough to call her the mother of his son, dear, or something like that. "But I hadn't really considered Harry's name… there aren't many wizards his age, are there?"

Tom rubbed a hand across his forehead. He had known he had been missing something.

"No, not enough that people wouldn't be able to deduce who he is known as. But I don't think using a different name will work out for him?" Lily said, nodding and looking as lost as Tom felt. "We should have thought of this sooner, shouldn't we?"

"You haven't decided yet?" Tom asked, "What you want to do in the long run," he qualified.

Lily took a deep breath, then shrugged, and made a face. "I feel as if I'm pretty committed already. But not really… convinced? If you know what I mean? I'm not sure it's a good idea to declare openly who I am and our connection through Harry just yet."

Tom hummed, thinking up alternatives and casting them aside quickly. But nothing suitable came to mind.

"How about this," Lily finally said, walking over to stand next to Tom, "for today we avoid using his name and come up with another name that can be shortened to Harry for the next time we meet others." She seemed unsure, and Tom felt that might become the theme of the day.

"I also can make them sign a secrecy contract, just like the Healer," he suggested as an alternative. Lily gave him a look for that, which he didn't fully understand – maybe she thought he should trust his healer without such measures – so he felt compelled to explain himself. "It's standard procedure for private healers to sign such contracts. And as she actually knows all about who my parents were and everything else there is to know, I feel a lot better that the magic of that contract makes sure she can't be forced to give away such information against her will."

Lily huffed, conceding the point with a short nod, and started to walk towards the floo room.

It didn't feel right to Tom, not having this planned out correctly and in all details before going on with the day, but he had a feeling that this would be the new normal, sharing so much of his life with a Gryffindor witch.

They reached the floo room, where the wards would allow their departure, and Tom held out the portkey for Lily to grasp, and the three of them were off.

The next place they got to see was the lavishly decorated arrival room in Malfoy Manor, where the future Lord and Lady of the house were already waiting for them.

And as was proper protocol, they both went to kneel before him, bowing their heads. "Welcome to our home, my Lord," Lucius greeted him.

"Thank you, Narcissa, Lucius. I hope your father is well?" Tom asked, adjusting the bag on his shoulder, while stuffing the portkey back into his robe pocket.

"Thank you, my Lord. He is well and currently keeping an eye on Draco," Lucius answered and then rose, when Tom impatiently – and keeping himself from rolling his eyes – waved for them to do so. He had asked them to keep the formalities down for this afternoon. This was about their children playing together, not his own ego. He might still be in need of getting used to this fact himself, but that didn't excuse his followers' learning slowly.

The walk from where they had arrived to the room that had been set up for the playdate was longer than it should have been, and awkward. This was going to be a very long afternoon.

He realized too late that it was his duty to introduce everyone. Taking a deep breath and starting to occlude more actively, Tom worked on getting his temper in check. He needed to be calmer. He tended to get violent when he felt out of his depth and knew people were able to see.

The room they arrived at certainly wasn't the normal playroom of the toddler sitting on a big blanket on the floor, an elf hovering near by. There were way too many old paintings on the walls and antiques standing on side tables for this to be a room where a toddler played regularly.

"Tom! Welcome!" Abraxas greeted rising from the love seat he had been sitting on. "Who is that little baby?" In a way it was nice that Abraxas had started to treat him more normally again, but sometimes – especially while he already felt out of his depth – it got on his nerves.

"This," Tom waved at Lily holding Harry, who looked around with curiosity clear in his green eyes, "is my son, and his mother." He then turned to Lily, addressing her. "And these are my old school friend, Abraxas Malfoy, his son Lucius, and little Draco's mother Narcissa." Lily nodded to each of them as Tom indicated them, and the tension in the room only continued to rise from second to second.

"Won't you set your son down on the blanket? Mopsy is a very competent nanny elf and will take great care of both boys," Narcissa finally broke the silence, valiantly trying to show a warm cheerful smile.

While Lily did as the other witch had suggested, Tom placed the bag on one of the side tables where it would be out of the way of curious toddlers exploring. Before Tom could turn fully to see how he could salvage this afternoon, Harry was calling out "Da! Pay!"

Habit let Tom turn back to his son before he had thought about it. "Pay!" One short arm was extended in Tom's direction, intention, no, demand clear to everyone.

And Tom hesitated. Could he sit there, on the floor, playing with his son, stacking blocks, while three of his followers were there to see it?

.:Come play with me:. Harry didn't use parseltongue all that often, but when he did his meaning was a lot clearer than when he tried to speak English. Something Tom hadn't known about the language he and his son shared. Had he been speaking Parseltongue that early as well?

And suddenly the decision was very easy to make. .:Of course I'll play with you:. Tom felt a smile curve his lips and he turned towards the others, not paying attention to some gobsmacked looks. "I'm sure you will be able to have a civil conversation over tea without me. My son wants to spend time with me." All the Malfoys nodded, clearly unable to form words just now, but Lily only smiled a knowing smile.

Used to playing with his son, Tom quickly cast a cushioning charm for himself to sit on, before gracefully settling down on the blanket spread out over a carpet that looked very expensive. There were some blocks to stack, some stuffed animals – a dragon, a unicorn, a pegasus, a niffler, and what looked like a badly mauled cat – a miniature cauldron with a bunch of carved ingredients, and a ball that looked to be imitating a quaffle.

Harry picked up one of the blocks and handed it to Tom in their most practised game of Tom stacking up the blocks so Harry could topple the tower. The white-blond boy, who had to be Draco, watched the both of them seeming a little unsure from where he was sitting next to the elf.

Sitting with his back to the other adults, concentrating all his attention on the two boys in front of him, Tom felt he had a decent chance of listening in on some unguarded conversation. Or maybe at least a little less guarded.

"How do you take your tea?" Narcissa asked and after Lily's polite answer, went around the table to pour each of them a cup. Another moment of silence – most awkward still – fell over the people sharing tea, and Tom was happy to have escaped this through Harry's timely intervention. The first tower of the day, all of six blocks tall, was pushed over, accompanied by Harry's giggling and big eyes from Draco, who slowly moved to crawl closer.

"How old is your son?" Narcissa asked, once again trying to start a conversation.

"He'll be in the same year as yours at Hogwarts," Lily answered. "Those shortbreads are very good."

"I'm sure our elf can provide yours with the recipe for them." Narcissa sounded more relaxed, and Draco was now crawling over to pick up and clutch the cat toy to his chest.

Slowly the atmosphere lost its tension. Lucius started to discuss some possible candidates for assistant positions in the Minister's office with his father while Narcissa inquired after Lily's activities beside caring for her child. She herself professed her hope to be able to return to more socialising once Draco was weaned and she was once again able to leave the Manor. And Tom continued to entertain both little boys, conjuring some lights wandlessly, letting some of the toys float and everything else he had learned that usually made Harry laugh.

"Currently I spend a lot of my time translating old texts," Lily answered one of Narcissa's questions. "It's interesting and boring at the same time. Most of it is administrative, but from time to time there is an interesting private letter among the sources." It was an interesting experience to be in a room with his followers and not be the middle of attention. "What's your favourite activity?"

"Organizing events, parties, balls. Letting it look effortless and easy, but making them as elaborate as I possibly can."

By now both boys were sitting more or less on Tom, using him as a climbing help from time to time. Currently Draco was trying to place a dragon toy onto Tom's head, both feet balancing on his thigh with one hand on Tom's shoulder.

Then the small boy slipped, gravity and fine woolen cloth working against Tom, ending with Tom catching Draco before he could fall onto the wooden blocks and sharply breathing out through clenched teeth. He certainly would remember to place some charms on himself as protection when he next allowed a child to climb on him.

When the pain receded Tom noticed that it had gone eerily silent behind him. "Are you alright, Draco?" Tom asked the toddler in his arm, setting him down carefully. "Slipping happens really easily if one wears only socks." Draco nodded, and turned to fall onto all fours crawling over to where the blocks lay about.

"It is a little surprising what a natural he seems to be with children. One wouldn't think that without seeing it," Lily said, breaking the tension behind where Tom placed a small shield-like charm so errant feet or toys wouldn't hurt him again.

Narcissa was the first to recover. "He surely seems to have practice with entertaining your son." There was a lot of curiosity in her cultured voice, but before she could ask whatever questions were on her mind, the doors opened and two sets of steps entered the room.

"Mr. and Mrs. Lestrange for Mistress," an elf announced and Tom carefully turned around at the hip to have a look at Bellatrix and her husband.

He hadn't planned for Lily to interact with anyone but the Malfoys today. This right here was a volatile mixture.

"Sister! Why do I always need to visit you unannounced? Can't you invite your older sister from time to time?" Bellatrix was her usual exuberant self, prancing into the room with flowing robes, ignoring Tom and embracing her sister.

So Tom decided – prompted by Harry pulling on his sleeve – to ignore the newcomers as well and play with the boys.

It was fun, and why shouldn't he enjoy himself?

He didn't pay much attention to the conversation going on, as he watched Harry summon the snake out of the bag to his hands and proceed to almost eat it, until Bellatrix's tone changed notably.

"Wearing a disguise. I'm curious what you're hiding under that! Wouldn't it be too funny if you were a light witch blood-traitor, or even a mudblood?" There was venom in her voice, barely covered by a thin veneer of false cheeriness.

Tom felt his anger rise and automatically strengthened his occlumency shields. He couldn't risk loosing his temper in front of those two little boys. Fully turning around, Tom fixed Bella with a sharp look, a dangerous smile on his face. "Be happy that I will not punish you here and now as you rightfully deserve for this slight to our cause. But your nephew and my son are much too young to understand why you would be screaming yourself hoarse. It would only frighten them. You know I have a long memory, so no worries." Bella paling was a clear sign his reprimand had arrived.

But he needed to make sure that she and the others present were reminded of what exactly the problem was. "Bella, tell me, what do the families calling themselves light cherish and welcome that your family hasn't in a long time?"

Bella almost looked like a sullen child, pouting over not being allowed to eat a chocolate frog, but she answered. "Muggle-borns."

"That is right." Tom said, slowly, clearly enunciating each word. "Your family and many other, so-called dark, families honour magic by following the traditions, celebrating the festivals. Yet you all shun the biggest gift Magic gives us to keep our small population healthy." Lily was listening intently, one brow winged up. This was the first time she'd heard this directly how he had changed his rhetoric now that he had the old bigoted families under his thumb. And after he had realised why Magic allowed magicals to be born to muggles.

"My son's mother is in disguise for both their protection. Who she is and where she came from is none of your concern. And if she is one of the newly gifted, then that would be fortunate for me and my son. In more ways than one."

He knew that it would take a long time until the most stubborn blood supremacists would agree with him. If such was even possible. It would probably take several generations until the changes he had started would make it into their culture and permeate their society as the prejudices did right now.

Suddenly he was very tired.

.:Daddy, want to go home?:. Harry suddenly asked, his head – topped with now considerably less stubborn curls – resting on Tom's arm.

.:Yes I want to go home. What about you? Do you want to stay? You and Draco could play a little more:. Now even Bellatrix would be unable to claim that his little boy was anyone but his son and a wizard.

.:You hurt. Dark Lady makes you angry. Home:. Harry was a perceptive boy for his age.

"What do you think, Rose. Do we want to go home?" Tom asked Lily, dropping the threatening face. Too late he realised that they had not agreed on this name to be used. He was truly tired when he started to slip up like that.

"It looks as if the boys are getting tired." Somehow Tom felt as if Lily had included him very firmly in that group. "Thank you, Narcissa, for a very lovely afternoon. We should repeat this. Lord Malfoy, Minister, it was nice meeting you. Mr. and Mrs. Lestrange, it certainly was a surprise seeing you here today." Lily was polite but not deferential, making Tom feel proud of her. If only she could stand at his side openly without hiding.

It took only a few waves of his wand to gather everything they had brought and pack it back into the bag. And before much more time had passed they were back home.

"That was enlightening. Will you put Harry to bed?"

Tom nodded. "I will. You can take a long bath and relax a little. You really think it's a good idea to repeat this?"

"As long as I get to see the faces of several Slytherins losing all composure again? Absolutely."

oooOOooo

Lily accepted the portkey on a chain as well as the small warding stone from Tom. One she slipped into her pocket, the other she slung around her neck, before slipping the pendant under her clothes.

"Want to cast a bunch of warding spells and protective charms too?" she teased Tom, who gave her a playful glare.

"You're meeting with a fully trained wizard, member of the Order of the Phoenix, and werewolf. Excuse me for being concerned for your safety. You're a good duelist and powerful witch, but what if the whole Order should turn up? Everyone would be in trouble that severely outnumbered." Tom nodded solemnly, which Harry copied, looking extremely cute.

"I'll be careful and should be back well before Harry needs to go to bed." Lily took the one step closer to give Harry a peck on the cheek, turned to do the same to Tom, and froze, eyes going wide before her lips could make contact.

Tom flushed, blinking rapidly, and started to walk backwards towards the playroom. Lily felt heat in her own cheeks, and cleared her throat. "I'll be back soon. Have fun, but make sure that the house is still standing when I get back."

"Don't worry about us," Tom answered, sounding flustered. "The elves will make sure we don't cause too much damage."

The time Lily spent in front of the mirror changing her appearance as an added security measure was needed to get her feelings back under control and that inexplicable slip out of her mind.

Remus was standing in front of the little tea room they had agreed to meet in, nervously shifting from one foot to the other. He had tried to conceal his identity and while he was a lot better at blending in with muggles than most wizards, he hadn't managed to change his mannerisms. Which gave him away to anyone who knew him.

The light copper shimmer and waves he had added to his hair, as well as the slightly healthier, if still pale, complexion speckled with freckles, wasn't going to be enough if he still walked the same and used the same motion to secure his hair behind his ear.

Sighing and shaking her head, Lily walked over, pleased to see that her disguise was much better than Remus' was. He saw her but kept looking around, clearly not recognising her.

"Are you sure you weren't followed?" she asked him, while walking past him, stopping right next to a window and peering in.

"Lily?" he sounded surprised and spoke louder than he should have, before he got a hold on himself. "I'm sure."

With the portkey around her neck, Lily was sure to get away even in the case that Remus was mistaken, so she nodded and went to open the door and go in without waiting for Remus.

She wasn't sure if he still was her friend, but she was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. If she could give Voldemort the opportunity to explain himself, someone she had called a good friend once should be entitled to the same.

She was seated and had ordered a piece of cake as well as a tea service for two before Remus came to join her at the table she had chosen.

"Thank you for meeting with me, Lily." Remus rubbed his hand over his neck, bending his head forward, looking down onto the tablecloth. "I know there's no insignificant risk doing so." He huffed, clearly struggling with how to voice his request for help.

Deciding that she did not have the patience to play twenty questions and beating around the bush all afternoon, Lily got out the little ward stone Tom had given her and placed it on the table between them. "Now we'll be able to hold a private conversation without being interrupted." She had had a really nice afternoon examining the rune work on the stone to get behind how it managed to erect a small privacy ward around a table just by being exposed to light. Tom had been preening from the floor the whole time while keeping Harry entertained. He was a really imaginative inventor, but terribly smug about it.

And still Remus didn't start to speak. After two more sips from her tea and a bite from her cake, Lily decided to lead this conversation if Remus was neither willing nor able to.

"I guess the situation the Order is in hasn't improved any. Making your own position more precarious as well." She had seen the Prophet and had heard from Tom what the newspaper either didn't know to print, didn't dare print, or was forbidden to print by the Ministry. "I assume you're still not considering joining one of the packs here in Britain?"

Remus shook his head, making an unhappy face, while pouring himself a cup of tea of his own. "No, I really can't stomach the thought of interacting with Fenrir in anything but fighting conditions. And you and I both know that that would be necessary if I joined a British pack."

Lily hummed and nodded. She certainly could understand that. "And leaving for Europe? Maybe Scandinavia? You know that you could just leave this all behind. It's not as if either side of this conflict, or anyone else, has your needs anywhere near the top of their agenda."

And again Remus shook his head. "I can't leave Sirius alone like that. One friend killed, one a traitor, his whole family upset with him. It would be a blow to him if I also left."

Lily couldn't help herself, she snorted. "How do you think this is going to work then? Get away from the Order, but don't cut ties with Sirius? I don't think that's possible. And why should Andromeda be upset with him?" There was no question why his other cousins, his brother, or his parents would be upset with Sirius. But Andromeda had cut ties with the rest of the Blacks after she had married a muggleborn wizard. Which Tom had ranted about not so many days ago. The child those two had was a confirmed metamorphmagus, which Tom had taken to mean that the old families' exclusion of those newly gifted by Magic – a new term he had started using – was one of the reasons they were having more and more Squib children and were losing the old, powerful talents. He had told Lily that he had instructed all of the Blacks to reach out to Andromeda and no longer exclude her or her husband from family events.

Remus blushed, which made Lily equally curious and suspicious, and rubbed one hand over his face before he started to speak. "He ranted about you not asking him to help, where she could hear. Moody was trying to recruit her as a healer…" Remus trailed off, and Lily didn't need to ask what Sirius had expected her to ask for help for.

"How many more people did he tell?" Her voice had gone pretty low, and she didn't care that her anger was probably visible on her face. The whole concept of that potion, and the careless disregard of the mother-to-be's wishes was getting on her nerves.

Remus looked surprised but hurried to answer her. "Only Sirius, I think. You know they had been in a skirmish together that spring. James had been hit by a curse and they hadn't been sure if Sirius had managed the counter in time to prevent… well. The healer informed James that he was infertile, but that it had not been caused by the curse… and as you already were pregnant by then, they figured that James couldn't have been the father."

When Remus paled suddenly and drastically, Lily took a deep breath, picked up her teacup – needing to steady her hands to prevent it from spilling tea all over her cake – and increased her efforts to control her emotions via Occlumency. "And how is it that you now know?"

"Well," taking another sip of his tea, Remus pondered his answer, and sighed, "the night after you left Potter Manor, Sirius got into the liquor cabinet and got pissed. While I was helping him back home he started to ramble. How he thought you had asked Severus Snape, and how you should have come to Sirius instead. That you were going to change sides. Maybe already had…"

The absurdity of Sirius believing that she would ask Severus to have a child with her... Lily slowly shook her head. "What utter nonsense. There never was anything remotely romantic between Severus and me. We're more like siblings than anything." If Sirius had suspected connections between her and anyone associated with Death Eaters, it was no wonder the Order had started to behave so oddly around that time. "Does he even realize that he should have talked with me about this? Does anyone from the Order even suspect that their behaviour is chasing away their supporters?"

Now it was Remus who snorted, leaning forward so his elbows were resting on the table. "I'm not sure. If there is anyone, they certainly don't speak up." For a moment they sat in silence. "Can you help me? Maybe there's a spare room where you're hiding? I can help with looking after Harry, do the dishes or the laundry." Remus always had had a talent for the kicked-puppy look, Lily was certain that look was part of the reason James and his friends had been able to get away with as many pranks as they had.

"You can't live where Harry and I are staying. It's not my house, and the owner is unlikely to allow any member of the Order to live there with us." Tom never would let anyone else move in. And regardless of how much her view of him and who he was had changed, she also had learned how private a man he was. "Why not leave Britain, Remus? Only because Sirius is unable to move on? You clearly can't stay in an Order with Moody deciding everything, and you clearly will not consider switching sides. I don't think going neutral will work out either. Neither side will leave you be."

"Are you neutral, Lily?" Remus suddenly asked, eyes switching from pleading to intense in the fraction of a second.

"How would you define neutral?" Lily asked, but didn't wait for him to answer. "I don't work for the Order, nor for anyone else. My son is my most important concern. I'll do what's necessary to make sure he's safe." There really wasn't more to say, and definitely nothing more Remus was entitled to know. "Sirius should be able to understand and help you, if you're willing to risk so much for him." Remus' inability to prioritise his own wellbeing had been a source of frustration for Lily for a long time. "You need to prioritise your own needs for once!"

Now Remus leaned back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest, fingers drumming on his arm. "I don't have the money to travel by muggle means. I might be able to apparate across the Channel, but the rumours are that the Death Eaters already have a foothold there. A portkey to get farther away without having to apparate in many short hops to places I have never been before… you know that the regulations have been tightened down? There was a warning that there might be wards up… I can't risk it."

Lily huffed. "I might be able to organize a portkey for you. Somewhere far away even. Russia? East Asia somewhere? But there's nothing else I can do. If you insist on staying here, you'll have to find a spot to hide on your own."

They didn't stay much longer after that and Lily paid before they went their separate ways.

The moment she stepped into the living room she smiled at what she saw. Tom and Harry were both on the floor, stacking blocks on top of each other, hissing. That had increased over the last weeks. Harry was speaking more, and hissing a lot at Tom whenever the two were together.

"Lily! Welcome home." Tom greeted her, and Harry turned, moved from sitting to all fours before standing up, raising his arms and hissing at her. "He wants you to pick him up and cuddle."

"He isn't even two yet. How is it possible for him to know this many words?" Lily bend down to pick up her little boy, throwing Tom a suspicious look. "Or are you embellishing while translating?"

Tom laughed, leaning back on his hands, his legs stretched out before him. "I'm not embellishing. But Parseltongue is a lot less structured than English, not much grammar, but many nuances about basic needs. It's the language of serpents after all. And magically inherited." He smiled up to them, Harry snuggling into Lily's arms. "I don't know a lot, but I suspect that it's normal for a child to learn this language first if there is an adult around who can understand it as well." There was a sadness in Tom's voice that vanished quickly when they started talking about their respective afternoons.

oooOOooo

AN: Well… seems like I'm slipping into old habits of long chapters. I really wanted to keep the chapters shorter… I guess I have to keep reminding myself that I don't need to pack so many things into one chapter and practice. That's what I wanted to do with that "restriction" anyway.

I hope you all stay safe, look after yourself and your loved ones, and find some peace and quiet in my little story.

First published 14th of September 2020

Thanks to Jordre and Jake for helping to improve my spelling!