Lilian Silver walked down the cobblestone streets of Diagon Alley, hardly recognizing the place, as she'd been in the states since the second war. She wore her jet black hair stick straight, her fringe cut so neatly and severely that it could be called aggressive.
Her faux snakeskin handbag looked genuine, and she stepped with a confidence that made heads turn and necks bend in her direction. When she came upon the storefront of the bookshop that matched her nephew's description, she reached for the door, only to be intercepted by a hand belonging to a dark-haired man.
"Aunt Lil," Theo said, stepping in front of her and pulling the door open so that she could enter ahead of him. "Please, after you."
She took him in. He looked healthy. Happy, even. So much more so than she'd expected.
Once they were in and seated in the small cafe area up front, she exhaled sharply and said, "I owe you an apology."
His aunt's American accent felt strange to his ears, as he'd only read letters from her for so long and hadn't seen her in person since his birthday, the summer before his second year. That'd been the day his father had mysteriously disappeared for a large part of the celebration, returning with a task for him. He shuddered at the memory before refocusing on his aunt.
"I didn't want to say this to you in a letter, it felt too impersonal, but I'm so sorry for how long I was out of touch."
Theo blinked back at her, noticing that he wasn't now nor had he ever been resentful of the woman. She'd never gotten on with his father, had had no interest in death eater affairs, and had been vying for a position with MACUSA since he could remember.
Staying away from his family seemed a smart move, and he didn't fault her for it one bit.
He simply smiled back at her. "You were always my favourite auntie, and that remains true to this day. I'm only glad you avoided getting caught up in the mess."
She swallowed, choking back some emotion. "Yes, but, I feel like I could have done something. Anything. Truth be told, I was considering taking you back to the states with me on your twelfth birthday."
Theo's eyes widened, but the witch before him didn't see, as she had begun to stare off into the distance.
"There were too many details I hadn't sorted out yet, and by the time I had, your father refused all contact from me."
Heart swelling at the idea that someone in his life had cared that much about his well being, Theo reached forward and put a hand over hers where it rested on her knee. She turned to look at him with watery eyes.
"I secured you a place at Ilvermorny. A new identity. You were always such a good boy, I just couldn't fathom-" she said, before a swell of emotion caused her voice to break.
"Aunt Lil," he said, and then had to repeat it twice before she regained composure.
"My life has worked out perfectly," he said, in a matter-of-fact tone that seemed to fill her with relief. She let out a single laugh, wiping at her wet cheeks. He pulled out an embroidered handkerchief and passed it to her.
After she'd finished with it, she looked down at the material, unfolding it and running a thumb over the stitched lettering. It read "T.N. & H.P."
"From our wedding day," he said. "I considered taking his name, but I thought it best to reclaim my own rather than run from it."
She let out a half-hearted laugh and said, "You're better than I am," as she continued to stare down at the handkerchief.
Abruptly, he pulled it from her grasp. "This is nonsense, you're beating yourself up over something that happened decades ago. Would you not prefer to meet your grandniece?"
Looking up with her mouth agape, she said, "I thought the children had left for Hogwarts?"
"Just the boys, actually. She's still not of age. Harry is with her at Fortescue's up the road," he said, standing and offering her his hand. With a deeply grateful grin, she took it.
"Uncle Draco, do you think Scorpius will be in Gryffindor?" the little girl said.
A sly smile crossed Draco's face as he turned to her and said, "I'm putting my galleons on Ravenclaw, if I'm being honest. He always wants to differentiate himself from his parents."
"Funny," Hermione said, "I was thinking Hufflepuff."
"What?! Not my son."
"Oh, but you truthfully consider Ravenclaw a better option than either of our houses?"
"Who said better? No one said better," Draco said, then turning back to his niece. "All of the houses are equally good for their own reasons, and don't let your auntie tell you differently, alright?"
"Alright Uncle Draco!" the little girl sang while Hermione rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, a wry smile on her face.
Harry arrived at the table with an ice cream sundae, just as Theo walked in the door, followed by a woman they all knew would be his aunt Lilian.
As they reached the table, Theo said, "Everyone, this is my auntie Lil, Auntie Lil, this is-"
"Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, and Harry Potter? Do you know what? I've heard of them."
Theo smirked and everyone chuckled good-naturedly as Lilian went around the table shaking hands.
"And who is this?" she said, squatting down next to the little girl.
"I'm Lily, nice to meet you," she said, holding out a small hand.
Lilian took it, while gazing up at Theo, her mouth agape, but it was Harry who spoke next.
"Lily, do you remember why we gave you your name?"
As if reciting the alphabet, she said, "Because both of my daddys had a special Lily in their lives and I get to be both of their namescapes!"
Theo chuckled, reaching forward to graze little Lily's cheek. "Namesake, darling, not namescape."
"That's what I said!" Lily cried, before picking up her spoon and shoveling strawberry ice cream into her mouth.
"Well, we have to be going," Hermione said, standing. "Tea with my mother-in-law. She insisted on seeing us after Scorpius left for school. I think she intends to swap the tea for hard liquor and to be honest, I may not object."
Draco stood as well, raising his eyebrows. "Well, Potters, you heard the lady."
Theo rolled his eyes at the use of his husband's surname to refer to the both of them, but he was used to it by now.
"Lilian, it was so wonderful to meet you," Hermione said. "Will you be long in England? I would love to have a lunch date and pick your brain about magical creature regulations in America."
Behind her back, all three men made "don't do it" motions. Still entranced by the fact that she shared a name with her grandniece, Lilian smiled and said, "that would be lovely. I'm staying the week."
Harry, Theo, and Draco all looked defeated as the women exchanged contact information.
As Draco and Hermione were leaving, Harry called out to them. "Don't forget, we're meeting Ron and Ginny and everyone for drinks at the Leaky tonight."
"If she's still standing, Potter, we'll see you there."
Hermione slapped his arm and said, "Oh, rude! You know I never overindulge."
"Yes but darling, we just lost our only child-"
"We didn't lose anything, he's just a portkey away!"
"Not if you can't manage walking."
"Ugh, you're impossible. You know..."
Their voices faded as they exited the shop, and everyone else sat down around Lily who was still diligently working her way through the huge sundae, which had been promised to her as a consolation for not boarding the Hogwarts express.
"They're always fighting," Lily observed.
"That's not fighting, that's just how they talk," Theo said.
"But you and daddy don't talk like that."
Theo grinned over at Harry. "No, we don't," he said, his eyes wistful. "But we did once, and actually, I think that could be counted as real fighting, don't you, darling?" As he said this, he traced a hand over his chest, where his sectumsempra scars lay beneath the fabric.
Harry squinted and shook his head as if to say, "not in front of the kid."
Lilian smirked. "There's a story I would love to hear at some future point with… present company excluded?"
"Oh, now that'll be fun," Theo said. "You should know, though, that Rita Skeeter has been dying to get her hands on it for years, so you'll be carrying some rather sensitive information."
Lilian smirked. "Well, I think my decades of operating exclusively undercover will aid in my ability to keep the secrets."
"What secrets?! I wanna know!" Lily whined.
"One day, when you're older," Harry said, placing a consoling hand on her shoulder.
"Awwww," she said, now moving her spoon through a puddle of soupy ice cream. "Everything is when I'm older."
"Oh, the years will pass before you know it," Lilian said. "And what do you want to be when you grow up?"
At this, Lily's eyes brightened and with exuberance she proclaimed, "An auror! That's what you do, right auntie Lily?"
Lilian's jaw clenched as she fought back some emotion, but Theo came to her rescue.
"Yes she does. Your auntie is a senior auror with MACUSA. She's very important."
"Wowwww," Lily said, causing everyone to grin widely.
"Perhaps one day soon, we can take a trip to the states and get a tour of where your auntie works," Harry said.
"Oh yes, please! Let's do that!" Lilian said.
"Can we?!" Lily squeaked.
Theo smiled serenely at his aunt and said, "Yes, that would be wonderful."
Later that evening, after copious drinks, Draco and Hermione were getting ready for bed in their sizable London flat.
As she removed her earrings, Hermione said, "Ginny is taking this all rather well, don't you think? Not only her daughter, but Neville going back to work at Hogwarts. I truly thought she'd relocate to Hogsmeade."
From the closet, Draco called back, "She's far too headstrong and committed to her job, like some other witch I know."
Hermione laughed, and moved on to magically removing her makeup, too tired to bother with actual washing.
"I still can't believe Ron and Pansy are dating. After all these years and both of their divorces," she said.
Draco finished putting away his tie and came to stand behind her at her vanity table. "Yes, well," he said, directly into her ear, causing shivers up her spine, "not everyone finds love at twelve years old."
"Thirteen, I'm older than you, remember?"
"Ah, just what a woman wants, to be reminded of her old age. Is that the lesson I'm to take from that comment?"
"I'll show you a lesson," she said, advancing on him menacingly. Grasping the loosened collar of his gray button down, she pulled his lips roughly to hers. When she bit his lower lip hard enough to draw blood, he groaned an objection.
"It's to be that kind of evening, then?" he managed to say between kisses.
"You said I wouldn't be able to stand, now you need to make it so."
As if her words had been an incantation, he picked her up and spun around to toss her onto the bed. "Gladly," he said, moving toward the bed with the same sort of menacing look she'd worn only moments ago.
A/N: thank you so much for reading and reviewing! I hope you enjoyed the story :) Find me on tumblr and check out the art I had made for this in more detail: blog/liliansilverstuff