AN: So thank you all for your comments and ideas on what a schedule could look like. I have decided to stick to the second Friday of the month. That should motivate me to write more, as it did with Benefits, and will not be too much to handle at the same time as some of my other projects (not writing). Have fun with the new chapter!

oooOOooo

Midsummer

Tom stepped out of the shower, grabbed the towel that was draped over the bathtub, and started to rub his hair dry. He had taken a longer shower, as he had done quite often the last weeks, and now had to hurry a bit. Before Lily and Harry had moved in, he would have gone out to a muggle bar or pub to find some company. Even though his body demanded some more attention, it simply didn't feel right.

He sighed and started to towel the rest of his body dry. By now he was pretty sure that there was something between Lily and himself. The festivities planned for today would provide the perfect opportunity to flirt. His flirting with Lily would hopefully also discourage some of the more delusional witches and wizards. Tom guessed that it wasn't the most outrageous assumption that he would be available for a relationship, as he never had been connected to anyone in a romantic way. If he hadn't participated in sensual activities in the past during the celebrations in the spring the possibility of his being simply not interested at all would have been on the table. But he had, so it wasn't.

Instead of no-longer-wanted advances – and unwanted advances from some specific individuals – he would probably be asked about when they would marry. Not much he could do about that, as there would be people in attendance who were no followers of his.

The moment he was mostly dry, Tom slipped on the underwear and robes that an elf had placed on his bed for him and stepped up to the mirror with the different care products he regularly used. With a few practised motions and spells his hair was dried and styled, and he was ready to go.

Lily and Harry were waiting for him in the floo room. Harry looked simply adorable in his tiny robes over simple shorts and sleeveless shirt. Lily, on the other hand, looked absolutely radiant. Her hair was braided, the robes she wore were airy and almost see-through, but not quite. Both of them were wearing sandals, going barefoot would be more traditional, but the company would be mixed, so they had to make compromises to avoid drawing attention. Tom planned to slip out of his own sandals sometime during the day. A stone or sand getting into them always was a good excuse.

It worked every time.

"You look very good. Very handsome, Harry." Harry looked up, shouted "Dad!" and stretched his arms out over his head. Used to the demand by now, Tom bent down and picked up his son, comfortably settling into the best position to carry Harry on his hip. "Go!"

"Yes, Harry, we're ready to go. We'll have a lot of fun. I'm sure of it." Tom offered his free arm to Lily, who slipped her own arm through his elbow, linking them all together.

Her smile was shaky, and Tom squeezed her hand carefully against his ribcage. "All will be well, Lily. You look wonderful, and many of the people who will be there already know about us. A few know you already. Like Madame Bones, Crouch senior, a few other Aurors, and people who went to school with you. And I don't plan to leave your side when you don't want me to." Tom winced inwardly, that last sentence might have sounded a little too possessive. He had no right to lay any claim to Lily, nor would that change if they ever should get into a romantic relationship.

"That so many of the people know me already and I them is one of the problems, Tom. People I don't know yet, I don't really care all that much what they think of me. Or I wouldn't if I didn't have to interact with them in the future… but I guess I will have to interact with them again, won't I?"

"Take a deep breath," Tom interrupted her. She was starting to talk herself into a state of even greater nervousness. "There is no need to worry. Deep, even breaths. You can do that. I have seen you face unfavourable odds in battle. This day will not be as bad."

Lily gave him a glare and squeezed his arm with her hand. "A battle and a party are two very different things, Tom. It's much easier to be brave in a battle. It might sound strange but I don't feel there is that much at stake in a battle or so many places where one can step wrong. But thanks for trying to comfort me."

To that explanation he couldn't think of anything to answer. So he simply accepted the thanks with a nod. "Are we ready to go?"

Harry had been looking back and forth between them, but clapped happily with his hands, chanting "Go! Go! Go!" while bouncing up and down in Tom's arm.

"Then let us go," Lily said, keeping a strong grip as Tom turned on the spot, apparating them all over to Malfoy Manor.

They arrived in a cheerfully decorated paved area at the edge of a lively party. They were not the first to arrive, just as Tom had planned. It was always awkward to be either the first or last to arrive. Or at least it was if one wasn't the guest of honour or the host. Today he was neither. And not drawing attention would be better for Lily's state of nerves.

"Welcome, Lily, Tom! And little Harry." Narcissa greeted them, a crown made from flowers and grass perched on her intricately braided hair. She picked up another flower crown from a small table and stepped forward to place it on Lily's hair. "Be a guest at our house. May you be merry and at peace." As the Lady of the house it fell to Narcissa to welcome all the guests and speak the blessing. Tom knew that she would use the traditional greeting only for those who she was sure were not averse to the traditions, but would hand out flower crowns to all guests. Not everyone accepted them, though.

Tom did accept the crown that had been made completely from different white flowers. He was relatively sure that it was supposed to be an inside joke. Not that there were a lot of truly black flowers out there. Harry tried to grab for the crown, so Tom quickly cast a sticking charm at it. "Do you want your own crown, Harry?"

The little wizard nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah!"

Narcissa smiled and picked up another, much smaller crown from that one table. It wasn't filled with as many crowns as would be needed, nor was it big enough to have held all the crowns already worn by the other guests. Tom assumed that an elf was supplying crowns as they were matched to the guests whenever the person arrived.

Another sticking charm placed the crown securely on Harry's head. All were safe to eat if Harry should manage to take it down, Tom noted with satisfaction.

"Abraxas and Lucius are over by the pond, the buffet is on the terrace nearer to the house. Please amuse yourselves. Music and dancing will start later."

"Thank you, Narcissa," Lily said and they were off into the throng, smiling and calling out greetings to people as they were passing by.

"I hadn't really considered that everyone would be wearing flower crowns." Lily said, looking around curiously.

"Not all," Tom said, nodding in the direction of Crouch Senior, head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, who was deeply entranced in a discussion and wasn't wearing a flower crown. "Some who don't care for traditions as much feel it's too frivolous to wear flowers. Or maybe he thinks it's going to affect his status as a wizard. I have no idea what the case is with him."

Lily snorted. "I think you look good with those flowers. They do contrast nicely with your hair."

"Thank you," Tom said, smiling.

"Down! Harry, walk!" Tugging firmly on a lock of that very hair, Harry demanded that he could walk on his own. Probably interested in investigating some of what he could see for himself. He was always so very forward and interested.

Lily got out her wand and cast a tracking charm on Harry while Tom bent and got down into a crouch to set his son down. "Don't walk too far away." Tom wasn't sure that Harry did understand, or if he simply ignored Tom's words, but he started to walk over to another witch, looking around curiously, almost as soon as his feet made contact with the ground.

"And he's off." Lily had a smile on her face and in her voice.

Tom chuckled. "I'm sure that the elves will look out for him. Do we want to follow him for a while?" Harry was walking in the direction of the pond, where people were laughing and a tall, decorated pole had been set up. As it was the direction they wanted to go in anyway, if they wanted to talk with the Minister of Magic and his father, it seemed like a good idea.

So they followed after their son at a leisurely pace, as Harry was much too interested in looking at his surrounding to walk faster or even run, which he had discovered as a way to have fun a while ago.

"Mr. Riddle, Mrs. Potter, I didn't expect to see you here together." Madame Bones greeted them, as she stepped closer and fell into step with them. She was wearing a flower crown of mostly yellow flowers. "Madame Bones," Tom and Lily greeted her almost in unison. "How are you on this fine day?" Tom asked with a winning smile.

"I do enjoy the warm weather and the excellent strawberry tartlets. I can highly recommend them."

"Once Harry decides that he's explored enough, I'll pick one up for myself. Thanks for the recommendation. I'm sure the buffet is bigger than anything that would seem reasonable, and much too big to be able to taste every single dish offered," Lily easily answered, only a little distracted by keeping an eye on Harry. It might seem strange that she would feel compelled to do so when she had placed a tracking charm on him, but Harry had managed to dispel those a few times, probably because he wanted to sneak around, and his magic had reacted to that wish by removing the magic telling that would tell them where he was at any given moment.

Maybe he should invest the time to enchant something Harry could wear that his accidental magic couldn't affect like that. There was the possibility that the magic would find another way, but it sounded like a fun challenge.

"How is your quest for recognition before the Wizengamot progressing?" Madame Bones asked, not really masking her ongoing curiosity and suspicion. She probably had been in touch with someone who had been warned away from Tom by Dumbledore before the old meddler's timely but anything-but-glorious death.

"Slowly, as I expected. I handed in the documents to the Office of Inheritance once the waiting time after presenting my evidence before the Wizengamot ended. Just as I had expected, not one member stepped forward to confirm my claims, sparing me the tedious process, nor was there anyone disputing my claims. Now I'll have to wait again until the office either accepts the documents I provided as evidence, asks for more, or dismisses it altogether." Tom shrugged, letting go of Lily's arm to pick up two flutes of champagne with floating berries – currants of different colours – bobbing up and down inside the glass from a tray floating by.

He handed one of the glasses to Lily, who accepted it with a smile, and then raised it in a toast once Madame Bones had one of her own. "To a nice evening." The two witches echoed his toast, raising their glasses as well.

They each took a sip, smiling at Harry, who had returned to walk around them in circles, following a small giggling fairy, which was flying around them just high enough to be easily out of reach from the small boy.

Madame Bones chuckled. "My niece Susan loves to play with the fairies as well. It's funny how they like to play catch with the little ones."

"It looks more like they're mocking him. I guess teasing a being so much bigger without being at risk must be fun," Lily mused, sipping from her drink, smiling fondly down at their son.

Madame Bones was watching their interactions pretty closely, and Tom recognized the speculation in her eyes. He reminded himself that they wanted people to see them interact, wanted them to come to some obvious conclusion and talk about it. They needed people to accept the relationship between them if Lily, Harry, and he were to lead a relatively normal life.

"Where did you meet?" And there the questioning started.

Lily's smile was sharp-edged as she answered the question. "We had met a few times in passing before we had the opportunity to talk." Tom supposed that was one way of putting it. Met in passing… they had run past each other in a few battles. There was more Slytherin in Lily than he had expected, or maybe it was rubbing off on her over time.

"You might have heard that James was infertile. I know that Sirius knew, and he isn't the most discreet about things like that. And he assumed that I went to ask my old childhood friend Severus Snape to help us out." She shook her head, clearly exasperated. "As if I ever would consider something like that." She was good. Tom was impressed. This would be easier than he had expected it to be. "Tom and I decided to reveal Harry's real parentage, now that James isn't here any longer. It'll be better for him to have both parents around growing up."

The other witch seemed a little overwhelmed with that amount of information, given so freely. She looked over to Tom, almost asking without words if that was really the truth.

"All the truth. We want what's best for Harry." Another witch walked up to them and asked Madame Bones something, and they were able to slip away, continuing their way towards Lucius and Abraxas.

"I'm impressed." Somehow it felt right to mention this, Harry walking at their side, looking around curiously, and many similar interactions to come.

Lily snorted. "If you step back far enough, the details fade into the bigger picture, and the story can be told without distracting with the truth. It's a technique I perfected to talk with relatives not aware of magic during family get-togethers. Can you imagine telling some aunt you haven't seen in five years what your fancy boarding school is like and not being able to actually talk about anything substantial?"

He hummed. "Interesting point of view. I think I understand how you had to develop this talent for telling the truth while also obscuring all the important details." Lily laughed, and they arrived next to the two wizards they had been trying to reach.

"Tom, I see you've brought your… son and Mrs. Potter."

Tom noticed the small hesitation and raised a brow. He had a feeling he knew what word his friend had wanted to use there. Thankfully he had decided to go with something else.

"I thought we had agreed to use first names," Lily stated, half asking, to Abraxas.

"We did that, yes. This difference in setting has thrown me off." He smiled, accepted Lily's hand and bowed elegantly over it, before straightening again. "Lily, then."

That was the moment Lucius managed to turn to them, greeting them with a professional smile. The Malfoys were good at those. "Mr. Riddle, Mrs. Potter, welcome to our Midsummer celebration. Thank you for accepting our invitation. I hope you have fun."

They exchanged some polite, unimportant pleasantries. Well, unimportant by content – weather, food, other guests. If another versed politician was listened in, as some probably were, they would hear the undercurrents of mutual respect, the hints of an alliance, and the fact that the current Minister of Magic regarded Tom to be a good friend of his father's and a person he would turn to for advice.

The next hour was filled with political dances, word plays, and careful evaluation of political compatibility. They made it to the buffet, eventually, and Harry wanted to have a break on his dad's arm halfway there. In fact his demand of "Dad! Up!" spoken in front of several witnesses fuelled the rumours quite nicely.

oooOOooo

It was a fascinating experience, walking among politicians with Tom. She had been to a few functions and parties like this one with James, but his approach to parties had been radically different. He had joked with everyone, broken up any serious conversation with something trivial. Tom was smiling the whole time, but he listened to people, picked up the topics they brought up, and made sure to include others in the conversations, especially Lily. James had never done anything like that. With James, he had been the center of attention, loud and demanding, pushing everyone else to the edges. Tom also stood in the middle of the conversation, even when he was listening. The way he stood, the way he moved, the way he listened, all of it, it drew attention to him. When he spoke, that contrast made his restraint somehow more visible. Tom had more weight to him.

Maybe it was his age; more experience and all that. James had been rather immature still, never having had the opportunity to actually grow up. She had learned a lot about the people attending the party, more than ever before, but also different things than ever before.

"I think I have a better grasp on the political factions in the Ministry now," Lily said, watching as Harry settled down on a blanket inside a warded area reserved for the small children and overseen by a few house-elves.

"That's the idea behind socializing at such functions," Tom answered, also concentrating on Harry, who had started to levitate some wooden blocks over to play with them. His control over his accidental magic was impressive.

"But certainly not everything."

Tom turned to her, smiling, a true smile that reached his eyes. "Yes. Having fun is also something that is supposed to be achieved. But networking, getting to know people, letting other people get to know you, is a really big part of an event hosted by one of the influential families. Especially an event of this size."

"I hope that the part with the having fun is about to start soon," Lily grumbled, her feet sore from walking and standing around all morning. Dancing and getting out of these sandals would be a nice changes of pace right about now.

She had seen Severus from afar a few times. He obviously had used the party to socialise. It certainly was a good idea for him to search out contacts in the potions community if he wanted to get further than being Tom Riddle's, aka Lord Voldemort's, personal potions brewer.

As if in answer to her question, a chime sounded all over the party, people falling silent and turning to where Abraxas Malfoy stood on the terrace, moving his arms in an encompassing motion, smiling down on them. "Thank you all again for accepting our invitation and being our guests on this summer day. Please enjoy yourself, relax, and dance." The music started just in that moment, probably taking the end of that short speech as a cue. It was lively, light, and happy. Knowing that Harry was in good hands and the elves could find them at a moment's notice if they were needed, Lily took hold of Tom's arm and started to move in the direction of the decorated pole where the dancing was going to take place.

"Where can I leave my sandals?" She really wanted to dance barefoot on the grass. She hadn't done something like that in a while, somehow thinking that being a grown-up meant walking without shoes was no longer acceptable.

"Just leave them here at the edge of the dancing area," Tom answered, bending down to get rid of his own sandals, the flowers on his head moving with the motion. "The elves will take care of them and return them at the end of the day."

Shrugging Lily accepted that reasoning – elves were such an integral part of wizarding high society that their being responsible for this didn't seem that odd – and bent down to open the tiny buckles of her own sandals. Leaving them behind, she stepped onto the trimmed grass. It was a fresh feeling that evoked quite a few happy memories. Chasing Severus along the park, laughing. Dancing in the small garden behind a friend's house. Eating ice cream while sitting on the grass, enjoying the sun.

Tom stepped onto the grass beside her, sketching a bow with an elegance that spoke of a man practiced in duelling, or dancing. "Would you grant me the pleasure of dancing with me?"

Lily grinned and dropped a curtsy, inclining her head. "It would be my pleasure."

They linked their hands and slipped into the circle forming around the pole, easily picking up on the steps of the dance. Lily laughed when she spotted Severus and Regulus with linked hands dancing on the opposite side of the circle. The two of them were blushing and Lily was extraordinary pleased with that development. Her friend deserved some happiness, and he had been in love with Regulus since they had been teenagers.

The experience was intoxicating. Her feet were tingling, the hand holding Tom's was getting hot, she felt light and happy. One step followed after the other, they turned in smaller circles, turning around each other, following the bigger circle around the pole together, creating a big moving circle together with all the other dancing pairs. There were old couples, teenagers, friends, siblings, married couples, all of them dancing to the same music with the same steps.

She fell into a trance, hyper-aware of everything that was happening, and at the same time floating above it all, kind of disconnected, part of a bigger whole.

She later wouldn't be able to tell exactly how long they had been dancing, but she felt simultaneously tired and energized once the dance ended. Tom guided her to a bench on the far side of the garden, calling for an elf to get them something to drink.

"Are you well?" Tom asked her and Lily looked up at him, noticing his concerned look. Of course she felt fine. More than fine, even. This had been one of the most intense experiences in her life.

Then she noticed that she hadn't said anything of that out loud and was still blinking up at Tom. Maybe she was more out of it than she had realized. So she nodded, accepting the glass of lemonade from Tom. It tasted very refreshing, and Lily notice how very thirsty she was.

"The first time can be very intense." Tom sounded understanding and still concerned. "I hadn't expected that you would let go enough to actually feel it. If I had, I would have warned you that this might happen."

"Which, that?" She sounded quite drunk. As if she had indulged too much in great wine or fire-whiskey. There seemed to be a reason he was concerned.

"You being overwhelmed by channelling this much magic. Communal rituals like this one can generate lots of energy. And it is channelled through the participants. If I had even suspected that you would.. go with it, fall into the flow… but I didn't." Now that she had emptied one glass of lemonade and was sipping at a second, his concern lessened and was replaced by a little bit of amusement.

"Why?"

"Why I didn't expect you to be drawn in quite that much?" Tom asked, and Lily nodded. Should she be concerned that she seemed unable to find words to answer?

"For one, because most who haven't grown up with the festivities have trouble letting go." Lily wasn't sure what prompted him to explain more, but he did anyway. "If one doesn't open up for the magic to flow through the body, it doesn't happen. It's a process that needs to be consented to. It usually happens on a subconscious level. It took me a while to get it and relax enough so it happened for me. Considering your scepticism and that this was your first participation, your ability to relax and trust the magic of the ritual was surprising."

Lily hummed, letting herself slump a little bit sideways on the bench, letting her head rest on Tom's shoulder. That was comfortable.

"Are you still with me, Lily?" Now Tom voice sounded mostly amused.

She hummed again in confirmation. This state of relaxation was really great. If this happened every time, that would explain why people would participate in the dancing. Aside from the fun of dancing, of course.

"Come drink some more." Tom prodded her until she was sitting upright again, holding the glass of lemonade up to her lips.

Lily sipped and felt herself slowly slipping out of the almost trance-like state. She still felt relaxed, but more like she did after a warm bath and a few glasses of wine. Before had been a lot stronger. She hadn't had the opportunity to take any recreational drugs, but she had once seen Petunia stoned out of her mind. Her older sister had looked like Lily was feeling right now. "I think I was high," she said, blinking slowly and looking out over the garden, where another group of people had started dancing.

Tom chuckled. "You're still high, Lily, I'm sure. But at least it's a nice trip."

The dancing people were nice to look at, but all the swirling was making her dizzy. So she turned her head to look at Tom, who also looked at her, smiling a small, happy and amused smile.

"You have very pretty eyes." She didn't often pay attention to his eyes, the lashes around them and the hint of crow's feet around them.

"Thank you." His smile grew bigger, those little lines around his eyes getting deeper.

Maybe she should toss all her reservations overboard. He was a good-looking man and worked really hard to be a good father.

She leant forward, puckering up her lips, aiming for his lips. Should kissing require this much coordination?

Two warm hands on her shoulders stopped her. "You're high, Lily. I don't think it's a good idea to start something you might regret once you're sober again." His voice was velvety, smooth, and filled with regret.

Lily blinked up at Tom, confused and a little sad. She had thought that he was interested in her as well. "Won't regret it." She furrowed her brow, that hadn't come out with enough conviction. She had sounded unsure, more like she had been asking.

"We don't know you won't, Lily. I wish very much to kiss you. But this wouldn't be right." One of those warm hands moved from her shoulder to her cheek, one finger trailing down and then upwards to place a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Come to me again, later?"

She probably should have been angry, or frustrated, maybe sad? But thinking to sort out all that she was feeling was too taxing right now. So she sighed, and turned back to watch the dancing people, her head resting on Tom's shoulder again.

This was comfortable.

Lily woke to two voices speaking pretty close to her. She opened her eyes and sat up straight from her slumped position against Tom's shoulder. A blush rose to her cheeks as she remembered that she had attempted to kiss him and how he had rebuffed her advances. How humiliating.

"Mrs. Potter, are you well?" Lily's green eyes found Amelia Bones standing right next to them, tense.

"Yes," Lily answered, nodding. Why was the other witch so tense? Lily blinked again and realisation hit. They had participated in a ritual, which probably was banned, where most people didn't realise what it was, or had been, and wouldn't experience what she had. Or react as strongly as she had, as Tom was showing by seemingly being unaffected. Amelia Bones probably thought that she had been forced into something illegal against her will.

She took a deep breath and smiled. "That was more physical exertion than I had anticipated. On top of that, I hadn't had enough to drink over the day. Or at least not enough non-alcoholic beverages." She laughed, trying to put a little bit of embarrassment and self deprecation into it. "Maybe even too many of those bubbly berry champagne drinks."

Patting Tom's hand, that was resting on his own knee, she looked to him and back to Madame Bones. "Tom was a perfect gentleman and made sure I got some lemonade to drink and a moment to rest." She turned back to her date for the day. "Thank you for looking out for me."

The sparkle in his eyes confirmed that he had caught on to the subtext. Kissing him, knowing who he was, while high probably would have put an awkward spin on their fledgling relationship.

"If you're sure," was all the other witch said before leaving them there in the shade of the trees, sitting on an extravagant bench.

"How long was I asleep?"

"Not long. Around an hour."

Lily turned to Tom in surprise. "An hour? And you've been sitting here the whole time?"

He nodded once more, smiling, sliding his hand closer to where hers was placed on her own knee. "When someone brings a novice to any kind of ritual, they are responsible for the novice's well-being. And aside from good practices and manners, I really enjoyed being your pillow for your nap."

Another blush stained her cheeks, and she halfheartedly slapped him on his arm, before taking his hand into hers. "You're terrible."

"I think that common impression is the reason why Amelia Bones felt the need to check up on you."

They sat there as the day became dimmer, lights flickering on all around the garden. Lily was pretty sure they were powered by magic. Fire would have flickered more, and electricity was pretty unlikely in the garden of a wizarding mansion.

"Do you want to dance?" Tom asked out of the blue. "Ballroom dancing. No chance for any magic-induced trances or highs. Promise."

"Sounds like a great idea." They got up of the bench and walked over the grass – cold and fresh beneath Lily's bare feet – towards where several couples were dancing to slow music, some barely moving, in close embraces.

The position of their arms was much more proper, and Tom led her into a slow dance she had learned one summer towards the end of her Hogwarts years. She couldn't name it, but she didn't need a name to follow Tom's lead.

Her smile grew bigger the moment she spotted Regulus and Severus dancing, standing very close together, on the other side of the dance floor.

"Look over there," Lily whispered to Tom, using the change of song to get closer to him. That much simpler dance of swaying looked very appealing.

Tom moved them in a small circle, snorting the moment he spotted his two young followers dancing. "I had wondered when those two would get over their reluctance and finally get together."

"You knew?" Did anything slip by that man?

"Don't tell me the two of them haven't been very obvious about their interest?" They kept moving in small circles, expertly avoiding all the other couples on the temporary dance floor.

"No. They have been very obvious pretty much since the two of them have been teenagers. But I was Severus' best friend at that time. And you can't tell me that they would tell you something like that." She shook her head, sounding exasperated.

"Well, no, they wouldn't. I can see though. There was no need for them to tell me anything. And gossip is a thing in pretty much any group of humans. Even a group infamous for ruthlessness." Lily snorted. "I know, one would think a group feared by almost everyone shouldn't be as bad at gossiping as the book club in any average village. If anyone was to ask me, I could tell them some interesting stories which would destroy any such expectations, though."

That claim brought a whirlwind of possibilities to mind. What could Death Eaters be gossiping about? Affairs? Who had stolen the family recipe for the best Christmas pudding from the oldest witch in the group, claiming it was theirs? All of those sounded to strange too be true.

"You'll have to tell me some now. You know that, right?"

Tom chuckled again, pulling them closer together. "I'm sure I can think of some that would amuse you."

When they finally arrived back at home, a sleeping Harry on Tom's arm, Lily felt pleasantly tired. This had been a very nice day, and an extremely interesting experience with a traditional magical ritual.

How someone could label what she had experienced as dark, and therefore dangerous, was beyond her. Probably something banned because it belonged to a group of things that could be dangerous. Basically, guilty by association.

oooOOooo

AN: This chapter speaks of summer and I publish it while snow is on the ground outside my window. I somehow never manage to match my chapters even remotely to the date in the real world :D

Keep as safe as you can, take care and thanks for your comments, they make my days!

First published 12thof February 2021

next chapter scheduled for the 12th of March 2021

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