AN: Another month gone. Have the next chapter. The long awaited Date!
oooOOooo
Date
It had taken too long to find a date for them to go out together. And it hadn't been finding a babysitter that had been the problem. No, the problem had been the potion shop planning, as well as Lily's business.
Watching Severus being all excited at getting to have his own potion shop selling finished potions to the public had been an eye opening experience. She wondered if she wanted to create a small shop of her own, selling enchanted objects, and taking on commissions. Standing in front of her wardrobe, Lily tried to decide what to wear. She had dropped Harry off over at the Malfoys', where she had spent a few afternoons to get comfortable with them and for Harry to be comfortable there.
Shaking her head, she went back to concentrating on the problem at hand. There was only an hour left before she would meet up with Tom in the entry hall, from where they would depart for their very first official date.
Should she take one of the dresses? Or maybe a skirt together with her favourite blouse? She wanted to take a light jacket along, as it was already getting cold in the evenings. The thought that it might be better to leave the jacket behind so that Tom would feel obligated to give her his own jacket crossed her mind and made her giggle.
She threw herself a scolding look in the mirror. She wasn't a teenage schoolgirl any longer. She really shouldn't think up such childish schemes to get Tom to behave in a certain way. She was sure if she went over to his room, where he was also just dressing himself, suggesting that they could stay in and that he should get rid of his clothes he would gladly follow her suggestion. They were adults and capable of expressing their desires, no silly games needed to manipulate each other.
How good he was at such games in the political arena didn't play into this at all.
Or it shouldn't
Lily sighed. Her mind was all over the place today. She closed her eyes and started in on one of the occlumency exercises Severus had taught her. It didn't take long after that for her to be calm and controlled. There still were butterflies in her stomach, but she was able to think straight again.
She stood there in her bra and see-through tights, had already thrown a petticoat on that reached her knees, pondering her options with a little more awareness of the plans for the day. They were going to see a movie, and after that they would go to eat at a nice restaurant. That would rule out the very flimsy dress, she would certainly cause some narrowed looks in a muggle restaurant with that one.
She wasn't keen on that type of attention today.
She took her most frilly blouse from its hanger and slipped it on, slowly closing the buttons while trying to decide between the two skirts she had picked out. Both would work with the grey, knit jacket she wanted to take, and the white blouse with nice lace details and ruffled sleeve details. The dark blue one looked too much like something you would wear going to the bank, or a job interview, so the dark green one it was.
After that she was finished with dressing rather quickly. She had decided to not bother with a lot of makeup. It wasn't something most witches bothered with. Potions got rid of any skin imperfections pretty easily, and glamours took care of the rest. But her hair could use some attention. She had washed and dried it earlier, and now it needed a good brushing before being braided into something nice and intricate. Luckily magic would be of great help there as well. Which was fortunate, as she had no one but the elves here to help her.
For a moment she felt a stab of sadness over the fact that Petunia, who had braided her hair almost every day when she had just started elementary school, wasn't here to share the excitement with her.
But ever since Petunia hadn't been able to follow Lily into the magical world, all that had connected them as sisters had stopped meaning anything. She had resolved that she was finished with reaching out to her sister and she was okay with that. If Petunia decided to reach out, she could do so, and Lily would agree to meet. Otherwise they probably would never see each other again.
Once her hair was up, Lily conjured some little flowers and tucked them into different parts of her hairdo. Finished with that she got out her sensible black Mary Jane shoes and slipped them on. There was always the chance that they would have to run, or maybe even fight – as long as Alastor Moody was somewhere out there she would not feel completely at ease out and about – and she simply had not practised enough to be able to do any of that in high-heeled shoes.
Her wand was placed in the special slit of her handbag – all made by her, a prototype of a kind – and she checked if she had brought all the knick-knacks that were essential to any handbag packed sensibly.
Adding another handkerchief, Lily declared herself finished and took one last look in the mirror. "You can do this, Lily Evans. You have lived with this man for months now. You have been on dates, you have been to the movies. Nothing special about tonight."
She knew that wasn't actually true, the part with the nothing special, but she needed to stay calm so she said it anyway.
In the entry way she was met by a nervously shifting Tom. He had put on a short sleeved shirt in a light blue, dark grey slacks that matched the jacket draped over his arm, and a pair of shiny black shoes. Only the lack of a tie and the one undone button indicated that this was a casual affair and not something more formal.
He had put thought into this.
Which made Lily feel better instantly.
"Lily!" A smile lit up Tom's face the moment he spotted her. "You look beautiful. May I apparate us to our first destination?"
She took the few last steps over to him, accepting his arm, grinning at him. "So you found a cinema that's showing one of the films that sounded promising?"
"Yes. And I think we'll have fun with the film I picked. We should have enough time to get a few snacks and something to drink before we need to go in." Tom looked smug, not a look that she wasn't used to, but it was funny anyway. Who would have thought that the Dark Lord, famous for hating muggles, would look forward to visiting a muggle place for entertainment. "And I got myself some pounds, so we'll be able to pay."
"Then let's go." Lily tightened her grip on his arm and went with him when he started to turn in apparation.
They appeared again in a small secluded area, behind some big boxes and some garbage cans, but with a path that seemed to lead to an area that was illuminated by artificial light. It wasn't exactly dark yet, but the days were getting shorter now that midsummer had come and gone.
Tom looked at the wristwatch he had gotten from somewhere and clearly wasn't used to wearing, humming in contentment. "We do have half an hour until the film starts. Let's get to the front so we can buy the tickets."
And so they did. It felt as if they had hidden out of everyone's line of sight to snog and now were sneaking back to their friends and family hoping they wouldn't be caught. Lily grinned at herself and the teenage-schoolgirl mood she was in.
The cinema was decked out in movie posters, and young adults were all around, arriving or leaving, creating quite the commotion in front of the building. It was easy to slip into the crowd and make their way over to the ticket booth, where they didn't have to wait long until it was their turn.
"Two for Poltergeist please," Tom informed the teenager – probably nineteen – behind the glass.
"Nearer to the screen or further back?" the young man – maybe he was in his early twenties? It wasn't easy to say with him sitting there – asked, sounding rather bored.
"Box seats please." Tom handed over a few bills and picked up the two cardboard tickets as well as his change.
Together they walked deeper into the foyer, looking for the line leading to one of the two food stands. It looked as if almost everyone wanted something to eat and/or drink while watching their chosen film. The air was filled with the smell of fresh popcorn, sweet drinks, melting chocolate, and the chatter of many excited people.
A while later they both had their drinks – which they had chosen from the pictures on the labels as neither of them were up to date with muggle soft drinks – and a snack each. Lily had chosen some sugar-coated chocolate beans, and Tom had selected a small paper bag of salty popcorn. They searched out the correct room, let their tickets be clipped, and picked their way past other people to their seats.
Once they were settled into their places, jackets draped over the backrests of their seats, Lily leant over to Tom so he would hear her over the background music that was playing at a pretty high volume. "Did you pick this one because of Peeves?"
Tom chuckled and nodded. "I haven't looked into what exactly this one is about, but I did think of Peeves the moment I read the title. The fact that it is not running along with all the movies obviously aimed at children but noticeably later let me think that it might be some kind of horror movie. It's also possible that we will have a lot to laugh about with our radically different perspective." He didn't need to go into further detail, Lily did understand just fine and they shared a conspiratorial look. Shared secrets were a great thing to have. It had worked with Severus, and now with Tom it also created a sense of their belonging together. Even knowing why that was didn't diminish it one bit.
When the lights went down and the trailers and commercials started, they started holding hands, leaning towards each other. Soon they were holding onto each other for dear life. Some of the effects shown on the screen were close enough to the reality of encountering a poltergeist like Peeves that they were reminded of their own encounters with the eternal pest at Hogwarts. That people around them were screaming didn't help them relax.
When they finally emerged from the cinema, jackets now put on, their snack and drink containers left behind, empty, Tom took a shuddering breath. "I never had enough money to go to a cinema when I was young. Now I wish I had tried this sooner."
"That was really intense. The special effects have been taken to another level of realism entirely. It's been some time since I was able to go to the cinema, and back then I wouldn't have gone to a film like this one. My parents certainly wouldn't have allowed it."
Lily felt like skipping, she was so full of energy. "This was a great idea, Tom. Thank you." She tugged on his hand, turning them both so that they were facing each other, startling him enough that he didn't react right away which gave her the opportunity to give him a quick kiss. "We should repeat this some time."
Tom blinked and then a smile bright as the sun lit his face. "I'm pretty sure that I'll enjoy other movies just like this one. I'm even willing to try some other genres. Any recommendations?"
Lily laughed and started skipping for a few steps. "I'm not sure what might appeal to you. I suggest we keep an eye out on what will be released, maybe look up some reviews in the newspaper. I'm sure we'll find something we'll both have fun watching."
For a moment they walked down a street, searching for a good place to apparate from, when Tom chuckled and started to tell a story. "Sometime in my second or third year at Hogwarts. Peeves managed to delay everyone after breakfast by raining down various round objects in front of the doors into the Great Hall. Marbles, gobstones, the crystal balls from the divination classroom, even apples, oranges, and tomatoes. It was a mess. The gobstones were spewing their putrid liquid, all the fruits were quickly squashed into mush, the crystals broke, and everyone was being pushed into that because Peeves was throwing cold porridge at all those still in the hall. We were all covered in the mess, several people had small cuts, and bruises because others had fallen on them. I'm sure you can imagine."
Lily laughed trying to imagine how that would have looked.
"Abraxas looked especially ruffled." That broke all her restraint and she hung off Tom's arm, bending almost in half, laughing until tears were streaming from her eyes, sides aching. That image was hilarious.
She was still weakly chuckling when they reached a small park-like square. "How is it possible that you remember this many details, but not when it happened?"
Tom sighed. "I know that I had toast with orange marmalade and a glass of cold milk that morning, and that I was on my way to transfiguration. While the subject was interesting I never liked Professor Dumbledore, just as he never liked me. Other details have faded over time."
Now she had ruined the mood. Lily gave Tom's arm a squeeze, leaning into him in an attempt to convey her support. Being judged by someone for something you could not change or influence was unfair. For her it was only Petunia, and she had been a child. To be subjected to this treatment from an adult was so much worse.
"Let's apparate over to the restaurant. I would very much like to eat something more substantial than chocolate and popcorn."
Tom gave her a bow and swirled her around like they were dancing, startling another laugh out of her. "Your wish is my command." And without letting her come to a halt they turned further and seamlessly transitioned into apparating.
oooOOooo
Tom sat across from Lily in the restaurant he had picked and came to the conclusion that their date was going rather well so far. There was a slight blush high on her cheeks, her green eyes were sparkling with joy, her lips a smiling bow. He had enjoyed the movie and her hand in his, and on his arm, gripping so very hard that he was sure he would find bruises there in the morning.
"All those tiny things Peeves always did. Drawing naughty pictures on the blackboards in all the classrooms. And I'm not even sure all of them were done by him. It was a convenient excuse." Once he had started with retelling a story of what Peeves had done they had traded them back and forth, from time to time branching out into stories about the ghosts at home in Hogwarts castle.
They hadn't changed much since his own time at the school. And why would they? They were ghosts, they weren't known to change.
The waiter came over to collect their empty dishes. "I hope you liked your pasta?"
"It was wonderful," Lily said without pause, giving the young man a friendly smile. Tom congratulated himself once more on picking an Italian restaurant, it was a nice change from the usual English food, but not exotic enough to be a risk. What a date would that would have been if they had had not liked the food!
"Can I bring you something else?" The people here were very obliging and unobtrusive, and didn't remind him of the dangers of losing magic as house elves always did. It resulted in his being able to relax completely. He hadn't even known that he was tense almost all the time.
"I would like another glass of red wine, please. Do you want a dessert, Lily?"
"That's a good idea. I saw tiramisu on your menu, I would like a portion of that." If Tom hadn't been as good at reading people as he was, he might have become jealous about how friendly Lily was. But she wasn't flirting, she was just polite.
Once the waiter had gone, carrying their plates, Lily returned her full attention to him, and a foot nudged one of his under the table. "There were rumours that Professor Binns was already the one teaching History of Magic several decades in the past. Some even claimed he had taught for more than a hundred years. Some Ravenclaws did analyse his clothes against past fashion to refute that claim. I guess now is the opportunity to get confirmation that a ghost has been teaching at Hogwarts at least since the forties." The way she was playing with a lock of her hair while posing her question, that was certainly flirting.
The butterflies in his stomach certainly agreed.
"I can confirm that he was in his current state during the time I attended Hogwarts. And I agree with those unnamed Ravenclaws. On the basis of Professor Binns' clothes, he certainly did not die several hundred years in the past. But as we can't really see much detail, it's hard to decide if his clothes were embroidered for instance, and we are unable to see his underclothes, or what material everything was made of… Men's fashion didn't change all that radically in England or Great Britain during the eighteen hundreds, especially in the working class. I wouldn't expect a teacher to wear formal clothes in a classroom. Add to that the usual delay and inconsistency of magical fashion…" Tom caught himself rambling on and diving way too deep into historical fashion. He was here on a date to woo Lily Potter, not ramble on about some obscure topic and boring his date to death.
"Why did you stop?" Lily looked at him confused, her foot still moving against his own. "I never would have suspected such a deep interest in fashion, especially past fashion."
She wasn't bored? Tom was pretty sure that was a good sign. "While researching traditions and reasons why they did change, I came across everyday clothes. In some societies, parts of the clothes have religious significance. Or other meanings that are tied to various beliefs. Like colours chosen for mourning clothes, specific clothes that are only worn by married women, the same for children. Or how senators in the republic of Rome had specific red trim on their togas. Sadly the British magical community has been following muggle fashion a lot for a long time. Maybe we never had specific clothes that were filled with meaning but worn during everyday life. Or maybe those things were tied to amulets worn, or jewellery of different kinds. At least I have found bracelets, buttons, and closures made from metal, all adorned with runes and images. From different plants and flowers to animals, both magical and mundane."
The waiter came back and Tom stopped his lecture on dress history to let the man do his job. Lily smirked at him and Tom felt himself flush. He had done it again, started on a rant, talking about his interests and not including Lily in the conversation. Once she had her desert and he had his new glass of wine he opened his mouth to ask for forgiveness for his descent into lecturing, but Lily was faster.
"What about decoration on the cloth? Embroidery and incorporated patterns? Like the knitted sweaters of the islands? I would guess that the form of everyday clothes here would be primarily dictated by the requirements to keep people warm and comfortable in different weather conditions."
Tom blinked. Maybe she wasn't upset with him for his niche interests. "Most of those are along the same lines as the jewellery I found. Others are very abstract, and it's hard to decide if there's any meaning behind it without another source. Like stories or written accounts. Which are not all that common."
"Did you try tracking different patterns through their development? I guess things like stripes are probably easy to make in weaving. Not that I have a lot of experience. The last time I did anything like that was when I was around eight or so." Lily picked up the little spoon that had come with her tiramisu and started eating.
Tom took a sip of his wine – which was very good, even better than the elf-wines his followers from old families liked to brag with – and hummed. "That is not an avenue of research I have considered so far. I'll put it on my list of things to do. Wouldn't the world be great if I could concentrate on research into our past rather than bother with politics?"
He looked over to Lily who locked eyes with her and slowly pulled out the spoon from her mouth, obviously licking it clean without making a spectacle out of herself.
Tom took a deep breath and scolded his body to calm down. Subtle flirting was something he enjoyed and something that Lily was capable of doing. And judging by the light in her eyes and the very small grin, she knew it.
He narrowed his eyes at her, and took his glass back to his lips again, eyes locked with hers, sipping, before setting it back down.
"I agree that it would be nice if we all could live our lives free of worries. But then there certainly are people who would love to cause chaos and harm, or simply need excitement to be happy." She shrugged, eating another bite of her tiramisu in that sensual way.
"Still, from time to time I would love to simply go lose myself in research for a few days." Tom took another sip of wine, closing his eyes.
"When did you have some days off the last time? Maybe it's time to let yourself go into the library and not come out for a week except to eat?" Her suggestion did sound very good, which in itself was a point in favour of it.
"Maybe once the shop is sorted out and Severus is all set up there." Not that it was very likely that there would be a stretch of time anytime soon where he wouldn't be needed by any of his followers.
"Need I drag you there and lock you in?" The glare she send him was playful, and the way she tilted her head, the candle light shining on her hair, made him smile. There was concern there and friendly teasing. It was nice.
"No, you don't need to go to such extreme measure. Your suggestion has a lot of merit. Maybe I can take a few days off just before Hogwarts starts. There's still a lot to do."
"Did you get a notification from the Office of Inheritance yet?" The tiramisu was decimated methodically and with suggestive movements. She was trying to distract him.
And it was working.
His hand moved over the table, and her left hand met his, her right hand not pausing in her pursuit of devouring her dessert.
"No. Not yet, and it likely will take longer before they deign to inform me. Abraxas offered to speed things along, but currently that would more likely damage my reputation. Not that bribery is in any way frowned upon, mind you. It's as common a practice as nepotism."
She didn't look like she approved, but Tom hadn't expected her to. Gryffindors did stand by their principles, and Lily Evans had learned a solid set of values from her parents. People should reach places of significance on their own merits, because they were the best for a job, or had worked hard. At least she was aware that not everyone started out from the same place. The playing field wasn't level. Some people had more obstacles to overcome than others.
His peers at Hogwarts never had seemed to realise that the fact that they had been born rich, to important, old families, and grown up inside a culture that he'd had to learn when he was already eleven, had given them a leg-up. All they reached was automatically based on their own merit, not on the luck of being born in a privileged position.
"It's too much to hope that you'll change that, am I right?"
"Maybe providing better opportunities for the gifts of magic, and those with only one magical parent will help in bettering our community. Everything else will have to wait for later. Such changes aren't achieved quickly."
She waved her hand and rolled her eyes. "I know, I know. Nonetheless I'm frustrated by it all."
"Will you allow me to help you let go some of that frustration later?"
A slender hand caressed his own. "I think we can find something that we'll both enjoy and that will help with the frustration as well."
Tom was pretty sure that they would find something, but also that it wouldn't go as far as he would have liked it to go.
Probably better than going all in, just to have regrets later.
They arrived at home, arms flung around each other's waists, in high spirits from good food, wine, and a nice evening spent talking.
Before they had left, Tom had arranged for the elves to prepare the sitting room for them, so he could guide Lily into that room, where a fire was already lit in the fireplace, a bottle of champagne and two glasses waiting for them. No strawberries, though, that would be too much of a cliché for his tastes. "My lady." Tom bowed when he opened the door, letting Lily walk in first.
Her steps were confident as she walked over to the low table, picking up the bottle and pouring them each a glass. "One evening free. We should make the best of it."
Nodding, he stepped over to her, accepted his glass, and sank down onto the seettee "We should do at that, yes."
Lily sat down next to him, their legs brushing against each other. She slipped out of her shoes, raising her glass. "To an evening well spent in the company of a loved one." She blushed violently at that, making Tom's heart skip a beat.
A loved one? Maybe the relationship he wished for was easier to reach than he had thought. "To many more."
They both took a drink and then set the glasses down, turning to each other even more. A gasp escaped him when Lily managed to manoeuvrer herself in such a way that she ended up on his lap. Her arms came around his shoulders and neck, drawing him nearer.
"This was a very nice date. Thank you for letting me set the pace, I very much appreciate it." Leaning a tiny bit forward, she pressed a light kiss to his mouth, before breaking contact again. "Let's start slow. No removing of clothes, opening is fine. Hands below tops are allowed. Do you agree?"
When they first had met she hadn't set boundaries quite as clearly, but then they both had wanted a one-night-stand and not a longer relationship. Moving slowly required more clearly drawn lines and a definition of what slow meant exactly. "I agree." After that he didn't bother with a lot of words, leaning in to make the kisses a little more passionate. The flickering light did wonders for the atmosphere, and soon their hands started to wander. Wandless magic just directed by his desire slowly slipped open every single button of her blouse, revealing a nice bra, cream coloured and covered in lace.
His shirt was slowly opened by her agile fingers, and not once did they truly break their kiss, just changing angles and deepness, their tongues in almost constant contact.
Fingers met skin, her hands were warm and smooth on his torso and stomach, his shoulders and back, and her skin under his fingers felt wonderful. It had been a very long time since he had been this close to anyone. Now that he was here with Lily he was glad that he had stopped with his one-night-stands. This was so much better.
They both moaned, Tom's fingers ghosting over her breasts, eliciting a strong response from her. Remembering what had worked well on her the last time, Tom lightly pinched her nipples, delighted by her response.
Nails were dragged along his ribs, proving that Lily had a great memory as well. And with the way they were sitting there was not a shred of a doubt that she knew just how well he liked her treatment.
Slowly they worked each other up to a point that Tom would have liked to take it further. But they had agreed to adhere to some rules, so he broke their kiss, placed his forehead on her shoulder – the blouse had slid down during their snogging session – and breathed hard. "If we don't stop now, I fear we will not take it slow after all."
One hand was carding through his hair, Lily's breath coming in small gasps as well. "You're right. Can't go into this too fast. We'll get in over our heads." She sounded hesitant and as if she wasn't really sure any longer that it had been a good idea to move slowly.
Some re-arranging later they were sitting on the same settee, one of his legs in between Lily and the backrest, her back pressed into his chest and his arms folded around her middle. The position wasn't helping him calm down all that much, but it was comfortable and he wasn't ready to let her go just now.
It was some time later that they both came to decision to get up and go to bed, without speaking a word. It was late, or rather almost early, and they both were tired. Tom at least needed to go relieve himself, staying seated there, however nice it was, wasn't an option any longer.
They walked together until they reached the door to Lily's rooms. Tom was aware that it was kind of silly as they were already home and there was no reason that Lily couldn't walk here on her own. Nonetheless he felt it was rather polite to escort your date to their door. Usually the man was expected to escort the woman, and for a brief moment Tom wondered if there was some kind of protocol for couples or groups composed in a different manner than was considered normal in way too many places.
A kind if tired smile from Lily brought him back to the moment he was in. "Thank you again for a very nice evening, Tom."
"I have to thank you, Lily. It has been a long time since I was able to truly let go of all my masks." Getting to talk about his interests in such detail without having to censor himself for one reason or the other had been refreshing.
"We need to do this again." Lily placed her right hand on his chest and leant in to kiss him, leading to a kiss that stretched out quite a bit longer than she probably had planned. They parted with small moans, eyes filled with lust that would stay unfulfilled for now.
Or rather fulfilled in another manner than their bodies wanted. Tom at least did plan to do something about the energy the two of them had stoked into a steadily burning fire, he could only speculate if Lily would do the same.
She blushed, probably in reaction to his heated gaze, and he bowed in a very flamboyant way to bit her farewell. "Sleep well, my fair maiden. Until we see each other again."
She answered in a similar way, bowing with sweeping motions of her arms. "Until we see each other again. Sweet dreams."
Tom left with a spring in his step, entertaining arousing thoughts about Lily taking a shower and later doing something to handle the consequences of their activities of this evening. He was going to enjoy those thoughts a lot. Tonight there was no worry that he would stay up too long because his mind insisted on searching for solutions to one of his many problems.
oooOOooo
AN: This is my first attempt at writing a more explicit scene of intimate interaction, so please be gentle if you feel the need to comment on the quality.
I have never seen Poltergeist. Just searched for movies that came out sometime during the summer of 1982 and once I saw Poltergeist on that list I simply couldn't resist. Can you tell me if it is something I should watch? Usually I'm not much of a horror movie fan but even I have heard about this one.
First published 9thof April 2021
next chapter scheduled for the 14th of May 2021
Thanks to Jordre and Jake for helping to improve my spelling!