AN: I hope you are well wherever you are. Times are more interesting then I ever wanted to experience and I guess many of you feel the same. Hopefully a little reading can get your mind of off things for a while.
oooOOooo
Summer starts
The whole school, students and professors, had gathered in this remote corner of the grounds where an old circle of stones were located.
Tom had found it some while ago and had cleared it of invasive species together with Professor Sprout. He had told her that he suspected some students had placed them there as they were expensive potion ingredients, which were not easily acquired. But as they endangered the natural balance they had no place being in a sacred place.
Today the air was filled with the scent of blooming flowers, the buzzing of insects, and the song of birds in the nearby trees and under brush.
Lily like many of the others was barefoot, with the light summer dress she had picked out as soon as she had realised what a warm day this would be.
The grass felt cool beneath her feet and she felt very alive.
Harry was sitting nearby, pulling grass and flowers up, getting grass stains all over his clothes.
"Welcome to all of you gathered here to celebrate the end of another year of learning Magic." Tom effortlessly managed to get everyone to settle down and listen, the attention of everyone present shifting to him.
"For some of you it was the first year at Hogwarts, some starting after they just had learned they had been born of the gift of Magic." Lily watched as her love – soon to be husband – let his eyes wander over the faces of the youngest students.
"For some it was the last year of studies here at Hogwarts. This day marking the transition from being a young student into adulthood, venturing out into the wider world to find their way in our community."
This time the NEWT students were Tom's focus. Some of them looked a little hangover clearly having celebrated rather spirited the night before. Lily was sure this tradition hadn't changed one bit since she had finished her NEWTs and probably many decades – if not longer – before that.
"But for most of you there will be another year after summer is over."
Tom extended his arms to the left and right, most likely in a gesture of blessing, prompting Harry to run at him with a happy little shriek.
Without missing a beat Tom bend down and swept Harry up into his arms, spinning around, Harry's legs being thrown back. This well practised move caused everyone to laugh. Lily included.
The few students who had been a little tense at being here – not that this was a mandatory activity as far as the faculty was concerned, but peer pressure was a thing – relaxed at this sign of the whole being not as serious as they clearly had expected it to be.
"As I was saying," Tom continued after the spinning was concluded to Harry's satisfaction and their son settled comfortably on Tom's hip. "May Magic guide your steps on your journey in this world."
Lily wasn't sure if she imagined it or if there really was a little surge of some energy going through her from the bottom of her feed all the way up to her head, leaving her ears tingling.
There was no time to pounder this odd sensation more because Tom spoke up once again. "Now off you go, celebrate, dance, laze around! Until later for the Leaving Feast!" A cheer went through the crowed and the students left in groups, chattering excitedly.
"Want swim!" Harry demanded as Lily walked up to her two boys. That didn't sound right, Tom was definitely a man, but in the end they were her two.
"And where do you want to swim, Harry?" Tom had a happy little smile on his face, walking towards Lily so they met in the middle and turned to follow the others out of the circle.
"Lake, want swim lake." Harry's sentences were getting more complicated each week, day even. But a lot of the time articles and prepositions were still missing.
"We will need swimming clothes and towels if we want to swim in the lake." She explained to her impatient toddler. Swimming sounded like just the thing she would love to do now.
"Then let's go to get what we need." Tom decided, making Harry very happy.
It didn't take long for them to reach the lake, all of them in clothes suitable for swimming, towels to dry them self with and to place on the lake shore to sit and lay on.
Lily had brought a book which let to her reading, resting on her stomach, legs in the air, and the sun on her back.
The meowing of a cat brought Lily out of her deep concentration on her book – Runes from all over the African continent and their application in cooling enchantments – looking at the feline sitting only a short distance away.
The square patter around the cat's eyes gave away her identity. "Minerva, what brings you down here as a cat?" Maybe she was here to enjoy the sun? Lily was sure curling up in cat form would be a lot more comfortable than stretching out as a human. In her experience cats found a nice spot everywhere.
Obviously there was no way for her to answer Lily's question in her cat form.
When Minerva the cat turned her head around as if checking if anyone was close, Lily put a thin ribbon into the book to mark her place and moved herself around until she sat with her legs crossed before herself.
"Minerva you make me worry."
The cat shimmered and a moment later Minerva sat where the cat had been. "That is not my intention."
An unbidden thought of how Lily would like to be an animagus – it should have been animaga but Wizarding Britain wasn't bothering with proper Latin anyway – just like Minerva, Sev, Peter, and Sirius.
"I," Minerva started obviously unsure how to say whatever she had come here to say. "Are you sure?"
Lily felt like rolling her eyes and heaving a sigh. Not that either would be helpful right now.
"That depends on what exactly you're talking about." Lily wasn't about to make this easier for Minerva. If she wanted to talk about the upcoming wedding – again – she would have to say it out loud.
"Are you sure you want to marry him?" Minerva sounded almost desperate, pleading with Lily to reconsider.
"Yes." Lily would have loved to leave it at that, because it was her decision and no one got to demand an explanation.
But Minerva didn't let it be. "Don't you care that he has killed? Murdered people?" As if Lily wasn't aware of Tom's actions in the past and present.
"And how many have been killed by Aurors? Members of the Order?" Lily gave Minerva a hard look, making her former professor look away.
"I would wish that you could accept my decision, Minerva. I'm an adult. I have been married before. I'm a mother. It is my life. So back off."
Lily was done with being kind and understanding. She wasn't obligated to explain her choices to everyone doubting her. It had taken too long for her to realise that, but it had helped her feel better.
With a curt nod, Minerva got up, turned, transformed into her cat form and left.
Happy exclamations from the lake drew Lily's attention to her son and the man she would marry before summer was over.
She put Minerva and her insistent nagging out of her mind and simply enjoyed the moment.
oooOOooo
"I don't understand you."
Tom turned around, where he as sitting on a low dry stone wall in the shade of one of the big olive trees, to see Remus Lupin walking towards him.
As he didn't know what to say to that statement Tom stayed silent, turning back around to watch Harry and Lily walking around the olive trees looking for beetles. He smiled at the enthusiasm Harry was displaying. He had developed a fascination with all kind of insects and spiders a week ago and was now looking for them all over the place.
Tom vaguely remembered that most children at Wools had found entertainment in searching for little bugs. Not that there had been a lot to play with anyway.
"I don't understand you at all Riddle."
"I did hear you the first time, Lupin." Tom said in response, not bothering to turn around. If the man wanted to start a conversation, or asked something he would have to be a lot clearer. From Tom's perspective he was not obligated to explain himself to a man he was not remotely close with.
Remus Lupin had been James Potter's friend. Not Lily's. Not really. And just because they had decided to spend a part of their summer before the wedding on this Potter property the connection to the man taking care of it did not become closer.
"You are a Dark Lord hell bend on taking over the government. But you don't take the position of Minister." Lupin sounded more confused than accusatory and Tom was content with listening.
"The biggest part of your movement is build on blood purity and its superiority. And here you are about to marry a muggleborn."
Lupin fell silent. Probably waiting for Tom to react in any way.
But he chose to listen to Harry's happy exclamations over another bug he needed to show to Lily right this moment.
Lupin huffed and took a big step over the wall. "Are you going to ignore me?"
"What do you want me to do, Lupin?" As the man didn't seem to be inclined to leave any time soon, Tom turned to him with an unimpressed look.
That made the werwolf sputter. Seemed as if hadn't actually thought that far.
Tom turned back with a sigh. Should he explain? Would that accomplish something? Maybe it would. At least Lily would be not irritated with him for not even trying.
"You've got it all backwards." Not exactly true. He had planned to overturn or at least overtake the Ministry.
Lupin made a small disbelieving sound but didn't say anything.
"Why should I bog myself down with the Minister's position? Tedious beyond belief that one. Lucius and Abraxas are doing a fine job. And I can concentrate on more important matters." Like his family and shaping the minds of the young which was important for Magic not taking her gift away from them.
"And true, not only a few of my," what to call them, "followers believed in the superiority of pure blood. They have been made aware of reality by now." Bella getting pregnant after letting go of her hatred and working on those ingrained believes had done wonders for others to follow. The wish for children was a strong motivator for more than a few people.
They both stayed silent for a while after that. Tom content to watch his soon to be wife and son playing catch with Harry and Lily taking turns in who was the one chasing the other. The trees and their roots were an added challenge in this.
Tom looked around at the olive trees and how they were older and more naturally grow than the modern plantations made to accommodate machinery to harvest the olives. It was a place filled with wild uncontrolled, untamed magic. A truly magical place.
Sirius has tried to contact me again." There was a resigned sadness in Lupins voice. "He's still trying to convince me to join the group of extremists he has fallen in with." Tom gave a humming sound to indicate he was listening and to encourage Lupin to continue speaking.
"I've no idea what has come over him." Lupin shook his head. "Attacking old places of worship. He couldn't explain to me why exactly they were doing so. He was rambling something about freeing magic, or freeing magic users? From some oppression. It didn't make much sense."
"That sounds as if he wasn't able to explain who was oppressing whom by what means?"
"In essence." Lupin agreed.
"Well, I guess I should look over the wards then. I'm sure they are old enough to have developed some quirks, but having a look hasn't done any harm so far."
Lupin hummed and then chuckled. "Harry seems to have fun."
"He has discovered the existence of bugs which have proven to be a source of a lot of fun."
Lupin snorted, making Tom smile. Winning Lupin over might be easier than thought and a good investment. Certainly better than ignoring the man.
Lily ran towards them, Harry chasing her, a grin on her face. Once she reached them she sat down on the wall heavily, out of breath.
"Is one of you up to playing chase? Harry seems to have endless energy today."
"I would like to run around a bit." Lupin offered. "If you want to play with me Harry?" Their little boy had reached them and was jumping up and down in place.
"Yes!" And off Harry was running again, laughing.
With a wave back at both Lily and him, Lupin took off after Harry calling out to him that he would catch him.
Lily leaned closer into Tom letting her head rest on his shoulder. "It's wonderful here."
"That it is." Tom agreed with her, picking up one of her hands with his, holding it gently. "I'm glad you had the idea to spend a few weeks here."
"I did not have the desire to watch the house elves going into a frenzy preparing the house and garden for the wedding."
Tom had to agree, the house elves were a great help, but they made him still uneasy.
Remus Lupin and Harry were running past again, making Tom feeling content and happy. "Let's go inside and start writing those invitations." Wedding invitations needed to be written by hand for at least those the closest to the people to be married, if one wanted to follow the mostly unwritten traditions.
Not that it had any magical significance. But this was one of those cultural traditions that everyone of a certain standing did follow as it was a marker of how cultured one was.
"At least we don't have a lot of extended family we don't like. I would hate to write an invitation to great-aunt told-you-so, or estranged cousin talks-too-much."
Tom laughed at her exaggerated voice and expression. "True." Tom said linking his arm with hers. "There are a few friends, like Abraxas and his family, and old Slughorn, for whom I absolutely have to write an invitation by hand. Maybe a few others among my followers as well as the whole faculty."
"I want to write one for Severus and Regulus. The Finch-Fletchley family and the Longbottoms…" She groaned. "That are still a lot of invitations to write."
"Don't despair, love. All the others can be done with charms and will be done in no time at all."
"And with Remus taking care of Harry we might be even faster." Tom nodded in agreement and the two of them made their way into the house to get on those invitations.
oooOOooo
AN: If I have learned anything in the last two years it is that humans are able to get entangled in worlds and views that are largely incomprehensible to me. Those who want power through control over others stop at nothing to get it. And manipulation to reach that has been done by the same steps multiple times in the past.
I don't plan to explain the motivations and goals behind that not named extremists group. The undefined pointlessness is the point.
First published on 8th of July 2022
Next chapter scheduled for 12th of August 2022
