At breakfast, James comes in wearing a snake across his shoulders like a shawl. No one makes any comment because they've all gotten used to James being the favourite human in the house despite being the only one who doesn't know Parseltongue.

Halfway through eating, Voldemort lowers his newspaper and looks down the table at Harry. "You'll be coming with me today, a brief house visit."

"When are we going?" James asks.

"Just Harry," Voldemort corrects. "I need someone socially awkward."

"Thanks," Harry mutters.

"I can fake it well enough," Tom argues.

Voldemort raises an eyebrow. "First you complain when I take you out, now you complain when I don't."

"It depends on how politically important the meeting is," Tom claims because he doesn't like wasting his time on people when it won't get him anything.

"I will be an hour at most having tea with her, talking about how much she misses her son since he's away playing foreign affairs minister, while Harry sits in the corner and looks shy so she'll dote on him."

Tom sits back. "Have fun, Harry."

Harry is confused. "Wait, why are you meeting with sad mothers?"

"So when the son comes back, she'll tell him all about my visit," Voldemort explains. "You do understand what a threat is, don't you?"

"I always thought you'd be more…explicit," Harry admits.

"Efficient is the word you're looking for," Voldemort says. "Surprisingly, I'm ahead of schedule even while playing nice, and with far greater good publicity." He looks over the three of them. "Children really do change a man," he says, amused.

Harry rolls his eyes. "When are we going?"

"In three hours."

Three and a half hours later, Tom and James are blasted four meters in the air and down a short but steep hill in the forest while trying to hunt for the manor's ward stone so they can mess with it.

The ward stone did not like them touching it. They landed on a quickly cast cushioning charm but that softened the ground and not the large rocks.

"You are the stupidest smart person I know," Tom accuses, sitting up against a tree, bare foot in James' lap and still pissed off because James was the one who touched the ward stone without proper protections in place, for some reason thinking a Dark Lord's warding will be nice.

"Aww, you think I'm smart?" James says happily as he numbs the area and starts running diagnostics on the foot since Tom can't walk on it.

"Let me correct myself; you're an irreversible idiot," Tom deadpans.

"Ah, there's the Tom I know and love," James laughs. "You broke a bone, the outside bend here, leading to the little toe. Moony's done it to himself like twice now, it's the easiest bone to break in the foot."

James wiggles his wand. "I can do the spell to move the bone back into place -it broke diagonal but then the halves shifted away- except it's going to hurt like a bitch and you might want to be medicated for it. We'll need a potion to reseal the bone properly after."

"If you do the spell will I be able to walk on it?" Tom asks after a moment to think. He knows several healing spells but he's never cast one before -because he doesn't run around touching ward stones- and isn't willing to test it on himself if James is so certain he can deal with it.

"Oh absolutely not, you're foot is broken," James answers immediately.

"So you're going to run and get the potions while I sit out here?" Tom asks sceptically.

As if on cue, it starts raining lightly, but the clouds overhead mean it'll get wetter very shortly. Tom sighs and cast a wide umbrella then throws around drying and cleaning charms on both of them while he's at it.

"I can levitate you back," James offers.

"I would rather break my other foot."

"Piggyback ride?"

"I would rather break your foot."

James throws up his arms. "What do you want from me, Tom?!"

"A dignified way to get back because it's going to be twenty minutes in the rain and slippery mud and my foot bloody hurts," Tom grits out.

James adds more numbing charms, something for the swelling, a jello-like cast around the foot to hold it still and then an additional barrier in case Tom hits it on anything.

"I could transfigure you a crutch," James offers. "Or we could do a sled thing or…" James hesitates. "Do you know about animagi?"

"Yes, Voldemort told me you could transform when we had a discussion on animagi recently and he used you as an example," Tom says because while Harry did write to the diary about the Marauders adventures, he never mentioned animagi. Tom had to learn from Voldemort.

"Why does Voldemort know I'm a…" James trails off, not remembering ever telling or demonstrating to the man. "Whatever, you can ride on Prongs," he offers because if Tom knows then there's no point hiding it now.

Tom is confused. "Who?"

"Wait, you don't know?"

"I know you're an animagus, I didn't know you named the animal. Why would you name it when it is you?"

"Oh, it's a whole story," James begins excitedly.

"I'd love to hear it, while we're on the way back," Tom interrupts.

"But I can't talk as a deer."

"I'm aware."

Harry and Voldemort arrive back at the manor to see Prongs walking out of the forest, Tom riding on his new steed with one foot bare and wrapped in something to keep it still, an invisible umbrella over them.

Tom pulls on an antler to redirect the deer and Prongs changes direction, trotting up to them and turning slightly to present them with Tom's side that has the injured foot.

"How did you do that to yourself?" Harry asks in curiosity.

"Ask James," Tom mutters. "Sorry, ask Prongs here."

Prongs bleats, but no noise comes out since Tom silenced him, because yes he did explain the entire story on the way back and Tom is getting sick of deer noises.

.

A/N: I swear this fic is going somewhere, sort of, winter holidays are coming up.

I've posted a few more HP fics if you want to check them out; A Marauder mermaid one, and time travel with way too many Dark Lords involved.