Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!

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Whatever chaos had been caused between Harriet and Tom by Mae's reappearance quickly became buried by the joy they each felt upon learning of their son's engagement.

"I made a bit of an understatement, didn't I?" Harriet asked as Tom stood behind her, hands wrapped around her waist as his lips pressed gentle kisses against her cheek after they read his letter, "James is like you too, in better ways than his sister though, I'll give him that."

Tom was too proud to engage in simple banter.

His heart close to bursting with pride, he gently raised a hand to turn Harriet's face towards his before he pressed his lips against hers,

Before Merope and Tom senior could come down for breakfast, Tom junior slyly scooped Harriet into his arms and carried her up the stairs.

"Aren't we going to tell your parents?" Harriet blinked, "Your mother will be thrilled!"

"Of course we are, sweetling," Tom nodded. He cast Harriet a seductive smirk as he hurriedly brought her down the hallway and into the decadent seclusion of their bedroom, "We just have a bit of celebrating to do first."

Harriet gasped as Tom closed and locked the door with a nod of his head.

Playfully, he tossed her onto the soft covers of her nest before he climbed over her.

As their lips met, Harriet marveled at his flawless use of magic.

She hadn't so much as seen him blink and yet, by the time Tom's lips met hers again, neither of them wore a single stitch of clothing.

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The entirety of wizarding Britain rejoiced when the happy announcement of James and Lily's engagement was widely reported.

The Minister and his wife soon found themselves flooded with congratulatory letters and a plethora of well-wishers.

Tom silently, grudgingly put his prejudice against the Trendells aside.

To celebrate the occasion, a large party was thrown by the Minister for his eldest son and future daughter-in-law, on the second Saturday of Hogwarts' winter recess.

Everyone from Ministry employees to foreign dignitaries to common witches and wizards who gladly wandered in from the streets came to the event.

The Ministry's halls overflowed with tables of food.

The noise level rose to a constant, grating buzzing as hundreds of conversations happened all at once.

James and Lily barely got to speak a word to each other the entire evening.

Whenever they found themselves alone at last, it seemed a new face always appeared to offer a smile and more glad words or unwanted advice.

Hours into the party, as one of magical Britain's most popular entertainment groups performed in the center of the Ministry's lobby for all to see, James sighed to himself.

As grateful as he was to his parents for the event, he would have been happier with a quiet evening at home, with only Lily and their families in attendance.

She had gotten away from him some time ago, after even Mark had been lost to the vast crowd.

James blinked as he suddenly felt a hand press against the blade of his right shoulder.

"Let's get out of here." Lily whispered in his ear.

An arrogant smirk spread across his handsome face as she slipped her hand into his and pulled him backwards.

While the live band and dancers performed for the delight of all those present, the guests of honour slipped away, down the abandoned halls of the Ministry, up the stairs, and into-

"We're going into Dad's office?" James laughed as Lily walked them through the open door.

"He said the Ministry was ours for the night." She giggled as she swept her red hair behind her ear.

"I always knew you were the perfect one for me, Lils." James grinned as he closed the door after they had both entered the room, "My sweet, naughty Lily. You've come a long way, you know. Two years ago, you'd have smacked me if I'd have suggested this."

"Oh, so you get to build bombs but I can't have a little fun?" She asked with a laugh.

The beauty of her radiant smile caught James off guard.

Through the drawn curtains of the room's closed window, the soft glow of lights from the party stories below provided the perfect frame for Lily's lovely face, her scarlet hair highlighted by that illuminated, temporary tiara.

"You're mine, Lily." James vowed as he walked towards her as she leaned back, her hands gripping Tom's desk.

As James came to stand in front of her, he smiled at the look of awestruck wonder on her face as her eyes flickered over him.

"See anything you like?" He chuckled.

Lily said nothing else as she placed a hand on his cheek as he bent forward.

While an explosion of magical entertainment erupted outside, their lips met.

Lily placed her hand on James's chest as he slipped his tongue past her lips while his arms snaked around her waist.

It had all been a perfect moment until the second James got a sample of his love.

Not the most rancid vomit or stinking pile of rotten meat would have tasted as foul.

Feeling as if he had been tricked into sipping evil itself, James withdrew and stumbled back, spitting all that he could out of his mouth, his stomach threatening to purge itself right on the green carpeting that lined his father's office floor.

Paranoia took hold of him quickly but as he looked at Lily's shifting face, he couldn't help but hold onto a relieved sense of unfortunate justification.

Her red hair disappeared.

Lily's face, though beautiful on its own, lost all of its earthly flaws, only to give way and reveal the impossibly perfect visage of the one James both hated and feared most.

"Y-You…………..!" He gasped.

"Oh, brother, don't look at me that way." Mae sighed as she watched him fall to his knees and start to retch, "We were getting on so well a moment ago, can't it last a bit longer? If you really want to look at her instead, I'll put the disguise back on. That should mean something to you…….I wouldn't do it for just anyone, you know."

"What are you doing here?!" James hissed, "Why have you come?"

Mae frowned as she looked over at him, the expression oddly fitting for her perfect face.

"I've come to remind you, my dear brother…….that you and I are the same." She said as she slipped off the desk and began to stalk towards him.

James scowled.

He gnashed his teeth as she came closer.

Closer……

As Mae lifted her hands as if to cup his face, James prepared to slap her away, but a sudden knock at the door freed him from his conflict.

"...James?" Lily called, "James, love, are you in there?"

James looked over as he heard Lily call, "Alohomora!"

As soon as Mae heard the blast that followed, she quickly took her leave.

Lily opened the door to find her alpha standing in the middle of the room, his handsome face panic-stricken.

"James…..?" She asked nervously, "...What is it?...What's wrong?"

He swallowed dryly as he contemplated what to do next.

Should he tell his darling what had happened?

How could he?

A wave of disgust rolled over him as he contemplated the disgusting act his despicable sister had tricked him into as he remembered the purpose of the evening.

No, James would not allow the villainess to ruin the occasion for Lily, it wouldn't be fair.

"Nothing." He said as he shook his head and passed a hand through his dark hair, "Nothing, Lils, come on, let's go back. I just needed some air for a moment."

As he rushed across the floor of his father's office, took Lily's hand, and led her back to the party, a saddedned pout manifested on her plump lips.

Moments later, she and James quickly greeted the next person who came to congratulate them, but in the back of her mind, she couldn't let go of her own disappointment.

Lily had the distinct feeling that her beloved had just lied to her.

An omega's instincts were rarely wrong.