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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Mark quickly became swept up in the excitement of the day as he, Lily, Hugo, and Rose all returned to Riddle manor after the ceremony concluded.

Lily had even driven the muggle car her parents had recently given her as a graduation present, a bit of an odd gift for a witch, but still well-intended.

The mansion was large enough that the young friends could amuse themselves with quiet conversation entirely separate from the adults who spent the evening chatting around the fireside in the main parlor downstairs.

"I gather you two will be married soon?" Hugo asked as he gave James and Lily a cocky smile, "Make sure you invite us to the wedding,"

"Of course we will!" Lily laughed, blatantly accepting her friend's playful teasing, "We're going to invite everyone……It'll be on a warm summer day….and there'll be lots of cake and music…..it'll be perfect!"

"You won't want to miss it." James added as he cast Hugo a smirk.

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Across the manor, his father wore a similar expression of smugness as he sat on the sofa with Harriet's hand in his as the hours long visit continued.

Merope and Tom senior gladly made conversation with the eldest Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.

The Trendells sat on the sofa opposite Tom and Harriet, next to Ron and Hermione.

"Can't believe it's already over," Harriet laughed as a silence finally settled between the friends, "It seems like just yesterday, I held him as a newborn."

"I know the feeling." Amelia Trendell concurred as she gave Harriet a sympathetic smile.

"It's odd the way time passes." Hermione nodded.

Ron sipped the wine in his goblet.

"There's no need to despair, sweetling." Tom junior added as he raised Harriet's hand to his lips, "We still have plenty of time to have more."

Gasps rang out in the room as everyone's eyes widened at Tom's statement.

"Have you gone mad?" Harriet chuckled.

"Why would you want to do that?" Ron scowled in confusion.

Hermione shot him a glare as she elbowed him in the ribs to stay quiet, but Amelia broke the awkward tension with a laugh, "Goodness, at this age? I can't imagine….."

Tom made the terrible error of at last letting his own unfair prejudice show.

"With all due respect," He nodded at his muggle guest, "Women born with magical blood can often breed well into their seventies. As my wife has decades to go until then, I in fact believe there's plenty of time left for us to raise more daughters and sons."

"Tom….." Harriet whispered in a biting hiss under her breath.

Hermione quickly changed the subject, eager to dispel the awkward tension of the moment that resulted from his rudeness.

While Amelia happily moved on to the next topic as the younger Weasleys engaged her, Mr. Trendell shot Tom junior an offended glare similar to Harriet's.

As much as she loved Tom, she could not bring herself to love the unapologetic discrimination that had echoed in his tone when he had proudly pointed out the superior differences between muggle women and witches to Amelia.

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If Tom believed he was going to get away with his behaviour, Harriet quickly showed him he was sorely mistaken after they returned to their bedchamber once the Trendells and Weasleys had left.

"I can't believe you!" Harriet huffed as soon as he closed the door.

"What have I done, sweetling?" Tom blinked.

Harriet made a noise of consternation in her throat before she stomped over to her vanity and began to remove her earrings.

"You were very rude tonight……What was that anyway? It's like you were trying to rub magical longevity in Amelia's face." She snapped.

"I was doing nothing of the sort," Tom frowned as he narrowed his eyes, "She misspoke and I corrected her, that's all."

Harriet stopped and frowned as she asked, "More children, more children, you've talked about that for years. Have you ever wondered if I'm interested in having more, Tom? After what happened to Euphemia?"

Tom kept his frown in the silent moment that followed, which prompted Harriet to laugh bitterly.

"Of course you haven't!" She chuckled as she passed a hand through her dark hair, "All you ever think about is yourself."

Before Tom could chase her or protest in his defence, Harriet quickly grabbed a towel, headed into the bathroom, and locked the door.

Intent on cleaning up in peace, she certainly wouldn't allow her husband the satisfaction of watching her undress.

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Downstairs, while Tom and Harriet engaged in their argument, their son and his fiancé were close to engaging in something much more pleasant.

On the floor of the room they all shared for the night, Hugo, Rose, and Mark all slept soundly, snug in their sleeping bags.

……But James and Lily had no interest in sleeping.

Lily had silently crept into James's sleeping bag and soon after, the couple's hands slipped over each other while their kiss intensified, as if they were racing towards some great moment.

"Are you really ready for this, my darling girl?" James asked as he slowed their affection enough to pull back and look into Lily's face.

"I've been ready for a long time, James." She whispered back, "I'm yours……and you're mine. What are we waiting for?"

James gasped as her small hands slipped down to paw at the button of his trousers.

He smiled as he playfully pulled her hands away and shook his head, "Let's at least go to my bed, can't we? What if they wake up?"

Lily glanced around in a subtle state of shock, as if she had forgotten Mark, Hugo, and Rose were in the room at all.

James inclined his head and pressed one more kiss against her lips as he silently wondered if she were on the verge of a heat.

His father had warned him her scent would sweeten.

James batted aside a wave of disappointment as he realized Lily smelled exactly the same.

Only eager, not fertile, the notion gave him an odd sense of relief that he wouldn't become a father quite yet as he deftly crawled out of the sleeping bag and helped Lily to her feet.

They looked at each other to exchange mutual, mischievous grins as they escaped that large room and began the long walk through the house that would lead them somewhere more accommodating.

As they made their way down the blackened hall and slyly slipped inside James's room, he pulled Lily close to him once he closed the door behind them both.

A thin beam of glistening moonlight trickled into the room from the window next to the bed.

In that single hint of glowing brightness, James paused for a moment to admire his darling's beauty before he leaned down and pressed a loving kiss to her lips.

There in the darkness, James and Lily fumbled their way to the bed.

There in the darkness, James and Lily finally fumbled their way to each other.

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Across the sea's roaring waves, while James and Lily embarked on the adventure that was physical love, Mae began her own quest.

The long, black nails of her affected hand rapped against the stone of her throne-like chair where she sat in her castle's great room.

With that single motion, in the house next to the Trendells, back in Little Hangleton, an old man's eyes cracked open as he woke suddenly.

"Bernard?" His wife asked, rousing from sleep once she felt his weight leave the bed as he stood up, "Where are you going?"

"I'll return." He mumbled as he shuffled out of the door.

"You haven't been in remission for more than a month!" His wife called, "You need your rest! The doctors all said that new treatment would take its toll!"

Bernard stumbled on like a dedicated soldier.

His staggering steps led him out of the house, down the street, and up the hill towards Riddle Estate.

He slipped through the gates easily once he lifted his hand towards them, just as Mae lifted her affected palm in her castle.

There in the darkness, Bernard scowled once he happened upon Lily's car.

There in the darkness, Mae smirked.