Chapter 72 - What's to Come

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In the weeks that followed, Mae did her best to maintain a level of discretion her father would appreciate.

With his memory spell, Tom had ingrained in each student's mind the idea to leave his daughter alone.

Free from her enemies' assaults, Mae went about her school days undisturbed.

Regardless, Tom's spell could not undo pure love or raw, spiteful hatred.

Slytherin's Quidditch captain threw Mae plenty of glares.

Scorpius balanced them by the many, dreamy gazes he cast at Mae.

While the rest of the semester slowly dwindled by, Scorpius followed her around like a lost pet hoping to gain its caregiver's attention.

James and Lily were at last able to enjoy their studies and their new friendships in peace.

James had made plenty of friends in Gryffindor, although Lily, Hugo, and Rose remained his best mates.

The four ate their meals together.

The four spent many evenings chatting in Gryffindor's Common Room, secure and cozy by the roaring fire.

Lily ignored Mae.

James did his best to dismiss his sister's vigilant, watchful gaze.

No matter how much he tried, however, during every meal that he ate in the Great Hall, he felt her emerald eyes burning into his back.

James' only respite came from knowing that Mae would graduate and be gone from the castle years before him.

That would give him endless amounts of days to enjoy Lily's company all on his own.

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Much to Harriet's dismay, the Children's Triplex encountered one unforeseen delay after another.

"This is ridiculous." She huffed one morning as she stood in Tom's office while he signed the approval paperwork to hire another set of magical builders, "This was supposed to take two weeks and here we are at three months! Hermione and Ron haven't even been by recently, they're too busy with their other jobs. Remember? I think I mentioned that to you last week."

"Oh, yes, sweetling, you did." Tom said as he gave Harriet a sympathetic frown, "I'm so terribly sorry, my darling. Projects like this often go awry.....Hopefully this set of builders will be able to finish the job."

"Hopefully!" Harriet exclaimed, "This is the fourth crew we'll have hired!"

As Tom handed her the signed paperwork, Harriet gladly took it and stormed out of his office, on a mission to hire another crew as soon as possible.

He sat quietly while he listened to his mate's footsteps echo into the distance until they died away completely once she exited the hallway.

As soon as he was certain his wife had disappeared from earshot, Tom slipped his wand out of his pocket and tapped its white tip twice against the dark wood of his desk.

Knock, knock, knock!

"Come in." He called with a smirk just before his office door swung open to reveal three of his best aides.

"You sent for us, sir?" The first one asked as the other two cowered behind him.

"My wife will be hiring another crew for her.....project." Tom said with a disgruntled scowl that quickly turned into a mischievous grin, "See that you run them off as well, won't you?"

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