Anne was sitting out side the ice cream parlour, in a busy Diagon Ally. She had chosen to meet Tessa in a crowded place with DJ. She knew that she would not turn ugly in front of her son. She smiled at the happy boy ion her lap and stroked his hair. He was busy playing with a few toys she had brought along. Anne sat there tapping her fingers thinking about what she was going to say.

Anne knew that she had to keep this quick. Tessa's father was ill and dying. She wished she knew where Eva was, she had cured her cancer. Anne wanted to help Tessa. Losing a parent was hard no matter when you lost them. She had lost her mother, father and her temporary father. She knew that it would be harder on Tessa then it was on her. She had seen it coming.

Anne started to run possible conversations in her mind. 'Hey Tessa I just wanted to let you know I was marrying Damien.' Well that was forward. She might do that. She wasn't one for beating around the bush. Anne went back to tapping her fingers staring off into space.

Tessa had brought Lily with her. It was a day that she was going to get to spend with her little girl. She had walked into the ice cream parlor. Tessa then went and got Lily a chocolate ice cream cone. This would keep her busy while she was talking to Anne. Tessa was going to do her best not to get angry.

She had been spending most of her time with her father. So she was going to tell Damien that if he wanted he could take Lily for just a little bit longer. This was going to give him some more time with her and give Tessa a break. She knew that she would have to get used to not having Lily all of the time.

Tessa then walked over to Anne. She then had Lily sitting beside of her. But she was enjoying her ice cream cone to care what was going on. Tessa looked like she hadn't be getting much sleep. “ Hello Anne.”

Anne smiled at Tessa. She did feel bad for her. Everyone deserved to be happy. She noticed she didn't look very good. she was glad Damien was taking care of Lily some of the time. DJ seemed to not know the new person and looked at the with interest. He then spotted Lily and tapped Anne. "Mama, leelee." He said looking at the little girl. He had just learned to say her name.

"Hello Tessa, this is DJ my son." she said. "How is your father doing." She asked.

Anne shook herself. She need to come out and say it. Like a band aid rip it off fast. "Tessa me and Damien are getting married." She said looking at DJ.

Tessa smiled as she looked at Anne. She knew that she had to be civil in front of Lily. Tessa didn't want to teach her bad habits. And she didn’t' want her to turn out like she did her first year at Hogwarts. “ Hello Anne.” She was still smiling as she looked at DJ. “ Why hello there. Oh my father has his good and bad days.”

She was a little shocked because it happened all of the sudden. But she continued to smiled. “ I am happy for you.” Even thought she was upset and crying on the inside.

Anne sighed and looked at Tessa. "I'm sorry Tessa. It was never my intention to hurt you." She said sadly.

"I always liked you, you seemed nice. I did try to be there for you. I hate that Hugo and Kat got to you." She Smiling sadly.

"Lily is great by the way." She said trying to lighten the mood. "Tessa you deserve to be happy, we all do." She said looking at the young woman.

Tessa smiled as she looked at Anne. She wanted to say something, but Lily was with her. And she wasn't going to teach her any words that she shouldn't know. “ Yes I know that, it is really nobody fault.”

“ I had always forgiven you for what happened. I didn't say it out loud. And the reason I never told Damien about Lily was that I was scared that Hugo and Kat would find out.”

She smiled when Anne started to talk about Lily. “ Oh thank you. She has been a handful.” Tessa sighed but she made sure that Lily was busy. “ I am never meant to be happy, my past shows that.”

Anne nodded. She didn't say much. When Tessa brought up Hugo she felt the need to tell her. She cast a charm so the kids wouldn't hear them.

"You don't need to worry about Hugo. You probably never did. You know when I vanished. Well Hugo took me. He had me for seven years." She looked at the child in her lap, and sighed. "He's not going to be bothering us any more." She told her with confidence.

Anne nodded. "Aren't they all." She said smiling fondly at the children. "Every one can be happy. Just give it time. Time changes everything. You never know what will happen the future is unwritten." she told her wisely

Tessa sighed. “ That is good that I don't have to worry about him. I will do anything and everything to protect Lily and make sure that never has to happen to her.” But she was glad that she could live without him coming back. Even though it was just once she hated Kat.

She smiled. “ I know Lily found my old school books and decided that she was going to read them. I been letting her play with them, she keeps telling me she wants to be a professor one day.” Tessa laughed. “ Don't I know that, remember I was in divination with Professor Slytherin too.”

Anne smiled sadly, she then removed the spell from the kids. "Yes I know what that is like I will do anything for DJ." She said looking at her son. "Don't worry I'll look out for Lily as well If Kat plans to get near you or her I will let you know." She reassured her.

"Yeah, I saw. she was reading it when she got away from her nanny. I might have given her that Idea. I told her I was the divination professor." Anne smiled. "Ya I remember. It was my favourite class. I had a bit of an unfair advantage, me being a seer and all." She laughed

She smiled a little bit. “ Thank you Anne. Lily has been and will always be my world. She is so smart for her age. I know that she will be the brightest witch in her class when she attends Hogwarts.”

Tessa laughed. “ No you didn't, she thought of it when she found all my books. But you may have given her the idea of being the divination professor. I liked that class too, but I learned so much from Cain.”

Anne smiled. "How could she not be with her mother and father. " She said. She could see that the little girl was smart.

"I never met Cain. I had to much on me." She sighed. she would have liked to meet him at some point.

Anne checked her watch. She needed to go. DJ needed a nap, she needed to pack and cook. She hated being so busy.

"I'm sorry but I have to run. I know I'm not your favourite person but if you need me I'm here." she said standing up. DJ chose that moment to yawn. "It looks like he needs a nap. You need anything I'm just an owl away. Don't worry happiness will come, it always does." She told her giving her a look. She knew Tessa would be happy at some point.

Tessa laughed. “ I wasn't that smart in school. She got all of her smarts from Damien.”

“ I got to meet him. Lolly would take me down to the forest, and he would teach me everything he knows.” She then noticed that Anne was checking her water. Tessa knew that is was getting close to Lily's nap time.

She smiled a little bit. “ Don't be, I have to get Lily home and feed her before I put her down for a nap.” Tessa was still smiling. “ I will remember that, and since you are getting married to Damien. You will be Lily stepmother. And I want things to work out better for her.” She sighed as she looked at Lily. “ She is all the happiness I need. And it will be better when I get my new house.”

Anne smiled at Tessa. "Well one thing we can do is make a good life for our children. I promise you that when Lily is in my care, I will protect her with my life. But know this no one can replace you." She said smiling at Tessa. They may never be best friends but they could get along. They had both grown up.

Anne walked to the leaky cauldron and flooed home. She had had a nice time with Tessa. It had gone better than she thought.

Tessa smiled. “ That is good to know. I don't have to worry about Lily when Damien has her.” She was still smiling. “ I know that nobody could replace me.”

She then grabbed Lily's hand and left.