The Journey Cycle: pt 3: Australia *pt 3 complete*

A big huge thankyou to all of you who left stars and/or reviews for the end of book 2.


Series Title: The Journey Cycle

Novel Title: Part Three: Australia

Novel Summary: After the sudden departure of Severus and Harry’s new New Zealand friends and the discoveries that Harry made about them, they seize an opportunity to delve more deeply into the clandestine organisation to which their friends belong – the same as that of Guillermo de Santos, the new Dark Lord.

On the run again after yet another death associated with de Santos, they end up in Australia visiting the friends they made on Crete. If Harry thought his fame was bad, it’s nothing on the fame of Julia and her brother Jon and the strange twilight world they are forced to live in.

During their stay, they are introduced to the wizarding worlds best kept secret but then a chance encounter with a policeman on a remote south-western Australian road opens up a whole new can of worms, making Severus and Harry realise the scope of how big this conspiracy might actually be…….

Series Summary: A new global conspiracy is uncovered as they journey and soon, Harry and his friends are deeply embroiled in plots and machinations that take them right around the world and even beyond it……

Who is this new Dark Lord and what is his connection to a global clandestine muggle organisation? What is the relationship between one of their new friends and Harry’s long-dead godfather? The connection between a fellow traveller on the road and a former staff member of Hogwarts? Just what was the final curse that Voldemort cast? And what was the mysterious illness that took Severus and Harry’s previous lovers from them in the prime of their lives? Will this be Harry’s battle once more?

Read on and see……

For those of you squicked by watersports, I have started and ended all such scenes thus: -

~~~~~~~~WS~~~~~~~~~

To enable you to pass them by without losing the essential flow of the story.

Character death (Snape/Harry): Everyone dies!! Eventually!!!

A/N: A note on spoilers: This is reasonably canon-compliant up to and including book six and all these novels will return sometimes to any and all of them

This is a series, therefore these pieces must be read in order, they will make little sense otherwise as the action continues from book to book.

So, make a cup of coffee and a snack, turn off the phones and continue on the next part of…..

The Journey

1

London

They unbound their guests and offered them tea. The two men still seemed unsure but they were cowed by the urgency plain in the voices of the two who questioned them. Jed Copeland was a bit panicked that what had started out for him as a lesson in knowing himself and his psyche had turned into a major threat to himself and the man he loved, a certain Xavier Gaius Sirius Samuels-Black. When he had made the choice to enter the Freemasons Lodge as a younger man, little did he realise the repercussions that choice would have. He wished he had taken up Buddhism instead.

Now here they were on the other side of the globe from their home in New Zealand and Sammy Black was in his ancestral home wishing fervently that he had never heard of witches and wizards, wishing he was in his garden playing with Paddy, his dog. This was a bloody weird way to treat so-called magical royalty and he was more than a mite pissed off. He had only joined the Lodge with his lover to obtain more business and by and large it had worked. Being ‘on the square’ definitely had it’s advantages but right now it seemed more of a hindrance than a help.

Sammy had liked the frizzy haired woman who was now drilling them with questions even though she had dropped on them from nowhere visiting the guests they had been entertaining. The woman that had told both of them that they were wizards. The woman that was curtailing their freedom currently by insisting that they not visit their respective Lodges while in England. He was starting to revise his opinion of her now she was back on home turf. He found many of her questions deeply searching and he wasn’t sure he wanted to keep answering but try as he might, the answers kept bubbling out of them both.

Eventually, her and the big red-haired guy seemed to be satisfied with their replies and the tension in the room eased somewhat. The big fellow introduced himself as ‘Ron’ and they were obviously very fond of Harry and his husband. They explained about this new Dark Lord and his connection to the two of them and Sammy’s eyes widened, “You mean, he’s a Knight of Malta? Same as we are?” The two nodded, “That was the reason for all the questions, I’m afraid”, the redhead replied genially, “Sorry about that, mate, but we had to know if you were connected in any way, you can understand, can’t you?”

They were less than pleased but both could see their point and grudgingly admitted it. “So what happens now?” Jed asked. Hermione smiled, “Well, Auror Shacklebolt will be here tomorrow afternoon, he’s the chap who wants to train you, so I suggest maybe a meal and an early night tonight. Kingsley will put you through your paces and we need to get you a wand, Jed, in the morning. If you like, we can put you up here, but you didn’t like the sound of it, so we could find you an hotel if you prefer. There’s no electricity here but you can do any amount of magic if you wish, the place is Unplottable”. Sammy grinned at her, “Ah, yes, all very well but as I can do more than Summon cushions at the moment, perhaps somewhere where I can plug my shaver in would be more of an advantage”.

Hermione’s laugh pealed out, “No problem. We’ll find something a bit more modern”. Ron shrugged, “If you like, you can take mine and Ollie’s spare room. We live just outside the designated magical zone so we have electricity and the phone and stuff. Sometimes I wish wizardkind would take it’s head from it’s collective arse and move with the times a bit. You’ll see what I mean when we go to Diagon Alley in the morning. The wizarding world is very stuck in the nineteenth century. Quite romantic sometimes but a bloody pain in the arse most of the time. Fuck knows how I’d handle life without my mobile”. Hermione had to bite back a snigger. She had been hassling Ron to get with the programme for many years and bought him the only mobile phone he had ever owned and now here he was boasting of his familiarity with technology. She rolled her eyes but stayed silent.

Jed and Sammy shared glances and Jed was the first to speak, “Just a thought but how did you find us?” he asked Ron. Ron grinned, “Simple. You blood-bonded with Hermione and she set a tracking spell on you. All we had to do was speak her Apparation signature as we Apparated and we turned up just as you did. Magic’s a bloody tricky bugger at times”. Jed looked down at himself, “Where? I can’t see anything”. Even the small team of Aurors still present sniggered at this one. Hermione rose and passed her wand over Jed’s head and a dull blue glow appeared around him that he could see. “There you are, my Apparation signature. Anyone who knows my code could be with you in an instant. Very useful if you are fighting a war and you are separated from your allies”. It was then that Jed recalled that these two at least were seasoned war veterans as well as very powerful magicals. The thought was humbling. These people were trying to help and he could understand their caution all of a sudden. He remembered his first sight of Harry, white-faced, his wand drawn, ready to take the six of them on before they had all been introduced. There was much more at stake here. He snaked out a hand, catching Sammy’s in his. They exchanged a smile, “Okay, we’ll bunk at your place then”, Sammy spoke for both of them and the residual tension dissipated finally. Ron came over and clapped them on the shoulders, “It’s a bit of a tip but you’ll be comfy enough. Ol and I’ll make up anything you need, just say it and we’ll transfigure it. It’ll be a blast having you stay”. And that was that. For now.

****

Wellington

They stared out of the windows for the longest time, each man lost in his thoughts. Harry was the first to move, turning his head to kiss the joined hands on his left shoulder then with a quick glance up at the man he loved he rested his forehead on Severus’ hipbone. They stayed silent until Harry huffed out a breath, “You want to go back, don’t you?” his voice was quiet but quite clear. More silence ensued but Severus gave himself away by tensing slightly. Harry felt the slight movement and smiled. “Admit it. You do, don’t you? You can’t lie to me Mrs P”, his tone was light and jocular but for some reason his voice wobbled slightly.

This uncertainty caused Severus to look down, “Well, yes, I want to be there, but I don’t want to travel all the way back if that makes any sense. I don’t want us to stop travelling and I feel that if I did go back then I would be required to undertake activities that I find repugnant. I rather suspect that if I were present at the interrogation of those boys then I would be cast in the role of, how is it put in modern parlance? Bad cop, I believe. I’m not sure I can do that any more”. He paused as his voice dropped still lower, “I don’t want to do that kind of thing any more, Harry. I like Jed and Sammy and they know very little of my life before. It was as you said yourself, we have left Snape and Potter behind, here, we’re just Severus and Harry, but, on the other hand, I am mystified by this possible new connection between this new dark idiot and the freemasons”, he sighed heavily.

Severus cupped a hand under Harry’s jaw and lifted it seeing the glitter of unshed tears in his eyes, “Hey, come here”. He lifted Harry to his feet and wrapped his arms around him, “I don’t want to be anywhere that you aren’t, Harry. Those boys will be all right just so long as they are telling the truth and I’m sure that our redoubtable Auror friends will see to that, they seem to be pretty on the ball after all”. Harry couldn’t prevent a low chuckle from escaping, “I never thought I’d see the day when you actually call Ron Weasley ‘capable’. I must tell him”. Severus started to smile, “That probably isn’t a good idea. ‘Man dies of shock upon receiving compliment’ is not a headline that I want to see in the Prophet after all”.

Harry poked him in the ribs, his body shaking with a mixture of laughter and tears, “I just hope they’re okay, that’s all. I wouldn’t put it past them to kidnap them right off the steps of Freemason’s Hall or something. Hermione can be most literal about means of apprehension when she chooses. I ought to ring her and find out if they’ve found them yet. Nah, bugger it, she’ll ring me if there’s a problem, or maybe not...”, he finished glumly.

Severus held his husband tight, “Maybe that’s the real problem, Harry, we both feel a bit washed up, the job that life had ostensibly prepared us for no longer exists. I have no Dark Lord to spy on and you don’t have one to kill. This time it all goes by without us. I do miss the machinations, the gossip, however much I may have claimed to hate it during the War. Well, I did hate it, but now it’s no longer there and I am no longer at the centre of things, even catching the gossip from the shop that Rem would relay to me. I don’t know, Harry. Was running all this way away for the best? Particularly when so much change is afoot and the wizarding world is in danger again, this time from a far bigger threat than Voldemort”.

“Aye, that’s the rub isn’t it? Now you know how I feel. Part of me wants to rush in, all guns blazing and the rest of me still wants to hide away from it all. It’s like a soddin’ mantra going round in my head, ‘It’s not your fight, Harry’, the little voice keeps saying but I still have the feeling that it may yet turn out to be. I don’t know what to do for the best”.

Severus kissed the top of Harry’s head, “I suppose that’s what comes of living a life geared to others’ expectations of you. It’s hard to dig through all the bullshit to what you want”, he sighed heavily. Harry pressed his face into his husband’s chest, “I know that feeling all right. That’s why the travelling is so important to me but I never envisaged the things happening that have. It’s all got so bloody complicated. New Dark Lords, new Marks, underground Death-Eaters, bloody Freemasons, even borderline Magicals. Seems like wherever I go, trouble just dogs my every move. It’s like there isn’t a far away place for me to go to. F’fuck’s sake, we’re on the other side of the world and it’s still not far enough”.

Severus ran a hand through Harry’s messy hair, “I suppose this is the time when we examine our true motives for travel in the first place, my love. Was it about the journeying, or was it really about the running away?” Harry sighed and yawned widely, “Oh, I dunno, Sev. I’m just so tired of it all. I want to see pretty things and meet random folk like we did at the start of it all but I keep tripping over the wizarding world wherever I go, even here where there aren’t that many Magical folk. Where are all the normal people?”, he said, yawning again.

Severus smiled down into Harry’s face, “You look all in. What time did you get up this morning?” Harry rolled his eyes, “Far too early. Whose fault was that? I ask myself”. Severus made a moue of contrition, “Oh, dear, was I being a bed-hog again?” Harry blinked hard then nodded, “And snoring. So I thought ‘sod it’ and got up and decided to take Jed up on the offer to use his computer and the rest is, as they say, history. Still, it was good that we found out this stuff about the lads. I wonder if these semi-occult groups are where the magically marginalised end up even if they don’t know they are true magicals?”

Harry pulled away from Severus and started to pack away his gear, closing the laptop and unplugging everything, yawning fit to burst all the while. Severus gently stayed him, “Come on, leave all that for later. Go back to bed and I’ll make you breakfast. How does that sound?” Harry threw his arms around the love of his life, “Thanks, love, sounds like a brilliant idea. Yeah, we’ll clear up later”.

Harry stripped off his dressing gown and snuggled back into bed pulling the rumpled bedclothes around him in as dignified a heap as he could be bothered with. He was nearly asleep when Severus entered with a tray. He thought Severus would just leave it and him alone so he could leave the food to cool and just let his eyelids fall but Severus was having none of it. Shrugging off his own gown he climbed into bed beside Harry and pulled the tray across both of their laps.

“Come on now, Harry, you must eat. I bet you’ve not even had a drink this morning and you’ve spent hours in front of that machine”. Harry reluctantly sat up and looked at the plate as it was plonked in front of him and his mouth went dry, he really wasn’t in the mood for food but he took one look at Severus’ face and started in on his breakfast. After choking down the first couple of mouthfuls, it woke up his taste buds and he wolfed down the rest to his husband’s evident approval. He placed his knife and fork together on the empty plate and sat back against the pillows. “That’s one of the many things I love about you, Mrs P. You know what I need even when I don’t. Thanks for that”, he said in a tired voice. Severus Banished the tray to the kitchen and took Harry into his arms, “Yes. And now you need sleep, so curl up and I’ll hold you”. Harry sighed with satisfaction at this and did as he was bid. In moments he was sleeping peacefully safe in warm arms.

Severus buried his face in Harry’s hair inhaling him as he slumbered. “I look after you, Harry, but you do the same for me all the time would you but know it”, he whispered into the thick mass of hair, “I need this every bit as much as you do”, he let his own eyes close as he held the drowsing weight of his husband close.

Both were oblivious of the sound of the house phone ringing and the beep of the answering machine as the caller left a message.

London

Hermione chivvied her small group into an alley near the Leaky Cauldron on the London side. Ron frowned at her in his lack of understanding. She sighed at him, “Jed’s okay but who does Sammy remind you of?” Ron’s brows lifted and he grinned, “Oh, yeah, right. A glamour it is then”. Hermione shook her head at him, “You know, for an Auror, you can still be remarkably dense at times, Ronnie-boy”. Sammy snickered, “Even I knew that but then she had to do this for me in Auckland before we visited that wizarding shop. It’s okay, I was expecting it. We can’t have people thinking that whassisname? Draco? was brought back to life or something and it may raise more awkward questions than I’m capable of answering, certainly without more training in my magic”. Ron blushed and shut up.

She cast a few murmured spells and Sammy’s hair darkened to mid-brown and his eyes were now vivid blue. Sammy caught sight of himself in a shop window and sighed, “It would be kinda nice, though, to just be me sometime”, he mused. Jed squeezed his arm circumspectly, “’S’alright, love, I still know it’s you under all that”. This made them all smile as they emerged from the alleyway and onto the main road.

Moments later and they were entering the Leaky Cauldron. Jed and Sammy gawped at the dark musty atmosphere in the place and Sammy wanted to linger and get a proper look at the place but Hermione had a schedule to keep and an Auror to meet later. “Come on”, she chided gently and led them through the pub and into the back yard. Sammy shrugged at his lover as they stood facing the blank brick wall until Ron tapped out the ‘code’ and the wall transformed laying Diagon Alley out before them. “Oh, wow”, exclaimed Sammy softly as they took in the view. Stepping in they instantly felt out of place, dressed as they were in jeans and t-shirts with the rest of the populace around them swirling along in robes albeit light summer wear. Ron and Hermione had attempted to make their guests more comfortable by also donning casual attire but except for a few random young folk that were around, they stuck out like sore thumbs.

The New Zealander’s eyes were round as they entered the busy street, roving hither and thither over the bizarre collection of shops to either side of them as they progressed. Their first stop was Gringotts Bank where the two were deeply shocked at the goblins running the place, it being their first ever glimpse of magical beings. At least their guides were human but these creatures? Most odd. The bank had a time of it too, changing their wad of $NZ to Galleons, Sickles and Knuts after first doing the conversion to Euros and then to wizarding cash.

To lighten the mood a little, Hermione led them to Fortescue’s and treated them all to ice cream as the day was warm. Jed enquired if their old school was nearby. Ron chuckled, “Nah, it’s on the border between England and Scotland, hundreds of miles away. We had to travel by train up there, took bloody hours but it was always a great way to catch up with everyone after the holidays. There’s another magical village close to it that services the wizarding community in the area, Hogsmeade”.

Jed and Sammy took all this in. “I was surprised to learn that there are so few magicals in our part of the planet”, Jed mused. Hermione shook her head, “I’m not sure but the researches I did would suggest as such but maybe the sources I used are just too Eurocentric, like most of the histories and atlases etc., that we use. I don’t recall any of our History of Magic lessons giving us any information on magicals in the Americas, Africa or Oceania. There was a fair amount on Asiatic magics but everything else was European. You would think that there would be more information available about World Magical History”. Jed grinned, “Maybe it’s a throwback to British Imperialism, you know, when a goodly chunk of the World map was pink and the sun never set on the British Empire. Maybe that’s the reason for the quaint Victorian aspect of this street for example, a reluctance to admit that times have changed and that Britain isn’t as big a player on the world stage as she’d like to think she is any more. I don’t mean any insults but......”, he trailed off as he saw Ron’s frown.

Hermione was thoughtful at this, “I think, actually, that you may be right, Jed. It’s very refreshing to have a perspective other than our own”, and their heads bowed together as the discussion deepened. Ron grinned at this and Sammy rolled his eyes. Ron remarked, “Friends for life, those two. I take it Jed’s a bit of a scholar, too, then?” Sammy cast his lover a long look and nodded, “He always was the brains of the two of us. I did Law because it’s a bunch of rote learning and I have an excellent memory but my real interests always lay elsewhere, like sport”.

Ron laughed at this, “Me too. I wasn’t the most academic of my family either and going into the Auror branch of the Ministry at least promised not to be boring. I could never be a pen-pusher like my elder brother, Percy, he was such a knob-head and he was useless on a broom. Have you tried flying yet?” That made them both smile as they launched into a discussion of flying and Quidditch and the relative merits of one broom over another. “I’ll give you some flying lessons while you’re here if you like, it’ll make a change from the stuff that Kingsley will be teaching you and if you are anything like your dad then you’ll be good in the air”.

After their refreshment it was time to move on. The first port of call was Ollivander’s to equip Jed with a wand. Ollivander regarded Sammy thoughtfully as the small party entered his shop, he could tell the man was under a glamour but couldn’t read beneath it but as it was the dark haired man that needed serving, he quickly diverted his attentions to finding the man a new wand. They tendered the excuse that his original wand had been snapped by accident and that said wand had been a light oak with dragon’s heartstring at it’s core to give the man somewhere to start.

Jed focussed hard on everything the older man said as he dug out pile after pile of small boxes and he tried wand after wand. It took a good couple of hours until Jed felt the thrill go through him and he stood at the far side of the shop and Summoned the small box from the counter to slap into his palm and he was glad of his catching training at rugby for his sharp reflexes as he caught the box as it flew towards him not to mention the attentiveness that he had paid his lover’s first lessons with Hermione and he Summoned the box with what appeared to be practiced ease. Ollivander nodded at the man and the transaction was swiftly completed.

He hadn’t realised how nervous he had been until they were outside the shop again and he slumped against a wall closing his eyes. Hermione stepped up to him smiling, “You were brilliant in there considering no-one’s actually taught you anything yet”. Jed opened his eyes slowly searching the woman’s face for any indication that she was taking the mickey but there was none. Her smile was entirely genuine as was Ron’s and his lover’s. Ron thrust out a hand, “You really were good there. No-one could tell that you were a complete newbie. I couldn’t at any rate. You didn’t hesitate or anything. Good stuff. Kingy’s going to have to have his wits about him with you two”. Jed blushed and took the proffered hand, shaking it. “I was fuckin’ terrified. I didn’t realise that I would be expected to actually use the thing in front of the guy”. Hermione shook her head, “I didn’t either or I would have warned you and taught you something in advance. We normally get our wands at eleven if we are from non-magical backgrounds and no-one expects an unschooled witch or wizard to be able to do anything with it at that age, sorry about that”.

They continued eventually down the street once Jed had his equilibrium back. Sammy muttered how proud of his lover he was and slipped a shy arm around Jed’s waist giving him a reassuring squeeze before dropping his arm. Jed shyly asked Hermione if they could purchase the wherewithal for Potions preparations, “At least a couple of cauldrons and a few ingredients while we’re here perhaps, a book or two, only I really enjoyed the brewing session with Severus and he seemed to think I might be good at it, he even called me, and I quote, ‘a man after his own heart’ after the session”.

Ron paled at this, “Whoa, in all the years I’ve known that man, I never heard him say anything that lavish about anyone’s potions skills, he was either flattering you or you really do have potential and I suspect the latter rather than the former. I was always crap at potions. Harry wasn’t bad and Hermione here was pretty damn brilliant”. It was Hermione’s turn to laugh, “Yes, and he never called me anything but an insufferable know-it-all in school although we’ve all long since made our peace with him since then, well, you know, he was in love with our friends, first Remus then Harry, so it was hard not to once the onus of being an arch-baddie was lifted from him”. She directed the next comment at Ron, “It was how we sussed out Jed as a wizard, he had no reaction to the magical ingredients in the potions they made and Severus really was quite effusive with his praise of Jed’s innate ability”.

This said, their next two stops were the cauldron shop and the Apothecary for ingredients. Hermione stocked him up with several odd items for the production of more than just the basics. Muttering below her breath she slipped a bezoar amongst his purchases, “To counteract poisons. I’ll tell you more later. You won’t just be brewing first-year stuff this time”. Jed’s eyes widened but he kept quiet taking careful mental notes as she went around the shop. He was glad he had access to a fair bit of money as none of this stuff was cheap, though he did wonder how he was going to get all this stuff back to New Zealand.

Their paths divided then. Hermione shrunk their possessions for them to manageable size and dragged an eager Jed into Flourish and Blott’s. Ron shrugged at this and led Sammy to Quality Quidditch Supplies instead as neither of them was inclined to spend time among the dusty tomes of the bookshop.

Sammy and Ron spent a happy couple of hours as Ron outlined the differences between racing brooms and the more sedate ‘saloon’ versions for the family day out. Sammy picked out a broom each for him and Jed, the racier equivalent of the four-door saloon but not quite a full-on racing model and Ron nodded wisely at his choices. They left with Sammy’s Galleon pouch considerably lighter than when they had entered.

They caught up with the others still ensconced in the bookshop, the pile of tomes now gown to significant size on the counter. Jed paid for them all and gave Sammy a beautiful leather spell journal identical to the one he had bought for himself. Hermione assured him that they were a necessary purchase to take notes of all that Kingsley would teach them. Sammy in turn presented his lover with his very own broom much to Jed’s delight. Hermione was almost in tears, “This is so good you know, to see this place through fresh eyes. You can get a bit jaded with the place over time but you two are reacting much as I did the first time I came here. I knew about my magic from an early age but had no way of getting in here until I received my Hogwarts letter at eleven. Anyway, we must press on as I think, Jed, that we should get you some robes before we go for lunch then we’ve got to get back to Grimmauld Place to meet Kingsley at three”.

They had a leisurely lunch at the ‘Cauldron where the visitors had their first taste of butterbeer and firewhiskey before Ron and Hermione side-alonged their guests back to the cold barren house. This time they landed in the hall to the sound of shrieking from above them on one wall as they sorted out limbs and stood.

“Sammy, I can’t put this off any longer. It’s time to meet the ancient matriarch of your father’s side of the family”. As they stood, Sammy found himself face-to-face with the ugliest woman he had ever seen, shrieking her usual litany about blood-traitors to anyone who would listen. She went silent at her first sight of her grandson. Sammy bowed slightly before the portrait, “Hello, grandma”, he said simply and the narrow mean eyes of the portrait widened in shock. “That is no relation of mine”, she snarled until Hermione remembered and lifted the glamour from Sammy. The portrait went quiet again and a wizened hand tried to leave the picture plane to touch his face. Sammy recoiled a little but stood his ground. Hermione whispered, “She can’t actually touch you, she’s just a picture after all”. Sammy nodded as the picture spoke in what was almost a reasonable tone, “You mean my Regulus actually had a child? I thought he passed before he could have a son. Oh, my long lost blood-kin, let me look at you”.

“Actually, madam”, Sammy said in his most respectful tones, “My father was Sirius”, which unleashed yet another barrage of furious invective from the enraged old witch, “That bastard is no son of mine”, she shrieked and started in on another harangue about purity and blood and disinheritance. Hermione closed the curtains over the portrait and sighed, “Sorry about that, but I did warn you”. Sammy approached the portrait and lifted it down from the wall, struggling a little under the weight and set it against the wall to Ron and Hermione’s amazement. “Is there a deep cellar somewhere where we can put this only I don’t fancy her screaming at me every time we set foot in here”.

Hermione goggled, “Sammy Black, have you any idea how many people have tried to do what you just did? Folk have been trying to take that picture down for decades. If that doesn’t prove that you are a true Black then I don’t know what will”. Ron simply breathed a ‘bloody hell’ and left it at that. Once the picture was off the wall then it was but a moment’s work to Banish her to the basement under the kitchen.

Still shaking their heads, Ron and Hermione led the way downstairs into the old kitchen and the boys recognised the place as where they had been brought the previous day after being precipitately snatched from the steps of the mason’s hall. Hermione bustled about preparing tea.

Moments later there was a noise in the Floo and a tall black man stepped through followed by a frail old lady with grey hair swept into a low knot on the nape of her neck. Kingsley was hugged by Ron and Hermione shrieked at the sight of the older woman, “Minerva!! What a surprise. Lovely to see you. Tea?” The grey-haired woman straightened and looked around, “In a minute, lassie. I’ve come to meet the two visitors. I was chatting to Kingsley here and.....oh....bloody hell..... You must be the Black boy, you bear more than a passing resemblance to Narcissa, your aunt and to Draco, your cousin who is now no longer with us, Merlin rest his soul”. She stepped fearlessly over to Sammy and scrutinised him over the tops of her half-moon spectacles.

Sammy quailed slightly at the intensity of her gaze but held it with his own. Ron chuckled, “Yup. A true Black. He just took down Walpurga’s picture too, just lifted it from the wall. She’s been Banished to the cellar now, so her and Kreacher can commune in peace away from polite society”. Minerva reached out a frail liver-spotted hand and touched Sammy’s cheek, “Bloody shame that you didn’t attend Hogwarts, m’boy. So, Sirius had a son. What a turn-up for the books this is. I always knew he had a child somewhere. I saw the Registration Book as I was the former Headmistress of the school and several efforts were made to locate you but we had no idea where you were. I’m pretty sure that old Albus would have tried to do likewise. We don’t like to have magical children unaccounted for”. She lowered her hand and turned to Jed, “And you are his young man, are you not?” Jed stepped forward and was introduced. “Another magical that remained unaccounted for”, smirked Ron from one side of her.

They all sat down and Ron served the tea. Kingsley set about quizzing the two on their education to date and they briefly explained the chance meeting between themselves and Harry and Severus. Minerva laughed aloud at this, “Why am I not surprised at this, that it should be Harry that dug you two out of the woodwork?” They then went on to describe the few lessons that they had had, Sammy showing his delight at flight and Jed his own delight at the art of potions. Kingsley rolled out a deep baritone laugh, “I bet that pleased Sev no end. You probably made his year”. Jed grinned at this, “Oh, I don’t think so. I suspect that marrying Harry was the high point of this year”. Sammy joined in, “Yeah, those two are such lovebirds. It was after talking to Harry that I finally plucked up the courage to ask Jed to marry me”, he smirked giving Jed a sidelong look and reaching for his hand under the table.

In short order, the visitors had thrashed out some sort of contract with Kingsley. They were staying in England for another ten days or so then were flying back to New Zealand with Kingsley in tow. They would start their training here at Grimmauld Place then would start properly once back on home turf. Kingsley obviously relished the challenge of teaching two fully grown, nay, quite mature wizards and accepted their terms with alacrity. He was to stay with them as long as it was beneficial for them all and was quite happy to stay in their house. In truth, after his retirement and the passing of his wife some five years earlier, life had become a little stale for him and his dark eyes gleamed at the thought. He withdrew a sheaf of parchment from his robes and handed over a list of the things he thought they would need.

Sammy and Jed pored over it, ticking off the items that they had already purchased. Jed was delighted that potions seemed to be on the curriculum and said so. Minerva narrowed her eyes at him, “So, Severus praised you for your technique, did he? You must really have shown some ability”. Jed shrugged, “I take it that Severus was a bit of a stickler when he was a teacher”. This drew snorts of amusement from everyone else. Minerva’s eyes creased at the corners as he said this, “Aye, laddie, you could say that. Our Severus was a regular termagent at school but then he had to be to stop all the young folk from either blowing the school sky high or dosing each other with various noxious substances. It wouldn’t be the first time that I had a hapless student come to me crying that someone had slipped them a love potion or something of that ilk. Aye, he had to be a stern task-master as I’m sure Ron and Hermione here can attest”.

They had nearly everything on the list as it happened but they would still have to return to Diagon Alley to complete it. They arranged for Kingsley to take them again in the near future. Sammy spoke up, “Minerva, Harry said something about you being an Animagus and we sort of suspect that I may be one myself as apparently my dad was one. Is it possible that you could give me a few pointers perhaps while I’m here. I would be most grateful if you could”. By way of reply, Minerva stood slowly pointed her wand at herself and instantly an aged tabby cat stood in her place. “Wow”, Sammy ejaculated, his eyes round. “That is cool”. She transformed again and sat, dusting off her skirt.

Jed and Sammy exchanged looks and Jed nodded slightly, smiling at his lover’s reaction. He ventured cautiously, “I don’t suppose you would care to join us in New Zealand for a while, would you? Only I know that Sammy is anxious to explore this part of his magic. It’d be on the same terms that we are offering Kingsley, all expenses paid and we have two guest suites at home, so we could make you comfortable”. Minerva clapped her hands with glee, “That would be delightful and I have heard that New Zealand is a very pretty country. Yes, I could spare you a few weeks, but, mark my words, young Sammy, I am a hard task-mistress and I will work you hard. I can also instruct you in the art of transfiguration”, and she demonstrated by turning her saucer into a wall clock with magical hands just like the one they had been given by Hermione in Auckland. That was that then, they had two new teachers on board and they were both delighted and excited. In recompense they suggested taking all six of them out for a slap-up meal somewhere in London to seal the deal. Minerva, in her canny fashion suggested the Connaught hotel, “I’ve always fancied dining there”, she said wistfully.

And so it was.

****

Wellington

Harry was slowly rising through the many layers of sleep aware of several things, the warmth at his back, the arm around his middle, the soft open-mouthed kisses being scattered over his shoulders and along the back of his neck, not to mention the impressive woodie pressing into his arse. He smiled inside, deliberately not tensing up to warn his husband that he was awake. Merlin, he liked being woken up this way with his husband starting to make love to him.

Keeping his eyes loosely shut, he made a sleepy snorting sound and turned slightly as if to turn onto his back but in reality just exposing more of himself to be kissed in that slow sensuous way that Severus did when he thought he was unobserved. Harry tried hard not to shudder in delight as his left nipple was carefully tongued and sucked following the plentiful kisses down over his chest and collarbone.

The arm flung around him started to move, a flat hand roaming slowly over his belly and hip, trailing down over his thigh pushing one from the other as he felt his legs gently parted. His cock was definitely starting to pay attention even while he still appeared somnolent. The gentle sucks became a sharp nip and Harry opened his eyes with a snap, “Ow, whatyadoin’”, he mumbled. For his pains he received a light slap on his arse, “You can’t fool me, Mrs S. I know you’re awake”, his lover growled in that voice which Harry believed would always sing through him. He rolled towards Severus and opened his eyes completely, blinking myopically until his glasses were handed to him, “Aw, Sev, I love it when you kiss me awake”.

In answer to this, Severus turned Harry fully onto his back and kissed him senseless. Emerging for oxygen he asked if Harry had slept well and informed him that most of the afternoon had gone. Harry grinned, “You could have got up, you know”. Severus planted more kisses on Harry’s belly to a groan of pleasure from his husband, “I love being right here when you wake”, then tickled his tongue into Harry’s navel making the younger man wriggle and laugh, “You are such a romantic, my Sev. Oh, God, yes, like that, just there”, Harry gasped out as the tongue moved south over the flat planes of his lower belly adroitly missing his now fully erect cock.

A large hand cupped his balls as Severus’ mouth opened over his cock head and descended to a moan from it’s owner. Harry lazily held his beloved’s head looking down his body at the dark head mouthing up and down over his cock. He threw his head back as an agile tongue explored the slit and the hand came into play at the base. He spread himself wantonly as he felt the head of his cock impact the narrow confines of Severus’ throat which opened to receive him. The lazy hands clenched then, one in his husband’s thick hair, the other in the sheet below him as he was expertly deep-throated.

He knew this couldn’t last so he didn’t even try as a strong arm clamped over his waist holding him down. The throat opened and closed swallowing hard around his length and Harry lost it with a loud cry, coming and coming in his beloved’s mouth, his head thumping on the pillow again and again with each spasm moaning aloud Severus’ name. He sank back sweat-sheened and boneless catching his breath and stroking any flesh that wasn’t his own. He trembled with the force of his climax and laughed shakily, “Ye gods, you’ve a wicked mouth, my love. Give me a moment and I’ll return the favour”.

But Severus had other ideas. He tried to turn Harry over to be met with resistance and Harry’s shaking head as he looked up askance, “Sorry, babe, but you drilled me a bit hard last night and I’m still a little tender”. Severus frowned, “I asked if I hurt you last night and you told me no”. Harry chuckled weakly, “And nor did you but I still ache a bit right inside and I’m not sure I could take another hammering quite so soon”. Severus tried hard to look pissed off but went for smug instead secretly glad he could be too much at times and he had to admit to himself, the previous night he had been a little…… passionate. He rolled onto his back and waited patiently for Harry to collect himself.

It didn’t take too long before Harry rolled atop him and made good on his promise taking his sweet time tormenting the love of his life. If Severus could smirk about the drilling he had given him then Harry was determined to make Severus beg. He teased and licked, he kept his rhythm deliberately off-kilter batting away any attempt by Severus to hold him down. He used every weapon in his arsenal until he had Severus a moaning sweaty writhing mass beneath him arching and begging to be allowed to come before he took pity and regularised his strong sucks, wetting his fingers and inserting them in his lover’s arse and he made Severus shriek in a most uncool fashion as he tormented his prostate and swallowed his sticky offering with aplomb.

“Fuck!! I love your blowjobs you evil fiend”, Severus gasped out and it was Harry’s turn to smirk, “Serves you right for sniggering at me”, he murmured as he lay down again beside his lover and was gathered up into a big sweaty hug and was kissed to within an inch of his life. They cuddled and enjoyed the afterglow grinning and kissing until the spell was broken and they rose donning their gowns once more.

Both hungry now, they staggered upstairs and into the kitchen to hunt up some food deciding on a greasy fryup of sausage egg and chips. Severus set to work at the cooker while Harry opened them both a beer and wandered into the lounge with his, turning lights on as he went and closing the blinds. It was when he closed the curtain over the small corner desk that he noticed the blinking light on the answering machine. Funny, he hadn’t heard the phone ring. He shouted through to the kitchen, “Sev, did you hear the phone ring, only there’s a message?” Severus called back, “No, didn’t hear a thing but we have been asleep for most of the day”.

Harry’s finger hovered over the button and retreated, this was really none of his business, but suppose it was urgent or something. Curiosity won the day and he pressed replay to hear a gruff man’s voice, “Hi, Jed. Hi, Sammy, it’s Tony. The lodge has finally got the new room for the meetings. Sam, yours is next Thursday, a week tomorrow at seven thirty but Jed, ours is tomorrow if you can make it, the upstairs room at the Star and Garter in Dundonald Street. Be there at seven if you could, I’ve some news for you that is a bit disturbing about some of our Spanish brothers and I’d like to have a confab with you, Malcolm and Rick before Order business if I can. Speak to you soon, mates”. Harry pressed ‘stop’ quickly, his hands shaking, every sense on alert.

Severus appeared in the room wiping his hands on a teatowel. “Who was that I heard?”, he asked. Harry was still in shock and rewound the tape playing it again for his husband watching Severus’ reaction as the older man listened. They stared at each other for a long pregnant moment. “Do you think this has any bearing on de Santos?”, Harry whispered. Severus shook his head slightly, still stunned, “I really couldn’t say, Harry”.

Harry broke eye contact with his beloved, his own eyes narrowing slightly as he stared of into the middle distance. Severus stayed quiet, he could hear the cogs in Harry’s head turning. Harry slowly sat down his eyes still disconnected. “I’m gonna go, Sev. This is too good to miss, we could find all sorts out”. Severus came back to himself and approached Harry his hands out, “Don’t be stupid. We can’t just go barging in there. This is a secret society, they’ll have all kinds of security....”. He was cut off by the calculating look on Harry’s face. The look that said ‘stuff this, I’m going anyway’ and he sighed. Harry grinned, “They may have security but they don’t know about Invisibility cloaks now, do they? Oh, come on, Sev, this is way too good to pass up, we might learn something of real value here. I need to take a taxi into town tomorrow and hire a car”, a slow smile lit his face and Severus lowered his head into his hands.

Harry bounded over and stood before his lover who had sunk into a chair, “Come on, Sev, this is something that only we can do. Where’s your spy instincts?” Severus looked up into the enthusiastic face of his beloved, “Gone. Along with sodding Voldemort”, he snapped. Harry sighed, he really was much more ‘match fit’ than his husband. After all, it had been nearly two decades since Severus had had to think like this whereas Harry had been doing dangerous things up until a mere three and a half years ago, chasing down former Death Eaters and their ilk. He might not be totally up to the mark but he wasn’t completely behind the door either. Harry watched the resigned look in Severus’ face and hated himself for putting it there but he knew he just had to do this and what was more, Severus knew he had to do it too.

The smell of singeing food sent Severus back into the kitchen and Harry slumped over as he was gently pushed aside as Severus rose to attend to the dinner. He was brusquely called to the table a few moments later to have a plate of food dumped unceremoniously before him. They didn’t speak all through the meal. Harry plotted and Severus sulked. They parted ways after dinner. Harry washed up and tidied the kitchen. When he emerged the lounge was empty. He turned on the TV and desultorily flipped channels keeping the volume low settling for a re-run of an old movie that kept him reasonably entertained.

He wasn’t going to give in on this one although he felt more than a slight twinge of guilt at upsetting his lover in this way. Bugger it. How many times had he and Draco sat there worrying until the man appeared, deathly pale, sometimes covered in blood, tired beyond imagining, and they had run him a hot bath, poured him his favourite whisky, helped him come down off the horror. Well this time the boot was on the other foot. Harry knew it was probably foolish to do such a thing, he was wandering blind into uncharted territory after all not to mention trampling once again on the trust that their newfound friends had placed in them, but Harry steeled himself. This had to be done and there was no helping it.

Distracted by his thoughts, he switched off the yammering television and lay there on the couch staring at the ceiling letting his mind wander where it would. This wasn’t the first time he had meandered into danger and it probably wouldn’t be the last. Wizarddom was once more under threat and he was damned if he was just going to sit back and let it happen again. With that, he let his eyes close as his mind flashed Dark pictures on his eyelids. He snapped back to himself determined not to crash out on the sofa. He had to have this out with Severus but he was reluctant to seek him out just yet, let him stew, but eventually he sighed resignedly. How come he was always in the wrong? How did Severus always seem to get the moral high ground lately? Like he had any room to talk. It was in this rebellious frame of mind that Harry went in search of his husband.

Severus was sprawled out on their bed glowering at the ceiling as Harry entered their bedroom. He ignored him as Harry approached the bed and sat heavily on the side toeing off his shoes. Harry shrugged out of his dressing gown and lay alongside him not touching, not talking, the atmosphere thick in the room.

There was movement beside him that Harry ignored with every ounce of his being, then a hand on his thigh, a sigh and a murmured, “I’m sorry, Harry. I know why you must do this thing. It’s just that I am not used to being the one that has to wait. I remember how you and Draco used to wait up for me to return, used to offer your comfort in whatever way you could and I loved you both for it. You are no longer seventeen and I am no longer your teacher. You are an Auror and I am merely a washed up old potions master”, the voice that this was delivered in was thick with emotion. “I’m frightened for you, Harry. We neither of us know too much about these things but you will go in anyway. You see it as your duty, repellant though it may be. I didn’t think. There. The tables are turned. Forgive me”.

Harry could feel the tears leaking into his hair at his temples but he turned and faced his husband, his cheeks wet and his eyes woebegone. “I’m sorry, too, Sev. I must do this. This is probably the best chance we will get to go into the belly of the beast. It’s like a fortuitous open invitation and I simply cannot walk away from it. This isn’t me being a stupid sixteen year old Gryffindor although his shadow still lives under my skin, but I am more than that. I am an Auror, highly trained, and with good reason. I am good at what I do. I was always underestimated no matter what my skills and you were the one who fought the most fiercely for stripping away the wool that had been pulled over my eyes. Please don’t be that wool-puller. I had enough of that in my youth and I always valued the fact that you never spared me the truth. Please don’t start now. I know that you love me beyond anything you have ever known before, but know this, real love means sacrifice, not of me, but of your ideas of me that are wrong or misplaced. Albus suffered the same way. Do not let love blind you for love is supposed to open the eyes fully. I would rather walk into this with you at my back than with your back turned towards me. I need you and I always will. I was never afraid to acknowledge need and therein lies my bravery, such as it is. Yes, the situation is dangerous. Yes, it’s a risk that I am taking. But I feel that the possible outcome is worth more than my feelings of being a shrinking violet so once more I must storm the beach head or hang back in the shadows but I need to see, to be there and I need your support as I always did”.

Severus sighed and laid his hand on his husband’s stomach, “I will, Harry, even though it pains me to do so. I am truly sorry, love. I will do what I can. I fear however that I am no longer up to the task, that my best years are behind me and that frightens me, that I won’t be enough for you if the occasion demands it and I fear, Harry, I fear. That I am useless to you, that I am not enough, that I can no longer protect you. That I will somehow make things worse for you. That I will fail you, and that is truly frightening to me”.

Harry turned then, wet-faced, to his beloved, “You have never failed me yet, and you won’t now. We may not know what we are getting into here, Sev, but we are wizards against non-magicals. We have the upper hand. We have tricks up our sleeves. A magic that he knows not, remember? We have love and magic on our side and we will prevail even if we have to run like fuck. I will wear a glamour under the cloak so even if I am seen, no-one will be able to recall my appearance. I have obliviate on my side, a whole plethora of magic to their quasi mystical nonsense but for the sake of magicals everywhere, I must do this, and you know it”. Severus could do nought but nod numbly at this as the tears poured over his cheeks.

Their bodies loosened at this and they gathered each other close, gaining strength from each other, courage and hope from their closeness, their love. “Love is my weapon, Sev. It was ever thus and will be again in the face of hate and bigotry. Love will always win the day because right always wins in the end although evil has his day. Show me, tell me your love. Evil stands alone. An island. But love is always connected to others. A peninsula, not an island. It’s what defeated Voldemort and it’s what will eventually defeat de Santos and his kind. Power is nothing without love and they do not have love on their side. Witness his behaviour in those woods north of Madrid. Lust was present. Sexual lust and the lust for power but there was no love there only the sad bleatings of the dispossessed, those for whom love is a chimera, an illusion. Poor them. They don’t know what is really worth defending. Love means never being weak even though the force of love can reduce one to a puddle of pure emotion but when strength is needed then having something to defend can make a body fight all the fiercer. If all you do is hate then nothing is ultimately worth the fight and self-preservation becomes the order of the day. Only love keeps you focussed in quite the right way. We both know in our heart of hearts that we will be called upon ere the final battle comes again, tiresome, tragic, but true, and love will always win out. It was ever thus throughout history and it is still true now. Believe it and weep”.

There was a new respect shining in Severus’ eyes as he regarded his beloved. He was right. Of course he was. He had fought this battle before and he would fight it again, to his last breath if need be, and Severus mentally bowed to such wisdom. This was no callow youth with his impetuousness but a fully realised wizard, the most powerful of their kind and Severus felt his heart contract that such as Harry could find it in him to love so completely such a lowly specimen as Severus Snape. He was humbled by his husband’s words and folded against Harry’s chest, weeping for the madness and injustice in the world. He was held with strong wiry arms as he cried for everything that had been crap in his life and for the first time in his life he completely understood the meaning of love and counted himself amongst the truly blessed.

Clinging to each other like men drowning they lost themselves in each other, forgiveness flowing like water between them, their disagreement forgotten amongst the swell of love between them. They made lazy love tangled in the sheets and collapsed, sated and laughing, the balance restored and fell into sweet sleep, breathing one another in, revelling in their love for each other, twined together in such a way that only the keenest, the very sharpest of blades could separate them.