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

Hi all,

Only 1 chappie again this week - but what a chappie! Gi-normous and long.

Stepmnstr - honey, you are a star and your comments always make my Monday morning! What a way to start the week! Thank you!

So, without further ado.......

Enjoy!

The Squig xxx

10

Harry clutched his phone to him, “We’ve got to tell them, Sev. We can’t keep this from them, particularly Jed”. His eyes were wide with fear and the enormity of it all. This is where the Dark underground were, hiding inside the Masonic order of the Knights of Malta and they had friends in this Order. Friends who were in danger.

Ron was silent on the end of the line as it all sank in. Severus was silent at their own end, but for different reasons. He tried and failed not to feel a little put out that the first person whom Harry consulted was Ron Weasley. He firmly put all such thoughts on the back burner though when he heard what Harry was actually suggesting, “Then we can arrest him and ship him back to London and the trial he should have had years ago, the slimy bastard. He’s still active, Ron, I felt him in my scar and he’s a Knight of Malta, which means, I’ll bet you a Galleon to a Knut that he’s bollocks-deep in de Santos’ lot as well”.

Severus’ heart sank somewhat at these words, casual though they were; Harry seemingly handing the situation off to the experts but, at that moment, Severus knew, in his heart of hearts, that this coming war would have an active Harry in it. In whatever capacity was anyone’s guess at this point, but it was becoming more obvious that his husband would be involved somehow, however hard he tried to keep Harry away. He could no longer ignore the facts staring him in the face: they were going to war again: and he didn’t like it. It was as if this thing was following them around. Perhaps it was and Harry was the attractant. He sighed and accepted the inevitable.

Harry closed the phone looking thoughtful and broke Severus’ train of thought, “Sev, once we get him, have we got any Veritaserum anywhere?” Severus turned, “I think I have a couple of doses somewhere, but...”. Harry held up a hand, “Would you help interrogate him? I know, I know, make you the bad guy but you could be disguised and it is a speciality of yours after all. This time we’ll all be right behind you”, this last whispered from very close quarters.

Severus sighed again, his shoulders slumping slightly. He supposed that once a bad guy then always a bad guy. Yes, he was good at ‘extracting’ information from people who showed reluctance. So he and Harry both still had wartime skills? Maybe it was time to go back to work again, if only for a short while.

Only this time it was different. He had been so closed up before. He didn’t want to be that person again. As if to reassure him, Harry sidled up beside him, “I’ll help if you like. I can be nasty when I have to”. Severus kissed him, “I know, but.....oh shit....go on, I’ll do it. The man is a twat and I want to see him gone from polite society. A copper indeed. Bah! Upholder of law and justice indeed. No. Harry. I had my doubts but on reflection it is fitting that I be there at his fall; you too. Back me up but let me be the, erm, main interrogator”. Harry agreed instantly, watching the shadows flit over his lover’s face. “Severus”. Harry caught the man’s face and drew it level with his own. “Look at me”. Severus reluctantly did and Harry saw all the doubt and wariness there, “Oh, Sev. If you really don’t want to do this, then say so”.

“Harry, I don’t want to do this. Not at all. But neither do you. And we have to. We know we do. And we will because that’s who we are, but we don’t have to like it”, he finished, grumbling. Harry chuckled and kissed him. “Do you really think I want to be in this?”, Harry whispered. Severus shot him a look. Harry exhaled, “Thought so. Well you couldn’t be more wrong and deep down you ruddy well know it, but I have a horrible feeling that we will be involved somehow. Both of us. Up to our frigging necks. I’m really not looking forward to it”. Severus heard the earnestness and feeling in the speech but wasn’t convinced.

There was a certain finality to this. The honeymoon was over and it was time to get back to work. Severus had never felt less prepared in his life.

Harry opened his phone and dialled Jed. It was with a guilty heart that he sat there, perched nervously on the edge of the sofa seat listening to the rings at the other end. A muffled voice answered and Harry’s heart sank. He was going to have to admit to infiltrating the meeting and he was dreading it.

They exchanged greetings. Jed and Sammy hadn’t been back long and had both had to do work alongside their new extracurricular activities but in the rush of coming back up to speed in their relative professions they still hadn’t been in touch with their lodges.

“Don’t”, was Harry’s advice. Then proceeded to tell them all he knew so far. Jed, however was having other ideas. “No, no, you don’t get it. I’m ideally placed to spy for this side. I don’t need to infiltrate, I’m already there and trusted. I am the President of our level in the Order. Yes, I’m a bit pissed off at having to choose sides here but at the end of the day there isn’t a choice. I am a wizard”. How Severus wanted to question the man face to face but he had to go with his assessment of his voice and manner over the phone. He nodded at Harry, he thought Jed spoke truly.

Harry took a deep breath, “Well, if you’re sure”. Jed was eager to agree but tempered it with sense, “I will do what I can and hear what I can but I will not put either myself nor Sammy in danger”. Harry grinned, “No, don’t. I want you two alive. I love weddings”, to hear a chuckle from the other end, “You two are first on the guest list”. They exchanged more news of the training that Jed and Sammy were undergoing and then closed the call.

“He took that well”, Harry let his shoulders drop. Severus sat so he was facing Harry’s back and started to massage the tired shoulders, “Maybe too well, we do not know Mr Copeland’s motives after all”. Harry rounded on him, “Behave. Hermione said it was a complete revelation when he found out he was a magical and I believe her”. Severus persisted, “All very well, but we have to remember that Jed has been involved with these Masons for a very long time, if all is to be believed, in order to attain the rank he now holds”. Harry had to agree. Thirty third degree was a high achievement and for one of such a relatively young age, a mere forty eight.

He sighed, “I know, he may wish his own advancement. Who can tell? But I think he is a dedicated magical too. The joy on his face when he found out. No, he does not calculate against us, or I’d like to believe so anyway”. Severus paused in his touches. “I read young Mr Copeland just after he and Hermione came back into the room, he was weak then, his defences down. He was grateful and eager, easy to read, but there was a piece of him closed off, a piece that was so well defended, that even I, a recognised Legilimens, could not breach. Either he has stronger magic than we take him for or he has been hurt beyond anything. The only time I have ever read a thing of this nature was usually when the person being examined was the victim of deep-seated abuse, either that or Voldemort himself, who was a better Occlumens than I will ever be and had the same thing in his mind. I received an image in my mind of a Muggle safe, that you needed the proper combination to get into”.

Harry was thoughtful at this. He knew that Severus ‘read’ their various travelling encounters and he had forgotten the ‘read’ he had done the night that Harry had told Sammy of his wizardhood. He also recalled Jed commenting on the sadness that the two seemed to carry with them. He sighed out loud, “Have we severely underestimated Jed? Could he be one of them? Oh, gods, Sev, all sorts of ideas are running around in my head right now. Have we seen his arms? Was he wearing a glamour all this time? Am I panicking?”

Severus laughed and held Harry tight, “Yes you are. Panicking that is. For a start, he had no wand until recently and Sammy had no idea of his own magical heritage so couldn’t have glamoured them. I believe the men we saw are the men we know. We did see their arms. It was hot, remember and we saw both of them in sleeveless t-shirts many times, with no Dark Marks visible. No, Harry, we are just going to have to trust him to not reveal our position and our involvement in our own world, though by all accounts, according to what we heard in New Zealand, they aren’t too keen on the magicals anyway. I think that Jed is going to have to choose, between his old beliefs and his new. I don’t envy him”, Severus finished, drily.

****

Two days later, they duly presented themselves at the local cop shop. Harry flourished his insurance papers, they saw the second-in-command, and they were cleared to go in minutes. Harry grinned as they left the office, “Miles more efficient than England. We would have been in there hours”, he muttered as the doors shut behind him. While he’d been processed at the small police station, he hadn’t helped but notice. The other desk. Across from the constable’s. Bearing the prominent nameplate. Sgt R Lestrange. So he really was a cop hiding out in this little-populated area of Australia. He smiled wider. ‘Using your real name. Oh, Rodolphus, you silly boy. You really don’t know what’s coming to you’, he mused.

There was a small car rental place in town and Harry, suitably glamoured, flashed his International Driver’s Licence and soon had himself a large people-carrier. He had parked Bessie out of town and he and Severus walked to where he had parked the car. The gameplan was simple: wait for the policeman to come off his shift and simply follow him.

The man was on an eight-four. No serious crime had affected the small town that day so Harry didn’t have to wait long. He watched the man lope to his own car. They followed at a discreet distance only to watch him being greeted effusively by a devoted wife and a couple of primary-school aged children as he pulled his aged estate car into the driveway of a small delapidated house. He parked up, climbing from the car and was hugged by his family. Severus and Harry, observing from across the road, glanced at each other and blew out huffed breaths from pursed lips. What to do now?

Feeling as if they had invaded something, they continued to gaze at each other. Severus nodded once and Harry withdrew his phone. He quickly texted the car plates as well as the address of the residence before them. He lowered his eyes at the same time he lowered his phone and Severus could feel the guilt in the sends from his beloved, {He’s got young kids, but he was one of them and he betrayed us all, his own kind. I had to....I had to...} and Harry folded into Severus’ waiting arms. Severus held him, remaining stoically silent. War was ugly and it did ugly things to people. His Harry had come through it before, he only hoped that he would do so again. Severus sighed softly and held the shaking man to him.

Once again, Harry would end up with his humanity intact, but what of him? He, who had been previously tested to within an inch of his life? He who had, yes, tortured. Yes, used less than orthodox means for extracting facts, and now he was to do it again. Severus hoped that Harry still wanted to remain married to him after this was over, but somehow, he very much doubted it, LeStrange was a top target, they had been looking for him for many years and the interrogation was to be hard. They wouldn’t let this one get away and once again, Severus had to do his part, albeit for the Light this time. But torture was still life-sapping. Severus tried to shake the unwilling images from his mind. Stay focussed, stay tuned in, but he couldn’t help the pain as it stole into his soul. Once there, it was picked up.

Harry could feel the anguish his lover felt across their bond. It was the strongest affirmation that they had ever had for this type of bond. His love felt soul-sick and he had to reach out. Severus was tired of being Mr Bad Man and Harry knew this. Severus turned to feel gentle arms enfolding him and Harry’s eyes searching his out, “I know you hate this, love, but you really are the best”, Harry murmured, “I know it’s what you don’t want to be remembered by but neither do I, the death of Voldemort. Where others see it as an act of supreme heroism, I merely see it as an act of murder. Despite the fact that it was prophesied, it was still killing and it still sticks in my gut. At the end of the day, we know what we’re good at. I can kill and you can torture. Not happy attributes, I’ll grant you, but we have them and we must live with that”.

They let their gazes rest on each other again and Severus drew such strength from that look. He smiled shakily, “I don’t want to lose you, love, not because of this, not for anything. I’ll make a mess, it’s why I’m so good. It won’t be pretty and he can take most of the shit dished out. He’s good, resisted most of the Dark Lord’s machinations and he’s survived on the wrong side for a long time. I’m worried about how far I will have to go....”

By way of reply, he felt Harry gather him up to him and hold him. “I know what you are capable of, love, and don’t be afraid. I will still love you, I will always love you, Sev. Always. No matter what we have to do. Either of us. I fear that my role may yet require murder of me too. We do what we can when we have to”. He murmured into the cloth of Harry’s shirt, “I don’t deserve you. I don’t bloody well deserve you, Harry”, only to feel Harry’s lips in his hair, brushing his scalp, “Oh, yes you do. We deserve each other. Come on, who else’d have us? You’re stuck with me, get used to it”.

And that was that, the die was cast and the action had to play itself out. They stood together outside Bessie, taking in the last few rays of the sun and reflecting on the vicissitudes of their lives and the love that had brought them to this strange place of relative peace.

From up close, Severus got to see a little of the uncovered steel that made up the core of the man he married. He was awed. Voldemort had never been such. Ever....... And he was married.....bound......to him. The now and past saviour. As the thoughts assailed him, he coloured slightly and shook his head. So this is what it meant to be married to the Boy-who-Lived, not just Harry, the man he loved.

Severus sighed deeply. It was all happening again, but was he in any shape to handle it? Alright, so he could do seventy-five sit-ups now in a row, it didn’t mean he was fighting fit again. Okay, so his reaction times to Harry’s lightning fast spellcasting was improving, but that meant he was more used to Harry’s personal casting style, surely? Dodging the hexes? The weaving in and out of Harry’s spellfire? Not fast really, nothing like his youth but he could still dodge them.

When all was said and done, he was a worthy opponent in their duels and at the end of them, Harry always muttered something to the effect that he was glad he wasn’t facing him, but the older man would shrug off the obvious compliment. In truth, Severus was almost back at his peak physically, even though he refused to acknowledge it despite Harry’s ragged look after several of their more intense training sessions.

It was when he finally crowed over Harry, his wand-tip poised over Harry’s throat that he finally worked it out, as the training from the book came to an end, he was Harry’s equal and had always been so. Not only that, but that Harry had seen him in no other way. Harry always bowed deeply as to a Master at the end of their duels, whatever the outcome.

He may not be quite there yet, but he was doing all right. He could move again without doing himself a mischief and could cast as fast as the best. Yes. He was doing a lot better physically than he had been a mere two months ago.

****

They had already booked the villa even though the girl at the letting agency got their names mixed up and gave them the wrong keys. The mistake was soon rectified and they were letting themselves into one of the largest places that they had rented so far. The main house was huge, with six bedrooms of gargantuan proportions. The smaller villa was a haven of luxury despite only having two bedrooms. As Harry lay back in the massive tiled bath holding Severus to him, he couldn’t help wondering, was this another moment that Draco would have loved? As if he’d ‘sent’ the thoughts, the reply came back, {I think Rem would have loved it here too}.

{Where did you get that? I don’t think I ‘sent’ it}, Harry instantly replied, {And I didn’t feel you in my head}. Severus made ‘I don’t know’ gestures, {I just did, Harry. Maybe it’s the bond}. He relaxed against Harry’s chest. Harry gazed down at him for a long moment, uncertainty plain in his green eyes, before picking up the cup on the edge of the bath and proceeding to wash his husband’s hair.

After a fairly chaste ablution they went into town in their hire car. This one had a large boot. They had a feeling that they might need it before too long. They toyed with a fairly mediocre meal and shopped for supplies.

Grimly they drove back to the villa. Severus tried to do his usual mile in the pool and stopped after a mere forty lengths. Harry tried to do his stretches and ended up pulling a muscle in his right thigh. They were both tense.

Severus had tested the bottle of Serum on them both. It worked. Mentally, they asked each other the deepest and most personal of questions and neither could nor did, lie. For an hour or so, they each revealed his darkest secrets to the other, each knowing enough of the other already to know exactly what to ask.

That way, Harry revealed that, yes, he really did want to be fighting again. Severus equally found himself spilling his own darkness. He finally admitted that, yes, he had got off on one or two of the torturings he had done, though the process disgusted him in the main.

From there, they realised that they were both a little tired of lack of direction for now and to be settled for a while might have it’s good points. They decided easily enough on returning to the houseboat in Holland for a while, they were accessible but still distant from the home front.

As the truths continued to flow, Harry revealed that he didn’t wear make-up nearly as often as he’d like to and Severus had to admit that the plain reason he didn’t let Harry piss in his mouth was that he hated the taste and didn’t want to swallow, however erotic he found the rest of their water games. He also blurted, blushing for England, that he really enjoyed both the make-up and the dressing up and would like to be paddled more often, please.

Harry fidgeted before he admitted that he really loved to be in the thick of a fight, that all the years he and Draco had fought at school had been like six years of extended foreplay, both of them had finally come clean about it being a turn-on and had incorporated battling into their private sex games. Severus smirked at this, {Always knew you liked it a bit rough. I can’t say I feel the same way, though. I never did like fisticuffs but I’ll wrestle you from time to time if you like}.

The effects were wearing off as they kissed but Severus wanted to say one final thing as their tongues met and meshed, {I love how ruddy oral you are, you have the wickedest mouth, my love}. Harry’s mind gasped, {Fuck! You too, lover. I love yours so much....what you do to me.....}. In truth, Severus had rather missed that in Remus, who, for a canine, was most undemonstrative with lips and tongue, but Harry led with his mouth, a trait Severus found most attractive. He remembered one of the earliest times that the four had shared:

They were watching Draco prepare Remus. Harry was sitting up with Severus’ head in his lap. Harry was lazily stroking the long body laid out across his legs but then got impatient. He lifted Severus up, climbed out from underneath before laying them both down and going to work with his lips. He kissed his way along that back, across the shoulders, down an arm before backing away slightly and turning an attentive Severus onto his back.

He kissed his way over the older man’s front too, not particularly homing in on the obvious erogenous zones just getting to know all of this body with his mouth. No longer concentrating on the antics of his partner, Severus closed his eyes and gave himself over to the sensations Harry was arousing in him with that wonderful mouth, as, with lips and teeth and tongue, Harry made love to Severus for the first time, in full view of both of their partners. They remained joined at the mouth until Harry had to raise up onto his hands. Severus had keened up towards him, wanting more of those lips until the point at which Harry had exploded when Harry had mashed their mouths back together and thrust his tongue in as hard as his cock was piledriving in, causing Severus to arch right off the bed, catch Harry firmly around the middle and come forcefully with his cock squashed between them and his mouth thoroughly fucked by tongue.

They forgot them completely until a low cheer reminded them that they were not alone. They shared a last smouldering glare as Harry climbed off before his attention was diverted by the hungry mouth of his gorgeous blond boyfriend. Severus, however, took a while to recover, perhaps he never really had, and lay with Remus idly watching the other two while they murmured rude comments on youth versus age but the back of Severus’ mind was in turmoil. He now knew just how much he was in love with a certain Harry Potter. Damn! This could become complicated!

Severus parcelled up the memory while it was fresh and sent it to Harry. Harry blinked, {What have you sent?}. Severus smirked, {A memory I have}. {How do I access it?}. Severus shrugged, {When you send me moving images, I imagine sitting in a chair before a screen and pressing the ‘go’ button to start rolling the tape. It’s like I get a ‘message’ from you with the images in and I sit down and press ‘play’. I’m surprised you haven’t worked that one out, sorry, or I’d have mentioned it earlier}.

Harry was stunned, {You mean I can send moving images too?} Severus nodded, {I think I send them to you too, but it would appear that you have only been able to ‘read’ the stills, photos rather than film. Though I have no doubt you have the ability to do so. Maybe you have to visualise something like that in order to open the portal up between our minds. It feels totally unlike Legilimency, it’s a sharing of resources not an invasion of privacy. I can’t force you to reveal anything in your head that you want to keep from me and I think we cannot lie to each other in here either. Don’t ask me how I know, I haven’t got that far yet}.

When Harry sat down and concentrated hard, he could once again feel the slight pressure of the ‘message’ that his husband had sent him. How to read it? Then his mind’s eye opened a fraction and there it was: a perfect analogy: he saw the blue letters in a line, a web link, so mentally clicked it and downloaded the attachment. He did it all the time. Bang, there was the memory playing itself out in his head in glorious technicolour. He gasped at the strength of the images, not so much remembering as almost re-living the events; and blushed at the actual content {Yup, I remember that one as well. Ah, how oblivious we were to the others. Nice memory. Thanks for sharing it} They kissed again, relishing the close moment. They both chuckled at the easy mind-linking before breaking it in favour of food and an early night.

The others would begin to arrive in a few short days and they both had the feeling that things were about to move.......fast.

****

The girls were actually the first to arrive. Harry and Severus picked them up in the hire car expecting there to have been four passengers, “Where are the lads?” Harry asked after the initial hugs and greetings were out of the way. Ginny rolled her eyes, “They’re waiting for the extradition order or something and the Australian Minister is playing footsie with us a bit, though they think they can re-route it another way, around the Deputy whose son-in-law is a magical, after all the bastard killed muggles and it’s the muggle authorities that are dragging their heels”.

Harry huffed his annoyance, “Pah! And then they give him a job as a copper?! Bloody hell! What kind of checks do they run on these people?” He apologised for his grumpiness, “Sorry, we’ve been trying to decide whether to come back or not”. The women squealed as one, “NO. This isn’t your fight”. Harry laughed as they made their way to the car, “No, of course not. That’s why we keep running into random Death-Eaters and other magical folk when all I wanted to do was escape for a bit”.

Hermione stopped him a moment and the others paused. “Harry, you must keep away from this one”. Harry shook his head slowly, “Why? I’m not seeing your point here. Don’t go all Dumbledore on me. I’m a grown-up now”. Hermione slumped and let out a long breath, “Not here, let’s get on the road first”. Harry nodded slowly and they continued on across the large car park.

Hermione halted them as they approached the car then stepped forward herself, transfiguring her wand, inspecting the underside of the car with an extending mirror that popped out of the end after a short incantation, “To see if anything was placed underneath, either a bomb or a listening device, not necessarily magical”, she said no more as she unplugged the earphones from her MP3 player, murmured at the blunt end of her wand and plugged them into a tiny hole that had appeared before scanning the metalwork, pushing the tiny earphone deeper and concentrated hard on the vibrations of the wand in her hands.

They were a little amused at her paranoia until she reminded them of the recent deaths back in New Zealand. Satisfied that there was nothing dicey about the car, she sighed and took the phones from her ears, “Everything’s all right, but it doesn’t hurt to be cautious”. She retransfigured her wand and gestured them all closer.

They all clambered into the vehicle, “Let me get in front, the better to face everybody, Harry”, Hermione requested. Harry heard the tone and instantly agreed, she definitely had something of importance to impart. She evidently knew the make and model of the vehicle for within moments she had turned the front seat half around so she could speak clearly to the other three.

“Graciela’s wand was a mess”, she began. Harry kept his eyes on the road but an ear to her speech. “It had been badly erased. Not by a spell but by chemicals, would you believe it? Muggle bloody technology!”, her ringing tones died to the silence that can only be, in a space suffused by engine noise.

“Chemicals?”, came the aghast comment of the potions master. Hermione nodded, “Yup, her final few spells, the lot was gone. We could only read remnants of a few and they were pretty dark. We did have just enough material to determine that she wasn’t the caster though. Oh, shite, this thing gets more complicated doesn’t it?”

Severus nodded, “I take it you kept samples. Of the chemicals involved?” Ginny nodded, “Hermione ran them past me but I must admit I have no knowledge of muggle preparations at all. Maybe either you or Harry could....” Harry burst out, “You’ve brought the list with you?” Hermione nodded, “We’re a bit desperate here, though from the initial odour, I’m reading plain old chlorine bleach”. Severus frowned, “All right, I’ll take a look at them. You heard, I take it, that we have seemed to fortuitously find LeStrange?” Hermione widened her eyes, “Yes, I heard. I hope we can take him in this time”. She asked Harry for the particulars of the encounter.

He told her and she shrugged, “Well, we want him, so if we get the extradition....”. Harry reached out a hand for a moment, grabbing her arm, attracting her full attention. “What if we don’t do this legally to start with? Take him somewhere quiet, find out what he knows then ‘obliviate’ him. He’s in the Knights order after all and we have some Veritaserum. If he is lost to us then we may never get the information from him, he’ll just do time for his muggle crimes”.

She glanced between the two men, seeing the serious looks, “And I take it that one or both of you are willing to do the, er, questioning?” Severus leaned forward in his seat, “Hermione, it needs to be myself that does this. I know too much about him”. She nodded a tad distractedly, “Yeah, of course, whatever, er, thanks Severus”, then rounded on them all, “You really are going to do this outside the law aren’t you?” Harry kept his eyes to the front but just nodded. Severus looked cautiously between the two women, “It really will be our best chance at someone of this level and I do, er, have a little practice in this area. Much as I hate to do this, I will do, for us all”.

She reached into the back seat then, grasping Severus’ hand, “This won’t be easy for you, will it?” Severus looked into her eyes,. “No. I thought that after the demise of Voldemort, I would no longer be in need of my, shall we say, special skills. Not only that, but I have......changed somewhat. I rather like the man I am now and have no desire to return to the man I once was”.

Squeezing his hand gently, Hermione said, “I think that all of us thought it was over after the last time, but it isn’t. The present crop of prophesied young ’uns are both dead, Graciela’s teacher, Frau Drescher is missing and the spellcasting both on my office and Graciela’s wand was appalling, and there was ample evidence of muggle interference. A crowbar in the office and bleach on the wand....”, her speech drifted off and Severus had the notion that this was the big issue for her right now, the mix of the mundane and the magical. He had to admit it was intriguing.

As they pulled into the villa, Harry was enquiring into the last known movements of the German teacher. Hermione ruefully admitted, “She was on a mission for the resistance equivalent of the Order of the Phoenix, she knew she trod a fine line. She carried a poison with her.......for all eventualities. I only hope she is still alive, but I rather doubt it, she’s been missing now for six days without a word”.

Severus and Harry regrouped in the kitchen and reviewed the information they had so far as they cooked their tired guests a meal. “It’s marginals”, Harry exclaimed, pacing the huge kitchen floor, “The amateurishness of the spellcasting. They’ve found out a little of their heritage but weren’t included. Not part of the magical elite; the ones that went to Hogwarts and so forth. Us” Severus was thoughtful as he made omelettes, “That would make sense. A deep envy for us and our kind, but where do the Masons fit in?”

Harry was stumped. All of this new intelligence had floored him somewhat. From another possible heir to Slytherin to a disaffected muggle-loving despot, Harry was having a hard time digesting it all. What did these people want? Full magical power? It was a thing you were born with and no amount of training would give it to you. It was innate. But perhaps that was the call of the Freemasons and other quasi-mystical groups, to connect with something that the marginalised magicals could feel but had no idea how to express. And either knowing from birth or finding out that there was a real magical ‘layer’ of society just out of reach of you must be galling indeed to those for whom that was their reality.

Harry shook his head as he laid out the plates, “I dunno, Sev. I really don’t know. A cover or a recruitment drive? A way to stay underground and largely ignored since all the well-connected are Masons and build up another power base. I’m surprised at all the muggle signs though. That’s a new one on me”.

They called Ginny and Hermione to the table, Severus was thoughtful as he dished up, “Me too, Harry, me too. Those seeking to establish a world order based on blood always go down the pureblood route. Look how hard Riddle tried to disguise his own bloodline but look again at how muggles do things. Maybe this de Santos chap isn’t as pureblooded as he likes to think. Maybe he’s just embraced the modern world or something”.

Hermione chipped in, “That sounds good to me. All the research I’ve done on Guillermo points at not very much actual magical ability. His brother, Guido is a full magical, trained at Beauxbatons. I have been in touch with old contacts of the family, those who are not particularly enamoured of them, and I have found out quite a lot. There are one or two of their old retainers who even reckon old Guillermo is actually a squib”.

That got the men’s attention. “A Squib!!?” They both exclaimed in unison. Ginny nodded, “I have access to all the school records as many are shared and Guillermo de Santos never went to a wizarding school. Aurora’s been helping me out and she has ultimate accessibility. De Santos never went through the wizarding education system”.

Harry was confused, “So how come he’s leading a new evil faction? One that seems to be considerably more savvy than Voldy’s team, given that they’ve already bumped off the prophesee and the spare, plus any that got in the way or may know something, like Gundersson’s entire family?”

Severus coughed politely and all eyes were on him in an instant. “Maybe”, he stroked his chin, looking at his lap and frowning deeply, “Maybe it’s a bit like the Mafia. De Santos is a high-up member of the masons, no matter his magical ability but there are others higher and probably at least a bit magical, for instance, others who have not received training as we four all did. We already know how they can fall through the net.

The secrets of the Freemasons seem real and attainable from what I have read: as you go up through the layers, you acquire more until finally, when you are ready, the final secrets of the architecture of the universe are revealed to you. This is quasi-scientific, not at all the sort of thing that your average crystal-kisser would be party to. Stuff that would appeal to any who feel the magic in them, much like the women who call down the moon at their naked ceremonies at stone circles. They are probably all marginal magicals, some of them even full magicals who have escaped notice. The Masons is the male way. That means that the de Santos’ and their ilk have been dangling the carrot before the donkey for many years. This is not a new plan”.

Hermione blanched. “No. Just one that could ferment over twenty-five fucking years”. There wasn’t much to say to this so all stayed silent. Harry eventually broke it, “This was always his back-up plan. If he died at the last battle then there were others who would put the long-term strategy into place, the Death-Eaters, the important ones, would carry it out. See that they disappeared, bred, multiplied, hid out successfully. Bloody hell, Sev, I hope the ones you rescued weren’t part of that”.

This shocked his husband, but Severus wracked his brain and shook his head, “No. I checked everyone personally. No-one left for exile without I processed them first, snapped their wand, interrogated them, threatened them, the usual stuff plus one or two of my own little, erm, ....methods. There weren’t that many who wanted to go anyway, but I was determined that any who wanted to turn away should be able to do so, after the requisite processing of course”.

Harry shuddered but believed that his beloved had been as thorough as he said he had been. The bland words hiding so much. Processing: Torture certainly or at least rough treatment. Anything that got the information required. Methods: the means by which the ‘information’ was extracted, however painful, however evil. Harry’s brow creased but he turned away wondering what George Foster had had to go through to get away; he hoped that Severus didn’t have to go too far, but he rather suspected that he would have to go further than far to get what they wanted from such an intractable source as Lestrange.

Severus noticed the turning away and something bit deep into his soul. He was still staring at Harry the next time he lifted his head. Harry frowned, {What?} at his lover and Severus shook his head mournfully, {You will hate me after this, Harry. I cannot do it! I cannot be this person any more! Not if it means that you look away from me like that}. Harry straightened, {NO}, his internal volume lowered from panic mode, {Sorry, no. I didn’t look away ‘cos I think any less of you. Remember it was you who said we can’t lie to each other in here}. Severus nodded, keeping his liquid black eyes fixed on Harry’s.

As they ‘talked’ their two guests were watching closely. Ginny flung her arm around her lover and whispered, “Look, they’re doing it. Talking telepathically or my name isn’t Ginevra Weasley”. Hermione beamed at her and kissed her jaw, “Yup, they’re telepaths all right”. They high-fived, a gesture that the men missed being so engrossed in their conversation.

{I know. I hope you will still love me afterwards}. Harry smiled then, {I will. I always will. We Potters only mate once and that’s for life}. Severus looked glum, {You already did that once, with Draco}. Harry looked appalled and reached out for his man, {Shit! Didn’t mean it like that. I never made it permanent with Drae did I? And I did with you}. Severus had to smile slightly as he nodded, {Aye, you did that, and you needn’t have} Harry snaked arms around his husband to feel the same encircling his shoulders and pulling him close, “Yes I did”, he whispered totally out of context as the rest of the conversation had been carried on between two minds. This drew the two womens’ attentions again, in time to see the two men kiss fervently.

Their guests were still staring as they emerged for air. Hermione, with her usual bravado, dived right in, “You two are telepaths aren’t you?” Harry cast his husband a meaningful look and they both faced their friends. “Yes”, Harry said calmly, “Though we would appreciate you not bruiting it about”, Severus amended. Ginny was the first to laugh, “So you both finally gave in to it? The bond? It takes a lot of trust to get that far. Well done the pair of you. I had odds laid with the lads that you would go for it”.

Severus looked less than pleased, “You mean, I lay my soul out before my husband to judge or be judged by, to create a serious magical bond that can never be sundered save by death and you and your bloody grotty twin brothers place bets?” Harry saw the funny side, “Oh, come on, Sev, remember that these are Weasleys we deal with here. So, Gin, who won?” Ginny batted her lashes, “Why, me, of course. The twins said you, Severus, would never do it, being so private as you are. You would never open yourself like that. I’m bloody glad they were wrong. A soul-bond is so precious”.

Severus was feeling a little raw and Harry felt it through the bond. This was more than mere intuition. His man needed him so Harry moved closer to be enveloped in long arms and held really close. Severus’ send was a little breathless, {Need this, Harry. I’ve never really needed before......I don’t know.....what...} and he was silenced by Harry’s lips on his, {Ssshhhh, just kiss me}, even through their minds, it was still a whisper, although Severus was powerless against it and complied, crushing Harry to him again, {Have to....need to......need you}, his mind murmured as he opened his mouth over Harry’s.

Harry’s brain shut down but for the kisses that were plundering his mouth. He made a vague gesture at his friends with a hand and Hermione led a red-faced Ginny away, “Merlin! They’re so hot aren’t they? Admit it?!” Ginny didn’t care any more as she was led away to somewhere private where she and Hermione could be naked and eating each other alive. She had a thought in the back of her mind that Harry and his husband were doing the very same thing about now……….

****

Sometime around the time the girls were coming down off their high, Harry was melting in his husband’s arms after the fucking of a lifetime. He knew when his Sev was feeling a bit Alpha and indulged him to the hilt, {Mmm, y’re a l’vely fuck, hubby of mine. ‘M gunna ache like a bastard t’morra}. Severus chuckled and bit gently on Harry’s neck, {All your fault. You make me so damn passionate, you little trollop}. Harry laughed and rolled them both to the side straightening out his legs as he did so, {Love it bein’ y’r trollop, s’long’s it’s not troll}.

Severus disengaged and cleaned them both up and they were tangled together again, Harry’s head finding it’s niche on Severus’ shoulder. Harry was asleep in seconds but Severus was still awake, mulling over Hermione’s information. Things were really hotting up now, so why was everyone so adamant about keeping them both far from it all? He would have to find out more in the morning, but for now he was content to sink his lips into Harry’s hair and inhale the essence of the man in his arms.

Hermione watched them approach the main house across the grass the next morning, noting Harry’s slight bow-leggedness and grinning. “Looks like someone got pounded into the mattress last night”, she remarked to the face close to hers propped on her shoulder. Ginny grinned and kissed her before attending to the grill again, “And you didn’t?”, she smirked. Hermione shot back, “At least it doesn’t make me walk funny the next day”. This made them both laugh.

Dressed very casually in just vests and baggy shorts, the two men strolled into the kitchen. Harry gave both of the ladies a kiss and enquired as to breakfast. Ginny grinned, “Bacon butties. That okay with everyone?” They all murmured their assent and Harry offered to butter bread, spreading brown sauce on his and Severus’ and they enjoyed a leisurely meal together chatting of this and that. “I want to hold off going to the magical zone until the others are all here at weekend. It’ll do your head in, honestly”, Harry grinned at his ‘sisters’. “It really is that stunning and I agree with Harry, we should all see it together”, Severus added.

So the talk turned to other things the girls wished to see or do. Hermione stretched, “Today? Just chill out, maybe try out the pool later, drink some wine, get wrecked”. Ginny giggled at this, “Sounds good for today. Hope you don’t mind? I need to adjust to the time change too”. So that was that, a day of relaxation for them all.

After eating, they all stood and grabbed their drinks making their way out to the pool area, sitting in the slanting sun. Harry stripped his top off to let the sun at his bronzed skin, “Harry!”, Hermione exclaimed, “You’ve lost a bit of weight”. Harry shrugged, “Sev and I have been working out for a while now, trying to get fit again for....well, you know.....times to come, perhaps. Which brings me round neatly to the question that’s burning a hole in my head. Why are Sev and I being kept away? Especially as we have already decided to go back to England for a bit, see what we can do to help”.

Her answer completely baffled him. “Harry, I didn’t see you take any potion at breakfast. You either, Severus, which must mean that you are completing your bond. That’s why we can’t let you two anywhere near a battlefield. I thought it would be pretty obvious. Congratulations, by the way”, she ended a touch breathlessly.

Harry was totally bemused and looked to his husband for help, {Potions? Completing the bond? What is she talking about?} Severus shrugged, {Buggered if I know. Why the congratulations? Perhaps we should enquire}. They turned as one back to the women. Severus was the first to speak, “Hermione, Harry and I haven’t the first idea of what you speak”. Hermione visibly paled and sat down. Ginny came to sit beside her girlfriend looking aghast at the two men.

{What’s all this? Oh, bugger, is there something we should have done here?} Harry and Severus glanced at each other but Ginny was the first to speak. Licking dry lips, she croaked, “You did actually read the books I gave you? Didn’t you?” Harry was quick to reply, “We’ve done all sorts of work around Donaldson’s instructions and apart from the telepathy, we haven’t got significantly raised magic levels. We’ve worked hard at it, tried joined spellcasting, all sorts and zilch, nada. Whatever this bond is all about, it isn’t about enhanced magic. The extraordinary sex is cool though”, he finished cheekily but neither of his ‘sisters’ were laughing. In fact they looked very glum indeed.

There was a silence that could be cut through until Ginny whispered, “Okay, so you read the Donaldson, but what about the other one?” Harry shrugged, “Well, it was all about bond-children and stuff but, well, helloooo, Sev and I are two guys, so I hadn’t quite got around to that one yet. Why? Do you need it back at school?” Ginny blanched, “Oh, Merlin, Harry. That was the one you should have read first. Both of you should have been protecting yourselves until you felt the time was right.....erm, something like that”, she finished weakly.

The two women traded worried looks. Hermione muttered, “I need to dowse the two of you at the very least to determine if you are still, erm, safe, or if you’re....oh gods”. Harry was getting a little impatient with this and expressed it, “Come on, ‘Mione, spill the beans. What should we have read here?”

Hermione took a deep breath, “Bonds like this are rare, especially the love bond forged by the two of you. That’s what the other book is all about. But. And it’s a big ‘but’. Your magic is potentially so strong that you need an anchor between you. It’s why you can’t do it yet. You need a ‘grounding’ influence. Something so innocent, to stop the dark getting in. In order for your powers to be realised, you have to have a child between you”.

Severus frowned and got up to pace, “Very well, but how are Harry and I, as two males, to achieve this, even if it is desired by both of us?” Harry nodded at Severus’ question. Ginny sighed, “That was what the book is all about, you must have only flicked through the het bits but it isn’t like that at all. You two potentially have a great gift between you, the gift of bestowing life to another”.

There was total silence in the room. Harry was still puzzled but Severus looked thunderstruck as an idea hit him with the force of a bludger, “Are you trying to tell us that either or both Harry and I have the ability to......oh my god......all the sex.....that’s what it’s all about.....the bond trying to complete itself?” He turned wide eyes on Hermione who simply nodded once.

She stood, beckoning Severus to her, “I’m gonna dowse you one at a time. I may not be a medi-witch, but this one’s a spell that every girl learns from the moment she’s sexually active”. Harry shook his head, “’Mione, what the hell’s going on here. I don’t understand. Have we done something wrong?” Severus turned to him, “Oh, gods Harry, maybe nothing wrong but if this is positive, then something definitely inadvertant”. He let Hermione lead him away slightly so the ‘read’ wouldn’t be confused.

Charging her wand-tip between her palms, she proceeded to dowse him and flinched at a couple of points as she passed her wand over his lower torso. Harry turned to Ginny, “What’s up? What’s wrong with him?” Ginny cast him a strange look, “I wish you’d read the other book”, she hissed, “You could both be in a lot of trouble. Now watch”. Harry looked hurt but attended to Hermione and his husband.

He was just in time to see the confused look on his husband’s face as he stepped away and Harry was beckoned over by his best friend. She repeated the gestures over and around him concentrating on the lower torso as she had with Severus. Her brow scrunched again as he stepped away and discharged her wand flicking it away from her several times. Harry tipped his head to one side, “’Mione?” She looked up at him then cast a glance between the two of them. Severus came over to hold Harry but Harry was near frantic.

“’Mione? Have me and Sev got it? The cancer, the AIDS or whatever that killed my Drae and Sev’s Wolfie? What’s wrong with us? Why did you need to dowse us?”, his voice rose with each question. Severus held him tight, “Far from it, Harry. It appears that our bond requires a special circumstance to seal it and both of us are in a position to do so, thereby making it doubly strong”. Harry was scrunching his eyes up, shaking his head, “I’m missing something here, aren’t I?”

Severus buried his nose in Harry’s hair, “Hush, love. Let’s sit down”. He sat in a chair and pulled Harry into his lap, {Well, you’ve always said you wanted this. Now, it would appear as if you are going to be granted your wish Harry}. Harry reared back, his hands on Severus’ shoulders, “Sev, please. Tell me what’s going on”. Severus looked down then pulled Harry to him so their foreheads were touching.

{Harry, it would appear as if wizards, together, in a bond such as ours, are granted full bond-ship only on the birthing of a child to ground the magic. In order to facilitate this, changes are able to take place within our bodies and....oh, shit, Harry. We’re both pregnant}.

The look on Harry’s face would be imprinted on the three memories for ever as Harry reared back and shouted, “WHAT?!!!” Staring into the liquid pools of dark that were his husband’s eyes. There were no lies there. This was the truth. He deflated slightly and slumped down.

He shook his head bemusedly, “How? I mean, why? Oh, shite”, he expostulated with feeling. Ginny snickered, “Well, the how is pretty standard and the why is to complete your bond although neither of you seemed to know about this until now, and the ‘oh shite’, I presume, is about what you will do next?”

Harry completely ignored her and focussed on Severus. {Is this real? Pregnant? Both of us?}. Severus nodded. {So it would appear. I will attest to Ms Granger’s spellcasting. As House-Master, I was well aware of those girls who thought they were ‘in trouble’ and they always went to ‘the Granger girl’ for indubitable confirmation}, his mind sighed.

Harry stood up and straddled his lover before taking his head between his palms, {So you mean, I’m really having your baby?} Severus nodded dumbly, {And I yours, it would seem}, his mind spat out. Harry leaned away, {Sev. Do you hate the idea? Only I’ll be the sole bearer if this is what the bond requires. You can....get rid of yours if you like}. {Gods, no, Harry. Nothing like that. I’m just frightened. I never thought I’d have a family in a month of Sundays}. Harry gathered his beloved to him, {Never mind. Oh, gods. A real family. Ours. We need to make a home somewhere. Shit! Before we get too huge. Oh fuck! I’m gonna love you pregnant}. Severus looked up into the face of love incarnate and knew.....knew he was going to be all right.

They both turned from the bonding moment to the girls, “We’d appreciate it if we’re the only ones who know of this to start with”, Harry stated and the others agreed readily, Ginny rose again to make more drinks and the day got going. Harry continued to sit in his lover’s lap.

Hermione enquired as to proximity problems. Harry snorted, “Nah, but we haven’t exactly been far from each other, not far enough to test it out”. Severus adjoined, “And I don’t want us to be very far apart in any case, particularly after the news we have just heard”. Hermione blushed and nodded, “I can understand that. Sorry it was such a shock but you really should have read....”, she was cut off midstream. Severus broke in, “Maybe if you two had indicated the urgency behind reading these chapters, perhaps....”, he left the rest unsaid. Harry rolled his eyes. Once again, Severus had the high ground but he was right, perhaps if the girls had been a little more forceful in their insistence on them reading the relevant chapters then they wouldn’t both be here expecting each other’s child.

The idea thrilled Harry to the core.

Severus discerned this through the bond, {You really want this, don’t you?}, he mind-whispered, drawing his younger husband to him. Harry planted kisses in the thick black hair, {Yes. You know I do. I’ve always wanted a family, children. And now. you are expecting mine and I am expecting yours. I feel truly blessed}. Severus was astounded at this and tried to blink away the tears. {I’ve never thought of myself as a family man....}, he began, but was cut off by Harry kissing him, {I’ll do all the ‘mum’ stuff, lover} said directly into his mind and Severus had to smile, {Well. Not all of it. I have to carry Bratling here, it would seem}. Harry laughed, “Bratling? Bah! Humbug! I bet she’s a girl and I think I’m carrying one too”.

The women regarded each other, having been kept out of the conversation up ‘til now. This last spoken blurt seemed hopeful. At least they seemed to be coming to terms with what was happening. As the ladies continued to watch, they saw much covering of stomachs with hands, strokes, gentle and considerate; many changes of expression: tremulous and hurt from Severus, tremulous and joyful from Harry until Severus smiled like the sun coming out and grabbed Harry to him in a breathless hug, raining kisses into his hair. “I fucking love you so much, Mrs S”, he threw his head back and gave in to the new forces moving him. Harry realigned them again before kissing his beloved senseless, “Love you too, Mrs P. Take me to bed. Right now.”, and they staggered off, much to the delight of the two women watching their exit.

Hermione laughed out a long breath, “I think that went well, by and large. Severus seems a little reluctant and I can’t say I blame him, but them both? Oh, joy! Both of them”. Ginny snuggled up to feel arms wrap around her.

They kissed several times on the way back to their ‘cottage’ and didn’t make it all the way back to the bed they had so recently spilled from, musky and smelly from the recent lusty sex. This time they only managed it as far as the hearthrug before Harry’s clothes were impatiently spelled from him and he was rolled under a rampant Severus.

This time Harry was having none of it, his lover having drilled him the previous day, and rolled them both over, spreading Severus beneath him. His husband just grinned and turned onto his back, inviting Harry in with his sexy smile and the lick on the lips that Harry couldn’t resist. Their kiss was sloppy and wet making them both emit small noises and frot together urgently.

Harry waved his wand over Severus’ front before ditching it in favour of holding a now-naked Severus to him, {Mmmm. Loads better}, his mind purred and Severus gave it up for him, to him, the man who had changed his life. Pulling Harry in urgently as he was entered. Tipping his hips up to take all of him. Pressing their lips together again as he was thoroughly fucked, making small sounds with each thrust, the pressure building between them and Harry, his beautiful Harry, sweating from his exertions above him.

Severus arched his back as far as it would go to meet Harry’s urgent thrusts, slow and deliberate, penetrating Severus’ very soul. He batted Harry’s hand away when it tried to grasp his cock. This was enough. This soul-deep fucking, his prostate battered with each pass. Feeling Harry’s cock thicken inside him, Severus smiled in slow motion as his balls tightened. He felt his face scrunch up as he pushed up his hips hard onto Harry’s cock and came in a gush between them. Harry rode him for a moment more before screwing up his own face and coming deep inside him, short hard jabs washing his insides with come.

The post triste kiss was so full of love. A love that they both accepted, having no options really. Now they understood. Why they were to be kept from this war. Always providing, of course, that it broke out in the next year or so. Harry had a horrible feeling that this was merely the calm before the storm. A reprieve. But he accepted his fate. He was a man. He was in love with Severus Snape. He was carrying his child. He felt good about it all.

Severus stroked Harry’s hair and didn’t feel nearly as sure about everything. A parent? Him? Not only that but a carrier. He had to really love Harry for that to happen. He sighed and smiled slightly. At least that was true. But. Bugger! Why hadn’t they known sooner? Aaah, he couldn’t blame the girls. As Harry was so fond of saying, ‘what was, was’ and that was that. Severus knew that Harry would support him and he would be as supportive as he could. Aaah, shit! Both pregnant! He felt the panic rise again and managed to get a lid clamped down over it.

Harry was reading it all across their bond and held his lover tight, {I know it’s a bit strange, but I was never normal. Forgive me for putting you in this situation}. Severus came out of his snit feeling cold, {Harry, you are in the same situation that I am in. Teach me to have your equanimity in this. You seem so calm and accepting}. Harry held on, {It was ever thus with me, never normal. I hoped that this time things would be...you know....a bit more....ordinary....but no. I’m sorry love. I really want yours but I can quite understand if you don’t......”, he was silenced with a kiss.

{Harry, if this is our fate, then I will meet it. All I need is you at my side. Stay with me}. Harry’s face broke out in the biggest smile and he dipped his mouth to catch his husband’s in a kiss, {Of course. We are together in this as in everything. I love you, you berk. We’re going to give each other children and bind us together forever. We’re going to be a family, lover, a real family. And we are going to love those children.....}Harry’s inner voice tailed off.

{We should be fighting}, Severus tentatively suggested. {I thought that’s why we were getting fit again}. Harry huffed out a long breath, {So did I. In a million years, I never thought that this would be a possible reason for keeping us out of the fray} Severus grinned as he buried his mouth in Harry’s hair, {Bloody hell, love, we’ll be a right pair of moaning Minnies whinging about our piles and swollen ankles and we’ll get really fat and have what is it Esme called them? Ah yes, ‘man-boobs’ and smell of sick all the time. Pregnancy is a disgusting time for women}.

Harry was startled, {Do you think so? The girls glowed through all of theirs. Granted, with Ben, ‘Mione did get rather large at the end and felt like she was carrying a hippogriff but over all they seemed serene and beautiful to me}. Severus shook his head slightly, {You are a ridiculous romantic Mrs S. I think we really need to consult that manual, see if we stay men or mutate into some bizarre form of she-male with saggy tits and a dick that can’t get hard any more}.

Harry glanced at the gloom in Severus’ face and had to suppress a grin, so that was what was really worrying him was it? The possible loss of maleness. Harry sighed, he supposed he felt the same way but he wasn’t sure he wanted the mechanics of the thing shoving in his face. Ah well. Time to consult the oracle. After a short kip.
He led them both to bed and they curled up together.

****

It was far more than that, Harry found out later as he woke to the almost imperceptible shaking of the bed. He had lived in a boarding school long enough to know that his partner was either wanking or crying as quietly as possible. He turned over silently but the body behind him still froze. Harry leaned up, fully expecting to ‘help out’ but instead saw Severus with his face buried in his hands. {Hey, what’s the matter?} Harry mind-whispered. Severus turned onto his back, strands of hair sticking to his wet face, his eyes red-rimmed, {I’m up the bloody duff and you have to ask?}

Harry took him in his arms. At first Severus was as responsive as a board but he relaxed somewhat as Harry kissed his brow and pushed the hair off his face, {I told you, we can terminate yours if you don’t want to do this, the book says we only need one child for the bond to properly take}. Severus was aghast, {Are you listening to yourself, Harry? This isn’t some random creature, this is a child that you and I have created. I may have been a monster in my past but nothing would come close to that if I went ahead and terminated this pregnancy} Both were silent for a while. {While I totally supported Hermione’s position vis-a-vis her own recently. I could no more countenance the idea for myself than I would decapitating myself. You, however, may choose as you may and I will support you to the ends of time}, he added quietly. He could feel his throat close again.

{I’ll be a crap father}, the send was small and wobbly in tone, {I don’t exactly have precedents in my life for good parenting}. Harry planted a kiss in the black hair, {No, but neither do I. What you do have, however, is love}. Severus shifted impatiently against Harry but Harry wasn’t about to let go, {Oh, no you don’t}, he chided gently, as Severus tried to sit up. The older man sighed and settled back in Harry’s arms, {I wonder how much of that I have, too. I’ve never really actually liked children, as you know}.

Harry couldn’t help the small smile, {I know, but you were also in a situation that you loathed and were held under two yokes. You didn’t show much of your loving side either but we both know that it’s there. I know your old man was a bit of a despot, love, are you afraid you’ll be similar? You know, the old ‘sins of the fathers’ stuff?}.

He felt rather than saw the nod, {I don’t want to be that any more than I want to be a torturer again but I’m good at it}. Harry kissed him again, {I know, the very best, but you also love, oh, yes, how you love. I’ve never felt so loved in my whole life, and, if we think we know what love is now, you just wait until they place those little bundles in our arms and he or she opens their little eyes and they’re the same colour as yours, just you wait and see}.

{That’s partly what I’m afraid of. That I’ll want to rip all the evil out of this goddamn world with my teeth to protect them. The other fear I have is being too hard on them, just like I was with the children I taught}. Harry grinned then, “{Whoa, fierce momma snake. You’ll be brilliant. Oh, and, lest ye forget, kids always know how to get around their parents, so unless you are a beating type of bully, which I know you aren’t, as, for all your snark, I never heard tell of you ever actually raising a hand to a child, no matter how imbecilic, then they’ll still have the pair of us over a barrel, but you’ll be able to maintain some semblance of discipline, whereas I suspect I might be a bit hopeless in that regard. I’ll back you up, you know. I don’t want to ruin our kids, even though the temptation will be there. That’s one of the things I fear, that I’ll spoil them}

This seemed to ease Severus’ mood slightly but he still sighed heavily, {What if I’m just too old to be having such young ones, after all, your friends all had theirs years ago, Ginny’s have all flown the coop and Hermione’s are only a few years away from that and they are your contemporaries not mine? What if I don’t have the sheer energy required for parenthood? Children, by their very nature, run you ragged}.

Harry looked up and shrugged, {Don’t know the answer to that one, but I’m pretty sure I can find help if we need it. I still expect the sleepless nights and stuff}. Harry sensed Severus tense again in his arms, {What is it?} Severus looked up to meet Harry’s eyes, {I will miss this freedom. I know this may sound odd, but imagine this if you will. You and I are together but we are running my shop instead of having embarked on these adventures. Then, the idea of further settling is fine.....I don’t know....perhaps I haven’t got the travelling quite out of my system yet, and I am enjoying it so, but for the occasional mishap}, he relaxed again.

Smiling again, Harry kissed him, {Mmm, you have a point, and I’m not sure if I am ready to give up the road entirely, but what’s to say we can’t travel with the kids? It’s a very educational thing for kids and I’d bet they’d pick up languages no problem, the old-fashioned way, so they can think in them. If we don’t fancy travelling with them when they’re tiny, then wait ‘til they’re a bit older, or even at Hogwarts, gives you and I nine months of the year to bugger off in. The world is not closed to us and I remember certain promises we made to each other at Christmas. We may, however, have to seriously rethink Bessie}.

Severus smiled then, {You really have an answer for everything, don’t you?} Harry rolled his eyes, {Not everything, berk, but I did talk to the girls a lot, particularly ‘Mione, when she was having hers, and she worked right up to the birth of each one, took a short time off for maternity leave and was back at work. She knew that any childrearing had to encompass her as a professional as well as a mum and she’s made a great job of her kids, so any children of ours would grow up with travellers. It would still be nice to have a place in New Zealand as well as Holland}, he sighed.

{I thought you wanted to live in Perth. We can’t afford property everywhere, surely?}. Harry grinned down at him and kissed his nose, {We may have to have smallish ones, but we can probably afford five or six like that, with all the attendant running costs and so on, maintenance, phone and Floo connections etcetera, but I did a little initial research while you were on that driving course}. Severus pulled Harry down for a serious kiss, {You really have thought about this as a serious lifestyle, haven’t you?}.

Harry rubbed their noses together, {Yeah, s’ppose so. Just dreaming, you know? Bored out of my head at ‘Mione’s while you were away and the others at work. It would fit in a treat with some of the other ideas that you and ‘Mione have had, about the freelance ‘academy’, f’r instance, or the itinerant potions making. With the ‘Net, you can advertise online and operate anywhere in the world. So, with all that in mind, there’s settling and ‘settling’, if that makes any sense?}.

Severus nodded at this, deep in thought, {But, if we’re swanning around the world, what of the children’s education?} Harry took a deep breath even though they weren’t actually speaking, {Well, I thought I’d either tutor them myself, or put them in schools wherever we are, and eventually they’ll go to Hogwarts. Believe me, I couldn’t be any worse than the primary school I went to before senior school and at least they’d have the benefit of some magical training before they go. As for socialising them, we tend to make friends wherever we go and I can’t see that being different just because we have children}.

At this, Harry lay his head on Severus’ shoulder, {As for you being too old, that’s bollocks, you’re barely middle-aged and you swim a mile at least three times a week, so you’re not unfit either. We can keep up the regime right through the pregnancy and teach the kiddies when they’re old enough, When we buy places, there’s gotta be a place to either ride or fly or swim at some of them. I don’t want fat lumps of lard like my cousin Dudley}, Harry shuddered delicately.

Severus squeezed him, {Don’t worry on that score. Yes, a property with a little land would be grand, and if we buy in warmer climes, I can save myself a bundle by growing many of my own exotic plants. While we’ve been on this side of the world, I have been amazed at the plants here that grow like weeds while back in Blighty I was fleeced raw for them as packaged ingredients. I hope one of the children likes potions}, he added a little wistfully.

They gazed at each other for a long tender moment. Harry said, {Can I make a request? About names?} Severus frowned slightly but nodded. {I don’t want anything connected to either of our pasts, no Latin, nothing too weird}, Harry’s mien was solemn as he ‘asked’. Severus allowed a slow smile to creep across his face, {Done. We may argue on the names but I fully agree with you on those three points at least. I must confess to rather liking traditional and unfussy names}.

Harry partially sat up so his chin rested on Severus’ chest, {Hear hear. I like names like, er, Alistair or Andrew or Richard for boys and the less yucky flower names for girls, Rose, for example, or Heather, acceptable for muggles or magicals}. Severus inclined his head in acknowledgement, {I think I could live with any of those, although I admit to a fondness for the old Jewish names for girls, like Hannah or Rachel. I don’t know why}.

Harry laughed aloud, {That was easy. Now, what do they call us? I suspect I’ll end up being ‘daddy’}. Severus rolled his eyes, {If anyone calls me ‘daddy’ then I’ll hex them. I shall be a stately ‘father’}. Harry poked him into making a most unstately ‘ow’ sound, {No, you won’t. Father is far too distant a term. How about......I know, papa. Not pa-pah, but papa. It’s just as ‘elder-statesman’ like and far cuddlier}. Severus drew breath as if to expostulate something along the lines of ‘I don’t cuddle’ when he brought himself up short. Exactly what was he doing at the moment if it wasn’t, odious word, cuddling? He sighed resignedly, {Papa it is, then, though I suspect that they will have much more colourful nomenclatures for their more private moments}. Harry chuckled, {Like when you’ve just dispatched someone to bed without supper}.

Severus raised his head, the better to look into Harry’s eyes, {Actually, I am dead against depriving any child of it’s nourishment as punishment, but, yes, I see your point, only with me it will be after they’ve swept all the leaves from the lawn as punishment on a windy night}. Harry laughed, {Oooh, evil git. You would as well, wouldn’t you?} Severus smirked, {Punishment has to be just that, punishment. There’s nothing like a truly pointless and time-wasting task to drive that one home. Filch, if you recall, was the sadist. I, on the other hand, tried to actively discourage you from activities that would end up in detention with me, and let the detention be so mind-numbingly boring that you would resolve never to engage in said activities ever again, if detention with me was the end result. It worked.....for the most part, chiefly because taking the damn things gave me less time for my own activities}. Harry smirked, {Well, it didn’t work with me, did it?}

Severus lay Harry and himself back down, kissing Harry’s hair, {No, brat, and now I’m married to you for my pains. Ah, well, at least I cannot complain of boredom: first you hoicke me off all around Europe, meet new Dark Lord, then marry me: wonderful, then off to the other side of the world and knock me up on our honeymoon, meet new wizards and witch, make new friends, have babies, buy houses. Lordy, I’m knackered just thinking about it}. There was a rumble of laughter from his chest that took the seriousness out of the words and Harry turned and kissed him there, right above the sound.

A tentative knock on the cottage door made them both sit up, they had quite forgotten their guests and the fact that they had literally fled once they knew of their condition. Harry flung on his gown and went to answer the door. Hermione.

“Are you two all right?”, her face was a picture of genuine concern, “You’re not rowing or anything?”, she continued in a whisper. Harry shook his head, “We’re just discussing it all. Sorry for ignoring you a bit”. Hermione stepped over the threshold, looking round, “Nice. A little love-nest. Here, we made you some lunch if you’re not up to company yet”, she held out a covered tray and Harry took it from her.

He laid it down and took his big ‘sister’ in his arms, “It’s freaked us out a bit, to be honest, it was the last thing either of us expected, but we’re coming round to the idea. You know I’ve always wanted kids anyway. D’you mind if we take the rest of the day, you know?”, he muttered into her hair.

She pulled away so they were at arm’s length, “You take as long as you need, both of you, and if you need any sort of advice then we’re here, okay? We’re both mums and learned loads that books never tell you and, even if you decide, you know, not to continue, then I can help there too. I know, not a nice thought, but I can if you need it”. Harry hugged her again, “I think we are going to have them, both of us. We’re just going over it all. Thanks for the offer, we’ll no doubt need it in time, so I’ll hold you to it. You’re a great mum, ‘Mione, and you’ve turned out three good kids”. She disentangled herself, sniffing slightly. “I’ll leave you to it, then. We’ll make some dinner tonight as well, you two just take your time. You’ve had a shock. Don’t worry, Gin and I can entertain ourselves”, she finished, archly, as she turned to go. Harry patted her arse, “Pair of minxes, both of you. See you later and cheers for lunch”. He let her out.

Harry took the tray to the bedroom and, stripping off his gown, got straight back into bed, “Now let’s see what the girlies have cooked up for us. ‘Mione was worried we were arguing, bless her”. They lifted the cloth, not without some minor trepidation as the Granger half of the Granger Longbottom name was not a noted chef but the first taste of the soup had them both smiling. “This bears the Weasley stamp all over it”, murmured Severus as they tucked into homemade minestrone with crusty bread. Harry grinned, “Aye, I swear to god that that woman could make a banquet for fifteen out of a radish, a pig’s trotter and a shrivelled up jam sarnie”.

{And still make it taste good}, rejoined Severus with his mouth full. They ate in silence. Hot soup, fresh bread and chunky cheese and sliced meats made for an excellent repast. There were even two large chunks of what tasted like home made fruit cake for pud that they both enjoyed.

There you go - a veritable behemoth of a chapter. Please, as always, read and review/leave stars - always appreciated.

See you all next week, Much love, The Squig xxx