The Journey Cycle Pt 2: New Zealand (pt 2 complete

12

The next two days passed in a bit of a blur for Severus and Harry. There were lots of events that they attended, bands they saw and through it all, in still moments, Harry was kept busy with his flapjacks, earning himself the moniker ‘Mr Flapjack Man’ around the site. Sammy went into the village for him willingly and helped them both stock up with ingredients. The next time he saw the hash man, he bought an ounce and a half and gave him two flapjacks for free but paid twenty dollars less on the ounce so everyone was happy. And he made flapjacks and flapjacks.

On the last afternoon, there was a halt called to all activity and everyone met on the lower field for the little non-religious service that took place. For all to remember their dead and to celebrate life. Harry stepped up shyly and read a poem for Draco and Remus that made Severus shed tears. Harry explained briefly the importance of these men in their lives and stepped down again to be embraced shakily in strong arms. “Harry, that was beautiful. What was that?” Harry held his husband tight and sniffled, “It was a portion of the Kaddish, the Hebrew prayer for the dead”.

Sammy shyly approached Harry and Severus as they held each other after the service, “Excellent reading of the Kaddish, Harry. My rabbi couldn’t have done better”. This made Harry sit up, “Rabbi?”, he queried. Sammy nodded, “Oh, yes. That’s the ‘Samuels’ part of me. I’m Jewish. My mum is so I was brought up that way, you know, cut at four days old, Mitzvah’ed at thirteen, the whole schtick. I went to seder as a kid, learned my Torah. I still go to synagogue now and again, though I have to admit to being more of a reform Jew than a true Frummer, and I’m not a Zionist either”, he shrugged as he finished.

Harry coughed to hide his amazement, so okay, Sammy was Jewish but he hadn’t observed had he? Oh, shit, they had had chicken sausages and he hadn’t seen Sammy eat bacon. Maybe he did observe some of it after all. Perhaps, if Sammy was to receive magical training, he may be forced to decide between heritages. This could be really tricky. For now, Harry huffed out a long breath and kept silent. He could sense another conversation with his big ‘sister’ in the offing.

They had agreed to go back to Wellington in the wake of Jed and Sammy. Harry wanted to hand over the books if they had arrived then skip town quickly before his new friends could read the final three chapters, the main revision to the work. Severus had an idea that it was going to get a lot more complicated than that. In the end it was he that was correct.

****

They all swapped e-mail addresses and phone numbers before Mike and Matt first, followed by Frank and Chris, left the site that they had called home for a few days. As the bikes peeled away and made for the bike track, Frank realised that he had become a lot closer, not only to his other riding buddies but to these strangers, these odd people who had dropped seemingly from out of the sky. This festival, Frank had finally opened his heart to his lover, while they were deeply post-coital, and had finally revealed why he refused to bottom for so many years. Weeping, he had admitted to the systematic abuse meted out by his father and his coterie of friends in the family cabin in the woods, to be held by Chris as he wept and finally flushed out the last barrier between them, “You know, I think they have something a bit magical about them. Can’t put me finger on it, but....”, he had sniffled as he was held tight and reassured. That he was the only one, and had been, since forever. Chris smiled as he felt the last wall fall. Fuck knows. It had taken nearly thirty years. But now here it was, a pile of metaphorical bricks and rubble around their feet and a blubbering lover in his arms that he cherished above rubies.

As they wished Harry and Severus goodbye, there was a meaningful hug from both of them that Severus picked up, skimming the surface of their minds for the things they could not say. He felt tears in his eyes as he saw them off, Harry and him waving them goodbye from the steps of Bessie. Chris, on the rear seat, turned in a last moment and took a shot of them with his phone, then winked before he turned back and gripped his lover as they started to bounce down the track.

Jed and Sammy had finished packing and helped Harry to restore the fire pit to as near pristine earth again as he could before he left. Harry explained why he was so anal about it, “It’s all about leaving as small an imprint as you can after you’ve gone, you know?” Sammy understood instantly and Jed was no slouch in the environment game. They both recycled at home and got it straight away. “When Sev and I have been trekking in the hills, I insist on not leaving anything. It’s either organic and buried or carried away, or burned if nothing else can be done, either way, I hate a mess”.

Jed, the ultimate recycler, had found a friend for life.

Harry and Severus had buckled up. Jed and Sammy had their road helmets on. Harry pressed the solenoid switch and was counting. They expected to hear a roar from in front of them, Sammy turned the key and: ‘phut’ was the only sound they all heard.

Sammy turned the key again, curse all electric ignitions. Still ‘phut’. The bike wasn’t going anywhere. Maybe her battery had died. Who knew, but for now, they had to get off-site and back to Wellington. Sammy buried his face in Jed’s chest. “I’m a shite biker”, he wailed until Harry stepped in.

“Look, it’s a bit illegal, but if we open the side door, we can get the bike on board and hold her down. You’ll have to help here, but if we’re careful we can get you guys home, that’s if we don’t get stopped on the way. We’re running British plates”.

Jed and Sammy exchanged a look that said, “Let’s go for it”, and they said so. “Whatever you say, we do”, they agreed, “It’s your bus”, the murmured final statement. Harry climbed back aboard and shifted the sofa from in front of the doors. This time, they would have to belt the bike down instead of the people. They loaded the bike on after Harry had spread the groundsheet for her and she sat on it and made nary a puddle. The bike was strapped down using the seat belts that the two had for the sofa as they explained it.

“You two will essentially be illegal, though the bike is pretty legal is the way it stands at this moment”, said Harry as he sparked that amazing engine and they slowly pulled off the site after the bumpy ride downhill. Sammy and Jed had to keep hold of the bike all the way down, the bumps proving too much for the rudimentary seat belt system they had installed, although both admired it. It really did help them get down the mountainside again in one piece, the bike held well, while the passengers were a bit bounced about.

Sammy was impressed that this vehicle in travelling mode was so battened down that not a single jar or bottle broke on the descent down the hill and said so to his hosts. Severus laughed, “Blame Harry. He built the whole thing as you see it. I had no part in it except handing him tools as he rebuilt the steering system in Germany. So now you know. I am completely unmechanical and Harry is the genius responsible for this edifice that we travel in. I cannot even drive, though I tried to on our last foray to England. I went on one of those accelerated courses and I fear it was not the right thing for me”.

Sammy could read the regret, the wish for Severus to be an equal in this travelling endeavour that they were both on. His slightly bitter tone spoke volumes. Sammy looked at Harry to gauge his reaction and saw the understanding, “Never mind, love. Next time we’re in England we’ll enrol you on a proper course, one you can take at your own speed. You’ll be a driver in no time. Trust me. That lot on that course were imbeciles and idiots. They didn’t see it from your point of view, love”, his tone was truthful, not mollifying and Sammy saw that with the best will in the world, it was highly unlikely that Severus would ever make a driver. He smiled at Harry’s efforts all the same. So this was real love. The sort that married. Sammy watched the loving dynamic between them and knew that this is what he wanted more than anything.

Sammy directed Harry as they approached the city and had him veering away into a suburb of modern detached homes on spacious plots of land, then left and into the drive of a two storey low-lying wooden clad house with a verandah all around the first floor. The sound of barking was the first thing that greeted them. They unloaded the bike first before Jed impulsively asked them to stay a few days at a nod from Sammy, “It’d be good to have you stay, we both can take the time at the moment, let us show you guys around a bit. Gotta be better than some guide book anyway and in return you can tell us all about the magical stuff. Would that be okay?”

Harry huddled with Severus on Bessie as they gathered Sammy and Jed’s camping gear together, “Sounds good. It’s not as if we had plans is it?” Harry murmured, keeping his voice down. Severus grinned at him, “And we get drilled for what we know. Sounds like a bargain really, but I wouldn’t mind getting away after that, just you and I again on the road”, his voice low and seductive. Harry moaned slightly and pressed them together kissing Severus’ jaw, their hands full, “Mmm, back to the coast or up into the mountains?” Severus kissed along Harry’s hairline and ran his tongue lightly along the outside of his ear, “Oh, anywhere you like, so long as it’s just us again”, he whispered before taking the lobe between his teeth and nibbling. Harry gasped and tilted his head allowing Severus free rein, his eyes slowly closing. He felt the pillow he was holding being taken from him and he used the arm to wind around Severus’ waist and he heard a chuckle. Jed.

“Bloody hell, guys, all you seem to do is snog and shag. Honeymooners eh?”, but there was laughter in his tone as he stepped off Bessie and Harry could hear, “They’re at it again. Give ‘em a minute then it’s the bucket of ice water”. Harry giggled then claimed his husband’s mouth with his own.

They parted grinning, “Are we really so anti-social?”, murmured Severus. “Nah, bollocks to that, it’s allowed. We’re on honeymoon so we can expect a certain amount of ribbing, but I think we should show our faces now”. Loaded down with gear, they left the bus and Harry locked her up. Sammy relieved him of some of the stuff and led them into the house.

On the ground floor, they were shown into a suite of rooms comprising bedroom, dressing room and large bathroom, “You guys billet yourselves in here, the bathroom’s all yours and there’s a kettle and mugs for brewing up. It’s quiet down here, just the guest rooms really, the rest of the house is upstairs”. Harry and Severus dumped their stuff on the bed and removed their jackets and shoes before being shown upstairs.

At the top of the wide steps they were in a huge space with windows all around, “This is the sitting room and we eat at that end”, he waved down the room to a dining set in metal and glass, then walked through an archway into a steel kitchen that gleamed. Severus was impressed, “Wherever we end up, Harry, I want a kitchen like this”.

On it’s own away from the main living area was the master suite with jacuzzi in the bathroom whose windows slid completely away to give the impression of bathing out of doors. Harry was gobsmacked, “Oh, I love this. I want one”, then was equally pleased to spot the pool in the garden. The verandah around the house could be accessed from any of the rooms on the first floor and Harry noticed items of furniture dotted about along it’s length. This was a lovely house and he said so to his hosts.

“We bought it about five years ago. We’ve done bits of work on it here and there, there’s stuff we still want to do”, Jed mused as he leaned on the verandah rail looking out over the garden. Harry grinned at him as he mirrored his stance, “You two are more bloody married than me and Sev, so how come you never asked him?” Jed glanced at him returning the grin before looking out again, “Never crossed me mind really. I always thought marriage was for the girlies, you know, babies and all that. I thought all the family stuff was out of reach, you know?”. Harry nodded, “You should look into your laws on civil contracts. I’m pretty sure that once you wed you become eligible to adopt kids. I’m pretty sure that’s the case in Britain anyway. Did you want kids? Sorry. I’m being a bit personal, you can tell me to sod off if you like”.

Jed blushed a bit but smiled, “S’allright. Never thought of it much, really, but I think Sam’d like ‘em. He always did get on with kids and he’s the godfather of my nephew and does a great job with him. What about yourself since we’re on the subject?” Harry sighed, “I’d love kids but Sev hates ‘em. He’s said we can have some if I want so long as I do all the work but I’m not sure I’d want that. I’d want my partner to be as involved as me. My ex had two, his heir and spare, for his bloodline and he had very little involvement with them really, but I always got on with his eldest, still do when we run into each other, he turned up at the wedding but I didn’t get much chance to talk to him”, Harry drifted off and both men lapsed into an easy silence.

Severus and Sammy came out through the verandah doors deep in discussion carrying beers handing one to their respective partners whilst carrying on their talk. Sammy was pointing out various plants in the garden and Severus was listening attentively before replying with the plant’s uses in potions and what some of said concoctions could do in the hands of a wizard to Sammy’s evident amazement. Harry listened in smiling before tuning them out to get on with it.

Jed nudged him, “More wizard stuff?”, he cocked his head in their direction. Harry nodded and swigged his beer, “Yup, plants and the potions that can be made from them. Sammy has the best instructor in the land. Sev is a potions Master, one of only three in the world. He holds patents on loads of things including that insect repellant he gave Chris and the best lube to be found anywhere but I think that’s just something he brews for us”, Harry chuckled.

Sammy and Severus had moved off the verandah and Harry saw then reappear a few moments later below them in the garden, Sammy obviously giving the tour. He idly watched his husband as he crouched, crushing leaves delicately between his fingers and sniffing then making comments to his eager guide that he couldn’t hear when suddenly several things all happened at once.

A large black dog came rushing from the house, barking, towards Sammy. Severus stood, turned towards it and said something that Harry couldn’t catch but he heard the stunned tone. He heard Sammy shout at him in anger and raise his fist as if to punch Severus and in an eyeblink, Harry had his wand out and had cast stupefy on their blond host who hit the grass with a ‘thump’. Harry turned to a stunned Jed and grabbed his arm, “Come on, I think I know what happened”, before taking off at a run back through the house and down the stairs. After a moment to collect his scattered wits, Jed followed.

“What the hell did you do?”, he yelled as he followed Harry outside to see him bending over Sammy and uttering an enervate. “What the fuck...get away from him”, Jed tried to grab Harry’s arm but was held back by Severus, “I think there’s something that Harry neglected to tell your partner, Jed. This misunderstanding will soon be cleared up”.

Harry helped Sammy to his feet, “Sorry about that but you were about to deck my hubby and it’s all my fault. Did Sev say something insulting?” Sammy rubbed his arm and frowned, “Yeah, Paddy came running out of the house and he said, ‘He looks just like your father’, and I asked him what he meant like that and he said something like ‘You don’t know do you? Harry hasn’t told you about the mutt’, or something like that and I went to clock him one. I mean, where does he get off saying my dad’s a mutt?”.

Harry drew in a sharp breath between gritted teeth, “Welllll, there is something in that. You see, oh hell, I’m never any good at the bombshell stuff, your dad was an unregistered Animagus. That means he had the power to change, at will, into his animalistic alter-ego if you like, in short, your dad could change into a large black dog. Just like that one”, he pointed at Paddy, now rootling about at the base of a tree. “And what’s even weirder”, he continued thoughtfully, “Is that you called your dog Paddy when Sirius in dog form was also known as Padfoot”.

By this point they had been joined by the others, Jed all concern for Sammy. He placed careful arms around him, “You okay, love?” Sammy was still processing what Harry had just said and could only nod numbly, “Harry, tell Jed what you just told me”, he whispered and Harry did. To his everlasting surprise, Jed started to chuckle and then held Sammy tight, “Well that would explain a thing or three, don’t you think? The otters? The dreams?” Jed purred into his shell-shocked mate’s ear.

That brought Sammy round, “Fuck! You think so?” He whipped round in Jed’s arms coming face to face with him, “Look, how many times has this happened? Ten, twelve times since we bought this place? Come on, Sam, this is it. This is why. Harry, can you inherit this ability?” Jed lifted his face from his lover’s and looked at their guest. Harry nodded, “Oh, Merlin!”, he breathed, “You’ve changed? Spontaneously???”, this last on a high pitched squeak. Jed kissed Sammy’s nose, “Are you gonna tell’em or shall I?”

Sammy folded in Jed’s arms, “You start it off, love”. Jed held Sammy against him and kissed his hair, “This stated when he was a kid, about twelve so his mum said, she would go in to wake him in a morning for school to find the bed soaked through and not piss or bathwater but river water, mud, leaves that kind of thing and the only explanation that we’ve ever had for this is some kind of sleepwalking. Sam was trekked to all sorts of doctors but there was a bit you never told them wasn’t there?”

Sammy lifted his head and turned red eyes on his guests, “I always dreamed of otters. Not just observing them but actually being one, swimming with them, nesting under the bank, hunting. When I was woken up after these episodes the inside of my mouth tasted of raw fish also, tell them about, you know, that time...”

Jed took up the tale, “We’d been in this house about a year and he’d had two of these ‘episodes’. I’d been asleep both times when he came back, woke up with Sammy dripping wet beside me and the bed full of bits of twig and whatnot. But this one time, I actually watched as he walked in, on all fours lookin’ completely like himself mind, starkers and covered in mud except for here”, Jed stroked the back of Sammy’s left hand. “There was still fur. As I grabbed his hand, the fur disappeared before my eyes and we talked about it, how involving these dreams were and I remember you being terrified one of the neighbours would shop you to the law or something seeing you out late at night in naught but your skin, but if you’re one of these Animalithings then I bet you don’t change until you’re in the porch out back or something”.

To Severus it seemed like sound reasoning and it did rather look as if they had a wild Animagus on their hands which meant that as a wizard, it was possible that Sammy was very powerful indeed, and, he thought with a sigh, as a wizard and a big-hearted Gryffindor, not to mention being almost related to the bloke, there was no way that Harry was going to walk away from this situation. Great! They had landed themselves with an untutored wizard Animagus. Still, Severus mused as he took in his surroundings, noting the pool and the well-stocked garden, things could be worse. What he didn’t know was just how complicated life was to become.

****

They repaired back to the house and talked for most of the night in the end, Severus finally chipping in with his own memories and not all were either rancorous or unpleasant, some merely observations, such as noting that Sirius had been a damn fine flyer. This certainly raised some eyebrows when the subject of flying was broached. Sammy wanted a broom now, please, and they both pestered their guests for tales of flying ad nauseam and Sammy was beginning to see that this magic stuff had a fun side and let the image of himself on a broom fill his head until a glass exploded nearby making them all jump. Harry laughed, “Steady on, mate, your magic’s showing”, to hilarity all round.

Sammy reddened and apologised but Harry stilled him and stood, drawing out his wand and casting a simple reparo and they all watched the glass remake itself. Harry grinned, “That’s the first spell I ever saw. Hermione used it to repair my glasses on the train to school”, and sat down again as Jed gingerly handled the glass, holding it up to the light awestruck. Not a mark or blemish marred it’s perfect self. He placed it carefully down as if he expected it to take on a life of it’s own, so Harry placed his wand tip over it and muttered a levitation spell lifting it a mere inch or so from the wood. “This was the first real spell I was taught”, he whispered as he let the glass back down and flicked his wand away.

Sammy and Jed were enthralled, “Show us more”, entreated eyes. A pair of familiar blue-grey and a less well known pair of medium brown that darkened when showed something they liked, Harry grinned and started the dishes to washing magically with a single swish and flick. Severus grinned at his lover before setting the dishes to drying themselves and sorting themselves into size-ordered piles.

Harry glared at his husband and set a cloth to wiping the table clean. Severus raised a brow archly at his love then set out the chess set on the clean table, ordering the pieces with a sneer and few words, his wand barely moving then Harry opened the game with one of the devastating moves that he had learned from the ultimate chess master, Mr Ronald Weasley, and Severus knew he was sunk before he’d started. He played it out for form’s sake, never able to beat that infernal redhead, the same man who had orchestrated the endgame of the final battle, whose tactical skills Severus had had to bow to upon receiving his instructions. There went a master tactician and at the end he had bowed to the superior skill. The game went badly for him as he knew it would. Sammy and Jed seemed more fascinated by the pieces berating each other and hurling all manner of insults before they admitted defeat and slouched from the arena, thoroughly disgruntled and muttering all kinds of imprecations against the players.

They laughed as they watched this, “The knight really hates you, Harry”, commented Jed. Severus rolled his eyes, “Ah, yes, but witness the bishop, overcome with joy he is, because I have had to sacrifice a valiant knight to his bludger of a rook. This man learned to play from the very best. I am undone here”. Severus sighed heavily and conceded the game. Jed had watched, however, and in a fit of bravado, he nudged Severus aside and sat before Harry. “I challenge you”, he spoke darkly and Sammy gasped. He knew that Jed had been chess grand master for his year when he was sixteen but the game had moved on since then and he could do naught but watch these two as they proceeded to battle it out.

It was long and drawn out but by a mere margin, Jed was the victor. He bowed sincerely over the table as the pieces settled for the night and Jed felt a thrill at besting the man. It was as the party broke up for their beds that things really became interesting.

A phone rang. They all listened intently. Sammy was the first to say, “’S’not mine”. Jed shrugged, “Mine neither”, before they watched as Harry dived for his phone, “Sorry guys, I think it’s mine”, fishing the lit-up thing from his pocket and answering it, “’Mione?”, he gasped into his handset before a string of invective broke loose.

“Oh, Harry. Thank Christ for that. I’m here and my bag was just stolen and I tried to think what to do. I was going to check into this hotel and surprise you in the morning but I had to ring you. My cards are gone as are my traveller’s cheques. I am here, my body is fucked and I don’t know which way is up. Help me, Harry. I need you”. Harry glanced at his husband. Severus said thoughtfully, “We need to know where she is. Ask her”. Harry got her to shut up enough to talk straight, “I’m here. The plane was supposed to land hours ago but we hit major turbulence over Australia”.

It was at this point that Harry cut in asking his friend where she was as she obviously sounded distressed. “I’m at Wellington airport”, she replied. “The flight lasted loads longer than it should and I should have kept a better eye on my stuff, that’s why I’m having to call you at this time of night, my bag was stolen, I have insurance but where am I to sleep tonight?”

It struck Harry all at once, “She’s here, in New Zealand, and she’s stuck at the airport, someone nicked her handbag. I must go....”, he stood despite the wobble in his legs. Severus caught his eye and Harry shrugged, “It’s ‘Mione Sev. She’s here and she’s stuck”. They were aware of their host’s surroundings and Harry cast an eye to them, “She can stay on Bessie. She’ll be no problem”. He dipped his head, he was really too drunk to drive to the airport. Jed sighed and sat up. “I’ve only had a couple of bottles, you’re too pissed to drive, Harry. I’ll take you”. He stood up and turned back to Harry, “Shall we?”. Harry turned to both of them, “Thanks for this, guys. I dunno what’s wrong but my best mate is twelve thousand miles away from home”. Whatever it was, must be pretty major.

He called her back, “We’re coming to get you, girl”, he announced when he was through to her. She expressed surprise that he and Severus were so close by, “Nah, we’re staying at a friends’ house”, he mumbled. She sounded shocked. ”I was just going to scrounge a kip on Bessie’s floor, maybe on the sofa. Just until I can get my cheques restored to me. Bloody hell, what a nightmare”.

Within ten minutes they were on the road and heading out to the airport. Jed turned to his companion to find Harry’s head lolling on the back of his seat. Harry was fast asleep. Jed shook his head and smiled, turning back to the road as he thought of the total disruption that the man beside him had wrought in his own life and that of his partner but it was all for the better so far. Marriage eh? And Sam had asked him. Wanted him for life. This feeling made Jed glow on the inside as he drove.

He nudged Harry awake as he pulled in, “I can’t park here for too long. It’s just a pick-up and drop-off point. You run inside and grab your friend and I’ll turn the truck round. If she’s got loads of luggage than it’ll have to go in the back but I’ve a tarp back there that we can throw over it”. They were in a pick-up truck with an open back.

Harry jumped out and stretched before heading inside. He spotted Hermione immediately, a small suitcase at her feet and ran up to her enveloping her in his arms. She hugged him back with equal fervour before pushing him away, “Ew, Harry, you stink of old beer”. He laughed, “And hello to you too. We were just about to crash out when your call came. Tell me all about it on the road. Come on, madam, your chariot awaits. Is that all the luggage you have with you?”

She rolled her eyes, “Try and lift it”. He did and almost fell over, “Bloody hell, ‘Mione, what’s in here?” She tutted at him before discreetly levitating the case at her side and holding the handle, “Just a few things for our new wizard is all. I thought if I was going to run away to here then I may as well bring some useful stuff”.

They left the terminal and found Jed and the truck. Harry introduced them and she thanked the kindly looking man for going to so much trouble, “I couldn’t let Harry drive in that state and Bessie would have definitely aroused the interest of the law at this time of night”. They all climbed in and set off again.

“So, ‘Mione. What’s the problem and why did you say, ‘run away’ just now?” She sighed heavily, “I’ve left Neville. Well, I’m giving myself some time away to think about everything. It was all a bit spur-of-the-moment to be honest. We had this huge row the other day and it seemed to crystallise all that was wrong with us. We’re only forty three for God’s sake and Neville is getting ready to be old. We had a big falling-out over Auntie Mary’s money that we’ve fought for years to have released and when it finally happens, I want to buy us all a villa in Spain or somewhere and all he wants is to extend the ruddy garden and put in a new kitchen. Bor-ring”, she singsonged. “That’s when I realised we would never see things the same again. Oh, I dunno. I’m just so fed up about it all. The kids will be grown soon, starting their own lives and now we get to live a little and all Nev wants to do is putter about in some sort of semi-retirement. I had to get away”.

Harry had had a feeling that this had been on the cards for a while, recalling Ginny’s recent words, and he kicked himself for not being around for her or Neville but they were all grown-ups now and all had their own lives to live but even thousands of miles away, home still had a habit of hanging on to his coat-tails trying to drag him down. He was pleased to see his old friend, of course, but he sighed inside at the burdens placed at his door once again then realised he was being uncharitable and pushed the feelings away for now.

The house was still all lit up as Jed pulled back onto the drive. As they entered the house, Jed found Sammy making up the other spare room and pulled him into his arms for a quick kiss. “Mmm, nice. What was that for?” Sammy murmured, “Felt like it”, he lover replied with a grin. Sammy returned the smile, “Sorry about all these folk, love”. Jed shrugged, “The more the merrier, it’s a while since we’ve had a full house. This Hermione has some stuff for you, too, apparently, although she didn’t say what. She seems okay. A bit bossy perhaps”.

Sammy pulled away and resumed making the bed, “Severus says she can do the full dowse on me as well, says she’s a very powerful witch. Should be interesting. Shall we let her stay here or do we find her a hotel or something?” Jed shrugged again, “Dunno, I’m uncomfortable with bossy ladies at such close proximity but if she’s all right, I don’t see why she shouldn’t stay here a few days, she can probably show you a few things while she’s here”.

They went upstairs and Hermione was introduced to her other host, “Bloody hell, you really do look like Draco. Pleased to meet you”, she stuck out a forthright hand, her eyes never leaving Sammy’s face but roving all over it as if she were examining a specimen in a jar, “Fascinating”, she whispered as they shook hands, “An unknown branch of the Blacks, eh? The Ministry is going to have pups about this. Your branch was officially expunged from the records when Sirius was disinherited but you can’t eradicate blood. Blood will out and here you are. I will need a small amount of blood from you to test you properly, but even without dowsing you I can feel the magic in you and the Blacks were a powerful clan”. She let go of his hand and backed away.

“I took the liberty of assembling a few bits and pieces for you, Sammy, things that no wizard should be without. There are a few books and things, but I imagine you all want to get to bed and here I am keeping you all from it, sorry”, she made the appropriate noises but one look at Sammy’s face, like a kid told that Santa’s been but they still have to wait and Hermione laughed, “Well, my eyes know that it’s four in the morning, but my body still thinks it’s teatime....”

Jed offered to make tea and he and Harry went into the kitchen. Hermione lugged her suitcase towards her and laid it down. Drawing her wand from her sleeve she tapped it lightly and the lid flew open. She then removed several more suitcases, growing them to the correct size plus a make-up case, large steamer trunk and portmanteau. Jed nearly dropped the tray when he saw the amount of luggage she had. “Where did all this come from?”, he exclaimed. Harry just chuckled, “So that’s why I couldn’t lift the thing. What is all this?”

Hermione pushed the other cases out of the way and concentrated on the trunks, “Now, Sammy, these are for you. When I thought to come out here, and I have to admit, the thought of meeting a powerful and completely untrained wizard totally fascinated me, then I assembled these bits and bobs. Some of it is in the form of favours that people have owed me for years and it was good calling on them. So, let’s have a look shall we?”

She spelled unlocked the first trunk and threw open the lid, “Harry mentioned that you were about Draco’s height but a bit bigger in the body”, she started to rummage inside and handed Sammy what looked like yards of winter suiting cloth, “Here you go, a set of robes. Every wizard should have a set. If they don’t fit, Harry or Severus can help you to adjust them with magic”.

Sammy’s eyes widened as he held the garments up all skewed round. Severus took it from him and held the garment the correct way, by the shoulders and Sammy took it from him and held the plain, smart robes against his front, “Okay, weird. Do we get the pointy hats as well?” Hermione glared, “It is only the most esteemed of wizards who receive the honour to wear, as you so succinctly put it, ‘the pointy hat’. They are very rare and several generations of wizards may come and go without the honour being bestowed. There are two in this room, however, so please, think, before making light of the culture”.

Sammy backed down, “Sorry. I-er didn’t mean to belittle.....I mean, sorry, I guess I’m just nervous a bit. This has been a lot to take on board as I’m sure you can appreciate. It’s been an intense week. I was only having a laugh, sorry”. Hermione ceased to bristle as she read the genuinely intended apology and continued to bring things from the trunk, “A few books. This edition of Hogwarts: A History is the updated edition. I would suggest for now, at any rate, that you read the last three chapters first”, to groans from Harry and Severus. She assumed her best schoolmarm voice, “You mean you’ve said nothing of the War that nearly ripped wizardkind apart, you two? Shame on you. This has all taken place in your lifetime, Sammy”.

“You did mention the war, Harry, but I had the feeling you were trying to spare me from something”, Sammy admitted sheepishly. Hermione quirked her lip, “Hmm, I can understand that. Sirius was the good one in a barrel of rotten apples I’m afraid. That’s why he was disinherited, he didn’t believe the rather fascistic family line, Your family’s motto is toujours pur, forever pure. There is an unpleasant racism that underscores a lot of wizarding politics, though”, she tapped another tome, “That’s as concise a history of wizardkind that I could find that isn’t too boring if you want to dip into it”. The other books were essentially first year texts. A concise guide to Magical Creatures and a how-to for Animagi for, as Sirius’ son, he was likely to have inherited the trait and if her first impression of the man had been correct, then she had done the right thing.

The portmanteau contained a few magical items that had apparently once belonged to Sirius and had been kept in his box of things at the Ministry once news of his death had reached Azkaban. The things should have probably gone to Harry at one point but as his son, Hermione realised that Sammy probably had the prior claim. There was a pensieve, a but dusty and with a chip in the stoneware edge, a dusty and screwed up chunk of Gryffindor house banner, a broken time turner and a small slender box. Harry perked up the moment he saw it, “Bloody hell”, he breathed, “Siri’s wand. I thought that got lost in the Ministry”.

Hermione smirked, “I told you I called in a few favours. This at least enabled me to hazard a guess at what might fit Sammy in a wand. Sirius’ was heart of oak with dragon’s heartstring core, flexible, whippy, long, and to that end, I brought these.....I told you I was owed big time”, she emptied the large box and tapped one corner with the tip of her wand and a hidden compartment revealed itself. She wriggled her hand in and withdrew one after the other about a dozen wands.

“Good grief, Hermione. Have you been committing grand larceny, dear?” Hermione laughed at Severus’ shocked tone, “After a fashion. These came from law enforcement. They’ve been cleaned and are ready to recycle, virginal as the day they were made. So, Sammy, let’s see if any of them ‘fit’”, she beckoned him forwards, “Come on, Sammy, they won’t bite. If you want to even think about becoming a wizard, then it’s the most essential piece of kit you own. You may not sleep with yer boots on but you sure as fuck keep your wand under your pillow. Unless you have learned a form of wandless magic then this is your most precious item. Go on, handle them, pick them up. One at a time, though”.

Sammy stepped cautiously up to the coffee table and looked at the selection she had laid there. There were the obvious differences in types of wood, the many colours from deep mahogany red to pale beech coffee tones. There was a label tied around the ‘waist’ of each one indicating the core. He gingerly picked one up and held it as he’d seen the others do. Nothing. “What’s supposed to happen?”, his voice shook slightly. Hermione smiled and patted his arm, “All I can say is, you’ll know. The wand chooses the wizard. Try another”.

There was a tense silence in the room as Sammy tried each one. Hermione noted a small reaction to wand 4 and a more definite reaction to 9 but it was when he picked up 11 and he staggered back, “Whoa”, he exclaimed as he felt wind rush though his hair lifting it from his scalp, that she grinned and the mood relaxed somewhat, “Mr Samuels-Black, you have yourself a wand”, she declared. Harry cheered and Severus clapped a couple of times.

Sammy put it down again, carefully. “I felt very odd just then, like I could hear running water and the wind was roaring past my ears. I felt a bit faint for a moment. Is that normal?” Harry grinned, “Entirely. I thought I would pass out in just the same way. I was eleven before I got my wand. It’s a bit battered now and has cast some jolly nasty spells in it’s time. The wand becomes more attuned to you, the more you use it”, he tried to stifle a yawn and failed miserably, “Sorry, I’m bushed”. This seemed to be a good time to break up the gathering. Hermione was shown to her room and the others separated. Jed was out on his feet but he still had the energy to hold his delighted fiance close. Sammy was as pleased as punch at the turn of events, raining kisses all over Jed’s face as he was led to bed. Harry smiled as he and Severus descended to their suite. They were asleep in under five minutes. Hermione grinned as she heard the unmistakeable sounds of sex from what could only be her new hosts. First thing tomorrow, she would teach Sammy silencing charms!.

Okay, that's all for tonight. See you all again next week. Please review - I love reviews. Either that or stars. Thanks. The Squig.