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

Thanks as usual due to both stepmnstr and bella-the-dark for their amazing reviews. Ladies, it's folk like you who keep me going. I love it that you are tracking this story all the way through.

(To Ladieraie, I offer thanks for the recent review to my RPS tale, Nice one, hon!)

Many thanks for those that left me stars, too

Dear all,

Here we are again. I know the end of the last chap was a bit emotional and this one is sort of an aftermath but there is a natural pause in the story at this point. You'll see what I mean at the end of the chapter. So, only one chapter this week.

But what a chapter!!!

As usual, please read and review/leave stars.

Enjoy!!

The Squig xxxx

13

It was after they had been apparated back, tucked into bed and fed hot home-made soup and fresh crusty bread that the truth hit home. After several hours of unmitigated grief, they had sat up to measure what was still left to them. Their magic could not change completely unless they had completed the bond.

They were still telepaths and could still send memories. A new skill directly attributable to the new bond. They were still crap at joined casting, though this they expected as they picked themselves up from the rawness of the recent tragedy.

They clung to each other as the horror of the last two days sunk in. Harry in particular was finding it hard having aborted his child. The doctor, before they had left the hospital, had pressed a wedge of closely printed notes into their hands, “The results of three hundred and thirty years of observation, the last thirty being mine, you’ll find them different in tone”.

She had hugged both of them as they left, “When you decide that the time is right, I hope you call on me. I have never read magic that strong in my entire life and it would be an honour to be your obstetrician. I would love to bring your children into the world”. They had thanked her after the ordeal of the night and had allowed themselves to be side-alonged with Hermione and Ginny.

****

The night before: when Harry had been in agony expelling the defective foetus after consuming the potion, his screams of agony, his cries of anguish, his curses at the fact that once taken, the potion was irreversible, his anger and regret, his heartfelt cries, “She would have lived, she would have been born. I just needed to lie on my back until then”. The irrefutability of the evidence that Nikewe had collected in her studies, his baby was destined to die. This one anyway. His womb was just not robust enough yet. He still wept many bitter tears though. And Severus held him and loved him.

****
The cost to Harry was always the greatest in the end, Severus decided as he held the love of his life close to him, rocking him gently and telling of the love that had changed his life, the love that Harry had wrought, enough to form a soul-bond with such an unworthy as Severus Snape, whereupon Severus felt a cool hand across his lips, quickly replaced by a warm wet mouth, {Ssshhh, just love me. I need you right now. Love me like never before}. And Severus knew what to do then. He held Harry tight and loved him. They were forbidden penetrative sex for ten days but there were many other ways of loving and Severus feasted on his beloved, pushing cloth out of the way and taking his beloved into the back of his throat, sucking and swallowing. {Fuck, I want you}, his mind murmured, {Come in my throat}, he held Harry down gently, his oesophagus gripping around the tense hardness it was softly crushing.

With a cry, Harry came, spurting into his husband’s throat, {God, that was brilliant. I’m so going to pay you back}, he gasped out as his breathing tried hard for level, failing miserably for a few minutes. When he was capable, he flipped Severus onto his back and reciprocated. Enough to make Severus blush from head to toe before his cock was eagerly swallowed into a pliant throat that milked him swiftly of his offerings before letting him go. Damn! Harry was always the more expert deep-throater. Severus was a jelly as Harry’s mouth lifted from his flaccid cock. {Did you like that, lover?} Harry asked pointlessly. Severus had about enough energy left to move his eyeballs. He just laughed gently and rolled them.

****

As always the aftermath was beautiful. Harry sighed, {D’you recall that session when we tested the Veritaserum?} Severus moved against him lazily, {Yes, I recall it. I told you right at the end that I loved how oral you are}. Harry kissed him, {Mmm, yes that one. It was just wearing off when I wanted to say something else}. Severus nuzzled under his jaw, {What was that then?}, then moved his mouth over Harry’s for a deep kiss that was returned with passion.

{This}, Harry mind-murmured as he kissed his beloved back, their tongues tangling, {The whole afterglow thing. It’s amazing. I just wanted to tell you. The kisses, the hugs, the cuddles, all of it. I love it}. {I love to hold you after we have made love}, Severus stated baldly, {I think to end it at just after orgasm and roll over is the height of bad manners, but it seems as if most men have that hardwired into them. Shame for them, I say}.

Harry smiled around the insistent tongue in his mouth, {Me too. I have always liked it even though I was not always granted it}. Severus read the meaning straight away, {Neither was I. Draco was a bit of a sleeper, wasn’t he? Rem was}, was enquired of Harry without embarrassment, well, maybe just a bit. Harry grinned as he released that tongue for a moment, {Yes, though he tried hard not to be. He was still a sleeper, bless!}.

They continued their extended cuddle until a small knock at the door brought them round. They had left it unlocked and Harry disentangled from his lover to yell, “It’s open”. The latch was heard and several voices. A brisk knock on their bedroom door and Ron’s head popped round, “Not interrupting anything? Good. We’ll have to pick the others up soon”.

Harry invited them all into the bedroom where he and his husband held court from the large bed, obviously naked but covered to the waist in cleansed bedding. Harry patted the bed for them all to sit before leaning into Severus and threading his arms around him. Severus tentatively returned the gesture, leaning down to dust kisses into the tangly hair.

Harry faced all his dearest friends, “Ron, Ollie, have the girls told you anything of what has happened in the last 36 hours?” Ron shook his head, “’Mione only said she was going to the hospital but not why. What’s up, Harry? You too, Severus, you’re both really pale”. Harry reached a hand out for his friend to grasp as he told them the news…..

“So, we’re going to have to wait a while before we can try again, but we will. We’d also rather that the others that’ll be here aren’t in the know as far as possible. If Sev and I are a bit weak and feeble, then we’ll blame it on a tummy bug or something, okay?” The others all nodded.

Ron scooted up the bed to hug Harry hard, “Sorry, dude, that you had to do that. It can’t have been easy for you. I know you’ve always been into the idea of kids at some stage”. Harry closed his eyes as his best friend held him against his t-shirted front, wrapping his own arms about his friend and breathing in the comfort he offered. At that moment he felt a bit of a shit for always going to Hermione first with things, but he knew that after all this time, Ron sort of expected it and didn’t seem to hold it against him.

Harry relaxed into the hug with a sigh while Ron rubbed his back with his strong hands and Harry remembered what a mighty bear of a man his friend was and he shuddered and shed a few tears that darkened the pale grey of the shirt when they moved apart. Ron reached over Harry to grasp one of Severus’ hands, “I never got to talk to you about what family means to you, Severus, but I am sorry for your loss. For myself, I don’t particularly care for children and I was always under the impression that you felt pretty much the same way, but if this hurt you in any way, then I am heartily sorry”.

Severus was a little flabbergasted but shouldn’t have been too surprised at this. He knew that Ron and Ollie didn’t hanker after a family, preferring the bachelor lifestyle that they enjoyed, and the man was right, he wasn’t that keen on children per se, but this one had been his own, both of them had, and now they were no more.

“Thank you, Ron, for your frankness. Yes, it did and still does, hurt. They were our own not just anybody’s children although I will be honest, I don’t really feel that either of us was truly ready for this experience, though we intend to have it at some point in our not too distant future”, the man’s purr turned very soft at this and he pulled Harry to him again as if in need of reassurance. Harry glanced up and reached up to kiss him briefly then settled in his arms as Ron relinquished Severus’ hand, that then wended around Harry’s waist.

Ollie was more awkward in his condolences but they were heartfelt all the same. The two took themselves off to the kitchen to prepare food while Harry talked to his ‘sisters’. Hermione instantly kicked off her shoes and jumped up onto the end of the bed, sitting cross-legged and extending a hand to each of the men to have hers held by each.

“This has been a really crap two days for you both”, she stated flatly, “But I want to know more about the fact that you ‘sent’ something to me, Harry, and the fact that I could ‘read’ it. You’ve done my head in”.

Severus looked down at his husband, “Explain, if you would”. Harry sighed, “I dunno what happened. I really needed to see you ‘Mione and getting you here by any other means would have taken much longer: directing you to the parking spots and how to get into the magical section etcetera; so I sent you an image for you to think about to Apparate to and there you were, without further ado. I’ve no idea how that happened”.

Hermione fell silent for a moment. “You really should tell Doctor Mbolekwa this. I read the document she sent home with you and she really is the foremost authority on this. Many of her insights are amazing and this ability would add to her data”. Harry sighed, “Well, yes, but is this phenomena recorded elsewhere in her literature?” Hermione shook her head, “Not that I recall from the first cursory examination”, she murmured. Harry grinned. That was Hermione-speak for ‘I read it at least three times and this was never mentioned, even slightly’.

Harry squeezed her hand, “It’s probably another ‘Harry Potter’ thing, ‘Mione, not a bond thing. Let’s face it, it goes beyond telepathy. Maybe we should try it again sometime when I’m not feeling so feak and weeble”. She laughed at the Spoonerism and spontaneously reached out and hugged them both, “I love both of you, you know that, don’t you?”, she nuzzled a small nose into Severus’ hair. “I’m sorry about the miscarriage, Severus, and the abortion, Harry”, her nose shifted to nuzzle at Harry’s neck before she straightened and released them both, all of their eyes were damp and they blinked as they parted. “I still want to play with this new power, Harry”. Harry shrugged, “For sure. Though the ability may only come into play in emergencies or something”.

Hermione laughed, “Behave, Harry, that’s how you learned about most of your powers, in emergencies, when you had no time to think, you could only act. You wanted to see me and so you did, by sending me the scene you had seen. It was a still image in full colour and I had no problem fixing it in my mind for Apparation, a very interesting skill if I may say so”.

Severus gazed at his beloved thoughtfully at this revelation before the others re-entered levitating trays of food before them, the bearers looking very red-faced. He glanced up at them, “The cooking required a great deal of exertion?” Harry reined in a laugh and looked down. Hermione glanced at Harry, determined that Severus was taking the piss and suppressed sniggers of her own. Ginny merely rolled her eyes, “Add water, makes it’s own sauce”, she quipped to hear Hermione crack up beside her, Harry joining in.

“Fun, was it?” Harry archly enquired as the stir-fry was dished up. Ollie shot a deeply sated/flirty glance Harry’s way, “Yes, thank you”, he growled as he handed the two their plates then grinned as he turned to his own meal. He shared a barely-there kiss with his lover that spoke volumes before tucking in. Harry grinned inside to see that, of all the relationships around him, Ron’s and Ollie’s was a stayer. He had his doubts about Hermione’s and Ginny’s but time would tell. He fell on his repast with gusto. Ollie was also quite a cook.

After the meal, they played games until their hosts showed signs of tiring. It was almost time to go and pick the others up in any case. Harry murmured as the others all stood to leave, “Remember, it’s food poisoning. We’ll be up the day after tomorrow”. Ron nodded, leaning forward to squeeze Harry’s shoulder, “Don’t worry, mate, we’ve always kept your secrets”. Harry reached up a hand to squeeze the one on his shoulder, “I know, Ron, and thanks. We’ll see ‘em all tomorrow and you lot too”. He grinned as his eyes closed slowly and the others left. Harry banished the trays to the kitchen and snuggled up to his husband, “Needoneuvmasleeps. ‘Nightloveseeyainnabit”, and that was it, no sooner had the door closed than Harry was a dead weight in Severus’ arms. This wasn’t natural sleep, this was one of the stressed ones. Severus held Harry to him and let himself drift off, the pain of the last day and a half still fresh. Teartracks shone on his face in the dull light as he drowsed, Harry cradled in his arms.

****

“We stick to the story, appear bright and breezy. Harry and Severus have gut problems. Shit, this is going to be hard”, Ron’s voice tailed off into the interior of the vehicle. Hermione was driving and she nodded, “I know. I was surprised at how devastated Severus seemed”. Ginny spoke up, “Yeah, me too, but I think he had done some serious thinking and had come to terms with what was happening, only for this to happen. He seems to have adjusted a lot to the way Harry thinks. You know, things come at him and he either fights them, accepts them or dodges them? Well, I think that Severus came to accept everything. Which means the poor man is in unimaginable pain right now”. There was no-one in the car with her that disagreed.

Minerva was most disappointed that Harry or Severus weren’t there to greet her but she swallowed the story with resigned equanimity. Jed and Sammy greeted the others effusively and murmured that Harry and Severus must be suffering travellers’ bad luck. The vehicle was quite full on the way back to the villa, Ron and Hermione drilling both trainers and trained as to their progress. Kingsley guffawed, “I agree with Severus, teaching adults is fun, a lot more rewarding than I imagine teaching kids would be. These two have made unprecedented progress in all areas of their crafts. I can’t wait to see the look on Severus’ face when I tell him about your potions, lad”, he laughed in Jed’s direction.

The car interior was dark as they drove along so no-one could see how red Jed had gone. Hermione grinned to herself and glanced at the man in her rearview mirror. She rather suspected that Jed had as big a crush on the stern potions master as she herself still did. She shook her head gently as she concentrated on the road again for a moment before letting her mind veer for a moment....recalling....that swollen cock head,....so close...then that taste. She straightened out her course fractionally, no-one else had noticed, not even the drivers.

She bit her lip to contain the laugh before the sense memory assailed her again, the scent of Severus Potter-Snape that she had inhaled when she hugged the man. She had even held her breath when hugging Harry so as not to confuse the two scents. By her own reckoning, she was ‘one sick bastard’ for this but she couldn’t help herself..

Grinning to herself, she turned into the drive, “Here we are, folks. Let’s all get settled in then the boys are expecting us all later for dinner, forgive them if they are in dressing gowns, they’ve had a tough time of it recently”.

Their guests were comfortably settling in. Ron pointed out the cottage across the grounds and Kingsley laughed, “So they are in state like two fuckin’ princesses?”, he murmured. Ron chuckled, “Aye. I suppose so, but we don’t want to catch whatever it is they’ve got, do we?”, and Kingsley had to demur on this point, “Ye speak wit’ de voice o’ reason, mah man”, he chuckled in patois and Ron biffed him on the shoulder, “Fuck off, Kingy, you’ll see ‘em over dinner”.

Harry and Severus were dressed but still looked very pale as they let in their guests. Hermione chided, “You two shouldn’t be out of bed. I thought Gin and I were to cook tonight”, she cocked her nose in the air, sniffing the obvious cooking smells. Harry blushed, “Well, we are a bit hopeless at the moment, so I wanted to at least contribute something. Glad to see you all, by the way”. He sagged against Severus, “But I think I need to sit down now. We’re still not very well”.

Severus and he sank down to a convenient sofa. Their new guests were actually a bit discomfited to see how ill their hosts appeared to be. Minerva stepped forward, “You wee lads look terrible, You should be back in bed. We will have a picnic around your bed, but if you are not well then please get back in it. Do not think that you have to rise on our account”. Severus thought to refute this but a hand on his arm stopped him, {We should still be in bed according to the doc’s instructions. We had a party around our bed earlier, I’m sure we can do it again. This time, we’ll wear our dressing gowns?}.

Severus leaned in and kissed him, {Yes, indeed. We will be the divas for a while} Harry sent, his face deadpan, {Give me a few moments before coming back in the room, say, fifteen minutes to dress properly for you.....underneath my gown. You will not know what I wear for you until you strip me later, after everyone has gone. You can think about it during the evening. Now, what shall it be tonight? The white or the red? Lace or satin}.

Severus reddened visibly even while their conversation was not audible, then Harry excused himself, “You are right, after such a dose as this we should still be in our bed. Forgive us that the feast has to be round a sickbed but this isn’t transmissible and we are eating again at least although this strain is nasty we’ve heard. I will change first. Excuse me”. He rose and staggered away. Severus softly purred into his mind, {The red. I love your swollen cock trapped in the tight satin making wet marks that I have to suck on.....} and Harry staggered slightly in his walk. The others watched him, Hermione watched Severus and saw the small smile at his husband’s stumble. “Bastard”, she thought, trying not to grin, knowing the uses to which telepathy could be put and knowing that these two certainly would use it this way. She shook her head slightly and turned away.

When the bondees were arrayed comfortably in their bed, they held court with their friends, apologising for their state as they dished out food but everyone else waved their objections off. It was quite fun to have an impromptu picnic around a sickbed when the food was this good.

Harry and Severus made sure everyone was served then started to dish out the smaller items. Minerva gripped the sleeve of Severus’ gown and forced him to look into her eyes, “This is not food poisoning, is it, Severus? You cannot fool me, I have known you both for far too long for that”, she whispered. “I can read a great sadness around you both....and it has nothing to do with the sort of spurious powers that Sybill claims to hold, you know that”

Severus bore the look for a moment then had to turn away. He nodded. “I know, Minnie. Harry and I have suffered a great loss. Suffice it to say, that we are bonded, tried to complete it too soon and have suffered..suffered a great loss to us both”. Minerva’s hand flew to her mouth, “Oh, gods, Severus, I had no idea. I know a little about these things. There is a wonderful doctor at the hospital here in Perth, an African lady, doing all sorts of good work with bondees.”, she was stroking Severus’ hand as she said this.

Severus withdrew his hand slowly, “I think we have already met her, a Doctor Mbolekwa. She gave Harry and I a sheaf of notes to peruse but I fear that neither Harry nor I are particularly in the mood to study. Harry and I have just lost a child each. The last two days have been difficult, Minnie”.

The older woman gazed carefully into his eyes. With her usual sight, she said, “You’ve offered to carry one for Harry? You’d better make good on that”. Severus hung his head and his voice was almost too low for Minerva to catch. “I want to, Minnie. I already had one in here. Everyone thinks I hate kids and I do, by and large, but I was carrying this one. Richard or Hannah. Go on, now say I’m daft”.

Minerva’s eyes teared, “Foolish boy. You gave them names? You should never do that until you are past the three month line, then you are past the worst time for miscarriages. I like the names by the way. No nonsense and unfussy”. Severus smiled weakly, “So did I, but they are not to be”. He was engulfed in a sudden hug, “You poor wee laddies, you and Harry both” was muttered into his ear. She withdrew and held him at arms length, “I also miscarried, between one and two. Twice. I know not why. My two girls were healthy either side of the ‘disasters’ as I called them. I never did find out if there was a real reason. I just thanked whoever was out there that I had two healthy daughters. Your time will come, Severus. Perhaps you two need to find a residence somewhere....settle a bit if this is your plan”, she arched a brow and regarded Severus over the tops of her glasses.

Severus sighed, “You never give up, do you, Minnie? Trying to clip our wings. Of course we’d have adjusted to the new folk in our lives but I doubt we’ll ever stop travelling, any more than Hermione stopped studying or you stopped your own vocation for that matter”. Minerva sniffed haughtily, “You know full well that I only came back to teaching once my girls were full grown. I sense Harry will want to be a very hands-on father and how can he be when you’re traipsing about all over the place?”

He laughed then, “Oh, and you can’t be a committed parent and travel? How narrow of you, Minnie. In fact Harry and I have plans to take on others like Julia and Jed and Sammy in the future or direct them to others like yourselves to teach. While we are on the subject, on the QT, how are they really doing?”

Minerva leaned in closer, “Nicely avoided, Severus, but while we’re on the subject of our trainees, Sammy is so like his father, bores easily but can apply himself. Good, flashy, gets it far too easily but Jed is a delight, an utter delight. Diligent, careful, you never have to tell him twice, a deeply enquiring mind and a master tactitian, he gives young Ronald a run for his money over the chessboard, you should see them play. Wait ‘til you get Kingsley’s report on his potions making too, the man’s no slouch but Jed is fast outpacing him. I think if he wishes to further his study then he is going to have to learn from the best”.

Severus smirked at this comment, “There you are, you see! A trip to the other side of the world for a couple of months a year, free food and board, great students, and we could be teaching our own children as we go, so you see, not that difficult at all, Harry doesn’t seem to think so, anyway, and, having given it some thought, I can see his point. We love this freedom and neither of us wants to give it up. Children are adaptable little souls, and Harry...”, his voice softened, “That man can make a home anywhere, Minnie. Home, to me, is wherever he is, and if that home has little ones in it, then so be it.....Anything that makes my Harry happy makes me happy”, he finished on a sigh, glancing at his husband talking animatedly to the two New Zealanders, the colour high in his cheeks.

“He’s changed you, Severus”, the older woman murmured, smiling. Severus shook his head and returned his gaze to her, “You said that at the wedding Minnie, and, no he hasn’t, not really. It was always there, Min, battened down and hiding, even from Remus to some degree, but not Harry Potter. Recall, love was always that man’s weapon and I never really appreciated what that was all about until we started to become closer. He radiates it. It’s like being in the sun all the time. I’ve watched him as we’ve travelled, the way he just attracts people. Merlin. I’m one lucky man”.

“Oh, I don’t think luck has anything to do with it, Severus, my lad. I think you and Harry would have ended up together whatever happened. Bonds have a sneaky way with them. You go back to the histories. How many bonds were made by youngsters in their first love match? Very few. Most are second or third partners, and what happened to all of those previous partners on the road to the bond completing, hmmm? Go back and read it up”.

Severus reared away, “What exactly are you saying, Minerva?”. Her look closed down, “Nothing, only that you and Harry were meant to be together.....whatever it takes”, she finished cryptically then rose, dusting off her skirts, leaving a flabbergasted Severus slumped against the headboard in her wake.

Harry sensed his unease across the bond, excused himself from the conversation with Jed and Sammy to turn to his beloved, {What’s wrong? You look rattled. What did Minerva say? I’ll hex her if she’s upset you}. Severus didn’t look at Harry, merely held his arms open. Harry slid into them and the moment his head touched Severus’ shoulder, he could feel the fine tremor running through his mate.

Severus wordlessly shared his recent conversation and Harry looked up at him in alarm, {What the fuck did she mean by that?! I feel quite insulted that she could possibly imply that you and I had any hand in Drae and Remus’ death! That’s fuckin’ outrageous! Has she any idea what we went through nursing them? That’s a terrible thing to imply!}.

Severus calmed Harry by rubbing his back, {Slow down, we shouldn’t be hasty. Maybe we should go back to the books, love, as lousy as I feel right now, it would put the cherry on the cake to discover that in some inadvertant way we had been responsible for two men’s deaths. I don’t think I could take that right now, could you?}.

Harry shook his head, {No, but we do need to find this out. Oh, shit, if I killed Drae to get you, I’ll never forgive myself}. Severus held him close, {I don’t know what to say, Harry. If I killed Rem.....oh gods} and Harry felt the shakes become soft sobs into his hair. Harry burrowed into the warm arms and wept too for a moment. They both raised their heads simultaneously and looked into each other’s reddened eyes. They each used a hand to wipe away the other’s tears, somehow they would face this latest burden. Minerva looked up briefly from her conversation with Ron and Ollie to witness the tender gestures and smiled slightly; they would be all right.

****

As they walked back to the main house that night, Jed held Sammy back, ostensibly for a kiss to let the others get away from them a bit before Jed hissed sibilantly to his partner, “Did you see all the weeping and wailing? That was no fucking tummy bug. There’s something else we’re not being told and I aim to get to the bottom of it”. Sammy wrapped his arms around Jed’s neck and kissed him, “You worry too much. They actually looked as if they were grieving if you ask me. Perhaps they have just lost someone close to them and wanted to stay private about it all; after all, they don’t know us that well and they are all doing so much for us anyway. Don’t be so suspicious all the time”. Jed sighed and exhaled through his nose then smiled lazily at his affianced, “You’re right. Let’s just enjoy this break. I think that my latest clients are getting me down and it is good to see the guys again, even if they look on the edge of tears all the time. I can’t help but feel we’re intruding if they are grieving, maybe we shouldn’t have come”. Sammy kissed him properly, “Oh, shut up, Jed Copeland. Tomorrow we are gonna get you some serious potions shit and you are gonna impress the hell out of that potions master”. Jed chuckled and returned the fervid kiss, “Damn right, I didn’t get much chance to speak to him yet but I will while we’re here”.

The next couple of days were a bit of a dead loss as far as shopping went as Harry and Severus were still not up to gallivanting around so Hermione took them all for a drive instead up the coast away from the city and they spent a day soaking up the sun, swimming and picnicking. Jed finally got to have his talk with Severus but found himself a little tongue-tied at first when the man dropped next to him wearing nought but baggy swim shorts, his body hair all wet and lickable. Jed had to turn on his front in the sand in order to not embarrass himself as he unwound once the conversation took off.

Harry came back from a paddle at one point, dropping beside his husband, landing a careless kiss on his head before taking off again, watching Ginny who had unearthed the ratty old Greek football from the car. Jed glanced to where the others were enjoying kicking it around. Minerva was in a conjured deckchair with an umbrella strategically placed to offer her shade, dozing, and he leaned in closer as the talk intensified.

Severus was on fire. This man was already outgrowing the instruction that his ex-colleagues could pass on and he needed real tuition. He fished out his perennial notebook from the grotty satchel with the broken strap that Harry used as a ‘car’ bag and started to compile a list of the potions and ingredients that Jed could move onto next, his brow creased. Jed sighed inwardly at the passion in the man’s eyes, watched enviously as the man jotted down his notes, the tapered fingers as they grasped the pen or gesticulated while the man talked. Jed tried hard to stay in the moment.

Hermione, bored with the game, came back up the beach and flopped under her own hastily conjured umbrella. From her shady place, she observed the byplay between the potions master and the pupil unobserved. She was initially studying the object of many a fantasy but was drawn to noticing the squirming behaviour of the acolyte, the arched neck as he read over Severus’ shoulder when the older man pointed something out in his notes, the shy looks and nearly laughed out loud. Did Severus realise that a goodly chunk of his friends were crushing on him like mad? She noted the man’s reactions and gestures and sniggered. He didn’t have a sodding clue!

“Here we two are, flirting like mad with him and he’s completely oblivious”, she thought and watched with interest as Harry invaded the conversation, the light in Severus’ eyes as he caught sight of his husband and the resignation in Jed’s shoulders as he realised that he wasn’t going to get anywhere with this dark brooding man who was currently kissing his damp husband with abandon before picking up the conversation again without missing a beat as if such interruptions were commonplace, as indeed they were. Harry sauntered off again and Hermione watched as Severus watched his beloved walk down the beach and then blinked and returned to the subject at hand with what looked like a murmured apology.

She fished her book out of her bag and seemed to settle to some serious reading behind her dark glasses but really she was admiring the same view that Jed was having but not from such close quarters, damnit. She watched until the talk broke up and Severus stood. She saw the black-haired man walk off down the beach and Jed lie back in the sand discreetly adjusting himself. Severus dived into the waves and was soon ploughing back and to just this side of the drop-off point. She glanced at Jed, both him and her were enjoying watching the man power up and down. She knew she had a possible weapon if they ever had to use Veritaserum again on these two. She still wasn’t sure of Jed’s affinities and so far nothing had been said about a future mission.

She didn’t realise that she had been dozing until she was awakened by freezing cold water dripping into the middle of her back and she shrieked and startled awake, “Ow, what was....oh, it’s you, babe”, she grinned lazily as Ginny flumped down beside her, shaking her wet hair out. Hermione quickly glanced around before pulling the redhead to her and kissing her, full of want and passion. Ginny melted and let her mouth be devoured. She had never known sex like this, never known passion such as this. She was caught, hook, line and sinker and didn’t care as Hermione pushed her over, their mouths still joined, and plunged a hand straight down the front of her wet bikini bottoms.

Ginny groaned as skilful fingers swiftly found her pleasure centres and played her like a rare violin. She dug her fingers into the sand, “’Mione, are we alone? Or at least unobserved?” Hermione chuckled, “The others are all playing in the sea. I’ll cast a ‘notice-me-not’”, she grabbed her wand and waved it over Ginny’s shoulder, noting through the dark lenses, the attentions of a certain Jed Copeland now fixed on them. She didn’t make a very good job of it.....on purpose of course.

She rolled a pliant Ginny onto her back, peeling down the teeny top of the bikini before covering the emerging stiff nipple with her mouth, then remembered she had an audience and raised her head a bit so Jed could see the tongue action. The thought of an audience was turning her on beyond measure and she made a meal of her lover’s breasts. She risked a glance over at Jed to see him turned on to his side, rubbing his hard-on through his shorts. Hmmm, girls didn’t disgust him then. Not quite as gay as he’d like to appear.

Hermione filed this away as she proceeded to give the man a proper show, riding her girlfriend’s tongue as she pushed the teeny bikini pants down and gave her a tongue and finger-fucking that had Ginny writhing and shouting out loud when she came, swearing and trying to curl in on herself with the intensity of it. Hermione flicked a look at her audience to see him with his cock out shamelessly wanking himself over the show. She watched as he came into the sand and came a storm in Ginny’s mouth. She had to sigh as they righted themselves again for the after-sex cuddle and finally admit to herself that she missed cock, real cock. Before she succumbed to the post-orgasmic drowse, she took in her audience, now all tucked away and lying spent on his back. She grinned as she kissed her girlfriend: she could still satisfy a man, even from a distance.

****

She still looked smug as she drove them all back to the villa, popping a CD into the car’s player that made her nearly dance at the wheel, tapping out the beats on the steering wheel as she drove. Ginny, in the huge bench seat, noted the exuberance and snuggled up to her girlfriend, her expression all relaxed and happy, Harry noted with a smile. It was the rebuttal that Hermione gave her that made Harry frown, the gentle shoving with a shoulder as Ginny moved further along the seat, still clicking her fingers to the beat and giving Hermione loving looks as she drove, that made his brows knit.

Hermione glanced then at her lover, extending a hand to squeeze a thigh and Harry relaxed, maybe ‘Mione just needed the space to drive in. He knew he tolerated far more intimate touches when he drove but he just assumed that every driver had a different level that shot their concentration on the road. Hermione was an intense driver after all. He paid it no more mind as Severus grabbed him in the car and held him suddenly, his shoulders shaking in the dark, another wave of sadness hitting him from their recent tragedy and Harry was pulled back from his musings.

{It’s like this pain that goes soul-deep}, Severus sighed into his lover’s mind. Harry gathered him up silently and just held him, scattering random kisses into the black sun-warmed hair. He had at least had some control over his situation and had decided on the termination, where Severus had not and he felt the pain his loved one was feeling. It did overwhelm at times.

By the time they arrived back at the villa, they were more or less composed again. Ron had to levitate Minerva into the house, puzzled at her somnolence until the emptied bottle of gin rolled from one of her many light shawls. They all grinned at this. Severus commented, “Our Minerva was always fond of a drop of the hard stuff”, as Hermione took over and levitated the smiling, sleeping woman off to her bed.

They all shared more alcohol as the evening progressed and Severus got to witness the meeting of minds that was Ron Weasley and Jed Copeland competing at chess. He was stunned. He had always been fair-to-middling at chess, just enough to appreciate brilliance in others and watched, open-mouthed and in awe. Ron had been the final strategist for the Last Battle and here he was, being bested by this low-grade wizard until he recalled this image of a locked safe that was inside this relatively untrained man, not to mention that he was an extremely high-ranking Mason. Severus wondered, not for the first time, about this man. Sammy was pretty easy to read, but Jed just.....wasn’t and Severus couldn’t explain it.

He glanced up. His wonderful husband was presently engaged in a slow grind with his ex-girlfriend to the music that Harry had put on. They were both laughing, their faces flushed but keeping enough distance that Severus knew it to be funning on their part. He grinned at the pair of them. They danced so well together and he didn’t feel in the least jealous. He wasn’t a dancer except either in private or in totally anonymous places when there was only him and Harry in a little world of their own.

Harry spotted the look and held out a hand to Severus, who shook his head and demurred, “No, Harry, you know I don’t dance....”, but Harry was having none of it. He turned to his partner, “Do you mind if my beloved cuts in?” She turned bright red and giggled, “Don’t be daft. Of course I don’t”, she bowed and stepped away with a flourish to be gathered up by her girlfriend.

They watched as Harry gathered Severus to him similarly, swaying them to the music, gazing into those black eyes, releasing his deepest feelings, getting totally lost. Severus returned the looks with a slight smile as he held Harry to him and their hips twitched to the beats and he was captured....by that hot mouth, those insistent hips, the rhythms of the music. Clenching a fist, he succumbed once again, to the wanton sweetness that was his husband’s mouth. He heard a vague cheer over the music as he grabbed Harry to him and kissed him to within an inch of his life. He let go and saw the abandoned look in Harry’s eyes. {Want you so much. Want to fuck you}. Harry moaned aloud at this, {Want you too, but we can’t, not for a few days}. They sagged against each other at the reality of this, but the dance continued.

Sammy dragged Jed to the impromptu dancefloor in the middle of the lounge, “Everyone else is gettin’ hot, so why not us, lover?” Jed leaned in and kissed his husband-to-be thoroughly, “Why not, indeed”, he purred before humping a stray leg. Sammy read the insistent desire in an instant and excused them from the company, “Sorry, we’ve been working so hard and we’re a bit pissed...and....excuse us....” as he hauled his beloved off for some serious loving. Jed followed willingly, all thoughts of the day having fled his mind, currently on the prize of his lover’s gorgeous arse and the slow fucking he was going to give that arse, having come already that day, watching girls of all things. Life was bloody weird sometimes.

Later on, when they heard the cries and imprecations issuing from the New Zealanders’ room, glancing at each other in various stages of embarrassment or arousal, Harry murmured, “Did no-one ever teach them silencing charms?” and Hermione giggled, “Should have been me, but I sort of neglected to do so. I quite like to listen. Sorry guys”. Harry grimaced, “You’re sick, you know that, don’t you?” Hermione grinned and nodded, “Oh, yes, but then you always knew that”, she breathed.

She waited a few seconds, then screwed up her courage to ask. She, too, was a master brewer. This she had first done in her second year to find out if Draco Malfoy was the heir of Slytherin: this time it was for a far more nefarious purpose. A polyjuice potion. And she finally found the courage to ask, “Can we have some of your hair, Harry, and Severus’ for a Poly potion so we can have dicks for a night, a little perversion we, um, indulge in from time to time”, Hermione stated nervously. Harry grinned widely, he was used to playing various different roles. “I’ll get you the hair”, he murmured. She hugged him spontaneously, “I’d rather you didn’t tell Severus”, she whispered and Harry just grinned, “Your secret is safe with me”.

He didn’t know it, but Ginny was to be the man that Hermione wanted to fuck her for a night, but her own share of the potion was going to fail. Severus Snape would be fucking Hermione Granger and she shuddered at the thought but if this was the only way to get him then this way she would use, she certainly had no intentions of going after the man himself.

****

Later, Harry and Severus were lying comfortably tangled up in their bed in their own accommodations, the sweat still cooling on their bodies. Harry leaned over kissing his beloved and asked, “Has Ron said anything to you about approaching Lestrange?” Severus shook his head slightly, “No, but I do hope they consult with us first, Lestrange is not a man to be crossed, even if he does live like a muggle now. I bet he’s still in full possession of his powers and he’s a bloody dangerous man. I think we should all have a conference over breakfast before we head into town today. Remember that you and I have to slip off to see Dr Mbolekwa for our check up, too”.

Harry sighed and rolled unto his back. He didn’t want to be reminded of their recent tragedy and he felt tears threaten again after having kept them at bay for the day. Severus felt the plummet in Harry’s mood and scooped him up, {Come on, if you need a hug, just ask, silly. Come here, love} and Harry went, to be held lovingly while he shuddered and wept again. {Hermione did mention that we might feel a bit ‘weepy’ as this is our hormone levels readjusting again}. Harry looked up with red eyes, {Yes, that and I killed our child even if he or she was still just a bundle of cells. Oh, crap, I’m sorry. I just feel so..... fucking bereft. I know I did the right thing but it still feels wrong and I don’t know what to do about that. I suppose it fades a little with time}, his mind sighed.

Severus gazed seriously into the green eyes. {We will do this again, love. We will, I promise. This way, I’ll have a bit more time to adjust as well. Truth to tell, it hit me a bit hard, to be honest. I’m not as family-minded as you and......I find I do want this but let’s take time to plan a bit more....this is a serious commitment and one I need a little time to welcome into my life. I trust you when you say we could be good parents, but, Harry, it’s a huge step}. He huffed out a long breath as if he were actually speaking, then continued, {I really love you, Harry, and your sense of adventure, but give an old geezer a bit of time to catch up sometimes. Let’s get a bit more used to the notion first....please?}.

Harry returned the gaze: saw it soften and smiled slightly, {Okay then. I don’t really want to rush into anything either. You’re right, it is a big step and I never thought it would happen for me either....but it was so close...I could almost taste it....and then...nothing. I’m a bit all over the place. Forgive me. Of course we should have more time to think it all out a bit more. I really do agree. But...}, he let his ‘send’ trail away.

{Sweet Harry, there’s nothing to forgive. Absolutely nothing. We’ve both been through the mill and it’s left us both a bit.....delicate is the word I need here}, Severus’ mind mused as he planted kisses along Harry’s forehead just at the hairline and Harry couldn’t help but smile at the sheer tenderness of the gesture and in that moment knew exactly how much Severus really did love him. His heart positively swelled at the thought.

Harry knew then with a guilty pang that he had focussed so much on himself and his own misfortunes that he had discounted a little the sufferings of his lover and the strangeness of it all for him; his wasn’t the only tragedy here and he tightened his own arms about his beloved, tipping his head slightly to kiss whatever he could reach, finding jaw and the soft skin of neck and behind an ear, lost under hair, murmuring his everlasting love as he did so.

As he passed over the hidden ear, he murmured, “So what do we do now? We’d more or less decided to head back to Holland, but now I suppose we don’t need to rush off quite so fast”. Severus sensed the relaxation of the body he held and turned them over until Harry lay beneath him, “Whatever you want, Mrs S. Whatever you bloody well want. I’ll go wherever you do”, before kissing him like his life depended on it.

Harry pushed his lover away a fraction, just enough to look into his eyes, {We could just keep going you know. Asia or the Americas. Which do you fancy next?} Severus smiled back, {Oh, just like that, I suppose?} Harry shrugged, {Don’t see why not. If we wanted to be really frivolous, we could toss a coin. Heads America, tails, Asia}. Severus started to laugh, {You mean that, don’t you? We could really decide our destiny on the flip of a coin?} Harry joined in, {Don’t see why not}, he reiterated, before he was squirming out of Severus’ arms, reaching over the end of the bed for his jeans and rattling the loose change in his back pocket.

{Whaddya fancy to toss? A cent? Oh, wait, I’ve a ten cent piece here. Or maybe a five Euro piece, or I’ve a ten pence bit here. No, wait, a knut; we’ll toss that. A magical coin for a magical decision}, Harry’s eyes were bright as he sat back up, the coin in his palm. “Who’ll toss and who will call?” Severus smirked as he grabbed the coin from Harry’s outstretched palm, “You call, I’ll toss”, and, bending round his forefinger, he positioned the metal over his tensed thumb and launched it into the air where it spun over and over. Harry grinned widely, “Heads for America”, and laughed as Severus adroitly caught the coin in his right hand and flipped it over on to the back of his left before holding both hands out between them and lifting up the fingers of his right hand to reveal.....

Tails.

Asia it was then.