The Journey Cycle pt 1: Europe *pt 1 now complete*

15

The announcement that was transmitted over crackly speakers awoke Harry who bleared in the early morning light and he gently shook his lover, “Come on, sweetheart, we’re to go back to our vehicles, we’ll be landing soon”. Severus jerked awake, “Mmm. Oh, yes”, he blinked hard several times and rubbed at his eyes, to see Harry grinning next to him, “Come on, sleepyhead. Look, land ahoy”, he leapt up and hauled Severus to his feet. Both felt a bit stiff from sleeping out in the open and ironed out their backs as Harry re-transfigured their blanket back into the sweater and stowed it in his pack once again. The town of Iraklion was before them pinkish and sunlit as they made their way back to their home below decks.

There was a bit of a wait as they heard the sounds of chains and anchors, sailors shouting instructions and the rattle and clank of the port before they strapped themselves in and Harry fired Bessie’s engine, his eyes alight as they drove out of the opened car deck doors and onto the quay. Their papers were checked and they were waved into the early Cretan sun grinning at each other and yawning.

They decided to find the first site that would take them in order to rest up a couple of days and they found somewhere fairly soon, the main season being over for now. They headed inland straight away from the rather overcrowded northern side of the island and quickly found themselves climbing into the mountains overlooking the sea and headed towards the far western end of the island for now, finding a friendly site a few kilometres further along away from the main tourist beat. They booked in and parked up and were asleep again soon, deciding to hang it all and just rest from their travails on the mainland.

****

Severus was quiet and withdrawn the following day. Harry tried to quiz him but was just met with an obstinate silence so he left him be and curled up on the bed and read while Severus went outside for fresh air. Harry shook himself awake a while later and adjusted his specs on his nose. No Severus. Feeling a tightening of his gut, he left the bed scrubbing his cheek drily with his hands trying to iron out the creases that his book had made in his face and peered out of the various windows. Still no sign.

It was when he peeked out of the rear window at the slope of the stony beach behind them that he saw his lover sitting in a morose bundle on his own occasionally chucking stones into the incoming tide. He slipped his shoes on and went outside crunching over the pebbles. When he neared the man he asked timorously, “Sev, are you all right?” Severus turned at the sound of his voice and Harry could see the red rims of his eyes as he dashed the back of his hand across them. In moments he knelt beside him ignoring the sharp edges of the rocks as they dug into his knees.

Severus turned back to the sea and hunched his shoulders. Harry frowned and felt his gut drop. What was going on here? Was Severus tired of him? No, that can’t be it. Maybe....maybe..... Harry let his thoughts whirl as he sat there, his hands planted on his own knees as he sat back on his heels. He waited....and waited, not daring to intrude. It was as if Severus had an invisible keep-off barrier around him so Harry hung his head and decided to wait it out. Just as he was growing tired of this and getting to his feet, Severus turned and held out a hand to him. Harry moved nearer and took it running his fingertips across the back of the knuckles then bowed his head down and kissed each finger reverently.

Severus glanced up then pulled Harry down beside him. He took a deep breath, “It wasn’t just the Death-Eater thing was it? On the boat?” Harry swallowed hard, “No”, he hesitated, “It was two years to the day when Draco died”. Severus pulled him into his arms and Harry relaxed onto his lover’s shoulder. “Today is five years since Remus.....”, then turning suddenly he buried his face in Harry’s hair and wept aloud and Harry hung on tight and rocked the grieving man hushing him and gentling a hand down his back. “I’m sorry, Sev”, he whispered, “I should have said something. Don’t be angry with me”. Severus shook his head then raised it, “No, I’m not angry, but we share everything, right?”. Harry nodded, annoyed with himself that he had kept his real reason for his grief silent, “Yes. You’re right, though I was freaked over the Death-Eater thing, make no mistake about it. I thought it was all over, but it’s never over, is it?” Severus smiled slightly at him, his eyes wet and even redder and Harry’s face crumpled and he kissed those red eyelids gently and wiped the tears away with the sleeve of his shirt.

They sat, locked together for a while until Severus murmured, “The next three years were the loneliest of my life. I thought that you and Draco didn’t want me any more once Remus was no longer around”, he gazed off reflectively over the water. Harry shook his head, “I wanted to...., but Drae didn’t. I think he was afraid.... He was inconsolable when Remus passed and I think he was a bit worried that if we let you back into our bed then you would run off with me and leave him with no-one, but I would never have done that to him, never”. Severus gazed into Harry’s green eyes and nodded his understanding, “So Draco carried a torch for Remus?”. Harry snorted softly, “Damn right he did, just like I always did for you. Come on, love, remember how we always finished up our ‘sharings’”, and Severus nodded and smiled then, “So it all turned out right in the end in some weird way, he has Remus for all eternity while I have you”.

Harry felt his own tears fall and did nothing to halt their path over his cheeks, “Yeah, maybe that’s how it should have always been, but I still loved him more than anything”, his voice lowered to a whisper, “But I love you more and maybe he felt the same way about your lover. Is that fucked-up or what?” Severus started to laugh, “Maybe, but it’s all worked out somehow, but sometimes I’d give anything for the four of us to still be together. We were quite a team, weren’t we?”

Harry chuckled, “Yeah. I wish we were all together on this trip but you and I both know that that wouldn’t ever happen in a month of Fridays, so it’s just as well it’s just us now”. Severus smiled tearily and held Harry close and kissed his face all over, “Yes. You’re right. This is perfect, just me and you, together for ever now, you’re stuck with me”. Harry biffed him lightly, “Hardly stuck, though I have felt guilty from time to time that we got into this too quickly but after thinking it all through, we are in the right configuration now, the way it should have always been. I hope that when you and I reach the hereafter, that the bed that Draco said he’d have made for me is big enough for four”, and Severus laughed aloud at this, “Damn right. I’m not letting go of you even in the beyond. Anyway, by then, you and I will be wed, so.......” They continued to gaze out at the incoming sea until the sun was long gone over the horizon.

Harry asked shyly, “You don’t regret any of this do you?....You still want to marry me?”. Severus turned to him and kissed him with passion and tongue, “Not a single moment. I love you my Harry, my sweet pervert, my own. Mine, all mine”, he growled when they surfaced and claimed that luscious mouth again, both making needy sounds into each other’s throats as the kisses intensified and Severus pushed Harry over into the shingles laying a cushioning charm beneath him and they made love in the dark and cold right there on the beach both glad that this was the off-season and that they didn’t have an audience nearby.

Eventually they staggered back to Bessie and Harry cooked for them that night, a simple toast-type munchie snack not too demanding of his culinary skills before his demanding lover took him again, sprawled out over their bed with a minimum of preparation and a maximum of passion making them both howl aloud with the knowledge now extant between them. It was all finally right and they had taken over twenty years to get to this point.

As they parted, gasping, gathering reason and breath together, Harry asked, “Babe, when we wed, please let’s do it at the other side of the year, so to speak. There’s too many painful anniversaries at this end of the year”, and Severus laughed throatily, “You’ll make a lovely Spring bride, Harry”, to be swatted on the arm by his future intended before they rolled into a heap and slept mouth to mouth.

****

They left the main tourist traps of the northern part of the island behind and headed for the southern coast after stocking up their larders in Agios Nikolaos and driving around the island. They spotted a villa that was ideal for their purposes with a ‘for rent’ sign prominently posted and Harry was on to the agents as they sat outside the gates, his Greek not as good as the other languages that they could both speak now under the Redditus charm but in less than two hours they had signed for two months and paid over their cash for the villa after an initial viewing.

They were truly in the back of beyond at a tiny place called Tsoutsouros on the southern coast, near enough to Ierapetra for basics and less than an hours drive from Agios over the mountains if they needed anything more than that. The villa was huge and a little delapidated with massive terraces and a pool that suited them both fine. They discussed everything and decided to invite the gang over for Christmas. It was now well into November. They had the usual communications scenario but it was a bit temperamental along with the mobile phone who’s reception was also dodgy but neither minded. Harry sent a written invitation to be returned poste restante to the tiny Post Office in Ierapetra.

By the end of the month, Hermione had replied along with Ron and Ollie, there would be no kids this year as Neville’s parent’s, now cured since Voldemort’s demise, were taking Neville’s and Hermione’s kids for the duration. There would just be the six adults for the holidays and this suited Harry and Severus just fine, thank you very much. The six would be together over the whole of Christmas and the New Year and Harry, for one, was looking forward to it.

As was becoming the norm, they would take Bessie out to explore for day trips plus they enjoyed an extended trek into the mountains, staying in a tiny mountain village called Kastelli for a few days using it as a base of operations until they returned to the villa in the middle of December.

Hermione called them after they had returned and enquired if they had room for two more, “Ginny and Ernie want to come out with us. Is that a problem? They are quite happy to doss down on the couch or something”. Harry raised his brows at his lover who shrugged, “Bugger it. The more the merrier”, and that was that. They would be eight for the festive season and Harry knew that Hermione would be happy with her best girlie mate there, otherwise she would be the only woman amongst five men.

The week before everyone arrived, Harry and Severus drove all over the island stocking up on supplies and gifts for everyone both looking forward to the invasion. On the nineteenth, they set off once again across the island to Iraklion to meet the others off the plane at the tiny airport and were greeted with hugs and tales of the journey from their guests. Apparently there had been a fault on the plane which had forced to land at Zagreb and they had all had to change onto a smaller craft then change again in Athens, so they were hours late arriving in Athens but the boys didn’t mind, sitting in Bessie, listening to music and reading before Hermione’s call told them that they were now on their way.

The bus wasn’t strictly speaking legal to transport six others but Harry was a careful driver as they picked their way over the mountains in the dark dodging the barmy local drivers on the tiny winding roads, his heart in his mouth until they descended towards the villa, the sea spread out below them. Oliver remarked, “Fuck, you guys really are in the back of beyond aren’t you? What. No clubs or pubs?” Harry laughed, “Not our scene, though we’ve got a swimming pool and a fab view. Nope. We are our own entertainment here. There’s a taverna in the village next to us and a cafe or two in Ierapetra about fifty clicks away but beyond that, nothing in the way of night life, sorry to be a disappointment and all that”, until he saw Oliver’s shoulders relax and he said, “Thank God for that. We’ve been so busy at work and getting right away from it all is just what the doctor ordered”. Harry grinned at him in the rearview mirror.

Ginny and Ernie made several ribald comments about the postcards tacked up on the cupboard door particularly the ‘David’ which made Harry blush all over again and Severus smirk at him and whisper, “Told you, you were gorgeous, didn’t I?” and Harry dipped his flaming face, glad of the subdued lighting up front but Severus reached across and squeezed his arm lovingly, trailing his hand down and grasped Harry’s hand briefly where it lay on the steering wheel. Harry called out, “It was a joke”, and Severus turned in his seat and said in a low voice, looking straight at his lover, “No it wasn’t”, loud enough for the others to hear and watched his beloved colour to his roots and glare briefly at him before turning his attention back to the road and Severus grinned at the rest of the occupants of the van who smiled back, somewhat uncertainly but in that moment knew that their ex-Potions-Master was deeply in love. Ginny bit her lip as she watched the signs before her.

She wasn’t the only one. Her brother glanced between driver and main passenger and grinned, “Told you”, and his sister giggled. Ron spoke up. “Yo, Harry so you’ve kept that bod you had at school?” He couched it as a question and Harry chuckled, “Sev thinks so”. Oliver called out, “Care to share?” And Harry froze at the term.

Severus laid a hand on his arm, “He’s just taking the piss”, but Harry still bristled, but relented, “I know”, he sighed. His lover wondered, then realised; Harry was intensely private about his life and intended to keep it that way. He backed off with the teasing but kept his eyes on Harry as he drove, Harry occasionally casting glances his way, narrowing his eyes momentarily before fixing them back to the road that they travelled, Bessie’s lights, the only thing that lit their way. Through tiny roads across the hills along which Harry drove like a native.

Eventually he relented, after all, it was nice to be considered beautiful. He sighed and reached for Severus whilst avoiding a large pothole in the road, squeezed his hand briefly to receive a smouldering look in return.

“Harry, has this place got a pool?”, Ron’s voice from behind him, “’Course it has, loony. What do you take me for?”, Harry laughed, locating his friend in the rearview mirror. Ron chuckled, “Right. Last one in’s a knobhead!”. Ginny giggled, “You’re on, oh, brother of mine”, and soon Harry turned in to their driveway. As all their guests’ luggage was shrunk there was no unpacking as such so everyone was quickly shown to their rooms to unpack at leisure though no-one did more than unshrink their luggage before stripping off clothes, donning swimwear and making a dash for the inviting pool, perfect after so many sticky hours of travel. In no time there were eight people cooling off and laughing in the slightly murky water, but it was cool and wet so no-one minded.

Severus climbed out and went into the house emerging with several opened bottles which he proceeded to hand around. Ginny reclined in the shallow end, sipping her beer and looking at the stars overhead, “Oh, gods, this is the fucking life!!”, she murmured. This brought chuckles from the others. Oliver hoisted his bottle, “Aye, reckon so”, he said softly and there was a lull as everyone started to relax fully.

Harry joined Severus in the kitchen as cooking aromas tickled his senses, wrapping his arms around him as he stood at the huge old range stirring and frying. “What’re you cooking?”, Harry mumbled into his back. Severus smiled, “I know we’re in Greece, but I’m doing a paella because we have fish and stuff to eat up, I’d hate to see it go to waste”. Harry hummed his approval against his lover’s spine which made Severus shiver and put down his spatula. He turned in Harry’s arms and held him, “Is this what you wanted Mrs Snape?”, he dropped kisses into Harry’s damp hair, to feel Harry nod against his chest, “I’ve been so used to kissing and hugging you whenever I want, ‘cos we’ve always been in our own private spaces and I don’t want to go without them now that we have company”, Harry mumbled still. Severus lifted Harry’s chin slightly so he could look into those eyes and he considered them for a long moment, “Sorry, Harry, sometimes old habits die hard, even though it was not I who started them”,

Harry started in his arms but held his gaze, “I don’t understand”. Severus smiled, “I know I was a bit buttoned up when I was still teaching but when Remus and I got together, he was the circumspect one and not me, but I learned to be, except in front of you two. I’m sorry”. Harry smiled and pulled his love closer, “Well you don’t have to be on my account. I love it when you’re demonstrative, so come here”, he purred and locked them both in a kiss. They were vaguely aware of movement in the kitchen behind them, a voice asking where the beer was, Harry drew back with a gasp long enough to point over Severus’ shoulder, “Left fridge, top four shelves are the coldest ones”, before going back to the matter in hand.

Severus carried the skillet out onto the terrace, others assisting bringing out crockery and cutlery and they all laughed and chatted as they ate, a group of eight damp friends enjoying a good meal, convivial company and fair amounts of alcohol, the evening quickly degenerated into testosterone fuelled pushings and joshings to tip each other into the pool after the meal was washed up and tidied away and the alcohol started to bite. Neville crowed as he engineered Severus to the edge and watched as he fell in in slow motion. Ron plain hoisted Harry over his shoulder and chucked him in unceremoniously. Ginny pushed Neville but not before he snaked an arm around her middle so she was just as doomed as he as they hit the water with a splash that wet all the others.

Hermione tutted and went to sit on the lounger when a very wet Ron picked her up in his arms and deposited here, squealing, into the deep end, much to the amusement of all and they carried on in this vein deep into the night. Harry dug out the ball he had carried from the villa in Greece and they had an impromptu game of water polo before tiredness began to claim the travellers and the night wound down.

As Harry snuggled into his lover’s side, he murmured, “This will be a good Chrimbo. I can feel it in my bones. Everyone wants to play and let go”. Severus chuckled, “Well, I’ve noticed the eyes of Ron and Oliver on us. I think they want to ‘play’ play”. Harry shook his head vehemently, “No, not any more. I’m done with all that. How do you feel? I wouldn’t stop you if.....you know.....?” Severus held him tighter, “Silly boy, there was only one fighting unit and we four were it. Now that you and I are.....affianced, then I have no further wish to share. Trust me on this, as far as I’m concerned, you are mine and I am yours from now on”. His tone really meant it and Harry felt himself melt at the words. “Yes”, was all he could manage before he was crushed in strong swimmer’s arms and kissed senseless, his mind reeling ‘mine, mine, all mine’.

****

After a couple of days, Hermione requested that Harry run her into Ierapetra. “I’ve hired us a people-carrier for the rest of the trip. I think it will be a better size than Bessie who isn’t even legal to carry eight”. Harry couldn’t discount her logic and anyhow he had the meat order to collect for Christmas, so he readily agreed to drive her.

They set off. Hermione was delighted to be travelling up front and Harry grinned at her enthusiasm. “So I see that you and Severus are really strong?”, she couched it as a question and raised a brow. Harry grinned at her, “So strong”, he blushed slightly and concentrated on the road ahead. She shook her head, “Behave, Harry, you asked him to marry you, you wear rings. I never saw you like this even at the start of your relationship with Draco”.

Harry turned to her, “Okay, this is nothing like me and Draco”, then turned his attention back to the road. Hermione laughed, “This is how it should have always been, isn’t it? You and Severus?”, and Harry glared at her but couldn’t keep it up at the look on her face, “Cow!!”, he muttered to her great amusement, “You always could suss me out”, he mock-scowled, then joined in her laughter, glad to have her as a best friend. Glad for living.

****

He picked up his supplies and she picked up the vehicle, a massive thing with seats for ten, but undeniably a better-sized vehicle for getting around in, not to mention completely legal for them all. He grinned inwardly, it would be nice to hand off the driving for a while.

She kept behind him all the way back to the villa. Severus moaned at the amount of meat to be housed in the loaded fridges and freezer, “Bloody hell, Harry, we’ve enough to feed an army here”.

Oliver wandered in as they were unpacking, “There’s this weird little shed that’s locked by the pool, do you have a key for it?” Harry and Severus glanced at each other, neither had noticed it. Harry fished in his jeans pocket and produced his keys, “I don’t know where this one fits”, he isolated a key, then flung the bunch to his friend. Oliver grinned at the two of them and disappeared.

Severus was grumbling at the lack of room in the fridges, “We’ll have to cook all this meat in the next couple of days otherwise it will all go off”. Harry snickered, “Perhaps I did overdo it a bit”, and Severus kissed his temple, “Better too much rather than too little, eh?”. Hermione came rushing into the kitchen, “Come outside, look what we’ve found”.

They went outside and Hermione led them to the small shed. It was filled to the rafters with spare loungers, umbrellas to be fitted to them plus what Hermione assured them, were the spare bits of the brick-built barbecue that was in their back yard. They had noticed the plain little brick-built structure but aside from figuring out that fires were built in it, hadn’t divined it’s true function. Hermione grinned as she fitted the burnt-looking charcoal tray as well as dragging out two nice dry sacks of charcoal and the barbie tools. “Oh, yes”, she exclaimed as she fitted it all together and told Severus how it all worked. “My mum and dad have one like this in the garden at home”. Harry was fascinated, “I should have guessed, but the Dursleys had this flying saucer shaped thing on three legs, it looked nothing like this one”.

Hermione warmed the tray by piling logs beneath it and lighting them, then pulled the tray out, sprinkling it with the charcoal that lit almost immediately, “Now we wait about half an hour before we can put food on the grills”. They helped to set out the loungers as the barbie heated up. Harry, on a whim, shouted for Ginny to come with him as he went in front of the house and climbed aboard Bessie. “The speaker wire is only held in spring-clips, so if you pull them gently away, you should be able to unhook the wires easily”, as he and Ginny clambered about retrieving the sound system.

Harry hooked it all together, the five small speakers, with enough wire attached to make a passable surround-sound system out on their terrace, plus the sub-woofer in the house, just inside the door, then plugged it into his small but powerful amplifier then hooked the whole shebang up to the computer and one of the spare hard drives while Severus organised the cooking. He selected some music and set the thing to playing and the sound wasn’t brilliant but the bass was okay, the treble not too tinny and the mid-range was there but nothing special, still, it was sounds and no-one else seemed bothered by the quality too much. He watched as Ginny got up and started to sway to the music, her beer bottle dangling from her fingers, her eyes closed and Harry knew he had it as right as it got, and stepped back, pleased.

The coals were dulling from fire to ember and the first steaks were thrown on with a sizzle and an aroma that spread. Severus Summoned the bowlful of chunks of corn-on-the-cob that had been marinading in hot spices and placed them alongside the meat with his tongs. Harry sat by and watched a master at work, his expression dreamy, until Severus beckoned him over. Harry glanced quickly at his guests, they all looked happy and occupied for now, and went. Severus gathered him to his chest and held him, “Just wanted to hold you.....”, he murmured. When their eyes met, they spoke of shy love, devotion, a whole plethora of ‘soppiness’ that Harry lapped up before he kissed his man with main force as the food started to sizzle beside them.

Then they heard it. Rustling in the trees bordering the land on which the house sat. Voices. Coming closer.

In a moment, Severus handed off the cooking to the nearest person. Oliver. Them both he and Harry approached the trees on full alert, their hand on their wands, wariness in every step. Ron quickly discerned the atmosphere and followed them closely, hearing the voices himself. Harry didn’t have to tell either of his cohorts, they were to each side of him and slightly behind. Harry had a flash, this had been Draco’s position when they had fought Voldemort and he was pleased at how quickly Ron had assumed it, flashing a quick and appreciative look over his shoulder. The voices approached.

“Maybe they don’t want to party”, came to their ears through the trees. A female voice. “Yeah, but the music’s great and the barbie smells good”. Male. A distinctive Australian twang. “Well, we can but ask and if they tell us to piss off then that’s what we’ll do”. The voice of reason. Female. English. Yet another voice spoke up, “Hello”. Harry glanced at his lover and his best friend, “Hello, back”, he called. A rag-tag of folk appeared in the firelight on their large terrace.

“Um, hi”, a blond lad, long hair plaited over his shoulder, greeted them, a definite twang in his voice. He cautiously held his hand out, “M’name’s Jon, short for Jonathon. We work on the olive farm. This house belongs to the Nikolides, yes? They’re our bosses. But we heard your music and smelled the barbie and we thought we’d investigate. We’re not liggers. We brought beer and food and whatever with us”.

Harry grinned at his lover who called Jon’s companions out into the light so he could get a better look at them. He ‘read’ them effortlessly and shrugged, “We have a lot of meat to cook as you so rightly deduced”, he murmured to his lover before enquiring, “How many of you are there?”. A giggle greeted him, “Six of us”. Harry snickered, “Okay, come on in”. The English girl laughed, “Hey, English. Priceless”, and Severus creased his brow.

He knew that voice from somewhere.

Jon and another lad who identified as ‘Matt’ revealed that they carried a large coolbox between them that proved to be chockful of icy bottles which they proceeded to crack open and hand out to their new hosts in order to dispel the initial awkwardness. They realised that their hosts were considerably older than them and the two blondes glanced at each other, but the music was cool and the food smelled good.

Jon started to introduce the others. “So this is Matt, this is my sister, Julia, this is Heike and her boyfriend Doug and this is....”, he was cut short by a wave of the hand from the tall dark guy with the intense stare, who stepped out extending his hand, “Stacey-from-Leicester?” And one of Jon’s companions started to laugh as she stepped forward and took his hand, “The very same, Severus-from-London”, and they grinned as they shook hands but Severus startled her by crushing her to him in a brief hug. He let go of her and announced, “This young lady helped me on my first ever aeroplane flight. Happy to meet you again, my dear”. Her companions were surprised but not unduly so. “We met on the flight from London to Malaga, fuck, over a year ago now. Severus here had never flown before”, she shrugged, “I helped a bit”. Severus beamed, “Come on in, make yourselves at home”, and the six wandered in. Matt and Doug relinquished their beer bags and Heike gave up four bottles of white wine plus bags of food to Ginny who stashed them as best she could after emptying the fridge of the fresh meat and transporting it outside.

There were now fourteen of them, their new companions mixing with the ease of the much-travelled. Their six guests were a little slow to open up but Harry and Severus were relaxed around them and they all started to warm up as the alcohol flowed. Severus served up barbecued smoked rib-eye steaks to the collected company and they all relaxed further though at one point, Harry had murmured, “Why does that girl keep staring at us?”, to receive a shrug from his beloved, though he had noticed the staring himself. They stayed wary even as they all swapped traveller’s tales.

Later on in the evening, Harry caught the same frowning look from the blonde girl and, because he was a bit pissed, decided to call her on it. “Why do you keep staring? It’s a bit unnerving”. The girl reared back in surprise. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to freak you out or anything, but I recognise some of you guys. But I’m fucked if I know where from. Somewhere in this empty vessel that calls itself my head, I’ve seen you two before also the redheaded guy and the lady with the tangly brown hair”. She shook her head, totally confused. Harry called Ron and Hermione over, “This lass thinks she’s seen us before”, and Julia wanted the ground to open up and swallow her but she looked at the tableau that the three presented and her face scrunched in concentration as she swigged her beer.

Her brother was also casting them askance looks. “Know what ya mean, sis. Seen these guys somewhere”, but he let the intoxication carry him and paid it no further mind, but his sister did, clearly wracking her brains.

She buried her head in her hands and thought hard. Then all of a sudden her hands parted like curtains and her mouth was agape. “Jon”, she shrieked, staring at their hosts. Her brother joined her on the lounger, “Whassup, sis?”, he leered. Her voice was small, “Remember the photo album that great auntie Irma left me?”, the boy nodded, plainly confused, but she shook him until his eyes unglazed. “These people are in those pictures. The special ones that she left. The ones that move”. This got her brother’s full attention, not to mention that of the Magicals as they all stared at the silent tableau.

Hermione was the first to speak, “Please tell us”, she entreated the girl, while she shot warning looks to the other Magicals.

Julia took a deep breath as she looked around. “Me and Jon had a great auntie. She died last year. She was English and had worked as a librarian in some boarding school somewhere in Britain, Scotland I think. She retired some long time ago but she needed to be looked after so she came over to us in Australia. We’d never met her before, me and Jon, but she told us all sorts of mad tales about magic and witches and wizards and the like and this school that she used to work at was called something about pigs. Weird name if you ask me. But when she passed, last year, she left us her photo albums and this thing she called her ‘wand’. We just figured that she was as mad as a bag of hammers, after all, she was adamant that she was at least a hundred and thirty before she died. And I still have her albums and I can’t explain it but you four are in it”, she pointed to the trio and Severus.

There was total silence for a moment until Severus coolly enquired, “What was the name of your great-aunt?” Julia was flustered. “Irma. Pincer or Prince or something. She was a rellie on mum’s side”. There was a sad moment between the eight. Severus murmured, “Her name was Irma Pince and she and I were once colleagues. She was the librarian at the school that I too, used to teach at and I’m sorry to hear that she is no longer with us, and, by my reckoning she would have been one hundred and thirty one when she passed”, he pinched the bridge of his nose. Harry read him and took him in his arms.

Their guests were astonished, “We just thought that she was spouting off, you know, rubbish. She was old but she never did seem senile although that’s what the doctor’s always projected on her”, Julia whispered, “Was she actually right?”, she glanced around at her amused hosts, her eyes wide.

The eight passed knowing looks between each other and Ron spoke up, “The school’s name; wasn’t Hogwarts by any chance was it?” The girl nodded, “Yeah, something like that. Auntie said it’s a place for witches and wizards, a special school”. Hermione came forward after quickly gauging the atmosphere, this lot were harmless, “Your auntie was right, Julia. We are all witches and wizards and we all went to that school. Severus here taught us all at some time or other, but we’d appreciate it if you don’t gab about it too much, not while we’re still here at any rate”. The six nodded, dumbfounded.

“We won’t blab, honest, but you’ve got to admit it’s a bloody weird coincidence”, said Heike. Severus smiled, “There’s nothing weird about synchronicity. How strange is it that I should meet someone with whom I shared around three and a half hours of my life over fourteen months ago and thousands of miles away. I’m beginning to think that it’s one of the vicissitudes of travel”. Stacey wrinkled her nose delicately as she smiled, “Yeah, and what was the likelihood of having friends with me who know more about you lot than I did even after that enforced intimacy?” Severus shrugged, “That’s travel, I suppose”. Stacey laughed, “Although I did have a feeling that I might run across you again, that is if you stayed this side of the English Channel”. Harry put in, “Oh, I think it will be a long time before we go back over it and then we’ll go under it”.

The initial tension was easing considerably as they ate and Ernie went back inside bringing out a basketful of cold bottles and cans hovering them below the tip of his wand. Ginny laughed, “Show off”, she scoffed good naturedly at her husband.

Harry made to look for the marinade for the chicken pieces but the bowl was almost empty so Summoned the fresh one that he knew stood on the kitchen counter and heads whipped round as the bowl came flying through the air and straight to his hand. Ron rolled his eyes, “Just ‘cos you can do it wandless, jammy bastard”, to the collective amazement of their guests. Julia laughed aloud, “So all of Auntie’s stories were true then, she told me loads about the school and some kid there that had to defeat some Dark Lord or other, and stuff about dragons, they were always my favourites, and unicorns in somewhere called the Forbidden Forest, and giant spiders and trolls and such? All of these things are real? Even the headmaster had a phoenix of his own?” There was a gleam in her eye but Harry noted that she definitely seemed more interested in the magical creatures than she did about his exploits.

This was spoiled somewhat when Oliver opened his big trap and said, “Aye, the lad who had to get rid of the dark lord is no other than our Harry here but he had help from many others”. Julia was entranced, “Auntie had a scrapbook full of newspaper cuttings about you”, she inclined her head at Harry, “but in many of them, there’s this totally rad lookin’ blond guy next to you. Is he your ex or something?” Harry looked glum for a moment then took a deep breath, “Yes, you could say that. He died a couple of years ago. The so-called Dark Lord, whose name was either his own self-styled Lord Voldemort or his real name which was plain old Tom Riddle was a really evil guy who cast this curse on my lover and it took him twenty some years to die. Magic isn’t about clever shit but can cause a lot of pain and suffering. Did Irma tell you about Unforgiveable curses, the ones that can have you writhing in agony, subject you totally to another’s will or kill with two words?” Harry realised he was shaking not to mention freaking his guests out a bit if the way they were backing off was any indication.

He held his palms out, “Sorry, sorry. While I’ve been travelling, we’ve kind of given the magical world a wide berth. I’m still a bit famous for killing the mad bastard so I still get recognised”. In an attempt to lighten the atmosphere, Julia smiled, “Well you wear better glasses nowadays, Those awful round frames did nothing for you at all”, which made Harry laugh. Doug piped up, “So outside your little world, everyone leaves you alone?” The hosts all assented. Stacey smiled, “It’s like this lot, if they go back to Australia, they need minders and bodyguards”. Harry looked confused, “Well I don’t recognise any of you”. Heike laughed, “We all act in a very popular sit-com about a band and we are also the band, and we can’t move in Aus for being mobbed, but out here we’re just a bunch of disreputable traveller types and no-one has a clue”. Harry could relate to that and said so. This made everything seem a lot more comfortable.

The music was turned up a bit and some folk got up to dance but Severus found himself beside Julia, “Did you ever hold Irma’s wand?”, he enquired casually. She turned to him, “Yeah, a few times. Felt bloody strange, too, like this tingle running up my arm. I know we’re supposed to send the thing back to some Ministry or other in London but I just can’t bear to part with it. We haven’t been hassled about it since the letter we got just after Auntie’s death so I guess they’ve forgotten about it”.

Severus stood before her and drew out his own wand, handing it to her, “Do you get any kind of feeling from this one”. She stood and took it gingerly, then tightened her fingers around the wood, shaking her head, “Might as well be a stick of firewood. Not a sausage”, she frowned handing it back. Severus smiled then, “You have some magical presence that I can read from you and I suspect that as the wand was passed to you, then it’s ‘signature’ would have changed in the Ministry to that of it’s new owner. Some wands can be passed down in families and that’s why the Ministry haven’t bothered you, although as you are completely untrained, the moment you attempted to use it then an Auror would be on your doorstep to relieve you of it. So keep it as a souvenir, a memento of your Aunt and you should be able to hang on to it”, he finished his speech and turned to face her astounded face fully.

“What is it? What did I say?”. She stammered, “You can read a magical presence around me?” He nodded, “Yes, you are possessed of a little natural magic but unfortunately not enough in you to train, I fear”. This last brought Hermione over. She glanced at Severus, “Did you do a sneaky reading, naughty boy? You should ask first”. Severus smirked, “Only the very lowest level, dear. I was curious”, he turned back to Julia, “If you want a proper dowse doing then there are four others here who are trained more highly in these arts than I am. Potions were my stock in trade”. Julia looked from one to the other, “Yeah”, she whispered, “Go right ahead. Can you do this dowse thingie?”, she turned to Hermione. Hermione grinned, “I can, but it may feel a bit uncomfortable, a bit like your skin crawling, but it doesn’t hurt or anything”. Julia spread her arms out, “Do your worst”.

Hermione cleared a space for them both and asked the others to all stand back, “Don’t want to confuse the reading now, do we?” Everyone obeyed. She whipped out her wand and proceeded to describe a shape around the girl’s head and body and even had her lift each foot all the time keeping her wand about three inches from touching. This process was slow and Hermione was concentrating hard. The others all watched in fascinated silence until Hermione stepped back and shook out her hands then closed them over her wand discharging the power with a flick.

“I read about the same as Hagrid in most things but in cast magic you would be deficient. I sense a great affinity with animals so you would do splendidly in Care of Magical Creatures classes but your spellwork or charmwork would suffer. When I first started at Hogwarts as a pupil, I thought that any child showing magical ability was given an education such as we all here had in our time, but as I grew older I realised that in order to make up a perfect roster each year that there would have to be some sort of selection policy in place, even though every child with any ability is recorded at the Ministry of Magic. Yes, your name will certainly be there, but I’m sorry, your magical abilities are not sufficient for a school like Hogwarts”.

Julia didn’t seem to mind though, she was delighted that she had any at all. Jon spoke up, “She’s really good with the animals back home and the horses, don’t start me off....she’s incredible with them”, he regarded his sister warmly, “So are you as big a nutter as Auntie, then?”, he biffed her playfully and she biffed him back. “At least I know it’s true now, and also why Auntie left those things specifically to me. Cool!!”, she declared, punching the air and diving for another cold bottle to celebrate. Severus Summoned more from the kitchen and was handing them out when Stacey caught his arm lightly around the wrist.

“Whoa, what have we here then? You weren’t wearing this little beauty on the plane”, she admired the ring on Severus’ left hand, “Very nice too, if I may say so”, she dropped his hand and looked into his eyes. Severus smiled, “Harry asked me to marry him while we were in Venice and I accepted”, his eyes shone as he spoke. She leaned in and kissed him on both cheeks, “That’s wonderful news, congratulations”, and the party continued.

The six left around dawn after helping to clear up and the others made their tired way to bed as the sun was rising, Harry and Severus the last to do so as befitted their roles as hosts. They sat out on a lounger for a while and watched the sunrise all curled up, talking quietly about the night and kissing. Severus murmured, “I’m going to enjoy being married to you, Mrs S.”. Harry kissed the tip of his nose, “The pleasure will be all mine, Mrs P. Now let’s get to bed before I crash on here and wake up all sweaty and sunburned”. With that he stood and hauled Severus to his feet and they retired.